Realistic vs cartoony content in your resume.

RageUnleashed

So I'm building up my portifolio work slowly but surely to be ready to give to game companies once I graduate college. It's going to include a range of characters from realistic realistic human to cartoony characters.

My question is, how much do the characters you present to an employer matter compared to technique?

Jeremy Lindstrom

Think you'd need to gauge your portfolio to the job you are looking to get..

Richard Kain

Yes, it mainly depends on the company you are applying to. If they specialize in more "cartoony" style games, then by all means, focus on those pieces. If not, I would still keep those pieces in there. But you would probably want to include a few more realistic models over the cartoony ones. Realistic games are always the highest-selling titles. In these days of hyper-violence and shock value, it is very rare to see a "cartoony" game outsell a realistic title. Most companies tend to focus in this area. You still want your cartoon-themed models in there, as this will showcase your individual style and show them that you are flexible.

TomDunne

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Realistic games are always the highest-selling titles.

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I think that would be an interesting topic for debate. World of Warcraft, any Mario title, the last Zelda game all spring to mind. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the ratio of realistic::cartoony best selling titles is comparable to the ratio in which they're produced.

thnom

A bit off topic but I don't think realistic graphics sell games as much as cartoony.

Look at Tak and the Power of Juju - Medicore platformer with amazing cartoony graphics, completly sold the product compared to something like I don't know..

I'd be making both, and cater that towards the company. So say a company generally released cartoony, but has done realistic in the past, show 70/30% cartoony.