Practical III

In pursuit of further investigating the link between video game character realism in correlation to the themes in the video game I am looking at proportions. I have identified realism and stylization to be the two key variables.

Realism in this case is how accurately the visual design compares to that of a real life human being. The cartoon proportions above clearly do not reflect as well on the proportions of the character below - mostly because they are the proportions of a child, but other proportions are also clear. The size of the head, for example, is far smaller. The size of the shoulders are much larger, too. The expressions are not as exaggerated either, as the facial details, e,g eyes and mouth are also more realistic in the second image. One would more readily expect to see a character with the below proportions in a game with mature themes than a character with the above proportions.

Stylization is whether the character an artistic flair or touch gives the character another design element that makes it more distinct. I already touched on this when comparing characters from two different fighting games, Tekken and Street Fighter.

Typically, it isn't a universal rule; there are exceptions, but there is an existing correlation between graphic games and the realism of the character design, that being that they are usually realistic.

Lara Croft, for example, has gone through a transformation in her image, and in the latest game instalment which featured her, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, she appeared to have much more realistic proportions compared to how she appeared in her predecessor games.