Hi Folks, I've just made a demo reel of a few of my projects in my undergrad and graduate degrees so I thought I might share it with you all. So, here you go:

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I attended the BSc (Hons) Computer Games Technology degree at the University of Abertay Dundee for my undergrad and I'm currently an MS Computer Science student at Stanford University. Laurence Emms

Good stuff! Your space shooter game looked F'ing fantastic. Why on Earth are you hiding it at the end of your demo reel?! You have to keep in mind that employers and others may only give your demo reel a minute or two. I think you should put your most powerful stuff at the front. I have never really researched demo reels before, so maybe I am dead wrong, but it makes sense to me. I would also suggest to maybe buy some better art for the 2D over-head shooter games. I know that is not what you are really showcasing, and it is not fair, but your coding work will be judged partially by the art assets. It just adds to the "wow-factor". I would also suggest adding some of the particle demos at the end. While they are quite nice, they seem a bit long, and I could see a busy employer stopping it after 30 or 40 seconds of them. Other than those nit-picks, it looks great! Again, that space shooter was amazing, and I think it is currently your reel's bread and butter.

Thanks for the advice. I'll swap the space shooter to the front of the video for the ones I submit when I'm applying for jobs. :)

I did the 2D art for these projects myself. I only really included the 2D game because it's a networked game and might create a conversation point in an interview. I don't like being thought of as a one-trick pony, especially when I've got a wide variety of skills. :p

That said, I'll probably remove that 2D section for my final reel. I was a bit worried about the way it looked from the start...

P.S. Maybe I should have explained but the particle things at the end are fluid dynamics simulations in 2D and 3D respectively.

You need to somehow add to the reel the significance of the 2D game. You will not always have a chance to tell a possible employer (or anyone else you may send it to) anything about your demo reel, and you should prepare for that. In the best cases, you will be able to sit down and discuss everything, but many people are very busy and just throw on your reel after you send it to them long before they ever contact you. I had no idea it was networked at all. However, I don't claim to be an expert at all, and I don't know the best way to get additional info out about a demo reel. Send it with an extra note? Add some text to the video? I have no idea.

EDIT: And I wouldn't worry too much about being a "one trick pony". That is probably like a worker being afraid their resume does not have enough in it because they worked at the same company for 15 years. The space game obviously took a long time to make, and I think that will shine through.

You will also likely be changing around your demo reel a lot depending on your audience. If you were applying for a 3D game programming job, you would likely stress the space shooter. If you were applying for an effects programming job, you would probably want to show off the particle effects more prominently. And if it dealt with networking, you would probably want to add more of the 2D multiplayer game.

Sounds good. Thanks for the advice. I don't really know anyone else who is applying for this kind of job in my degree program so I don't really have the chance here to talk to other people about the sort of thing to put in a demo reel. Most of my classmates are PhD students who're looking to go into research or MS students looking to go into simulations rather than graphics or games.

Neat stuff. I'm not qualified to evaluate you, but the products all looked different and varied, which is a good thing. I kinda wanna play that space game now.