Albert Celaya

The Story of The Masses

acelaya35 — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:43:41 +0000

The idea is simple.

Rules.

1. Reply to this post with 1 word to form the story of the masses.

New Faces Teaching New Media: The Semester In Review

acelaya35 — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:46:38 +0000

So this Semester was something completely different from previous ones. Max K left us for a better gig so we were given two new faces to take his place. I only had one, Jenny Vogel. We took a completely different approach this semester and while it definitely took some getting used to it was awesome to get taught from a different perspective and focus on areas we had not focused on before. I learned alot from Max but it was fun and exciting to learn new things from our new professor. There were some adjustments that needed to be made this semester and even though we only had a few projects I honestly do not feel that any of them are of a quality that belongs on here with the exception of my final. I kept a video journal on the day it was due that focused on me setting it up. It was an installation piece and due to the expensive nature of some of the equipment it had to be put up and torn down on the same day. So without further interruption here are the video’s!

Why the Zune HD will fail.

acelaya35 — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:21:08 +0000

It was announced a while back that the Zune HD will use Nvidia’s truly revolutionary Tegra processor. Tegra sounds like an amazing chip, its either going to make or break Nvidia. With that said, if Microsoft, Samsung or LG make a crappy device for the Tegra then it wont matter how long the battery lasts or how pretty the graphics are. In order to compete with Apple the Zune needs more publicity, and an “easy” SDK. Ask anyone on the street if they have heard of the Zune and they will most likely say “huh?”. While the iPod was around to build a following way before the Zune, Microsoft has had a few years now to make the brand a household name and they have failed to do so. If the average consumer sees a Zune and an iPod sitting right next to each other for the same price they are most likely to pick the iPod unless Microsoft decides to make the Zune more visually appealing which they have not done with the Zune HD. Once again Microsoft has placed an emphasis on hardware rather than design, at first glance the Zune HD looks like any other small black device on the market as opposed to the rounded, brighter looking Apple product. 90% of the people who will buy such a device wont notice the fact that the device has a Tegra chip in it much less know what Tegra is. The iPhone has an Aluminum shell and a glass screen because Apple knows that even though those are more expensive than a plastic shell it will give the product the illusion of quality and people like that! What catches peoples eye is strong design, what sells them is performance. Think about how many devices you see out there that aren’t in a black plastic shell. Not too many.

From an app standpoint, Zune has some major catching up to do. A quick google on the “Zune SDK” returns a blog about the SDK in which the writer expresses his frustration on how he has to pay $100 to port his home made games to Xbox live. If you google iPhone SDK you get a well put together Apple site about the SDK with tutorials. How does Microsoft expect to catch up to Apple in the app department without a site for their SDK with a hosted tutorials? No one is going to learn this SDK if its a pain in the ass! Especially if they have to pay to use all of its features!

My point in all this is that even though the Tegra is an amazing chip, It’s going to take more than a performance advantage to make it successful. We all know about whats under the hood of these devices but we don’t account for 90% of consumers, and 90% of consumers wont know or care about what Tegra is, they just want a better looking and faster device then the next guy.

Michael Jackson Dead at Age 50

acelaya35 — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:57:14 +0000

Wow.

New Media Project 3 Complete!

acelaya35 — Thu, 07 May 2009 05:01:34 +0000

My final project for New Media I, Protect the Potempkin, is finished! check it out on Newgrounds now!

Click Here To Play!

New Media Project 3 Status

acelaya35 — Sun, 03 May 2009 18:40:39 +0000

In the interest of finishing my project on time i’ve had to simplify my design alot. The game no longer has planets to land on and now has a “tower defense” feel to it. Ive also decided because of file sizes Flash is not a good tool for a large game. My plan is to move the story and planetary exploration over to Valve’s Source engine which as strange as it sounds I am more familiar with. The flash game is still coming along nicely though, here are a few screenshots!

The Next Project

acelaya35 — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 06:18:00 +0000

Its 1:15am and Ive been furiously working on my next new media project. Compared to the last 2 nights it is kind of early. I don’t have a title yet but its a top down space/ground based shooter. Ive made significant progress in getting it up and running the past few days, I am currently on day 3 of development and I have a basic framework in place including player controls for the space portion, orbiting planets, and a “landing” system comprised of a hitTest function that reveals a button which can be clicked allowing the player to proceed to the corresponding planet’s surface. Besides coding I have been hard at work creating art assets, above is an example of two of the games 3 races. Ive also been creating a space station, planets, star fields, etc. This is going to be an epic project to say the least which is why I have been working so hard so soon on it. I am aiming high on this one, and it is going to pay off this is going to be a game that I will be proud of.

Bloxes Finished!

acelaya35 — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:17:46 +0000

Ive been hard at work putting the finishing touches on Bloxes, my second project for New Media this semester. Bloxes is now the first game that I have made completely from scratch! Well almost from scratch I have to give credit to MPL93 from YouTube for his awesome rendition of “In The Hall of The Mountain King” which he was nice enough to let me use in the game. So here it is people! Enjoy!

Click Here – Bloxes

New Name for New Media Project 2

acelaya35 — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 02:31:25 +0000

after much debate ive decided on a new name for my next project:

Bloxes

Here is the main menu:

So I want to make games………now what?

acelaya35 — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 01:43:57 +0000

I was driving around today and realized my ideas about what it is to be a game developer are mostly influenced by conjecture rather than fact. So tonight I went out and emailed several 3d Realms, Gearbox, Robot Entertainment, and a few other studios pretty much just asking what its like to work within their companies. I doubt I will get to many replies but it would be nice to get a few.