* UnrealPHD, an Independent Game Studio, is not affiliated with this event, but some of the members of our game studio will be among the many fans present August 12-15, 2010 in Orlando, Florida.

Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, Massive Fan Event will Take Place in Orlando, Florida August 12-15, 2010; Registration Will Go Live Thursday, December 10th
Commemorating the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and the ongoing, weekly adventures of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Reed Exhibitions’ PopGroup will partner to produce what’s expected to be one of the largest official Star Wars fan events ever — featuring cast and crew celebrities, fan-run events, costumes, music, live entertainment, screenings, autographs, collectibles, panels and sneak peaks into the future of Star Wars.

Star Wars Celebration V will take place August 12-15, 2010, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. A website, www.starwarscelebration.com, is dedicated exclusively to the event, and tickets to Star Wars Celebration V will be available for purchase online starting Thursday, December 10th. As always, Celebration will bring together the best of the Star Wars universe in one exciting, dynamic event!

Lucasfilm Ltd launched Star Wars Celebrations in 1999. Since then, the official Star Wars “parties” have become mega events, attracting tens of thousands of loyal and devoted fans and families. To date, there have been four Star Wars Celebrations in America, as well as a Star Wars Celebration Europe (2007) and Star Wars Celebration Japan (2008). Star Wars Celebration V will be the first Star Wars Celebration produced jointly with Reed PopGroup, which is responsible for the successful New York Comic Con, the new Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) and more.

“We’re going to have a blast commemorating the 30th anniversary of fan-favorite The Empire Strikes Back as we welcome an entire new generation of fans watching our animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” said Steve Sansweet, Lucasfilm’s head of Fan Relations. “There’s no doubt that Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando will be the ‘must attend’ event for Star Wars fans of all ages and from all parts of the galaxy,” he added. “We’re also very excited to launch our partnership with Reed PopGroup, which has shown great expertise in running large, fun-filled events that satisfy fans, show participants, and exhibitors. We’re expecting the biggest and best Celebration to date.”

“This is an enormously exciting undertaking and a natural partnership,” said Lance Fensterman, Vice President of Reed PopGroup. “Star Wars is arguably the strongest brand in the pop culture world, while Reed PopGroup has established itself as a leader in creating amazing experiences for fans and customers. Additionally, Reed Exhibitions has a strong international presence and is able to create world-class events globally,” he added “We look forward to providing first-rate organizational and programming expertise for a fan-based event that is well established and already attracts an enormous audience. In tandem with Lucasfilm, I’m certain that Star Wars Celebration V will be bigger and better than ever. We look forward to many years of working with Lucasfilm.”

Star Wars Celebration is the official Lucasfilm convention celebrating all things Star Wars. The Celebrations are the biggest Star Wars events held, allowing friends and families to gather to have fun and celebrate their love of the Saga. From fans who first experienced A New Hope in theaters to kids just discovering Star Wars through Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Celebration touches on anything and everything connected with that galaxy far, far away. The producers promise more interactive events than ever at Celebration V. Celebrity guests will sign in the Star Wars Celebration Autograph area as well as make presentations. The annual Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge prizes will be awarded and there will be a chance for budding filmmakers to get tips from more experienced ones. Star Wars Celebration V will feature scores of crowd-pleasing events that can be found only at an official Star Wars convention.

Ticketing, pricing, and exhibitor information follows:

Tickets will be available starting Thursday, Dec. 10th via www.starwarscelebration.com. Visit the official site for up-to-date pricing information.
Limited VIP Packages are expected to be available in early 2010, with details to be announced on the website. Single or Four-Day Passes already purchased can be upgraded to VIP status as long as supplies last!
Special hotel rates and other travel information will be announced on the website.
Information for Exhibitors and Celebration Art Show participation at Star Wars Celebration V will start to take shape in early 2010. For information about a sponsorship or exhibiting at Celebration V please contact Larry Settembrini, Sales Manager, lsettembrini@reedexpo.com, 203-840-5321.
For the latest news on show exclusives and special announcements on featured guests and events, subscribe to the Star Wars Celebration Newsletter at www.starwarscelebration.com. Also follow the news about Celebration V here at the Official Star Wars site. For general information and the latest news about the Reed Exhibitions’ PopGroup, please follow the group’s official blog, www.mediumatlarge.net.

ABOUT REED EXHIBITIONS POP CULTURE GROUP:

The Pop Culture Group at Reed Exhibitions owns and operates the New York Comic Con (NYCC), the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2), and the New York Anime Festival (NYAF). New York Comic Con was launched in 2006 and quickly became a dominant presence in the pop culture world of public events. In 2009, 452 companies exhibited at NYCC for a total of 84,000 square feet of paid exhibit space, and it has been ranked by Crain’s New York Business as the second-largest annual event in NYC. C2E2, which will debut April 16 – 18 at Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center, is modeled after NYCC and will provide fans the opportunity to meet and greet their favorite writers, creators, and artists, as well as to see, hear and learn about the latest and greatest in comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies, and television. The Pop Culture Group also operates the recently-launched UFC Fan Expo in partnership with the UFC — the world’s leading professional mixed martial arts organization — and it formed a strategic partnership with Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in 2008 and will work closely with PAX on the launch of PAX East in Boston in 2010.

As the PC version is being completed we will start production on an iPhone spinoff using our Ogre Islands assets and re-purposing them as lower res versions, in a simpler game form.

We are looking for skilled game team members to share responsibilities and earn a percentage of profits on this project. We are only seeking very experienced Zbrush artists, or Character Riggers and animators, UDK programmers, Unity 3d progammers, or excellent 3d modelers and texture artists. Do you want to see your work in game and get game credits, and earn some money from our online sales? Contact our team today.

We are glad to help you learn next gen gaming quickly and effectively.

We will also soon be releasing video tutorials for game design for the iPhone, iPad, and iTouch using Unity 3d, and look forward to your feedback and requests on our forums. Like our Intro to UDK, these tutorials will focus on creating the most in the shortest amount of time, as a creative experience integrated into a game production environment.

Is your time valuable? Learn game design fast. Check back soon.

Since our sales have been from all different parts of the world, we have added a 52 language translator to our website to reflect the global nature of this site. This will help you to share information about our website in other languages, by copying and pasting our translated text. Check it out, it’s an instant font and text conversion to Thai, Hindi, Japanese, or whatever language you choose. Just click the “Translate” link on any page.

Our Digital Download version of Introduction to Unreal Development Kit (UDK) has been our most popular product, with sales in the US, Europe, India, China, Japan, Australia, and other places. Even though the High Definition video is 3.5 hours and over 2 Gbs, not one single customer has had a problem downloading the entire video without any problems. Your download of our HD video tutorials is guaranteed.

We have also added an extensive bookmarking feature, to assist sharing pages on our website via email, facebook, myspace, digg, delicious, etc. No matter what social networks you use, you will find it in our new bookmarking menu.

We now have UnrealPHD accounts on Steam, Xfire, GameSpot, and Raptr. Connect with UnrealPHD on all these sites, or Youtube, Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter.

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198000786578

http://www.xfire.com/profile/k0ntackt1/

http://www.gamespot.com/users/UnrealPHD/?tag=userpanel%3Bprofile

http://raptr.com/UnrealPHD

Learn to create your own video games from scratch in this 3 1/2 hour video tutorial. Game Designer and 3d artist Jurij Gantar covers the essentials of using EPIC Games free Unreal Development Kit, and shows you how to model, texture, light and populate your own game, and publish it as a complete .exe installer for PCs. Start creating games that you can share and sell today.

These tutorials also cover using 3dStudio Max, and other 3d software, to create game assets and creating high-res normal maps and using Photoshop for texturing.

UnrealPHD is offering a special promotional price of only $25 during January 2010 for Digital Downloads of the Introduction to Unreal Development Kit (UDK).

Click here to purchase the full Introduction to Unreal Development Kit Tutorial!

Finalists are still being determined and judged. So far UnrealPHD has received an Honorable Mention for Starbase Defense – Vehicle Set, 1 of only 3 Honorable Mentions, for Starbase Defense Vehicle Map – Air Wars, which we are very grateful for. Thanks EPIC!

This was just announced on the Epic website and many gaming websites globally this week.
If you see it on your game forum, give a shout out to the UnrealPHD.com crew!

http://forums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?p=26912053

more links:
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=EPIC+games+Starbase+Defense+honorable+mention&aq=f&aqi=&oq=&fp=b8148470ea1f7ec2

UnrealPHD is a collaborative map team formed in 2008. Our first project was Phase 2 of Epic’s Make Something Unreal Contest (MSUC), in which we had 4 official entries in multiple categories. This competition is still being judged, and is one of the largest competitions in Game Design with over $1 million dollars in prizes. Entries are judged on performance using the Unreal 3 Editor, and creating and integrating custom content.

http://www.makesomethingunreal.com/

http://www.fileplanet.com/193391/190000/fileinfo/Unreal-Tournament-3—DM-Starbase-Defense

Our team embraces next-generation modeling and game techniques. Our low-res game friendly meshes have normal and displacement maps and simulate models with millions of polygons.

Stay tuned for Unreal PHD’s Phase 4 entry to Epic’s Make Something Unreal Contest.