Newgrounds.com — Everything, By Everyone.

At 10/2/12 01:48 AM, DeftAndEvil wrote: Ekublai and 4 are judging; I'd like to see Deathcon, mhzinski, and starwars on that panel. Ooh! That's a NG Writing Forum Halloween Contest Review Panel Dream Team!

I don't think I'll be judging, because it wouldn't make sense for me to judge stories written by people far more experienced than me :P

About the store credit prizes, only reason I haven't PMed Tom about this is that last time he *did* offer store credit, but since only like 6 entries we submitted, almost everyone was going to get a prize, so everyone just decided to not take the prizes and not announce any winner. It was more of a writing event than a writing contest last time.

But if anyone wants to get Tom on the line, feel free to do so. There seems to be more attention this month.

At 10/1/12 10:41 PM, Shade wrote: Sounds interesting enough.

I'm already working on a story as it is. so this might be a good idea.

I forgot to link to the discussion thread. My bad.

DISCUSSION THREAD: http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1319911

Y'know that new NG header logo is really starting to grow on me.

I still really really think "Everything by Everyone" should be brought back It was a beautiful slogan :'(

At 10/1/12 02:37 PM, egg82 wrote: Anyway: i'm not entirely sure what use a Game Dev forum would serve, to be honest. I mean, what would go in it?

I-smel already replied but I had a little speech going on sooo...

Game design and game programming are two very different things. The flash forum right now is all about the technical aspects of creating a game.

Game design, arguably the most important job in games, involves discussions of what makes games fun, game concepts, and how you could make your game more fun or engaging, or how for example you could get people playing your game for long. Or level design, and what makes a good level. Or perhaps discussions of what your game's purpose is. Are you trying to entertain? Are you trying to convey a message? Are you experimenting with a new mechanic?

I believe we talked about this a few pages back.

Discussion for the contest goes here. Contest thread:

http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1319910

++ ENTRY THREAD ++

DO NOT DISCUSS THE CONTEST IN THIS THREAD. ALL QUESTIONS, CONCERNS AND COMMENTS GO IN THE DISCUSSION THREAD: TO BE POSTED BELOW

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Welcome October's 2012's Monthly Writing Contest: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MWC12 - October - Horroween - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It's October, it's Halloween, and it's time to feel that craving for writing!

THEME

When I first heard about "horror" as a genre of writing, I scoffed at the idea. "How could some text be scary?" I thought to myself. But the stories I've read, especially the stories that take you on such psychological thrillers, the ones that really, physically, make you cringe at the words have changed my mind.

My definition of art is anything that can convey emotions, and what's so beautiful about the art of writing is how you can sway the reader to and fro and sync his emotions with that of the protagonist. So what I'd like to try personally is to have a certain emotion, horror, isolation, or shock sort of seep through the words. A story that gets the reader's heart beating. How awesome would THAT be?

RESTRICTIONS

1) Word Count Maximum: 7000 words
2) Story must fit the "horror" theme
3)Story must be submitted by the deadline below

DEADLINE: October 31st, 2012; MIDNIGHT STD, EST (ie midnight between October 31st and November 1st)

PRIZES

There's no official prize as of yet, but so far DeftAndEvil has so graciously agreed to donate $10 to the winning entry.

More than a monetary prize, what you get by entering is feedback by your fellow writers. I urge everyone who enters to take the time to put up a review of the other stories, as the more stories you review the more likely people will review yours.

And have fun!
SUBMITTING

1) Post your stories in this thread.
2) Do not post revisions in this thread. They will be deleted.
3) You may submit one story only, one time. Posts will not be deleted at your demand so make sure your work is perfect before posting here.

JUDGING

Ekublai has agreed to judge the contest.

So good luck!

Also something I did a few weeks ago:

Online Lines of Code counter

Because all the LOC counters I found had me downloading a complicated program/script and I couldn't find one that was quick and online. So there you go.

Also people should livestream while they work because it's awesome seeing art come to life.

At 9/28/12 12:38 AM, PrettyMuchBryce wrote: Wow! That looks amazing. I really need to catch up your dev blog. Do you have a twitter that I can follow ? I am really impressed w/ your progress. Hope to be playing a full length concerned joe within the next year. :)

Thanks for the kind words! Although I don't really use twitter that much, I just made this: https://twitter.com/ConcernedJoe

Until we start posting there, the devblog is probably where you'll find the latest stuff. We even made a mailing list that you can sign up to on the blog to be notified of new posts and stuff!

At 9/26/12 11:16 PM, DeftAndEvil wrote: If you need judges count me in as well. Also, I would like to do a jam, so count me in for an entry as well, as well.

I'll definitely post a contest thread and a theme around the 1st of October.

We've also got Ekublai on board with judging!

See I'm still leaning towards a regular one month contest because:

At 9/24/12 06:34 PM, EJR wrote: I'd recommend starting out with a jam first just to test the waters. See who's excited for that and then once you get the support, suggest the idea of a bigger contest. That seems like the most reasonable thing to do considering big projects can flop really easily no matter how big the support is for one, which is kind of what I notice in the Art or Collab forums sometimes.

See I think it's the opposite when it's a contest with a deadline. Because for a collab, you need a certain amount of people, otherwise the project fails. But for a contest, the longer we keep it open the higher the chance of more people coming across the contest and entering

And especially cuz if it were a jam I probably won't be able to enter because this month is really tight with college admissions and examinations.

At 9/26/12 06:49 PM, Glaiel-Gamer wrote:

At 9/26/12 03:44 AM, PSvils wrote: (At first I thought you were decompiling the swf and getting the raw graphics data from objects, rather than just clip x/y/properties.)

I've played with this before a while ago and I'm gonna revive the idea for my next c++ game because fuck spritesheets,

I think that's what Tom was talking about a page back or two. The moment I realized that everything was just data that you can access in some way or another was awesome.

Like how "fla" is just a renamed .zip file and extensions are all just superfluous ways for the programs/system to know what programs open what. Like I could make a .joe file and it would work just because it's a file and it has data in it and it's called file.joe

Also, to Glaiel, where you working on Closure full time or were you in college or something?

At 9/26/12 01:33 AM, GameBalance wrote: But he will have to pay 10% from the deal isn't he? So from 1500$ you pay 150$ and get 1350$, that's the reason.

No, it's more like, sponsors see the $1500 bid, and they bid higher, and you end up with $3000. And you get 90% of that $3k.

Otherwise, you get 100% of $1500, which is much less.

At 9/26/12 10:21 AM, PSvils wrote: There's actually an option on FGL for the developer themselves to add external bids to inform everyone that someone is bidding higher.

I'd stay away from that option, proxy bidding, because since it requires no verification, any developer could put up any amount in order to try to drive the price of his game higher. As such sponsors have stopped taking proxy bids seriously for a long time. Which is why if you can get the sponsor to bid with his account, it's much more favorable.

At 9/24/12 02:03 PM, Mattster wrote: Concerned Joe looks pretty neat! For some reason my FlashPlayer is screwing up any game with an ENTER_FRAME handler (it just decides to drop the framerate to 6-10), maybe I can properly play it in the future haha.

Thanks! The flash version was super buggy and laggy anyway, the downloadable version hopefully won't disappoint.

At 9/24/12 03:41 PM, PSvils wrote: This sounds super interesting...mind sharing how you're rippin' the movieclips apart? Are you using the format library?

It's actually a lot simpler than it sounds. At first when I heard that my artist had worked with a programmer who "wrote a plugin to export animation data from flash" I was like "holy crap".

But then when I thought about it, all I really need to do is loop through the frames, and on each frame, loop through the children of the movieclip, get all their properties, x, y scaleX, scaleY, colorTransform etc... and export that in a JSON along with the frame labels and whatnot.

The only really tricky part was getting it to export in the format I wanted, and having to write an XML to JSON converter in AS3 because apparently I couldn't find one that worked.

Xelu talks about this in this post: http://concerned-joe.com/devblog/?p=396 (except replace "with this guy's nifty invention" to me having to write one from scratch, as it was overcomplicated and had a lot of features that I didn't use, and was a bit hard to customize to exactly the way we wanted")

Could you have kept the old tank icon but just made it smaller?

I don't know, I just felt that old tank was really symbolic. Like whenever I'd have a chance, I'd take out my keys, that have the NG tank keychain, (which I won in a game jam, that was the first time I ever won anything of value, and was like a highlight of my life) and I'd hold the keychain next to the NG logo.

And that moment would just symbolize how an idea could grow into something and change the world. How what was merely a thought in someone's head is now something I physically hold in my hand, something that is a symbol of creation. An icon of everything by everyone.

Just my thoughts.

At 9/24/12 12:00 PM, Mattster wrote: Still trying to keep a steady flow of updates rolling out for The Drawing Grounds while also whipping up a concept for another game that can use the NG API as a sketchy multiplayer platform.

Sadly I am just running low on free time due to school and other commitments :/

Congrats on being the first guy to make a multiplayer game with NG's api :D

I'm still working hard on Concerned Joe the downloadable version. It's coming along pretty solid, we're trying to make it as awesome as possible, and we're trying to slowly build a following since I'm told marketing is very very very important in the downloadable market.

www.concerned-joe.com

So check around gaiz!

The other thing I'm really really happy with is how we handled the animations.

Since making spritesheets for HD graphics would be very large, and not very dynamic (if you wanted to slow down animations for example) so I ended up writing a sort of script that lets you animate in flash, and then exports every movieclip's properties in every frame as a JSON (or XML) and labels the frames and everything, so they can be easily animated in any engine in any language, even with frame interpolations and stuff.

The game's also time based so it can run at any FPS from 20 to 500, the faster the computer, the smoother the motion and animation.

I'm starting to lean back towards a full month contest instead of a 72 hour one. I think the problem with the latter is that a lot of people may miss it, and there's already a lack of activity in the forum anyway. So at least a month will give people enough time to participate.

At 9/22/12 06:01 AM, Monsie wrote: traces "[object Enemy]" instead of enemy or enemy2. If I change the trace to trace(grabbed.name) then i get "Instance 14". How can I get the variable "grabbed" to point to the character who actually met the requirement (i.e. "enemy" or "enemy2")?

That's how it's supposed to work.

Each instance of the class "Enemy" you create, is an object of that class, so tracing any of them would output [object Enemy] just like how if you trace any movieclip, it will output [object Movieclip] regardless of its variable name.

So enemy and enemy2 are just that, variable names.

enemy.name, is a property of the movieclip class, which you never set anywhere, and as such, will take default values of instance#

I don't think there's a way to get the variable name of an object (though I could be wrong), but either way, you'll never really need to do so.

Either give your enemies instance names manually by doing enemy.name = "enemy"

Or better yet, just group your objects depending on their type. So all enemies would go into an enemyArray, and the players in a playerArray and so on and so forth.

At 9/20/12 01:01 PM, egg82 wrote: if you can show me a good game that was never intended to be fun, i'll be impressed.

Newgrounds has a frikking collection:

http://www.newgrounds.com/collection/artgames

Some games are made and exhibited as art. The intent isn't necessarily to provide the player with a challenge or addictive mechanic, but rather to convey a message, elicit an emotion or create a memorable experience.

Games, like movies, or poetry, aren't just a way to amuse people and move on. It's an art medium.

Heck, the upcoming mini-ludum dare's theme is to make games that are NOT supposed to be fun:

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2012/09/15/mini-ludum-dare-37 -announcement/

At 9/19/12 11:00 AM, pirateplatypus wrote: I'm pretty sure tr can be used to edit binary files.

Though my feeling on 'protecting' flash is that it's kind of a waste of time. I get the feeling that no matter how hard you try to protect your source, someone is going to figure out a way to rip it off. So when/if I ever get around to releasing something in flash, my preference is just to release the source code.

While I agree that there's just no way to protect it fully protect your game (even the "best" flash encryption on the market, Kindisoft, is usually quickly hacked by chinese websites), the same can be said about anything else really. And I think some encryption is better than no encryption.

And I think it's just all about who you're trying to protect your game against.

My friend had his game decompiled, the art stolen and used in an iPhone ripoffed version of the game. He contacted Apple and they took down the game. So even if your stuff *does* get stolen there won't be any damage as long as you take the appropriate action.

This comic is fucking mindblowing:

http://xkcd.com/1110/

At 9/18/12 09:16 AM, Abracadabra123 wrote: Tom, you're spending too much money for your website. We hard believe you need more money what we get.

You have no idea how much it costs to not only host a site like Newgrounds, but to pay everyone who works there. It's ridiculous because sites that are competing with Newgrounds are spending millions of dollars on their websites. Newgrounds isn't paying too much, it's barely doing so.

Stop making meetings all around the world. You'll save money and it's pointless.

A huge factor in growing as a community is having presence in the relevant communities, so no, it's not pointless.

I saw movies (mp4) above 100 megs. Remove mp4 movies will save money too.

Cutting features to save money is a backwards and silly idea.

Ads are showing when loading a flash. Remove it. We won't click on the ads anyway.

A lot of people click those ads. Also, developers are the ones that put these ads, and they're the ones that get most of the revenue from it.

At 9/17/12 09:33 PM, Gerkinman wrote: How do you even attract new artists to a site like this when the purpose of the site isn't even clear, i mean its great that its a hub for art, games, videos and music, but its has a its fingers in all these pies without coming close to mastering any of them, its unfocused and as such excels at nothing other then being cluttered and undirected.

While your rant was well structured and argued meticulously, (and thanks for the link to fillim) I have to disagree here.

I really think that's the whole point of beauty and Newgrounds. If you're an animator, Newgrounds isn't just a place to post your movies, and same for all other fields. What amazes me about Newgrounds is the collaboration. You could be making your art, and have no idea how games work for example, but then you come across a guy learning to program and you start talking, and team up and eventually make games. If I'm not mistaken that's how Tommy and Edmund, the creators of Super Meat Boy, met.

And there's a lot of other stories like this. Or perhaps you'd even benefit from the people you meet and work with through game jams. Sure, there's a lot of other places that make game jams, but Newgrounds it the only one that assigns you in random teams so you work with people you may never have considered working with before. And I'm not sure if any other place does movie jams either.

Apples and oranges.

At 9/15/12 05:10 PM, SquareWhale wrote:

At 9/13/12 10:08 AM, 4urentertainment wrote: Newgrounds doesn't have its own ad system. Newgrounds is basically a wrapper for CPMStar. Whether or not it generates more revenue is a fickle topic. It depends on a lot of factors.

With that, does that mean Newgrounds makes anything from it...? They take a portion, right?

CPMStar's ad revenue breakdown is:

-50% developer
-25% sponsor (in this case Newgrounds)
-25% CPMStar

Mochi gives the developer 40% revenue if I remember correctly.

I'll be the first to give a serious response, so here goes.

Don't think of yourself as a hidden enigma that is tragically shunned away by society and forced to find joy in the art you create. It's a nice thought, but the truth is you're not all that different, and that's good thing!

I used to think like you as well. That no one could really fathom what I had in my head, because they weren't smart enough or whatever. But it wasn't until I actually started talking to people that I realized these mindless teens actually have some deep and profound insight of their own. Just because someone looks happy and goofy doesn't mean they think a lot as well.

Perhaps try to find someone who shares an interest in math or programming, or even art.

Your post reminds me of this as well:

http://blackhole12.newgrounds.com/news/post/748002

The important thing to remember is that, no matter how different or alone you may feel, there are people just like you somewhere out there. You just gotta find them!

At 9/16/12 01:02 AM, Lintire wrote: Is it really surprising that people are putting off the most unwanted parts of the plan (house and family) for longer, each generation? Is it right to vilify those who reject their education in favour of simply enjoying life (and popularizing shitty acronyms)? How many people are trying to prove themselves fervently by exceeding at that plan and are making themselves miserable in the process? How many people are doing the same, but are ecstatic about it?

It's not about trying to prove yourself to society though.

Society is like a well oiled machine (or rather a fickle, duct taped structure, but that's another issue) that wants to exist. And in the process of doing so it enslaves everyone. We are all working for society. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. The reason we got so far in our history is that we learned to stick together and form larger and larger communities. So by doing all those "horrible" things you said, instead of doing the things you might otherwise love to do, you're helping society. And society promises to pay you back by offering any services you want, depending on how much services you gave it, via the system of money.

At 9/15/12 08:57 AM, VJF wrote: Every religion has different views on what's "innocent" and what's not. What they should realize but never will because all of them are full of crap is that no one is innocent; everyone is guilty of something whether it be blowing up people in a building or telling a white lie to spare someones feelings.

That has nothing to do with anything. In fact, and this is something you may not realize because you don't seem to read much on people before attacking them, is that Islam says that, yes, everyone is guilty. Because humans sin a lot. Even the prophet Muhammed said that if God was to judge him by his good deeds and his sins, then it wouldn't be enough for him to get into heaven. (But that, y'know, God is merciful and and forgives a lot)

At 9/15/12 07:23 AM, PSvils wrote:

At 9/15/12 07:13 AM, TomFulp wrote: I do want to modernize with AS3 but JohnnyUtah and I are working on another console game using AS2... But Flash 8 this time. :P

How do you deploy an AS2 Flash game to consoles?

I'm curious about this as well. I've been going around telling my friends "remember Castle Crashers? Yeah they actually used flash for that!" and when they ask me how my response is usually along the lines of "magic".

Also, good guy NG, donating to the indie scene:

At 9/14/12 10:32 PM, JessTheNoob wrote: Okay so I just finished my latest toon, and when I exported it, the audio was off. I have never ran into this problem before. Anyone know how to fix it? I've tried to but I have no clue what to do. I'm using Flash CS6.

Thanks guys.

More information needed. How are you playing your sounds? Are they set to stream or event? How long is your audio? Is all one audio file or several ones? Are you using scenes?

At 9/14/12 09:40 AM, TomFulp wrote: I was always excited to have post-mortems on NG, as a category in the Writing Portal. The thought was, you could append it to your game project - so when you play the game it links to the article with the post-mortem, and if you read the post-mortem is has a link to the game, all cross-connected between portals.

That sounds like a really really good idea.

Not only would it get more people involved in seeing how the game was developed and monetized, because right now post-mortems are pretty few and hard to find, and you'd only stumble upon them if you hang around development forums and developer blogs. Players have no idea they exist and perhaps seeing it might spark someone's interest into creating something.

But not only that, I think having that option to append a post mortem to the game submission would also encourage more post mortems to be written. Which I think is an awesome thing.

About a Game Design forum, I do agree that the forums that aren't very active should be grouped (like anything related to mobile can be asked in the Flash forum) however the existence of a game design forum will get people to talk more about game design, and get people to understand what game design actually is. It may not be very populated at first but I think its existence alone will entice a lot more discussion about it, and I think that's a good thing with game design being a pretty crucial thing and all.