Sorry for being so emo on Thursday, but it felt good to let it out. As a result, I've gotten a lot of response from artists and programmers who feel exactly the same way. So many dreams, so little time. I really am proud of how far NG has come, just know that I will always be wanting it to go further. The goal of NG is to share your creativity with the largest audience possible, without becoming a homogenized mass-market blandfest.
This past Friday morning, I made the long drive to check on the progress of a "secret project" of ours. I wasn't planning to let this cat out of the bag until it was ready, but I'm impatient and I just have to share it with everyone.
Around this time last year, I started development of an official Newgrounds tank trophy, aka "the Academy Awards of Flash." The goal was to have it done in time for a Best of 2006 awards celebration, but like everything else, it took longer than anticipated. The trophy started as a meticulously sculpted clay model and became a plastic resin casting. We tried giving the initial casting a metallic finish, but the results weren't what we had hoped for. The trophy could look like it was made of metal, but I wanted it to be cold to the touch, the way only metal is. And I wanted to be able to bludgeon someone with it, if the need ever arose.
So, it was off to the foundry! Here, the trophy was duplicated as a series of wax models, which then became bronze castings. The FINAL forthcoming step is to apply a patina to the castings, giving them a smooth, shiny finish. The tanks will then each be mounted to a marble base, with an engraved plaque for the winner.
We are producing 20 trophies, but it has yet to be determined how many we will give out each year. We also have yet to determine what the categories will be, and whether they will be strictly for Flash, or also for music and community involvement, as they likely will be.
NOTE: This picture is NOT what the final trophy will look like. The final trophies will have a smooth, semi-shiny silver surface and will be mounted on black marble. For this reason, I hesitate to even post a picture. I wonder if posting this picture will lessen the impact of the final trophy, making it less of a surprise and less "magical" than it would have been otherwise. I'm gonna post it anyway. It's a vision of a small slice of NG's future and just one of many top-secret projects that have yet to be finished.
