Best of April 2018!

[TomFulp]

Pico Day winners are coming up but first, here is your Best of April!

Top Five Movies

• 

  ZTV News Episode 9

  by ZONE-SAMA

  ZTV News Episode 9 (April 2018)

  Movie

  396,419 Views

  (Ages 17+)

• Unsuitable Submission

  This submission contains age-rated material and requires an account to view.

• 

  Totally Tubular Collab

  by blabberdookie

  Three boys get into some wacky medieval shenanigans.

  Movie

  84,061 Views

  (Ages 17+)

• 

  Steamed Hams animation collab

  by TmsT

  A Steamed Hams collab, with each animator remaking 13 seconds of the iconic Simpsons clip.

  Movie

  46,664 Views

  (Ages 13+)

• 

  Bob Sponge

  by Rigamarole

  sponge finds trouble

  Movie

  77,783 Views

  (Ages 13+)

The top ranked animation based on original material, defeater of three epic collabs and winner of $250 is @Zone-Sama!

Top Five Games

• 

  YOU LEFT ME.

  by zephyo

  You wake up in a different world. How do you escape? ..And why are you here?

  Game

  197,955 Views

  (Ages 13+)

• 

  Renaine [OLD KS BUILD II]

  by squidly

  Guide Aine, the Phoenix Knight, on her impossible quest through Lineria.

  Game

  56,030 Views

  (Ages 13+)

• 

  Bouncefloor

  by MartinJacob

  Find a thief in a crowded nightclub.

  Game

  37,252 Views

  (Everyone)

• 

  Guy Slashing Stuff In the Future

  by Oultrox

  Nightcrawler Beat' em up / Hack n' slash adventure!

  Game

  47,235 Views

  (Ages 13+)

• 

  Oni - Hunter

  by boumusic

  Stealth Puzzle game made for LD41

  Game

  16,849 Views

  (Everyone)

Runner-up Movies

6. RETRO ARCADE ANIME: R-TYPE
7. ANAMNESIS.fla
8. Momentary Life
9. Waiting For The Bus
10. Mail's Here : Foamy The Squirrel
11. regarding Pie
12. Tommy Gorilla
13. The Life and Death of Vega
14. TD-Suicide Week
15. HighGate Shootout | April vs Matilda
16. Team Teen: Resurrection Part 1
17. Prank War
18. Reviewboy12 - SPYRO REACTION!!!
19. Max Goes Mining
20. *OFFICIAL ZONE TAN GAME* WAIFU RESCUE
21. SSB4 Parody
22. The Ballsack Ninja
23. Thirst
24. 2 Fast 2 Sonic
25. Madness Within Me
26. Throwverwatch 2
27. Nameless 7 Part 5
28. FFXV: Booty of the First King
29. Madness Adlational
30. Prank War Part II

Soooo much great animation this month, try to watch a bunch!

Runner-up Games

6. Red
7. Zrist
8. Paddle Pals
9. Indie Ana Jones
10. Johnny Rocketfingers 2 (Polish)
11. Bitcoin Mining Simulator
12. Madam De'Monica's Villain Academy
13. Secend
14. Kristov Colin
15. Late for Love
16. Deluded Hero
17. 8 Legs to Love
18. Diseviled 2
19. THEY HAVE NO CHOICE !
20. Toodee and Topdee

The voter of the month and winner of honorary Supporter status is @jasoNicman!

Thank you everyone who participated in April, it was a huge month with three epic collabs, new user pages and the new site header.

We also hosted a Minit Art Contest and featured a bunch of Ludum Dare games.

Enjoying NG? Please consider becoming a supporter! We can't do any of this without your help so thank you.

Closing screenshot from YOU LEFT ME. by @zephyo.

[DoctorStrongbad]

April was a great month for animations. Congrats to everybody who submitted.

[squidly]

Bad, but important, news: Due to new Autoplay policies. Music on the vast majority of html5 games are now busted. There's currently no workaround for this, and there probably won't ever be one unless google changes its mind.

[TomFulp]

At 5/7/18 12:25 PM, squidly wrote: Bad, but important, news: Due to new Autoplay policies. Music on the vast majority of html5 games are now busted. There's currently no workaround for this, and there probably won't ever be one unless google changes its mind.

I've been reading this and using the latest Chrome but haven't experienced it on NG yet... I thought that maybe NG was on their whitelist (no surprise that YouTube is) but maybe it's something in my personal Chrome settings.

[TomFulp]

At 5/7/18 12:25 PM, squidly wrote: Bad, but important, news: Due to new Autoplay policies. Music on the vast majority of html5 games are now busted. There's currently no workaround for this, and there probably won't ever be one unless google changes its mind.

Can you link me to a game on NG that isn't playing audio for you? Want to see from my end.

[Cyberdevil]

Congrats to the winners! Great to see all three major collabs made it, though wish there'd been room for this one too:

• 

  RETRO ARCADE ANIME: R-TYPE

  by OtaKing77077

  Based on the 1987 arcade game.

  Movie

  40,333 Views

  (Ages 13+)

Might be the smoothest animation this year. Bout to check out that other one you left me...

At 5/7/18 12:25 PM, squidly wrote: Bad, but important, news: Due to new Autoplay policies. Music on the vast majority of html5 games are now busted. There's currently no workaround for this, and there probably won't ever be one unless google changes its mind.

Google as in if games are played via their browser, Chrome...? Or do they have influence over the language itself? Good thing I'm running FireFox...

[DoctorStrongbad]

At 5/7/18 02:17 PM, Cyberdevil wrote: Congrats to the winners! Great to see all three major collabs made it, though wish there'd been room for this one too:
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/709386
Might be the smoothest animation this year. Bout to check out that other one you left me...

I agree that it was an amazing flash. There needs to be at least one more just like this in May.

[Cyberdevil]

At 5/7/18 02:22 PM, DoctorStrongbad wrote: I agree that it was an amazing flash. There needs to be at least one more just like this in May.

If they really manage to make one as amazing as this one it won't be as amazing though. :)

[DoctorStrongbad]

At 5/7/18 02:30 PM, Cyberdevil wrote:

At 5/7/18 02:22 PM, DoctorStrongbad wrote: I agree that it was an amazing flash. There needs to be at least one more just like this in May.

If they really manage to make one as amazing as this one it won't be as amazing though. :)

They have a month to work on it. That should be plenty of time to make it amazing in a new way. If they made it the same way, it would just be a sequel. Two different things can be amazing in unique ways.

[Cyberdevil]

At 5/7/18 02:35 PM, DoctorStrongbad wrote: They have a month to work on it. That should be plenty of time to make it amazing in a new way. If they made it the same way, it would just be a sequel. Two different things can be amazing in unique ways.

Agree, though it just feels like things like this are special because they're rare, and if animation that's so thoroughly flawless was possible to make on such a regular basis it wouldn't be as great as it is. No doubt this took more than a month to work out. The best projects often seem to have been in production for years - back and forth if not consistently, before they reach the state they can really amaze. Few artists seem to have such passion or patience... or skill.

[DoctorStrongbad]

At 5/7/18 02:41 PM, Cyberdevil wrote:

At 5/7/18 02:35 PM, DoctorStrongbad wrote: They have a month to work on it. That should be plenty of time to make it amazing in a new way. If they made it the same way, it would just be a sequel. Two different things can be amazing in unique ways.

Agree, though it just feels like things like this are special because they're rare, and if animation that's so thoroughly flawless was possible to make on such a regular basis it wouldn't be as great as it is.

I disagree. If the same level of animation was only done once a month, they would still help keep it rare and special

No doubt this took more than a month to work out. The best projects often seem to have been in production for years - back and forth if not consistently, before they reach the state they can really amaze. Few artists seem to have such passion or patience... or skill.

Yes, it could of taken months or longer to get it just right. We are lucky to have those few artists here on NewGrounds.

[OneThousandMeeps]

Congrats to the winners! There were some great submissions last month!

[Cyberdevil]

At 5/7/18 03:53 PM, DoctorStrongbad wrote: I disagree. If the same level of animation was only done once a month, they would still help keep it rare and special

Well alright, let's agree to disagree. :) Would be awesome to see more great stuff overall, but more than a few masterpieces a year may be more than than I can be greatly awed by.

Yes, it could of taken months or longer to get it just right. We are lucky to have those few artists here on NewGrounds.

True that!

At 5/7/18 04:17 PM, lalilulelo008 wrote: absolutely, just knock off that steamed hams collab and bob sponge, and put in tommy gorilla as well

Yeah that one was pretty special too. XD In a different way...

[Wiesi]

Congrats to the winners!!

Oh and I LOVE that Bob Sponge movie! <3

[Wiesi]

To be honest, another thing I don't like about the new layout is, that the background image shines through all the foreground pods. For example, when I'm watching a movie or playing a game, to me, the colorful background image competes way too much with the content I'm watching. It really distracts me.

[DoctorStrongbad]

At 5/7/18 05:29 PM, Wiesi wrote: To be honest, another thing I don't like about the new layout is, that the background image shines through all the foreground pods. For example, when I'm watching a movie or playing a game, to me, the colorful background image competes way too much with the content I'm watching. It really distracts me.

I have noticed that as well. The colors can really be distracting. How do you think this issue could be corrected?

[Wiesi]

At 5/7/18 05:57 PM, DoctorStrongbad wrote:
I have noticed that as well. The colors can really be distracting. How do you think this issue could be corrected?

Having a static image behind the content (like in the past layout) is the only way I see to do it.

[MSGhero]

At 5/7/18 02:17 PM, Cyberdevil wrote: Congrats to the winners! Great to see all three major collabs made it, though wish there'd been room for this one too:
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/709386
Might be the smoothest animation this year. Bout to check out that other one you left me...

This was extremely good.

Edit: I saw this about the HTML5 audio thing: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/317698/Chrome_update_automutes_audio_on_many_webbased_games.php

[PsychedelicSamurai]

This was a really tough round of voting! I had a hard time just narrowing down my top picks. So many great cartoons have been coming out recently.

[DoctorStrongbad]

At 5/7/18 06:52 PM, Wiesi wrote:

At 5/7/18 05:57 PM, DoctorStrongbad wrote:
I have noticed that as well. The colors can really be distracting. How do you think this issue could be corrected?

Having a static image behind the content (like in the past layout) is the only way I see to do it.

That would some the issue. It worked very well before the new user update.

[ninjamuffin99]

At 5/7/18 02:07 PM, TomFulp wrote:

At 5/7/18 12:25 PM, squidly wrote: Bad, but important, news: Due to new Autoplay policies. Music on the vast majority of html5 games are now busted. There's currently no workaround for this, and there probably won't ever be one unless google changes its mind.

Can you link me to a game on NG that isn't playing audio for you? Want to see from my end.

Same thing happened to me, audio on some HTML5 games don't work.
For example, my Construct 3 jam game from last year, _R_G_B_ has music on the title screen but doesn't play anymore, unless I'm using another browser. Even Pico-8 games like 8 Legs to Love do not have working audio.

I'm using chrome version 66.0.3359.139 btw

[IvanAlmighty]

At 5/7/18 06:52 PM, Wiesi wrote:

At 5/7/18 05:57 PM, DoctorStrongbad wrote:
I have noticed that as well. The colors can really be distracting. How do you think this issue could be corrected?

Having a static image behind the content (like in the past layout) is the only way I see to do it.

Fair point, though the static image really emphasizes how everything trapped in a box after it was undone by the header. There used to be a lights out mode you could turn on for movies.. what happened? That could silence the colors of the wallpaper more effectively

[Wiesi]

At 5/7/18 10:54 PM, IvanAlmighty wrote:
Fair point, though the static image really emphasizes how everything trapped in a box after it was undone by the header. There used to be a lights out mode you could turn on for movies.. what happened? That could silence the colors of the wallpaper more effectively

Sorry, I might be an idiot, BUT, where is that "lights out"-button?? I can't find it on the games´n´movies, that I just tried..

EDIT: Oh, I see, you wrote "there USED to be"... SO the button is gone. Ok thanks for pointing out. :)

[Remi-le-Oduen]

Congrats to the winners and all the contestants!

[Cyberdevil]

At 5/7/18 11:09 PM, Wiesi wrote:

At 5/7/18 10:54 PM, IvanAlmighty wrote: There used to be a lights out mode you could turn on for movies.. what happened? That could silence the colors of the wallpaper more effectively

EDIT: Oh, I see, you wrote "there USED to be"... SO the button is gone. Ok thanks for pointing out. :)

Really would be nice to have that back. I seem to recall it was removed quite a while ago, before the most recent layout changes? Hope it's an oversight more than real trouble getting it to work with some strange page element...

At 5/7/18 06:53 PM, MSGhero wrote: This was extremely good.

So many people agree! :) Awesome.

Edit: I saw this about the HTML5 audio thing: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/317698/Chrome_update_automutes_audio_on_many_webbased_games.php

And thanks for that link! Good to know it's all about.

[TomFulp]

At 5/8/18 08:55 AM, Cyberdevil wrote:

At 5/7/18 11:09 PM, Wiesi wrote:

At 5/7/18 10:54 PM, IvanAlmighty wrote: There used to be a lights out mode you could turn on for movies.. what happened? That could silence the colors of the wallpaper more effectively

EDIT: Oh, I see, you wrote "there USED to be"... SO the button is gone. Ok thanks for pointing out. :)

Really would be nice to have that back. I seem to recall it was removed quite a while ago, before the most recent layout changes? Hope it's an oversight more than real trouble getting it to work with some strange page element...

We removed it when game and movie pages updated to the new layout. One of the hopes is that with less ads on the view page, the lights out feature is less necessary but also it's a decision between one more layout element (the more we have, the more confused people get) vs the number of people who actively use that feature. We might revisit it though, for features like that I love the idea of having users enable it under their account options - so new users wouldn't see that extra button on the page but everyone would have the option to enable it.

[TomFulp]

At 5/7/18 09:39 PM, ninjamuffin99 wrote: Same thing happened to me, audio on some HTML5 games don't work.
For example, my Construct 3 jam game from last year, _R_G_B_ has music on the title screen but doesn't play anymore, unless I'm using another browser. Even Pico-8 games like 8 Legs to Love do not have working audio.

I'm using chrome version 66.0.3359.139 btw

I'm using 66.0.3359.139 as well but I hear the title screen music on _R_G_B_... Really making me wonder if it's a per user setting, like Chrome knows to play everything for me on NG because I'm on it so much... I would think it would do the same for you if that was the case though.

[Cyberdevil]

At 5/8/18 09:18 AM, TomFulp wrote: We removed it when game and movie pages updated to the new layout. One of the hopes is that with less ads on the view page, the lights out feature is less necessary but also it's a decision between one more layout element (the more we have, the more confused people get) vs the number of people who actively use that feature. We might revisit it though, for features like that I love the idea of having users enable it under their account options - so new users wouldn't see that extra button on the page but everyone would have the option to enable it.

Yeah that'd be perfect! Any additional account options for changing how the more useful aspects of the site look and work would be fantastic. Looking at newer services like Discord there really are a lot of options to sift through - but it's nice being able to customize things down to the most minuscule details.

[ninjamuffin99]

At 5/8/18 10:10 AM, TomFulp wrote:

At 5/7/18 09:39 PM, ninjamuffin99 wrote: Same thing happened to me, audio on some HTML5 games don't work.
For example, my Construct 3 jam game from last year, _R_G_B_ has music on the title screen but doesn't play anymore, unless I'm using another browser. Even Pico-8 games like 8 Legs to Love do not have working audio.

I'm using chrome version 66.0.3359.139 btw

I'm using 66.0.3359.139 as well but I hear the title screen music on _R_G_B_... Really making me wonder if it's a per user setting, like Chrome knows to play everything for me on NG because I'm on it so much... I would think it would do the same for you if that was the case though.

ok I found the setting that needs to be disabled, basically just go here: chrome://flags/#autoplay-policy and I just had to change it from "Default" to "No User Gesture is Required", and now HTML5 games work fine again.

Also I think you're right about Chrome knowing that it should autoplay stuff on NG because you're on it so often. But it also factors in media engagement. I'll just drop this link here: https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2017/09/autoplay-policy-changes#mei

Basically for it to count as a significant playback, it needs:
Consumption of the media (audio/video) must be greater than 7 seconds.
Audio must be present and unmuted.
Tab with video is active.
Size of the video (in px) must be greater than 200x140.

and to check your media engagement you'd have to go here: chrome://media-engagement/

right now my ratio is 0.53 which I guess isn't good enough (significant plays/audible plays/(318/593))

[StickmanMarkinson]

I would say April was an okay month for me in real life and on NG. Although this layout could highly improve. But I can't do anything about this, at the moment because very I'm busy.