Smash Collab Menu is a Go!

[TomFulp]

@IvanAlmighty updated the Smash Collab during the night and the desktop version now includes his interactive menu!

If you aren't already aware, Ivan is freakishly talented and might just be the next phase of human evolution. Most people have barely witnessed how talented he is; just wait until you see his work in some upcoming projects.

Ivan had never taken on a development project before deciding to tackle this interactive menu with Construct. It even ran on phones but mobile browsers had too many video restrictions for it to work well. This is something that scares me about the future of the web; users complain about things like auto-play video and sound but the changes made to browsers end up breaking a lot of existing content and limiting future content. When browsers play mommy, we have less risk but also less fun.

I'd like to also give another shoutout to @PhantomArcade for all his work bringing this collab together! All in all 69 people came together to make the Smash Collab possible and that number wasn't even intentional. I am deeply grateful for everyone who stepped up and gave their time to support Newgrounds and make something special. If you enjoy the collab, be sure to follow the artists behind your favorite parts!

Other News

We launched our big forums update right before the holidays and one of the internal changes broke the Art Portal thumbnailer for animated gifs. If you upload an animated gif and get an ugly thumbnail, look in the lower left corner of your art view page for the thumbail moderation tool; you can use it to manually upload a static thumbnail image. We'll be fixing the thumbnailer but it needs a total redo at this point and the holidays got in the way.

NG crossed 2,800 active supporters for the first time ever this week! Thank you everyone who is helping to keep the dream alive.

@Fro is hosting a Monthly Writing Contest, the deadline is Feb 2nd!

Pixel Day is January 23rd and is a celebration of pixel art, animation, games and chiptunes. If you're into that, be sure to make something and you might win something!

[VikingDave]

Congrats on reaching a new milestone and congrats on getting that interactive menu working. This site and you guys rule! Can't wait to see what 2019 brings.

[Cyberdevil]

Getting some old NG Staff Page vibes from that menu. :D Looks awesome. Sounds awesome. Some awesome stuff in the pipelines too... also I seem to remember something about Supporters being somewhere around 2,000 some time ago hmm... insane how fast that's increasing lately. Whole new age of new grounds awesomeness right now.

[Fro]

Can I be a little greedy and ask for the writing competition to get a little plug?

[TerrorByte]

First off: Holy crap! This menu looks great!

Second: I think it sucks that that so many people want to move to mobile, sure it’s convenient, but there’s something much more wholesome about surfing a website on a computer, not to mention all of the annoyances that come form trying to make interactive movies, then porting them to a phone, sure, making an app would make it better optimized for phones, but websites will NEVER die, Websites feel much more flexible, and dependable, then a phone app.

[DoctorStrongbad]

That Smash Collab is going to be amazing. Should be lots of good times. Would be awesome if I could be more involved in all of it.

[Cyberdevil]

At 12/30/18 01:28 PM, DoctorStrongbad wrote: That Smash Collab is going to be amazing. Should be lots of good times. Would be awesome if I could be more involved in all of it.

It's out already you know. ;) You should check it out if you haven't, definitely worth the time!

[Cyberdevil]

At 12/30/18 01:28 PM, SilverDreams wrote: ...but websites will NEVER die, Websites feel much more flexible, and dependable, then a phone app.

Totally agree. Phone apps are like shortcuts to the real thing at most. They may be faster and more convenient, but they're usually not much by themselves, and sometimes they just stop working and you have to open the source anyway.

It'd be better if companies focused on making sites that worked with all main browsers and devices than trying to make what are basically custom browsers (apps) that streamline the site and hide certain elements so people can view them the way they were really meant to be viewed that way. All the while they're able to fully control how the user interacts with their content, track everything they do; mold the browsing experience to their benefit. Preventing them from blocking ads or downloading content or doing any of those things they might not want them to. Maybe dysfunctional site design is actually a thing these days just so they can get people to use their custom software instead...

Browsing the Internet like this is a whole other level of freedom. Customizable. Controllable. Power to the user.

[TerrorByte]

At 12/30/18 01:42 PM, Cyberdevil wrote:

At 12/30/18 01:28 PM, SilverDreams wrote: ...but websites will NEVER die, Websites feel much more flexible, and dependable, then a phone app.

Totally agree. Phone apps are like shortcuts to the real thing at most. They may be faster and more convenient, but they're usually not much by themselves, and sometimes they just stop working and you have to open the source anyway.

It'd be better if companies focused on making sites that worked with all main browsers and devices than trying to make what are basically custom browsers (apps) that streamline the site and hide certain elements so people can view them the way they were really meant to be viewed that way. All the while they're able to fully control how the user interacts with their content, track everything they do; mold the browsing experience to their benefit. Preventing them from blocking ads or downloading content or doing any of those things they might not want them to. Maybe dysfunctional site design is actually a thing these days just so they can get people to use their custom software instead...

Browsing the Internet like this is a whole other level of freedom. Customizable. Controllable. Power to the user.

Amen 🙏

[Butzbo]

Niiiiiice!

The menu turned out awesome and does a great job both showcasing and linking to the artists. Great to see this kind of thing is possible with Construct!! I'd like to look more into that.

Menu-based animations are a weird sight nowadays, I like how it's kind of a Newgrounds signature.

[Cyberdevil]

At 12/30/18 01:51 PM, SilverDreams wrote: Amen 🙏

:)

[DrSevenSeizeMD]

@IvanAlmighty is so freaking awesome

I'm gonna be him when I grow up

[cacodayum]

At 12/30/18 05:55 PM, JohnnyCocksville wrote: kinda curious how the site is holding up. you mentioned a while back that NG isnt about the money yet notheless you guys are doing a heckuva lot better than the dot com era peers you had/have. still hope youre raking it in tho. also the site went down a few times when the collab entered the portal. a great sign that NG is still very popular and i figure youve got some of the best servers around.

I imagine the Newgrounds servers as some ancient bearded herculean gods holding up the sky full of data and traffic...

//insert "cloud" joke here//

...which momentarily wince a bit when something gets a crap ton of traffic like the Smash Collab did. ..but yeah I'm curious too.

[Cyberdevil]

At 12/30/18 10:33 PM, M0nk3m4n wrote: I imagine the Newgrounds servers as some ancient bearded herculean gods holding up the sky full of data and traffic...
//insert "cloud" joke here//

I can't stop imagining this now. XD Such awesome imagination...

[cacodayum]

At 12/31/18 04:56 AM, Cyberdevil wrote:

At 12/30/18 10:33 PM, M0nk3m4n wrote: I imagine the Newgrounds servers as some ancient bearded herculean gods holding up the sky full of data and traffic...
//insert "cloud" joke here//

I can't stop imagining this now. XD Such awesome imagination...

Hah, it works sometimes when I can actually manage to invoke the bastard. :v

[Cyberdevil]

At 12/31/18 05:01 AM, M0nk3m4n wrote: Hah, it works sometimes when I can actually manage to invoke the bastard. :v

Can relate. :) Just imagine what you could do if that imagination was constantly on...

[Luis]

finally got to see the menu, its awesome. also first post.

[chris-the-stick]

excellent news, congrats on reaching more than 2,800+ supporters this week alone (here's to more supporters and to even more fame+recognition for this great place!)

and i also really liked the smash collab.

clever idea, nice execution.

as for the new forums, this will be interesting.

good to know.

stay awesome, mr tom!

[Abbyka]

At 12/30/18 11:15 AM, Fro wrote: Can I be a little greedy and ask for the writing competition to get a little plug?

Where is the writing competition? SevenSeize mentioned it on the story thread I made, but I didn't see it anywhere.

[Fro]

At 12/31/18 05:58 PM, Abbyka wrote:

At 12/30/18 11:15 AM, Fro wrote: Can I be a little greedy and ask for the writing competition to get a little plug?

Where is the writing competition? SevenSeize mentioned it on the story thread I made, but I didn't see it anywhere.

Check the opening post by Tom again. He's updated it with the link.

[Abbyka]

At 12/31/18 06:06 PM, Fro wrote:

At 12/31/18 05:58 PM, Abbyka wrote:

At 12/30/18 11:15 AM, Fro wrote: Can I be a little greedy and ask for the writing competition to get a little plug?

Where is the writing competition? SevenSeize mentioned it on the story thread I made, but I didn't see it anywhere.

Check the opening post by Tom again. He's updated it with the link.

Thanks! :)

[NanoSoft]

At 12/30/18 01:42 PM, Cyberdevil wrote:

At 12/30/18 01:28 PM, SilverDreams wrote: ...but websites will NEVER die, Websites feel much more flexible, and dependable, then a phone app.

Totally agree. Phone apps are like shortcuts to the real thing at most. They may be faster and more convenient, but they're usually not much by themselves, and sometimes they just stop working and you have to open the source anyway.

It'd be better if companies focused on making sites that worked with all main browsers and devices than trying to make what are basically custom browsers (apps) that streamline the site and hide certain elements so people can view them the way they were really meant to be viewed that way. All the while they're able to fully control how the user interacts with their content, track everything they do; mold the browsing experience to their benefit. Preventing them from blocking ads or downloading content or doing any of those things they might not want them to. Maybe dysfunctional site design is actually a thing these days just so they can get people to use their custom software instead...

Browsing the Internet like this is a whole other level of freedom. Customizable. Controllable. Power to the user.

Well said!

[Cyberdevil]

At 12/30/18 02:37 PM, SevenSeize wrote: I'm gonna be him when I grow up

https://youtu.be/WC5FdFlUcl0

At 12/31/18 09:44 PM, NanoSoft wrote: Well said!

:)

[DoctorStrongbad]

At 12/30/18 10:35 AM, VikingDave wrote: congrats on getting that interactive menu working. This site and you guys rule! Can't wait to see what 2019 brings.

The new interactive menu is amazing. 2019 should bring lots of new things.

At 12/30/18 11:01 AM, Cyberdevil wrote: Getting some old NG Staff Page vibes from that menu. :D Looks awesome. Sounds awesome. Some awesome stuff in the pipelines too... Whole new age of new grounds awesomeness right now.

The new vibes are definitely good ones. The new age is here now.

At 12/30/18 11:15 AM, Fro wrote: Can I be a little greedy and ask for the writing competition to get a little plug?

You can try and see what happens. lol

1

[Seizmic765]

At 12/30/18 10:27 AM, TomFulp wrote: @IvanAlmighty updated the Smash Collab during the night and the desktop version now includes his interactive menu!

//www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/723282

If you aren't already aware, Ivan is freakishly talented and might just be the next phase of human evolution. Most people have barely witnessed how talented he is; just wait until you see his work in some upcoming projects.

Ivan had never taken on a development project before deciding to tackle this interactive menu with Construct. It even ran on phones but mobile browsers had too many video restrictions for it to work well. This is something that scares me about the future of the web; users complain about things like auto-play video and sound but the changes made to browsers end up breaking a lot of existing content and limiting future content. When browsers play mommy, we have less risk but also less fun.

I'd like to also give another shoutout to @PhantomArcade for all his work bringing this collab together! All in all 69 people came together to make the Smash Collab possible and that number wasn't even intentional. I am deeply grateful for everyone who stepped up and gave their time to support Newgrounds and make something special. If you enjoy the collab, be sure to follow the artists behind your favorite parts!

Other News

We launched our big forums update right before the holidays and one of the internal changes broke the Art Portal thumbnailer for animated gifs. If you upload an animated gif and get an ugly thumbnail, look in the lower left corner of your art view page for the thumbail moderation tool; you can use it to manually upload a static thumbnail image. We'll be fixing the thumbnailer but it needs a total redo at this point and the holidays got in the way.

NG crossed 2,800 active supporters for the first time ever this week! Thank you everyone who is helping to keep the dream alive.

@Fro is hosting a Monthly Writing Contest, the deadline is Feb 2nd!

Pixel Day is January 23rd and is a celebration of pixel art, animation, games and chiptunes. If you're into that, be sure to make something and you might win something!

Is the mobile text editor being delayed?

[Cyberdevil]

At 1/3/19 12:50 PM, Seizmic765 wrote: Is the mobile text editor being delayed?

For newsposts? I'm assuming they're working on that right now, seems to be one of the priorities right now. For BBS: it's here right?

[TomFulp]

At 1/3/19 12:50 PM, Seizmic765 wrote: Is the mobile text editor being delayed?

Delayed a little due to some forum items being wrapped up and the broken thumbnailer in the Art Portal but it remains one of the top items.

[DoctorStrongbad]

At 12/30/18 01:28 PM, SilverDreams wrote: First off: Holy crap! This menu looks great!

It really does.

Second: I think it sucks that that so many people want to move to mobile, sure it’s convenient, but there’s something much more wholesome about surfing a website on a computer,

Being on a Computer has always been my preferred way of using NewGrounds.

At 12/30/18 01:33 PM, Cyberdevil wrote:

At 12/30/18 01:28 PM, DoctorStrongbad wrote: That Smash Collab is going to be amazing. Should be lots of good times. Would be awesome if I could be more involved in all of it.

It's out already you know. ;) You should check it out if you haven't, definitely worth the time!

I did check it out, and it was amazing.

At 12/30/18 01:42 PM, Cyberdevil wrote:

Totally agree. Phone apps are like shortcuts to the real thing at most. They may be faster and more convenient, but they're usually not much by themselves, and sometimes they just stop working and you have to open the source anyway.

That is so true. You are better off just using a computer.

Browsing the Internet like this is a whole other level of freedom. Customizable. Controllable. Power to the user.

That is another valid point.

[Cyberdevil]

At 1/23/19 04:09 AM, DoctorStrongbad wrote: That is so true. You are better off just using a computer.

That is another valid point.

Definitely. Nothing like stationary for a pure and unlimited browsing experience. :)