Wick Editor Game Jam!

[TomFulp]

Today is the official start of our Wick Editor game jam!

Wick Editor is a free, open-source, web-based tool for making animation and games. It’s a lot like Flash, so anyone who has worked with Flash should be able to quickly find their way around. These tutorials will also help!

May 22 Update: Here's a new Interactive Project Tutorial based on the Wick Alpha!

Theme:

“FLASHBACK!" Classic Newgrounds-style games.

What kind of games do you think of when you hear “Classic NG style games”? Those are the games we wanna see!

If you’re thinking of Dress Up games and Dating Sims, please be aware that we will not be selecting adult games as winners.

Tag your entry with “WickJam2019” so we find it!

Restrictions:

All project must be made using the Wick Editor alpha! (alpha.wickeditor.com).

NOTE: The Alpha editor was in need of additional updates at the time this jam launched. Updates have been rolling out rapidly and we've added a week to the deadline (from June 30th to July 7th) to give everyone more time. I will also update this post with new tutorial videos based on the alpha version when they become available. Despite a bumpy start, the feedback from this jam has already resulted in a lot of great Wick improvements!

Deadline:

July 7th 2019, Midnight EST

Prizes:

The Top 10 entries will receive prizes ranging from Cash to WickEditor.com Stickers and T-Shirts!

1. $150 + Sticker Pack + T-Shirt

2. $100 + Sticker Pack + T-Shirt

3. $50 + Sticker Pack + T-Shirt

4. $25 + Sticker Pack + T-Shirt

5. $25 + Sticker Pack + T-Shirt

6. Sticker Pack + T-Shirt

7. Sticker Pack + T-Shirt

8. Sticker Pack

9. Sticker Pack

10. Sticker Pack

Once you’ve made a game, you can export it as a ZIP file and upload that ZIP to Newgrounds via our Project System. You’ll be able to preview your game on NG before you publish; let me know if you run into any trouble. We’re excited to see what you can make with Wick!

Also sorry if you were hoping for a John Wick Jam but feel welcome to make a John Wick animation in Wick, you can upload it as an MP4 or share it as an animated gif right in this thread.

If you missed it, Pico Day winners were announced on Wednesday and the Epic Battle Fantasy Art Contest winners were announced on Monday. Last week we announced the Best of April and New Content Filters!

[TheReviewTrickster]

First!

Also I love the theme, even though I won't be making anything.

[GoodL]

At 5/17/19 12:30 PM, TomFulp wrote:Theme:

“FLASHBACK!" Classic Newgrounds-style games.

This is perfect! I was really hoping for a good theme, and honestly I don't think it could have been any better! This is awesome, I'm so excited.

Restrictions:

All project must be made using the Wick Editor alpha! (alpha.wickeditor.com).

Now I'm regretting not doing all my testing in this version... That's fine though, theoretically - newer is better!

I do want to ask though, are there any other restrictions? For example, does the art need to be made in Wick?

Good luck everyone! Hoping to see some great games come out of this. Let's push this software way beyond what even the creators ever thought possible!

[123survesh]

Wow I am really nervous, hope I can build a game in time 😅, the only games i ever created before where xo and tetris 😅

[ninjamuffin99]

God damn this theme is good

[PsychoGoldfish]

I'm going to drop my 2 cents in here, since I am very much NG Classic. Maybe you guys will find something insightful when coming up with ideas.

One of the big things to remember is most classic NG games were built with really old hardware, during a time that web browsers were actually a pretty new technology.

Flash wasn't as powerful then as it is now either. We had a lot of limitations that forced us to keep our games small, and simple. That became fuel to push those limitations as hard as we possibly could.

Wick is fun, because it comes with a lot of limitations that will force you guys to think about what you can and can't do, and really build your games around that.

Back when Newgrounds was still new, the only way to get PC games was to buy and pirate commercial games. When we were making Flash games, it was like exploring a new frontier. We could make whatever we wanted, and never had to deal with publishers, censors, etc etc.

We obviously tamed that frontier, years ago, and it has never been quite as exciting, but I think in the spirit of those days, you guys might want to consider taking on another untapped frontier.

Mobile games have traditionally been dominated by app stores. You can only publish things the likes of Google, Apple and Amazon will allow. You have to compete in a giant sea of Chinese-produced garbage. But modern mobile web browsers can run HTML5 games quite well.

In the spirit of classic NG Games, you could bring that attitude to those modern platforms and be the spearhead of a new renaissance in web-based gaming.

What type of game would young Tom Fulp have made if iPhones existed in 2001? What kind of attitude and message would you put in people's hands if there was no corporation telling you what is acceptable?

How can you push Wick Editor to make something fun and portable, that has that oldschool NG attitude behind it?

I am REALLY looking forward to see what you all come up with!

[Luis]

the guy in the tutorials is way too excited about teaching the app. i would prefer a stern talking to as opposed to a bubbly personality.

also first post.

[BigTexasTony]

@TomFulp How about 2D Platform Game for Wick Editor.

[JinxSpell]

At 5/17/19 12:30 PM, TomFulp wrote:Today is the official start of our Wick Editor game jam!

Wick Editor is a free, open-source, web-based tool for making animation and games. It’s a lot like Flash, so anyone who has worked with Flash should be able to quickly find their way around. These tutorials will also help!

Theme:

“FLASHBACK!" Classic Newgrounds-style games.

What kind of games do you think of when you hear “Classic NG style games”? Those are the games we wanna see!

If you’re thinking of Dress Up games and Dating Sims, please be aware that we will not be selecting adult games as winners.

Tag your entry with “WickJam2019” so we find it!

Restrictions:

All project must be made using the Wick Editor alpha! (alpha.wickeditor.com).

Deadline:

June 30 2019, Midnight EST

Prizes:

The Top 10 entries will receive prizes ranging from Cash to WickEditor.com Stickers and T-Shirts!

1. $150 + Sticker Pack + T-Shirt
2. $100 + Sticker Pack + T-Shirt
3. $50 + Sticker Pack + T-Shirt
4. $25 + Sticker Pack + T-Shirt
5. $25 + Sticker Pack + T-Shirt
6. Sticker Pack + T-Shirt
7. Sticker Pack + T-Shirt
8. Sticker Pack
9. Sticker Pack
10. Sticker Pack

Once you’ve made a game, you can export it as a ZIP file and upload that ZIP to Newgrounds via our Project System. You’ll be able to preview your game on NG before you publish; let me know if you run into any trouble. We’re excited to see what you can make with Wick!

Also sorry if you were hoping for a John Wick Jam but feel welcome to make a John Wick animation in Wick, you can upload it as an MP4 or share it as an animated gif right in this thread.

If you missed it, Pico Day winners were announced on Wednesday and the Epic Battle Fantasy Art Contest winners were announced on Monday. Last week we announced the Best of April and New Content Filters!

Can it be with an older version of Wick? The Alpha version doesn't work for me (the opacity bar doesn't stick/work).

[luxapodular]

Can it be with an older version of Wick? The Alpha version doesn't work for me (the opacity bar doesn't stick/work).

Hey! We are fixing this bug right now! Should be pushed within the hour.

[Will]

Fun theme! There'd better be some solid W-Bush-era political games, to me it's not prime NG if its not hurling nukes at Osama and Hussein and Kim Jong Il.

[luxapodular]

Restrictions:

All project must be made using the Wick Editor alpha! (alpha.wickeditor.com).

Now I'm regretting not doing all my testing in this version... That's fine though, theoretically - newer is better!

I do want to ask though, are there any other restrictions? For example, does the art need to be made in Wick?

Good luck everyone! Hoping to see some great games come out of this. Let's push this software way beyond what even the creators ever thought possible!

Art can be made outside of the Wick Editor and imported in! So long as the game logic, code, etc... is implemented in Wick and the game is exported from the Wick Editor, you're good!

If you're able to make your artwork in Wick that's great and would be awesome to see, but we know that a lot of folks have their own preferred drawing tools, so no pressure on that front. Can't wait to see what you make!

[Boss]

At 5/17/19 06:34 PM, willKMR wrote:Fun theme! There'd better be some solid W-Bush-era political games, to me it's not prime NG if its not hurling nukes at Osama and Hussein and Kim Jong Il.

this is a great idea. its technically legal to make games about assassinating bush now right? some of those would be hilarious. maybe a torture bush game and for irony find out what kind of torture he allowed to happen during his reign? ok ok im being racy ill stop. maybe we can have a friendly chat with bush about the violent baggage that comes with presidency and political positions and what could be done to change that game. could be done dating sim style!

[MikeGelato]

At 5/17/19 12:30 PM, TomFulp wrote:What kind of games do you think of when you hear “Classic NG style games”? Those are the games we wanna see!

please be aware that we will not be selecting adult games as winners.

Make up your mind!

Just kidding, can't wait to get started on this jam!

[Will]

At 5/17/19 07:17 PM, Boss wrote:

At 5/17/19 06:34 PM, willKMR wrote:Fun theme! There'd better be some solid W-Bush-era political games, to me it's not prime NG if its not hurling nukes at Osama and Hussein and Kim Jong Il.

this is a great idea. its technically legal to make games about assassinating bush now right? some of those would be hilarious. maybe a torture bush game and for irony find out what kind of torture he allowed to happen during his reign? ok ok im being racy ill stop. maybe we can have a friendly chat with bush about the violent baggage that comes with presidency and political positions and what could be done to change that game. could be done dating sim style!

If anyone makes a George W Bush dating sim I'll do music for it.

[Griffinflash]

"What kind of games do you think of when you hear “Classic NG style games”? Those are the games we wanna see!"

Getting flashbacks from Assassin.

Lots of shoot em ups

Also gradient tool, lots of gradients. And mouse drawn assets, no time for drawing tablets in the early 2000s.

Edit: Also default flash settings of 550x400 px, and 12 fps, cause none of us ever changed that...at least I didn't.

[ForNoReason]

If anyone needs any voice work for the jam then hit me up. 100% free of charge. Just PM me or whatevers.

[LuckoDaStars]

anyone needs voicework? i can edit my voice to be low quality to match the olden years of newground games and more

[davidpuralocura]

is "Johnny Rocketfingers" considered an adult game?

[DoctorStrongbad]

The Wick Editor game jam sounds like lots of fun. It will be a great excuse to check out the Wick Editor. It is really similar to Flash, so its not that hard to use. Looking forward to all the submissions.

[Cyberdevil]

This might be the start of something awesome! Solid prizes, suitable Flash-related wordplay and correlating nostalgia hype. A John Wick game seems like something someone's just going to have to make too, some time, contest entry or no.

Looking forward to this!

[Jaszczomp]

Restrictions:

All project must be made using the Wick Editor alpha! (alpha.wickeditor.com).

Personally I find that restriction a little bit too harsh. In my opinion alpha isn't ready for such events. Some functionalities don't work or at least don't work as intended (such as opacity bar that goes from 0-100 instead of 0-1 or 0-100%, problems with changing background color). Also there are crashes (whole page turns white) that occur randomly(?), like when the number next to the "fill color" is changed or when I try to go to 2nd frame on the timeline. It makes the alpha not only incovenient, but highly unstable. Making the alpha relatively stable is probably going to take some time, which game jam participants have limited. I think beta should be allowed in here.

[GoodL]

At 5/18/19 10:14 AM, Jaszczomp wrote:Personally I find that restriction a little bit too harsh.

I agree so strongly. I spent a large portion of the day just trying to get anything in Wick Alpha to work yesterday. I wrote this up last night, but decided not to post it because I felt like it was too harsh, or it would sound like I was just complaining. I'll go ahead and post it now though:

Spent some time trying to learn my way around the Wick Editor alpha today, and I hate to say this, but I strongly prefer the old version (0.15.2). I honestly don't understand the logic behind separating the Load, Update, and Unload functions into entirely separate scripts on the objects. Why can't I just write them out in one script like in 0.15.2 (also like in just about everything else). It also seems like there are some very peculiar changes to the way certain aspects of code are written ("isKeyDown" vs "keyIsDown"), which is a problem exacerbated by the fact that there are no code examples in the Wick Editor Alpha, and the fact that almost all of the tutorials, all of the examples on the Wick Editor website, and almost everything in the forums are for versions of Wick Editor previous to the Alpha. There are practically no resources for new people trying to figure out how to use the Alpha, at least that I can find. I'm running into all kinds of bizarre situations when just trying to do simple hitTests. And frankly I just hate the layout of the whole thing. I really liked the layout in 0.15.2, and I found that so much more intuitive simply on account of the fact that it was more like old versions of Flash.

Is there a way to dock the Code Editor to the bottom of the screen? Because having this floating window is a nightmare and I don't see an obvious way to dock it.

And the biggest problem with using the alpha version? All that awesome work that @PsychoGoldfish did with setting up the psuedo-libraries, and more importantly, the Newgrounds.io widgets, is all irrelevant because it can only be opened in 0.15.2. It's effectively useless in the alpha version, at least for people like myself who wouldn't even know where to begin translating all that code to the way the Alpha version handles code.

I'm just at a point where I feel like choosing to restrict entries to the alpha was not a great decision, especially on account of the fact that new people (particularly those who have never done any game development before, but would like to make a game with the Wick Editor) are likely to find using it much more difficult, given the lack of helpful resources online.

I'm sorry to just come in here and dump all over the Alpha, I'm just frustrated with the situation. If @luxapodular could offer some thoughts or guidance here I would really appreciate it.

[luxapodular]

At 5/18/19 01:14 PM, GoodL wrote:

At 5/18/19 10:14 AM, Jaszczomp wrote:

I'm just frustrated with the situation. If @luxapodular could offer some thoughts or guidance here I would really appreciate it.

Hey Everyone,

We are actively working to fix all of these problems to make this jam a success. I'll try to respond more in depth below, and let you know what we'll be doing over the next two days.

First, I just pushed a fix for several of the bugs mentioned above, including:

• Opacity Input No longer crashes
• Adding Extra Layers No longer crashes
• Fixed a few different canvas crashes
• Updated the engine with some stability fixes

I also added a new feature that should help immensely:

• An Interactive code reference (like in the live editor) that has descriptions, and automatically adds code snippets to your scripts.

Hopefully, this will make the process a bit easier.

What's coming in the next 1-2 days?

• I'll be releasing a short video on how to use the scripting system.
• We'll be converting all of the examples on the Wick Editor homepage to also work in the alpha editor.
• We'll be adding some timeline features (Tweens, Copy/Paste Frames, Copy Frame Forward).
• Advanced error catching (Should remove the white screen bug).
• We're going to experiment with a SINGLE TAB coding option in addition to the multi-tabs.

Why are we using the alpha?

• While the live editor is definitely loved, unfortunately there were so many problems with it we decided to move into the alpha editor. For comparison, while these fixes took a few hours, fixing these same issues in the old editor would often take days or weeks (some, probably couldn't be fixed without breaking major elements or the entire editor).

• WITH THAT BEING SAID if the fixes, examples, and features we put out in the next 2 days are not satisfactory, we'll work with Tom to open the restrictions of the jam so you can use the old editor. We won't be able to provide support for the older editor if there are bugs, but can certainly help with technical questions.

We want this jam to be as successful as possible! Thank you all for bearing with us, submitting bug reports, and venting your frustrations. Without that, we wouldn't be able to make the Wick Editor a better tool.

Let us know if there's anything we can do in the super short term to improve the experience.

Also, if you're interested, @Zrispo and I are happy to talk about technical reasons why we switched to the tab system for code, and what we're doing in the editor overall. We'd also love to get more suggestions on how to make the editor better, so please call them out!

[GoodL]

At 5/18/19 02:17 PM, luxapodular wrote:Hey Everyone,

We are actively working to fix all of these problems to make this jam a success. I'll try to respond more in depth below, and let you know what we'll be doing over the next two days.

First off, thank you so much. I'm really glad you're involved here and actively doing what you can to make this jam work. The fixes and additions you've just done and will be doing over the next few days should help immensely. I know you said you'd be considering adding in a single tab coding system, I'd just like to ask that you strongly consider it. It would make porting PsychoGoldfish's work on the Newgrounds.io widgets into the alpha a much more bearable task (and honestly, I think that's one of the most key elements of this jam. How can it be a classic NG style game if it doesn't have NG medals?)

Also I am really happy to hear you'll be updating the examples and adding code snippets, I feel like that is so important for making this jam accessible to people who are new to game development, and what is Wick if not a "Great Equalizer" on that front?

Also, if you're interested, @Zrispo and I are happy to talk about technical reasons why we switched to the tab system for code, and what we're doing in the editor overall. We'd also love to get more suggestions on how to make the editor better, so please call them out!

I'd definitely like to hear how and why the tab system came about. At the moment I find it remarkably confusing, so some clarity there would surely help.

As far as suggestions, if there isn't already a way to dock the code editor to the bottom of the screen like in 0.15.2, could we possibly get that ability? I'm not a fan of the floating window. Another thing there is that I find it pretty annoying that the code I have open in the editor gets closed when I run the project. I could be wrong, but if I remember correctly, in 0.15.2 stays open as the project runs. It's kind of a pain to be testing something, and have to reopen the code every time I try to test it.

Thanks again, your involvement is both admirable and I think very important to the success of this jam. :)

[DaVaP]

Damn, I never comment on any of these but this thread just shines wholesomeness and good vibes all over. People offering to help others out, quick responses and fixes by the dev, everyone getting hyped... Newgrounds is one hell of a place.

[Jaszczomp]

Mayday mayday, I am getting no logs from console.log in Mousepressed on a frame. I also get no response from Keypressed on an object (no logs as well, no matter which key I'd be pressing). I believe the problem is wider, but I didn't try much more options. I can only confirm that Mousepressed on an object works but in my honest opinion it ain't quite enough.

[fdawer]

At 5/17/19 12:30 PM, TomFulp wrote:Today is the official start of our Wick Editor game jam!

Wick Editor is a free, open-source, web-based tool for making animation and games. It’s a lot like Flash, so anyone who has worked with Flash should be able to quickly find their way around. These tutorials will also help!

Theme:

“FLASHBACK!" Classic Newgrounds-style games.

What kind of games do you think of when you hear “Classic NG style games”? Those are the games we wanna see!

If you’re thinking of Dress Up games and Dating Sims, please be aware that we will not be selecting adult games as winners.

Tag your entry with “WickJam2019” so we find it!

Restrictions:

All project must be made using the Wick Editor alpha! (alpha.wickeditor.com).

Deadline:

June 30 2019, Midnight EST

Prizes:

The Top 10 entries will receive prizes ranging from Cash to WickEditor.com Stickers and T-Shirts!

1. $150 + Sticker Pack + T-Shirt
2. $100 + Sticker Pack + T-Shirt
3. $50 + Sticker Pack + T-Shirt
4. $25 + Sticker Pack + T-Shirt
5. $25 + Sticker Pack + T-Shirt
6. Sticker Pack + T-Shirt
7. Sticker Pack + T-Shirt
8. Sticker Pack
9. Sticker Pack
10. Sticker Pack

Once you’ve made a game, you can export it as a ZIP file and upload that ZIP to Newgrounds via our Project System. You’ll be able to preview your game on NG before you publish; let me know if you run into any trouble. We’re excited to see what you can make with Wick!

Also sorry if you were hoping for a John Wick Jam but feel welcome to make a John Wick animation in Wick, you can upload it as an MP4 or share it as an animated gif right in this thread.

If you missed it, Pico Day winners were announced on Wednesday and the Epic Battle Fantasy Art Contest winners were announced on Monday. Last week we announced the Best of April and New Content Filters!

this is gonna be cool!! no clue on coding but i know what i wanna mess around with now...

[PsychoGoldfish]

@GoodL I'm currently working to port the API stuff into the alpha version. It's proving to be a bit of a challenge because we lost the ability to do pure code that could execute before the load/update events.

@luxapodular Is there any way to add an event that fires before Load/Update? Something like a 'Preload' or 'Init' event. I'd really love to get back the ability to add methods to a clip from it's internal timeline, and have them be useable before the clips' Load and Update events are ready.

The only other complaint I have with the alpha version, so far, is you guys took out some stuff that really speeds up the workflow. Like being able to double-click a clip to edit it, or having a quick way to load scripts on a frame with one-click.

In fact, there doesn't seem to be any indicator on the timeline for frames that contain scripts, so even finding where to edit is kind hard.

I also am not a fan of how hitting shift turns on pan mode, and doesn't turn it off again when you release it. Or how pan mode re-centers the stage when you first turn it on.

I also haven't been able to figure out how to rename layers. Anyone found that out yet? Another place where double clicking would be handy.

[PsychoGoldfish]

@luxapodular found another bug in the code editor. I had a line of existing code, and I copy/pasted a large code block from the live editor. It pasted fine, but ended up making the editable element taller than it's container element, so the end of my code became hidden.