Yes, I know it’s only October, shut up.
Alright, first thing you’re gonna do is read this entire post slowly and understand the criteria clearly because I’m not gonna be replying to every little question that’s already explained here. I’m not saying don’t ask questions, but if I have to repeat myself I probably won’t. That’s the barrier of entry for this collab; welcome to ADVENT 2022!
@GeoKureli and myself are BACK with a little bit of a reboot to the advent formula this year…
For those of you uninitiated, the annual Advent Calendar is a game submission on newgrounds built around the idea of logging in every day in December and receiving a new present each day; which in our case is an original artwork by an awesome surprise newgrounds artist. It’s a fun collaboration from a decade ago that was revived in 2018 by @ninjamuffin99. Myself and @GeoKureli have chosen to keep it going every year since. Each year we try to outdo ourselves because of human nature or whatever and we’ve added albums of music, minigames, new environments, a story, a wardrobe of skins, comics, microgames, online multiplayer, and even live movie premiers! It’s a lot of fun to play, experience, and participate in as a contributor with whatever your artistic medium of choice.
Last year’s Advent Calendar we were both pre-occupied, George was getting married and I was crunching on LUCKYBOY up until Christmas Day(which premiered in the ADVENT), so @SplatterDash @TheDyingSun and @KnoseDoge stepped up and took the reigns to keep the tradition going! Sure, George and I were both still helping out day-to-day but we couldn't be on call 24/7 all of December like we usually do and take care of the big chunks of the game. This year I’m unemployed(until very recently) and George is… I didn’t really ask! We both love this time of year so much it doesn’t matter, so we’re hosting it again!
Okay, so why isn’t @GeoKureli making this post? This year I’m the big boy in the big boy pants with the big boy hardon for spreadsheets and I plan to run a tight ship. I’m a firm believer in Murphy's Law(based on the last few advents), however, there are a few things I can control, such as: there isn’t going to be 50 goddamn artists for just 32 days of ADVENT. This is a big one and I gotta be blunt, last year quite a few participants were a bit miffed and soured by the experience during this wonderful season because they got relegated to “backup artist” roles. It was a bad system that was first come, first served to pick which day your art would appear. Even when the artist for a day slipped up and missed their deadline the backup artist wasn’t even used, so 10+ art pieces were lumped together on the last day and it felt more obligatory than celebratory. I didn’t like that and since I wasn’t in charge there was nothing I could do to help. @SplatterDash and co. did their best for their first time hosting.
Here comes the big shock. We’ll only be accepting 36 artists this year, but keep in mind that isn't the only way to participate(additional art, music, minigames, etc. further down in this post). Advent only runs 32 days(starting December 1st and ending on January 1st 2023) and we only need 4 backup artists(any unused art will be added to a bigger drop on Christmas Day). Additionally we usually have a dozen or more returning artists each year who love the advent time and come back to us with open arms. It’s really sweet. But that also means locking the gate to new talent if we wanna include all our old friends. I don’t like the idea of that, so this year I’m doing things a little bit differently. I’ve personally contacted a bunch of excellent artists from previous years who have always been reliable with their deadlines and ~21 of them plan to be returning this year. Keep in mind over 4 years of the ADVENT we’ve had nearly 100 artists collaborate with us, so if I didn’t contact you specifically over discord don’t think I hate you and please keep reading this post.
That means there are ~15 slots left for new artists to join. If you’ve never been in ADVENT before, how do you apply?
- Fill out this form. Usually we just have you reply to this post, but this will help me sort out the applicants from the people just excited about the advent in the replies(as well as get all the necessary information… like your blood type).
- Paste a link to your personal best piece of artwork uploaded on Newgrounds. We will be looking at all of your art, don't worry, but we’ll mostly be gauging the quality of art we can expect from you in a timely manner.
- DO NOT post artwork in the replies and expect that to get in. Every art piece in the Advent is a gift and should be a COMPLETE SURPRISE
- DO NOT begin work on your art before being accepted into the collab, I don’t want to break anyone’s heart, but if you just want to post some holiday art on your own that’s awesome :D
How many returning artists will get their own day? Will the newcomers be stuck as the backup artists? Who's to say! I’m keeping that stuff on a need-to-know basis to make the process easier for us and less stressful to participants.
But Brandon I love being in the advent, it’s always so much fun and I’m crushed that I can’t participate this year!! I hear you, but what’s rad about the advent calendar on newgrounds is that you can still contribute in other ways. I want our featured artists to each get their own day and feel special, but there’s only 32 days to do it.
We also have special events/holidays/sections of the game like in Tankmas ADVENTure 2020 where game devs created microgames to play inside a virtual arcade like “Holiday Hominid Drop'' and “Pin the Tail on NickConter'' and @Butzbo’s music box toy. The advent runs on HaxeFlixel so if you’re a FNF modder you’ll be quick to adapt. There’s also @MrShmoods who blesses us with a yearly holiday comic! If that’s more your speed try making a winter/holiday themed one-shot of some characters you’ve been kicking around for a while. And of course there’s memorable tunes that herald the Tankmas season. I’ll wait to see how many musicians are interested before we get picky, but you can always collaborate with others on a track or work on music for some microgames. Honestly the more the merrier!
By filling out the same form as before you can let me know how you would like to contribute. I’m not here to organize little teams to make games and tell you all what to do. Socialize! Reach out!! We’re all like-minded creators so don’t be scared to hit up a stranger in the replies to this thread and collaborate on a microgame or comic or whatever else(if you’ve been accepted into the project)! All I’m saying is there’s a whole variety of things if you wanna be a part of ADVENT this year :)
