NG TREASURE HUNT SWASHBUCKLER'S LOG

Day 14: February 17, 2023

Heyo!

I didn't expect things on my end to be busy, both with allergies and IRL work, but I don't want to leave this unfinished. No, this isn't the results page, as that'll come in due time; in alignment with the previous logs, I want to showcase some more works as we close off the submission period. All of us, including the judges, TGO and myself, have our work cut out for us with the amount of entries we have to go through - how much, you may ask? Well, here's the number of individual entries (not the overall amount of people who submitted!) per portal:

185 animation entries

+ 115 game entries

+ 272 art entries

+ 182 audio entries

-------------------------------

= 754 individual entries across all four portals!

While there has been a larger amount of entries in previous years, the fact that there's so many entries this year is an incredible comeback for the hunt. My hope is to be able to do this next year alongside @The-Great-One , but we'll see where time takes us!

HIGHLIGHTS

This section will showcase some of the works that have been accepted into the NG Treasure Hunt, with due credit to their creators. Note that this is not an indication of their placement or ranking in the hunt. If you're seeing this and aren't familiar with the Treasure Hunt or what's going on (or what's in it for you!), you can find info on that here!

Animation

For those looking for how Madness would look like as an anime, @TarKade created an opening with this idea in 2021!

A dramatic short that has a pretty interesting message, @ChrittyEatsShit looks at a man on a balcony wanting to smoke a cigarette.

If you're familiar with "Among Us: The Incredible Story" from back during the 2020 Purple Imposter jam, creator @ChrisShwafer continued the series with other games as well, including in this gem from back in 2021!

@PokkeStein's comedy from 2021 swaps the roles between humans and monkeys in a pretty funny way!

A uni project from 2013, @Butzbo tried his hand at stop-motion for some animation practice!

Games

An interesting adventure game, @DaNeel 's journey is weird, interesting and even a bit funny!

@BlackthornProd 's two-player 2018 game is a journey throughout the mind and a great game to grab a friend and play with!

It is as silly concept, but @Akari21 's game from earlier this year pits you as a pigeon (with a cannon) against other enemies wanting to take your hatchlings.

This Flash game from @Berzee is a real-time strategy game where you can create a village and fight off bandits using the people you hire from resources!

Try your best to survive in @ImmanentDeath 's 2022 avoiding game!

Art

You miiight wanna be a bit careful with that saleswoman @Puapka hung around with back in 2021...

@jeneiakos98 payed tribute in 2017 to one of the greatest bounty hunters in the galaxy.

On the subject of tributes, @RodneyAmirebrahimi created this one back in 2020 for David Gilmour!

We've also seen quite a few art trades occur here on NG, with one example being this trade from @AphrosAnimation a couple of months ago!

This 2017 illustration from @yurgenburgen is an interesting little easter egg hunt for the eyes with the amount of detailed textures it uses.

Audio

One jewel that was found was @Quarl 's 2013 entry from their EP, Object vs. Person.

Created with the feel of an n64 game, @Bertn1991 created this cinematic track back in 2020!

newgrounds.com/audio/listen/908324

An interesting little jewel that was found was @Frequality 's theme they made for JonTron back in 2014. And yes, I did look it up because I didn't believe it, but it's apparently true! Sometimes, you'll never know where a place like Newgrounds might take you in the future.

One of the greats here on NG's Audio Portal is @Waterflame , who's known for making a lot of good songs, including the used-to-be backing track for the Newgrounds Podcast, -Gabberfly-. Even still, a lot of their older songs went under the radar, such as this one from 2012!

A trio that made an interesting Ska track is the trio of @TheThirdRates , @Spazkid , and @NolandNG !

At this point, the only thing that lies ahead is results. As to when they'll be announced?

We have no rush: the results will be announced when we're ready. We simply ask for your patience, as it can take up quite a bit of time to go through all nearly-800 entries and make sure we're giving honest and good scores. It might take a bit, but it'll be worth it in the end!

As I wrap up the log, I wanna take the time to thank @TomFulp . As much as TGO and myself had the idea, Tom was a great resource to understand how we should go about the hunt's revival this year and for helping to bring the prize pool together. Talking with him about this, and about things in general really, has been a warm and great experience and it honestly makes me glad that I've stuck with NG for nearly five years. So again, a huge thank you to Tom for making this possible!

And of course, TGO and I wanna thank all of you. If anything, I think we achieved our goal of bringing light to works that were overshadowed, missed or left out in the past ten years, not only because a lot of them finally got frontpages but because a lot of people pointed them out and found great works that were shared to others. I mentioned before how I hope TGO and myself can do this again next year, albeit with some changes to help us out on the backend of things, and it's honestly because of the things that happened this year and the strength that the revival had. Hopefully this can also encourage people to keep doing the things they love here on NG too, since it helps to show their works aren't being forgotten!

We're glad that this year's revival of the Treasure Hunt got a lot of recognition, and we're hopeful that hunts that occur in the future have a great turnout as well. Again, thank you all for your help with giving recognition and attention to the hidden gems of NG. We'll see you when the results are ready!

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NG TREASURE HUNT 2023 SWASHBUCKLER'S LOG

Day 8: February 10, 2023

Heyo!

Things over the past few days have been slow, which is expected around this point! If you haven't submitted anything for the hunt yet, no worries - you have until 11:59 pm EST February 17th to do so. In the meantime, because of the slower pace the highlights will be shortened quite a bit, so while the showcased entries will go in order I won't give them their own sections as they'll be a few of them. I think next time I'll go with less per post and then stock up on the entries so that we get a good mix of old and new, but for now let's go into the highlights!

HIGHLIGHTS

This section will showcase some of the works that have been accepted into the NG Treasure Hunt, with due credit to their creators. Note that this is not an indication of their placement or ranking in the hunt. If you're seeing this and aren't familiar with the Treasure Hunt or what's going on (or what's in it for you!), you can find info on that here!

Starting off in animation, @koit created this neat Flash video back in 2013 for a tune that he made!

On a similar vein is @Mischa-head 's music video from last year, combining live action with Blender animation in a neat experimental style!

In the Game department, @rushinhaler created this interesting Flash-pixel-platformer back in 2018 that has a folk-ish feel to it.

@Tonycase created this piece of art back in 2013 to celebrate Pokemon X & Pokemon Y!

This house beat from @Nmantif in 2012 is a fun song to listen to and enjoy!

In the VA department, @theminutehour created a voice-acted story about two brothers that's funny and witty!

ACROSS THE HORIZON

We have one spot left open for animation judges for the hunt! Screening required - more info here.

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NG TREASURE HUNT 2023 SWASHBUCKLER'S LOG

Day 5-7: February 7-9, 2023

Heyo!

My apologies for being out these last couple of days, a mixture of work and feeling under the weather made me pass the logs by a bit. Now that I'm refreshed and ready to go into this, I want to make up for it by including three times the amount of highlights as a regular log. Get ready - there's a lot coming your way!

Before getting into the highlights, what happened the last couple of days?

• We're now at the halfway point in terms of the entry period! Just to remind you all, you have until 11:59 pm EST February 17th to submit, change or edit your entries to the hunt. After that, we'll begin the judging period! (NOTE: if you submit an entry that does not follow the rules and the deadline passes, you will not be able to submit a replacement at that time!)
• We crossed 500 individual entries across all four portals, and we also crossed 200 individual art entries. Looks like the hunt's set to be intense this time around!
• If you still want to donate to the cash pool for the competition, you also still have time - use the donation option on the Supporter page and PM TomFulp with a heads up that you are donating to the Treasure Hunt.

With that out of the way, let's get into things!

HIGHLIGHTS

This section will showcase some of the works that have been accepted into the NG Treasure Hunt, with due credit to their creators. Note that this is not an indication of their placement or ranking in the hunt. If you're seeing this and aren't familiar with the Treasure Hunt or what's going on (or what's in it for you!), you can find info on that here!

Animation

Starting things off is a personal animation of @OLThomas 's from last year.

For those into some quick and light humor, @amocoe looks at a disturbance happening in... New York probably, I mean them and San Francisco always are the most eventful in movies.

Into a good animated fight scene? @Tiacus-X 's 2021 work has you covered!

Tapping into our childhood memories of being afraid of the dark is @xdsebaxd 's 2017 animation.

Remember [insert item here] that you used to get DOOM running? @Fwughox definitely did!

An interesting experimental work, @SillySallyMan 's recent semester project shows what happens to a goose that's different from the rest.

We've had a couple of shots from Reanimated content show up in the hunt, such as this one from@VAdaPEGA !

@jerbjpg made a quick animation about how absolutely flawless Cyberpunk 2077 is.

@fidelako 's 2021 parody of the well-known Tankmas series has an... interesting twist, to say the least.

@parrygrip and @BooneBum , who you may recall as the people that made "Raining Tacos", published this work last year!

If you're looking for something longer and creative,@barfconvention 's 2021 work might be able to do it for ya!

A couple of friend make an interesting conversation in @RichChap's 2021 work.

Games

Take on a unique puzzle challenge with @DinonautGames 's work from last year!

For those who are into sudoku, you can also try your hand at this spin on a classic challenge from @sergesgames .

A bullet hell game with an interesting story, @starsidecosmos 's work from last month is an interesting play and challenge. There's even a copy of the game on Steam!

For those looking for a fresh take on Cookie Clicker, check out @truefire87c 's Flash game from 2015!

In the same vein, enjoy this multi-dimensional, chaoritc take on Pong by @Steventus !

Create the longest walks you can with @BenedictFogwell 's work from last month!

Collect the Pilites in this mobile-catered game created by @Scootakip and @CmFluffles !

An interesting take on the war-style games is the Flash rendition created by @FlappyB , @duquekarl , and @PIXELCHUNK in 2013!

I'd love to show off more games, but we've run out of interesting games that haven't gotten a front-page feature during the hunt.

Art

They say a picture's worth a thousand words - since we have a lot of art to showcase, I want to let the art speak for itself this time. All creators will of course be pinged so that you know whose is whose!

@99devilz

@jadendafinger

@Damare-Draws

@Default

@nek0ai

@Joifish

@NoOneAboard

@ArtDeepMind

@Wigmania

@Idarzikftw

@KiwizBeanz

@neonUFO

@EternalSavvy

@Cosmicmetal

@J-qb

Music

We also have a lot of music to showcase here. I think you're able to hear for yourself how great a lot of these works are, so take the time to listen to them and show your support towards their creators!

@littlbox

@NtGm889

@Ayrayen

@Sterrezo @RetrogradeEdm

While talking about RetrogradeEdm...

@Seth

@MrKoolTrix

@Djjaner @DjGoldwing

@megawolf77

@TheLivingTombstone

@Waterflame

@meganeko

I apologize again to the art and music entries, as there's a lot of you and I really do want to keep the tradition of a little info alongside each piece's link. While there's so many of you all, I'm happy to say that all the works here were really enjoyable to watch and listen to, and that in all honesty, you should go check them out! That's the point of a competition like this - it's to bring attention to works that haven't gotten that spotlight and deserve to.

ACROSS THE HORIZON

We have one spot left open for animation judges for the hunt! Screening required - more info here.

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NG TREASURE HUNT 2023 SWASHBUCKLER'S LOG

Day 4 - February 6, 2023

Heyo!

Hope you all are doing well! Things have gotten a little slower here on the crew's side of things, but we've still been keeping notes and moving along at a good pace. There's still plenty of time to submit something for the hunt if you haven't already, but keep in mind that a submission must have been published between January 1 2012 and February 3 2023. We've gotten a couple people finding entries that were submitted later than that, which per the rules we're not able to accept. You don't win a treasure hunt by making something specifically for the hunt because you'll never get to see the world that way!

HIGHLIGHTS

This section will showcase some of the works that have been accepted into the NG Treasure Hunt, with due credit to their creators. Note that this is not an indication of their placement or ranking in the hunt. If you're seeing this and aren't familiar with the Treasure Hunt or what's going on (or what's in it for you!), you can find info on that here!

Animation

Starting things off today is a parody animation of a clip from Blark and Son created by @Misterbongos just last month!

Created for Clock Day 2020, this animation by @k9 , @nyiddle , @OctopusClock, @PanacottaClock and @RobertClock is an interesting hodge-podge of stop-motion animation with an original script and a funny premise!

While the team worked against the aliens, @FlonchDulloon travelled to the top of the mountain to hear the most majestic sound known to man.

A few months later in 2020, @ThothyGoodneth created a rotoscope animation wondering what their cat sees and does. The backstory behind the animation, and the reason for its creation, are also worth a read!

Games

@dkdoot 's creation from last month is a fighting game with a different goal: fighting to keep a potentially worrisome conversation from happening!

Being (so far) the only visual novel entry, there's a lot hidden behind the outward simplicity of @ozuzo 's game from last month.

Hope you studied the dictionary: @KeithSwanger 's game puts your word test to the limit to save people stuck in a babbling loop!

For those who wondered "what would [insert person here] look like if they were in Pico's School?", you might now have your chance to answer that thanks to @Keeby10 , @Count-Cannoli , @CrystalClod , and @SodaMindReader 's 2021 dress-up game!

Art

A few months ago @ClumsyClown designed their own vibrant and neon-esque robot head!

@LetItMelo created this cool animated photo back in 2018 containing all of the current Links from every Legend of Zelda game to date!

While on the topic of video game art, check out this piece from @MegatonSlater from the game Yoshi's Island!

Last year, @Doofish performed an art trade with someone in this very cute entry!

While I am a bit of a sucker for art on canvases, this piece that @JimMiddletonArt created in 2019 is a very fitting tribute to Freddy Mercury. Hopefully the night that it was painted was where he was having such a good time, he was having a ball!

Audio

Last year @X3LL3N worked with a user named Astedroid on this release, which was released on Velocity Music!

While it's one of the shorter audio entries, @FLAVOUR-STAR 's cinematic creation sounds like something out of a pirate motion picture.

Looking to satisfy a dance/EDM hunger paing? @Outpact might have you covered with this release from 2015.

Just a year earlier, @wandschrank created a song for a game named Zos that sounds like something from a Mega Man title.

ACROSS THE HORIZON

At this time, we're currently figuring out who we will have as our second game judge, so screenings and applications for game judges are now closed. In the meantime, there is still an option available if you would like to be an animation judge! Screening required - more info here.

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NG TREASURE HUNT 2023 SWASHBUCKLER'S LOG

Day 3 - February 5, 2023

Heyo!

Hopefully everyone enjoyed their weekend! There isn't really too much I have to say before going into highlights, but I'm excited to see the things everyone is posting up. A lot of content has also gotten frontpaged, not just the content showcased here in these logs, and it makes me happy to know that things are getting the attention that they deserve! But of course, there's more to be found than what meets the eye on the surface, so let's get right into the highlights!

HIGHLIGHTS

This section will showcase some of the works that have been accepted into the NG Treasure Hunt, with due credit to their creators. Note that this is not an indication of their placement or ranking in the hunt. If you're seeing this and aren't familiar with the Treasure Hunt or what's going on (or what's in it for you!), you can find info on that here!

Animation

Starting this off with a comedic parody is @iKiwied 's 2020 animation, combining two games with the style of Paper Mario to give a unique spin on a regular dead body meeting!

Also in the same vein is an original comedy poking fun at a certain company's algorithmic practices. Coming to a hand-picked suggestion box near you is @Blordow 's animation from 2021!

Changing gears to experimental works, I've seen a user or two consider @NobeyOne to be "a modern PilotRedSun". Seeing works like this from last month certainly gives PRS vibes in the best way possible!

While on the subject of experimental posts, @rainlark created a short animation a few months ago (in the span of a week!) taking us from a noodle box to a bowl of steaming ramen.

In a hillarious combo of comedy and experimental, @MattBoo 's 2021 work follows a man in a dystopian future as he gets... a little too addicted to a new product hitting the shelves. I'd show you what it is, but it went missing earlier...

Games

A simple but teasing modernistic puzzle game, this work from @ejbarreto has you bringing the right amount of power to light bulbs through circuits you create and fluctuate. It's a math puzzle that's intriguing and interesting!

Depending on the route you take, @CE53 's 2022 RPG title would either be filled with a lot of content or filled with enough to get you by. Whatever you choose, it's an interesting adventure nonetheless!

Grab your friend, grab your sibling, or grab the hobo from down the street and enjoy a throwback to the 8-bit days in @jupitron 's co-op VS game from 2014!

The best way to describe this 2013 game from @IcyLime is like musical charades - listen to a shape or letter in all four directions and guess what that shape or letter is just from how it sounds!

Art

Art here on NG comes from a lot of places, and some of those places are from other larger works of media. This piece from @reptilesgeo was inspired by the recent Puss in Boots film!

On the subject of art inspired by media, check out this 2019 art from @ramzykamen inspired from the Marvel movie of the same name!

While a lot of art here on NG is digital, there are a good handful of pieces that are done beyond the screen. Such is the case with @Ookiee 's 2014 oil painting!

Others have also posted physical art here on NG, with one of the most unique being this 2020 creation by @Yarn . Yes - that is really a physical knitted/crocheted clock crew member!

One other piece that falls under this physical art section is a piece from last month by @darkroots77 . It actually takes a while to figure out this is physical, but if you're still not convinced it isn't digital their entire collection of art here is physical - acryllic paint on a canvas, mixtures on paper, the list goes on!

Audio

This first piece is a simple but really effective general rock piece that you can relax to or listen and enjoy. Check out this entry created around a year ago by @masterakuma99 !

If you're into songs that are similar to those from Virtual Riot, and that have a little more of a video game/EDM feel, @somanylynx and @DazukoMusic have you covered with this song from April 2022.

For those looking for pure video game music, something that would sound like it'd fit in games like the original Mortal Kombat, take a listen to @NemesisTheory's song from 2012.

@iTIC also has some the house genre cravings covered with this song from 2019:

As I know you've already seen, there's all kinds of people hanging around NG. That said, while this piece was posted by @Panteras in 2017, it's apparently the collective work of a metal band called Bad Blood! You never know who you might run into here on NG.

ACROSS THE HORIZON

We're still figuring out who we're gonna have for our three open judging spots, but if you want to get in on the action you still have a little bit of time left! Screening required - more info here.

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NG TREASURE HUNT 2023 SWASHBUCKLER'S LOG

Day 2 - February 4, 2023

Heyo!

Before going into today's log, I wanna help some of you guys out. As per the rules, entries to the hunt can't have a frontpage, visible trophy, or feature. What does that mean and where can you find it?

All three can be found in the "Credits & Info" box on the left side of the screen. As an example, this is what it looks like on one of today's highlights, @Nocity 's "The Illusory Wall".

You'll notice on other entries, under the tags, that you might see items like this (example from @TomFulp and co.'s "Castle Crashing The Beard HD", which you can find in the Legendary Games section of the front page!):

Other trophies include Review Crew picks (not shown), Monthly trophies, and a few others. Submissions that have any trophies like the ones shown BEFORE February 3, 2023 are not allowed to compete in the hunt. Take time to look and see if your entry has a trophy like this, and if it does then keep looking - there are lots of gems that don't have a single trophy, and THAT is what we're looking for!

HIGHLIGHTS

This section will showcase some of the works that have been accepted into the NG Treasure Hunt, with due credit to their creators. Note that this is not an indication of their placement or ranking in the hunt. If you're seeing this and aren't familiar with the Treasure Hunt or what's going on (or what's in it for you!), you can find info on that here!

Animation

We've had a lot of comedy works submitted for the hunt, but we've also had selections from series here on NG too. @AndraeToons , @Domations , and @Gray created something last year that was both in a (comedically unexpected!) episode from their series, The Benny and Frasier Show.

In the same comedy vein, we've also gotten parody comedies that poke fun at shows or entertainment out there. One example was created by @Voidbitz : his parody episode of the series Regular Show.

Also in the parody isle is a short but funny animation created by @JordanMLacroix in 2020 poking fun at a scene from Final Fantasy VII.

That's not saying that everything has been comedies - we've actually gotten a good handful of dramas too. One 2013 creation from @manuelberja , @ChampionAwar , and @YChang depicts an interesting story of a boy creating a doll for a friend of his.

We've also had interesting experimental works submitted too. The results of these works are interesting styles you don't see anywhere else, such as this 2018 work from @horizon-hugger !

Games

As mentioned before, Nocity's 2017 work in an interesting take using everything in sight - and everything out of sight - to focus on perception and illusion. It creates a one-of-a-kind puzzle that's interesting to figure out!

@Ferociter , whose game Tower of the Scorched Sea got frontpaged recently, created this gem in 2021 that is intriguing, to say the least. It slowly adds unique elements to this platformer game that make it interesting and fun to play as you progress forward with warm music and visuals!

As mentioned yesterday, many Flash games still work with Newgrounds thanks to both Ruffle and the NG Player. One such Flash game is @Vibe13 's 2014 work that combines the mechanics of bullet hell games with an aesthetic of Space Invaders, creating an interesting game that has an energetic atmosphere.

Another interesting game is this gem from @PastelGames . Created in 2014, it takes the mechanics of a mystery game and combines it with a gritty artstyle that makes it interesting to play.

Art

Starting things off, @MysteriousMantis 's pixel work from just a few months ago is interesting to look at and gives a unique style too!

While a lot of 2D art was found, there was also 3D art gems that were discovered too. @colorsCrimsonTears created this piece (or pieces) of 3D art last month, paying tribute to the Gameboy Advance.

We've also had comics showing up too. One of the most unique is part of @Familypants 's (short lived) 2014 series, Katie Khaos. Not only is it a comic with a unique style, but every frame has an animation too - allowing the art to really jump off the backgrounds!

Another interesting gem is from 2021 by @DemosoniGh . It's a unique artstyle using monotone pen shading in an interesting way that's different but special!

This 2020 gem from @WrongLeverCreations feels like something right out of Aardman Productions, the same animation company who brought you Chicken Run, Wallace and Gromet, and The Pirates! Band of Misfits. I honestly really enjoy it for having a similar style to those great works!

Audio

We've had a lot of interesting song gems discovered, with this one being a fun throwback to the 8-bit era from @SlushiePop !

While a lot of rich gems come from undiscovered or overlooked artists, sometimes gems can also come from the most well known artists too. One example comes from @Step and @Echo , two of the most well-known musicians here on Newgrounds, in this 2013 work.

Another great example comes from @Phonometrologist , whose works are pretty well-known across the audio portal today. This 2015 gem is an interesting and classical take on the idea of the love song!

In the VA department, @Flamadour told us last month about the benefits of enjoying coffee in a new, and certainly unique, way.

It's also interesting to see people's takes on others in their own style. @HJfod gave a shot on his take with NIGHTkilla's dubstep style!

ACROSS THE HORIZON

Yesterday, I brought out the spreadsheet of works that have already been accepted to the competition. As I know I've seen some people mention in the thread that they don't want their works submitted for the hunt, I've included a list next to them of users whose works are off limits. If you submit a work from that user, keep in mind you may be asked to change your submission. While it is good to find gems across the site, respecting each other is just as important here!

We're still on the hunt for judges in the games and animation portals! Screening required - more info here.

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NG TREASURE HUNT 2023: SWASHBUCKLER'S LOG

Day 1 - February 3, 2023

Heyo everyone!

In the spirit of the competition and in inspiration from looking back at previous hunts, I want to do a log of sorts that highlights entries from throughout the competition. The whole point of the NG Treasure Hunt, after all, is to give recognition to works from across the site that didn't get a chance to be seen or given that recognition. However, instead of doing subcategories like in previous years, for each day in the submission period I'll highlight a good few pieces from each portal, alongside a short blurb about them. Afterwards, if there's any updates or news with the hunt, they'll be placed underneath the features. If there's anything else that y'all want me to do with this log, like tell a pirate joke or a good memory, feel free to tell me!

For future reference: all logs will be tagged with "ngth2023", so you can use that to look back on previous or future logs!

HIGHLIGHTS

This section will showcase some of the works that have been accepted into the NG Treasure Hunt, with due credit to their creators. Note that this is not an indication of their placement or ranking in the hunt. If you're seeing this and aren't familiar with the Treasure Hunt or what's going on (or what's in it for you!), you can find info on that here!

Animation

The entries from our movies and animation portal are vast and have a lot of really good things going on. For example, check out this smoothly animated fight sequence from @shamalama !

While the fights happen outside, @NylonLyon animated their response in 2016 to an interesting question: what if some characters from Undertale played the most offensive game known to mankind?

Animators and Adobe users alike know the pain that comes with After Effects, but @Boritoz109 put that to animation earlier last year (in a seamless loop nonetheless!)

One of the unique things about NG, for those who are unaware or new, is the ability to run Flash files using Ruffle, an open-source Flash emulator built right into your browser, or the NG Player for games. Despite Flash ending service in 2020, animators like @cacko are still making animations using Flash and uploading them here, such as this entry from 2021!

(sidenote: the Flash Forward Jam is also happening now until March 26, so if you wanna work with Flash for a game or movie with a menu/interactive elements, now might be the perfect time to do so! More info here.)

An animation with a unique style, @10000Hawks made an animation capturing a rock moshpit - with the few bumps in the road that come with it!

Games

We've also gotten a fair share of unique games so far in the hunt. For instance, check out @tonyfinale 's hybrid of Minesweeper and Picross from last year!

Returning back to Flash emulation, this entry that @krangGAMES made in 2012 is still able to run today thanks to the NG Player. Go in and try this simple game for yourself!

A member with a couple of other entries found by users in the hunt, @targaciej 's "Hook" is a simple puzzle game that does everything it can with a simple idea, making for a fun and puzzling experience.

For those that are into bullet hell games, @SkyFire2008 has you covered with an entry named "TD2S". Customize your weapon and survive against enemies that chase, shoot and break apart into many pieces!

Art

By far the portal with the most submissions currently, this was just shy of 100 individual pieces submitted at the end of the day, and it's now sitting at 125 pieces! And it's not hard to see why - there's a lot of really good entries coming from here too. Starting things off, check out this animated pixel art entry created by @DeadkatNG last year!

As with the other portals, we've had names that show up multiple times as multiple gems of theirs are discovered. One such individual, @GastricAsian , received a frontpage yesterday but is getting a lot of attention and traction in the hunt.

Another recurring name on the Art Portal, one of the entries created by @deathink is a really cool tribute to Newgrounds!

One other big theme throughout some hunt entries has been commissioned works that artists showcase here on NG. One such work is @ryve 's commission from two years ago for a deathcore band:

Possibly my personal favorite so far is this 2017 fractal work from @zybor , which is incredible to look at! There's all kinds of styles utilized here on NG, and it's really cool to see a lot of them here in one place!

Audio

We've had entries that go across the wide range of the genre spectrum. Kicking things off with audio, check out @jukelames87 's 2014 hip-hop song, "Walk On".

Some of our entries come from the soundtracks of games published here on NG or beyond. One of them was created by @Olimac31 , who wrote this song from the OST of a game called "Purki's Adventure" two years ago.

Songwriters are not the only people having fun here in the hunt - we've gotten a few voice acting pieces and even a podcast piece in the running! Voice actors have been placing up skits here on the Audio Portal, and, in the case of this entry created by @JennyGlynn , even voice demos!

We've also seen songs from personal albums or EPs during the hunt, such as this entry from @noo-dll 's Bandcamp album, Moonside Vol. 2.

To round things off, we head over to another game's OST, where @Jumbs cooked music for a game called Wizardchess (available on Steam!) just a few months ago.

ACROSS THE HORIZON

As I know it's been an issue: I've taken the time to work the kinks out and get a public spreadsheet of all the works that have been accepted. Since the hunt will accept entries that haven't already been accepted before, this will be perfect for you to take a look and figure out if what you want to submit has already been found. These lists, separated by portal for convenience, will be automatically updated as I add each entry in the spreadsheet for the judges. They include the authors, name, link and genre for you to double-check. Feel free to take a look!

We're still on the hunt for judges in the games and animation portals! Screening required - more info here.

Next Log ->

Heyo! Me and a friend are going to help in hosting a competition here on NG, and that comeptition will be starting up very soon. But we need some help - we're looking for one game judge and two animation judges!

By "judges", we mean people who would be willing to take games/animations and rate them on evenly-balanced categories of their own choosing. No previous judging experience required - as long as you know how to look for elements of a game/animation and can provide some justification behind scores, you're welcome to apply!

General Info:

• The timeframe of the competition's entry period is two weeks. Afterwards, there's no set limit on the judging period but we do ask for being timely given the amount of entries to judge. You are also welcome to judge before the entry period ends.
• You'll be keeping track of things on a spreadsheet which we'll provide. It has math built into it, so the overall total for your scores on each entry will be automatically calculated for you!
• You'll be working with another individual in either category.
• Keep in mind that we may allow people to get feedback on their works. This is in question currently considering the nature of the competition, but we'll make sure to tell you in advance.
• If you have other questions, feel free to ask on this post or in DMs! I won't talk too much on the competition as it's under wraps and a bit of a surprise, but I'd be happy to elaborate on things that you're wondering about.

If you're interested, reach out to me through direct messages here on NG. Note that each applicant will be subject to a screening, which is basically a mock trial where you'd go through the motions as you would in the competition with just a couple of example pieces. More info will be given as the screening begins.

Heyo, I'm boutta go to sleep but I had an idea for something. I've been grappling on it for a bit now, but I think I wanna propose it to gather a good idea of what people would think about it and to also gain feedback early. I've run things before (not always the best, I'll admit), but I've never really created a competition from scratch.

At least, mostly from scratch.

Truth be told, the idea isn't fully my own, but it does root off of something else that happened before. Back in 2019, @CoachFro hosted a special kind of NG Monthly Writing Competition - he hosted plenty of monthly competitions before, but the difference with this one was that it would have the end goal of turning into an animation here on NG. It went through four phases - the writing phase, the art/character reference stage, the music & VA stage, and the animation stage. The competition as a whole went well, but it started to die out when it got to us musicians and was completely untouched when the animation phase rolled in. It's definitely not something I'd say is Fro's fault at all, but it's something I wanna avoid this time around. After all, the NG community went through some growth since then because of things like the Sponjibobbu episode given a copyright strike on YouTube and, more recently, FNF - we have more people on NG and probably more interest to get together and make something fun since then.

So with that said, how would this iteration of the competition work? Somewhat similar as before, but with some changes.

Phase 1: Writing/Concept

Similar to the competition that started it all, the idea is that writers would be tasked with writing a script for an animation. However, I would want to open it up to any animation ideas whatsoever, not just pilot episodes. My only rule would be for it to only use original characters and scenarios, since it allows for more creative freedom in the later stages. I'd also allow for it to either be a drama, comedy, whatever the writer wants to be. I'm considering a rating limit as well (maybe M at most), but nothing's solid yet.

Phase 2: Art/Reference

Pretty much similar to the other competition, where artists would take a character or few and come up with reference sheets for them. The goal is to be unique in style but also tied to the script in terms of what the character looks like, how they act, etc.

Phase 3: Music & VA

Instead of strictly doing a theme song (although the musician can do that if they want to), the musician can pick out any part in the script and make a 1:30 to 2:00 song following the events of the script in that part. It could be ambiance music, something that blends with action, whatever they want it to be. For VAs, they would choose a few lines that make up around 1:00 of a track and voice the character, again keeping in mind what the script says for their personality.

Phase 4: Animation

Instead of doing a trailer, my thought is to have the animation competitors choose a portion of the script and animate 1:30 - 2:00 of that portion. It can be storyboard animations, full animations, whatever they see fit for the time they have. They would have to utilize the style of the artist, maybe include the music track from the musician, and if possible also include lines from the VAs. Their goal is to bring everything together and bring the vision to life.

Other misc stuff

• I'd probably aim to start this on January 1st. I don't want to interfere with other NG happenings too much, and I know I'm gonna be busy up until that point as well.
• Like before, the person or people who win one of the phases have a say in the later phases for who they think portrays the script the best.
• Phases 1-3 would last around 2 weeks each, while phase 4 would last 4 weeks (to give ample time to animate that much).
• I'm considering running phases 2 and 3 together, but I'm hesitant because the musicians and VAs can bounce off of the artist's work on the reference sheets.
• I will not be distancing myself from the group once it is fully assembled, and instead I'll help in whatever ways is needed and possible for me.
• I'm considering, if this goes well, of also starting a game variant of this competition. The main inclusion would be the final phase of coders placing assets and music into the game, but I still would need to figure things out and learn from this competition.
• The whole point of the competition is to bring people on NG together in a unique way and to have fun while doing so! I can include prizes too, such as some Supporter statuses, but again it's about having fun and making some friends while working on something passionate.

That's what I got so far. Again, I'm still tweaking some things and I want to get an idea of what I need to change before the competition potentially starts, or if the idea isn't going to work. I'm interested, and I'm down to hear your guys' thoughts!

UPDATE: I do wanna clarify, if you want to use the songs with GD as long as you don't bring up the stuff that happened I'm alright with it. The notices on each song mainly pertain to things such as games, animations, videos and things like that - both in and outside of Newgrounds.

There's a good and bad-ish part to this, which I'll get the latter out first.

I went through and updated a bunch of songs to help move on from what happened many moons ago. That, and the fact that a lot of the art for the songs were done by two people who were less than stellar and bad in their own ways. I wish not to promote those people here, which is why I did what I did; however, I am heavily considering removing all of the songs even still. I will provide an update if and when that is the case. Only the pages have been updated - the song files are still the same, and when I reach a further decision I will update the files if I choose to keep them standing.

I would like to mention however that not every aspect of the art were done by those two - there was a third aspect done by an individual who I will not name yet simply because I don't know if I should. But they, as far as I can tell, are innocent.

As for good stuff. I finished up going through a streak of music for a different mod. I'm hopeful it will be coming pretty soon and that I can share that music with you guys. I think it's some of my best, and there's a lot of music that's coming from that mod in particular. Plus it all started here on Newgrounds - that to me makes it much more special. :D