I feel like we really ought to stray away from using Discord servers to keep track of activity in a collab project. Sure, things may be a little more organized and it’s a app everyone has access to, but as soon as one bad actor decides to eliminate the entire server, where will all that information be preserved?

It’s not like search engines and the Wayback Machine can index these servers, once a Discord server gets nuked, that’s that.

I remember there was a time where folks had their dedicated forums adjacent to NG, but dedicated to getting collabs organized there. Today, it’s not so talked about or even used anymore.

I’m just sayin’, if we want to have some memory for the next generation of creators, they need something tangible to look as an example to maybe get the inspiration they need to organize their own stuff.

Discord servers and especially folks asking to join so many individual servers, things are going to eventually get cluttered, and if I just see a collab advertising their own server there, I’m just gonna stay away.

Things that are getting made in NG, should stay in NG.

I realized, the majority of games I own are made by Japanese developers.

I dunno, I just don't like Western-made ones, some just lean into "hell yeah realism" territory and the gameplay sometimes just fall flat on its face. Some are just too gritty and ugly looking to me. Before anyone says it, Dark Souls is Japanese made too. :)

(I actually do like Dark Souls and I do want to investigate its lore one day but my backlog is too huge right now)

Now Western made indie games are a different story, there's A Hat in Time, Celeste, the Undertale series that one funkin dancing game idk

I really do want to get into Western games more, but nothing ever clicks. I need to expand my horizons more but I can't if I got no interest in anything anymore lmao

also figure i should use this blog to actually post thoughts that i won't shut up about but know no one's going to hear

you know you have a problem when your last few art pieces are just the holiday specials

why am i like this

no i'm not affilated with GAIN.GG I just want you to click my link lol

GAIN.GG is a simple GPT (Get Paid To) site. It'll allow you to earn real-world money for just completing tasks, task ranging from doing surveys (recommended), downloading apps (not very recommended, but it works), and watching videos.

Membership is absolutely free! Cash-outs are instant and you can choose to receive your money to your PayPal account, or through cryptocurrency (Bitcoin/Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin)... or even Counter-Strike skins and Steam items! 1,000 coins equal to $1 USD, and it'll stay that way forever.

Simply sign up with your Steam account or with a Google account, and before you ask if it's safe, yes it is. The only real risk is simply ignoring the site because I dunno?

Keep in mind this NO way serves as a replacement to your literal job, but it's nice to have some leisure money set aside, right?

The best way to earn easy coins fast is by unlocking YourSurveys, which you can get by getting 10,000 coins. If you're struggling, take Revenue Avenue offers and doing their surveys there.

YourSurveys will always give you consistent cash (700 coins), so always make it your go-to task.

Ready to get started? Click here to sign up!

Something fun I made because why not? I couldn't exactly post it in the Art Portal due to copyrighted game assets not being allowed there (and for good reason).

So, it's basically my friend's Final Fantasy XIV character, Ace and my own Jules taking the place of Claire and Chris Redfield. The joke here that Ace and Jules are siblings, much like their other younger counterparts that aren't in Eorzea.

I can't exactly tell you why I made this. :s

But don't it look kickass anyway?

Deviantart page and HD ver of logo if you want to be weird about it

Back in late 2018, I worked on a personal project of mine. I wanted to record the entire score of this really obscure Nintendo eShop title called “Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball”, using nothing but a male-to-male cord and Audacity. Mind you, I know nothing about sound mastering or anything of that sort.

It was practically a service to myself, and anyone else who happened to enjoy the game obsessively as I did. I didn’t think any of it, so I just plastered download links and uploaded every song onto YouTube (which you can check out the playlist here).

Fast forward in time, a YouTuber named Nick Robinson (@Babylonian on Twitter) managed to track me down through Discord to thank me for uploading the entire thing. He actually went through great lengths to find my literal tag and everything (even searching through my Twitter too!!), I was flattered honestly!

I was honestly surprised he was a YouTube with some clout too, it didn’t take long for us to hit it off, talking about the game and everything we loved about it. (Do watch his content though) We even mentioned how criminally obscure the game is, and pointed out some details in the game files that normally wouldn’t be seen on a 3DS screen.

Soon after, he uploaded a entire video on a character from the game that people never knew existed (until now). You can catch the video below. I provided the game files you see close to the end, haha

I thought something like this was worth sharing. Even I got nothing to gain from it, I’m just happy how something as little as uploading songs from a game nobody cares about trickles as something as big as this.

Personally happy this game is getting the attention it deserves!

(And nick if you’re reading this thanks for doing my favorite game some justice when I couldn’t :’)

looking forward to working with you again!)

Compiling every single question and answer here (in no particular order) from my AMA threads. Feel free to ask me anything in the comments below!

Q: (From @WaffleCrisp) Whos that on your icon pic.

A: My OC, Jun the Bob-Omb Ace. He'll always be the mascot of my accounts.

Q: (From @SevenSeize) I am having trouble making Japanese cheesecake, and I think it is because my egg white peaks aren't quite stiff enough.

What do you think?

A: Put more eggs in it.

Q: (From @Cyberdevil) Who are you? :O

Also how are you man? Good call.

A: I am me.

Also, great. Being productive for once is great.

Q: (From @FUNKbrs) How do I convince my psych I only have a mild case of PTSD and not a severe dissociative disorder?

Asking for a friend, obviously.

A: Despair.

Q: (From @AcidX) How many full-size French baguettes do you think you could eat in a day?

A: At least a dozen, even with toppings on them. My stomach is a black hole.

Q: (From @RightTime) What is your opinion on muffins?

A: They're nice and fluffy.

Q: (From @Gremlim) I have a jar full of coins. Should I host a guessing game on general and award the closest guess a supporter status while showing off my mad amounts of coins?

A: Yes. Definitely.

Q: (From @Void) How are you enjoying your freedom?

A: I'm enjoying every minute of it.

Q: (From @ZetoSoul) What's your favorite midnight snack? (If you have one)

A: Usually something basically like a sandwich, or potato chips (...with hot sauce dipped onto it).

Eating after dark is bad for you, but no one's stopping you. 👀

Q: (From @SevenSeize) Is there anything we could do to give you more freedom?

A: Buy me this.

Q: (From @Peregrinus) How did you choose your username?

A: The ‘soliton’ part of my name is based from the Soliton Radar from the Metal Gear series, and ‘medic’ is based out of my main in this brawler MMO called Lost Saga, Cyber Medic. Because these two things sound so sci-fi, I adapted the named ‘solitonmedic’ because it sounded cool. It also the occupation of one the characters I’ve written up.

To what a Soliton Medic really does... just think of them of fancy battle medics that fight evil and heal folks. :p

Q: (From @StickmanMarkinson) What inspired you to find the old Newgrounds features (like the 2004 BBS design outlook forums page)?

A: I really love the industrial aesthetics as a kid. I always wanted to replicate it in some form when I actually developed the skills to. Right now, the theme I got now is just the bare minimum I can do with my limited knowledge of CSS. If I were able, and if Tom Fulp allows, I could change the HTML so it’ll better resemble the old look. (Maybe fix the submission rating icons too)

I’m looking to recreate the ‘07 theme and perhaps a NG Mag theme too, as long as the assets are avaiable through the Wayback Machine.

On top of that, I get to look at a piece of web history too. I managed to snag the original ‘pixel’ typefaces Stamper used, commonly seen in the ‘04 theme. I’d like to use it to really fancy things up, but like I said, have to change HTML for that to work.

Q: (From @Fro) Why are you too shy to take a selfie for Seven's thread?

A: Self-esteem issues and fear of getting doxxed. :'D

Q: (From @MarckEllo) Yo what you played Lost Saga too? I haven't played in years but I liked it even if I was never hardcore. My main was the tiger just because I got it permanent for free. Are you still playing and if so how is it holding up?

A: As of now, Lost Saga got passed onto Z8Games from WeMade, and the player base is the shortest I've seen in a MMO game. Z8 really ruined the game when they made Rare and Unique heroes available for purchase...

The metagame is just all about who can infinite combo the most now. I still play it, but rarely. All my friends there must had moved on to other games by now.

The game has the same events over and over again with bingo being the only worthwhile event there. I don't think the devs care for the game much.

If you're reading this, you must be American.

I've always been meaning to do this for sometime now, so here it is: a complete throwback of the '04 days! Take a glimpse to what NG used to look like back then with this Stylus theme!

Known bugs:

• Weird artifacts might appear in your userpage and notifications
• Might not actually boost load speeds
• BBS splitter blends a bit too well with the background
• Submission ratings are too small and barely noticable (at present there's no known fix without breaking parts of the site)

Features: 

• The classic NG look and colors
• Functional forum icons (one of them even animates, just like old times!)
• Lightweight, so it'll play nice with mobile (It'll actually boost site load speeds!)
• Appiles to everything except userpages, the portal (and instances where the site will use the '15 theme)
• The original splitter from the old layouts
• Background and assets is optimized to work with the current 2018-19 theme
• Does not remove ads (why would you do that? you could already remove ads)

Get it here: https://userstyles.org/styles/167650/newgrounds-2004

How to install: 

• 1.) Get the Stylus extension for either Chrome or Firefox.
• 2.) Install the code from visiting this site: https://userstyles.org/styles/167650/newgrounds-2004
• 3.) That's it. You're good to go!

How to install /w Tampermonkey:

• 1.) Get Tampermonkey for either Chrome (alt. for Android), Firefox, Edge, Safari, UC Browser, or Dolphin Browser,
• 2.) Install the code from here and by clicking on 'Install as userscript', just below the change logs.

• 3.) Tampermonkey will automatically prompt you to install. Press 'Install'.

• 4.) (Edge users only) Go to Tampermonkey's dashboard, set "Run at:" to 'document-body'. Leave everything as-is.

• That's it, you're good to go!

How to update:

• 1.) Click on Stylus' icon and click on 'Manage'.

• 2.) Click on the update icon to install the latest changes, if prompted, just overwrite the changes.

Feel free to leave a comment here or on the actual userstyle page! In case of bugs, contact me here.

Change log:

(Ver.01)
- First release

(Ver.02)
- Fixed a issue where locked icons would not appear

(Ver.03)
- Added the original NG Orange color schemes to review and forum replies text boxes.
- Added persistent header colors on most headings. The change will also ignore any heading colors you've set to your user page.

(Ver.04)
- Fixed a issue where the background color on BBS and user page editors were not displaying properly.
- Added better compatibility with Microsoft Edge (with Tampermonkey).
- Will no longer override userpage layout.
- Updated to match new additions to layouts.

(Ver.05)
- Changed how gradients worked to better suit the background

(Ver.06)
- Changed how rating icons look, they're now the proper size now
- Improved visibility on post and supporter's stars in the BBS to better blend with the background
- Changed some text boxes to the appropriate colors

Updated: October 20, 2020 [7:04 PM EST]

Hey there everyone! Due to the recent outbreak of Tumblr artists migrating to NG, I decided to work on a little handbook to help newbies get settled in. 

The Art Portal and Scouting: 

Anyone can submit their art into Newgrounds, however their art will not appear on the Art Portal right away. That user needs to be 'scouted' before they can really submit stuff to the Portal. Only a Scout (a person who was scouted and granted entry to the Art Portal) can do this. 

In order to get scouted, you need at least four submission already submitted within your NG account. Once you do, a Scout can grant you entry. Keep in mind you cannot ASK to get scouted. That will lower your chances in actually getting entry within the portal. The best way to get scouted is posting your art within the Art forums in the NG BBS.

Another thing to keep in mind, by any chance you, the Scout that scouted you, or a user that was scouted by the same Scout that granted you entry has their submission removed or are banned from the Art Portal, you will be pruned and lose the right to submit artwork within the Art Portal, and so will the Scout that scouted you and the scouted users that Scout granted.

EDIT: As of the 12/5/18 maintenance, you can add up to 12 tags within your art now!

EDIT2: As of the 1/16/19 update, you can now set individual frames from GIFs as your thumbnail now, as well as set multi-image pics in your submissions. In addition, you can now add tags to blog posts now.

Never accept Art Portal rights with anyone you wouldn't trust your life's work with.

The list of art moderators and more can be seen here.

What's Allowed and What's Not?:

Newgrounds has a strict, no-tolerance policy on works or content that you did not made your own, or stolen from another. Simply enough, don't be dumb and commit art theft like a lunatic. However, considering some special cases (i.e. using Source Filmmaker models and etc), the rules can be interpreted a bit differently. 

For a more detailed explaination on what's to be expected when submitting content within NG, read the Newgrounds Wiki entry here. 

If for some reason you feel the need to report a submission or find something that doesn't belong in the Portals, you can report that submission by clicking the flag icon on the submission's title bar.

Keep in mind test animations/games are frown upon in the movie/games portal. Please submit that within the Game Development and/or Animation forums respectively.

Remember to be descriptive in your report. False reports can get you in trouble, or worse.

Leveling System, Voting, B/P Points and More:

Every new user registered onto NG start off with the standard Level 1, Civilian badge, Normal whistle, and no B/P points get up. To level up, you need to vote on submissions across the entire site. For every vote you earn 2 XP. You'll be able to continue to rack up experience until your fifth vote, at which you'll make a deposit for the day. You can only earn a total of 10 XP for a single Grounds Gold day. How a Grounds Gold day ends and start is dependent on your own current time zone. 

XP adds weight to your vote, allowing you judge a submission much more critically. Within NG's own general portal, you have the power to either save or completely destroy someone's precious submission. A movie/game submission needs to be judged before it can really enter the Portal. For each submission you save or delete, it'll add toward your B/P (Blam/Protection) count. Gaining B/P points also adds more Voting Power to your votes!

Keep an eye out for Double XP events! These are most common during Newgrounds holidays, like Clock Day, Pico Day and Madness Day!

Voting 0-1 stars on a movie/game submission will blam it. Voting 2-5 stars will protect it. Voting incorrectly will not earn you B/P points.

For a more details on the the system and the process of judging submissions, check out the wiki here. 

You can look at in-depth statistics using this helpful site, NG Logs, made by Byteslinger!

Helpful list of NG holidays:

• Pico Day: April 25th - May 11th - A day dedicated to everything Newgrounds! Sometimes it'll just be just the mascot, Pico. (Between these days, Tom tends to specify the date randomly between these days. The event is NOT ongoing!)
• Robot Day: July 10th - A day dedicated to robots and everything possible inorganic.
• Clock Day: August 15th - The day the submission called "B" passed judgement, upon which the Clock Crew was founded. (Very good for Blam/Protect points farming.) ;)
• Madness Day: September 22nd - A day celebrating the ultraviolent Madness series, created by Krinkels.

Rarely celebrated or defunct holidays:

• Luis Day - No one really settled on a day, so it was last held around July - August 2007.
• Denvish Day - Last celebrated was December 5th, 2005!
• Inglor Day - Last celebrated was September 17th, 2005!

Also keep an eye out for animation jams! The bigger they are, the most likely Double XP bonus will follow!

User Pages and Customization:

While NG doesn't have as much customization options as Tumblr does, NG does allow you to list your favorite movies, games, and even medals earned through games, trophies and even stats. Like Tumblr, you get your own page, named right after your handle name (i.e. ******.newgrounds.com). It's your own personal page and it can be as a easy gateway to your other social media outlets. 

You also got your own blog right in the middle of it all, and you free to switch around the columns to what you see fit. Not only that, you can also set a cover pic, your profile pic, and even the accent colors of the page, all in one tool!

It's a really snazzy tool, just saying.

The BBS and You:

The Newgrounds Bulletin Board System, or NG BBS for short, is the best source of information (minus anything that goes into General) you can find about everything Newgrounds, animation, art or basically anything you can think of! It's also a way you can discuss topics with other fellow NGers about utter nonsense if you wanted to. 

Remember to read the rules!!

This Is Great And All, But How Do I Freakin' Upload Stuff?!

Simply press this handy button right next to your private messages and other handy buttons...

Go on, push it...

...and pick your poison!

Remember to upload content that YOU made or own the rights to.

Oh, as a extra thank you... every NGer gets a free 500MB+ (500MB more if you're a Supporter) of storage to use on the Dumping Grounds! Improve searchability with tags! You're only limited to four tags at time, however a pending update is coming where you'll be able to tag even more information about your content!

Collabinator and the Project System:

The Collabinator and the Project System are two of the most helpful tools for content creators here on Newgrounds. 

The Collabinator allows artists, musicians or even writers to come to get together and put their skills to work. It's a good way to seek out paid work for others, getting a project going, hiring artists and etc, or just the means of putting yourself out there. This is the best way to get some serious networking here. 

The Project System is Newgrounds' own publishing system for everything movies, games, audio or even artwork. The PS handles publications of your works, manages revenue for all members working, access Dumping Grounds data and more. 

It's fairly complex, so take the time to read up the wiki for more information.

EX: Audio Portal and Geometry Dash

Like the audio portal, musicians need to be scouted in order to have their music showcased or, to be used within the game "Geometry Dash".

Please note uploading music you did not make or with the intend to be used within GD is EXTREMELY frowned upon and you can lose your scouting privileges and can get banned indefinitely.

For more information, read up on NekoMika's quick FAQ here.

EX2: Source Filmmaker and similar @ Art Portal

Submissions that make use of 3D models of copyrighted characters is strictly prohibited within the Art Portal. Do not use models you did not made when making SFM posters. However, it's perfectly fine if you submit theres in forum topics within the Art forums.

---

If you got any questions or information I might had missed, feel free to send me a PM or comment about it down below.