Hello NG,

Today (technically yesterday now) marks my 10 year anniversary here on Newgrounds. So I thought I'd sit down, grab a beer, turn on some Beastie Boys, and reflect on Newgroundian experiences over the years. If you've already read past the first two sentences without moving on to something more important, it means at least I have your curiosity.

Year One
Don't worry, I'm not going to go year by year. I just thought Year One sounded cool because...you know, Batman. But this was a very important year.

It was 2003 and Newgrounds was booming. Yes, Newgrounds started in '99, but this was the point where you could drop the name "Newgrounds" to your friends and they'd actually know what you were talking about. I spent hours on this site with my friends watching Retarded Animal Babies and Madness Combat. It was mostly those, but there were alot of gems in between, like Hostage Situation 2. That got me into flash.

All that being said, I'm just going to talk in terms of projects, and the things that came with them...

Damage Factor (2003)

Not including the trailer, this was my first attempt at creating a flash series. It's complete dogshit. I went into flash blind and gradually taught myself how to use it through completing this series...and you can tell. I thought I could get away with using 12 FPS. As embarrassed as I am by it and as badly as I want to delete it from the site, this is the only place that can prove it even exists. I lost the original file. It's shit, but it holds sentimental value, so fuck you. It stays.

Tactical Diplomacy I-III(2003-2004)

This is when I took a step back and went with a more simplistic style so I could get more done cinematically...at least that's what I thought. My animation was still pretty shitty. Sound effects and Copyright Hollywood music are the only things that make these worth watching. These were done at 18FPS; an upgrade, but still noticeably shitty.

After these, I took a short break and planned a series (Damage Factor 2) that fell through and never got made. This was the first of many, which leads me to the next project:

Tactical Directive - Part 1 (2008)
Yes, a nice four year gap with almost no submissions in between. This is because I didn't touch flash for a good 2 years. I fell into a slump where I had no motivation and just didn't care about anything in general. Upon growing out of that, I started Tactical Directive. This one ran at 20 FPS with a really tiny stage size. At the time, I thought making the stage smaller would mean an easier work space...wrong. On the flip side, this was the first project where I used NG voice actors.

Even though this series didn't make it past Part 1 (of 3), I don't want to say it was a complete waste of time. I spent almost a year on it. It was the first movie I did where I was entirely conscious of the film influence. I really wanted to present it like an epic, 3 act film. It works on some levels, fails on others.

Gotham Heat (2010)
This one got daily feature, which isn't as big of a deal these days, but I grew up in a time where getting daily feature was like getting a blowjob from two chicks at the same time. It was a free ticket to the front page. And who doesn't like seeing their shit on the front page?

Another year of doing nothing, mostly from being discouraged Tactical Directive's mediocre reception. Nonetheless, rather than quit, I just decided to let that one go and do a more self-contained story. Thus, I landed on Gotham Heat. My friend and I had this idea for a little "episode" for Batman, taking place after The Dark Knight. We had just seen TDK at least four times so our Batman boners were raging. I actually did research for this one. We wanted to have alot of Batman: The Animated Series influence, so I watched a shitload of episodes back-to-back.

Six months later, Gotham Heat is created. This is when I discovered the awesomeness of David J. Dixon (Shock-Dingo) and Xander Mobus (Motley-Fool). Dixon's uncanny Harvey Bullock voice made me realize there is some serious talent on Newgrounds waiting to be tapped in to. This helped spawn Madness Heist.

Madness Heist (2011)
I've talked enough about this one. Odds are, if you know who I am and have actually read this far, it's probably because of this movie. The only thing I want to emphasize here is how incredible it was working with an ALL-STAR voice cast. I got to work with the now-famous Mick Lauer (RicePirate) who played the lead. It was crazy hearing all his other stuff, then witnessing a complete 180 when he did his dramatic, bad-ass voice for Red. I had Xander Mobus for a second time, but with a much more central role. He took an otherwise generic character and really made it his own. That villain would not be the same if it weren't for his creativity and skill. I had the versatile Zach Holzman (Apatheria) who I wish I could work with more often. He generated incredible tension with only a few lines. And of course, David J. Dixon, who I've already expressed my appreciation for. But just in case you forgot, he's the fuckin' man. Work with him. Work with all these guys. I've said it before and I'll say it again, they'll turn your movie to gold.

Yoshi Hates Castles (2012)

This was for Movie Jam 2...I don't know. Just watch it.

Madland (2013)

I've been working my balls off on Madland. I'll save info on that for another post. It's one of those long passion projects where I can finally pay proper tribute to the series that inspired me to do flash in the first place.

So that's that. My first decade on Newgrounds. It's been much less eventful lately, but that will change soon. My experience as a whole here has been awesome. I can't think of another website where I can get something so crucial to art: criticism. The amount of constructive criticism and overall creativity that flows through this place is incredible. The best part being is it's completely user-oriented. It's just a bunch of regular dudes trading ideas/art...and a fuckload of dick jokes.

Thank you Newgrounds, for staying awesome.

I'll end this post with the work of the beloved cock/tits/ass/vag loving Shadman, who made this awesome Madness Heist poster for me. He's another artist on here I'm glad I got to work with.

-Matt Hunter

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