FatSatan's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[All-In-One Tutorial 2]

Taking it a little too far, maybe.

These tutorials have some good tips, but in some points I think they're a little too focused on NG itself. I mean, seriously. A tutorial on how to write reviews? That's nonsense. People can read the rules and if they choose not to, this tutorial won't help. Hell, if someone writes reviews like "THATS STUPID GET CANCER" I doubt they care about rules in the first place. Also, the constant focusing on "this'll get you blammed, this'll get you high score" is rather tedious. Like I said in a review of "how to pass judgement", there's no ironclad set of rules to be a good Flash artist.

The actual Flash tips seem fairly useful, though maybe a bit random. Anyway, I don't want to disrupt the current movie score since it'll get people's attention as long as it's highlighted in blue, so I'll hold off on voting until it's necessary.

DJRunaway responds:

:D :) Ok, thanks dude :) That was a pretty good review...read the instructions or something?

[Sprite Tutorial 3 in 1]

Should be helpful.

For sprite movie authors this is probably one of the most frequently asked questions. There are, of course, other methods of importing sprites, but I've found that for a person still learning these things, it's better to give them one way to do it rather than confuse them with several ways and leave it up to them to decide which is the best.

Copy-pasting sprites into Flash, for me, has sometimes caused sprites even from the same sheet to end up looking jerky when animated, since Flash only approximates the pixels when you trace the bitmap. When the spritesheet isn't too big or complex, you could just import the whole sheet and trace it, and all the sprites will have the same size pixels. Another method I now always use is to turn my sprites into animated gifs, importing them into a Movie Clip and controlling that with actionscript.

This tutorial's method is probably more effective for the sprite novice though. Good work.

[Find the weapons!]

Hmm...

The animation's hilarious. However, I'm getting the feeling that the game's programming just randomly puts the weapons in one of the cups, so it's up to the player's luck whether you're right or not. I could have the same amount of fun flipping a coin fifty times.

The idea isn't bad, but it's not really a game like this. Two suggestions: 1) Make it like a real cups game. Before Saddam starts spinning them around, you should be shown under which cup the weapons currently are. 2) Push up the framerate big time. Two or three times as many fps as there is now. This is so you can actually try to keep your eye on the cup with the weapons. Right now it's just a couple of cups in various positions.

You could put in different difficulty levels, making the cups spin faster the more the player gets right. Maybe some more funny animations.

dave-mac-dave responds:

That is actually a good idea. I will take those valuable into consideration. Thank you.

[Monkey Toss]

Amusing.

Nice physics, but it could definitely use a little more work. Maybe something to work out some of the glitches, and develop it into a more complex form. Like, different levels, in which the backgrounds change and the placement of the jello... maybe targets you can try hitting, or can bounce the monkey off so he flies even further.

If you drop the monkey somewhere above the middle of the jello, he just bounces up and down higher and higher... you have to reload the game to play again, but it was so goddamn goofy it made me laugh harder and harder every time he hit the jello.

[NG Dress-up: nacho's part]

Neat job.

I normally hate dress-up-games, but since this one isn't a premise to see an anime girl naked, I liked it. The costumes were very creative, there were a lot of attributes, pleasant music. Totally cool.

NAXO responds:

Thanx for the review! :)
(I love your movies!!! ^_^)

[Pong Trilogy]

Clever.

That 3D Pong is clever, though difficult, and a little slow. The other two Pongs need some work though - I've noticed that it doesn't seem to matter whether you hit the ball with the edge or the middle of the 'bat', it'll always bounce in the same manner. Traditionally, the closer the ball hits the edge of the bat, the sharper its angle gets when it bounces back. Which is more fun, since there's a risk of accidentally missing the ball when you're trying for a real sharp, fast angle.

Xeonzinc responds:

Physics will be improved in next version

[How to Pass Judgement]

Good intentions.

However, some of the points you raise seem either personal preference, or I just don't agree with them.

I assume you mean well, but there shouldn't be a "system" to get you through judgement. Nobody should check their movie on a set list of points that somehow prove it's good (or good enough). Sure, people submit crappy movies constantly, and they mostly get blammed during judgement. The system works fairly well. Most of the time, someone gets to hear what's wrong with their movie and what should be improved, albeit usually surrounded by swearing and insults.

Fact of the matter is, the only way to make something people like is to practice. Some people use crappy graphics to make hilarious movies. Others make movies that aren't the least bit funny but have beautiful graphics. Some use random crap to accompany some cool or funny music they found. Your movie can be loved despite its graphics, style, sound, or because of any or all of them! But you have to practice, keep trying to improve yourself, not get discouraged by blams or bad reviews, simply keep raising the bar for yourself.

Your movie basically addresses those people who are so excited about their first Flash movie (weren't we all?) that they immediately tried to submit it. But those people have to learn that there's standards out there, and strangers aren't going to pat you on the shoulder and tell you it's great for a first effort. Also, those people probably won't bother to check this out. :)

packow responds:

well, it was intended 4 n00bs....

[USS Enterprise Two]

Fun, but room for improvement.

Upon first glance (or rather, play) this game does seem pretty big and diverse - but after you've played it a couple of time, you start to realize you're pretty limited. Most of the time there's only one direction to go, and if you can perform a series of actions, usually only one has a response. It's a great idea, but could use a little more.

If you're going to do another one, I'd advise that you allow the player to move through a series of room at all times (like the sequence where you can access all the main characters' quarters), and what items or people are there will vary depending on how far you're into the game. Also, that you have more conversation options, and instead of them ending in death varying the results. Maybe more fights. I'd like to punch Wesley's lights out some time, though maybe that's possible and I just haven't found out how yet. Anyway, I'd like to see this idea expanded upon, more like those old style PC point & click adventures.

JeremyLokken responds:

Thanks for your review! It could become much more detailed, but someone would have to pay me for that :) Punching Wesley? hmmm. I agree. Those old style PC point and click adventures like King's Quest and the rest of the Sierra games! That was a great time to have a computer.

[Super Mario Rampage!]

Fun!

This is a lot of fun, at least for a while. I think, with a little tweaking here and there, a sequel to this one could prove to be a winner concept. Like, top 50 material. I think maybe if movement was freely instead of the constantly scrolling screen, and the enemies would attack you instead of being stationary, things would be even better. Maybe a jump button. Or maybe that all would suck in practice. Still, this game was a great idea.

[ultimate flash sonic]

Awesome.

Amazing to see the feel of the actual game emulated so nicely in Flash. Though I must admit the only Sonic game I've ever owned is the one on the Sega Game Gear. Still, this is a wonderful way to escape boredom at school. Now I've just got to find out which exact title and platform this game originally belongs to, so I can downl... BUY it at a legal store, legally. Another 5 and 10 for you, sir.