Score: 9

"So simple... and yet so much fun!"

submission: Take Me To The Disco!!

date: December 28, 2009

I really like this! The gameplay, the music, the sounds, the cute graphics... everything just goes great together! Plus, it's simple enough for anyone to pick up and play, and great for killing some time.

My only complaint is that the constantly flashing colors are a bit harsh on the eyes, particularly when you "go berserk." I know the colors define the game's style, but I still found them a bit overwhelming at times. It would've been nice if you'd used somewhat darker colors... or better yet, let players select the color brightness.

Anyway, this is great, especially considering the fact that it took you only a day to make. Keep up the good work!

Score: 7

"I like it! It could be a bit more refined, though."

submission: The great heist

date: December 17, 2009

It's an interesting idea, using the same maze in every level, but adding challenges every time a level is completed. I'd like to see you expand upon that idea a bit, perhaps coming up with different obstacles and gameplay mechanics to include in additional levels.

I think the graphics are a bit sloppy, though. The game would look nicer to me if everything was straightened out a bit. This may help improve the collisions too. I would sometimes walk into that wall on the left side of the tunnel that's to the left of the rightmost switch, and then move straight down, only to be hit by that red bar on the left. That was a bit annoying. So I would try to refine the graphics and the positions of the objects a little, although they were fine for the most part.

The music is pretty appropriate for a game like this, and I like the sound effects. There aren't too many of them, and they don't get annoying. The footsteps are sort of subtle, but nice.

Also, the death counter is a great feature. It gives the game some additional replay value by motivating players to come back and see if they can beat the game in fewer tries than the last time they played. I'm glad you included it!

And finally, I want to let you know that I experienced a glitch after I clicked the replay button upon finishing the game. Once the game restarted, my character was stuck in place; the arrow keys didn't allow him to move any large distance before he jumped back to the start position. The death counter was increasing very quickly, and the death sound effect was playing continuously. It seemed that the character was dying in every step/frame of the game. Strange...

Anyway, nice job with this! I had a good time playing it and I'd like to see more from you! :)

Score: 10

"Excellent!"

submission: Chicken and Egg

date: December 10, 2009

I really got a kick out of this! Everything was very well done.

Your music selections are great, and match up with the animation very well. Nice choice and use of sound effects too.

The animation and art is fairly sketchy, but I like it! It gives this cartoon a certain charm. :)

I've gotta say, the part where the fox kicked the chicken cracked me up a lot. I love silly stuff like this. The plot as a whole was hilarious as well, and I totally didn't expect that ending.

This is really, really adorable. It's a great first submission, and I hope it's not your last!

Score: 5

"Not bad..."

submission: Donuts are Awesome

date: December 3, 2009

This is a pretty senseless animation you have here! That said, I sometimes get a good laugh of senseless stuff, but this was kinda boring; no offense. I think this animation needs more energy! Background music! Sound effects for the huge laser! Things like that would've made this Flash much more entertaining.

Also, there's a small animation error: When the donut guy gets stepped on, the gray splotch on the ground that was left over from the laser abruptly disappears .

On the plus side, there's some nice frame-by-frame work in this movie. You seem to be pretty comfortable with motion tweens as well. For your first Flash, this is really quite good with regard to your animation skills, and I hope you keep on animating and improving!

Score: 5

"LOL"

submission: Game Maker Logo

date: December 3, 2009

I used to fool around with Game Maker quite a bit, but I haven't used it for over a year now because I'm learning Flash/AS3. I checked out the link you put up, and I can't believe the classic hammer logo is being replaced with that goddamn face!!

Ha ha... Anyway, this Flash is really cute. Good frame-by-frame work; the animation is very smooth! The graphics themselves are a bit shoddy-looking, but okay nonetheless. By the way, the distortion on the new logo's eyes is great!

You used the sound effects very well; they seem to line up almost perfectly with the animation. I like how the semi-dramatic sound plays right before the GM logo is about to strike. Still, you could've included some additional sounds for the walking and rolling.

Too bad this is a bit on the short side; but regardless, this animation gets your point across very effectively. Good work!

And I really hope they change the logo back! :(

Score: 6

"Not bad... not bad at all!"

submission: Stickman mass fighting

date: November 23, 2009

For your first Flash, this is really quite good. There's plenty of room for polish, though.

Your graphics could use some touching up, although they're still decent for an animation of this caliber.

As for the animation, it's mostly okay, with a couple of small errors. For example, the part at the end when the main character grabs the helicopter blade contains a fairly abrupt motion. You'd probably have to watch the movie again and look closely to see what I mean.

As you mentioned, the motions aren't very smooth. But they aren't terribly choppy, either. Regardless, it would be nice to see the action happening at a higher frame rate.

The camera effects are VERY nice. I especially like the way it pans and zoomscontinously, even if the motion is slow. It gives the movie more energy; great job with that.

You did a nice job with the sound effects; most of them are synced up pretty well with the action. Plus, none of them drag on longer than they need to.

The background music fits well with the animation; good choice on your part. However, you may want to consider curtailing it a bit. After the replay button appears, the music continues to play. If you had instead edited the music such that it cuts off, or better yet, fades out at the end of the movie, you'd have a significantly smaller file size. You can use Audacity - a free sound editor - to do that. If you're interested, check out this link: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

As a whole, this is decent, albeit short. The ending caught me by surprise, and it would have been nice if you'd continued the animation to show where the main character ends up after flying off.

And I hope you keep on animating! You're off to a great start!

Score: 5

"Decent... not bad for your first!"

submission: Flashman

date: November 21, 2009

Stick fights are kind of overdone, but this is still okay.

Some of the animation is a bit awkward. The walk cycle in the very beginning is rather choppy, and the sticks' idle animations are a little too jittery, in my opinion. You put some nice frame-by-frame work into this movie, though. There isn't much choppiness in the fighting scenes; good job with that!

The sound effects are good, but some of them drag on for too long, and don't sync up nicely with the animation as a result. You might want to try using a sound editing program to deal with that issue. Audacity works well, and it's pretty easy to use. It's also free. ;)

You can download the software here, if interested: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Another issue I have with this is the text. Some of it appears and disappears way too fast to be read, which is pretty annoying. You might want to consider that while testing your movies in Flash.

All in all, this could definitely use some polishing, but it's a great start. Keep working at it and you'll improve for sure! :)

Score: 5

"Eh, could've been more exciting..."

submission: Creation of the World

date: November 20, 2009

I like the silliness of your cartoon, but I don't feel that the idea is executed very well. Here you have this narrator talking in a monotone that someone could easily fall asleep to. Why not include some variation in the voices? I felt like I was listening to a college lecture, and not a humorous story!

Also, the lack of sound effects is a bit disappointing. It would be nice to hear the rocks crashing together, the ship crashing into the Earth and the laser firing, among other things.

On the bright side, the animation is cute, albeit somewhat bland. You could've thrown in some additional frame-by-frame work, such as having the sun's "rays" move back and forth, and giving the flame on the space boat's rocket some life. In any case, I like the animation work on the facial expressions, and on the people that fly out of the ship.

Not a bad Flash at all, but it can be spiced up quite a bit. Good luck with your next one!

Score: 10

"Very nice!"

submission: Madness Combat 5.5

date: November 19, 2009

It looks like you've really refined the graphics and animation in this episode. This one seems way more optimized than MC9; it definitely runs a lot faster on my computer. In fact, I was able to view the entire Flash in high quality; there was almost no slowdown.

And as usual, it was a joy to watch! I can only imagine how many hours it took you to create all those complex motion tweens. And the flying blood animations were absolutely sick. It actually looks like they hang around for a bit too long, but it also adds an additional surreal touch to the setting. In any case, they were beautifully done.

The music is really awesome as well; it's surreal, creepy, and high-energy at the same time. Very fitting for a Madness installment. I'm hoping Cheshyre submits it to the Audio Portal!

And by the way, I love that part with the train. Reminds me of Metal Slug...

Awesome job; I'm really looking forward to the next episode!

Score: 7

"Really cute and fun!"

submission: 22 second Stick Fight

date: November 19, 2009

It's not anything spectacular, but it's very fun to watch! The part where the losing opponent gets kicked in the ass cracks me up!

Great job with the sound effects; they all seem to be timed perfectly with the action. There's no background music, but this animation doesn't need any, in my opinion.

Your animating style in this piece is very simple, but very well done. Nice frame-by-frame skills! There's almost no choppy movement, and I didn't see any errors. And the "swoosh" effect you used when the characters were fighting with sticks is a nice touch. I also like the little lines and dots that fly around when the characters crash into walls.

All that said, this is still fairly short, but I'm glad you didn't throw in any unnecessary filler to make it longer. It would've been nice to see a few more attacks, though. And the movie concept is a bit overdone; but regardless, you executed it very nicely.

I hope you continue animating and get better and better with Flash. Nice work!