2019 was a weird one. An interesting year for me. Not good, not bad, but interesting. The workload was at an all-time high for me, both with my animation job as well as my own personal projects. But the first thing I got released was in early October: a Madness fan game I call Madness Gemini. It was based on a concept I had conjured a little over a year ago, but not knowing whether it would work well or not, I decided to test it with some good old fashioned Madness Combat characters. The response was generally positive, so if I ever get around to it, making a game with a similar system is not out of the question, one day.

A little over a month later, I finally released an animation: Mick the Mercenary: The Rescue. It was without a doubt the biggest, most detailed project I have ever tackled. It initially was just going to be a little promo video for the film some friends and I made a couple of years ago, Mick the Mercenary: The Movie, but I got a little carried away with it.

And just in time for Christmas, I hacked together a little seasonal 'toon, A Smashing Christmas Dinner, a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fan animation. Its graphics are not quite up to par with what I've done lately, but I did not have the time. Well, I could've detailed it a bit more, but then It would probably take until about New Year's to get it done, if not later.

So what was wrong with this year? Although I got what I would call an entry-level dream job of mine, as far as my personal stuff went, I was pretty disappointed with how many people were able to see my last couple of videos; it's true when they say that you shouldn't just focus on numbers, views, followers, subscribers etc., but at the same time, if you spend months to years on a project and then only a handful of people are notified of what you had created, it's pretty discouraging. Especially when you've reached a point where you'd at least think a decent amount of people are watching, but the damn website doesn't let 95% of them know (talking about YouTube, not you, Newgrounds!!) Ah well, let's see how 2020 unfolds!

-Ben

So a few days ago I have finally finished an animation I've been working on on-and-off for almost two years: Mick the Mercenary: The Rescue. I based it off of a film my friends and I published on my YouTube channel back in early 2018. It wasn't supposed to take this long, but it just ended up doing so. From this day forth, I'll be uploading a lot more often, as it's just been far too long in between videos for me. Enjoy!

A few weeks ago I had completed and published a Madness fan game, Madness Gemini (intended to be uploaded for Madness Day, but time got away from me). Initially, the response was pretty middlesome, as players did not like the AI and some experienced glitches. Some players claimed they couldn't get it to load at all.

Within the next couple of days, I listened to all of the criticism and attempted to fix it. The AI is a lot more active and can function more independently, enemies no longer can clip through the walls, and the load time has been dramatically reduced because I took out like 8 of the music tracks (I don't know what I was thinking, why would you put in 12 music tracks in an online Flash game, Ben!??!?) Since then, the response has been drastically more positive. Also, thanks, Tom, for giving it a shot at the front page!

Unfortunately, there's still one pretty bad glitch that happens on extreme occasion, but it's so bad in fact that it's game-breaking. I spent countless hours attempting to fix this glitch, and after all of the searching and testing, I still have not found the answer and I still don't understand it. Oh well, maybe next game!

Why am I posting this? Because I just wanted to say how great of an experience this whole thing was. I learned a CRAP-ton about game development and programming in general. I learned hundreds of lessons about how to build up your game, what to prepare for and expect, what NOT to do, and to be ABSOLUTELY SURE the WHOLE THING is ready when you publish it. Players WILL find those glitches and problems, and even after you fix and improve them, those players still may not come back. First impressions are everything with games.

This brings me to another question, however... now that Flash is gonna get canned, you think, if I were to make another game, should I just move onto a new platform? Or would throwing the game into a Win projector still be fine? If not, I think that is unfortunate.

Lastly, I'm finally releasing a cartoon. It will be sometime before 2020, so stay tuned these next few months! This one was a doozie and I've been working on it on-and-off for nearly 2 years. I can't tell you how liberating it feels to finally show this beast off. After that? Countless ideas.

It's been a while, but I've finally finished the Madness Combat fan game, Madness Gemini. For a while I had an idea of a game where you take control of multiple fighters and go against a force. To test it, I figured, why not go with the classic Madness characters? So, here you are! Sadly I missed Madness Day, but things got really out of hand. But hey, at least I'm fashionably late!

If you want full-screen, raw 44khz audio as you play, you're free to download the game right here!

So I made my humble little addition to Madness Day for the first time ever. Krinkels's Madness Combat series was such a huge part of my childhood and, even more so, as recently as this past year. Also I remember when I was a kid I made my own Madness comics and when I showed everyone at school I got in trouble for it.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH MADNESS FRANKFURTERFICATION!

I'm cookin' up a little somethin'-something' for Madness Day 2018... anyone got any super lit audio tracks that would pair up well with a Madness animation that hasn't been used yet? Tanks

A couple of weeks ago I finally got to meet one of my greatest friends Kalabor106 and his associate/brother Rambojoe in their fair kingdom of Idaho. Let me tell you, I don't think I've ever done so much adventuring in a single week in my life, let alone an entire Summer; we went fishing, metal detecting, I went swimming at a natural waterfall (and ironically chilled in a hot spring) for the first time, we went shooting, we tubed down a river and I shattered my knees in the process, it was pretty sweet.

Newgrounds is not only a place where dudes and dudettes alike can share their talents with each other, but also a place where real friendships can spawn. Similar interests are what bring similar people together, right?

I hope to continue to collaborate with these two fine gents soon.

(And by the way yes I'm still working on loads of stuff at the moment. Yeah it's taking a while but... you know).

Made some fanart for one of my all-time favorite animators, Krinkels! This is based on his Deimos Adventure series he's been doing. You may watch the speed painting I did of it as well, if you wish.

In a world filled with chaos, Mick the Mercenary, a self-employed hit man, is visited by a nearby US military veteran, Chester the Combat Vet. The two form an alliance when the leader of a mercenary compound offers a position for the two to assassinate a list of bounties. As the newly-found associates accept the position, Mick and Chester soon realize they have agreed to more than they bargained for.

I felt like making a movie about some characters my friends and I made up a while back, so I began the script last Spring, and thus, Mick the Mercenary: The Movie was born. Enjoy the VFX and aluminum foil grenades!

Also featuring many Newgrounds Audio Portal songs:

Devastus - Stormrider, From the Depths, Untamed, Ascend, Viking Barbers From Space

lhceist41 - Nepenthes' Will, Lurking

Marterro - The Final Encounter

Meidon - Crossing the Battlefield

i9incher - Say Goodbye

Hellwreckage - Aftermath

Vertlain - The Last Flight

tydiggy - Broil Meats Grill

Blizzaine - Unnamed Hip Hop WIP

As 2017 comes to an end, here is a brief overview of how the year went before we enter 2018. As a whole, I was pretty happy with how much better this year was over the last few I had. Here's hoping 2018 is even better!

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