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ShangXian

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Recent Movie Reviews

2 Movie Reviews

I really love how smooth animation is combined with fluid facial expressions. The background colour during the transition phase from normal bg to red-coloured bg really fits well the sense of imminent danger and it gave me a nice Ren&Stimpy vibe especially with Skipper's worried look. I love it in its short duration, I would watch such episode. It deserves a higher score in my opinion. Keep it up the amazing job!

First time I comment on a submission under judgement but I really loved and enjoyed this animation so much that I couldn't resist leaving a comment. First off I loved how fluid animation is, how movements feel natural and the overall simple environment with minimalist colours that help focus on characters.

Second I loved each character's design and how they evolved i.e. the bishop turning into a sniper.

Third the music, great music choice for each character. Each sample fits each character well, their personalities, abilities and role.

I really hope it gets high votes because it truly deserves

p.s. I loved the reference to Felix Colgrave's Double King for the King piece and nice behaviour contrast between the white and black King.

Recent Game Reviews

20 Game Reviews

Ok I admit I really enjoyed this game, it was fun exploring each room and finding winners of the awards by clicking on objects^^ I was happy to see WheelieYellow reaching the second place at least, I love his series and deserves a lot. Now my mind memorized Aalasteir's voice without even looking at the description of who contributed because now I am used to his fun voice and laugh (thanks to his interviews), and speaking of Aalasteir, congrats for being the user of the year, totally deserved. I am very happy for you!

I am also happy for ElRamondGMD for the Newcomer Award^^ and despite Yatsufusa's wishes seeing them in the fourth place of the category of the Most Helpful user put a big smile on my face^^, congrats to Pingu for reaching the first place though! Lol, I can't help but to giggle at Tom Fulp nominated among the worst moderators XD because to me he's everything but a bad moderator but it's still cute seeing him in a category different than the usual Never Logs Off (I admit I voted Tom but for this year I will give my vote to DamnedByFate).

Now that I am exploring again the supporter forum (thank you Techno!) I know who to vote for the next Oddball nomination. I enjoyed this game also because it was first time I voted for the NG BBS so it's a bit like I took my small part with those votes. I can't wait to vote again this year! I liked the music choice, "Tripped Up" really fits well the chilling vibe the whole exploration of rooms has despite its escape the room overall vibe. I liked clicking on things to get the medals, most of them were pretty straightforward to get: just hover the arrow and click when the 'lil pointing hand appears but the last two achievements were a bit more difficult (the last one actually).

I've noticed the symbol ☿: it's the symbol of Mercury which in Western Alchemy symbolises the principle of fusibility and volatility, Paracelsus mentions the three primes or tria prima which are Mercury, Salt and Sulphur. Fun fact: alchemists thought of mercury as the First Matter from which all metals were formed, not only Western alchemists but also Eastern ones. They thought it was the father of all metals so being able to control this equals to control the Matter, this is why in Classical India there are exercises aimed at retaining mercury inside the penis. This is still practiced among some alchemists.

Well, asides from this little alchemical excursus, this symbol I found across the room gave me the hint it was linked with the exit from this room. I clicked on them and then door but nothing, I couldn't find the last piece to solve this little minigame until I read a comment of a person who mentioned the TAB key. Thanks to this key I managed to get the last achievement, so I would like to share here how to get this one since only 21 people got it (at the time I am writing this review). The last achievement called "True Believer" can be obtained by following these steps:

1) click TAB key, you will see yellow rectangles that indicate you where to click (click with ENTER key instead of the mouse for this last achievement if you want to be more precise but nothing prevents you from clicking with the mouse too, I preferred ENTER because it was more convenient to my needs)

2) click on all ☿ symbols you see across the rooms (the first one is on the bookshelf next to the escape door, the second one is on the bed (click the left part of the screen to access the room), again left and you will see the third ☿ that is on the barrel

3) click again left to get to the room with the PC and click on the "B" of the "SHUN THE NON-BELIEVER" writing

4) again left and click on the door lock and enjoy your 50 points!

Congratulations to all winners and to Little-Rena, Aalasteir and Pop-Tart for making this game! 5/5

See you the next BBBS awards!

First review of the year and I want to start by reviewing this intense experience that accompanied me and others (both those who were actively involved in the making of this awesome game and the players themselves) over the course of this month. Let's start by saying that it was one of the best gaming experience I had here on NG not only because it lasted an entire month but also because I was involved in the making one of the artworks featured on December 25th so this Tankmas ADVENTure has a special place in my heart: it's part of me.

I still remember the first day it was launched, I immediately went to play it not only to get the first medal but also to see the overall look of this journey and I like how simple it was: just a simple fire to roast marshmallows. And this brings to the first thing I loved about this game: marshmallow roasting. The first day I had difficulties and I kept burning it. I still remember when Tankmas Discord server members and I were just many Captains and G-Bots (I was G-Bot since I was supporter then) standing before this fire and keeping these marshmallows burnt. There were some bugs at the beginning, I still remember with affection the big black void square that appeared in the middle of the fire and all of us roasting burnt marshmallows as if we were offering to the Void divinity. I still remember when I saw Tom Fulp the first day the game was released, I still have the screenshots XD.

But if this minigame initially was just a funny joke to see who roasted the most, but then with the addition of high scores it became a very addictive game, to me at least but whenever I felt I roasted as many as I could but ofc I never reached the level of the only and true legend of this minigame: BeepBeeBbastard! I remember the first time I met her: it was a snowy day (in the game, where I live December was pretty much sunny or foggy at best) and I went to the fire to try to figure out how to roast these marshmallows and I saw this user with this funny username and the avatar of Boyfriend. I liked how the name fit perfectly the avatar because the first part of the name mimicked, in an onomatopoeia-like sound, the auto-tune noises Bf tends to do.

I started to see her every day and I liked the vibe she gave me: a tranquil user, peacefully enjoying the atmosphere and chilling before the fire while roasting marshmallows. I observed her and her roasting skills, I've noticed where she tended to position herself to optimize the roasting speed. She definitely mastered it but I wanted to master my roasting skills too. I initially failed a lot because I couldn't figure out how others managed to roast them. I just had to press Z at the right moment but in the initial phases it wasn't this obvious, why? I want to give a tip to those who wish to master this art: follow the sound.

What do I mean by this? I mean listen carefully the sound marshmallow makes, you will see different cooking degrees. I initially had to rely a lot to the sight in order to memorize the pattern of cooking stages and my roasting technique was very rusty at the beginning once I figured out I just had to press Z or SPACEBAR. Some of you might have seen me moving back and forth with the stick when I reached the penultimate cooking phase. It was clumsy but the more I practiced, the more I mastered it especially after I noticed that different locations around the fire give different roasting speed. BeepBeepBastard positioned herself at the right side of the fire (from the perspective of the player) with the feet touching the tips of a stick with a marshmallow impaled in the snow. I experimented this and I've noticed that it gave a fast roasting speed, but it has a downside for people like me who prefer calmer, slower and more patience approaches: you had to be quick in observing and pressing Z at the right moment.

So I preferred to do at my own pace until I finally reached my personal balance: I can now literally roast marshmallows with closed eyes. I don't need to see it getting roasted and reaching the perfect temperature, because now when roasting them I only rely on the sound it makes and I've noticed an interesting pattern: if I understood well by following each sound the marshmallow makes when hitting a cooking stage, there are 5 cooking stages represented not only visually but also acoustically. Each stage has a specific jingle with the next sound being high-pitched and at close range to the next one. If the sound distance between the first cooking sound and the second seems to be split in half (1/2), the distance between the second and third cooking stage is approximately 1/4, then 1/8 etc. When I first realized this I relied a lot on sight but finally on December 29th I reached my balance: relying only on the sound it makes. And I can reach nice streaks (even 20-30) by relying on sound while keeping my eyes closed and the finger on Z button. It works better for me to follow the sound rather the look of the marshmallow. It's a minigame I love because it is based on slowness, determination and patience, this is why it's not for everyone. I've seen some users giving up with the first burnt marshmallow. And around that fire I met some very nice users cheering for me while I reached 100 marshmallow in a row.

Sometimes it happened that I cheered or greeted BeepBeepBastard with those lovely stickers and I liked when she replied back. It's nice how that fire brought together many different users and even helped me to develop a skill I didn't think to have developed: roasting marshmallows only by following the sound they make when reaching the right temperature. And stickers were another part I loved because they are all awesome (I admit my favourite is the one with Jonny Utah and Tom kissing XD XD XD along with Pico, Skid&Pump, Edd, Isaac and others). I saw their evolution: from buggy to perfectly functioning ones.

Second element I liked where these ghosts around the hotel but I always wondered what is the purpose of the silent ghost that was first positioned before what then will become the hotel we learned to love and then was put where the Little Candles present is. I don't want to believe I am the only one who tried to speak with him every day of the month XD seriously, I tried to talk to him each day but I always got the "..." reply. Mmmhhhhh....very mysterious. Each ghost has his/her own personality expressed by their speech patterns and I liked that a lot. I loved how the game developed during the month, how each present was added (I loved every single submission posted, I could see the talent and creativity of each artist who put a piece of their soul in this big project).

I loved the style of each character used as skin to chose: we started as Tankmen, G-Bots and Picos and then exploded in a variety of characters. I image Tankmen first arriving in this place and exploring it, then each NG character its appearance. I initially stuck with Red Knight from Castle Crashes since I like them but my love at first sight was Skid and still now I keep using it. I haven't see many Pumps, the only one I remember is Pumpadoodles, a very talented artist I follow who makes great Skid and Pump art. I still have the screenshot of me roasting marshmallows with BeepBeepBastard and Pumpadoodles watching us. This inspired me to draw a fanart to celebrate this experience. I am already making it.

I liked meeting staff members of the game sometimes across the game map and another thing I loved were the music. I congratulate with each musician, you made each day or group of days (some songs could be listened over two or even three days). I've noticed the contrast between other songs and today's song. Today's song has a more somber and melancholic vibe, as if the end has been reached and it gave me a strong feel of nostalgia, that's very rare I experience nostalgia for something that is only one month old. I tend to develop it after an average of four month because that's the period in which I tend to form first memories of an event I experience.

This song looked like Christmas Ghost that brings every thing away and now only a pale memory of what Tankmas has remained, towering on dusted objects used to make this Tankmas memorable. It's still a great song, it fits perfectly the spirit (no pun intended or maybe not :))))
It's very difficult to say which song I loved the most but I think that Starcat Ft. Saulo Mid - Merry TankMas!, Holiday Memories - Tankmas 2024, Santa's Gone, It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas and Ode to Snow are among my favourite songs of this game, especially Ode to Snow because it differs from others because of the synthwave vibe it was, the sound it makes truly makes me feel winter, it's cold but not a dangerous cold, a distant yet refreshing cold that gets warmed by a fire. I listened to it while I was studying too.

I really liked the addition of dialogue trees to NPCs and how they gave you different dialogues if you used a specific skin linked to said character.

Movies were a part I enjoyed a lot especially NGTV Christmas Marathon, Sketch Collab and Dr. Good's Christmas Special but each movie was fantastic because it combined the spirit of the holiday with NG humour which is always a good thing! Comics were another great thing I loved, and I loved them all especially "Pico and Friends Bringing Smiles to All Kids" and "Tankmas Chronicles" (nice reference to "Pico saves Tankmas" of the previous Tankmas). I just love VoicesByCorey's voice acting, his voice fits Pico perfectly. I first discovered him with Pico vs Bear, and then I could enjoy his voice in these Tankmas comics.

I also appreciated a lot that our Pico Cross pieces were included in the game, everyone did an amazing jobs, kudos!

After all this long walltext I want to conclude this review with a personal thank to everyone: from developers, musician, artists to players I met in the game. Thank you for making all of this possible! It was deep honour to be part of this experience and I hope to participate to the next Tankmas (I will participate again). This was my second favourite collab I took part (the first was the Great Homer Collab) but in terms of emotional connection got the first place because I saw its birth, development and evolution. Thank you to everyone! I hope everyone had a serene Christmas/winter holiday. Keep rocking!

Albe responds:

Thanks for playing!! We really appreciate your experience across the month and we're glad you had fun and discovered all the things this huge project had to offer. Have a great 2025!!

This is a really lovely game that made me think hard during the hardest levels of stage 3 but also previous stages were fun to enjoy and find a solution to both pain and collect all stars in order to get a higher score. The ninja looks very adorable, levels are well designed and the level of difficulty is balanced according to the stage. Some levels were easy to solve while others required to think outside the box, especially the last ones. Others were difficult but with a bit of mechanical thinking you can pass through.

I also liked the design of each stage from the village to the big city and how each stage colour is reminiscent of the paint you have to use to colour walls. The music is very catchy and helps to keep focused on the task. The level of difficulty keeps the player engaged to continue solve it even after some failed attempts. Trials and errors are another strategy after all but also looking carefully how each level is structured is important, especially in the big city. I admit level 25 was more difficult than level 30 to me but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I've experienced some harder puzzle games (traps, enemies, time running out, etc.) that can make you feel frustrated so playing a more casual game like this was a nice gesture from the developer so even those who are not hardcore players can still enjoy this 'lil adorable gem. The game has the potential to expand its gameplay and why not a bit of lore but still I liked it a lot and I would recommend it to everyone especially casual players and medal hunters since you can get them all in one sitting.

I also admit I was quite surprised not to see a limited number of moves to complete a level, this would have added a bit more difficulty and thinking process, but I am fine with this solution too. I was also glad to obtain 69,200 points. I didn't expect. Really cool game, keep it up!

Recent Audio Reviews

4 Audio Reviews

Congratulations for the FP, well deserved! I love the sound of the theremin that starts at 00:22. I always loved that sound which reminds me of a cello lost in a dense fog, crying because it doesn't know how to get home. The otherworldly sound of it that accompanies the entire musical composition adds a nice reminder that this is Halloween time despite the upbeat notes that make the backbone of the musical piece.

This piece gives me a mix of "hey, dance with us! It's Halloween, the holiday in which you can be good or mean!" and "be careful, danger is always round the corner" and in terms of sensory stimuli, this song makes me feel a sweet sensation in my mouth as if I am eating lots of candies.

The combination of the theremin-like sound and the upbeat notes, that almost reminds me of droplets of rain, add a cheerful yet eerie vibe to the whole song. I love it! Keep it up.

Wow, this track is truly sick. I love! Every part tells a story of its own, the beginning seems to prepare for something really cool and mysterious to happen, the middle part hypnotizes the listener with its percussion rhythm and the final part was unexpected to me: a mesmerizing, compelling experience.

If I had to depict in my mind what the initial part gives me as image it would be a cristalline marine cave similar to Blue Grotto, a cave in Anacapri with its intense blue waters and magical atmosphere.

The middle part seems to physically accompany me into an urban but serene environment of a city that struggled to reach that peaceful state of mind.

The last part with this accelerated tune reminded me of a dream that evaporates from your mind before waking up and leaves you with an uncontrollable impulse to reach again this dream.

It's too beautiful that I am re-listening to it in loop over and over while exploring NG. Thank you for this masterpiece, totally deserved the frontpage!

5 stars from my rating, but 10 stars from my heart!

KTilted responds:

Thank you for so detailed opinion! luv <3

I love so much how this musical composition really gives me a water vibe, it has liquid notes with the basic leitmotiv repeated as if they were the drops of water coming from the cave of a lost atoll in the middle of Pacific Ocean. I am imagining a bright vivid light blue sky being soared by sea birds while a soft, fresh wind caresses the surface of the sea.

I love that dynamics of the composition starts at slow but peaceful pace and starting from the half part of music the rhythmic cadence creates an extremely catchy tune that combined with the nice loop that is created when music ends, make all of this a hit that sums up the spirit of summer: carefreeness, liberty, relaxation, sunny days, hot temperatures but fresh water to cool you down.

The melody is very sweet and this is emphasizes by the leitmotif that repeats itself and again reminds me of water droplets. I've listened to this piece almost 20 times and I love it so much, I think I will keep it going on while I create my piece for the summer collab as I love drawing while listening to quality music. Keep it up!

Tyhond responds:

Thank you so much for the comments! :D

To be honest, I'm not very into the complicated aspect of music. I tend to make the music and think to myself "does this sound good and would I listen to this on repeat?" and if the answer is yes, then I cook xP

Recent Art Reviews

34 Art Reviews

I really like how it turned out as your first FNF fanart! I like the simplicity of the background that is balanced by the title and the arrows that immediately give the feeling of the game. I also like the perspective from which you drew BF and GF, they are usually depicted in a 3/4 view-like perspective. Despite GF's right shoulder seems a bit rigid compared to BF's left shoulder, I like the dynamism put on them because it shows nicely their synergy.

You also caught nice their attitudes by drawing their eyes differently, trying to stay loyal to the original style but being unique to your style at the same time. Maybe the only thing I feel to suggest next time is adding some shading, cell shading is more than enough, because it gives more real life vibe and it's visually appealing but I also know that in some compositions flat coloured pieces work as greatly as shaded pieces. Maybe the background would have fit better with a gradient hue such as a darker red at the bottom and then a bright red at the top. This would have made the characters stand out nicely.

Aside from this I really like this work, it's adorable (a happy couple) and full of bright colours to give the funky vibe the series has. I also like you gave your personal stylistic touch to your work. Keep it up!

SouSTAR responds:

Thank you so much for taking the time to review my drawing!!!!
(^▽^)

The gradient is a very nice idea thank you!! I will keep your review in head and note it for next time I draw again! :D
I gotta find a good shading technique too!

Thank you again @ShangXian for your support I really appreciate it!!(^v^)

I am so freaking happy to see how this turned out and I am not only referring to my oc but also to other characters. I love so much the feel your colours combined with lineless style give, it's a magical visual sensation similar to the sweet taste of a chocolate cake enjoyed after a busy day.
I know it's a strange synesthesia but that's what your art gives me in terms of vibes.

I love the vibrant colours and the way things are shaded with that soft and delicate touch that almost gives to some components of the background a cloud-like appearance. The style is very lovely and it would fit a cartoon show^^

I love how you rendered my microraptor and I commend you since it's not a dinosaur drawn by most paleoartists despite it's not an unknown species. I am glad the reference I gave you helped you to grasp her main features notably the hand, wrist, second pair of winged feathers and tail feathers. It's not an easy species to draw and the presence of iridescence adds further difficulty but I really love how you managed to add this element. Microraptor were a crow-sized dinosaurs with iridescent black plumage. In March 2012, Quanguo Li et al. determined the plumage coloration of Microraptor based on the new specimen BMNHC PH881, which also showed several other features previously unknown in Microraptor. By analyzing the fossilized melanosomes (pigment cells) in the fossil with scanning electron microscope techniques, the researchers compared their arrangements to those of modern birds. In Microraptor, these cells were shaped in a manner consistent with black, glossy coloration in modern birds. These rod-shaped, narrow melanosomes were arranged in stacked layers, much like those of a modern starling, and indicated iridescence in the plumage of Microraptor: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1213780

Besides the external look, I congratulate you for nailing very well Xiang's jolly and light-hearted nature. She is a personal favourite of mine among my ocs because I use her to see my own emotions and to remind myself that sometimes I should be a bit more optimistic or think more positively sometimes. Truly great job, I enjoy a lot how it turned out. Keep it up and again congrats for 300 followers, more than deserved!

whimsical-wife responds:

the ref was super helpful and well done!!

I already explained myself in my last Homer post why I loved this collab so much so I won't repeat myself but I take advantage to thank DioShiba for this fantastic experience that to me lasted four months, making this my longest collab I ever participated. I also want to thank Taytonium for making all of this possible with his daily Homer drawings that inspired DioShiba to continue his legacy.

You two made a unique experience where creativity, inspiration, talent and different skill levels could meet and fuse together. I love seeing everyone's contribution to this collab, I can genuinely feel Homer's essence in each drawing, an explosion of yellowness and fantasy!

I also love the animated Homer put at the left bottom corner of the collage, it's a nice touch that add further creativity and different media that already mixes different media (traditional and digital to be more precise). I would also like to mention how much I love the positioning of each Homer, it's funny and well-thought. For example I've noticed that my thick-billed raven Homer is on top of H.P. Simpson's head as if he perched on purpose on his head. And I remember that Halloween episode that quoted Poe's poem "The Raven" (Bart was the raven there), so I saw a nice, subtle reference to that, plus Poe and Lovecraft are masters of American horror literature.

I find fantastic how Poe’s work influenced Lovecraft in important ways, while at the same time Lovecraft’s fictional, critical, and poetic reception of Poe irrevocably changed how Poe’s work has been understood by subsequent generations of readers and interpreters. This essay talks about it even if you have to download through your school or library in order to fully download it: https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/edgar-allan-poe/article-abstract/18/2/248/200616/The-Lovecraftian-Poe-Essays-on-Influence-Reception?redirectedFrom=fulltext

I also loved how paired are my Homer on Tankmen' tank and the Homer with NG shirt, it almost looks specular. Another funny interaction I've seen in the composition PLJerry's Homer hiding from Bundelux's zombie Homer XD
Other Homers look at other Homers with curiosity and/or concern. Homers in superheroes costumes put together adds a nice semantic grouping to the composition (heroes with heroes). One of the funniest Homers is the one thanking for the Marge-loaf XD that made me laugh and I find it cute.

Despite one might think that the composition may look random, it's not because if one pays attention the focal point is slightly at lower position, more specifically Homer Liberty Statue from which rays of different Homers radiates and if you mentally break the composition with the Rules of Thirds you will notice how each square is unique in terms of themes, semantics and Homers. So I commend you for thinking about each Homer!

Again thank you for this collab which I consider my personal best experience in terms of collabs I made during 2024. To me it's the top number one collab of the year in terms of personal experience because I've found a very welcoming environment, talented people, works that inspired me (notable pigeon Homer made by TikkiToon) and I've enjoyed following the forum thread, it's one of the very few forum threads I actively followed (in terms of hitting that heart button I mean). I loved how the collab organizer was always ready to answer everyone's question and very patient with some users that didn't always follow the rules of the collab despite he showed them in a very clear manner.

Thank you to all people who participated to this collab and who made possible this event, the FP is totally deserved and I approve the feature for the Tuesday Takeover.

I hope in future to be able to participate to another collab, DioShiba, if I have time ofc, but in case I am free and you want to make another art collab or a collab that involves also art, I will gladly join. I won't forget this experience for sure, I wish you all a serene Christmas, and serene winter holiday if you don't celebrate it! Thank you, I love you all!

DioShiba responds:

One of the things that needed to be applied in order for it to work was having that knowledge of composition in the back of my mind so this would look visually appealing for the beholder.

The problem narrows down to the fact that, how do you be able to maintain that when a lot of the submissions that you're given from other people have been drawn in their style and how can you bring it all together to keep people's eyes moving around without getting terribly distracted? There's some solving that has to be done in order for it to work and that's where having that gained knowledge helped in being able to create the collab as it stands while having the rule of thirds in the back of my mind and that's where I played around with the scales and rotations of some of these submissions that I threw in between submissions like the King Gohomer Meme piece and the submission that has the big homer head close by all the 3D piece submissions.

And that's just the trick is that for some of the pieces I had to be VERY deliberate in where I placed them and that's where those two pieces, the Homer of Liberty, and even the aesthetic 80's sunset homer at the very top become key pieces for the composition to work.

If a piece didn't work in a specific placement, I would move it to a place where it would work better. Some times I'd even do a horizontal flip to the submission and it's to a point where I was able to keep the composition flowing without it breaking the experience. There was a point or two where that almost happened but it wasn't hard to go back in and fix it in Clip Studio Paint and move those pieces before I exported the image sequence to go into Krita.

Which is another thing I had to do in order to problem solve making sure that Chdonga's Homer could remain animated without having to reduce the size too much. In the end however I resized the canvas to about 75% of what the original size was but had I not done that I would have not been able to upload the final product to newgrounds at all. (I tried to do that and it didn't work, even as I left my computer on overnight. It's that big of a file.)

Hope that insight adds some context for the readers with your analysis ShangXian, it was awesome to have you be a part of the collab and hopefully once I'm ready to do another one in a year or so I would be happy to have the opportunity to work with you again!

The more I discover about Newgrounds, the more I see different worlds, flavours and hues.

Joined on 12/3/23

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