I like to know a little bit of the history of this place since I'm kind of a new user here and I see this place goes way back to 2005, even If It Is not that particularly great, I wish to know.
oh man, this is a good question actually. i'll have to collect my thoughts on it first. i haven't thought about it in a while. the wayback machine (https://web.archive.org/web/20240000000000*/thebackalleys.com) can give you some snapshots of this sites' history in the meantime.
I only joined the forums this year, and been involved in the community for 5ish years, I'd like to know the formal history too.
Quote from: rtil on May 4, 2024 11:52 PMoh man, this is a good question actually. i'll have to collect my thoughts on it first. i haven't thought about it in a while. the wayback machine (https://web.archive.org/web/20240000000000*/thebackalleys.com) can give you some snapshots of this sites' history in the meantime.
It's always fascinating to see the look of the old web, not only Alleys but also places like DeviantArt and Newgrounds (Newgrounds being the most visually appealing). I'm also got attracted to those old series projects I saw In the snapshots.
Quote from: rtil on May 4, 2024 11:52 PMoh man, this is a good question actually. i'll have to collect my thoughts on it first. i haven't thought about it in a while. the wayback machine (https://web.archive.org/web/20240000000000*/thebackalleys.com) can give you some snapshots of this sites' history in the meantime.
Yeah not that I'm the best person to go into details, but I wouldn't even know where to start. I do think having some sort of understanding of early Newgrounds culture (and the counter-cultures within that sphere) would be needed to get going..
Quote from: rtil on May 4, 2024 11:52 PMoh man, this is a good question actually. i'll have to collect my thoughts on it first. i haven't thought about it in a while. the wayback machine (https://web.archive.org/web/20240000000000*/thebackalleys.com) can give you some snapshots of this sites' history in the meantime.
if you have the time i would be interested to read rtil's tba history. i have lots of memories/stories but idk how to put them in context
tl;dr in the flash glory days great minds of newgrounds congregated here to talk shit, collaborate & discuss the meta. chaos reigned
it was extremely chaotic and i wouldn't have had it any other way but i am also glad it's over and we're all grown up and mature now (sorta)
So basically saying that TheBackAlleys and Newgrounds are simply related It's an understatement. It was truly more.
2005-2010 pretty much all our members came from newgrounds thanks to me putting the URL at the end of all my cartoons, and since flash supported clickable links it was really easy to end up from watching one of my cartoons to reading shitposts right here
Quote from: rtil on May 8, 2024 05:07 PM2005-2010 pretty much all our members came from newgrounds thanks to me putting the URL at the end of all my cartoons, and since flash supported clickable links it was really easy to end up from watching one of my cartoons to reading shitposts right here
I really miss when online media like videos and animation were more Interactive.
yeah, one of the things i loved about flash movies was making interactive menus with chapters and bonuses, just like a dvd or bluray menu. youtube used to have interaction like annotations but those are long gone and they never did anything more than that.
Quote from: rtil on May 8, 2024 06:17 PMyeah, one of the things i loved about flash movies was making interactive menus with chapters and bonuses, just like a dvd or bluray menu. youtube used to have interaction like annotations but those are long gone and they never did anything more than that.
Mostly because of the rise of smartphones. the presence of touchscreen Not only affect that but almost everything related to web design.
fuck you idiot piece of shit. Heres some LORE for you. If you are fucking on a crocadile, 27% of the time that same crocodile will bite your asshole off and prevent you from shiiting for the rest of your life. He'll just rip your asshole clean from your ass and in 7 days you will die from non shitting.
man, that took foreber 2 find.
*froever
**forever.
Quote from: nuac_ on May 15, 2024 10:36 PMfuck you idiot piece of shit. Heres some LORE for you. If you are fucking on a crocadile, 27% of the time that same crocodile will bite your asshole off and prevent you from shiiting for the rest of your life. He'll just rip your asshole clean from your ass and in 7 days you will die from non shitting.
man, that took foreber 2 find.
*froever
**forever.
✔Life Changing ✔Informative ✔Inspiring
I was just thinkin about this thread 2 day.
We've had Newgrounds ppl try to take a fat shit into the throat of this website
But they were quickly denied and shooed away.
I'll never forget the time, x did y
But its all history now idk.
here's a prompt cause i don't remember: what was the origin/context of "tba cunts"
i actually do not know the answer to that
time for an 8 hour video essay
Quote from: ansel on June 2, 2024 03:15 PMhere's a prompt cause i don't remember: what was the origin/context of "tba cunts"
The only thing I could find about it is a very colorful reply from The Swain In one of Tom's announcements and a reply to Swain's post where the user use that.
(https://pm1.aminoapps.com/7802/de7714567f4ba27dff97b4cc62c50d6b2d8aa57dr1-743-720v2_uhq.jpg)
ok so i thought to start this out i'd begin with how i got in to making websites to begin with, for that we have to go all the way back to 1999 when i started out learning how to make websites with html on angelfire. angelfire - as far as the internet is concerned - is ancient caveman history. it was a free webhost where you'd get a domain like angelfire.com/this/that.html, with like 20mb of space to dick around with. there were paid plans, but i was a kid and didn't know how credit cards worked.
my very first website was called "ThE PAgE Of WAcKyNeSs!!!", i snaked it a few years back but most of the images were already broken, however i was able to save at least the front page and some other things.
since we're talking about it, i'll share what little of it that is worth sharing, and take a small glimpse in to my humble, stupid child life right before Y2K.
first of all, these sick ass gifs were used to decorate my guestbook. behold their coolness. angelfire websites were respected based on how many gifs you had. well, i had two, so i guess i wasn't very cool (yet).
spotting.gifspotting.gifspotting.gif
spike.gifspike.gifspike.gif
this is embarrassing. also, yes, i was using the name "RTIL" all the way back in 1999. that is probably the year i made it up. more on that in a sec.
yesqbz.png
this site used to have a background image. it was probably space or something. it was broken, so the green on green thing was not intended, just slightly more horrible than it actually was.
do people know what screensavers are anymore? the world of online screensavers was pretty sick back then. also a great way to get a virus.
1q6vx2.png
i was in 6th grade when i wrote this, i was scared of 8th graders.
IEAPG was one of my friends, he is actually the guy that inspired me to come up with and use RTIL.
it's funny how i kinda dox myself here by outing the middle school i attended, but it really was a different time. also, HOT LINKS!
qiqkbx.png
i think i was trying to be funny here. these super kewl sound fx are long gone. the links go to (now very dead) friends' websites. AKAF/Fred's Cool Site was my best friend. his name is not Fred. i'm still in touch with him. in fact, i'm still friends with IEAPG as well. definitely the only two people from 6th grade i still have contact with.
here's what happened if you tried to right-click on my page. this was easy to get around, even back then, but i knew most people didn't know how and so my cool spot gif was safe from thieves, cuz it totally belonged to me.
next time i'll talk about when i moved away from free webhosting and bought my first domain. and no, it wasn't thebackalleys - not yet.
61nw6d.png
QuoteRTIL:ORIGINS
How do I react
My Reaction:(https://64.media.tumblr.com/a2c13aa03c122e0ebe3cb1f7c55b704c/c59877839b373740-3f/s100x200/36172fefde478f6493d22e33ee635adfd9a84210.gif)
QuoteRTIL:ORIGINS
so much soul. takes me back to when i would visit random cartoon network/sonic-related angelfire fan pages. they would have the worst combinations of colors known to man.
Quote from: hypnadot on June 4, 2024 02:37 AMQuoteRTIL:ORIGINS
so much soul. takes me back to when i would visit random cartoon network/sonic-related angelfire fan pages. they would have the worst combinations of colors known to man.
for me, it was the anime webrings on anipike, aka the anime turnpike. i'll probably touch on that in my next history lesson.
pretty much nobody knew how to make an aesthetically pleasing website back then, but there were also substantially less tools to do so. the best you could do was make it lean and functional. the internet was so slow back then, none of the shit we use now would load in a timely manner. i had 56k dial-up for 6 years.
Quotenobody knew how to make an aesthetically pleasing website back then
Animated video game gifs next to ur "Gamer Tipz" would easily put your website in the top 5 yahoo pages but yea.
I'm pretty sure the majority of them back then were all text, (with the occasional insufferable titanic midi) before bigger plugins stepped in.
I wasn't around for when anime turnpike or happy puppy were actual things; I heard happy puppy got sold for a fortune tho.
Quote from: rtil on June 4, 2024 02:17 AMok so i thought to start this out i'd begin with how i got in to making websites to begin with, for that we have to go all the way back to 1999 when i started out learning how to make websites with html on angelfire. angelfire - as far as the internet is concerned - is ancient caveman history. it was a free webhost where you'd get a domain like angelfire.com/this/that.html, with like 20mb of space to dick around with. there were paid plans, but i was a kid and didn't know how credit cards worked.
my very first website was called "ThE PAgE Of WAcKyNeSs!!!", i snaked it a few years back but most of the images were already broken, however i was able to save at least the front page and some other things.
since we're talking about it, i'll share what little of it that is worth sharing, and take a small glimpse in to my humble, stupid child life right before Y2K.
first of all, these sick ass gifs were used to decorate my guestbook. behold their coolness. angelfire websites were respected based on how many gifs you had. well, i had two, so i guess i wasn't very cool (yet).
spotting.gifspotting.gifspotting.gif
spike.gifspike.gifspike.gif
this is embarrassing. also, yes, i was using the name "RTIL" all the way back in 1999. that is probably the year i made it up. more on that in a sec.
yesqbz.png
this site used to have a background image. it was probably space or something. it was broken, so the green on green thing was not intended, just slightly more horrible than it actually was.
do people know what screensavers are anymore? the world of online screensavers was pretty sick back then. also a great way to get a virus.
1q6vx2.png
i was in 6th grade when i wrote this, i was scared of 8th graders.
IEAPG was one of my friends, he is actually the guy that inspired me to come up with and use RTIL.
it's funny how i kinda dox myself here by outing the middle school i attended, but it really was a different time. also, HOT LINKS!
qiqkbx.png
i think i was trying to be funny here. these super kewl sound fx are long gone. the links go to (now very dead) friends' websites. AKAF/Fred's Cool Site was my best friend. his name is not Fred. i'm still in touch with him. in fact, i'm still friends with IEAPG as well. definitely the only two people from 6th grade i still have contact with.
here's what happened if you tried to right-click on my page. this was easy to get around, even back then, but i knew most people didn't know how and so my cool spot gif was safe from thieves, cuz it totally belonged to me.
next time i'll talk about when i moved away from free webhosting and bought my first domain. and no, it wasn't thebackalleys - not yet.
61nw6d.png
An the the lore goes deeper.
I found this adorable, because you can see Is a kid getting excited and having fun with It. also Interesting to see part of the web with the 2000's just right In the corner.
it's hard to describe what the internet was like back then unless you were there. probably would feel boring as fuck now, but here's a great video of someone who recorded a day in the life.
Quote from: rtil on June 4, 2024 04:54 AMit's hard to describe what the internet was like back then unless you were there. probably would feel boring as fuck now, but here's a great video of someone who recorded a day in the life.
That Video Is truly a Time Machine, fascinating to see a piece of that time In action. hard to Imagine when IGN was the way to get the news about gaming and such (well not exactly) and seeing pages of Arena Shooters on their prime, also remembering how the Internet was a revolution for stuffs like fandoms and the spread of Anime, for better or for worst.
Seeing this and what you say, I can see this was... how should I put It? kind of a magical feeling how this new thing (the Internet) can do.
damn i couldn't imagine digging up old stuff I wrote on the internet back in those days. props to you. Although apparently freewebs shut down a few years ago anyways.
I remember essentially making websites in flash because I couldn't be bothered to learn html. Although I guess that was easier said than done anyways back then. Had to learn basic action scripting through tutorials also made in flash.
fortunately my most cringeworthy internet posts are not archived or have existed in any capacity for many, many years - and for that, i am grateful.
it is unironically very brave to unearth teen cringe of this vintage. i love the 🔥 HOT LINKS section 🔥. i guess 1999 predates the era of shiny little "affiliate" icons & things of that nature but having a roster of other cool shit to link to was always an essential part of hacving your own site/page/blog
Quote from: Dr. DiegO on June 3, 2024 11:49 AMThe only thing I could find about it is a very colorful reply from The Swain In one of Tom's announcements and a reply to Swain's post where the user use that.
this has to be it lmao (https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1041802/3)
(https://thebackalleys.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fansel.tv%2Fdump%2Ftbacunts.jpeg&hash=cd4f48d8fc13cd3d2fc4f97bd97ab36ee33e833f)
eyelovepoozy was a bbs mod & professional crane operator who spent all day sitting in his crane cab poasting on the general forum and banning 12-yr olds
Quote from: ansel on June 5, 2024 05:31 AMit is unironically very brave to unearth teen cringe of this vintage. i love the 🔥 HOT LINKS section 🔥. i guess 1999 predates the era of shiny little "affiliate" icons & things of that nature but having a roster of other cool shit to link to was always an essential part of hacving your own site/page/blog
that kind of stuff probably existed but i didn't know about it yet - the only people i knew online were people that i already knew irl. my little internet world consisted of other angelfire sites and the MSN GAMING ZONE where i played checkers and age of empires with random people. oh and napster at some point.
QuoteQuote from: Dr. DiegO on June 3, 2024 11:49 AMThe only thing I could find about it is a very colorful reply from The Swain In one of Tom's announcements and a reply to Swain's post where the user use that.
this has to be it lmao (https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1041802/3)
(https://thebackalleys.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fansel.tv%2Fdump%2Ftbacunts.jpeg&hash=cd4f48d8fc13cd3d2fc4f97bd97ab36ee33e833f)
eyelovepoozy was a bbs mod & professional crane operator who spent all day sitting in his crane cab poasting on the general forum and banning 12-yr olds
LMAO this is gold
also this jab at digg from tom aged like a fine wine
firefox_LzQq7BwXrf.png
I didnt realize more than one news company covered the sirtom schoool burning ATTEMPT.
I remember pasting the readers digest article in all of its corniness and camp to TBA; something like "Rig was a bald clark kent, but that didnt stop him" shit like that. lol
(https://64.media.tumblr.com/b0d9f919d338c236aa0eb9f66f438b51/9fcda8ac4f436dda-23/s1280x1920/42bb1bc4bc3758755d1ab618396c2055c8b77e26.jpg)
(https://64.media.tumblr.com/ec1ce1fd15462385c61154aebba55aa4/9fcda8ac4f436dda-d5/s1280x1920/fb62e84116203020f8821549df068dffaff9a173.jpg)
wonder what sirtom93 is up to these days
still in the slammer? idk
nkfwef.png
Quote from: rtil on June 6, 2024 04:49 AMwonder what sirtom93 is up to these days
still in the slammer? idk
nkfwef.png
He's out but done with NG
https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1428026 (https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1428026)
Quote from: nuac_ on June 6, 2024 07:54 PMQuote from: rtil on June 6, 2024 04:49 AMwonder what sirtom93 is up to these days
still in the slammer? idk
nkfwef.png
He's out but done with NG
https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1428026 (https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1428026)
a life after newgrounds IS possible
ok now why did swain come out swinging about tba in the sirtom93 thread? did "thomas" ever even post here? or was swain just drinking & newgrounding again
i think it may have been some lame attempt to get a rise out of me or something, idfk but i can kinda picture that hope that i'd freak out and reply with something like "WE DENOUNCE SIRTOM HE HAS NEVER POSTED ON OUR SECRET CLUB. YOU WILL REGRET THIS!!!"
loled
Quote from: nuac_ on May 15, 2024 10:36 PMfuck you idiot piece of shit. Heres some LORE for you. If you are fucking on a crocadile, 27% of the time that same crocodile will bite your asshole off and prevent you from shiiting for the rest of your life. He'll just rip your asshole clean from your ass and in 7 days you will die from non shitting.
man, that took foreber 2 find.
*froever
**forever.
im putting this into a text file and saving it to my desktop so i can easily access it when i need it youre not lying about it being hard to find
before the youtube/google+ merge i tried to find as many comments from the guy who originally made that comment. i think there is something genuinely wrong with his brain
570K2n_thejemmymarglesteincollection.png
I don't know If It Is right to ask about this, I should have done this from the beginning. but since I was checking old TBA posts, the Wayback Machine screenshots of the site, and older artworks. what happened to Project Freetown? I got fascinated since I saw Metropolis Circuit on NG and since In this thread we are talking about the story of the site I'm kind of curious about this one.
Screenshot 2024-06-22 at 06-19-55 THEBACKALLEYS.com fla[...].png
i spent 8 months on metropolis circuit. as i began to craft a larger narrative and an "episode one" as it were i realized it was far beyond the scope of anything i was reasonably capable of doing by myself. basically, i wasn't willing to dedicate what would certainly be years of my spare time to something that i didn't even fully have fleshed out. it was a smattering of random ideas and inspirations that i was making up as i was going along.
as time went on and i graduated from college, i entered the workforce, and the rest was history. by the time i was back doing my own thing, i had simply moved on
Quote from: rtil on June 22, 2024 04:38 AMi spent 8 months on metropolis circuit. as i began to craft a larger narrative and an "episode one" as it were i realized it was far beyond the scope of anything i was reasonably capable of doing by myself. basically, i wasn't willing to dedicate what would certainly be years of my spare time to something that i didn't even fully have fleshed out. it was a smattering of random ideas and inspirations that i was making up as i was going along.
I see. totally understandable, that's a lot for just one person, worst when you don't have a solid foundation from where to start. but I must say, from the small things I saw of all this, I really dig It and I can see you put It heart on It.
Quote from: Dr. DiegO on June 22, 2024 04:48 AMI see. totally understandable, that's a lot for just one person, worst when you don't have a solid foundation from where to start. but I must say, from the small things I saw of all this, I really dig It and I can see you put It heart on It.
it was the first time i really felt confident about my animation skills and wanted to go "all out". i learned a lot while i was making it and i think you can see that . i even had gone back and re-made certain things but eventually i had to stop and just be done with it.
it's definitely a bit clumsy but i'm glad i made it.
about a year later i worked with my then girlfriend now wife on "the lighthouse girl", and while there was two of us (and a musician) that also took 8 months - albeit it is more than double the length.
long story short, animation takes time.
i wouldn't do something on that scale again unless i could pay people to help me make it.
:goomba: :goomba: :goomba: :goomba: :goomba: :goomba:
@Dr. DiegO More Lore
https://thebackalleys.com/forum/index.php/topic,9742.0.html
Love will never be the same again
Quote from: nuac_ on June 24, 2024 11:01 PM@Dr. DiegO
More Lore
https://thebackalleys.com/forum/index.php/topic,9742.0.html
I wonder how he's doing today, wherever Lostman is.
You used 2 need to draw RedM to prove that u werent a skrull in 2009:
Quote from: redmongoose on October 31, 2009 10:19 AMactually the only REAL rule around here is that you have to draw me to prove that you arent a skrull
http://www.thebackalleys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6081 (http://www.thebackalleys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6081)
that's the rule, and there's only one and it isnt that difficult, so you might as well do it! or ykno you can refuse to and make yourself look like a stuck up faggot and alert us immediately of your devotion to the skrull empire but whatver man! ur call
I drew one like.......just the other day, my abilities notwithstanding
(https://64.media.tumblr.com/d52a8dc57e194714c1bd89fa77800a60/c59877839b373740-76/s500x750/55c9fe17f44f4d7c22461288f8b60f2a6312e61d.pnj)
ngl back then i didn't know where the word "skrull" came from and thought it was something he made up
Skrull? Like the Marvel Comics aliens?
i presume
Quote from: Dr. DiegO on June 29, 2024 04:00 AMSkrull? Like the Marvel Comics aliens?
Yes.
They were in New Avengers and probably the 2 seasons of the 90s fantastic four cartoon. I don't count the marvel fighting game.
Quote from: nuac_ on June 30, 2024 05:19 AMQuote from: Dr. DiegO on June 29, 2024 04:00 AMSkrull? Like the Marvel Comics aliens?
Yes.
They were in New Avengers and probably the 2 seasons of the 90s fantastic four cartoon. I don't count the marvel fighting game.
I also remember them for Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
Reading old posts here, I manage to find an old Flash help thread and checking the replies manage to find this link:
anipedia.thebackalleys.com
So TBA had an own Flash encyclopedia of sorts?
yes, it did. but it was difficult to get people to contribute to it and most of the articles were written by me.
90% of the traffic to anipedia was just to get the "pixel tools" plugin for flash cs3, which i inadvertently made popular through my "move your feet" tribute animation. but even though i made it a point that i did not develop pixel tools, a lot of people believed i created it or had something to do with its creation - i did not, i was simply putting up a mirror for the defunct website it originally came from. at this point i do not even remember the name of the site or the author, i just remember the programmer being french.
eventually i just took anipedia down and left a download page for pixel tools, but i'm not sure where it is at the moment, and it doesn't really matter.. unless you have a very old version of flash. i'm almost certain it would not work on adobe animate.
There were tutorials for this cool pixel brush thing rtil used in his "Move your feet" video, Some articles on flashartists like wonchop, egoraptor, etc.
And a lot of tutorials on flash buttons at one point, idk.
I did a seekbar tutorial (another button tutorial) (http://www.flashjunkmind.com/tutorials/flashSeekbar/) but then moved it to flashkit.com when anipedia was just using space and not getting a ton of updates or new articles.
It was a neat wiki for awhile but then it got kinda inactive. The other flash wikis were utter crap tho. :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:
Quote from: rtil on October 16, 2024 04:26 AMyes, it did. but it was difficult to get people to contribute to it and most of the articles were written by me.
90% of the traffic to anipedia was just to get the "pixel tools" plugin for flash cs3, which i inadvertently made popular through my "move your feet" tribute animation. but even though i made it a point that i did not develop pixel tools, a lot of people believed i created it or had something to do with its creation - i did not, i was simply putting up a mirror for the defunct website it originally came from. at this point i do not even remember the name of the site or the author, i just remember the programmer being french.
eventually i just took anipedia down and left a download page for pixel tools, but i'm not sure where it is at the moment, and it doesn't really matter.. unless you have a very old version of flash. i'm almost certain it would not work on adobe animate.
Yea what this guy said, sry.
Quote from: rtil on October 16, 2024 04:26 AMyes, it did. but it was difficult to get people to contribute to it and most of the articles were written by me.
90% of the traffic to anipedia was just to get the "pixel tools" plugin for flash cs3, which i inadvertently made popular through my "move your feet" tribute animation. but even though i made it a point that i did not develop pixel tools, a lot of people believed i created it or had something to do with its creation - i did not, i was simply putting up a mirror for the defunct website it originally came from. at this point i do not even remember the name of the site or the author, i just remember the programmer being french.
eventually i just took anipedia down and left a download page for pixel tools, but i'm not sure where it is at the moment, and it doesn't really matter.. unless you have a very old version of flash. i'm almost certain it would not work on adobe animate.
Fascinating story. it's cool to see an effort of making web development knowledge accessible for a own community but I can see why it is difficult to people make people contribute.
It's also cool to know the "wikis" of the old days, even if they were shot live and not that impactful.
Quote from: nuac_ on October 16, 2024 04:27 AMThere were tutorials for this cool pixel brush thing rtil used in his "Move your feet" video, Some articles on flashartists like wonchop, egoraptor, etc.
And a lot of tutorials on flash buttons at one point, idk.
I did a seekbar tutorial (another button tutorial) (http://www.flashjunkmind.com/tutorials/flashSeekbar/) but then moved it to flashkit.com when anipedia was just using space and not getting a ton of updates or new articles.
It was a neat wiki for awhile but then it got kinda inactive. The other flash wikis were utter crap tho. :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:
You got you self a nice tutorial there btw
(https://img1.picmix.com/output/pic/normal/2/4/9/8/6608942_f7117.gif)
Quote from: ZekeySpaceyLizard on October 16, 2024 05:18 AM(https://img1.picmix.com/output/pic/normal/2/4/9/8/6608942_f7117.gif)
:tweety: Agradeço a Deus todos os dias por isso, amém.:tweety:
I was reading reddit and stumbled across this https://www.reddit.com/r/skiesofarcadia/comments/1fs39gm/well_would_you_lookie_what_i_just_found/
Had fond memories of this place and surprised that it was brought back.
Quote from: onequestion on October 17, 2024 02:19 PMI was reading reddit and stumbled across this https://www.reddit.com/r/skiesofarcadia/comments/1fs39gm/well_would_you_lookie_what_i_just_found/
Had fond memories of this place and surprised that it was brought back.
Doesn't surprised me that Rtil is famous in other places. I also saw that he has comics, but they are not easily accessible right now. maybe I'm wrong.
Quote from: onequestion on October 17, 2024 02:19 PMI was reading reddit and stumbled across this https://www.reddit.com/r/skiesofarcadia/comments/1fs39gm/well_would_you_lookie_what_i_just_found/
Had fond memories of this place and surprised that it was brought back.
well this is interesting. while i did make a comic for that forum, i never printed it, so whoever did made a copy for themselves. it's nuclear-grade cringe and has references to all the regular members of the forum of that time. i was - and still am - a huge Skies of Arcadia fan, back then the forum "Skies of Arcadia World" was my internet stomping ground of choice. i spent an absurd amount of time posting there. this was the early 2000's and my life revolved around 2 things: wasting time on the computer, and being at school trying to figure out how to waste more time on the computer.
Quotemy life revolved around 2 things: wasting time on the computer, and being at school trying to figure out how to waste more time on the computer.
Priorities :cool:
and by god i was good at it
And gotta say, you took good advantage of it.
anybody ever use spaceports back in the day? This is where I moved to after leaving angelfire, lured in by their promise of "unlimited space". unfortunately, no archive exists of my spaceports page, and i don't have any locally saved files from it, so i'll have to largely leave this out of my journey to TBA. all i remember is i was here for about 2 years, hung out on their IRC, made a few friends, learned a lot about how to design and maintain a website - really basic stuff like FTP, but angelfire didn't allow you to use things like that, everything was done through the browser.
Quote from: rtil on November 9, 2024 05:09 PManybody ever use spaceports back in the day? This is where I moved to after leaving angelfire, lured in by their promise of "unlimited space". unfortunately, no archive exists of my spaceports page, and i don't have any locally saved files from it, so i'll have to largely leave this out of my journey to TBA. all i remember is i was here for about 2 years, hung out on their IRC, made a few friends, learned a lot about how to design and maintain a website - really basic stuff like FTP, but angelfire didn't allow you to use things like that, everything was done through the browser.
Rtil lost media
I went the freewebs route instead, which I also assume is all or mostly lost and this point
Quote from: rtil on June 22, 2024 04:38 AMi spent 8 months on metropolis circuit. as i began to craft a larger narrative and an "episode one" as it were i realized it was far beyond the scope of anything i was reasonably capable of doing by myself. basically, i wasn't willing to dedicate what would certainly be years of my spare time to something that i didn't even fully have fleshed out. it was a smattering of random ideas and inspirations that i was making up as i was going along.
as time went on and i graduated from college, i entered the workforce, and the rest was history. by the time i was back doing my own thing, i had simply moved on
i feel like i had my metropolis circuit/lighthouse girl type project in my mid 20s and after finishing that stuff i feel sorta tapped. it feels like making cool long independant things is something im tapped out on. i feel a considerable urge to keep pushing my abilities but somehow that route just seems kinda done and it sorta feels like i said all the 'angry young man stuff' and now i dont know what else is left to be funny and personal about. not sure if this is normal for artists getting up there and if there is some sort of plateau to creativity. if so fuck that but at the same time maybe accepting it is how you truly get beyond it and back to improving and inventing cool stuff to be proud of.
maybe zines or something idk but defenitely some sort of challenge of ability and incentive to draw cool shit you could not have before the project necessitating and also it being cool to show friends or on-line people.
Quote from: Jon on November 10, 2024 02:31 AMQuote from: rtil on June 22, 2024 04:38 AMi spent 8 months on metropolis circuit. as i began to craft a larger narrative and an "episode one" as it were i realized it was far beyond the scope of anything i was reasonably capable of doing by myself. basically, i wasn't willing to dedicate what would certainly be years of my spare time to something that i didn't even fully have fleshed out. it was a smattering of random ideas and inspirations that i was making up as i was going along.
as time went on and i graduated from college, i entered the workforce, and the rest was history. by the time i was back doing my own thing, i had simply moved on
i feel like i had my metropolis circuit/lighthouse girl type project in my mid 20s and after finishing that stuff i feel sorta tapped. it feels like making cool long independant things is something im tapped out on. i feel a considerable urge to keep pushing my abilities but somehow that route just seems kinda done and it sorta feels like i said all the 'angry young man stuff' and now i dont know what else is left to be funny and personal about. not sure if this is normal for artists getting up there and if there is some sort of plateau to creativity. if so fuck that but at the same time maybe accepting it is how you truly get beyond it and back to improving and inventing cool stuff to be proud of.
maybe zines or something idk but defenitely some sort of challenge of ability and incentive to draw cool shit you could not have before the project necessitating and also it being cool to show friends or on-line people.
that's definitely a part of it - i was more uninhibited and still exploring my style and willing to try new things back then. but there's also the logistical and logical side of me that stops me from doing larger things. before i even get a second thought about attempting a large project i think about things like: how long will this take, where can i fit it in my schedule, will it help me pay bills, am i doing this for myself or not, etc.
someday i hope that i'll be in a place of privilege where maybe i don't have to think about those kinds of things and can do whatever i want. i am at least lucky that most things that i get to work on are things that i like, and that my main source of income is something i'm good at and enjoy doing. so i'm halfway there.
idk if i'd say i'm tapped out creatively but i definitely stop myself from even finding out.
TBA_Gaming.jpg
So, about the gaming past of TBA. I wanted to know about this after my usual post exploration of this place and seeing that there was a TF2 server back in the beginning of the game, or well, used to set dedicated servers to play.
Quote from: Dr. DiegO on December 12, 2024 05:16 PMTBA_Gaming.jpg
So, about the gaming past of TBA. I wanted to know about this after my usual post exploration of this place and seeing that there was a TF2 server back in the beginning of the game, or well, used to set dedicated servers to play.
yeah i did host a server for a good year or so. we had a lot of fun mods like a way to upload songs and play them on the server, tons of custom maps and all that.
you can still find the MOTD page here, with a random quote every time you refresh it. http://thebackalleys.com/tf/motd.php
Quoteyou can still find the MOTD page here, with a random quote every time you refresh it. http://thebackalleys.com/tf/motd.php
IMG_20241213_232842.jpg
Deep stuffs
i just miss the old 404 page
i was at work last week and for some reason my weeaboo gamer coworker brought up chris niosi re: voice acting and i was like "hahaha ffffucking kirbopher" and she said "what" and i had to reveal my newgrounds power level and explain that i used to make fun of chris "kirbopher" niosi on an internet messaghe board for flash portal criminals :kirb:
Quote from: cipher on December 14, 2024 03:07 AMi just miss the old 404 page
if you have ruffle it still works if you press play, but yeah, you can't make audio autoplay in a hidden 1x1 pixel thingy like the old days, browsers are fucking pussies now that have basic security features - so recreating it would be impossible in html5 probably
Quote from: ansel on December 14, 2024 03:26 AMi was at work last week and for some reason my weeaboo gamer coworker brought up chris niosi re: voice acting and i was like "hahaha ffffucking kirbopher" and she said "what" and i had to reveal my newgrounds power level and explain that i used to make fun of chris "kirbopher" niosi on an internet messaghe board for flash portal criminals :kirb:
it's important to educate folks about kirbopher lore lest they see a grey kirby with a green hat and naively assume it's a cute and harmless creature
I know you're also known for you criticisms on Egoraptor at the time, at least from what I can find about you out there, but for Kirbopher I didn't know until I came here and seeing this:
:kirb:
TBA was way ahead of the curve when it came to dunking on the kirbster
his career is basically over now cuz of a tumblr post from an ex gf that continues to haunt him to this day
it's all a bit sad tbh
Quote from: rtil on December 18, 2024 01:38 AMTBA was way ahead of the curve when it came to dunking on the kirbster
his career is basically over now cuz of a tumblr post from an ex gf that continues to haunt him to this day
it's all a bit sad tbh
I'm surprised he still around after that
Somehow, I managed to slip and fall into one of the cracks in the Alley In one of my usual exploration. It's nice to have a glance of the old look of TBA before the big reset because the Wayback Machine snapshots don't work past 2010 and this is the only chance I managed to see from this period. although, I do manage to get some from 2005 to 2009, broken, but it is something.
oldTBA.jpg
the redirect broke the archive i guess, but you can try checking thebackalleys.com/forum on the wayback machine.
here's a screenshot of layout v6 (?). this is back when discord did not exist and chat was a web-based IRC plugin called mibbit.
Quote from: rtil on December 19, 2024 05:12 AMthe redirect broke the archive i guess, but you can try checking thebackalleys.com/forum on the wayback machine.
here's a screenshot of layout v6 (?). this is back when discord did not exist and chat was a web-based IRC plugin called mibbit.
Once again, my Skill Issue makes a fool of me. Although, looks beautiful tho.
This April TheBackAlleys officially will turn 20 years. WOW!
Maybe something special for the month?
goddamn. i'll see what i can pull out of my ass
Quote from: rtil on January 10, 2025 06:06 AMgoddamn. i'll see what i can pull out of my ass
With the current situation a shitty announcement would be enough, but if you manage to surprise us. that would be cool.
Quote from: rtil on January 10, 2025 06:06 AMgoddamn. i'll see what i can pull out of my ass
The next TBA Starcraft II invitational :duke:
recently followed zekey and w-p-s on socials and it made me nostalgic for this forum and poasting in general. can't believe i remembered my password. congrats on 20 years of TBA rtil
Oh cool, another veteran user in this thread. Welcome back.
Quote from: rtil on December 19, 2024 05:12 AMhere's a screenshot of layout v6 (?). this is back when discord did not exist and chat was a web-based IRC plugin called mibbit.
I also appreciate the evolution of Allie's design here in this old screenshot.
Well, it's official. TheBackAlleys is 20 years old now. happy late birthday!
Quote from: Dr. DiegO on April 24, 2025 05:09 AMWell, it's official. TheBackAlleys is 20 years old now. happy late birthday!
oof
here's to 20 more B)
Well, the past 20th was the official day. but anyways, let's make it 20 more! (maybe not)
this is the only subscription i've never cancelled
Quote from: Dr. DiegO on December 13, 2024 10:30 PMIMG_20241213_232842.jpg
Deep stuffs
Screenshot 2025-05-14 at 01-33-07 .png
Okay, that is a pretty specific request.
we had a lot of fun on that server
all my favorite mods are definitely 100% broken i'm sure
Watching YouTube I managed to get an Rtil jumpscare by reaching the SmileyCentral section of this video about the story of Clip Art. it features your Flash alongside an anecdote about trying to hire you because they liked the flash despite that it was made in spite of their advertisement lmao.
It's a good video too. worth checking it out.
I wonder who she was talking about when she said they tried to hire someone who made a video about smileycentral. If it was me, I don't remember. Obviously back then I did not post that video on youtube, and if someone did, it wasn't me. even now, almost all my flash cartoons that are on youtube are not uploaded by me.
Who can say, but I'll like to imagine that they tried to follow the message at the end of the flash and acknowledging their reputation and try to do something.