I'm adding a new Unity3D game to Newgrounds with medals. I've done this before about a year ago with no issues. Now all of a sudden I was getting exceptions in the editor:

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
io.newgrounds.core._createCall (System.String component, System.Object parameters, System.Action`1[T] callback) (at Assets/Newgrounds IO/io/newgrounds/core.cs:296)
io.newgrounds.core.callComponent (System.String component, System.Object parameters, System.Action`1[T] callback) (at Assets/Newgrounds IO/io/newgrounds/core.cs:317)
io.newgrounds.components.Medal.unlock.callWith (io.newgrounds.core core, System.Action`1[T] callback) (at Assets/Newgrounds IO/io/newgrounds/components/Medal.cs:94)
GameManager.NgProcessMedalQueue () (at Assets/Scripts/GameManager.cs:358)
GameManager.NgOnReady () (at Assets/Scripts/GameManager.cs:342)
io.newgrounds.core.onReady (System.Action callback) (at Assets/Newgrounds IO/io/newgrounds/core.cs:74)
GameManager.NgRegisterAPI () (at Assets/Scripts/GameManager.cs:336)
GameManager.Start () (at Assets/Scripts/GameManager.cs:97)

I also hit an error when previewing the game on Newgrounds:

"Unable to cast object of type 'ResultModel' to type 'unlock'."

I already have medal unlocks sit in a queue until NG.IO reports ready.

Turns out there was a recent change to NG.IO which is incompatible with how I was using it:

https://bitbucket.org/newgrounds/newgrounds.io-for-unity-c/pull-requests/1

core.cs changed from `Start()` to `Awake()`

I don't use NG.IO in the way recommended by the guide. Rather than creating an object in my scene editor with the required properties, I create a new object at the start of the game and fill in the properties. This way, I can initialize it at runtime only if I'm exporting a build for Newgrounds (vs some other site or standalone). For some reason, the change to `core.cs` makes this no longer work.

FYI for anyone who hits this error in the future. Solution in my case was just to switch core.cs back to Start()

Wow, that was an awesome post! Thanks for letting us know about the ins and outs of Newgrounds medals :D

I'll make sure to check it out. Could you tell us any information on the style or theme of it?

I just published it! The game is called Factions. It's a minimalist Action-RTS set on a small 3D world. I started with some fairly simple medals. Let me know what you think!

If you make any medal with any amount of difficulty, someone may complain about it.

I did end up putting a "Beat the game in 10 minutes" medal. I beat it in 7.5 when I uploaded to the site so it should be doable for most people. My hope is that people will play through using one strategy (probably slow, building up armies) and then try again using a more fast-paced strategy. They should be able to get the medal easily, but not on their first playthrough. I could make an even harder medal for more points (maybe 7 minute completion time?) but I don't think that meaningfully adds or changes the gameplay at all.

There are two different lists of games with medals, the new and my preference, the old. 

I think your links are not quite right. In case anyone else stops by and reads this, it should be new and old

I recommend you take a look at this as well: https://retroachievements.org/viewtopic.php?t=1235&c=7357

Fantastic article! It reminded me of another one, which is also a great read: https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/GregMcClanahan/20091202/86035/Achievement_Design_101.php

Hey everyone!

I'm planning on uploading a game to Newgrounds in the next week. I can find a lot of information on how medals and the associated APIs work, but I don't see any information about best practices for medals. The official documentation just says "up to 500 points" and "see games with medals for ideas" (https://www.newgrounds.com/wiki/creator-resources/flash-api/adding-medals-to-your-game). I looked through a few and I don't see any consistency in terms of the value of points or number of medals. I know it's up to us to put what we want as developers, but what are people on this site expecting? My only points of reference are Kongregate and Xbox, which each have their own, different, best practices. I feel like a lot of this has to do with the culture of the site. I haven't used Newgrounds in ~15 years, so I'm pretty out of touch. Questions I have:

• Do players expect a game to always use 500 points in medals? Even if there's just one "beat the game" medal?
• Do players want a challenge with their medals to show as a badge of honor or is it all about collecting as many as possible?
• If I put in some "challenge" medals (e.g. beat the game in 5 minutes), will users get annoyed or appreciate it?
• Do players enjoy lots of medals (like beat level 1, 5, 10) or just meaningful medals (like beat the game)
• I see medals need to go through an approval process. What could get a medal rejected?
• Anything else I should know?

I'm sure there's forum posts or docs about this that I couldn't find. Please link them to me if you know them!

Thanks!