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February 15th
December 5th
December 3rd
  1. Susie Can Play Chapter I

    April 28th, 2011 by Susie | Category: Frozenbyte

    I want to tell you something about my playing experience. Here is the first chapter of the story. I hope it reminds you of the good old days.

    When I was a little girl, my dad had a PC and a game called Grand Prix. The picture above reminds me of it, although we had it black and white. My dad let me and my big brother J play it, and with the help of my well-disposed brother I managed to open the computer and start the game.

    But oh boy the game was difficult! I couldn’t keep the car on the track, and as a result I drove somewhere outside of it all the time. Or wrong way, if that was possible. It didn’t make sense at all! I think I managed to drive the whole lap sometimes, but it must’ve taken hours. I can still hear the annoying voice of the Formula 1 car in my ears.

    Do you remember Grand Prix? What was your first contact with games?

    - Susie


  2. Three cheers for the bundle!

    April 28th, 2011 by Mikael | Category: Humble Bundle

    Over the course of about 14 days, the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle raised just over $900,000. A big thank you to everyone for making this happen, especially since out of this sum over a third is going to the charities.

    Now we can return to our normal day schedule and sadly leave behind the 24 hour support chat, that started to become very dear to many of us.

    Next on our things-to-do list is to fix up all of the issues that came up during the HFB, get the Jack Claw community going and finish Splot.

    In other non-HFB news, Trine 2 is coming along very nicely and there are a lot of new and exciting things that we can’t wait to show off. So more on that coming up shortly.


  3. A cup of coffee, the indie devs fuel of choice

    April 25th, 2011 by Susie | Category: Frozenbyte

    Have you seen Trine’s credits? No? Anyhow, that’s the place where FB and it’s employees thank their business parters, families, neighbours… And Coffee. Thank you Coffee for enabling us to make this game.

    Every morning the burbling sound of the coffeemaker wafts into my ears and the irresistible smell spreads through the office. FB’s employees consume liters and liters of coffee every day. I think artists consume the most of it.

    Coffee is the magic elixir that keeps us going. Coffee is so important to Finnish people, that even if we go bankrupt we somehow manage to find a coin for a coffee. Don’t ever underestimate a Finns’ lust for coffee. It. Can. Get. Dangerous.

    It’s also a social thing. If you want to see somebody, you say: “Let’s get together and have a cup of coffee.” If I go to my parent’s place, they want to prepare me a cup of steaming, rich coffee. There is coffee everywhere. Even in the little l i b r a r y near my home has a coffee vending machine and a sign saying something like “Buy yourself a nice cup of coffee or hot chocolate and enjoy it with a good book”.

    To tell the truth, I am not an avid coffee drinker (the only coffee I’ve ever really liked was Starbucks’ caffè latte in Barcelona). I adore the scent, but the flavour is too bitter for my taste, even with milk and sugar. I have tried to learn to drink it, but I still prefer tea. Tea is so mild, and it doesn’t leave a harsh taste in my mouth. Nevertheless I have at least one cup when I’m at the office.

    I found the reason to this last Saturday. I suffered from an awful headache, and I realised that I hadn’t have coffee during the whole day.

    I guess I’m addicted. And I don’t even like coffee! How pathetic is that?

    -Susie

    Cups of Coffee. Author/Photographer: Hendrike (1998)


  4. Milestone bonuses unlocked!

    April 22nd, 2011 by Mikael | Category: Humble Bundle

    The long awaited Humble Frozenbyte Bundle bonuses are here and on the top of the list is of course a cow, Daisy, from Splot.

    What this means is that all of the people who have bought the bundle can now access a playable sneak preview of Splot from their bundle downloads sites.

    This is still a work in progress and it is missing some cool combo features, but it should give a pretty good perception of what the game is going to be like.

     

    And this is not all, we also released more bonuses!

    - The source codes for both Shadowgrounds and SG: Survivor games.

    - Plus the level editor for Trine, which has been on the fan wishlist for long.

    So hope you guys enjoy these materials and happy weekend to all!

     

    -Mikael

     


  5. G-man “high fives” Minecraft

    April 21st, 2011 by Mikael | Category: Humble Bundle

     

    The clash of the titans that took place on the top contributors list in the HFB, has now been memorialized in this awe-tastic piece of art.

    This from the Wolfire artist, Aubrey Serr, also known as the guy who just created real competitor for the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

    Let’s see if this kind of epicness continues towards the end of the bundle (hint: small bonuses coming up).

     


  6. Towards the Horizon

    April 19th, 2011 by Susie | Category: Trine 2

    A couple of weeks ago, I got a chance to play Trine 2. It’s absolutely gorgeous! I think it’s the details that make it so interesting and beautiful.

    One of my favourite places is the library. All those books! I adore books and reading, partly because I have worked as editor in a publishing house. Or maybe books were the reason I worked there… Anyhow, I told FB’s Lauri that I’d like to step towards the horizon and pick up one book.

    “It’s not possible”, he told me.
    “But I’d like to see what’s in there”, I said.
    “I know what you mean but it’s not the point. It wouldn’t make sense to go there”, he explained.
    “It looks so temptating…”

    Speaking the truth, I think the game would loose it’s charm if I could leaf through the books in the library. Now I can only imagine how it would feel. Maybe that’s a part of Trine’s allurement. You can only use your imagination…

    -Susie


  7. WTF is Trine?

    April 19th, 2011 by Mikael | Category: Trine

    Yea, what really is this thing called Trine? Well dictionary.net defines it as something to do with stars aligning and also as a synonym for the Trinity.

    I personally am more of a fan of the urbandictionary definition, even though it has even less to do with what our game actually is. :)

    Also TotalBiscuit of Youtube fame has also his own definition in the above video, which is a very nice video to say the least.

    Enjoy, and there is “more” to come soon.

    -Mikael


  8. Eavesdropping and Walking Chickens

    April 19th, 2011 by Susie | Category: Frozenbyte, Making Of, Trine 2

    I was pouring coffee the other day, when I heard an interesting conversation (by accident, I swear!). Two of FB’s guys were discussing how chickens walk. The other guy demonstrated it with his fingers. They were not joking or anything, it was a serious conversation related to what they do for living.

    I think this is a good example of multiformity and challenges of making games. If you want that there is a chicken in the game, you have to explore how it walks. This may be crystal clear to everyone, but I felt like I had an aha experience…

    I have also heard that when FB’s guys were making their first game, Shadowgrounds, they adventured deep in the rooms of an abandoned industry building taking pictures for the game. It would not have been allowed, but they didn’t get caught, although a patrol car drove by. So game making can be really exciting–literally.

    - Susie


  9. @Notch declares Garry the winner?

    April 18th, 2011 by Mikael | Category: Humble Bundle

    Seems as if a winner has been found in our clash of the titans. Not only did @notch still beat Garry’s latest top list donation, but he also seems to be realizing that maybe an end must be reached at some point.

    Will the battle still continue? We shall see. Also to be seen is yet another week of Humble Frozenbyte Bundle and maybe this week we can get a little boost in activity by others than just these two top list friends. ;)

    -Mikael


  10. A bit of friendly competition

    April 15th, 2011 by Mikael | Category: Humble Bundle

    Looking at the top contributor list you might notice a few familiar names. Currently in the top three we have @notch who is Markus Persson from Minecraft fame and Garry Newman known for the Garry’s Mod.

    Now it seems as the top spot has been taken over by the competitively named “Now what, Garry?”, that we can only assume to be a friendly gesture to see which famed game industry superhero will be able to take control of the top of the contribution hill. :)

    This is very nice to see and further reminds us that we are in fact a part of  great community at large.

    Let’s see how this feud develops and if more people join in to claim the top position.

     

    - Mikael


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