A trail that ends in shimmering Sparkles
December 26, 2016 5:43 PM   Subscribe

 
The idea that finding/revealing the new Frog Fractions game should involve such complex machinations is itself the most Frog Fractions thing ever. The subdivided amphibian was inside us all along!
posted by comealongpole at 5:47 PM on December 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


So... 2016 was Frog Fractions 2?
posted by schmod at 5:48 PM on December 26, 2016 [14 favorites]


omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg
posted by Going To Maine at 6:00 PM on December 26, 2016 [4 favorites]


Well, that's neat.

Is the game any good?
posted by kafziel at 6:06 PM on December 26, 2016




Is the game any good?

The news has just broken, so I suspect that no one will know for a bit.
posted by Going To Maine at 6:09 PM on December 26, 2016


The news has just broken, so I suspect that no one will know for a bit.

Yeah but the game's been out for two weeks.
posted by kafziel at 6:20 PM on December 26, 2016


Yeah but the game’s been out for two weeks.

good point good point. I give it eight and eight-tenths.
posted by Going To Maine at 6:25 PM on December 26, 2016 [11 favorites]


Is this the best Christmas gift? Maybe.
posted by wyndham at 7:59 PM on December 26, 2016


Yeah but the game's been out for two weeks.

The article points out that the game was updated on the 25th after they turned the key. So yes, the game has been out, but frog fractions only dropped inside it yesterday.
posted by wyndham at 8:02 PM on December 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


The December 24th update to Glittermitten Grove led them to the game which, after some tricks and turns and an underground door, ushers players into Frog Fractions 2, which, in the game’s credits, is referred to as “Frog Fractions 3.”

Because of course it is.

Downloading it tomorrow.
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 8:13 PM on December 26, 2016


So wait, it's only been "out" like a day and the jig is already up? Pft.
posted by ODiV at 8:22 PM on December 26, 2016


reading the summary of the hunt, and knowing no background information, has been spectacular.
posted by So You're Saying These Are Pants? at 8:32 PM on December 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


I'm a couple hours in and so far I can't decide if it's a love letter to games, or an extended statement piece on why video games are terrible. Either way, thumbs up I think?!
posted by malphigian at 10:17 PM on December 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


Thanks for posting about this so soon after it came to light! I've been waiting for Frog Fractions 2 to surface for years, and this does not disappoint. Once you get into the meat of the game, the main framing device is an extended tribute to a certain early 90's game creation tool that I used to love when I was a kid. It put a huge smile on my face. I have no idea how far I am now or how much more there is to go, but I feel like I'm falling into a deep rabbit hole.

On the Insert Credit and SelectButton forums (picture a near-MetaFilter level of discourse, with a deep focus on video games) they coined the silly-but-useful term "Icebergvania" to refer to games that hide the vast majority of their content in a place where most players will never see it or even know it exists. The Frog Fraction games are the most fun implementation of that concept I've ever seen.

If you enjoyed Frog Fractions 1 and you want more esoteric, goofy cryptogaming, I strongly recommend picking up Glittermitten Grove.
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 12:17 AM on December 27, 2016 [3 favorites]


a certain early 90's game creation tool that I used to love when I was a kid
I saw a screenshot of this and I immediately knew I need to play through this game during the winter break
posted by DoctorFedora at 12:29 AM on December 27, 2016


How long does it take to beat? I just remembered the time people misinterpreted a post by Jonathan Blow and strarted screaming something like "THE GAME THAT TOOK SIX YEARS TO MAKE WILL TAKE YOU FIVE HOURS TO BEAT".

Questions for One Second Before Awakening:

Icebergvania

Do you know of any other games worth of the title? Besides Soda Drinker Pro, of course.

a certain early 90's game creation tool that I used to love when I was a kid

Haven't played it yet but this had BETTER be what I think it is.
posted by BiggerJ at 2:42 AM on December 27, 2016


What's the 90s game creation tool?
posted by escape from the potato planet at 5:21 AM on December 27, 2016


What's the 90s game creation tool?

Frog Fractions 7
posted by ryoshu at 5:41 AM on December 27, 2016 [14 favorites]


What's the 90s game creation tool?

Haven't played yet, but from looking at reviews, I believe it's ZZT.
posted by equalpants at 6:03 AM on December 27, 2016


I was hoping that FF2 would be implemented as a Macintosh HyperCard stack.
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:30 AM on December 27, 2016 [10 favorites]


@dogrunes: YOU CAN IMPORT A MASS EFFECT 2 SAVE IN FROG FRACTIONS 2 WHAT THE HELL LMAO
posted by Going To Maine at 6:38 AM on December 27, 2016 [6 favorites]


Icebergvania

Do you know of any other games worth of the title? Besides Soda Drinker Pro, of course.

I imagine the AHL_5am level for Action Half-Life would qualify…
posted by Going To Maine at 6:48 AM on December 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


From the Kotaku comments:

Apparently, you can import Mass Effect 2 saves into Frog Factions 2. No, I don’t know why.



I...what...that's amazing!
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:04 AM on December 27, 2016 [3 favorites]


Not a good example of an Icebergvania (great term!) but I immediately thought of the first Colony Wars on PS1. The game has a branching storyline with plot waypoint FMVs voiced by James Earl Jones himself, so much of that is missable. There's also absolute reams of superfluous fluff about the planets and star systems all written, recorded and included in the game but you're never directed to it, nor need to make any use of it. Fun game, if only the missions weren't so short!
posted by comealongpole at 8:19 AM on December 27, 2016


Does Portal count as icebergvania?
or does that question just mark me as hopelessly unsophisticated oh I'll just show myself out
posted by gusandrews at 8:29 AM on December 27, 2016


While it doesn't entirely fit the definition, I think one of the original influences on the idea of the icebergvania was the secret inverted castle in Symphony of the Night. It's a ton of extra content that's hard to reach and really doesn't need to be there.

Actual full-on icebergvanias are really rare, but some good examples have been posted in this thread. Shower With Your Dad Simulator also kind of goes down this path, but in a pretty limited way.

And yes, the game creation tool Frog Fractions 2 imitates is ZZT.
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 8:47 AM on December 27, 2016


I own but have never played the Origin version of Mass Effect 2 (I think it came from a Humble Bundle?) and I might have to fire it up long enough to generate a save, just because.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:30 AM on December 27, 2016


I'd like to be excited about this, but then I saw the game is $6.99 to play, and while I don't begrudge anyone from wanting to make a living, I'd like to make it someday too after all, I feel like I've been let down a glimmering trail only at the end to reach a sign saying "YOU MUST BE THIS AFFLUENT TO ENJOY WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT."

(Please understand, this isn't a plea for someone to chip in for this game for me, which has happened before when I've mentioned this, and was appreciated, but doesn't solve the bigger problem. Which is, there is nothing in the world that will make a low income player left out as the whole internet getting excited over and over again over game hype.)
posted by JHarris at 9:58 AM on December 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


JHarris: "I'd like to be excited about this, but then I saw the game is $6.99 to play, and while I don't begrudge anyone from wanting to make a living, I'd like to make it someday too after all, I feel like I've been let down a glimmering trail only at the end to reach a sign saying "YOU MUST BE THIS AFFLUENT TO ENJOY WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT."

(Please understand, this isn't a plea for someone to chip in for this game for me, which has happened before when I've mentioned this, and was appreciated, but doesn't solve the bigger problem. Which is, there is nothing in the world that will make a low income player left out as the whole internet getting excited over and over again over game hype.)
"

You and me both. Especially if you have no plastic.
posted by Samizdata at 10:41 AM on December 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


If you want some spoilers as to the crazy stuff in this game, this twitter account posted a bunch last night. They're not threaded so I can't point to just one and show you all of them. There's some really funny stuff in there. Unfortunately, the game's windows only for now, so I can't see it for myself.
posted by sparkletone at 12:38 PM on December 27, 2016


And now that I look someone did post the Mass Effect 2 import tweet, but oh man, there is so much more and even the ME2 save thing develops. It's not just a one off gag.
posted by sparkletone at 12:40 PM on December 27, 2016


$6.99? Glittermitten Grove came up as £14.99 (~$18.39!) when I googled it up for Steam. Colour me amused, enthused and waiting for a sale.
posted by comealongpole at 1:31 PM on December 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


But is the Mass Effect 2 save file import feature Monster Factory-compatible?
posted by DoctorFedora at 2:43 PM on December 27, 2016


I've just realized what this tweet reminded me of (the last sentence is my own addition, driving home the SCIENCE):

FARNSWORTH: We'll be able to decode this mysterious alien message using this device - but since its language is unknown, there's literally no telling how long it will take. It could take half an hour or a hundred million years.

FRY: But--

FARNSWORTH: A hundred million years.

(CHEERFUL DING)

FARNSWORTH: It's done! This was, of course, the only amount of time it could possibly have taken.
posted by BiggerJ at 9:33 PM on December 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


I thought that this was the best $20 I've spent on gaming this year before I got to Inferno: New Game Plus. It's more video game referential than FF1, but also somehow more of an actual game, also. Already have cracked up multiple times, even though I know it's going to pull the kind of stuff that it's pulling.
posted by drapatz at 10:51 PM on December 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


JHarris: According to his Twitter, Jim Crawford wanted to put it on sale as soon as the jig was up, but Valve informed him that putting it on sale so soon after the launch sale was literally illegal.
posted by BiggerJ at 2:30 AM on December 29, 2016 [1 favorite]


Yeah, I actually met Crawford on Twitter yesterday! He seems a decent enough sort. Anyway, I'll probably get in a bundle someday. There is something to be said about waiting until New Game Hype has died down before getting involved with a new computoy.
posted by JHarris at 3:04 AM on December 29, 2016


Jim tells lots of behind-the-scenes stories on the most recent episode (269) of the podcast he cohosts, Video Games Hot Dog.
posted by painquale at 5:24 PM on December 30, 2016 [2 favorites]


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