Kiva is a person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.
The loans made to people on www.kiva.org help them make great strides towards economic independence and improve life for themselves, their family and their community.
For every game “Penguins Arena” sold, Frogames makes a 1 dollar loan. The Frogames Team currently lends to 3 entrepreneurs in Togo and Nigeria.

But this is just the first step, Frogames will continue to lend on a monthly basis. Frogames will also integrate the income generated by “MiniOne Racing“, a thrilling racing game which will be available very soon for windows and Mac OS. For every game “MiniOne racing” sold, Frogames will lend one dollar too!

Digg it!

Winners will be announced on Monday, September 15 at the Austin Game Developers Conference.

Wish Frogames good luck ;)

Well, I suppose some of you never heard about Frogames before.
Frogames is a small indie game studio based in Reims, France - in the middle of the Champagne’s vines.
We are 3 motivated and fun-loving people. We make games, content packs, and we work as freelances.

So, what happend since Jully 2007?
Our great success last year was Penguins Arena, not only because the game was released, but also because it was the first place winner of the Intel game demo contest! Since the release we launched 3 free updates to add more features to the game (penguins customisation, level editor, new game modes…)!

At the same time, we launched the CS:Warriors and Commoners, a massive characters content pack that allows thousand of combinations to create unique NPC for indie game developers.
Developing and creating those 2 products was a lot of work, as well as taking care of the marketing and the promotion after the release. But the indie life is not “la vie en rose”, and I had to stop some projects (once again, sorry for Pelorea Frank!) to get more free time and to work more on paid projects.

Last year I worked on Arctic Antics, a very interesting project for Robert. Unfortunatly, this picture is the only one I’m allowed to show atm :)

Joshua contacted me at the beginning of August 2007 and asked me if I was interested in working on Shelled Online. In fact, I helped a bit on the first Shelled game. The concept of this sequel was excited and my instant answer was yes!

This game was produced by Joshua and programmed by Gary. And I worked on the art part.
I’m proud of what we made. The game was released a few weeks ago and I invite everybody to download and play the demo. Right now! Really :)

It’s a very good action game with tank customisation, destructable environments and many solo or online game modes!
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE DEMO.

Finally, the work began on the CS:Wizards a few months ago.
Initially I planed to work on a CS:Women and Wizards pack but it appears women are going to be more challenging than I expected. I prefere 2 separated characters packs, so I will be able to release the first one more quickly.
So what is the plan? Staffs, sticks, robes, hats, grimoires, potions, spells incantations animations etc… and of course, all that new stuff and the first CS pack are compatible!
When? I expect a launch next September.

Now, let me propose you a book and 3 games I really enjoyed this year :

- Game Story & Character Development
I’m very new to story telling and this book is really great if you want to learn basis, like me. There is a lot of examples and a lot of comments by well know game developers.
It will not make you the greatest writer, but it will allow you to create simple and well done stories. A must for any game developer.

- MarioKart Wii
Yes, I love this game! Cute and fun. Instant action. Challenging. My only grief is the solo mode is too short.
Hopefully, it allows multiplayer online games. Here is my MarioKart ID : 4253-3701-8629, and my Wii number : 3013 2408 8899 5687.
I want friends all over the world!

- Warbands
This game was developed by Eric Schwegler, using TGB.
It’s a well done Advance Wars clone. Charaters are really fun, and one of the bad guys is a mime! (I really love when bad guys are French).
My only comment is about the lack of consistence of the art part.
If you love that type of games, take a look at Battalion, a free flash Advance Wars clone.

- Spore Creature Creator
It’s not really a game, but it’s damn fun to create unbelievable monsters in a minut. This editor is incredibly powerful and I dream about a similar shape editor. I can’t wait the full game. Here are 2 of my creatures.

final touch : various works from intern projects, secret projects and very secret projects!

(I really like the last picture. I think this art style is perfect for story telling)

Thank you for reading this blog entry. Next time, more about MiniOne Racing and Dragon Hatchery!

Christophe

Frogames releases an update for “Penguins Arena - Sedna’s World”: “Easter update” and offers a 30% promotion coupon code available until April the 6th.

The “Easter update” brings a great new “Custom Map” game mode. It’s designed to allow you to play custom maps created by players.
Players can design their own levels using a new free Frogames tool: the Penguins Arena Map Editor (this tool is available even for non-licensed Penguins Arena players). Then they are free to share and distribute their custom maps … and have new challenges!

This update is totally free. All registred users will get this new version for no additional fees and for future users, the price of the game hasn’t changed ($19.95 USD).

And it’s Easter! Frogames won’t offer you chocolates but an unexpected present: “Easter”, a 30% promotion on Penguins Arena, available until April the 6th! During the buying process you just need to enter the following coupon code : “Easter”. For our European friends it brings the price of the game under 10 euros.

A new game mode, a new free tool, a 30% coupon code … what are you waiting for? Go and try the Windows or MACOSX demo of Penguins Arena!

The new Penguins Arena demo 1.3 is available, including the “Be Yourself” free extension and the free “Christmas Update”!

Changes :

* new game mode: “Unlimited”. Shoot an unlimited number of bonus!
* 2 new maps
* players names are displayed in scores screens
* penguins are invincible for a few moment during respawn
* new option to turn off music
* some bugs fixed and gameplay elements ajusted…

Frogames release the first extension for “Penguins Arena: Sedna’s World”, this free update brings two big new features to the game: penguins customization and “Duels”, a new game mode.

Download the new version of the Demo at http://www.frogames.com/penguins_arena/

 New feature

• penguins customization. Allows the player to add 2 graphical elements (top and down) to his penguin.
• new game mode: “Duels”. This game mode removes all teammates and leaves 1 player in each team with 3 lives.
• invert mouse option
• added in-game player icon

 Bugs fixed

• scores GUI mess
• you now join the *selected* server (not a random one…)
• mail correctly formated when sending an invitation with “invite a friend”
• display errors in the RSS feed
• AZERTY keybords now work correctly
• no texture after being hited (while invincible)
• other minor bugs fixed… 

Changes

• new map order
• small radius effect adjustment for the “Big Bomb” projectile
• scores are displayed even when you are a ghost
• default AI level reduced (3/10)
• reduced waiting time at the end of rounds

Know bug

  ]]> http://www.frogames.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=10 http://www.frogames.com/blog/?p=10 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Frogames_com/~3/175038666/ http://www.frogames.com/blog/?p=7#comments Thu, 25 Oct 2007 21:09:22 +0000 admin http://www.frogames.com/blog/?p=7 Christophe posted new information about our upcoming update of Penguins Arena.
We already fixed more than a dozen of bugs and we’re finishing two new features : a new game mode and penguins customization.
 

We are working hard to bring you a big update of Penguins Arena, we’ll tell you more about it in a later post.

It all begins when a penguin legend comes to life in the form of Sedna, the ancient Penguin Goddess. Global warming, pollution… Penguin tribes are endangered. Sedna utters them that there is room for but one tribe. And so the purging begins.
Now it’s your turn to join the snowball battles and drive the other tribes into the sea. Penguins Arena is a thrilling and innovative First Penguin Shooter with very short rounds and where the magic of reincarnation, combined with the supernatural ability to return to the game as a ghost, ensures that your character has every chance to change your tribe’s fate.