The ability to talk with the Frozenbyte developers via the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle chat has granted me another mini interview and a few insights of things to come…
Here is another mini interview I’ve made with Niina from Frozenbyte :

LGN: Hello !
Niina/Frozenbyte: Hey!
LGN: will you continue the tradition and release the source code of all of the “bundle” games when we reach 1 million USD ?
Niina/Frozenbyte: No, sorry. The Shadowgrounds games we MIGHT think about if the bundle sells great enough. Only Jack Claw’s source code (not exactly open source, but the license is quite cool.) is available, which you get immediately when you buy this bundle! 🙂
LGN: Don’t worry, I’ve already got the bundle for $30, which is fair considering the fact that I already bought the Shadowgrounds games from LGP 😉
Niina/Frozenbyte: Aww man, thank you so much! 😀
LGN: No problem, you already got 0.5 M and you have 11 days left – so I’m sure you will reach at least 1 Million USD .
Niina/Frozenbyte: We sure hope so too. 🙂
LGN: What are your next projects except Splot ?
Niina/Frozenbyte: Trine 2, which should be released in the late summer, but other than that… can’t say.
LGN: Fair enough, how much money is “great enough” for Frozenbyte to release the sources of the Shadowgrounds series ? I’m asking because the more people know the greater the motivation to gather the money.
Niina/Frozenbyte: I understand your reason for asking, but unfortunately I can’t say exact numbers (at least for now). But I am quite hopeful that we’ll get there by the end of the bundle.
LGN: Ok. thanks
Niina/Frozenbyte: We might announce something before the end of the bundle, so follow us e.g. on Twitter or on Facebook and you’ll see the announcements.
LGN: BTW your new game Splot (at least from what we can see now) looks like a downgrade from your older great games.
Niina/Frozenbyte: Hahah, oh it’s not a downgrade — you’ll see when it’s released. 😉
LGN: From the screenshots Splot doesn’t looks good compare to the other games
Niina/Frozenbyte: Ah, you mean the graphics?
It’s because we like to do new things: even if Splot’s graphics aren’t as cool as Trine’s, the gameplay itself might be even cooler.
Because we like to do new things, it (unfortunately?) means that some people just won’t like everything we do.
LGN: In my opinion the Shadowgrounds games were the most fun, shame they crashed so much without the ability to save at will – that really ruined it for me
Niina/Frozenbyte: Yeah, there have been complaints about that. But again, it might even be a question of taste. For example, I personally am uber excited about Splot: I love the game idea, the graphics are so cute, and the game itself — having played it myself, it is addicting. 😉
LGN: That might be because you are a female 😉
Niina/Frozenbyte: Hahahah, yeah, it might be because of that, who knows. 😀
Some ladies LOVE Shadowgrounds. 😉
LGN: Really ? I must be in the wrong crowd then 😉
Niina/Frozenbyte: Haha, if only you know how hardcore players some ladies are ;P
LGN: Thanks for your time, I hope you will reach your goal and even more – you really deserve it.

So if you want Shadowgrounds series source code to be released, make it happen by contributing to the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle !

Links
Frozenbyte
Shadowgrounds
Shadowgrounds Survivor
Jack Claw
Splot
Trine
Trine 2
Frozenbyte Twitter
Frozenbyte Facebook

  1. Liam says:

    As much as the info is kinda cool that they may release the source code, your “interviews” read basically like your digging at them about their games rather than asking serious questions….

  2. Maxim Bardin says:

    Yes, you are correct.
    It’s not an official interview (although I did get a permission to publish it) , so I didn’t prepare questions like I do in my more serious interviews.
    You cannot know who are you speaking with at the Frozenbyte Bundle Chat, so you don’t know what kind of questions to ask them and prepare for it.
    When you want to make a serious interview things are different as you know, and the Q&A are longer.

  3. Hamish Paul Wilson says:

    Hmm… about that ladies comment, just to add a counterpoint, we are currently in the process of teaching our mother how to play XEvil. Nothing cute about that one. 😛

  4. anton says:

    Just to finalize the post here – sure all already know 🙂 – finally they did it (source code is available at personal humble bundle download section and here http://code.google.com/p/shadogrounds-and-shadowgrounds-survivor/): http://frozenbyte.com/blog/?p=240