It has been a while since we published a Frog Blog. Generally in favour of posting updates rather than Frog Blogs. We are reaching a pretty crucial milestone so now seems like a good time to start the Frog blogs again. If you were worried that we may have abandoned Amazing Frog? We have not. Amazing Frog? has always been in ongoing development. Thanks so much for your patience.
More recently, a lot has changed even since The Coronation Update and in all our time developing Amazing Frog? these past few months have been the most groundbreaking and definitive, not just for V2 but also V3. On that subject, I would like to start by saying -



When I talk about the two versions of Amazing Frog? as “V2” and “V3” it feels awkward as these terms have become outdated. Technically “V1” is the OUYA version, but thought the process of bringing AF? to Steam it became V2 .“V2” is Legacy and since Remastered, but soon it will become the first “complete” version of Amazing Frog? Logically this would mean “V3” would become the second complete version of Amazing Frog? - “Amazing Frog? 2”
Both versions are set in the world of Swindon, Swindonshire which is mostly inhabited by the same wildlife ...mostly. However, V2 is now is reaching its 1.0 status and V3 is only just getting started. On the surface, the idea of a small indie team working on two evolving versions of a game may seem ludicrous. Often, when I am discussing Amazing Frog? and talking about these 2 versions I feel like I am projecting and air of insanity.

Hal and I know there are deeper reasons as to why we are working simultaniously on two unfinished, evolving versions.

Its our “process”. One to complete and one to evolve our game technology.


Amazing Frog? : The Quest for the Magical Mystery Toilet
(QMMT for short)
This will be the new title for what is currently ‘Amazing Frog? V2 Remastered’ and this title will go across all platforms

As V3 now enters into a more experimental phase of its existence as it is no longer tethered to the V2 Remastering process it will likely bear a temporary Working Title of "Next Gen"

Amazing Frog? Next Gen ( working title … formerly V3 )

We are completely undecided on the title at this stage, more development need to take place. To give you some idea here are a fraction of the titles we are toying with.

• Amazing Frog? Second Wind
  
• Amazing Frog? Follow Through
  
• Amazing Frog? Fallen Heroes
  
• Amazing Frog? World of Farts
  
• Amazing Frog? Kingdom of Farts
  
• Amazing Frog? After Flush
  
• Amazing Frog? Second Flush
  
• Amazing Frog? Hell come To Frog Town
  
• Amazing Frog? Toadal Recall
  
• Amazing Frog? Aftermath
  
• Amazing Frog? Chronic Wind
  
• Amazing Frog? Froggy Mc Frogface
  
• Amazing Frog? Farter Starter
  
• Amazing Frog? Twisted Farter Starter
  
• Amazing Frog? The isles of Guff
  
• Amazing Frog? Spawn
  
• Amazing Frog? Quest for a Hero
  
• Amazing Frog? Invasion of the Penis Snatchers

To be honest there are only a couple in there we would actually consider. I let you decide which ones are real contenders. If we do a poll in the future, we will announce on the Amazing Frog? Next Gen Community Page. I won’t talk about the development of Amazing Frog? Next Gen on this community page again as QMMT will take centre stage.
Also just a. reminder that both versions will be sold separately as we approach the completion of the “Quest for The Magical Mystery Toilet”.




What has been taking so Long, Gaz?
Nothing has stopped us developing, we work on Amazing Frog? continuously and still love it.







Our main goal has been to create a finished version of Amazing Frog? in which we can realize some of the core narrative elements we have been working towards. When I say narrative I don’t mean presenting a literal story mode, moreso presenting a structured and continuous sense of purpose thoughout Swindonshire, but without compromising the free roaming aspect of the Amazing Frog? gameplay.











To give us the freedom to expand on the gameplay and make way for more content (especially physics content ) we needed to push through some major technical barriers. Barriers that had existed since Legacy. While we have made good progress breaking these barriers over the years, it is only recently we have managed to smash through them.





For example, one of these barriers has been a limitation on the number of physics objects in Swindonshire. We came up with a solution allowing us to introduce more physics based content like frogs, creatures, vehicles, things to pick up sit on etc.. into what was a sporadically empty Swindonshire. This solution also ensures Amazing Frog? can run on lower spec devices without loosing all the physics fun. In fact even with all this new content it will run even better on lower spec devices than the last update across all platforms. These improvements will be for all existing platform versions of QMMT, the upcoming console releases and they will also benefit Next Gen.





Rewards do not come without cost. The development time to implement these changes puts a lot of pressure on us while we are trying to also move content forward. In the short terms I expect to suffer from some serious “bug anxiety” …Whilst these series of optimisations do yield huge physics performance increases, these new optimizations may lead to some unexpected wierdness. (Yay new bugs and edge cases ). With this in mind we are taking an “embrace the chaos” approach to the devolopment and we bring QMMT to its final form. So despite the chaos, Its exciting that these enhancements have given us more creative and development freedom to populate Swindonshire with a more reckless abandon and allow us to evolve many of the features as we had originally intended.

Frogs as Far as the eye can see.






Updates Are coming...



And things are going to get weird.



Also as we ramp up to 1.0 and leave Easy Access there will be a series of Updates and eventually including the "The Hero's Journey" to unlock the power of Amazing Frog? in The Quest For the Magical Mystery Toilet

Its time to take on the Crown... The frogs of Swindonshire cannot resist the desire rule.



Let it be known that whom so ever wears the crown on their head, indeed has a crown on their head.







Who is the rightful ruler of these lands ?



Or indeed of other lands... Like the moon.


Incidentally, the moon is open again.



Swindonshire has now been remastered with more detail and something we have been working on for some time. While there are still improvements to come, the remastering process for Amazing Frog? is near completion. Amazing Frog? now runs in what is called Universal Render Pipeline and throughout this month we are preparing Amazing Frog? to leave Early Access with a flurry of Updates. Everything still outstanding from Legacy such as the Toilet, a not so Secret invasion and more.







It is worth mentioning that within a week or so Legacy will be moved to a beta branch, so that this new version can stand on its own without confusion.







Also, we will be separating Amazing Frog? and Amazing Frog? V3 this month too. Currently, if you purchase either App you get access to both, so If you have already bought Amazing Frog? or Amazing frog ?V3 this information will not effect you. At some point soon "Amazing Frog?" and "Amazing Frog? V3" will need to exist as separate purchases. This is because "Amazing Frog? V3" will remain in Early Access after Amazing Frog? has left Early Access.
Hope that makes sense.

Happy Holidays, as we take our first step into melee combat in Amazing Frog? that you can now play around with in this festive Kickin' Update.



As you may know, Remastered is the process where we have been rebuilding the entirety of Amazing Frog? in a more updatable format to allow us to continue development and continue adding more content.





Some things may feel different, like the way we count snowmen and SCP. Saving and notifications have to be upgraded from Legacy. Ultimately, we cannot carry all your legacy data to Remastered. We try where possible, but it can be restrictive adhering to saved data that derived from a different process. For example the fly pac, jet pac and balloon pack from legacy are still (temporarily) available from your legacy save file, but eventually they will need to be unlockable via a Remastered process since that aspect of the game will be completely rebuilt anyway.
( I am very excited about the new toilet ... aka object transformation system with an even stronger flush... er... which will be coming in a future update )

Fish...



Yes, we have added fish, not to the sea, to the vending machine... thinking about it we should probably put them in the sea... I better double check its on our list.
So... we have extended the number of objects that you can hit things with. In our minds we have made melee weapons work much better, give them a go, but please wait till New year to inform us if you don't like it, feeling sensitive... might be able to turn off the blood...

I should point out we consider this to be Melee Part 1. The tip of the Amazing Frog? combat system iceberg.

Hal and I have been chatting about Combat for years, looking at other games... fighting in the office etc etc But Combat is a gateway to deeper frog mechanics and smarter npcs. Under the hood there were a lot of changes to make this happen and so while it may not look like there is much "content" - this is huge for us.
- Try kicking the wheels one by one on a vrog, for some lowrider action.

With character systems in mind, I want to shine a spot light on the zombies...



We have upgraded their movement and attack systems.. Again its not something you may notice unless looking for it. but in doing so we also looked at how all NPC frogs will respond to being attacked, by a player or each other.



So watch out, they hit back!



And they can hold a grudge so watch where you are swinging your foot around.






Also please throw any suggestions of what we could have in that diorama to help new players or returning old players see what's possible in the world of Amazing Frog? (V2 Remastered)

Kick Boxing also included...

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Just in time for Halloween, Blood world has returned to Amazing Frog? 'Remastered'. So you can get your smashin' pumpkins on.




Watch out for those flamethrowers! Playing with fire can be very explosive.



We are glad to be getting more of the core legacy features available in 'Remastered'.




Swindon Citizen Points ( S.C.P. ) and other collectables are now functioning in a newly remastered system. ( Basically saving and collecting things )



This brings back the cats, trophies, post (mail) boxes, Vending Machines that dispense Ammo ( goodbye infinite ammo ) and whole load of collectable rubbish.



The systems behind saving data like S.C.P. needed rebuilding for Remastered (...and my sanity ) As part of this process we reintroduced many achievements along with some new ones. We quite like the t-shirts in remastered and there are quite a few of these added, with more to come. The key to the city has also been remastered. Frog Milk Coffee Co. is still in development. All in all pretty happy with how the new system works and it should be straight forward adding more 'saveables' as we continue the remastering process of V2.
Note: as far as S.C.P. goes... sorry I could not bring the S.C.P. from your legacy save file like did for the costumes and accessories, but at least now we can add more S.C.P. goals.






Check out the Spawn Point App, It allows you to fast travel to lots of locations including separate worlds that you have visited. Either enter a Spawn point Toilet to unlock a Spawn Point entry or visit a new world
For example after you visit blood world you can then access blood world from the spawn point app. Its also handy in the sewer for completing the microscope tasks ;)




We made another pass on the Sewer and The Lab. If you did complete the microscopes on the last update, well done... we certainly couldn't!

it should be fixed and tweaked now so you can grab the launch codes.



Also we put a ladder in the sewer to help with key card retrieval. So getting those launch codes and then fuelling the Space rocket should now be achievable.. You should also be able to visit the Moon. But its in development! and while you can't go outside yet, you can still have fun with the new lasers !







I never formally introduced Party Mode, this is because in the last update in June I didn't find the time to write words to go with the update.
Party Mode is currently running as a split screen death match. We had been wanting to add this mode for some time to V2. It will evolve as we develop the rest of remastered. For now I will just remark that it is there, and that when we add some larger features and play modes I will make more of a big deal about it :)






Should be a lot of fixes..
Honestly we have lost track, we don't tend to list each fix we make we just move on to the next one and keep going often finding ourselves back at the problem we fixed a month ago.

progress.

Also, Remastered has a lot of new features that legacy didn't. Like choosing your frog. While playing in single or 4 player at any point you can choose your frog and start playing as one of the other avatars. There are also many types of objects that just don't exist in legacy like BMXs, mopeds, biplanes (with guns) or temporary balloon cannisters and flaming hot grills on the bbq.

NOTE: (if you don't know the difference between 'Legacy' and 'Remastered' - in short Legacy was build over several years with older architecture and to continue developing Legacy we have to rebuild from the ground up. This rebuilt version is called 'Remastered' and is being actively developed to supersede Legacy.)



There are many improvements/fixes, some of these revolve around the NPCS , population density should work now and the frogs will no longer get caught in the gym. Modifications to cameras (eg on vehicles) while we still want to expand on the melee system we have also fixed some of the issues to do with using them. I know there are many more fixes, I just don't know what they all are, some of them you may not have even known were issues.
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Worth noting that since we have been building remastered for other platforms too
There have been general optimizations throughout all systems. wink.
Also we have been testing on Steam Deck and we found it runs well in proton if you force compatibility. Steam have listed us as 'Playable' so that's progress, but we will endeavour to make it 'Verified' soon. (Because Steam Decks Rock)

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I realised while writing this post that I didn't post any words in June when we last updated Remastered. I am very sorry about this. In June we added the sewers, introduced the spawn app gave first access to party mode [beta]
At the time made this newer trailer, the current official trailer for 'Remastered' which summarizes the previous update pretty well.



However, now I realise I will need to make a new trailer as this update has so many new features and fixes, but I will wait till the next major update.





https://store.steampowered.com/app/1559680

So, you will have noticed that Amazing Frog? V3 has Moved to a new App. Please give us some time to get this settled. For now all purchases of Amazing Frog? also reward Amazing Frog? V3 and visa versa.

This is because we didn't want to force anyone who had been playing over the years into buying Amazing Frog? again.
Initially V3 was created to replace V2... in the natural order of updates. The two versions are now too different. Uploading them separately makes life soooo much easier. Thank you Steam!

Regrettably, it does leave the situation quite complicated, but we are working on resolving this and making it clearer.

I really need to post a blog on the new app's page. We are actively working on V3 and really excited about where its leading and our plans. We know it needs optimization, but please stick with us we will get there.

So stand by for news about V3 very soon...



(And V2 Remastered ) Boom...

Mopeds, Jetskis and Drones is a V3 update.



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1559680



Enjoy Mopeds, Jetskis and Drones Amazing Frog? V3 Update here and soon it will be possible to download V3 separately (pending approval). This will make updates much easier to manage for both V3 and V2 remastered. And don't worry! you won't lose your save files from the V3 Beta (I figured out how). It will just mean that V3 will be a separate app with its own steam page, but it is added to the Amazing Frog? package so if you have Amazing Frog? you will automatically have access to the new app.

Mopeds



JetSkis



Drones



Oh.. and Drones can be deadly ...



Enjoy the update and stand by for some summer activity

Some quick Fixes to The Smashing Egg Update.

• Fixed a bug where respawn didn't work correctly after death and selecting same frog.
  
• Fixed a bug where the Melee Objects like baseball bat, egg, wrench, keyboard etc were hitting you..while very AF?... it was still a bug
  
• Added new keys to exit devices and pamphlets - C and middle Mouse to exit examine an object

also don't forget to check out the new trailer for The Smashing Egg Event.



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1559680

The Egg hunt and the ability to get the Bunny outfit will be available only till the end of April.
Find all the 9 Eggs scattered around Swindonshire, to get the bunny gear.

Use the new Maps to find them.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1559680



Smashing Egg Update is a V3 Beta update.
But its also an update to V3 with more content, fixes and probably more issues.

One main new feature is a new building that we have been meaning to add for some time. Explore the New Tourist Information centre to learn more about SwindonShire.



Also Easter is not just about Breakable chocolate eggs. There are also other smashable items available.



We have made improvement to many things, but there may also be some new issues. I will try and run some hot fixes asap and will keep my eyes on the forums.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1559680

Spread a little love this February, with the lovely crossbow.



A limited time to improve your wardrobe



Have some fun, Play some games



Some old friends returned, they needed some attention since the Holiday season as they were not knocking other frogs over...They are a work in progress.







These are some Steam Remote Play screen shots. Steam Remote Play has been a great help to us over the past few years when we were often not able to share the same space. We will be using Steam Remote Play a lot especially with the upcoming Remastered (V2) update.

Also, we made some fixes and controls updates and Hal put up a whiteboard with some info on how to pilot the biplane. I wanted to say thanks, because in the last update we forgot to test the plane on mouse and keyboard which was majorly stupid. It happens. So thanks so much for pointing that we missed that. We are always grateful for all the feedback.



Note: This is a Beta (V3) update. You need to be on the beta to play. We came up with this style of banner to help demonstrate which version each announcement post relates to.
I know I haven't really taken the time to explain what we have been doing with development as much as perhaps I used to over the years. Now is probably not the time to do so and it might serve better to write a separate development blog. Right now, we are in a stronger position to say what's coming up more so than we have been for years. The next update will be a major update to Remastered(V2) where we hope to push more of the original legacy content and new content after which another big update will come to Beta(V3).

This is an Update for V3 Beta - you need to be on the beta branch "V3 Beta (2022)"



Get the 88 stickers dotted around, that have been put up in the buildings around Swindon to unlock tiger clothes.



We needed some new clothes for Lunar New Year.



These will only be available for a limited time !



It also has general V3 type progress... Things like crossbows, a new vehicle and a bunch of fixes (and probably some new issues) It may even save where you last were.







This Update is only for V3 Beta, but expect more very soon for both Beta and Remastered.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1559680

We had to run a few bug fixes for the Xmas Update for both remastered and beta.



The snowflake challenge in remastered should work... but you only have till the 6th of Jan to get the Tshirt.

The same applies to the onesies in the V3 beta... I forgot to hang them up in the hideout.



The Michael Bay bug where you could blow up everything by putting an NPC on an Xmas tree should has been fixed... sorry.



Thanks for all the feedback, and helping us catch these bugs. Enjoy the pigs, We'll be back very soon with some more updates.