In 2012 Twinbeard released Frog Fractions and solved fractions forever. Now, our children face an even greater threat, Fractions 2, and you can help!

/u/mogwai_poet is the designer/writer/coder on the Frog Fractions series and /u/DerivativeMonster is the lead artist. Ask us anything about fractions, children, beards, game development, or running a suspiciously-informationless Kickstarter!

Proof: https://twitter.com/mogwai_poet/status/448182773266669568

Comments: 235 • Responses: 54  • Date: 

Satchamobob14 karma

What is your favorite fraction? Also what product do you use in your beard(s)?

mogwai_poet14 karma

I, y'know, like 'em all. All the fractions. I enjoy them ambiently.

My secret beard product? Scissors. Don't trim, just gum at them a little bit after showering. It trains the hairs to resist street assaults from folks who just can't stand the sight of a beard lusher than their own.

CGSColin10 karma

Do you finally plan to reveal the vast global conspiracy behind IEEE 754 Floating-point Arithmetic which hopes to destroy our children's ability to know precision?

mogwai_poet10 karma

Yes. Seriously, I mean, zero and negative zero? Who decided that we needed both?

zangderak9 karma

Are you hiring?

mogwai_poet13 karma

Depends how the Kickstarter goes. Just how badly do your parents want you out of the house?

zangderak8 karma

My parents are Filipino so I don't think they ever wanted me to leave... Is that a deal breaker?

mogwai_poet12 karma

Hm. That sounds like a sweet deal for anybody who wants to underpay you...

zangderak7 karma

Not paying rent and getting paid at all is sweet deal for me too. So am I hired?

mogwai_poet9 karma

Let's do lunch.

JohnaldTheRobot9 karma

butts

mogwai_poet16 karma

butts

kulguywp8 karma

I don’t know if you are aware that some people (including me) are hot on your tail with the strange clues, hidden messages, and coordinates stemming from Frog Fractions 2 and the Kickstarter video. And by hot on your tail, I of course mean completely lost in a Fraction-less void. Anyway, question time...

As a herpetologist-in-training, I’d think Bd (or Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis for any other scientists out there) would be the most important thing in reference to amphibians currently. So my question is: Why do you believe it to be Fractions 2 and is this something we as a community of scientists should keep a close eye on/maybe begin to study?

Thanks for doing this AMA, by the way! I absolutely love the stuff Twinbeard does and Frog Fractions is easily one of the best games ever.

mogwai_poet11 karma

Thank you!

We obviously love our amphibian fan base, but, as hard as it is to tell sometimes, our target demographic is human children! We asked children what they most wanted to play a video game about and they unanimously said "fractions."

P.S. We want to officially apologize for our role exacerbating the pool of human children acting as a Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis disease reservoir. Every boxed copy of Frog Fractions 2 will ship with a large bottle of antibacterial soap.

kulguywp2 karma

I knew it! You are all in cahoots for more nefarious purposes because Bd is a fungus, not a bacteria and (as such) can't be dealt with via antibacterial remedies!

The end is coming, and it's name is "Frog Fractions 2"! Also, that means I donated to further the end of the world. Oh well, I get a download, so I suppose that's fair.

mogwai_poet2 karma

I mean antifungal soap! At least, the label will say antifungal.

sadfkdsa98 karma

What features/styles of videogame that you didn't include in Frog Fractions do you most regret leaving out, and why did you wind up leaving them out?

mogwai_poet11 karma

Okay, hear me out here. You play a frog, but never once in the game do you jump. Does that seem right to you?

Kladdius7 karma

why frog fractions? why not toad trigonometry 2, TOADOL DESTRUCTION? on another note, whats the hardest part about creating a game like this? also, hello

mogwai_poet4 karma

This is the magic of mathematics. Your proposed game absolutely exists in the possibility space of Flash executables -- it's simply that nobody's discovered it yet. But you can rest assured that, out there in the infinite black, Toad Trigonometry 2: TOADOL DESTRUCTION floats, with limitless patience, awaiting the adventurer who will cautiously approach, shine a light on it and give it form and a web page to be hosted on.

Also, hello.

jonasknight87 karma

what your favorite mixed drink?

mogwai_poet17 karma

A horse-sized duck, for sure. Wait, what was the question again?

jonasknight84 karma

your favorite mixed drink

mogwai_poet17 karma

Ohh! The duck-sized horses, then.

Quack2TheFuture7 karma

OH GOD I'M SURROUNDED BY BUGS. I think they're in my hair! I can feel them crawling around! I think this thread is made of bugs. Am I made of bugs?

mogwai_poet9 karma

Yes. Yes you are.

The_Dacca7 karma

1/2 7/8 5/8 3/4 17/24? 23/56 1/9 4/5! 64/256 DRAGONS 67/99 1/3.

mogwai_poet13 karma

Hey, one of these is not a fraction. Get that exclamation point out of here!

cimbop7 karma

I'll ask the question that devs usually get asked. How'd you make a living in games? Hard work? Good luck? I've messed about making a few little games myself but I'm not sure how to transfer that to something bigger.

By the way your game is amazing.

mogwai_poet8 karma

Thank you!

I, uh, kind of lucked into it? I built website back-ends for a living for 10 years, making games as a hobby in the meantime. When I was laid off in August 2012, I decided to take my latest game and finish it in time to submit for IGF before I moved on to my next day job. That became Frog Fractions, which exploded all over my face as the Internet has been witness to.

I didn't really make any money for Frog Fractions, so I've been mostly doing contracting gigs since then. It hasn't been very lucrative as yet. The Kickstarter looks like it'll be successful, but just enough for me to get by, not get rich.

The recipe for success in this field as in most is hard work and luck. Make games, make contacts. Game jams are an excellent place to do both. Ideally you want to live in a city with a healthy game development community.

zangderak1 karma

Any cities in particular that stand out to you that have a healthy game dev community?

mogwai_poet5 karma

Other than the Bay Area, Austin and Seattle come to mind as hotbeds. I know some clusters of devs in Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston and Toronto.

DanielZKlein6 karma

Have you ever considered shipping Frog Fractions 2 with a lasergun-like peripheral that requires you to touch your screen with your tongue? For, you know, thematic reasons?

mogwai_poet10 karma

Now I can't consider anything else.

xhytdr6 karma

Hi Jim! I loved Frog Fractions, I thought it was one of the most brilliant flash games I've played and I highly recommend everyone to take a look at it.

How did you come up with this insane distribution scheme for Frog Fractions 2? Do you already know what you're going to release is as, and are you worried at all that some random indie games will 'pretend' to be Frog Fractions?

mogwai_poet8 karma

Thank you!

For a long time I was reluctant to do a sequel at all, because it would be impossible to surprise people again now that they expect this sort of thing from me. This distribution scheme was the best way I could think of to allow for the surprise and mystery that is core to Frog Fractions 2.

I am actually hoping that several random indie games will pretend to be Frog Fractions 2. And of course you know that I'll never deny it.

jbeilin6 karma

How do you express the number of beards per team member in Fractions 2?

mogwai_poet9 karma

Unfortunately, you need Fractions 2 to express this value, and just like everyone else, we were planning on using Frog Fractions 2 to learn Fractions 2. So, ask again in a couple years!

kanthia6 karma

I'm a math teacher and I want to use Frog Fractions as my final exam. However, it's come to my attention that I might get fired for exposing the children to bug porn. Are there any plans for a SFW version?

mogwai_poet6 karma

mechroid1 karma

Were you the creators of treefrog treasure?

mogwai_poet6 karma

No. Somebody sent me a link to it shortly after Frog Fractions came out. This game was also contemporary. Sometimes an idea's time has just come!

TheChocolateLava6 karma

What's the most frogs you've ever fractioned?

mogwai_poet7 karma

ALL OF THEM

FactualPedanticReply5 karma

No question here - just wanted to thank you for your continuing involvement with and support of the nice folks over at Cloudboat Armada who do the Indie Games for Good Marathon. You're a cool addition to the group there! ^_^

mogwai_poet3 karma

Yeah, that event is a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to the next one!

KainAsylum5 karma

[deleted]

mogwai_poet9 karma

The answer to all three questions is "beards."

biscuit_cinnamon4 karma

Was there any specific inspiration behind Frog Fractions, or are you guys just a bunch of gnarly dudes with a wicked senses of humor that wanted to make something goofy?

mogwai_poet4 karma

No singular inspiration, no. Mainly, the development process involved a lot of "wouldn't it be funny if..." conversations.

Rimbosity4 karma

Has the odd nature of the Frog Fractions 2 Kickstarter caused you to be inundated with accusations of tomfoolery and shenanigans?

mogwai_poet4 karma

We were very worried about this before launch, and worked hard to make everything as clear as possible. Luckily, even the people who don't like it seem to still "get it."

ForneusLex4 karma

With the recent scientific discovery of Fractions 2, does the team at Twinbeard have any contingency plans for the possible eventual discovery of Fractions 3?

mogwai_poet6 karma

We've already patented Fractions 3 through 15, so unless someone beats us to market 14 times in a row, I'm not worried about our continuing solvency.

EnderBoy3 karma

I have a real problem with the end of Frog Fractions. It appears that my frog, FUCKO, ended up being (spoiler!) the President of Bug Mars. But this is in blatant violation of the Natural-Born Bug clause in the Constitution of Bug Mars.

Are we to believe that FUCKO, having just landed from his text based adventures, can suddenly bypass the rule of law and become Frog-In-Chief? What did the Supreme Bug Court have to say about this? Is there even a checks and balances system set up?

Look, this inaccuracy took me right out of the game and I sincerely hope you can rectify this issue in Frog Fractions 2.

mogwai_poet5 karma

The dance-off supercedes all constitutional law.

wantonballbag3 karma

I'm opening my own gaming dev team called Tribeard Studios. Any advice?

mogwai_poet5 karma

Beard oils, also known as "grooming oils." They will keep the source of all your powers supple and your skin soft.

Facewizard3 karma

What is your favorite sort of cheese

mogwai_poet6 karma

You know how in Canada instead of calling it "sharp" cheddar, they call it "old" cheddar? My favorite sort of cheese is the "extra old cheddar," because that's hilarious.

Or wait, did you mean to eat?

Facewizard2 karma

That IS a hilarious name. What is your favorite cheese to eat, too?

mogwai_poet3 karma

Jarlsberg always hits the spot for me.

sadfkdsa93 karma

Which pantheon of deities best represents the outlook and ethos of Twinbeard studios?

(My guess is Norse)

Jinx093 karma

Why use frogs? And how do you feel about fractions in general?

mogwai_poet6 karma

They're an intuitive way to represent a non-integer value.

Bwob3 karma

Why did you make the decision to stop at fractions 2? While they are clearly important to a growing child's development, fractions 5 are clearly far more important when navigating the myriad challenges faced by a modern-day fractionaut.

What gives?

mogwai_poet3 karma

You have to learn to walk before you can run!

NA483 karma

Loved the first one. Fractions 2 will surely be great as well (no pressure).

... next, Frog Physics?

mogwai_poet8 karma

Oh, I like the dissonance there of having the "f" sound but not the appearance. But it's missing the r. How about "Frog Phrenology"?

the_s_d3 karma

Hey Twinbeard, what is Frog Fractions 2 exactly?

(it's an AMA, amirite?)

mogwai_poet7 karma

Has anybody guessed that it's the Kickstarter itself yet? Because it's the Kickstarter itself. Guys, c'mon.

SkipperE3 karma

Could Draggy beat system in a slapfight?

Also, does FF2 contain any leather moomins?

mogwai_poet3 karma

Funny story. You know how Frog Fractions ends on a cliffhanger, where you have no idea where Mr. Hop is going next? Get this, world exclusive, he actually went to an entire planet of Leather Moomins. Yeah, that's why we cut that scene.

pingosimon3 karma

What made you decide to go with a whole number for the title?

mogwai_poet2 karma

After brainstorming for six hours, we got sick of every math joke ever.

Axis15002 karma

Are you impressed by how quickly people have found and solved some of the hidden elements contained in the Kickstarter pitch?

mogwai_poet5 karma

I think the codec we used has a bug in it, because I have no idea where that stuff came from!

zarawesome2 karma

How did you find your collaborators? Did you reveal the full scope of the project to them, or only revealed tantalizing tidbits like a dancer of an exotic country, covered by veils or fans or cardboard boxes?

mogwai_poet4 karma

Most of the people who helped were beta testers first, who got excited about the project after playing.

I was a complete unknown at the time so there was no need to worry about keeping the details of the project a secret.

I am worrying more about that stuff now. The collaborator process for the sequel is a work-in-progress.

jeblucas2 karma

I have had the word "Snausages" stuck in my brain for a solid 25 years now, ever since that commercial for them back in the 90's. I pitched in on Frobert Frost 2 hoping to rid myself of this plight.

Please keep me in your thights.

mogwai_poet2 karma

We've got a team of snausage scientists working the problem right now.

sillyworth2 karma

You had some pretty sweet datamoshes in that Frog Fractions 2 trailer. Could we expect more glitch art (or just glitches) throughout the second installment of the series?

mogwai_poet3 karma

I will be putting things I like in Frog Fractions 2, and I like glitch art, so, maybe?

phort992 karma

How do you respond to the accusations that twin beards are more a matter of styling and grooming rather than of human exertion and will?

mogwai_poet3 karma

One is an expression of the other. Unless you meant pure force of will, like I telekinetically braided my beard? Because I was only able to do that once.

Roro_Zoro2 karma

When are you going to ship me all of the bug porn I ordered?

mogwai_poet2 karma

Sorry. The warehouse burned down.

ColdDayToday2 karma

Frog fractions taught me everything I ever needed to know about fractions. Thanks so much!

Playing brought back memories of hours spent in the computer room at school, playing on the Apple IIGS.

I'm curious, what games do you remember playing?

mogwai_poet6 karma

My favorite from that era was probably Robot Odyssey. Too bad I already knew how to program at the time or I would probably be attributing learning to program to playing it.

ColdDayToday1 karma

It's a bit later on but did you ever play The Manhole? Man I loved that game.

By the way I hear you or someone over there knows my friend jovenisimo the mathematician.

mogwai_poet2 karma

Never played The Manhole! Reminds me of this thing, though: http://www.atrianglemorning.com/games/flash.php

Sure, we know Xander over here! He is a pretty cool guy.

TodaysRome1 karma

I'm mantisipating the second game with great excitement!

mogwai_poet4 karma

You've got something on your chin, right... there. No, the other side. Hm. You found it, but it's not coming off. How long have you been a mantisipant?

TryNstopME0241 karma

What's your honest opinion and thoughts about the xbox one game titanfall?

mogwai_poet3 karma

I don't like competitive shooters, but I love platformers, especially nontraditional ones like Portal and Mirror's Edge. Titanfall is a game I really wish had a single-player campaign.

Rapsca11i0n1 karma

So, uh, is it like battletoads?

mogwai_poet2 karma

I never played that one, only the 10000-in-1 pirate kart knock-off, Battlefrogs.

dioderm1 karma

All the questions I want to ask involve spoilers. So, let me ask an unrelated question - are you really writing Frog Fractions 2 in Unity3d?

DerivativeMonster6 karma

Right now all drafts are made on a T9-83 calculator.

dioderm1 karma

Will there be Occulus Rift support?

DerivativeMonster6 karma

Currently we feel OR support limits players who do not have binocular vision. Since a great deal of Bug Mars has compound eyes and Mr. Hop himself has monocular vision, we feel OR support is limiting and exclusive.

mogwai_poet5 karma

Exactly. However, if we meet the Oculus Rift stretch goal, our opinion on monocular vs. binocular vision will reverse immediately and we will fully support Oculus Rift!

mogwai_poet3 karma

I'm considering it! Nothing's set in stone yet.

Zhyl1 karma

[deleted]

mogwai_poet3 karma

Don't forget Denonumerators, introduced in Fractions 2!

dioderm1 karma

Is it true that Frog Fractions will be a clone of Final Fantasy 2, the American one (aka 4), redone as a first-person shooter, but with tonnes (metric of course) of common elements, specifically so that when people try to do web searches of FF2 they'll get confused?

mogwai_poet2 karma

Also Feeding Frenzy 2 and Final Fight 2.