representation and instead portray a genuine version of everyday life in Manila? Nulud: This one is best answered by our senior environment artist, Pia Demanawa. Demanawa: Firstly, I also want to add to the question that it isn’t only Manila we were portraying but quite a lot of the places we were familiar with.
This goes way beyond Metro Manila such as Rizal, with its many overlooking scenes and sometimes rural vibe, traces of my hometown in the Visayas region with its beaches and mountains, etc. We wanted it to be true to our experiences and memories of the Philippines inspired by our very real everyday life. Accuracy and simply depicting it to be as Pinoy as possible came secondary to that. Since we didn’t share the same childhood, how the places in the game were made were a hodgepodge of me, Mickole, and at times other colleagues’ input in the areas of the game.
One particular example that was personal for me was Mark’s house, whose facade and parts of the interior were reminiscent of my own childhood home. I wanted to depict the hopscotch chalkboard markings I usually found right outside the gate as well as the coconut and palm trees in our backyard. In chapter 4, the mall was inspired by Mickole’s childhood mall ‘Sta. Lucia’ which has retained its retro 90’s aesthetic until today, and I spun this with elements from a nearby SM mall that I used to go to. The ‘Hillstop Cafe’ was inspired by the overlooking cafes in Rizal, a place with some mountainous features familiar to Mickole. I mixed this with my memories of a hot spring resort back in my province called ‘Mambukal,’ with its thatch huts and tables and a small body of water in the middle.
What made you go with an anime-inspired pixel art look for the graphics? Nulud: Sometime before we started development, I was inspired by a began. At the same time, I was regularly browsing pixel art communities, and I found it really cool how artists experiment with and extend the Backbone) were also our biggest visual inspirations. So basically, it’s a huge wave of inspiration. It made us want to
You developed the game during COVID-19. What effects did that have on the game and how it portrays its feelings of isolation? Nulud: We came up with the game’s slogan “The world hasn’t ended yet” coincidentally weeks before COVID-19 lockdown. Although the game wasn’t originally meant to refer to COVID-19, the pandemic happened and through the game we were able to show aspects of it such as the local government’s response.
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Were there any parts of your plan for the narrative that didn’t make the final cut? Nulud: story that continuously evolved throughout production through iteration, feedback, both from our own team and with the help of our playtesters.
I’d like to ask you a few questions about your studio, if you don’t mind. How big is the Polychroma Games team, including freelancers and contractors? Nulud: Currently, we have about 10-15 people on the team.
Does your team share an in-person office space, or do you work remotely? Nulud: We ramped up our production mid-2020, when the world was on lockdown. That means since the start, we’ve always just worked remotely, even up until now. It has its fair share of challenges, but I guess having to the right mindset and, in the end, worked very well for us.
What’s the biggest piece of advice you’d give to someone else that might want to go indie too? Nulud: The indie market is so saturated that it’s getting harder and harder to stand out and be noticed. My main advice is to ensure your game has a unique visual identity that makes it stand out in its genre or niche. It’s not necessarily the only thing that’ll make any game stand out, but I think it
Console ports of the game have now arrived, and you can now play it on both PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. What’s next for Polychroma? Nulud: We have something special coming for Until Then fans later this year, so stay tuned! But honestly, after that, I have no idea! … and I like it that way. I’m not fond of the idea of managing a business. For me, it’s all about making original games. I don’t live with a rigid plan set in place. I just the game would say, that spark) again.
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