Hello people of r/NintendoSwitch!
We are Polychroma Games, an indie studio based in the sunny Philippines. We are the developers of Until Then, a narrative adventure that takes place right after a global catastrophe known as “The Ruling”. You will play as a young teen Mark Borja, living in the Philippines. In a world still recovering from a massive disaster, Mark and his friends navigate the joys and woes of another year in high school. You will practice piano, race to meet homework deadlines, and build (and burn) relationships. That is until a fateful meeting sets off a chain reaction, upending Mark’s life. People disappear, and memories prove unreliable.
Here is our launch trailer to give you an idea of what Until Then is all about:
Until Then – Nintendo Switch Launch Trailer
Our game came out on the Nintendo Switch a few weeks back. We’re pretty damn excited that we get to play it on a console brand we absolutely loved as kids!
The people answering your questions today are:
mikoi14 – Game Director
taj14 – Community Manager
We will start our AMA at 8am PDT | 5pm CEST, but you can already leave some questions for us, which we will tackle as soon as we come in. We also have a game key to give away. If you want to be in the running, just leave a question or comment, and we’ll randomly select the winner 24 hours after the AMA.
So, with all of this out of the way, if you have any questions about our game, what games we play ourselves, what inspired Until Then, the game scene in our home country, our favourite Filipino food, or anything else and in between, just ask away!
With that, let’s start the AMA!
EDIT: It's just gone past 1 am so we will go to sleep, but we will be back tomorrow to answer a few more questions. Keep those questions coming, people!
by taj14
47 Comments
do you like dogs or cats more
Greetings. I have to say that I love to see games coming out from “uncommon” (as a lack for a better word, but you get what I mean) places that show off their culture. I absolutely adore *A Space for the Unbound* for example. My question is in regards to that line of thought: how much of Filipino culture is in the game? (I know it’s hard to quantify but give me a rough outline).
What was the number 1 snack eaten during the “final debug/crunch” phase?
What games inspired you to create your own? And was it hard to finish your project?
First and foremost: I hope all is well with you, and thank you for doing this AMA. I had never heard of your game until very recently, but was absolutely amazed by the trailer for it. I instantly added it to my wish list and was planning to buy it ASAP, but I heard there were some potential performance issues on the Switch 2. Is the game going to be updated to address those, or will there maybe be a native Switch 2 version in the future?
I also realized that *Until Then* had already been available on other platforms, so I was wondering what the experience was like to port the game over to Nintendo.
Lastly… what media, other than video games, helped to inspire your game? For example, maybe a certain manga, anime, or movie.
Thanks again for taking the time to do this AMA. Best of luck on your game’s sales, and to everyone on possibly winning a game key.
Do you have news about Until Then patch for switch 2 ?
I did not know this was from the Philippines. I am now curious about this game! In any case, did you use popular landmarks or areas in your game?
Hi. Danreb Victorio here. I’m one of the Fil-Ams in the industry who reviewed the PlayStation release last year (SmashPad) and it left me with a renewed sense of pride. Thank you for being here.
I wanted to ask about the branching timelines you created. I was wondering what other projects inspired it. In my review, I mentioned Doki Doki Literature Club and NieR Automata, so I was interested to know the actual inspirations.
I’m also curious out of the timelines created, which was your favorite?
I’d like to ask what were the games you played growing up that made you think, “someday, I’d like to work on a game of my own”
This is something I’ve always been curious about for various developers/studio staff. It’s obvious for some games what the inspirations behind them were, and not so obvious for others
What is your idea for what your next game will be about? Until Then looks very cool!
To what extent are the elements of Until Then inspired by Seen? I have a rough understanding that Until Then was going to be a sequel to that other game.
ive played until then october last year, absolutely changed my life. in means i cant live a single day without thinking about it lol. everything is written so real and relatable to a teenagers life 🙂 easy top 1 piece of media oat for me <3 AND I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THE STRONKS REFERENCE LOL
how is the progress on the upcoming content? how were the teams view on Manila to inspire the game’s version of the city? any plans for more upcoming merch and plushies? and what about your next games? any planned brazilian portuguese translation?
i literally have so many questions and comments and cant contain my excitement :3
does the nintendo switch version include all the voiceovers? (filipino dub?)
How many attempts did it take for you to land on this concept? Most first time devs take 1 or 2 tries until they have a concept they want to really flesh out
Congrats on the game launch! Has to be an exciting time!
My question is not about gameplay, but instead: Do you like dinosaurs? I won’t be angry if you don’t.
Also, I love Filipino food! It’s just a shame I have to drive over an hour for it.
Is there a PT-BR translation planned? 😀
Dr Pepper or Diet Dr Pepper?
yo, gotta say u guys seriously impressed me with what the philippines has to offer in terms of telling narratives thru games. i was beaming with pride the entire time i played the game (in fil sub ofc)
anyways, what inspired/prompted you guys to intertwine music (mark and nicole’s spark with piano) so heavily into the story?
i was pleasantly surprised with how well it was used as a narrative tool in the story (and how good the original compositions were).
excited to see more from sophia’s upcoming story. cheers :3
when are you releasing the double slit experiment plushie, PLEASE I NEED IITTTTTT
What is your *least* favorite game?
Are there any plans to release sheet music for the soundtrack outside of just memories?
Hello hello people of Polychroma! May I say Until Then changed my life. It was such an experience and helped me at my lowest. But i dont wanna get into that. I wanna know. What are the biggest inspirations for the story. I ask this bexause I wanna know if the ending for Act 1. Was it inspired by anything or just popped up in your heads? And when I say anything Im talking of course about the infamous song “Ang Huling El Bimbo”. But are there any other references to Filipino pop culture icons or others? Would love to know!!
Can you resolve the issues I’m having trying to play it on switch 2? It just keep crashing at a set point early on
I loved the artstyle and music in the game. What were the inspirations behind them?
Sup, I’m a huge fan! I even made a massive poster! BEST GAME EVER!!!
https://preview.redd.it/z6v2i7vg52df1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0b19b0deae8cbdcaa6c3491bb51653a724cfcf89
I NEEEED TO KNOW. WHY ARE WE JUST STREAMSNIPING JESSICA. WHAT THE FUCK DID JESSICA DO TO DESERVE THIS
Do Mark and Nicole find each other after the ending?
What advice would you give to an aspiring Filipino game designer? I’m planning to develop an RPG style game based on precolonial Filipino mythology/spirituality but don’t have a game design background so I would love to hear what you wish you would have known when starting your journey. Also, is the physical switch version of the game going to be available in the US? Thank you so much for your inspiration and representation!!
What is a mechanic or design choice for this game that you are most proud of being able to implement?
Greetings! First of all, I just want to say thank you for making such a wonderful game — appreciated the story, music, pixel art, and the characters! Helps by the fact I’m from the Philippines, much of the modern culture stuff presented hits home — big kudos! And congratulations on having the game getting a Switch port, definitely opens up for more folks to experience this!
Anyways, I have two questions to ask:
***1.) Which characters (in Until Then) do you relate the most and why?***
***2.) Were there any interesting story/scene/character concepts made during development but was ultimately left in the cutting room floor?***
Thank you very much!
Is there unli rice? Mark and his pals need it.
Congrats. I will check it out. Is it similar to A Space for the Unbound in it’s tone?
Congratulations. Just watched the trailer and the art direction looks great.
What sets your game apart from other narrative games? What was the motivation to pick the storyline that you chose?
Hey guys! I think it’s been a long time since I found your demo of this game on the r/Philippines many years ago. I believe it was that initial train station with a prototype of the texting feature, did you ever imagine that the game would grow to be this big (narrative complexity)?
And what do you think this game means for the Philippines indie games scene as a whole?
Do you have any idea when the game will be playable on Switch 2? We have been chatting a bit on Twitter, but it’s incredibly frustrating to buy a game and have it be completely unplayable. Nintendo doesn’t give refunds, so you just have a ton of people trying to be patient but it’s getting tough.
Do you have plans for another game?
Le jeu est top. Si seulement je pouvais le finir mais il crashe sur Switch 2 après le chapitre street food 🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲 un paaaatch
Hi, I recently finished the game and fell in love with it. I wanted to ask, throughout the game’s development, which of the characters did you guys love to work on the most?
Are there gonna be any updates on the mark and nicole plushies soon
What are you going to be making next?
The OST in this game is amazing! Any chance for a Vinyl to be made? In addition, is there any ideas to include merch of this game such as clothing, etc?
Where did the idea for the game come from and how hard was it to implement it?
Hi!! Congrats on the game launch!
I had a quick question about the translation. It would be amazing if there was a Brazilian Portuguese version!
I’m actually part of a team that’s been translating the game finishing chapter 4 in act 1 purely out of love for it. our discord has almost 400 members eager for the translation to be released.
We’re doing it completely voluntarily, but an official translation would be incredible!
We love this game so much and thank you so much for everthing. <3
hi guys!! really excited to replay it on switch :’) is there any plans for a deluxe edition / any inclusions in the physical editions of the game? thank u for your hard work!! excited for your future projects
Will you guys ever add steam cards and point shop items? 🥺
This looks great! Put it on my wishlist so I remember till payday. 🙂 I don’t really have anything to ask so I’ll just ask what art style/animation is the biggest influence for this game? It’s definitely unique, just wondering who you get inspiration from, if any.
A lot of fans, especially new ones, seem to be asking for it (including me), so I’d like to ask if there is any plans of rerunning the Cathy plush campaign! Many of us weren’t aware of the game at the time, and so to have had no opportunity to nab such a CUTE plushie was a bummer for all of us. Also, is there any plans for merch such as pins, stickers, keychains, etc.? I know there was a little stand at that one expo in Manila, but of course, many of us wouldn’t have been able to make it there.
Anyway, I love Until Then and it truly made me rethink my life and I’m just so grateful that I was able to discover your game when I did a few months ago. Thank you guys so much!
TwksqR
I read in one of the comments that you guys are from the Philippines, I was wondering, how it is to be a game dev over there? Does your government offer any help for game development as some other countries do?
I would like to know one bug that was hilarious from your game and another bug that you found that you think that would work as a game mechanic in a future game (if any!)
Thanks for the AMA take care!
two things
1. when will the plushies for mark and nicole release
2. with game development, how did you guys get the 3d 2d aspect using cameras and such in godot?