By 
Edwin Collazo, Project Director and Founder of Pixelate Games took time out of his busy schedule to brief us about their latest project.
Tell us about your studio, the people behind it and how it was formed
It still feels strange when I hear Pixelate Games referred to as a “studio”. Studio seems so extraordinary with a large outreach. We’ve always consider ourselves as a team made up of 2 gamers who wanted to create a game as sort of a hobby. William (Suarez – co-founder) and I are close cousins who grew up together. As time flew we both started families on opposite coasts in the US but continued sort of hanging out through Steam. We’d squeeze in time to play co-op games while chatting over mic about life in general.
There was a period where I was writing a script for a graphic novel I was planning on illustrating. One night I began venting to William about the difficulties I’m going to face when I finish and trying to publish my comic. As I went over the story with him (while dungeon crawling in whatever MMO at the time) he said “Why don’t you make this into a game”. Something just clicked and soon after that we began exploring engines; reading other indie dev journeys; as well as researching avenues as to where we’re going to upload the game when it was done. Honestly we knew nothing of the indie dev scene and our eyes just lit up when we discovered all these creative people both career devs and hobbyists doing exactly what we were aiming to do. There were countless games released by not a studio but by normal everyday people who also had a story to tell. It was inspiring.
Soon after we realized we had a bit of a roadblock. Besides having to rewrite the script in game format, we both knew nothing of pixel art nor development. I never crafted a single piece of pixel art in my life and William never wrote a single line of code. This obviously was a problem but life always taught us to never depend on others. Self sufficiency is usually the path forward. No one is ever going to be as passionate about your project then you are so it’s best that you take on the task yourself. While we rewrote the script, I dove right into learning pixel art and William buried himself in Udemy courses. Eventually the script was finished in about a year and we both felt comfortable enough to begin building Tales from Centropolis. It was no easy feat trust me. We both have full-time jobs, kids and real life problems. The journey leading here consisted of long nights, little sleep and squeezing in time to work on the project whenever we had it. We literally had kids born during this crazy period. Despite the difficulties, with proper time management it’s absolutely achievable. You just have to want it.
How many people are in your team?
At the moment we’re made up of myself the designer, William the developer and just recently we brought on an extremely talented composer, Cody. So we’re at three, each with their own specific trade.
How quickly did you expand the team?
It took quite some time actually. We didn’t feel like we were quite ready to bring on a third person for music till right before the Kickstarter campaign. However, once I heard Cody’s portfolio I urged William to bring him onboard. Something about his raw talent and his tenacity resonated with us.
How many team members and offices did you have when you first started?
Only the three of us and no offices. All remote. I’m located in New Jersey, William in California and Cody in Ohio. Even if having an office was possible, we’re so spread out it wouldn’t make much sense.
What other games are you working on right now?
No other games at the moment. I do have a concept for our next game drafted but it’s locked away until we complete Tales from Centropolis. At the moment, Tales from Centropolis is our sole focus and number one priority.
Tell us a little bit about the story behind your game?
The story follows Marshall, a former lab assistant at ROBOV Robotics, who stumbles upon a motorized quad contraption housing a human brain. With his ingenuity, Marshall is able to communicate with the conscious brain and creates an exo suit to give it a physical form. The brain, which identifies itself as Price, has no recollection of its past or the experiment that brought it to its current state. Together, Price and Marshall embark on a quest to unravel the mystery of Price’s identity. However, their investigation leads them to discover a web of industrial espionage and global conspiracy, ultimately taking them to the heart of the city of Centropolis.
What inspired you to make your game?
As you get older you reflect on all the work you’ve done in the past. It’s either projects you’ve worked on for other people, telling their story or bringing their vision to life and then there’s projects you’ve begun but abandoned. I’m sure William feels the same when I say it’s about finally bringing your story to life in any form and actually finishing it. It’s about leaving something behind where our kids can pull it up one day and say “my dad made this” with pride. It’s far beyond any financial reward. I normally compare this to writing a novel. It may not be financially successful or garner a fanbase but it’s the accomplishment of finishing it and putting it out into the world that is reward itself.
What challenges did you face when you first started?
Besides not knowing two of the most important skillsets for making a game, development and design, I’d say time management. When you have job, wife and kids it can be a strain if all your free time is focused on your project. Before you know it your kids grow and you’ve missed it. Making a game takes a long time. You just need proper time management and the mindset that despite the passion you have for the project, family comes first. Because it’s just us two making Tales from Centropolis we gave ourselves no deadline but more of a realistic timeframe as to when we think the game will be completed considering our schedule. That helped a lot.
What would you do differently if you could go back and do it again?
Learn marketing. It’s an often overlooked skillset as far as indie game development goes. I’d learn the ins and outs of that trade in order to properly build awareness. Running up to Tales from Centropolis, I knew nothing about social media and neither did William. Our posts in the beginning were terrible and we were just throwing things against the wall to see if it stuck. We’ve learned a lot since then but for the most part it was a nightmare.
Is your game single / multi-player or both?
Single player
Has your game won any awards?
Not yet. We’ll be finishing the demo soon after our Kickstarter and hopefully build up enough courage to submit it to those events.
What are the minimum software/hardware requirements to play your game?
OS: Win 10/11
Processor: intel i5
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GTS 450
Storage: 4 GB available space
What are the recommended software/hardware requirements to play your game?
Good question. We don’t know just yet. Optimization is our biggest priority and we’ve just begun incorporating audio. We should have an answer once the demo is complete. Not everyone can afford a super rig of a computer so I strongly feel Tales from Centropolis won’t be very demanding.
Is there an age restriction?
Not really. I’m a bit of a comic book traditionalist so no foul language or gore in Tales from Centropolis. However, it’s incredibly story driven so not sure my two small daughters (6 & 9) would be a fan.
Is your game free, a one off cost, monthly payment or micro or crypto transactions?
It’ll come with a fair price tag. We’re not a AAA studio and are realistic as far as the cost goes.
Does your game require a download patch or update after the initial installation?
We live by that famous Shigeru Miyamoto quote – “A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad” – so hopefully not. First impressions count in this industry. We’re aiming to make this game as flawless as we can.
Tell us a little about what you have planned next for your game update?
Right now we’re overhauling the battle mechanics. In our first version we attempted something unique by creating a sort of Tales of Destiny/Comix Zone hybrid where you’d have real-time battle instances within a comic strip. Unfortunately it didn’t garner much traction so we’re trying something slightly different. The real-time battle remains but it’ll be a far different presentation.
Are you looking for funding/investment to further your games development?
Nothing outside of Kickstarter. I’m often asked if we’ll abandon the project if we don’t meet our Kickstarter goal and I can confidently say NO. Tales from Centropolis will be completed with or without funding. The funding we do receive was always meant to expedite the release date. With an actual budget, we’d be allowed to contract other pixel artists to assist with the project as well as afford additional features such as voice acting and localization. Too much has gone into this project to simply abandon it.
When do you estimate your game will be launched?
Realistically, we’re shooting for 2025. I know some would be a bit taken back over that date but understand that with a team of only two, anything can happen. I could fall, break my designing arm and now we’re down the only pixel artist for the project for several months. I’d rather be honest than shoot ourselves in the foot by rushing to an unachievable release date.
We launched our 45 day Kickstarter on March 28th and at the time of this interview we’re at 30% funded with 32 days to go. It’s looking good but I don’t want to jinx it. The goal is to raise enough funds where we can afford to outsource design work and get this game on the market sooner. If the KIckstarter doesn’t meet the goal, we’ll still be extremely proud that we got this far with no outside support from a publisher or marketing agency. We got to 30% simply through grassroots. To get this far is an amazing feeling despite the outcome.
What Platforms do you plan on launching on?
Priority is Steam (PC/Mac), Steamdeck and Nintendo Switch. If we feel there’s a big enough audience for XBOX, Playstation and mobile, we’re open to porting to thos platforms in the future.
What platforms did you focus on first and why?
Steam is by far the most accessible for indie devs so it was a given. Nintendo Switch was an eye opener for me personally. I purchased a Nintendo Switch for my daughter and upon playing it myself, I knew Tales from Centropolis needed to be on there.
Do you have a Demo?
The demo is well on it’s way. We were planning on having the demo ready for the Kickstarter launch but it just didn’t feel like it was quite there yet. There’s so many more aesthetics I want to include. I want players to be much more immersed in the world we build. Despite the delay, I assure you, the demo will be dropping soon.
What stores is your game on?
We can be found on Steam.
We’re live on Kickstarter and are just blown away by the positivity and encouragement.
