An interview with Jorge Garcia of Mecha Studios:
Mecha Studios, a Mexican indie game development studio
created in 2016, is a family to its talented team members. Although relatively
new in the game world, they have received great response and support from the
game lovers. Neon City Riders is Mecha Studios’ debut project and it seems
outstanding.
Mecha Studios is approached for an interview and the
request is granted. The interview session is conducted with the worthy director
and coder, Mr. Jorge Garcia.
Hello Jorge and a warm welcome to Games Cover!
Kindly give us a little introduction of yourself and your team?
Sure, I’m Jorge Garcia, director,
coder, sd and a lot of roles in Mecha Studios, a small indie game development
studio located in Mexico. We started in 2016 and after three years of
development with a team of 3 people and collaborators we finished our first
videogame: Neon City Riders.
What drive made you join the game industry?
We have always loved playing
video games, and at the jobs we had before the studio, we felt like our work
was meaningless. So we decided to create a place to explore our creativity and
have full control over our projects.
Which of your personality traits help you as a game developer?
Probably being very obsessive,
but I’m not sure if it’s a trait, tho. Hehe.
Please tell a little about your amazing games?
Neon City Riders is an
action-adventure where you take control of Rick, a masked vigilante living in a
post-cyberpunk decaying city controlled by a group of super-powered gangs. You
must explore their turfs in the order
and pace you decide to discover new places, recruit members for your team,
solve puzzles, complete side-quests and finally, defeat the gang bosses in
order to unify the city again.
Neon City Riders
Image Credit: Mecha Studios
Which systems do you use to create game concepts and story characters?
Well, it’s pretty rudimentary.
Basically I came with an early concept, I talk about it with the team to get
some feedback, we work on a rough concept of it and then we start polishing it
on the fly according to what we think feels good.
Which misconceptions regarding game development in people's minds you believe should be clarified?
That playing games is the same
than developing them. I mean, it’s very important for a developer to play games
and learn from them, but it’s a totally different thing. There are times at the
development that are not as fun as people might think.
Please tell us about some of the difficulties that you have faced in your work and how you strived in overcoming those tensed circumstances?
Mainly the financial part. We
worked three years on the project full time with no payment following our dream
and trusting to be self-sustainable once the game releases. But it’s a pretty
harsh thing to do when you have no incomes. Also, learning how to balance the
original vision of the game with the player’s needs; that was (is) very
difficult for me.
Please brief us about your upcoming projects?
We are now working on a new
smaller game keeping the essence of our games: Pixel-art and arcade
“retro-style” with the integration of modern mechanics.
Thank you, Jorge for taking time
with us & giving us some insight into game development & challenges the
developers face. Surely it needs a lot of hard work & commitment to create a
game & even harder to get it launched, but it’s worth it in the end. I wish
you best of luck with your upcoming projects.
Great stuff. Thanks for another interview
ReplyDeleteHi Ahmed!
DeleteThank you for your kindness & support. Have a nice day!
Great personality you have Jorge and very hands on director with so many different roles. 3 years of work without any income from the project is extremely harsh but hard work paid out eventually.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff and wish you more success with your new game.
Hello Nathan!
DeleteThanks for your feedback. I hope your day is as awesome as you are!
Nice interview and very inspirational answers
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