With the release of Afterlove EP this month on PC and consoles, we got a chance to sit down with a member of the Indonesian developer Pikselnesia team to find out all about Afterlove EP.
Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Hello! I am Giri. I am one of the programmers for Afterlove EP.
Could you tell us about the origins of Afterlove EP?
I remember back then in July 2019 Fahmi sent me a message to have a meetup at our local game developer convention. There he asked me to make a game together. At first he just wanted to test the waters by creating a simple game titled “It’s Not You, It’s Me”, which he pitched as “A game about moving on and letting go”. Months later he scrapped the idea because he thought it wasn’t interesting enough. Then in December 2019 he pitched me with an idea called “Things We Do for Love”, with the premise exactly like Afterlove EP, which was “A dating simulation game where the ghost of your late ex is still talking with you in your head.” The development wasn’t started until February 2020 where we develop the initial prototype and test out how the “interrupting ex-girlfriend” mechanic works on the engine. Initially it’s a point and click game, but then we found sidescrolling was a better way to tell the story.
Some Fahmi’s rough sketch on initial sequence of “Things We Do For Love”
What can you tell us about Mohammad Fahmi?
Fahmi is a super friendly person! He could travel wherever he wanted and made new friends along the way. I could send him random chats or memes and he responded with the same vibe of excitement. He could see what his friends were capable of and believe in it. There’s so many times I doubted myself, but his simple way of thanking me for my work could suddenly boost me up and make me believe in myself once more. He was also direct and criticized in a good and professional way, like a good boss.
He had a clear vision on what he wanted. I could say his taste in games is quite unique, even though he diligently played all kinds of genres, but the way he combined his skill of storytelling and emphasised it into game as a medium is one of a kind. I even met him because he made a unique game called “Devtheism” and hooked me right away on how cool his way of treating games as a medium of art.
How did Soyatu get involved with Afterlove EP?
One day Fahmi sent me a message that he contacted several artists to work on our prototype. He was so excited when Soyatu replied to him. In March 2020 he sent me a screenshot on a pitch deck with several pictures illustrated by Soyatu and told me that he would meet with Soyatu in person that day.
From Soyatu himself, he told us that he met Fahmi at a party and had a random chit-chat. As I told you before Fahmi was a super friendly and chill guy. I knew whoever met him would be so thrilled.
What sort of feedback did you get from the Afterlove EP demo?
A lot! I watched all the streamers out there wherever I could. Even though there are bugs popping here and there, I was so happy seeing them just acknowledging those and playing the demo then hooked with the story! I am so happy they commented on how moments in this game relate to them and understand grieving is so hard and handled differently by different people.
The soundtrack for Afterlove EP is by L’alphalpha; what made L’alphalpha the right band for the soundtrack?
Before the prototype was even being made, Fahmi already had a plan to make how many songs that he needed in this game that tied with the story and also planned maybe to do commission to several bands. From what I’ve known, he contacted L’alphalpha at first to use their song on his other game called “What Comes After”. Eventually L’alphalpha was so excited! They even wonder what if their next album was for “Afterlove”. Lyrics wise the songs even had the same stories to tell with what Fahmi wanted, and L’alphalpha even has the same spirit on how this game revolves around. They are a band from Jakarta which perfectly fits on how the story is being told.
How did Fellow Traveller get involved with Afterlove EP?
Fahmi diligently contacted so many publishers out there even when it’s still in the ideation phase. Many are concerned about how the gameplay was only “dialog options and read” and had a lack of gameplay. Many also express they need a prototype to be shown. The development of the Afterlove actually paused for a while from June 2020 because Fahmi was still wondering how the story should be written. While he’s still on writer’s block, he asked me to work on a smaller game called “What Comes After”, which has the same system and mechanic but in smaller scope. In August 2020 Fahmi told me and Soyatu that he had a video call with a publisher focusing on narrative games called “Fellow Traveller”. They were quite interested in the idea. Later on he perfected the pitch and sent the prototype of “What Comes After” together. In September 2020 Fellow Traveller contacted him again and they were interested with the idea and gave us a prototype fund! From that moment on the balls kept rolling and they became the publisher for Afterlove:EP.
For any of our readers who are unfamiliar with Mohammad Fahmi’s work. What would you say about his work on Coffee Talk and What Comes After?
He’s a great story teller! He always had his way to convey a story in a relaxed way. From hard topics like death and even racial problems, he could deliver them in a digestible way in forms of conversations between the characters.
Can you tell us what it has been like developing Afterlove EP?
It was amazing and full of surprises. I was so grateful to have a team of super talented people and willing to finish what Fahmi wanted in the first place. We’re a team of remote workers so everything happened via chat or call. Everyone respected their pace and made sure we fit each other. Just like a band!
How would you describe Afterlove EP?
Afterlove EP is a visual novel game that tells how we encounter grieving and navigate through it.
With Afterlove EP releasing on February 14th, how do you feel?
It’s a blast! Even now I love watching streamers play our games and see their reaction. I love it so much how they can hate, love, relate, and somehow wanted to punch Rama in the face because consequences they made.
Any message for the ComicBuzz readers?
Go play the game (please)!
We would like to say a big thank you to Giri for chatting with us, and we would like to wish Pikselnesia the best of luck with the release of Afterlove EP.
https://www.fellowtraveller.games/afterlove-ep
