00:00 Riding jeepneys has become part of daily Filipino life, but have you thought of driving one
00:04 yourself?
00:05 Well, it's time to embrace the jeepney driver in you with the game Jeepney Simulator.
00:10 Pick up passengers, give the change, maneuver through the busy streets, and make sure it's
00:15 worth the ride virtually.
00:18 To tell us more about the game, joining us via Zoom are its creators all the way from
00:21 Davao City, Alvin Van Arapok and Joshua Renzi Bicoy.
00:26 Good afternoon, gentlemen, and welcome to Traffic Center.
00:29 Good afternoon, Paul.
00:30 Thank you for having us.
00:32 So this is such a unique and interesting concept.
00:36 Tell us, what's the story behind the game's creation?
00:38 How did you come up with the idea?
00:40 Well, we were riding a jeepney, funnily enough, when we were brainstorming ideas for video
00:47 games and then suddenly we thought, "Okay, what if we make a game based on jeepneys?"
00:54 And that spiraled into the development of Jeepney Simulator.
00:58 So for our viewers to have an idea, can you describe the gameplay?
01:03 So this game, you will simulate a jeepney driver so you can calculate change, you can
01:11 pick up passengers and drop them off.
01:13 You can also hear some voice lines in the game like "Kuya, para po?" and some other
01:18 funny voice lines like "Kuya, itigil na natin to."
01:22 So obviously a jeepney is very symbolic of Filipino culture, but what else would you
01:26 say are its Tatak Pinoy features?
01:30 Well, we are especially proud of the Filipino voice lines that we took from our community,
01:37 from our fans.
01:39 We added them to the game and they made their own Filipino versions, their own twists and
01:44 added their own jokes and memes.
01:47 And I think that's really part of the culture in the game itself.
01:50 Right, right.
01:51 I'm glad that it really represents our Filipino culture.
01:54 Can you walk us through how you developed the game?
01:57 What was the process like?
02:01 Well we actually didn't have an 8-hour schedule or anything.
02:04 We just worked on the game whenever we wanted because working on a game itself was actually
02:09 fun and enjoyable.
02:10 And one of you was in college, right?
02:12 During the process?
02:13 Is that correct?
02:14 Yes.
02:15 Okay, go.
02:16 What else was the process like?
02:18 Go on, sorry.
02:21 We didn't have any 8-hour workdays.
02:26 We just worked whenever we wanted and I think that made us even more productive because
02:30 working on a game itself was very fun and enjoyable for us.
02:34 So when was this officially released?
02:36 And I know it went viral on TikTok.
02:38 So what was your reaction on the game becoming viral?
02:41 Yeah, we never expected it to be viral on TikTok.
02:46 I posted a video, the second video once and after we woke up, we just saw that it had
02:53 a million views on TikTok.
02:55 So it kind of grew from there and we released it on July.
03:00 July.
03:01 Oh, so recently.
03:04 Congratulations.
03:05 We also heard though you lost your TikTok account when you board some of the game promotions.
03:11 How did you cope?
03:12 Did you have to switch your marketing strategies?
03:16 Yeah, for now, we still haven't recovered our account.
03:21 It was very devastating because the TikTok account meant a lot.
03:26 Our fan base grew from there.
03:28 So I think it's just life.
03:31 There's some obstacles and you just need to keep moving.
03:34 So our plan is just to recreate another one soon.
03:37 Okay, well I'm looking forward to seeing that.
03:40 The game, as with any video game, is meant to be fun.
03:43 But what do you hope your users will gain from it?
03:46 What message do you want to send out?
03:48 Well, we want people to not only experience what it's like to be Jeepney drivers, but
03:54 we also want them to really see the Filipino culture that's embedded in Jeepneys.
04:01 And we want other people as well, not just Filipinos, but foreigners to experience what
04:05 it's like to live in the Philippines and have to commute every day and be a Jeepney driver
04:11 themselves.
04:12 And I think that's really important for us to show.
04:15 Speaking of Jeepneys and in real life, I want to pick your brain a little on some of the
04:20 issues they're facing.
04:21 What are your thoughts on the Jeepney Faceout?
04:23 Do you think it's really the end for the king of the road?
04:28 So I think that the Jeepney is a very iconic part of Philippine culture.
04:34 So I would say that it is better to modernize it in a way that it still keeps the Jeepney
04:40 essence, you know, like more advanced engineering, but still keeps the same design.
04:47 So something like that.
04:49 And before we go, where can people play and download the game?
04:52 We heard there's a free and a paid version.
04:54 Yes, that's true.
04:57 You can go to Steam right now and search Jeepney Simulator and you can get the game for 200
05:04 pesos or if you want, you can try the free demo and see if you like it.
05:08 Okay, thank you, Alvin.
05:10 Alvin Arapok and Joshua Renzi, B-Koy game developers of Jeepney Simulator.
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