This week’s spotlight has not just one, but two developers! These two have done so much together over the years and it’s an inspiring story of what good teamwork can accomplish!
I had the privilege of interviewing @Taymaster, the creator of games like Mad City and Twisted Murderer!
Not only that, but I also had the benefit of interviewing @PixelatedCandy as well, the creator of Fashion Famous!
Let’s get right to it!
How long have you two been a part of Roblox and when did you two start developing?
Taymaster: I’ve been around on Roblox quite a while now- we’re talking all the way back to 2007 when I immediately took interest in Roblox Studio. Jojo a.k.a PixelatedCandy made her first account in 2011 but didn’t start venturing in studio until 2013.
How did you two meet, and when did you decide to start working on Roblox games together?
Taymaster: I first met Jojo when I replied to one of her posts on Twitter. She was seeking some help with something Studio-related and we ended up in a Skype call that eventually turned into a conversation about everything except Roblox. It came up that I was taking a trip to Disney and it turned out she was from Florida herself and lived minutes from where I was going to be staying in Orlando. We had so much in common and after that first day we found ourselves talking over Skype almost every day for months. We became such good friends that when I finally visited Orlando, I asked her if she wanted to also come to Disney with me and she did and now, 6 years later, we’re married lol.
PixelatedCandy, Taymaster, FamedChris & Friends
How has your time and work on Roblox affected your day-to-day life?
Working for Roblox has given us the freedom to work as we please at our own pace, that’s our favorite type of job! 
PixelatedCandy, what inspired you to make Fashion Famous? How was making that game and how did it become popular?
PixelatedCandy: I’ve always been really into fashion and runway shows. I was a huge fan of the show Top Model that aired on VH1. Because of this, I became addicted to playing DizzyPurple’s game “Roblox Top Model” and, at the time, it was the only runway game on Roblox until “Design It” released. Even though they’re both very good games, I felt like they didn’t offer a sense of high fashion like you see in real runway shows. That’s when I decided I wanted to bring Fashion Famous to Roblox. Fashion Famous became popular because of the runway experience- players really feel like they are a super model walking down a fancy runway and today I still can’t believe how well it was accepted by the Roblox player community, it truly was a blessing.
How big was the team that helped make this game possible? What have they done to help out?
PixelatedCandy: In the beginning, Fashion Famous was just a “me team” because Taylor didn’t think I had a good idea. After a few months of working on it alone, Taylor realized I had something very different than what he had imagined. He asked if I still wanted help- which of course I did lol. Things after that started to move quickly and in less than a months’ time, we had a finished game. About a year after release, we welcomed FamedChris to the team to help with updated builds you currently still see ingame today.
How does it feel to have toys based on your game Fashion Famous, as well as take part in an official Roblox event?
PixelatedCandy: I feel truly grateful and blessed to have had all this happen. I couldn’t have gotten this far without the support of my amazing husband, friends and Roblox staff.
You were also featured in the book "Inside The World Of Roblox". How was that experience for you?
PixelatedCandy: I have the book sitting on a display shelf behind my desk and sometimes I pick it up and look through it just to confirm this is all real.
What would you say your favorite genre is for dressing up on Fashion Famous?
PixelatedCandy: My favorite category dressing up would be "Kawaii".
Taymaster, your game, Twisted Murderer, was part of the 2015 Egg Hunt event. How was that experience?
Taymaster: It was very surprising and exciting to be part of the 2015 Egg Hunt because it was the first of its kind to include 3 developer’s games. I’ve always enjoyed the original Egg Hunt, where eggs would fall from the sky so I wanted to do something similar with a few twists.
Mad City has been a huge hit. What was the creative process behind making that game, and how did you manage to make it get so popular so fast?
Taymaster: I’m a big fan of open world games and I wanted to create a game with new and refreshing mechanics. We took inspiration from GTA and Prison Life, but we wanted to add more to the gameplay, so we decided that feeling powerful, like a superhero would add elements to make it even more exciting. We wanted a ton of content and secrets to explore and this is why I think Mad City is where it is today.
You also have a team to help you make Mad City possible. How big is it and how do they help out?
Taymaster: The Schwifty Studios team consists of FamedChris and nic10telf, who are two of my good friends. FamedChris is the one handling the creation of the world environment, while nic10telf is the 3D Artist who creates the vehicles, weapons, and textures. Working with them over a year has brought us closer and I’m proud of them for making it this far with the development of Mad City. Special thanks to Jojo for not letting any of us get distracted or lazy, which happened from time to time 
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Any chance you will make the super powers increase in power based on your rank, such as rank 100 making your super speed way faster?
Taymaster: We plan on adding more powers in the future but I didn’t want the ranking system to give an unfair advantage. We use the ranks to reward players with seasonal cosmetic items and vehicles for playing the game at their own pace. Each season resets and this keeps player retention to unlock new and exciting rewards.
What would you two say your dream game is that you hope to make some day, if you haven’t already?
Taymaster: If I’m being honest, Mad City was my dream game come true and as for Jojo, let’s just say you’ll find out soon 
Do you two have any advice for upcoming developers?
There has never been a quick way to success and despite what some may think, no one achieves success without putting in work some way or the other. Set goals for yourself and stay committed to meeting them. Using tools like Trello boards help you track progress and keep you and your team organized. Last but not least, STAY POSITIVE AND HAVE FUN!
I’ll sneak one more in: Is there any game either of you made in the past that you would like to recreate at some point?
Taymaster: I’d love to recreate Eat or Die with remastered game mechanics and Jojo has talked about a new future for Fashion Famous. I guess only time will tell
A huge thank you to both Taymaster and PixelatedCandy for taking the time to share their stories! If you’d like to keep up to date with all things mad and fashionable, you can follow PixelatedCandy on Twitter and Roblox. Likewise you can also follow Taymaster on Twitter and Roblox as well. You can even check out their Youtube channel!
love you guys 
