Inside Restitched Development (+ Team Q&A)

Welcome to Inside Restitched, where we will walk you through some of the deeper areas of creating Restitched - including all-new photos of us working on the game in-engine, insight into internal discussions, scrapped ideas, how the team sees the game, and our plans for the future.

There's a lot to cover, and most of it comes in the form of direct answers from our developers!

The Origins of Restitched

Restitched began in 2020 when a small team of creatives, inspired by a gap in the genre for PC, set out to build a 2.5D user-generated content game. Drawing on their experience, nostalgia, and prior work with fan projects, they envisioned a charming plushie world where players could build their own platformer levels—something the genre lacked, especially on PC. With its precise controls, PC gaming offered new opportunities for streamlined level creation, and the team saw the potential to fill this niche with a game built around a simple but robust level editor.

The early concept came together quickly, thanks to the team’s former experience and custom tools. By mid-2020, just six months in, the first public reveal was made and introduced the world to Stuffy along with our plans and vision for the game.

Shortly after the reveal, we took in feedback on the character, general appeal, and visuals, and began working through the feedback to shape the game into a more unique, but still familiar and approachable style. We had a working prototype where we could build very basic scenes with early level editing tools like brushable geometry and vertice editing.

Meanwhile, a small group within the team worked together to rig, animate, and design the first 'proof of concept' for the player character "Stuffy". Despite the challenges with this early model, it served as a trial-and-error for our first gameplay tests. We quickly discovered that the scale of the player was way too large, making the animations and gameplay feel unresponsive and clunky. Not only was it an obstacle to the fun of the game, but it was not well optimized and was found to be incompatible with many cosmetic wishes we had, like different eye shapes.

The initial reveal was crucial. The project was still in its infancy, and the team relied on public feedback to decide whether the game was worth further investment. Fortunately, the response was positive, validating our belief in the project and fueling our passion for its development.

As the game grew, so did the team, and over the next two years, we focused on solidifying the game’s technical foundation and visual identity. This was not without its challenges. Early iterations saw constant redesigns of the character model, animations, and even development tools. Most of our time was spent setting up the framework for supporting a game based on user-generated content.

The character redesign was a necessary evil. Some of the team argued against it, including the Project Lead. There was a fear that a new hobbyist team would easily slip into a state of 'perfectionism' by constantly going back and changing existing work. Stuffy was revealed with the original design, and we had a few cosmetics and animations already.

Making Stuffy took a lot of work and several months, so the idea of restarting was unnerving to some of us. However, many good points were made... A new Stuffy could be more appealing, as well as easier and quicker to animate with a better rig and body proportions. Existing cosmetics could be remade or reshaped to fit a new version of the player model. There were more pros than cons.

So, we did exactly that. It took many rounds of feedback over several months. We looked at online references of teddy bears, other platforming game characters, multiple new concepts from various team artists, and mockups from our modelers. In the end, Stuffy was redesigned. This version is still going strong today, albeit with a few tweaks (like the hands' shape)!

By the time the first trailer was ready, the team felt both excitement and apprehension. While the trailer showed off early scenes and features, much of it was still experimental and deeply unpolished. We used many workarounds and early tools to prepare the footage for the first trailer.

However, bringing everything together made the game feel more complete, and the overwhelmingly positive response helped expand our community and team. The first trailer was our way of saying "Hey, this is what we've been doing. This is the type of game we're making. Here's a very early look to show we're serious." If people like what they see from even the earliest state of the game, they can support or join us for the rest of the journey.

Normally in game development, the project would never be shown in such an early state. They are usually announced and shown off when they're much closer to a beta version or final release. With the way Restitched's project is structured and built around hobbyists, we needed this initial reveal to put us on the map and draw the attention of like-minded hobbyists.

The vision of the game has changed quite a bit over the years. From 2020 until now, we've learned a lot about development as newbies in the field. Through trial and error, we've ironed out many of the creases we faced early on, and are now increasingly ramping up development progress by using the tools and foundation we spent the first couple of years making. Our idea of what Restitched is was a bit fuzzy in the beginning, but is now increasingly clear.

What was originally a rather vague idea has become a more realized world full of its own lore, art style, and mechanics. Our goal to make Restitched unique was realized by giving Stuffy the typical platformer mechanics you'd expect from other games but combining it with 2.5D, sandbox physics, and layer-based level editing. With a focus on platforming and combat, we hope to see Restitched blend some of our favorite games and inspirations into a whole new experience of its own!

Behind-the-Scenes Content

Early prototypes of Restitched were mainly based on a framework of serialization and user interface. We wanted it to be easy to store transactions for events happening in the 'world'. Thanks to a talented developer, Raphael, we were able to make a full system that we called 'The Core' at the time. It allowed us to undo, redo, pause, unpause, and save asset IDs to be reloaded through player save files. This was essential for a game built around player-made content.

When you use a custom foundation in a game, like with The Core, it changes the way you need to import assets. Normally in a Unity game, you'd import your models and textures and drag them into a scene, and press save. With Restitched, we had to create custom tools for adding new content. These tools have grown over the years, as we now have a full suite dedicated to adding Props, Cosmetics, Hardware, Stamps, and Building Materials... whether it's a list of custom scripts or entirely custom menus and datasets.

Each piece of placeable content for a level is given its own 'dataset' element, which includes information like its Asset ID (this tells the save file which item to load), name, description and author, assigned material, default weight, special physics or gameplay properties, secondary available swatches for the design tool, custom collision shape, and much more.

While many assets in Restitched are built to look 3D, we have to balance the game's layered approach for collision. In doing so, we've ensured all object colliders are not 3D in shape so that Stuffy interacts with them as expected. For example, a ball doesn't use a sphere collider. It's more like a sideways cylinder. Everything must fit into a layer depth-wise, including an object's default size.

We experimented with 3D collision, but this did not play nicely with the layered style of the game. It created undesirable side effects and stood in the way of the gameplay and behavior you'd expect. So, we ditched it and expanded our 2D-drawn collision instead. Each object in the game gets a custom collision shape drawn manually by developers.

Optimization is done in many ways, but a particularly interesting fact is that we optimize brushed materials by culling their back face, as you'll never see it in normal gameplay. These are the types of corners we're cutting (literally) to make Restitched accessible on more hardware.

When designing environments, we need to keep versatility and optimization in mind. If we make them too specific, they won't be as useful for everyone's levels. Here's a look at the concept art of the "Celtic Harbor" theme from when the game's development properly started in 2020/2021.

We sat on this concept for a year or longer, until a 3D Artist joined the team for environment art. We tasked them with bringing this theme to life, and they excitedly worked on it for a couple of months until it was ready to be used in the game.

Concepts don't always tell the whole story of a background, and it might not be practical when translated into 3D. So, it's a very normal part of the process when the 3D Artist takes their creative liberties. As long as the original essence, mood, etc. are preserved in 3D, we tend to give artists as much creative freedom as they like.

You can also see some early and undeveloped lighting from level backgrounds, such as when we showed it in our pre-trailer screenshots, and their evolution over time as we put more effort into polishing things:

There are also a few tricks we've had to employ to make new features work in the ways we expect. For example, the wardrobe scene is actually far underneath the real level at any given time! This prevents us from having to load it in as a new scene and will keep your current spot and progress in a level without having to leave it just to dress up your character.

The Soundtrack

Breathing life into Restitched can happen in many ways. Whether through animation, sound effects, or 3D art and lighting... However, one area of the game that gives it a certain charm is the music!

We're quite lucky to have a composer who understands the needs of a game like Restitched, as they're also a fan of the genre and well-versed in the world of music. We now have dozens of tracks made and they range in various genres and styles.

The soundtrack is a little less collaborative process than other areas of the game. Thomas, our musician, works on the music in his own time and shares it with the team when a song is complete or if it needs feedback.

What emotions or themes are we aiming to convey through the music? Thomas chimes in:

The soundtrack is made is such a way to convey as many emotions and themes as possible. Some our tailored to story themes, others are based on team requests or my own ideas of possible creations that people would make and what would fit that. Of course, generally, the soundtrack is mostly upbeat and higher-energy but it has some slower, more emotive and contemplative tracks as well.

How does the music complement the gameplay, art style, and overall tone of Restitched? Thomas states:

Certain tracks are specifically made to be tailored to a theme, idea or concept, others are somewhat more general purpose. By having a mix of tailored tracks we aim to have a broad selection of music that could complement a wide variety of gameplay styles, art styles. While Restitched does have an envisioned 'tone' and style for the main theme, I feel it is important to have this diversity is music genres and styles to fit the broadest possible applications!

Additionally, our 3D Animator, Luke, had something to say about the music of the game:

Bit of a tangent, but I've listened to the soundtrack thus far and with each one I think "In what scenario will this be used in game?" In 95% of tracks I can already see what Stuffy will be doing so I know that this fits the game really well. There are a couple tracks that I think suit another genre of game. But I think that's great! It makes people think outside of the box when creating and it makes up a small section of the available music so won't take away from the theming of the game.

We've shared many thirty-second snippets of the soundtrack already. Be sure to check them out!

A Q&A with the team

As we continue to develop Restitched, we wanted to take a moment to share some insights from our team. We’ve gathered responses from various members about their experiences, challenges, and excitement as we bring this game to life...

How do you prioritize tasks during development?

Halston: We prioritize tasks by balancing our interests with the urgency of upcoming milestones. We also consider what someone else is waiting on, as we want to maintain a smooth workflow. If an artist's work is needed to finish a feature, we try to allocate resources accordingly. With so much to do, it can feel daunting! We separate tasks by goals and milestones—whether it's a new trailer, private testing, or internal builds—to make the workload more manageable and rewarding.

DeRose: Personally, I prioritize based on what I feel is "missing" from the gameplay. I chase a fun factor because if the game isn’t enjoyable during testing, I wouldn’t expect others to enjoy it either. I focus on addressing bugs that limit the level editor, how Stuffy feels, or any lack of quality-of-life improvements. It’s amazing how quickly small enhancements can significantly improve the overall experience.

Joseph: I prioritize what should be worked on next based on what I'm able to complete without hindering other aspects of gameplay. Focusing on tasks that help to make the game look and feel better and also allowing for other features to be implemented are what I try to spend most of my time on.

Saurus: It varies depending on the month. On a standard month, I'll work on the task I find most fun when I have a selection. However, if there is a big push for a new feature then I'll prioritise animating that first and foremost to get that feature out the door as soon as possible. With the upcoming Trailer that we have been teasing for months now, that has been my priority above else. It truly depends on what is regarded by the whole team as "high priority" which is always made very clear by our [team leads].

What limits do you place on your creativity, if any?

Halston: Honestly, we don’t restrict ourselves as much as you might expect. As hobbyist developers and self-publishers, we answer only to ourselves and our community. This freedom allows us to experiment and prototype ideas. While we aim to stay realistic and on track, we sometimes end up creating new features simply by playing around. It's hard to know when enough is enough, but we have goals for our launch version and adjust based on our progress. Our ultimate aim is to make a game that feels rewarding, even in its most basic form.

Joseph: It depends on what we're working on and whether it would be worth the development time to spend on implementing it. It can be easy to fall into a mindset of trying to make everything perfect when it doesn't always need to be. There are times where we just need to make the decision to either stop working on a feature completely or to shelve it and come back to it at a later time.

Luke: This has been something that I constantly have to remind myself of when I work on whilst animating new Stuffy animations and scenes. Whilst completely subjective, I animate based around what I would find "good enough". If I saw my animation in game right this second, would I look at it and think "That's jank" or would I not care or possibly find it impressive? If it is the latter, I have done my job. As they say, "When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all". I think this saying applies HEAVILY in the world of animation.

How does collaboration work within the team?

Halston: Collaboration is facilitated through tools like Trello, OneDrive, and GitHub, but we also rely heavily on discussions in Discord. We bounce ideas around until we reach a final product while tracking and structuring our progress in Trello. For example, when developing the Proximity Mine, we pitched the idea, gathered feedback, and assigned tasks accordingly. Artists created concepts while coders laid out the scripts. It’s a team effort!

DeRose: The collaboration process varies. Sometimes a coder will use placeholder assets to allow for scripting while the artist takes time with the modeling. Often, the whole team votes on designs to ensure healthy collaboration.

Gabriel: It depends on who tackles or comes up with an idea first. If we believe it's something worth working on now, we gather feedback and create concept art for the developers.

Joseph: Collaboration mostly comes from having discussions and votes on game aspects, and tools like Trello, GitHub, and OneDrive are extremely useful in keeping things organized and readily available. We do also have tools available to us to be able to collaborate live in our IDEs which can be very useful for getting another developers perspective and knowledge when trying to solve difficult problems.

Raphael: For the game's source files, we usually work on a single git branch that everybody commits to. It's easier than dealing with huge merge conflicts when merging branches.

Luke: In terms of animation, I send a WIP to the team and they provide feedback. From there, I refine the animation. In a bigger scale like the trailer cinematic animation that has been teased, me and the other animator, Brennan, have a tighter relationship in regards to feedback to one another so that we can get the scene just right. A second opinion goes a long way in this form of media.

What are the biggest technical challenges you've faced?

DeRose: The largest technical challenges usually involve handmade solutions that Unity doesn’t easily support, like issues with the level editor or lighting engine. These challenges are tricky because we have to keep optimization in mind and address any bugs that arise. We often scrap features if they become too challenging, based on the time spent and expected benefits. The biggest challenge for me personally is consistently showing up to work on the project while balancing life outside of it. However, I take great pride in what we’re building together.

Joseph: With as ambitious a project as Restitched is, there are many features that we've had to create from scratch and with developers coming and going over time it becomes difficult and time-consuming for new developers to become familiar with how things work and even where to find things within the codebase. I find that when I start working in an area that I'm not familiar with I make all kinds of mistakes with both the quality of my code and being able to figure out where the best place to integrate features into the codebase is. Deciding when to scrap something is never easy as usually you've already put a bunch of time and effort into designing and implementing it, but sometimes it just becomes apparent that no matter what you do it just won't turn out the way that you need it to, which is when we need to have discussions on what the next best step is.

Raphael: Character, Controls, Camera: The 3Cs of Game Development. It takes a lot of work and iteration to get the game to feel good and fun to play.

Luke: If you are an animator, you will be very aware of the saying "bite the bullet". Sometimes an animation just isn't working. No matter how many changes you make, it feels wrong. It is always a challenge to scrap your hard work and pretty much start from scratch. That's just part of the job. Other than that, there is a challenge on making an animation possible when requesting something complicated. There is a reason that there is a dedicated job in the industry titled "Technical Animator" who's sole purpose is to make certain animations even possible.

What are your feelings about the community’s excitement for Restitched? How does it feel to know there are a lot of eyes on your work?

Brennan: It's unreal, and it's exciting! To know that people are eagerly waiting for what we make is the most exciting part of working on Restitched.

Gabriel: It’s kind of scary, especially given my position as an artist. I often see my artwork being used as icons, banners, and thumbnails to represent the project. It makes me happy, but I’m still not used to how quickly things can spread on the internet. Accidentally coming across my own work when I’m not even looking for it is... weird.

Thomas: I'm very aware of all the eyes on the work I make, which is honestly a bit intimidating! I read every single comment on the Patreon previews or the Youtube Shorts and I am always worried to miss the mark. This feedback is useful though as I can take this into account for any future work.

Luke: I actually constantly forget that 100s of people with their own lives look at my work. Every once in a while I become active in the Trixel Creative public Discord server and I get a reminder of just how many people are looking forward to something that I am a part of. I've experienced crowd expectations before so It's not so intimidating for me - moreso encouraging that there are people relying on me (and the entire team) to deliver a passion product.

Halston: It's the driving force behind everything we do! We're making this game for ourselves as fans, but we're also making it for our incredibly supportive community. Their excitement pushes us to do better, make decisions with more consideration, and even push for a better standard of quality. It can be a little anxiety-inducing at times because the pressure is real! But, we're doing our best and can only hope it'll be enough in the end.

What does success look like for you upon launch?

Halston: When I think of Restitched releasing, I hope for a decent batch of active players who are willing to give it a try. I think I'd consider it a success if I see people talking about it online, sharing gameplay, and taking pride in their custom Stuffies, as well as building and publishing fun new levels. Just having an audience that comes back and keeps the game/community active is my dream outcome.

DeRose: For me, I consider a successful launch to be a healthy handful of players similar to how VRChat first launched. VRChat originally didn't have many players on it; however, the community was still very active with each other. The way I'd see it is a few hundred consistently active players would be amazing, especially if they're active in the community, creating levels and reaching out to developers to create something marvelous. I look forward to seeing the levels that people make, especially horror-oriented levels. I could play those for hours on end in any game.

Joseph: that I've worked on all this time to create. I know firsthand the kind of disappointment that can come from people not interacting with or having fun with the things that you've made which is why we're all trying our best to hopefully make Restitched a game that brings people together and inspires creativity and passion within everyone who plays it!

Raphael: I look forward to seeing the very best community creations. It is amazing to see how far the tools we are making can be pushed!

Luke: Ooh, there are a lot of ways to determine this. I've seen many, MANY times before people saying a game is "dead" a week after launch if the player base drops from 100,000 to 20,000 for example. I'm less focused on the launch of Restitched and more on the consistency after launch. Even just 300 active players at most hours of the day: THAT'S what I call a success. Something that people can't stay away from. Not an internet trend, not a YouTuber bait game - just a pure-of-heart game that those who like it will stick around for a long time.

Do you ever question your decisions during development?

Halston: Honestly, yes. This is normal, especially for projects like Restitched. There are times I question the choices we've made in the past or still plan to make. It's not that they are bad choices, but they're sometimes out of my comfort zone. Can we pull it off? Will players even like/use this? Is this unique enough? Will it be worth the time? -- there are a lot of things you can never be sure of, but you also won't know the outcome until you try. Sometimes it's about relying on your fellow creatives and trusting that our combined feedback will produce the best result. If something doesn't work or make sense, it will naturally phase itself out through testing phases and over time.

Luke: Absolutely. I'm not [a project lead], so I do not get final say in the direction the game is taking. I recall being unsure when I noticed that the game is taking on more combat focus than other platformers of the same genre. But as the game developed my fears subsided as I saw the features begin to develop and realise that this was healthy for the game overall. Not only that - But I now actively encourage it and wish to make more animations around the new features I once thought inadequate!

How do you make decisions regarding the game or its development?

Luke: Big decisions are usually brought to a vote in our development server for all developers see. Small decisions are discussed in their respective channels (e.g animating a certain way stuffy swings their needle). If we're simply spitballing ideas, we have a general discussion area that, if people catch on to and are interested, may be upgraded to a vote. The Directors [and Team Lead] have the final say, but if the idea is popular enough then usually it means it may be a good feature that everyone will enjoy.

What are your thoughts on the long-term vision of Trixel Creative?

Halston: Some people might have the misconception that Trixel Creative was the goal, and Restitched is a way to reach it. However, the truth is that Trixel Creative only exists as an entity to support the development of Restitched! This was never a plan for just building a game company or profitable product. Instead, we just banded together to create the game we all want to see on PC. Anything more than that is a very welcome bonus, but not a necessity. When I look toward the future, I hope to see Trixel Creative still evolving Restitched or making new adventures that are just as exciting. I'd personally love to see more of Stuffy in any format. I hope Trixel Creative continues to be an ambitious team of talent from across the world, redefining group projects and proving that any idea is possible if you have the willingness to learn and enough passion.

Luke: Oh I have high expectations for Trixel Creative. I have my own personal plans on where I see myself in five years - but if I'm being truthfully honest - I can see myself being a part of Trixel Creative for a long time to come. Afterall, I joined the team in 2022 because I saw a passionate team that I wanted to be a part of. 5 years of Trixel Creative sounds like 5 years of competent teamwork.

How do you go about bug finding?

DeRose: Sometimes bugs are found completely unintentionally. Other times we attempt to purposely break the code and QA test our own scripts. Other bugs we may be aware of but may need to fix it later. The more experienced programmers may actually already be aware of the bugs in their code before they even test it, and may let others know ahead of time that it's something they're looking into.

Joseph: It really depends on the bug, we all test our changes when making them but sometimes there are things that we never would have thought about happening that can slip through the gaps sometimes! We don't have any proper QA so mostly we just play through the game and try to use all the features we have looking for anything that isn't working how it should be.

Luke: Generally I just play with a notepad open and try to build normally and write down any bugs I find. If a new feature is suspiciously bug-free, I'll try combining features together to break it (E.G: Opening Wardrobe in play mode or edit mode, placing an object whilst holding certain key binds)

Halston: Honestly I just play the game in all the ways I imagine players will. I adapt to different play styles and document any rough edges or blatant issues I run into. More often than not, bugs find me rather than the other way around.

Is there such a thing as test cases in game dev? Any automation?

Raphael: There certainly is! In simple terms, I would identify two categories of tests: small tests (usually called unit tests) and big tests (integration/functional tests). Unit tests are small, fast, simple. They test a function or a few functions. They help write code faster as they're quick to iterate on. They help prevent bugs when making changes to code. Functional tests on the other hand can be loading the entire game, or a subset of the game, performing an action or a series of actions, verifying the result is correct. They are expensive to write, and even more expensive to maintain because the game keeps changing. We only have a handful of these. Restitched currently has 127 tests.

How do you choose what features will be added and what will not make the cut?

Raphael: This requires a close collaboration between programmers and project managers. Project managers will describe features and bug fixes to programmers, whose duty is to provide honest time estimates for the tasks. Together, we can correctly prioritise the most important features and bug fixes.

Luke: Things have to be made to be cut. I make what people need from me, and it is ultimately up to others to decide if the art I make is good for the game's direction.

How is artistic direction handled and decided alongside the development of the game?

DeRose: I try to keep the art direction a combination of playful but also a bit grounded. It keeps a sort of whimsical vibe to it when there are recognizable materials that look more handmade in combination with more "fun" elements. I like to look towards games for inspiration such as Pikmin and Unravel as they have a hybrid of realism and stylized art.

Luke: When I joined the team as the 2nd animator, I tried to follow previous animation work but had some trouble doing so. My earlier animations had a realistic reaction to them, but my more recent work adds that cartoonish bounce and stretch that would be expected from such a game. It has made me consider reanimating some of my older animations to keep them up to date with the direction the game is taking.

Halston: We don't have strict art guidelines, but we do point out anything that feels like it doesn't quite belong in the Restitched 'universe'. If something is too realistic then it's a no-go. We don't do photorealism. We also don't do heavily stylized content unless it's meant to be that way on purpose. For example, we may have a low-poly retro aesthetic. In this case, stylizing the model makes sense. Otherwise, we pretty much accept anything else. The goal is to make it look like a video game, but still have appealing graphics. Stuffy should look like they're a real plushie in our world/reality but from their point of view. We have both semi-realistic textures and painted textures, and balancing that blend comes naturally rather than being a conscious effort.

How many times do you have to redesign something until it feels "just right" and fit in with the game world?

Luke: For an animator? Endless times. You really don't know what something will look like until it's in the game. there have been many times where I make an animation that looks great from a certain angle, but looks so stiff and out of place in-game. At this very moment I'm receiving feedback for an animation I spent a week on that needs to be completely re-done. The core point to take away from this is to not be discouraged - If something needs replacing/updating, it's because the team has standards. Not only that, but they know that it can be done better and thus you are being motivated to make an even better product at the end of the day.

What's it like working with a team of hobbyists located worldwide?

Halston: Time zones can be tricky, and sometimes things get lost in translation (it's not always easy to read tone through text), but it's also a huge advantage. The diversity of the team means that everyone looks at things differently, and that ultimately improves our ideas, content, and representation. It's also nice to do things in our own time and share it when we're ready. The pressure is more on being creative and producing quality, rather than feeling pressure to fit into a schedule or typical studio structure.

DeRose: Having a team across the globe offers a lot of interesting perspectives on various tasks as it causes a bit of an amalgamation of ideals and inspirations to happen. It does however also cause an issue with time zones as it means not everyone will be up at the same time, some people may be asleep while others work diligently.

Joseph: It can be difficult when trying to ask questions or get feedback as people may not be awake or available when you are, but it's more good than bad I believe since we have the ability to work whenever we have free time and aren't constrained by other developers schedules which can also mean that you work for an entire day sometimes but there's never been a time when I've thought that working on the game would be easier if we were all doing it at the same time.

Louis: I'm already used to working remotely due to my day job so this is not too disorienting for me, timezones do pose a bit of a challenge regarding communication, but we manage!
Having a very diverse team is, to me, a huge plus in terms of creativity and plurality of outlooks when approaching features or systems!

Luke: One word: Fun. I've got to know people from different areas of the world with different cultures. All the differences you could ask for and yet we all have collaborated together on one single thing that we all love.

What are some standout moments from working on the game?

Brennan: The cinematic that was shown/will be shown in our second trailer was probably the biggest project Luke and I had to work on as animators on the team, with plenty of help from other members.

Joseph: Seeing the transition to 3D physics happen was a really cool period as while it was a LOT of work to get to that point, seeing the potential that came along with it was super inspiring and exciting.

Luke: I am 100% in agreement with what Brennan says in that the cinematic has been a huge standout thing since joining this project. Also seeing the team respond to feedback from the community.  We're a small enough team that we essentially catch most discussion that goes on about the game and I see it reflected in our work and discussions. I can't name them here for spoiler reasons, but there have been certain popular reveals/theories of the game's content in the past where it instantly sparks talks in the development server.

Were there features or ideas that had to be cut or drastically changed?

Halston: Of course, there are probably dozens of examples, but a big one that stands out to me right now is the behavior of the Needle 'n Thread. It went through a lot of concepts and iterations where it was meant to be a 'hookshot' mechanic and would zip you to the anchor point. We prototyped this in a couple of ways, but it was ultimately just not fitting the pace or style of levels in the game. It was difficult to get right and we wanted there to be more of a sandbox physics feel which you only get with swinging. We also scrapped some moveset features. One of them (Dashing Slide) even made it to the game before being scrapped.

Carter: We had to cut the entire country of France... sad.... In all seriousness I was really excited for a French Bakery themed world, but we ultimately decided against it due to wanting to scale down unnecessary story mode worlds that didn't impact the plot much. Maybe we'll return to the idea at some point? I dunno, but I hope people get a kick out of the pastry themed Stamps I made for it!

DeRose: Often times, some ideas we want for the game may not even make it in as it purely depends on how much effort goes into it, as well as how far along other features are. Some features on our wishlists may need to wait for another to be further along in development, or maybe it just may not be realistic with the current size of our team if we still wish to meet certain milestones.

Luke: Some animated cinematics we had thought about a long while ago have been essentially pushed back to stretch goals because of the scale of the project we have. There is so much personality I want to stuff into that cute brown bear, but with only two animators on the team, we have to be realistic on what we can show. I don't feel sour about it though as I get much more joy knowing that this game will release and not be stuck in development for the next 10 years as I go in and out of burnout.

How do you balance what you want for the game versus what the community is asking for? How does feedback shape the game?

Halston: We always consider players' wishes, and even host brainstorming sessions and community polls with them at times. We've implemented their ideas, like the Proximity Mine, and we really like that we have the luxury of doing this as indie devs. Balancing what's practical (both in game design and with our tools' limitations) is very tricky, but we try to find a compromise between what we have in mind and what players expect to see. However, we tend to sway toward our pre-planned ideas before considering community suggestions. Many of our plans were thought out in advance and iterated on over time, so they take priority.

DeRose: What players ask for may align with what we want for the game, as much fun as some player ideas may be, the desire compared to the reality of implementing it can vary drastically. The ideas most likely to make it in are ideas that align with what we currently have as well as ideas we feel can be easily attainable! This however can be hard to compromise as sometimes we may hit technical limitations or may end up sinking too much time into a feature, leaving less time for others. Feedback from the community 100% influences the game since ultimately, they'll be the ones playing the game. We may be the developers, but the community is what keeps us going to make the game. One example of feedback may be the community's observations on how Stuffy may look mechanically or visually. This of course may lead to discussions as well as a lot of adjustments until we feel it is more satisfactory.

Luke: I sometimes get asked if I'll animate certain meme dances/references. When deciding on if it will be good I have to think: Will this be a fad that disappears within a year? Is this worth the time compared to working on more important things? How will this be used in-game? Is there something that serves this emotion already? -- Fortunately, I can confirm that I do have some funny dances for you all.

Joseph: Seeing all the feedback from recapped posts and other sources are great ways for us to see the things we've designed in a different light and sometimes we're able to incorporate that feedback into making improvements to features and being able to take into account things that we may not have thought of at first. We're a small enough team that we are influenced by the community in a major way. Whilst we can't take in every bit of feedback that everyone has, it's worth noting that your words are more powerful than you think. As an animator, some emotes I've added to the game have been directly influenced by a few messages in the Trixel Creative public Discord server

What are you most excited about in the future of Restitched?

Brennan: I, for one, am mostly excited to see what people make. I look forward to seeing the many levels, builds, and Stuffies the community will have to share once the game is complete!

Halston: I'm really hyped to see the creative ways people will bend the game. I'm curious about what things are possible that we didn't even account for in development, and I'm sure some very pretty levels and Stuffies will be made! I also like and feel excited about how the community can work with us to make the game better over time. I just can't wait to see all the published creations!

Gabriel: Collaborating with different projects sounds like a lot of fun. Our goal is to deliver an experience where players can really express their creativity, and naturally, they'll want to recreate things that inspire them in some way —whether it's movies, characters, or even other games. Being able to embrace that in a official partnership would be super exciting.

DeRose: I'm absolutely stoked to see the horror levels people will make in the future as well as the fun mischievous creations that will be made. Seeing the different forms of self-expression through various outfits will be amazing to see as well!

Joseph: I really want to see what people create, like go crazy and really push the limits of what the game allows you to do, whether its a incredibly beautiful and intricate level or extremely complicated creatures I want to see everything that people are able to create with our tools and features.

Joshua: Definitely seeing how far level creators and players can push the limits of the game. As seen with some older games, the systems of a game can be fully understood and can come up with tricks and quirks that the devs couldn't even conceive of

Luke: I'm excitedly curious on what the "top of all time" levels and costumes will be on the workshop. Most games on Steam have those 10 items on the Workshop that just stay top forever. I wonder what they'll be for this game?

What long-term goals do you have for the project? (e.g., post-launch support, expansions, or potential sequels)

Halston: I don't love to comment on the future because the present is where all my attention and energy is spent. I want the game to be the best we can make it in its base form. The wishful thinker in me would love to see collabs with other indie games, as well as new stories for Stuffy to venture through and new creative content and gameplay features. As for a sequel, I think that's extremely ambitious and not the model we've imagined for the game. We want Restitched to be a self-contained thing that evolves with time. Of course, I'd be lying if I said the idea of a sequel hasn't been mentioned and lightly explored, but nothing serious. I would only justify a second game existing if there were major changes that become incompatible with the first game, like 3D building or something big like that. We're still indie hobbyists, so we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves! Let's get past this first obstacle before we look at the next!

Carter: If we can somehow swing a deal to make DLC levels based on my favorite indie animation/game properties, I will be one very happy camper. One can hope.

DeRose: Expanding on creation functionality as well as exploring new features is definitely something I look forward to post-launch! Some features may not make it into launch as otherwise we'd never finish the game, so some ideas seem to resonate with being added in a future update such as ambitious tools and art related assets.

Joseph: Definitely looking into things that either weren't implemented during development or new DLCs and features that we would not have been able to create without the game being released first. I want to make things that people are really excited about and enable more ways for people to play and create within the game!

Luke: I want to stay on with this game after release for as long as I can. Daydreaming here: I could be adding in new emotes and animations that become popular within the community. Inside jokes, references, the works!

What are you most proud of making for the game?

Carter: I was Stuffy's namesake. The little bugger asked if they could have my name and then they swiped it from me like a mischievous fae. I also helped cement the magenta palette for the logo while doing some concept art! I'm really excited to see what people will do with the Stamps I made too...

DeRose: I'm easily most proud of the impact Paula N. Flowers (Bee) has left on the community. I didn't expect there to be a cult formed after her, but it certainly makes me happy to know that she is loved.

Louis: I'm very proud of how far I've already gotten with the stamps system, especially considering how technical the feature is! However I'm still nowhere done and my brain does kinda hurt from the amount of advanced mathematics required :)

Luke: The cinematic cutscene and the player movement. The cinematic cutscene has been a long time coming and in the time that it has taken to make, my skill as an animator has improved. I can look back to the start thinking about the huge task and think of where I am now proudly. Furthermore, player movement is undeniably important when making a game. I don't choose HOW Stuffy runs, but I have a say in how it LOOKS. If Stuffy feels great to control but then shows that off like a potato, it just looks wrong. I take pride in being an important contributor to Stuffy's general movement feel

Halston: I feel like that's a really hard question to answer!! I'm proud of the user interface design, logo/branding, asset and feature polish, and I've also prototyped some cool new features like the Blink Bubble. I also feel imposter syndrome sometimes, so whether I love or hate my work depends on the day, aha.

What aspect of the game do you find most impressive?

Halston: The gameplay and wardrobe are both impressive, but the insane amount of work, problem-solving, and creative engineering behind the level editor makes it the most impressive feat by far. All the systems working together isn't an easy thing to pull off, and even when it needs more work and polish it's still easily the most marvelous part of the game. It powers the whole experience, after all.

DeRose: The level editor to me is easily the most impressive facet of the project. As one would also expect, it's also the part of the project that takes the most concentration to develop around! I'd however be ashamed to not admit that the level editor is not the same without all the good work the artists and designers have put in. The level editor helps with the functionality, but the art has easily made Restitched look truly special and heartfelt. And a huge shout out to the amazing UI design by Halston.

Joseph: Everything really, the game is an intricate, complex, mishmash of systems that somehow come together to form an incredible experience. If I had to choose a single thing it would be the World Manager, which is the system that controls the entirety of level synchronization,  player synchronization and serialization. Without it, there wouldn't be any ability to undo or redo, save/load levels, or play with others.

Raphael: All of our character customisation assets. They each take a lot of work to make. Make sure to congratulate the team when you see new costumes in Recapped!

Josh: All the different options for customization, through the wardrobe, stamps, and ornaments, every copy of Restitched can be personalized :)

Carter: I see the progress the programmers are making to the level editor and wardrobe, and to me it just looks like black magic... which is very cool

Luke: Some members of the team kept hyping up the upcoming Wardrobe feature. Whilst I had animated bits and bobs for it, I never really got it until I tried it. THAT'S the moment when I realised that this game really is coming together. It's smooth, snappy, and presents great. It feels like I'm playing a polished game and that was something that heavily impressed me.

What was your impression of the game when joining the team, and was it more or less developed than you expected at the time?

Gabriel: Less! You would be impressed by how well trailers and marketing material can trick you about the current state of a game. Not to say the game was being held together by sticks and stones; the foundation the team had at the time was definitely impressive! It was very funny seeing all the quirky placeholder assets. Now that most of them are finished, I kind of miss them in a weird way; there was just something very charming about seeing a giant red T-posing mannequin imposed in the background.

Joseph: I didn't really have any idea of what I was coming into when I joined the team, but I can say that what is shown in recapped posts is very much what the game is. Very few things about the game are not shown off or laid bare for people to see which is one of the super cool things about this game and team.

Luke: I had some ideas on joining the team, but as with any job/role you take on, it's always a little different than you expect. I joined the team after the first trailer dropped so I got to see the game in an earlier state. Many unfinished features still being sketched out. Frankly, I was impressed with the footage they got for the trailer upon seeing the current build of the game. Everything shown in the trailer worked exactly as intended, but I could see the work needing to be done. Cut forward 2 years and I myself am hyped to show off the work we've been doing to what could be many new Restitched fans. I think the Trixel Creative team wear their heart on their sleeves. What you see is what you get

Carter: I'd say less! I got on board very early in development, so there was very little done by the time I got there.

DeRose: At the stage I was onboarded on, the game was more developed than I anticipated it was. I had expectations from usual game development as I was brought on during 2020, I knew there'd be a lot to work on but I was still surprised at how much code was already supportive of the ideas I had in mind!

Luke: Less, I joined after Trailer 1 dropped and was surprised by how much work needed to be done after joining the team, however the footage shown off so far was 100% functional. The game showed off what it knew it had and didn't try to show off what it didn't. That's one thing I've always found respectable to the Trixel Creative team - we don't show off anything until it's 100% confirmed on its way or is polished. Smokes and mirrors lead to expectations and what we don't need now or ever is bloated hype for something we can't promise. We keep the project grounded.

Halston: Well, I was here from the very start, so it was obviously very barren! I will say that seeing things shape up and come this far has been so inspiring on many levels. To start from nothing but passion and build a real experience from scratch is deeply impressive, especially when you remember that we're hobbyists and doing this remotely online. From the first trailer until now (nearly the second trailer), the game is true to its name with as many times as we've restitched it.

What is your favorite feature in the game?

Halston: There are too many, please don't make me choose!! The Blink Bubble is so fun to use, the Design Tool is endlessly impressive and offers so much customization, and the Shape Tool is satisfying and honestly the backbone of the level editor in my opinion.

DeRose: It is very hard to choose between favorite features but as a character designer, I am in love with the stamp system. Stamps really allow for so much creative variety that it gets me excited just typing this out how I can dress up an object and make them visually distinct even with just a single material. The number of stamps that will also be available to customize your Stuffy will also allow for an insane amount of customization, I'm curious how players will dress up their stuffy in that regard.

Joseph: Stuffy's moveset is fun to mess around with even at this stage, having the ability to play around with physics in a sandbox environment is always something that intrigues me and Restitched is no exception. The Needle n Thread is extremely versatile and can be used to create some really creative gameplay situations that I think players will really have fun with.

Josh: All the different physics systems and how they interact with each other! This creates a baseline that with the right tools, ideas, trial, and errors can create something amazing

Luke: So far it's the trampolines. The simple addition of having them bounce off one another means we are going to see many levels that is just trampoline spam. I am so ready for it. I want people to send them my way.

What’s something players might never know about the development, but you find fascinating?

Gabriel: I used to love sneaking nods and references to other media into my artwork and concept art. Eventually, we realized it could be risky, even if the chances of getting into trouble were very slim. It’s funny looking back, though, because since I'm the one who had to remove them, I know exactly where they used to be. They stick out like a sore thumb to no one else but me. Which means you'll never know where they were or what they were referencing. Muhahaha.

DeRose: A handful of Stuffy designs I've made, such as the Bee were actually a nod to some past designs I used to create in my free time. I tend to base the outfits off of those as well as other ideas I'd personally want myself.

Joseph: I find that it's really interesting to see how many people have worked on different parts of the game before me and seeing their different styles of creating can be intriguing as there are so many different ways of accomplishing the same thing it becomes a learning experience whenever I look at code made by other developers.

Raphael: Old level saves that were made years ago when the game was in its infancy can still be loaded today!

Luke: I added subdivisions and a ShapeKey to the grand piano in the Attic Cinematic Trailer to give it breasts. No one will ever know what that looks like except Brennan who watched me do it to his dismay.

Halston: For almost every asset or feature you see, there were probably loads of discussions involved or even alternatives before it. Even when it seems like there's a better solution to something, sometimes we make unexpected choices because the grass isn't always greener on the other side. There are probably also various assets and ideas that have slipped through our fingers over the many years of working on the game!

Final Thoughts...

As we continue our journey, we at Trixel Creative remain dedicated to crafting a game that scratches a cutesy, creative itch. With each step forward, our excitement for what’s to come is growing!

Stay tuned for updates as our journey unfolds further, and thank you for supporting us as we learn along the way!