Restitched: Recapped! | August 2024

Each month seems to go by faster than the last! Maybe the saying "time flies when you're having fun" is true after all...

August is another interesting month for Restitched, as it brought a range of new fixes, features, and assets! Despite many members of our team being on holiday this August, we were able to progress the game and work on many important and much-needed things.

Let's dig in and see what goodies await!

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With all the progress toward Stuffy's Wardrobe recently, we've opened up 3D Artists applications again. We're searching for someone experienced with weight painting and character modeling! If you're interested, we have applications open here for a limited time.

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Even with many of our coders on holiday this month, we've made substantial progress toward the game in several key areas. Check out a glimpse into our code activity from August:

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Enemies and Creatures

Enemies are something we've been working on for a while. We want Restitched to lean into combat gameplay as much as platforming, so it's important that it works right out of the box.

The original developer assigned to enemy coding was met with a few roadblocks throughout the months they were handling it. They couldn't integrate the enemies into our existing datasets well, and making a new dataset specifically for creatures was a challenge.

We've since decided to move the task to a new coder while also changing the way creatures are placed. To better work with existing tech, creatures are now 'Hardware' objects. This is because Hardware is a modified version of Props, but with added gameplay script support and child prefabs.

When placing an enemy, you're now actually placing an enemy parent object (a simple floating icon). Attached to this object is a child prefab, which allows us to do much more and add as many secondary items and scripts as we need! This has its issues, but we also have a few tricks to make it easier to use.

Don't worry... this isn't the actual enemy model! 

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Shadow Projector

To help players judge depth, we introduced a shadow projector on surfaces. This is like a classic platformer game's drop shadow, so it's meant to only show up on the floor.

When Stuffy is on a slope, the shadow caster doesn't align with the world's down position. This is because the caster is attached to Stuffy as another sort of 'object'.

Gabe created a script this month that forces the shadow to always face down, fixing the issue!

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Object Weight

Joel has restored the default object weight system. This was previously a feature (to a lesser extent) before we moved into 3D Physics. Now, we can set a default weight for each "material classification".

This will affect all materials, props, and hardware objects. The default weight still multiplies based on object size, and we're adding a way for players to override the default weight if they like.

As an example, each item in Restitched is set up to be default, metal, wood, wet, etc. Each of these now holds its own default weight, alongside the existing purpose of setting footstep sounds.

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Settings System

Raphael has implemented an entirely new system to support object settings. This means each object's settings page now has its own list of subpages. You can choose to see settings based on appearance, physics, sound, gameplay, and more.

Raphael also went through a backlog of objects in the game to link their scripts with the new settings menus. This includes things like checkpoints, cameras, fans, trampolines, lights, notes, and more! We're excited about this because now a very important and customizable aspect of the game is working as originally designed.

This system is deeply important to the future workflow of the game, including any new features we add.

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Trigger Zones

Raphael and Jake have added support for new trigger zone shapes, including a sphere and box. We briefly added a capsule shape but decided it was redundant once we implemented X, Y, and Z sliders, as these can stretch and distort the sphere.

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Proximity Mine

In our internal dev server we held a vote for the Proximity Mines. We highly favored two specific styles on the concept sheet. We then decided to open this poll up to trixel+ supporters, who happened to vote on the same styles we were torn between.

As a result, we merged the best traits of those concepts to create an entirely new look altogether.

Cade then began modeling the object based on Daniel's concepts. Below is a mockup based on the 3D model to show how we might cast light inside the glass:

Before we combined them into a new style, we initially couldn't decide. So, Cade modeled the two most-voted designs - as shown below.

We've yet to decide if any of this looks right in-game, as it's not been imported yet!

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Splitting Pages

Using the newly added developer feature to split categories into their own chapters, Jake and Halston decided it best to break up the way Cosmetics are shown in the Craftbook.

This decision was made because of how long it took to scroll through the many categories and assets when they were on one page. We'd originally planned for it to be this way, but we only now have the tools to make it work!

The Craftbook is now split between Head and Body chapters for browsing Cosmetics.

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New Wardrobe Scene

Speaking of The Wardrobe, it has finally been given a proper art pass this month! With a cozy new look, Stuffy is ready to start dressing up and expressing themselves!

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Gummy Tweaks

We've removed transluency from the Gummy Bear shader. This decision was made to help improve performance and prevent a glitched look when the depth of field blur was active behind it. We also decided that transparency is unnecessary because it already has support for capturing the screen space and distorting it inside the material. Visually, you won't notice much change at all!

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New Cosmetics

DeRose added new "Sleepy Eyes" to the Wardrobe at the end of the month. This style has been a personal favorite of ours, and we're always happy to have new options to choose from!

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Halston imported Bunny Ears from our asset backlog. These were originally modeled by Cade and showcased in a previous Recapped! post.

Aren't they just adorable?

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Halston also imported Cat Ears, modeled by Cade. These may be titled "Cat", but they're very versatile and fit many different animal types!

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We've updated several cosmetics items' materials to add more detail such as wrinkles and fabric details. As a bonus, we reused one of those detail maps to create a new fuzzy skin!

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We've added two new Swatches to the Fitted T-Shirt cosmetic! These are "Camouflage" and "Striped".

Our approach to Swatches is to only add retextures in cases where using Stamps would be too demanding or impossible. We want to make the customization easier by offering basic patterns and graphics.

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Shaping Things Up

DeRose made adjustments to the way we handle shapekey deformation on cosmetics. Now the clothing will remember the proper deformations when adding and removing them from Stuffy.

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Progress continued this month on new Props and assets for the game. Cade has been busy on some Egyptian-themed assets, like the Cat Statue:

Pharaoh Statue:

Ornamental Scarab:

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Stamping Tech

Louis has been working on fairly complex custom Stamping tech. This replaces our previous Stamping support, which has now been missing from the game since last year. The new method is meant to be slightly more performance-friendly, offer more features, and be more reliable overall.

Instead of applying an image to the texture UVs, we'll be wrapping them around the mesh itself on its own new shader overlay.

We intend to add normal and metallic map support to certain Stamps. This means you could place a scratch mark on a surface and see it slightly dent in, or place a gold sticker and see it glimmer in the light. Additionally, we hope to add a real-time wrapping effect during placement, so you know exactly how your Stamp will look just by dragging it across the surface of an object.

The new tech also opens up the idea of painting, but this is not in our development roadmap for now. The new Stamping tech is still deep in development, so we aren't ready to use it in-game again just yet!

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New Stamps

Daniel has created a new graffiti-style Stamp of the Proximity Mine:

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Synthwave v2.0

Carter continued work on the remake of the Synthwave background. This remake is courtesy of their improving 3D modeling skills and the need for the original background to be adapted for more playable depth.

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Attic Polish

We've added a new asset pack to the game! Halston has been polishing the attic background to include some of the props from the pack, and we've also given the Wardrobe a facelift with the same new assets.

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Threading the Needle... Again!

The Needle 'n Thread has been restored almost entirely to its original state now. This comes after months of instability following our move to 3D Physics last year.

When swinging, Stuffy will now lock into the active layer. Detection for threadable surfaces was also improved, with more fixes on the way as Lewis plans to rework it entirely.

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Stuffy now fully faces the direction of the object they're attached to with the Needle 'n Thread. DeRose also restored the animation of holding the thread when attached!

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DeRose has also made it possible to jump while attached to something. Previously this would make Stuffy go into the swinging state.

A bit more work is needed to make this feature look and feel just right, but it's certainly improving!

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Gameplay Properties

We've added a range of settings to gameplay objects, with more still on the way. A perfect example of this is the Trampoline, where we've added options like "Jump to Bounce", and a choice of whether it targets only Stuffy or both Stuffy and level objects:

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Pause Menu UI

Gabe has fixed a bug so that the level editor UI is now hidden when the pause menu is active.

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Splitting Pages via Dev Scripts

As briefly mentioned earlier, Jake has added a new whitelist and blacklist feature to Craftbook chapters. This allows us to split categories into multiple pages, despite actually being from the same dataset.

For example, we had a 'Creatures' section in the Hardware chapter. This has now been blacklisted from that chapter and whitelisted on a new 'Creatures' chapter. Likewise, we've also moved Music to its own chapter.

A chapter is another word for a page in the Craftbook!

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Workshop Filter and Sorting

The Workshop now has working category buttons, courtesy of Joseph. You can sort by Newest, Popular, Featured, Favorites, or your own published content:

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Loading Screen Polish

We've added a new loading screen animation and replaced the middle icon. This was previously a needle being circled by the spinning needle loader. That was... a lot of needles! So, we've made the middle icon the iconic Restitched "R" with bear ears and kept the spinner the same.

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Icon Assignments

Halston has assigned icons to some of the new settings options. We're also aiming to update some of our older icons to be more aligned with the cleaner style of the newer ones.

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UI Animations

Halston added a new animation to window titles. Now whenever you open a Settings Panel or popup box, the title strip will bounce in! This gives the game an extra layer of polish and liveliness!

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Customizing Notes

Jake has added settings support to our existing note object. Originally, you could choose a custom color for the background and text, but we've since consolidated this into a single color picker to be less overwhelming.

Whenever the note background is too dark, the text will dynamically change to white... but don't worry, you can still manually format your text to include color!

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Notes For Instructions

Halston reused the in-game Notes object (and its new settings) to create a placeable version of gameplay instructions. It was mentioned that this might be useful for giving the player instructions during the opening level of the game!

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Mines Concept Update

Following last month's concept sheet for Mines, Daniel has updated the image with more detail and shading:

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Idle in the Wardrobe

A new idle animation was created by Brennan and intended for the Wardrobe. this will help stuffy be a bit less 'boppy' when dressing up!

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Cutscene Polish

Luke continued to polish the first story cutscene, mentioning improved lighting, new textures and objects, camera adjustments, and more:

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We've addressed a lot of bugs this month. Some of them were introduced in an effort to add new features or optimize existing ones. We've been hunting down quite a few input issues, material oddities, and movement quirks.

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Trigger Visualizer Shader Fix

Halston fixed a shader issue with the trigger zone shapes. This effect is meant to help players judge distance and see exactly where the detection zone sits. Originally, the icon in the middle of the sphere (or box) was flickering on and off. This was because of the layers the icon and shader render on.

We've fixed the way transparency is handled by the shader, so you can now see the icon inside it from all angles:

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Stuffy Lying Down

Stuffy sometimes gets tired and needs to lie down... or maybe they're just having trouble deciding when something is a slope and when it's not. In any case, it's annoying! Stand up, Stuffy!

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Stacking UI Audio... Ew!

When hovering over Craftbook icons quickly, the sound effect for highlighting would stack. This caused the audio to become too loud and repetitive. Joel has tweaked the code to ensure the audio can only play once without stacking, or by interrupting itself to prevent becoming louder!

Halston also added a scrubbing sound effect that plays when dragging the slider widgets.

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New Songs

Thomas has created new music tracks, including 'Of Bytes and Birch' and 'Building Blocks'. When sharing these new songs with us, he stated:

I've been trying to make more 'upbeat' and diverse level music for the game, so here's 'Of Bytes and Birch'; inspired by the soundtrack of Unravel 1/2 (but more upbeat) and with a bit of electronic twist. I feel it would (obviously) work well in nature themed levels, but is also quite diverse for other levels such as caves, cellars and such. It relies on a guitar, some synths, drums and a bass synth.

In a somewhat similar vein, here is building blocks. Originally made as a concept main theme, but perfect for tutorial areas, easier, toy-themed levels using a lot of toy instruments and a wood marimba. I decided it was not catchy enough for a main theme, but still quite interesting for a level

Thomas has also updated a couple of existing tracks to fix volume, pacing, and instrumental issues. Additionally, he has exported all existing songs in the game's soundtrack to uncompressed .wav files for future safekeeping.

Keep an eye out for upcoming Restitched: Soundtrack Previews that share snippets of these new tracks!

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New Song Art

Carter has illustrated a gorgeous new thumbnail for the "Neon Werewolf" song - one of our first-ever Restitched music tracks!

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Halston has animated a splash screen graphic for when the game is booted! It was also made to be used in any promotional content:

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The Grandiose Tales of Cpt. Stuffy continues its usual development, with new pages released on trixel+ roughly each month. The final pages are now in development, with Captain Stuffy's current adventure coming to an end!

We're excited to see how the comic wraps up, and what story hints it might have in store for Restitched...

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Sleepy Bee

by: DeRose

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Goofy Stroofy

by: Luke

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by: DeRose

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We also accidentally broke the Wardrobe UI, but it made for a very interesting look:

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That's all for August! We didn't get to show you absolutely everything we were doing this month, but we hope this post has satisfied your curiosity and reassured you that development is still chugging along!

Thank you, as always, for your incredible support and patience as we build the type of game we all wish to have. We're continually motivated by your kind words and feedback and try our best to share this journey with you so that we can shape the game together.

We still have some exciting things in the works. We've had to put our heads down and give the game the TLC it needs. Now that we've done so (and will continue to), we can work toward sharing some of our hard work. As a reminder, we still have a second trailer on the horizon... and a surprise, too!