Restitched: Recapped! | July 2023

Welcome back to another development recap! This month we've made a lot of important plans for the project's future, including our next big milestone. We're not quite ready to share all of the details, so we'll be redacting a bit of our progress this month for the sake of surprise! That being said, this recap is still jam-packed, so put on your swim suit and snorkel, and get ready to dive in!

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Getting Thready

On July 6th we launched two new social accounts (@restitchedgame and @trixelcreative) on Meta's new social app, "Threads"! If you're over there, why not give us a follow?

New Positions

On July 17th we announced several new positions up for grabs:

• Combat Coder
• 3D Renderer
• Technical Artist
• Programmer
• UI Programmer
• Sound Designer (coding)

If any of these sound like something you're interested in, why not apply here?

The Road to Alpha

On July 24th we released our "Restitched: Road to Alpha" post, which announced several new things, including:

• Our new milestone and goals
• A pre-alpha "Building Test"
• Revised Key Art
• Production started on a new trailer
• ...and 15 free trixel+ posts to those that aren't subscribed!

If you haven't read the post already, check it out here:

🔗 https://www.trixelcreative.com/post/restitched-road-to-alpha

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This month we made a total of 106 commits to the code! Here's a little sneak-peek into some of our developments before we take a further look:

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Marvellous Mushrooms

Kicking things off for our Marvellous Models category, Cade shared his progress towards three variants of a Mushroom on July 9th. You might spot these in our level design and environments. 🍄

Piping Hot Additions

On the same date, Halston worked through a backlog of Props ready to be imported. Several new Pipe Props were added to the game, which are designed to be modular - meaning you can connect any pieces you want to create your own piping system.

We're Buzzing For This New Model

And do you hear that buzzing..? On July 26th, Cade showcased his progress on a Beehive Prop!

Halston remarked that it may be better to remove the stem and allow players to make their own connections to the hive, to which Cade agreed.

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Swatch This Space

On July 20th, Lead Programmer Michael implemented a long-standing wishlist feature: Swatches! Although it has only been added in its basic form (for now), this allows players to change the texture variant of certain Props and Cosmetics.

Are you wearing blonde ponytail hair? What if you want to have brown hair with pink highlights? This feature means that we can offer the same item made with different textures and properties all within one single icon.

The user interface side of this has yet to be implemented, but the back end now supports the feature for when we're ready to expand it. This allows us to be more free with our assets... not having to pick between which textures we like the most for the final design!

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Stuffy's In The Groove

Anyone for disco fever? On July 19th, 3D Artist Kevin began the early development of a groovy Afro hairstyle. 🕺🪩

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Living In A Material World

Following the discussion surrounding the implementation of Swatches and our other customization options, we had a further discussion about what these systems could open up in terms of Material editing on July 10th:

Halston: Could we reuse the color picker UI from the light Props? You know all of the colored squares, hue, brightness, slider widgets, etc? Then just directly modify the color tint of a Material in Unity?

Michael: Yeah, that's trivial. There's probably also a way to reflect over a material's properties (given that the Inspector can) so we could let the player futz around with every material's properties. REALLY customize it.

Halston: I would love to see that. Sliders to change the metallic level, normal map strength, etc...

Michael: Wishlist it. It'll be a feature I'll experiment with when we're not focused on gameplay.

Nothing has been implemented into the game yet, but this, Combined with Swatches, could make it so easy to change the feel of your level. Halfway through creating a Farm level and feeling it would much better suit a Spaceship? Get your Material swapper, settings and Swatch tool out and go to town!

Logical Additions

From the 25th onwards, Michael began showing our latest Trial Dev the ropes. Our newest programmer Chem is currently working on fleshing out the Logic side of the game - a feature we're all really eager to see working (and we know you are too)!

Michael also began implementing the logic to be rendered in the level space (though they're still untextured) - and added a Player Sensor (placeholder name - which will also help as we continue to work on Checkpoints).

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Phantom Footsteps

On the very first day of the month, we identified an issue where Stuffy would walk in front of a Material, and yet it would play the footstep SFX as if Stuffy was walking on top. We can't show the bug itself in a gif (as there’s no audio), but here's one taken from a video Ozy shared to present the issue (featuring special guests 'Cardoard' and 'Rocc'):

Now this is a lot of technical jargon, but Michael figured out why this was happening, and stated:

What's actually going on is a bitmask problem. The problem is that the bit for "Layers 1-5" is set (that's user layer 17, which is bit 18). Every level object can collide with user layer 17, and Stuffy will always collide with it too. That's the layer for a level object that's on layer 1 and that's 5 layers thick, so that makes sense. Problem is that the contact filter layer mask isn't used to describe what we want to be able to hit, it's describing what layers we're on. Essentially, Stuffy can always collide with user layer 17 but will never actually be on it - that's why Stuffy thinks they're walking on an object that's actualy in front or behind...

That's just what happens when bit 18 is set in the layer mask. I could fix this relatively easily.

Blending Into The Background

On July 11th, an issue we had previously discovered was brought to light again as we begin to polish various aspects of the game. The issue is that transparent-based Materials and shaders are blurred by the background depth-of-field effect. Ozy decided to chime in, stating:

I feel like it’s caused by post processing, I’d have to experiment with the camera settings to see what causes it. It could be a shader problem, I saw someone write a post explaining the technical details behind it involving the depth buffer. But there is a fix thankfully, I’ll just have to analyze the code.

Getting Out Of Line

On July 4th, Halston discovered that our grid started acting 'out of line' (get it?) following recent changes to selection. We'll let Michael's messages upon discovering this issue speak for itself:

The brush isn't snapping. Why is it not snapping? How is it not snapping? When did it start not snappin? WHO MADE IT START NOT SNAPPING and WHERE DID IT HAPPEN??

...so far what I've noticed is, when you grab a material from Craftbook with grid enabled, the indicator shows up but the brush doesn't snap. When you start painting, it does start snapping to A grid - but not the one you see visually. Once you let go, it fixes itself and snaps properly, but changing layers doesn't adjust the grid visually...

Michael subsequently identified the cause of the issue:

Grid snapping relies on knowing the shape of the object being snapped. When you start brushing, the game copies the shape of the brush into the temporary LevelObject you're painting/erasing. That's also when grid snapping suddenly started working. So guess what didn't happen when you first grab a material from craftbook/clone an existing material...

Smoothing Things Out

You know how the saying goes: you fix one thing and break another. Well, Michael got a taste of that first-hand when he implemented a certain UV feature that allows players to move and skew textures on Building Materials (as we'll discuss later on in this post). Only, by doing this, he broke almost every texture in the game making everything look plain. Thankfully this was an easy fix, as it turned out everything was set with a UV scale of 0 by default. Here's an image of the issue when it was first discovered:

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Tough Guy

On July 17th, Brennan shared his progress towards this 'Tough Guy' walk for Stuffy. But what's it for? How will it be used? We guess you're just going to have to find out!

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Tying Up Loose Threads

This month, Ozy began working on refining the Needle n' Thread mechanics, as well as the general gameplay controller of Stuffy. Most of these changes involved velocity and mid-air control. Below you can see some mid-air control that was implemented on July 3rd that allows players to slightly steer Stuffy while airborne:

Following these updates, the following Trello card was created on July 5th to lay out some more ways to polish the mechanic:

The Circle of Life

Michael also began working on something that Stuffy may not be best pleased with: mortality. That's right, this month, Michael began adding proper health and death mechanics into the game. This is a huge step as, once they have been fully coded in, we can begin to experiment with gameplay and level design in a way that much more closely represents the final game.

Michael: Welp, that's a folder name I never thought I'd ever create in the restitched source code. @Ozy let's murder some teddies ❤️

Controlling the Player Controller With An Actual Controller

On July 9th, after mostly playing the game with a keyboard and mouse, Halston decided to test the feel of the game on a controller. While Build Mode is currently exclusively controlled by keyboard and mouse, we fully intend for Play Mode to be compatible with a controller. After testing out some of Stuffy's moves, he wrote:

Omg... the game actually feels really natural on a controller. Like... a proper game. In general it feels really cool to use, and being able to run through the attic scene and swing [with the Needle 'n Thread] felt pretty new on a controller.

He did outline some issues though, specifically with how the animations respond to the analogue inputs of a joystick. Responding to these comments, Ozy wrote:

I want it to feel good on controller since I prefer controller for platformers. I think the reason controller feels odd is there aren't any dead zones, so any minor inputs are taken as absolute (which is why even a bit of stick drift makes stuffy turn).

This is definitely something we'll be revisiting in the future - so keep your eyes peeled!

Playing Play Mode!

In a monumental update to the game, on July 18th, Michael added Play Mode! Finally, you can enter a level and instantly spawn in as Stuffy and move around. Previously, we were only able to do this in Build Mode and hiding the Craftbook via Dev Tools. This is a huge step as we begin to piece together the UI for the game (more on that later!).

Upon first playing in this mode, Michael did identify some issues to work out:

• The Craftbook is still visible in Play Mode
• Crawling and pressing space pauses things (like in Build Mode)
• Clicking Stuffy opens the Materials chapter of the Craftbook
• You cannot yet respawn
• Placing the first Checkpoint in a level does not designate it as the spawn point
• If a level has no designated spawn point then issues arise due to the fact that there's not yet a way to end a level.

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Sewing The Thread

At the tail-end of the month, on July 30th Ozy began work on a new animation for the thread of Needle n' Thread. As it was, the thread just kind of... appeared. Now, an animation has been added where the thread unfurls to reach its target. The image below displays the animation in use:

As you can see, there's still some work left to do with the animations - such as how Stuffy acts, and the fact the needle isn't actually moving. Since this gif, the animation has become a lot snappier and less exaggerated.

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Iconic Additions

On July 15th, Halston added fifteen new icons to the game. These are almost all intended for Build Mode. Please note that not all of the icons displayed here are actually intended to be used. When designing icons, it's often the case that multiple icons are created so that we can visualize which one works better for the game. Can you guess what they're all for?

The next day, July 16th, Michael added the UV Tool and Swatch Tool to the Toolbar (points to those who guessed these icons correctly!):

And on July 21st, Halston revisited a few older icons that needed a little bit of a touch-up. Speaking of the small updates, Halston posted:

[I made] an update to the folder since it was one of the first two or three icons ever made - and had a different art style vs today. I also updated a sun and clouds icon to be more of a 1:1 ratio so it fits in the Craftbook strip properly. I also added a question mark, naturally, and a random outfit icon, finally.

Moving Around

On July 17th, Michael began to implement the functionality of the UV Tool that we mentioned earlier. At the moment you can't adjust the offset, but you can scale and rotate UVs! Below is an image of a big square piece of material that has had its angle skewed by the new tool.

Saving The Game

From July 18th onwards, Michael began moving our level save features into a proper UI format, as formerly this was done in dev menus. Below you can see the first image of these working menus, as well as a later screenshot showcasing three options: 'Save', 'Save As' and 'Export'. Explaining the process behind the addition of these features, Michael wrote:

When saving a new level, you will want to go into the pause menu (Esc key) while in Build Mode. You'll see three buttons - Save, Save As, and Export. The Save button currently only works for existing levels and the Save As button isn't yet implemented. The Export button is a developer-only button that lets you save the level anywhere on your computer in the form of a .tclevel file.

Picture This...

During this time, Michael also added a way for saving a level to create a preview image. In order to make this function within the game, a new level format was required. This new format also supports "other useful information that the game and Steam Workshop needs".

Speaking of the new preview image capture, Michael wrote:

It takes a 1280x720 screenshot of whatever you have the game camera pointed at whenever you save the level. It's a temporary solution though since it shows Build Mode stuff (for example the spawn point) that you shouldn't ordinarily see.

Building upon this work, on July 21st Michael added the ability to add a custom level name to each save:

The next day, Michael began to implement the functional foundation for a 'Save As' menu, shown below:

With the menus working as intended, they are then passed to our Graphic/UI Designer for visual dressing and polish. With these foundational tasks being completed, we're steadily heading toward the game's Alpha milestone - in which most/all core features will be functional!

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An Explosive Entry

This month, the team worked towards August's page of Cpt. Stuffy - you can see a panel taken from the completed page below!

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Swatch This... Again

With the Swatch Tool beginning to take place behind the scenes, Halston created a concept on July 21st for what a 'Swatchable' Prop may look like to the player. This concept is based on a new level editor interface that we've previously revealed plans for.

The image also showcases what an 'Ornament-only' Prop may look like, and spurred a conversation between Billy and Halston regarding our plans for a UI overhaul. Some suggestions were made about the content area, including how many icons we want visible at once. Check out the next Community Poll on trixel+ where you get to decide which one we may ultimately go with!

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Horizon Harmony

On July 22nd, Thomas shared a new track he'd been working on titled 'Horizon Harmony'. When initially sharing this track, Thomas had some reservations, stating:

"While I personally really quite like this song, I'm not convinced it would fit well in most levels, it's quite upbeat, very electronic, love the lead at 1:48. Does anyone have some feedback?"

Afterward, Billy stated it would fit quite nicely in a particular area of a world in the Story, to which Thomas agreed.

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A Love Blossoms...

Upon the release of the latest page of Cpt. Stuffy that features a certain (maybe) antagonist cow plushie, our artist Daniel had some... thoughts...

For good or for Bad, Cpt. Stuffy line artist Ari followed through with this request (for Daniel's 'friend'):

...and Daniel had something to say:

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Well goll-y! What a month July was. We've added level saving, a new level file format, death and spawning, Swatches, new menus, a UV tool, refined Stuffy's movement, progressed the Logic system, fixed numerous bugs and issues, announced new plans/goals, and more!

Things are really kicking into gear now that we have a clear roadmap ahead, and we can't wait to share more progress with you next month.

Until then!