Restitched: Dev Diary | Team Interview #1

For this unique Dev Diary, we've asked the developers of Restitched themselves several questions about their time on the project so far!

Getting right into things, we first asked the devs what their favourite part about working on Restitched is:

The best part about working on Restitched is watching all of our progress come together and seeing the game come to life. It's awesome to see the work that someone did get implemented into a build and it is rewarding to see the game's progress. - Matt

I love giving personality to Stuffy, it's my specialty as both an animator and concept artist. Even though they are a cute bear, it's important to understand that players play in all kinds of different ways. Whether it's friendly, or aggressive, I want it to be sure that playing around with Stuffy feels as personal as ever! - Michael

Seeing everyone come together to create something amazing. - Thomas

Many developers were keen to point out the loveliness of everyone involved! You guyyyssssss!

Of course, we can't talk Restitched without mentioning our plush little adventurer, Stuffy! In order to help you to get a feel for our knitted friend, we asked the devs how they would describe them to someone not in-the-know:

ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ - Clem

The most adventurous, brave, and creative being - realised in the smallest, cutest and plumpest of little teddy bears! - Billy

Stuffy is adorable! They remind me of my childhood bear from when I was very young. He got me through the rough parts of being a kid and Stuffy definitely has the same courage to face the challenges that they will be confronted with in Restitched.  - Matt

Chaos in a small playful bear. - DeRose

Adorable, charming, and very, VERY fluffy. - Ari

It's true, Ari, we've been finding bits of Stuffy's fluff everywhere...

Speaking of Stuffy, it's no secret that they are keen to dress-up at any opportune moment! We asked our developers if there were any specific costume ideas that they'd like to be implemented into the game:

I'd love to see an orange fox costume! But I'd also like to see non-animal costumes like generic outfits for people to express themselves with. - Halston

I wonder what a formal costume would look like on Stuffy... - Raphael

I personally feel like a construction outfit would be rather fun to have. - Thomas

I would love to see Stuffy in a knight costume. - Téo Diaz

A rockstar outfit 🤘😎🤘 - Billy

Something related to sci-fi would be great! 80's sci-fi aesthetic is very flashy and colorful, I'd love to see something like that. Stuffy would look stunning wearing some of those glam sci-fi suits (if it's mixed with robotics as well, even better!). And of course, more female-coded suits, we need more of that in videogames! - Ari

Moving the subject forward a little bit, we asked our developers what their favourite piece of work for the game was so far - that someone else on the team created!

Stuffy's animations, seeing them actually have life is exciting.  - DeRose

I absolutely love all of the concept art from our designers, without them development on all of the models and environments would be less cohesive. They are what make Restitched look original and distinct. - Matt

I'd probably choose the farm background or Cowboy Stuffy outfit that Ozy made! Or maybe the lighting system Raphael created. Ugh, there's no way to choose! - Halston

I want to give a big shoutout to the programmers of Restitched, I honestly cannot imagine any of this being possible without them.  The project is doing things that I didn't even know was possible on the Unity Engine, and though the audience will have to wait to play the game for themselves. I know it takes a while for these updates, but they really are doing a fantastic job spending the time to make it perform well, and efficient! - Michael

It is very hard to choose, there is so much talent in the team! If I were to pick something however, I think it would be the farm background, which is full of detail and will blend in beautifully with levels. - Raphael

I'm in love with the Stamps in Restitched! They're so fun and creative - little bursts of creativity and character! I love it when our designers show off a new design! - Billy

Wow, that's a lot of admiration!

Now, because we're massive show-offs, we'd also like to share our favourite pieces of work for Restitched that we've made ourselves!

I currently really like the Neon Werewolf track (30 sec preview in reveal post) as it really has the energy that I wanted to give it, and there’s something I like about the bells that section off the song. - Thomas

The Posh Bee costume. - DeRose

I'm very proud of some suits I designed back in 2018 or so, and, of course, the first sketches I made of our hero Stuffy! - Ari

I'm really happy to be working on Stuffy's animations! It will take time to get them feeling as perfect as I can get it! But I really am proud of what I have done thus far, even with college, work, and family. It is really hard to get the work in. But with what I have done thus far, I am pretty proud of it. - Michael

I'm really proud of the Craftbook over its many evolutions. The team's incredible quality of work has made me revisit the design over and over, improving it each time. Working with Raphael to bring the UI design to life in-game has been one of the coolest experiences I've had when working on something like this. I think the Craftbook ties the aesthetic of the game together, and it's always improving! - Halston

I simply cannot WAIT to start revealing elements of the story of Restitched! There's one section of the story in particular that is a concept I've been playing around with since 2017, and I can't wait for it to finally be realised! - Billy

I am afraid that it is an unannounced feature... - Raphael

Billy and Raphael, you big TEASES! I guess we'll just have to sit tight as more stuff is revealed in time!

We then asked the developers if there were any pieces of media that they specifically wanted to share within this post. As many developers felt their creations had not yet been fully realised in-game (or can't be revealed just yet), here are our limited submissions for this question (for now!):

Ooh.. how exciting! Thank you, Matt and Halston.

In order to give you an insight into how we develop Restitched, we asked our developers what their workflow is like when they're working on the project:

I have a physical journal I keep just for Restitched. I would write down individual steps I was on when coding. - Clem

I love getting all of the big-important stuff down. Whether it's key's with animation, structure with drawing. Then continue to polish, and clean up, the further I go in the creation/animation. - Michael

I typically start with building a low poly-version of the asset in Autodesk Maya based on the concept art I'm given. Then I clean up that model and begin working on the high poly version of it in Zbrush. then export it to use during the texture process.. After I am finished texturing in Substance Painter, I export the finished model and textures to Marmoset Toolbag for quick rendering to ensure everything looks as it should. - Matt

As lead programmer, there are a lot of different things for me to do. A lot of it is about planning which features we are going to work on next, and how we will build them! There is a lot of problem solving which is what I love. I just need to break down a big problem into smaller problems, come up with a plan to solve them, write it down and then... time to get coding! - Raphael

First of all, I get references of whatever I'm going to design, and then, some more references of the aesthetic it is going to have. References are essential, I cannot stress that enough. Then, I make some sketches, I choose the ones I like, and I add some basic colour (the colour for the props is not that important, as it will be customizable; I normally use the Restitched shade of pink as a default for the customizable bits). - Ari

I try to take a full day to work on the project. At first, I write down everything I need to do / will do for the day, then I start working. As I'm working on the gameplay I have to ask for opinions quite often because something that suits me might not suit the other and vice versa. - Téo Diaz

As primarily a graphic designer on the game, my workflow varies depending on what I'm designing. If it's a promo image, I'll usually use one of the few design templates I've created and adjust the info accordingly. I'll often send it to the team or directors for approval, and then post it as an announcement. For UI design, I work closely with Raphael (lead programmer) to deliver design concepts that are both practical for UX and visually appealing for UI. This usually takes some back-and-forth collaboration and feedback to get just right, and then I send over the source files to be dissected and added to the game from a programmer's standpoint. - Halston

To further this point, we asked the developers if there was anything they specifically wanted to 'tell the community':

We all work on this project in our spare time but progress gets made. The game is coming together for sure. - Clem

I'd say that patience is a virtue. Making a UGC game is hard, but making it in a largely-unexplored genre is even harder. We're finding our hook, our direction, and our unique marks. Encouragement goes a long way, and patience goes even further! - Halston

This is a fantastic project worth following. But please be patient, and understanding towards the project. As of now, everyone's working on the project while dealing with their own situations in life. It's a pretty difficult thing to do. - Michael

First of all, I'm very grateful to everyone who has become a part of the community, this wouldn't be possible without them. Second of all, never forget that we're all united by our love for Restitched, and probably videogames in general as well. We're all creative people getting together and making incredible things, which is why we must all get along and keep on creating together. - Ari

For a lot of us, this is our first time doing something on this scale. We feel your love and support, but also an undeniable pressure to get things right! Things aren't going to be perfect every time. Until release, anything about the game can change. I would ask for the community not to make any prejudgements or assumptions until the project is closer to completion. - Billy

...and lastly, we asked our developers if there were any specific Dev Diaries that they would personally like to see on our Patreon page! Who knows, perhaps this could be a little sneak-peek into what's to come...

I'd like to see a Dev Diary exploring the lighting system, or something very technical and programmer-y, since I don't know a lot about that side of things and it's always interesting to see what makes the game tick internally. - Halston

Playing Stuffy! I really can't wait to get to a point where Stuffy becomes fun to play. - Michael

I feel like a dev diary post about concept art that was scrapped would actually be interesting. - Thomas

I'd love a big exploration into the music of Restitched! The inspirations, the layers, and listening to demos! - Billy

Again, that's an unannounced feature ;) - Raphael

...and on that note, we've come to the end of our Team Interview! Thank you for coming along with us for this unique Dev Diary. Who knows, this may just be the first of a series of Team Interviews! We definitely have a lot more questions to ask, and we're sure you do too!

Do you have any thoughts on the comments our developers have made? Maybe some questions of your own? Let us know in the comments!