Restitched: Dev Diary | Team Interview #2 (Patreon)

Welcome to another Developer Diary! In this feature, we'll be interviewing our team members with several questions regarding development and wellbeing!

Let's get started, shall we?

For those that have been with us since May, do you feel like you have learned anything since the last Team Interview Developer Diary?

Michael: I've learned that the most important part of a project like Restitched is having the drive and passion to make the game shine. Almost nothing compares to the feeling I get thinking of people playing the game I helped work on, having a good time with it, and the idea of inspiring a future generation of game developers like myself.

Cade: I feel like I've learnt more about my craft and deepened my skills more while I've been on the project.

Billy: I've learned it's important not to rush things. When I have an idea, I always want to write it all out as soon as possible and move forward onto the next thing - but you can't do that, especially not with writing. You need to tend to your creation and let it breathe. Coming back to something after a day or two can inspire so many new ideas.

Halston: I've learned a lot about how the game ticks internally now that I've gotten my hands on the project in-engine. I'm still very much intimidated by the programming stuff, and wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole because I'd probably break the game, though I'm happy that I've learned the ropes enough to make changes to my own UI designs, add new content, etc.

Harry: It's been a great experience getting to grips with the codebase, as there's a lot of new concepts and ideas that I haven't been in contact with before. I've also learned a bunch about the Unity Engine itself!

George: I'm a newbie to the Trixel team so pretty much everything I've learned about Restitched has been since the last Dev Diary (other than the stuff I've been geeking out with Billy over for the past year or so!). It's a little intimidating sometimes because it feels like there's just so much to learn, but getting to grips with the writing process is really exciting!

What has been your favourite part about working on Restitched so far?

Halston: I have so many! I guess my favorite part is seeing new content made, new features come together or new builds be compiled. When we make a new build, we merge the remote branches from different team members. That's often the first time we all see the game shape up, and this only happens several times throughout of the year. When we pull everyone's work together before a big reveal or milestone, it's like seeing all the bits and pieces align to make up one big thing. I think it excites us all when that happens!

Billy: How open everything is. Want to comment on something or be apart of something? Go ahead! All areas of development are open to everybody, so we have very healthy communication within the team.

Michael: Can I not just say "everything?" There's no one thing I enjoy more than anything else. My main skill-set is in the lower-level areas of game development (system architecture, core gameplay systems, engine development, etc.) but honestly, I just enjoy working on Restitched and my favorite part of it is working on Restitched.

George: Pitching 'Recapped!' has definitely been a highlight. Trixel has such an uplifting sense of community so I felt validated and supported straight away. It was great to see one of my ideas come to fruition (with the help of Billy and Halston) and turn into something cool!

Cade: Making assets for an unannounced location! The modelling and texturing has been fun.

Thomas: The diversity of it, personally I get to work on all the themes music-wise which is a blast!

Harry: Being able to play the game early :))

Kyran: Seeing everything come together and the feeling of being part of a great team.

Which work of yours are you most proud of, and why?

Billy: The Grandiose Tales of Cpt. Stuffy is my baby and passion project. I can't wait until the community starts seeing the meat and bones of the story!

Michael: I'm proud of the audio system. You jump into a build of the game that doesn't have the audio system, and it already feels like it's missing something.

Halston: Probably the Craftbook and the game's user interface. A lot of it isn't ready to be seen or implemented yet, but the concepts were a lot of fun to work with. It's improved my graphic design skills and I've gotten a better understanding of how game UI works in general.

Harry: My favourite feature isn't in nearly enough of a usable state to say yet, hehe.

Kyran: I'm the most proud of the tractor in the farm background, but also the prop assets in the aforementioned unannounced area! I love the way they turned out, and they look like they tell a story.

George: Probably Puddles D. Duck! (though Billy vetoed his last name 😠). Despite the fact he 100% wouldn't exist without the work of Ari the superstar illustrator and Billy, I love to take credit for him because he was my idea! So you're all welcome! 

Which work of somebody else's do you absolutely love?

Halston: I really appreciate the Celtic Harbor background at the moment because of all the work that went into polishing it. It's really pretty in-game! Of course I also absolutely love what the programmer's are doing, as they're the beating heart of the game that we all build off of.

Michael: Absolutely love New Stuffy, their design is even more adorable than Old Stuffy was.

Billy: I absolutely love what I've seen so far of the game's soundtrack (created by Thomas). It's so diverse and playful, and I can imagine it fitting in perfectly with so many community creations.

George: Seeing all the new commits to the code always fries my brain, I just think it's really cool! You guys rock.

Thomas: The harbor background as seen in some screenshots is probably my favorite so far, it’s gorgeous!

Kyran: Ari's work is astounding with each work completed, its so cute and looks great every single time!

Harry: I always love seeing the new Stamp designs that the artists come up with!

What is your favourite aspect of Restitched?

Kyran: Just how collaborative, colourful and creative it is. Everyone's voice is heard and the project is in constant development and change.

Thomas: The sheer possibility of it all, there’s so many ideas that we can implement!

Halston: Creating! I'm a creative person and I love being able to use the mouse and keyboard to quickly put together scenes and levels. Though I think it's a tie with Stuffy, because they're adorable and hard not to love. I think it's so much fun to dress up your character!

Michael: The creative aspect. As a game developer, I got into the profession because of UGC games of the past. I loved the feeling of being able to create absolutely anything, and I feel like Restitched is a chance to bring that feeling to a future generation of game developers.

Harry: Already the gameplay is shaping up to be naturally fun, even when doing simple things like navigating Stuffy.

Describe your workflow to us.

Halston: I dip into a lot of roles, so my workflow varies by task. For design (my main role) I'm often working on promotional imagery, assets to be inserted into videos, website graphics, in-game Stamps, or user interface. If we're talking about UI design, then my workflow involves researching the UX of it. I first find out what it is I'm making UI for, then I draw out multiple crude sketches on how the menus may flow or look. Afterward, I refine the best sketches in Adobe Illustrator and expand on that, refining the design in phases. Buttons may shift around based on where a user prefers it or finds it easiest to use. Things change color, size, function, and so much more throughout the process. It's often a long process that takes many rounds of review from the team, players, etc. Then at the end of the task/project, the visuals will have a final 'polish pass' once we know that the function is finalized.

Kyran: I usually start with looking at the concept art, picking the next asset to make, then  moving on to finding more detailed references online. Then I make a detailed version of the model, then a less detailed version to be put into the game. Unwrap that to prepare it for texturing, then move on to texturing. During the entire process I'm looking at my references and putting my own spin on stuff to match the style of the game.

Cade: I start by looking at references for the asset I've been tasked with, followed by making a general blockout of the asset, then adding more detail to make the high poly, after I optimize the low poly before unwrapping the asset to be baked and textured. After being baked, I mess around with different materials to see if there are any errors with them. Then I move on to applying starting points for the textures, wood, metal, etc. I begin adding smaller details to bring more personality to the texture, eventually adding the light maps for the assets and upload everything to the one drive to be used in-game.

Billy: I like to write out and draw my ideas in my notebooks. I have a problem with buying notebooks, writing a page or two, then buying another one, haha. I never like to force any thoughts. They pop into my head at random times, and then I'll have to write them down. I've used napkins at my work, receipts, and other scraps to write down any ideas I might have in that moment - I also have countless notes and voice memos on my phone.

Michael: I come off as someone who would spend 25 hours (not a typo) a day working on Restitched. I mean, I'm wearing a Restitched shirt right now and I'm going to be drinking coffee from a Trixel mug after I finish writing this. Truth is though, that I don't. I spend a lot of time thinking about and being excited for Restitched, trying to imagine the finished game in my head. Programming is when I take that vision in my head, and in a very small way, try to teach the computer how to believe in it too.

Thomas: I have multiple roles, but music would be my main role, my workflow consists of analyzing the theme that music is required for, figuring out what distincts that theme, followed up by finding and listening to pieces in the same genre to get a feel for the music. Then I analyze and if needed get resources to start producing music, and I honestly just mess around until I have something solid I can add to. I like to really try unconventional things, for one track I recreated gongs by using a low-pitched lo-fi kit! After that I revise a track usually 2-3 times before settling on what I believe to be probably the final version.

How would you describe your favourite character in Restitched?

Billy: Rat. 🐀.

Halston: Personally I'm very excited to see the owner of The Rolling Acres because I'm from the South and I'm sure she's going to have some witty lines and slang terms thrown in that'll give me a chuckle.

Kyran: In a single word, I can describe them as 'cosy'.

What's been your favourite Devleoper Diary so far, and why?

Cade: 'Crafting Cpt. Stuffy'. It's how it was all made and such - how the key art was made, and how he was developed.

Billy: 'Cosmetic Creation' for me. I loved writing it with Halston and helping to compile the images from the development chats. I think being able to customise Stuffy is potentially the most important aspect of the game. Not everyone will want to explore the editor and create content, but everyone will want to edit their own character.

Halston: I'm a big fan of both 'Level Backgrounds' and 'Cosmetic Creation'. It's really interesting to see how Stuffy's wardrobe is made, plus that diary has a lot of outfit concepts in it. Level Backgrounds is equally as interesting and has a lot of images to look through, which gives a good insight into the game's worlds!

George: 'The Craftbook' was a great one! It was great seeing a feature from the game grow and develop. Plus, loads of pictures!

Harry: I thought 'Restitching Stuffy' was a very interesting look into character design and the design workflow.

Thomas: 'Restitching Stuffy', because it was in-depth and really shows the progress.

What's been your favourite Stamp Preview so far, and why?

Harry: I really like the 'Stuffy Popsicle'. Not too sure why, but it speaks to me

George: Definitely 'Bread Slice'. I love carbs, I love bread!

Halston: Stamp Preview #5. Not because I made it, but because who doesn't love bread and butter? Two Stamps in one post!

Thomas: Weirdly enough, the parcel label. It looks good, clean and I’d definitely use it myself in levels

Billy: Either Round Honey Bee 🐝 or Stuffy Popsicle 🍬. One's super cute and the other is terrifying. I'll leave you to work out which one I think is which...

Cade: Round Honey Bee. No reason really, it's cute!

Is there anything that you would like to tell the community?

Michael: You guys are awesome, and I cannot wait to see what you guys create inside Restitched.

Cade: Be excited for the future.

Thomas: Not all progress is immediately visible on the outside, but it’s still there!

Harry: There's a lot in the pipeline, and there's a lot unique to love about Restitched that you might see more info on over the coming months :)

Halston: We're grateful for your support and patience as we make our first-ever video game. We're learning a lot along the way, both from each other and from trial and error. We're happy to have this opportunity to bring a new UGC game to PC, but it's no easy task. We're a very small team with limited time and resources, and yet we're aiming for the stars with Restitched. We know how much the game might mean to some people, so we want to do it justice, which only comes with time and experience. We hope you'll enjoy what we're making!

Kyran: We really appreciate all of your support and community surrounding on what we're making, we really hope to do the project proud.

Billy: Progress is being made every day (as is hopefully apparent with our Recapped! posts), and we've got some very exciting plans in the works!

George: More stuff is on the horizon to ensure we're being as transparent as possible and continue interacting with everyone in the community! We care what you have to say, and look forward to your comments!

Community Questions

How well would you say development progress has come on Restitched, and are there any major/interesting hiccups/problems that have happened along the way?

Kyran: Development has been coming along slow and steady! No major hiccups but it is sometimes hard to find the time to work on Restitched when working a full-time job.

Michael: There have been some hiccups along the way. From little annoying things like a weird Unity crash I had, from keeping the editor open overnight, to a few painfully-hard-to-fix bugs. But those hiccups are thankfully long in the past.

Billy: There haven't been any major issues or hiccups, but definitely obstacles that we've had to work around. For example, with the Story we'd like to explore a range of ideas, but requests have been made to change elements that we then have to work with.

Halston: The game has developed relatively well considering the team size, hobbyist/volunteer dynamic, and the obstacles we've faced along the way. We've run into several obstacles that have changed the way we make features, caused ideas to be scrapped entirely, or have even opened new doorways for other features we didn't originally plan for.

Thomas: Progress has definitely been there, although I would like personally say the past November, December has been a little slower than usual, which is expected in some sense during the Holiday season. I’m glad to see new people join to help us out to create the game, so that’s exciting to see.

Harry: I've only been in the team for a short while but its definitely encouraging to see the amount of progress that has been made while I've been here. There's always plenty of ideas being thrown around and its nice to see people posting progress on their features in the team chats.

Any idea when a trailer is coming? :)

Trixel: We are currently hard at work planning promotional content for Restitched, but unfortunately we cannot comment on when a trailer would be released, as it would purely be an estimation at this point and we would not like to raise any false hope.

Do you think that in the following months, there might be a possibility for the community to test the game with a private beta or something else?

Trixel: We are still constructing key mechanics for the game that we would like to have complete before opening to the public and, as a result, we are not yet at the stage in development where we are considering a beta. We agree that community testing would be a good idea, but have not yet planned such an event.

Are we getting a 2022 roadmap?

Trixel: Yes! You can look forward to this in January next year!

Will there be an option to remove the nose/snout so we can make him look more like a human?

Trixel: While you can remove Stuffy's nose, you cannot alter their body dimensions. The snout is a permanent feature of Stuffy's model.

Since this game is going to be on PC, I think It's fair to ask: Will fully custom content be allowed, such as custom materials, etc? Will modding be supported?

Trixel: Good question! We are still exploring the possibility of custom content in-game, but we cannot guarantee this at this time, as we are still working on our own assets for our fantabulous Story mode!

Modding will not be officially supported, however.

...and there we are!

Thank you for reading this instalment of Restitched: Developer Diary. We love these Team Interviews as they allow our team to speak and respond directly to the community. See you next month for another Developer Diary!