February was full of even more progress from our small team of hobbyists, and we're excited to show you some highlights of what we've been up to!
Read on to see how we're shaping Stuffy's world...
Deferred Rendering
In February, we announced we're moving the game to the Deferred Rendering path. Previously, we were using the Forward Rendering path. This change was made to stabilize overall performance and enable more advanced graphics effects, such as SSR and GI.
The biggest change is that deferred rendering requires a higher upfront memory cost, but will stabilize overall performance in the long run. In other words, you pay a higher entry cost to display as many lights and geometry in a scene as you want without the big performance hit.
We've made a deep dive into these changes, with a full nerdy explanation for our Patreon members. Check it out here!
We'll later explain the new graphics effects this has introduced, so keep reading!
YouTube Spotlight | Restitched: Recapped! (January 2026)
If you missed last month's massive Recapped post, you can check it out here as a full video summary! Thanks to community member and YouTuber "PlushPiney" for putting this together!
https://youtu.be/XEd8tg46efM?si=lR3Pn8KszsABTRI8
(We’re also thrilled to hear such positive feedback about their time trying the Wardrobe!)
New Free Post! - Restitched: Working Local Co-op
We've unlocked a recent Patreon post for everyone to enjoy! Check out our progress, exploration, and explanation of local co-op support for Restitched.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/151073678
Deferred Rendering
As we mentioned earlier, we've moved the game to Deferred Rendering! This has allowed for some fancy new effects, like Screen Space Reflections (SSR) and Global Illumination (GI). It also provides improvements for existing effects, like Ambient Occlusion (AO), thanks to improved depth buffer data.
Screen-Space Reflections
By capturing what your screen sees, the depth buffer can help apply it as a reflective surface on certain materials. This makes metal much more visually accurate! SSR is a common practice in most modern video games.
Reflective surfaces look much better with it enabled, allowing you to see moving things instead of only relying on a static, low-quality cubemap.
Global Illumination
Adding Global Illumination has significantly improved the game's lighting and visuals. In the clip below, we placed a Prop/Ornament with only an emissive texture applied. There are no light sources here. Yet, the scene is lit by the emissive texture as if it's a real light! This is an impressive way to sometimes avoid using real lights to improve performance.
A clever way to use this to your advantage would be to place a bunch of decorative lights (emissive ornaments, not real lights) and then place a single light source somewhere in the middle to give it shadows and real light effects.
Joints
Our coder, Linus, is still working hard to finish up the Joints feature! We've seen some promising progress in this area over the last month, with the addition of better Joint placement, new settings, new Joint types, and more.
Currently, there are several joint preset types:
Motor
Spring
Loose
Oscillator
Sine
The last two might be replaced by logic when that's further along in development. For now, it's a handy setting to have!
Joints support proper snapping to nearby surfaces now, too. We'll be continuing development here to add sound support, proper joint models by type, better placement, bug fixes, etc.
We can't resist playing around a bit now that we can easily make moving platforms:
Ornaments Overhaul
Ornaments have been refactored and updated! Although this feature was mostly functional as a prototype, it still had loads of bugs and a couple of years of dust and neglect.
We were able to revisit it and get it up to snuff now that lots of other important game systems are in place!
Some things we've been doing:
ornaments generate a mesh trigger collider for detection on the Ornaments layer (like cosmetics)
ornaments get highlighted
stamp cursor updated to be 'decor cursor' in level editor, and now picks up ornaments too
full control prompts and sound support for placing ornaments and using decor cursor
ornaments spawn as such by default if the option was set by devs
'disable object type switching' dev option actually works now
max limit popup for stamps fixed, plus added one for ornaments
can now set a custom ornament offset and default rotation per item, as devs
loads of other fixes and changes to make Ornaments work!
Curious how Ornaments work, their limitations, and more? Check out the full post about our Ornaments overhaul.
New Spotlight Settings
Lighting! It's one of our favorite things about art in scenes. It can transform everything, and using it wisely is so important. To expand its offerings even more, we've spent a few days adding new Spotlight options for creators!
New Choices:
Z-axis rotation for Spotlights
Shadow Effect options (none/preset/custom)
Choose a Stamp to use as a shadow image for spotlights
So many cool ideas are possible with this! What would you use it to create?
Main Cursor Refactor
To support logic's development, our Lead Coder (Raphael) has been working on a refactor and cleanup of the main cursor scripting. This is the tool responsible for interacting with all basic level editor actions, like grabbing objects, cloning, flipping, grouping, etc.
To help visualize the possible limitations, he's created a chart:
Prototyping Stamp Normal Maps
For a long time, we've wanted to support normal and metallic/smoothness texture effects on Stamps. For example, a scratch mark might actually look dug out... or a shiny star will actually shine in the light.
We made some progress prototyping this feature during early February. However, it was a messy implementation and would be a bit more work than we expected. Mostly with better Stamping shaders, which we don't have that much experience with!
While this is still an idea we want to revisit, we've shelved it for now so we can focus on more important and game-defining features.
DLC Lock Support
We've setup a system to validate owned licenses through Steam, and to cross-check it with certain Cosmetics that have a DLC AppID. Now it's no longer possible to wear items you don't actually own!
When trying to equip an outfit with unowned items, we will simply remove those specific items and notify you. This is a better solution than not letting you wear the whole outfit!
Level Editor Tools Polish/Fixes
Although most tools in the editor have been functional, they haven't all been polished and made consistent and easy to use. Our project lead, Halston, has gone through each tool in an effort to make them consistent, show control prompts, fix bugs, etc.
UV Tool
Collision Tool
Static/Dynamic While Brushing
Checkpoints Progress
We've been revisiting the checkpoint system to better support spawning, death, and respawning.
When you enter a level with no entry point set, it'll search through the first checkpoints in the list and use one of them as an entry point. If no checkpoints exist at all, it'll spawn you at a default position in the level (0, 5, 0).
When dying, it'll count your lives per checkpoint now (formerly, it was a global value). Then it'll display this in the player's HUD while in play mode. Respawning was improved to actually work, to support multiple players, and play effects and sounds. Finally, when running out of lives, a game over screen will pop up asking you to replay or exit the level!
Darkness Setting
Levels can now have their global darkness slightly increased through a slider! Combining this with nighttime lighting will create pitch-black scenes in most backgrounds.
Co-Op Switching
It's now possible to switch local players in the Wardrobe! If a friend is connected on the same PC, you'll see a prompt in the top-left corner of the Wardrobe UI. This lets you choose the active player to customize.
Bug Fix: Re-downloading Workshop Outfits
Our Wardrobe playtesters will remember a distinct issue where it wasn't possible to redownload outfits from the Steam Workshop if you'd previously downloaded and deleted them. That bug is now fixed, and you can download outfits that aren't in your Craftbook, even if Steam mistakenly thinks you've already got it!
Attic Atelier Background
We've been overhauling most of the attic level background, including its "shell"! We've also updated the lighting.
Rather than modeling and exporting Blender meshes, we've remade all the scene's geometry right inside Unity with the ProBuilder add-on (meant for level blockouts and basic geometry). This gives some of our artists (who aren't 3D modelers) the ability to update the level background easily, for rare cases where it's necessary.
Using ProBuilder in Unity is likely going to be the gold standard for us going forward. We plan to use it for our Story Map blockouts and final geometry, as well as more level backgrounds. It's quicker, easier, and editable by everyone on the team.
You can read all the details and see a before vs. after in the full post here!
New Cosmetics
Roller Skates
Fish Scales Skin
Badge Lanyard
This one is Stamped, but you can fully customize it with your own graphics and colors!
Alien Set (WIP)
Duck Beak
Explorer Backpack (WIP)
Corduroy Skin
New Props
A new batch of Prop/Ornament objects were added, and we're still adding lots more!
Confirmation / Popups
Certain game actions now prompt you with a confirmation window, which helps to avoid accidental actions that might be too important to mess up! For example, choosing to replay a level:
There's also now a pop-up for choosing which player to assign a new controller to when it's first connected!
Prompts and Tooltips While Creating
When brushing materials and enabling certain changes, we now show a tooltip by the cursor/material being placed. For instance, toggling Axis Lock isn't always clear, so we've added this quick tooltip to show you the current mode when it's first changed.
We also enabled this for Ornament Mode switching and changing the Static/Dynamic state.
When brushing objects, we now show a list of control prompts to help you understand what's possible and how to do it!
We've also added a timer that cycles through them when more than a few are shown. This prevents clutter when there are a lot of controls to show.
Slider Snapping (whole numbers)
Dragging the slider bar on settings that support only whole number values will now snap it between number positions, rather than freely sliding around and not looking accurate.
Dynamic Popup Resizing
When you view the 'item info' for certain assets (like saved outfits), it shows a set of eligible buttons. This isn't always the same amount! We've finally figured out dynamic resizing, so now the menu will change height to match the actual number of buttons shown.
Tutorial Popups Menu
To revisit seen tutorials, we've added them to a new pop-up menu (work in progress). This shows if you've completed/seen the tutorial, and lets you revisit any of them by category.
Level Info Menu
From the main menu, you can access the info menu for any level editor save. This lets you choose to publish, play, edit, rename, etc...
The entire level info menu was remade to support extra info and a better layout, along with extra info like the last saved date and time
Main Menu Camera Anchors (WIP)
The main menu now supports panning the camera around depending on the menu you're in!
Selection Effect Update
Instead of changing the icon color, we now use a selection box behind an active tool. This is more consistent with other UI in the game, and it's easier to see which tool is active at a glance!
Loading Spinner Update
The loading spinner graphic had a tiny update to make it more refined and slightly chalky. Now, the needle has a thread overlapping it!
Story Map Definitions
To support certain abilities and settings in the story map game mode, we've made a dev script that overrides default camera and movement settings.
Now, Stuffy can move fully in 3D with no limits while in the story map. The camera also takes on a different default angle, and we've added a proper pause menu title for the mode.
Developer Gift Packages
For our current team, we've sent a few care packages with a Stuffy plush, stickers, a personalized note, a 3D-printed needle and thread keychain, and the Cpt. Stuffy comic book!
These are sent out in batches over several months, but we're happy to see these specific Stuffies are making it to their new homes safely!
Developer Engine Warning
Restitched is a game based on user-made content. This means save files are very fragile and must be respected during development, and especially after launch! There are times when revision numbers for new features don't match up, breaking older level saves entirely.
To help fix this, our Lead Coder has added a warning and block to the engine. This detects when a save test file fails to load, then alerts you while preventing the game from being played in Unity until it's fixed.
It also reminds you when a save hasn't been added to the test library after a new revision number was taken for a feature.
For example, if we add a setting for checkpoints called "unlimited lives", then we have to claim a revision number in the codebase. Then, we have to create a saved level with the unlimited lives option in use. Finally, that save file must be added to an internal folder within Unity so the engine can run automatic tests to ensure every setting and save property is valid and working. This prevents corrupting level saves as we add new features.
DLC Thumbnail Templates
Our graphic designer, Halston, has created a go-to template for Steam DLC thumbnails. These all follow Steam's guidelines for size and placement. Now it's easy to make new thumbnails in the future by simply replacing the content image and changing the title.
Stuffy 'Experimental Movement' Progress
Coder and Lead Artist, DeRose, has been improving more of Stuffy's movement as we rework the player controller script.
We're currently focused on remaking the feel of physics, jumping, acceleration/deceleration while running, depth movement, air resistance, jump height, slope handling, special abilities, and lots more!
We call this version of the movement 'experimental' because it can be toggled on/off by developers as we flesh it out more. Our goal is to tidy up the overall script, set the right movement values, and replace the older player movement system with this newer, more robust, cleaner version.
The new movement will handle true 3D movement in the code, rather than the prototypes and 'hacks' we used before to get it working. We want to make movement more predictable and natural, while still being snappy and fun.
The old movement didn't handle slopes very well at all, so that's another area DeRose has been focusing on! Now Stuffy won't slip down slopes just from standing on it, like they used to.
Here's another example of our progress with improved air steering and momentum stuff:
Compared to having full-on air control, which is a bit unnatural:
Thanks for joining us as we look back on February's development highlights! There's still a lot we weren't quite ready to show, like story map progress, small fixes and changes, and new creature discussions.
We hope you've enjoyed another glimpse into development! See you next time!
Don't forget to join our Discord server! It's where all things Restitched are happening!