I love 'design fun fact' threads, so I compiled a lot of little...
Greg Lobanov@Greg_Wishes
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Oct 10, 2026
~12 min read
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I love 'design fun fact' threads, so I compiled a lot of little tidbits about how we did stuff for @chicory that I'm gonna share daily here. I tried to focus exclusively on small details that most players won't notice.
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@chicory the smaller your brush is, the slower the cursor speed is on gamepad. we also slow down the cursor when doing a 'portrait' drawing, or when your cursor is over a special drawing puzzle. but we speed it up during action sequences.
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@chicory (might cheat and start with a few of these for the first day.)
when drawing, your brush collides with solid lines. if you push against them, you can pop through them. on gamepad, bigger brushes pop over lines sliiightly more easily.
w/ mouse it's based on distance to cursor
when drawing, your brush collides with solid lines. if you push against them, you can pop through them. on gamepad, bigger brushes pop over lines sliiightly more easily.
w/ mouse it's based on distance to cursor
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@chicory the interactable 'radius' around litter gets smaller after you've found the first couple. they also turn a sliiiiightly lighter gray, making them a bit harder to spot and pick up.
(also, the first litter you find is always labelled "..." so as not to spoil the surprise)
(also, the first litter you find is always labelled "..." so as not to spoil the surprise)
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@chicory each time you exchange an item at the clothing swap without leaving, the runner gets tired and sweaty from running. if you exchange several, he gets VERY tired & has special sound and animation (won't spoil here)
...that's all for today, but I will post more soon ;p
...that's all for today, but I will post more soon ;p
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@chicory the sound effects for many brush styles are tuned to make arpeggios that are in-key with the current bgm. the music note brush style takes this a step further by always playing on the beat of the bgm, and if you double-tap it'll make a chord.
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@chicory note from lena about an add'l detail she supervised and i totally forgot about
x.com/kuraine/status…
x.com/kuraine/status…
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in english, spanish and german the player character is never gendered. but if the player is playing in a language where we couldn't avoid gendering them, we add an extra screen to the intro for the player to choose a gender identity.
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but also because of that... if you change to a 'gendered' language in the middle of an existing ungendered save file, then before starting any conversation pizza asks the player for a gender identity.
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the tent decor item can be entered, and contains a special room you can also decorate. if you pick up and move the tent anywhere, the internal room remains decorated the same, like a cozy pocket dimension
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speaking of tents, I'm taking my first vacation in a while to go camping. so, leaving some bonus noes for the weekend.
if you place the tent in the rainforest, there's a special ambience inside for raindrops falling on the roof. 🔊
if you place the tent in the rainforest, there's a special ambience inside for raindrops falling on the roof. 🔊
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the "chapter" title breaks didn't exist until the very end of development. they were added in response to testers playing the game for too long, and were designed mainly as a sneaky way to prompt players to take a break.
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certain characters have special comments if you have the same name as them. if you name yourself 'pickle,' then for the entire game pickle will call you 'other pickle.' (gif unrelated)
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chuffed to see folks sharing this thread :) FTR, i'm still gonna be adding one every day for a while, lmao.
the "item collect" jingles change based on the bgm. in quieter areas the jingles are lighter and more piano-centric, while jaunty areas have more full orchestrations
the "item collect" jingles change based on the bgm. in quieter areas the jingles are lighter and more piano-centric, while jaunty areas have more full orchestrations
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(also this is a bit less fun to show, but @kuraine made the jingles in multiple keys/chords so that they always match up with the musical key of the bgm).
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this is a REALLY small detail we were able to add since all songs are marked as jaunty vs. relaxing.
When the bgm is transitioning from a jaunty song to a relaxing one, there is an additional 2 second gap of silence added between the songs to ease the listener in.
When the bgm is transitioning from a jaunty song to a relaxing one, there is an additional 2 second gap of silence added between the songs to ease the listener in.
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the layout of styles on the brush style screen correspond with where on the map they're found
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many brush styles have special functions for double-tap or holding. if you double-tap the 'wiggle' brush, it makes a snake of paint that moves across the screen. hold down to make a spiral.
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every single NPC idle animation has some amount of timing randomness, so it never plays the same way twice. characters also often have rare poses if you wait long enough.
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all ambient animations are tied to the music bpm. the 'wobble' effect on your paint, for example, goes faster in areas with faster music. it's also true of speech bubble wobbles, things that sway in the wind, the player's idle animation, etc...
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when lost kids are hiding in an object, the amount they 'shake' decreases after you find the first few kids, making them just a little bit harder to spot. (this gif shows the original beta art for them lol)
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the music for dinners changes in different locations. but the version inside the slice shop is notably in a totally different time signature and contains references to 'funiculi, funicula' (AKA the spider man 2 pizza song)
the track: radicaldreamland.bandcamp.com/track/the-slic…
the track: radicaldreamland.bandcamp.com/track/the-slic…
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when doing any 'portrait' drawing, the paint palettes are randomly generated each time, so no 2 players will have the same colors.
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(bonus cuz i forgot to post yesterday!):
the glowing crystals in caves play a different sustained note based on the color you make them. they harmonize with the bgm and with each other.
the glowing crystals in caves play a different sustained note based on the color you make them. they harmonize with the bgm and with each other.
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in the course of a particular sidequest, there's an opportunity to input your date of birth. after that, something special will happen if you play on your birthday.
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if you hold down the 'right angle' brush style, it generates a grid. changing your brush size changes the size of the grid.
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this one adds way more to the game than you'd think:
every large tree in the game has a 1 in 10 chance to be carrying a fly that zooms out when the tree is painted. of those, 1 in 80 will have a giant swarm of bugs that fly out.
every large tree in the game has a 1 in 10 chance to be carrying a fly that zooms out when the tree is painted. of those, 1 in 80 will have a giant swarm of bugs that fly out.
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all the musical instrument decor items play in-key musical notes when you swipe your brush over them. changing your paint color changes the notes. you can lay down a beat with the drumkit too.
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the theremin is a special case musical instrument which can play controlled notes by painting at different angles around it. (it also has a 'free' mode that does less pitch correction)
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(also, bonus cuz i forgot to post yesterday!)
all of the music variables, including key and bpm and jingle type, update live if the player places a record player and changes the music.
all of the music variables, including key and bpm and jingle type, update live if the player places a record player and changes the music.
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you can click and drag speech bubbles to reposition them anywhere during cutscenes. there's absolutely no reason to do this.
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if you place seats anywhere in the world, characters will sometimes appear sitting with special text. if you delete a chair under a sitting character, they hop onto their feet.
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if you say "no" to taking the brush 3 times in the intro, you skip straight to the end credits with no music or visuals. this is technically the fastest any% run of the game.
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in honor of the last day of SGDQ:
in the controls config you can set a custom input to skip cutscenes. this was added specifically to make speedrunning more convenient.
there's also a special line of text after the credits if you beat the game in less than an hour
in the controls config you can set a custom input to skip cutscenes. this was added specifically to make speedrunning more convenient.
there's also a special line of text after the credits if you beat the game in less than an hour
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if you hold down the 'back' button for a short amount of time during dialogue, speech bubbles start auto-advancing at a super fast rate.
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if you continue your game after not playing for more than 48 hours, you'll get a phone call from your mom offering to remind you what you were doing.
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if you leave the game paused for more than 2 minutes, all the sound effects slowly fade out.
one of those "so small I almost don't want to mention it" things, but having done it, it's strictly a good idea that could apply to most games. (idea was @emaudible's).
one of those "so small I almost don't want to mention it" things, but having done it, it's strictly a good idea that could apply to most games. (idea was @emaudible's).
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there's a dangly keychain on your map tablet. if you click or swipe it with the brush it swings and jingles.
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you can sit on just about every chair, bed, bench and log in the game. if you stay seated for a little while, pizza will fall asleep.
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in certain locations, like grub deep, we made paint bombs sliiiiiiiightly smaller so they're easier to maneuver onto small platforms
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if you place down a trampoline decor, the player character will automatically 'jump' anytime you step on it. if you place and color a paint tube, it squirts out paint when you step on it.
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up until now these "fun facts" have been pretty spoiler-free, showing just brush tools/decor/general things.
from here on I will be showing small details specific to unlocked abilities and later-game areas. it'll be spoiler-light but I thought I should warn people.
from here on I will be showing small details specific to unlocked abilities and later-game areas. it'll be spoiler-light but I thought I should warn people.
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took a few days off from posting these because collecting all the resources takes time ;p a few new ones today to make up!
if you press jump while swimming on a wall, you get a slight upward boost of speed. mashing jump increases your climbing speed significantly.
if you press jump while swimming on a wall, you get a slight upward boost of speed. mashing jump increases your climbing speed significantly.
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if you stand still for a short amount of time after swimming, the player character does a little doggy shake
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there are different insects in various regions of the map with unique behaviors. the 'sparrow-bugs' in the west fly away when startled, but you can sneak under them by swimming in paint.
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when you leave paint on water, the colors slowly distort and move around.
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paint in a windy area, and the paint will slowly streak and spread with the direction of the wind.
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paint geysers typically run out of paint and shrink after a short time. but this interaction was annoying in windy areas, so they never run out of paint there.
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bouncing on a mushroom, getting thrown by a bomb explosion, and jumping all send the player the same distance, using the same sound and animation. we did this so that the player would be used to the jump ability before they can actually use it.
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after finding every brush power, the player's paint-swimming speed is about 30% faster, making back-tracking extra speedy in the postgame if they're painted a lot
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after landing from the air, the player character shakes and can't move for a short amount of time. it's nearly imperceptible from small heights, but gets longer from higher elevations.
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you can "cancel" the landing delay by jumping on or just before the frame when you land, allowing the player to "chain" jumps to go faster than usual.
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bonus data:
-pizza's walk speed is 10px/frame
-velocity while jumping is about 12.6 px/frame
-paint swim speed is 14, then 18 after beating all trials
-swimming has the longest acceleration by far, so it's not always the most optimal movement compared to jumping or walking
-pizza's walk speed is 10px/frame
-velocity while jumping is about 12.6 px/frame
-paint swim speed is 14, then 18 after beating all trials
-swimming has the longest acceleration by far, so it's not always the most optimal movement compared to jumping or walking
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the player character will always "snap" to the nearest, highest-elevation area they can reach before landing from the air; this assists players trying to make a difficult jump.
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in general, the "z axis" and "jumping" in this game is so duct-taped together it's not even funny. I put a lot of effort into making it feel generous and friendly in a game that totally should not have had it. I'm glad nobody has complained about it (yet).
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the player can jump in and out of their paint while swimming, dolphin-style. this skill is only used in one screen of the game to reach a gift in a side-room.
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when using the fire brush style, your paint makes a trail of fire. and if you place down a campfire, and drag your brush through it, you can achieve the same effect. these both can be used to cheat fire-based puzzles in a certain area.
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there's no limit to how many colors can be carried by the paint vines at a time. because of that you can get this really cool interaction with them using the rainbow brush, which constantly cycles colors.
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tomorrow starts the final phase of this thread, moving on to details that are more story or lategame related. I will still aim to minimize spoilers and I'll probably attach less media, but this is a warning.
many of my favorite details will be in this category ;p
many of my favorite details will be in this category ;p
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at a certain point, the player is asked their favorite color. after that, their paint is always that color in action sequences. all other colors in those scenes are changed to complement the player's color choice.
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when you draw the slice shop logo with clementine, the markings she makes are randomly generated for each player, so every player has a different base to start from
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if you call your parents for a hint after beating the game, they'll give you hints on finding and completing every sidequest you haven't finished yet. the game essentially contains a 100% walkthrough of itself
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queen drosera always turns her head to look at the brush if you paint near her.
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in the options menu you can change 'reaction speed' to slow down action sequences. for most bosses this slows attacks, but for the 5th 'musical paint' boss, the ENTIRE sequence plays in slow-motion, including music, producing a sort of vaporwave remix.
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you can do the 4 wielder trials in any order, but brunch canyon is easily the most emotionally intense. we made it harder to find because we thought it worked better if you spend more time with chicory in other areas beforehand. (1/2)
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so: pizza and chicory share a hug after completing brunch canyon, but ONLY if it isn't your first trial.
if you do the canyon first, then instead they hug before the 'final challenge.' so all players get the same number of hugs, but in different places. (2/2)
if you do the canyon first, then instead they hug before the 'final challenge.' so all players get the same number of hugs, but in different places. (2/2)
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this has been a fun run of daily design details! I'm finally at the end of the spreadsheet I put together before the game came out 2 months ago.
there are a few other notes I might share sometime but some are extra spoilery or don't really fit the theme of this thread.
there are a few other notes I might share sometime but some are extra spoilery or don't really fit the theme of this thread.
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I am pretty proud of this game and team. I think we did a good job.
and there are lots of details to appreciate in it that I'd never cover here, because we mostly expect players to notice them when they play.
and there are lots of details to appreciate in it that I'd never cover here, because we mostly expect players to notice them when they play.
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@threadreaderapp unroll
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@threadreaderapp (thanks for reading!)
