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Giftscop 1.2 Update Guide

This page discusses what has changed between Giftscop 1.1.1 and 1.2. For a plain list of changes, visit the changelog.

Additions

In 1.1.1 and older builds of Giftscop, the following things were either missing entirely, or were very incomplete:

  • The pink tool
  • The windmill event from Petscop 6
  • The demo from Petscop 9
  • The driving event from Petscop 11
  • Catching Care A
  • The secret menu inside of the sound test, and all of its functionality
  • Generations
  • The orange car from Petscop 22
  • The counselor event from Petscop 22
  • The Graverobber board game
  • The third floor of the school
  • Care B
  • The school basement
  • The machine
  • The Book of Baby Names
  • Various smaller features...

As of Giftscop 1.2, these have all been added, and it is now possible to reach the end of the game.

Improvements

In addition to new features, many existing parts of the game have undergone large improvements. Here are a few examples:

Graphics

In 1.2, we've replaced nearly all of the builtin Unity renderers with our own custom implementations, which give us more precise control over how things are drawn and allows us to fine-tune objects to look closer to how they do in the original videos.

Using custom renderer components also allowed us to implement depth sorting. In the original videos, depth sorting is sometimes used instead of the more modern depth buffer, to make the game look more like it's running on an actual PlayStation, which did not support depth buffering.

The PlayStation "vertex snapping" effect has been adjusted so that it matches how it looks in the original videos. While 1.1.1 technically included this effect, it was hardly visible, and it was quite different than the implementation used in the original videos.

Many of the game's textures and 3D models have been significantly improved since 1.1.1, making the game look much closer to how it does in the original videos. Some textures are also now based on the same source images that were used to create the textures in the original series.

Additionally, most rooms are now built using a custom 3D tile system, instead of regular 3D models. This system may also be used to create custom tilemaps.

The composite video shader has also been reworked to function much more closely to how it does in the original videos.

Recordings

The file format for recordings has been optimized significantly. With the new format, recordings are generally only a few kilobytes large at most, whereas the old format would result in file sizes of over 20 kilobytes for short recordings.

In addition to file size optimizations, recording playback is also much more stable. In previous builds, recordings would sometimes "desync" from their original actions for no apparent reason. These issues have been addressed in 1.2.

We've also recreated several of the recordings shown in the original series, which are now included within Giftscop. Some of these may appear as demos on the title screen.

Draw Mode

In previous versions of Giftscop, Draw Mode was only useable in the same room where it was used in Petscop 15, did not use the "nifty" code for activation, and functioned rather inconsistently.

Now, it can be activated using the "nifty" code, L2SquareR1TriangleR2UpR2CircleR1Circle, from any room (excluding some special rooms like the title screen), and it has been reworked so that it functions consistently across every room.

Movement and Collision

The player movement physics have been adjusted to more closely match how they function in the original videos.

In Giftscop 1.1.1, many narrow paths were very difficult to enter, as the collision detection was rather finicky. In 1.2, we've completely rebuild the collision system in such a way that allows us to adjust things more precisely, and these narrow pathways are now much easier to enter.

Changes

Files

The file formats have changed significantly between 1.1.1 and 1.2. Because of this, the recording files that the game automatically creates will be significantly smaller. However, save and recording files from earlier builds are not compatible with 1.2.

You may now press F10 to open the persistent data folder.

Framerate

The game will now run at 30 frames per second.

While the game appeared to run at higher framerates in earlier versions, things were still being evaluated 30 times per second internally. Visually, things were interpolated at a higher framerate.

This did not work very well with recording playback, often causing things to desync unexpectedly. Maintaining this interpolation system, while also keeping things completely deterministic, was quite tedious. So, we decided to switch to 30 frames per second.

Translations

In 1.2, we are removing the built-in translations that were included in previous builds.

There were some quality issues with the built-in translations, and we don't have a good way to verify their quality, as most of us do not speak those languages. Because of this, we decided that translations would work better as a community thing. The previous translations may be downloaded here.

The folder for custom translations has been moved to the persistent data folder.

More information on translations may be found here.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer has undergone several improvements since 1.1.1.

To connect to multiplayer, you may now use the gsmp file (Giftscop Multiplayer), located in the same folder as Giftscop's executable file (if you have a desktop shortcut for Giftscop, you may right click it and select "open file location" to open this folder).

Authorizing to join multiplayer has been streamlined. When you first join multiplayer, a dialog box will appear that prompts you to authorize, instead of needing to use a command to authorize. Additionally, setting a nickname is no longer required to join.

You can now play Graverobber or Checkers against other players, via a table in the extras.

Additionally, we are working to make multiplayer function more like what we see in the original Petscop videos, particularly the school demos from Petscop 11, 15 and 23. These changes are not completely done yet. Here are a few changes we are considering for the future:

  • More gameplay interaction between players instead of everything being client-side, such as draw mode and adding pieces to the machine in the school basement.
  • Fewer "extra" features that did not exist in Petscop itself, such as text chat.
  • Better integration with the recording system, and later ghosts.

NOTE: These are all subject to change, and we do not have any specific dates planned for when any of these might be implemented

More details about multiplayer can be found here.

Console

As of 1.2, the console has largely been phased out from regular gameplay.

Most commands are either intended to assist in developing and testing Giftscop, or are temporary solutions for systems which don't have proper interfaces yet. We have addressed several cases in the latter category (such as with multiplayer authorization, or using F10 instead of /folder) and will rectify more of them in the future. Commands that did not fall under these categories have been removed.

Previously, there was confusion about the console's purpose, which caused frustration and unfounded expectations regarding its functionality. The purpose of these changes is to reduce how often the console is used outside development and testing scenarios.

You may press Ctrl-Alt-C to open a separate window where commands can be used, and press these keys again to close the window.