Prerelease:A Hat in Time (Windows, Mac OS X)/2013/Kickstarter Weeks

This is a sub-page of Prerelease:A Hat in Time (Windows, Mac OS X)/2013.

May 2013 (Kickstarter Launch Days)

On May 29 2013, Jonas Kaerlev launched his Kickstarter campaign for A Hat in Time, alongside a video that features him in-person talking about the game as well as showing plenty of footage.

• Jonas still says Hat Kid is a time traveler. She still is in the final game, apparently, but is severely downplayed.
• The time-traveling plot point where levels change in different time periods was still planned at this point.
• Jonas hopes to have the game done around early 2014.
• A Nintendo Wii U release is something that he hopes for, but cannot promise at this time.
• At 4:06 in, a colored version of Timmy's concept art is shown:
  

• The opening footage of Mafia Town is practically identical to the footage seen at the end of each Prototype build. This means all rowing boats are still using their placeholder model and appear as large black boats at the docks.
• The level appears darker in the meat platforming section than it does in GoBoiano. There's also a strange light on the door in the background past the tower. The door at the base of the tower is misrotated slightly, which was corrected by the Goboiano Prototype.
• In the scene showing Hat Kid jumping off the meat platform, there is no 3D grass on the ledge that has the button that spawns Thor's hat. Grass was added by the GoBoiano Prototype. There's also no hookpoint to swing across the river with yet.
• A rowing boat is seen placed in the water directly in front of Seaside Spaghetti and perfectly horizontally in front of the rapper's area. The boats were all moved around by the GoBoiano Prototype, and more boats were added as well.
• Collectible birbs are being used as a placeholder model for the seagulls at this point.

• This screenshot of the fountain of Mafia Town was shown in the video:
  

• The Clocktowers out in the distance in the ocean are much larger/closer compared to the GoBoiano Prototype.
• The shot of Mafia Town that transitions into the intro for Lava Mafia Town has numerous differences:

• A door was added behind the Tailor in GoBoiano.
• A window was added to the building next to the Tailor.
• Rapper Mafia's projection screens don't appear to working correctly, instead displaying the default green image.
• When the scene changes to the overlook of Lava Mafia Town, two broken staircases near the meat platforming challenge appear, which are completely absent by the GoBoiano Prototype.
• Three windows were added onto the church building next to the bells.
• The placeholder unused hookpoint sprites are seen in the footage, which were all replaced by actually 3D yellow hookpoints by GoBoiano.
• The lava in the ocean in the footage uses a completely different material than it does in GoBoiano.
• The juice bar, Spicy Buns, and Bloomin' Idiots shops in the market area are completely blank buildings in the Lava Mafia Town scene that shows them.
• A mafia face decal was added onto a building directly behind the Tailor.
• In the scene that shows Hat Kid dropping from the sky in the intro, there is no seagull on top of the wooden crates on the upper ledge and the bars in the central tower are using default textures.
• In the scene where Jonas is talking about game length, the removed broken stairs can be seen again, only this time in non-lava Mafia Town. There are also no balloons to help with getting up on the ledge next to the tower, and there's no Pon waiting at the top of the ledge. The mafia face decal is also missing from the wall on the left.
• The footage of Mafia HQ at the end flip-flops between very old footage and more up-to-date footage. The Pons change designs between a few shots.
• The fish lights in the Mafia HQ footage are using default textures.
• The Mafia HQ room directly outside of the bathroom looks completely different from all known future iterations of it.

The following new screenshots of the game were also posted along with the Kickstarter launch:

This first screenshot shows Hat Kid standing in Secret Level Rectangles, wearing Thor's Cap.

This screenshot shows the beach of Prototype Mafia Town.

A screenshot of Hat Kid walking around near the observatory.

A screenshot of Hat Kid using the scrapped Pogo ability in Lava Mafia Town.

Hat Kid battling some mafia while Tim the Timelord watches. Tim's pose is the same as the one used in the GoBoiano Prototype.

A screenshot of Hat Kid platforming in Prototype Subcon Village.

On the game's Kickstarter Campaign page, numerous tidbits of information are explained about the game, many of which differ from the final game.

• The page says that additional Chapters added through stretch goals would have their theme and setting determined by the community. This is not known to have been the case.
  
• It's said that the player's umbrella can be upgraded to provide new abilities. This is referring to the hookshot and Pogo abilities, and only the hookshot survived into the final game, but not as an 'upgrade'.
  
• The description for Subcon Forest's Chapter describes Timmy as living in a haunted manor, something that would be relegated to Queen Vanessa shortly after the Kickstarter finished.
  
• Sand 'n Sails is called "Sand & Sail".
  
• In a little info-graphic that explains where the money that the Kickstarter makes goes, a Mafia Shark appears next to it, even though it didn't exist in the game at all yet.
  

The next day, the game got fully funded. The day after, two stretch goals were reached: Coop Mode and Developer Commentary. There was also some apparent news on getting in contact with a publisher to be able to compile a version of the game for Wii U.

The same day, a bit later, the campaign reached 200% of their initial funding goal. To celebrate, a video featuring some of the music composed for the game at the time was shared, with all music in it being composed by Eric Gleiser:

The tracks featured in the video are:

• Welcome to Mafia Town
• Welcome to Mafia Town (Beach)
• Welcome to Mafia Town (Underwater)
• Welcome to Mafia Town (Lava)
• Fire Spirit Dance
• The Snatcher
• Toilet of Doom
• Depths of the Dark Forest
• Depths of the Dark Forest (Lost)

Most of these tracks can be heard being used in footage during the Kickstarter campaign, and Snatcher's theme was used in the Subcon Forest trailer back in March of this year. The music for the rest of the Subcon Forest featured in the video would only be heard in the background during the developer walkthrough video Jonas would post a couple weeks into the Kickstarter campaign. The full versions for Fire Spirit Dance and The Snatcher would be released as part of Eric's album, An OST in Time, in 2018, but the other variant of Depths of the Dark Forest and the Toilet of Doom music were never officially fully released anywhere. However, discovered not long after the album's release, full versions of Depths of the Dark Forest were found on a Github project of Eric's! The full versions of the two Subcon Forest tracks can be heard here:

On Path

Prototype (Eric Gleiser)	Final (Pascal Stiefel)

Off Path

Prototype (Eric Gleiser)	Final (Pascal Stiefel)

There were also two more versions of Depths of the Dark Forest on the page that aren't known to have been featured in any known prerelease footage or other media. Using a website to extract metadata from the music track files, it was found that all four tracks shared a creation date: March 20 2013, meaning that the two extra tracks were indeed created for A Hat in Time. It's currently unknown where or when the other two variants would've been used in the level.

Dreamworld:

Drums:

Creation Times
On Path: 1:55 PM
Dreamworld: 2:16 PM
Off Path: 3:25 PM
Drums: 3:58 PM

Finally, still on May 31 2013, an article was published on Kotaku that did a brief cover of the game, claiming that they were sent a build of the game to try out. This would mean that the build sent to Patricia Hernandez, the person who wrote the article, would be the earliest known Prototype press build made in 2013. Three screenshots from the build were shared:

Hat Kid standing on an island off the mainland.

Hat Kid talking to a mafia goon. The post processing in the level at this point is much more orange than it is in the GoBoiano Prototype. According to the dates certain assets were imported on, the Kotaku Prototype build would apparently feature earlier versions of Hat Kid's textures and mafia goon textures, although no immediately noticeable differences can be seen in the screenshots.

June 2013

Early Days

On June 2 2013, Gears For Breakfast released an official A Hat in Time Source Film Maker pack on the Steam Workshop. This is still currently available to download here, and contains a few very early assets for the game, possibly in a modified state.

The icon for the pack.

The next day, on June 3 2013, the game hit its 6th Chapter stretch goal. Later the same day, Gears announced a new stretch goal: a tune composed by Grant Kirkhope.

On June 4 2013, this screenshot was shared:

Hat Kid appears in a challenge level near a purple racing ghost, and there are several large floating decorations seen in the background, such as tea cups and gears. This aesthetic for these levels would end up unused, with only some of the assets made for it appearing in the final game in a specific area of Subcon Forest. None of these assets were used in any known press Prototype build.

On June 5 2013, the stretch goal for full voice acting was met. A video was uploaded in celebration of the achievement:

Sometime between June 8 and June 14 2013, Jonas posted this screenshot on his Tumblr, which shows a scrapped challenge level that used birthday candle flamethrowers.

A single mafia can be seen standing at the top of the image. Concept art exists for this level, depicting it as a sweets-themed level featuring large slices of cake and giant gears. Interestingly, at the bottom left it says "Not final game footage", suggesting that the image originally stems from a video. No known prerelease video featured this level.

On June 9 2013, the stretch goal for the 7th Chapter was met. Additionally, a GIF was posted on the page for the post, which happens to show off an earlier version of Mafia Town than the one that was playable in the Prototype builds:

Numerous minor differences can be observed in the GIF, most of which can be seen in some select footage shown in the Kickstarter trailer and in a screenshot from May 9 2013. The older designs for the floating platforms next to the lighthouse can be seen close up, giving a clearer look at their cone-like shapes and different propellers.

Also dated no later than June 9 2013 is this concept art for Thor. This was posted in numerous places back in 2013, including the game's Facebook page, and the fan Tumblr.

On June 10 2013, an update was posted on the Kickstarter asking backers to vote for a design for the exclusive Kickstarter backer hat:

Five different hat designs were able to be picked. The hat marked "E" on the page would be the one that was chosen, although it didn't end up becoming available in the final game. The hat marked "B" looks vaguely similar to the Cat Beanie hat that would end up in the final game as an Ice Hat flair.

On June 12 2013, an A Hat in Time Prototype build was playable at SpilBar Copenhagen in Denmark, and happens to showcase the GoBoiano Prototype build.













Both the normal and lava versions of Mafia Town were playable at the event. Gears For Breakfast posted about the event on their Kickstarter on June 18 2013.

Sometime between June 14 and 17 2013, Jonas posted this screenshot on his Tumblr and the game's Facebook page:

It depicts a smooth cube with lava surfaces, a brick pathway going around the cube, and an arrow on the top. This model could be found in the Prototype builds, being used for a test Actor.

On June 15 2013, an updated about the status of releasing on Wii U was posted. The news amounts to it still be uncertain. A GIF of Hat Kid was also posted on the page, showing her running through some grass in Mafia Town:

Also on June 15, Jonas uploaded a video showcasing a quick voice mumble test that he made over the weekend:

On June 17 2013, three new stretch goals were added to the campaign. These were New Game +, Voice Mumble, and Hat Kid's Spaceship. Concept art was drawn for Hat Kid's spaceship for this Kickstarter post:

The concept art shows numerous robot characters who didn't make it into the final game. Only one of these robots did, the one with the monocle and cup, and even then only as a cameo as a toy in Hat Kid's bedroom. In place of the vault, which was only added to the ship in the Beta builds, there is instead another tunnel. Where it would lead is unknown. The monitor above the door that would lead to the Battle of the Bird Chapter room appears different, and the railing in front of the scrapped tunnel isn't lowered. In the top left of the image is a monochrome screenshot of the game's old Hub, Limbo, showing two portal doors. The Chapter 2 portal door is not known to have been seen outside of this concept art.

A colorized version was later shared on June 19:

On June 19 2013, Jonas uploaded a developer preview/walkthrough of Subcon Forest, showing many aspects of the Prototype version of the level and offering some developer insight on a few elements.













The video begins by showing Hat Kid talking to Tim's Friend in front of a UDK tree. UDK trees appear throughout the level as placeholder. Tim's Friend's dialogue is as follows:

If you want a bit of advice, then stay on the path.
The people here get... kind of crazy when they leave the path.
<Not shown>

A third line of dialogue is heard triggered in the footage, but isn't shown on-screen.

A giant 2D Snatcher can be seen on the ground a distance away from Tim's Friend, much like he appeared in an early screenshot. When looking at the tree with Tim's Friend in front of it, to the left behind some trees are the 2D dancing Fire Spirits shown in previously-shown media. Jonas officially states in the video that not only is Tim's Friend how you get to Subcon Forest, but he's also an imaginary friend of Tim the Timelord. The first area away from the starting area shown is the Fire Spirits area, and compared to the last time they were shown in footage/a screenshot, the ground that their fire sits upon has gained a more detailed texture and isn't just a flat color anymore. The particle texture used for the fire itself is now also custom instead of using a default UDK particle. A purple Forest Dweller is shown to be floating near the Fire Spirits. Additional dialogue is also shown for the Fire Spirits that wasn't shown previously. Upon talking to them a second time, they say:

We need some stars to crash and burn! Or we all to ash will turn!
We're having fun at your command, we're doing what others couldn't withstand!

The music being used for the Fire Spirits in the Prototype is different than the final, and is, again, composed by Eric Gleiser.

Prototype (Eric Gleiser)	Final (Pascal Stiefel)

This track was released as part of his An OST in Time album in 2018.

In next scene, the Moonjumper is featured. All of the text the Moonjumper is shown to speak in this scene can be found, unused, in Prototype Cosmo. After that, the Snatcher is shown off next, appearing a cliff in an unknown area of the forest. He says the exact same dialogue as he did back in March. After the Snatcher, the next area showcased is Subcon Village. It's shown that upon first entering the village, a camera cinematic starts that flies through the village and looks straight at the Toilet of Doom past a gate at the far end of the area. The gate has since been updated since the Chapter 2 trailer from March, now appearing unique instead of reusing a Mafia Town gate model. The concept of Hat Kid equipping a Dweller Mask to see things normally invisible is discussed even though no coding for it was found in the Prototypes. Hat Kid is shown to be able to talk to a being who resides inside of one of the tree houses, something that can't be done in the final game. The being's dialogue is as follows:

Sshh. Be quiet. Don't you hear it? The bell tolls.

Jonas makes a comment on this dialogue, saying that it'll be important later in the Chapter. Nothing like this is ever shown or seen in any future version of the game, so it's unknown what he meant by this. A bell tolling in a dark and dreary location is likely another reference to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. By an unknown method shown off-screen, Hat Kid is able to use a hookpoint to open the gate at the back of the village that leads to the Toilet of Doom. Upon approaching it, the Toilet of Doom's music begins playing and a post-process effect kicks in. Upon getting closer to the toilet, it speaks to Hat Kid:

Little girl, don't you need to potty?
Step one: Step inside. Step two: Feel relief. Step three: ...
Ha ha ha ha ha

Jonas finishes off the video by saying there's a puzzle of sorts involved with the Toilet of Doom, but doesn't show it off due to 'spoilers'.

Press Prototype Builds

On June 19 2013, Youtuber Northernlion uploaded a video showing a playthrough of a Prototype build he had received from Gears For Breakfast, making him the first to do so:

The build he played is further along than GoBoiano, though lacking some slight additions and polish that the Cosmo Prototype build has. It also has no challenge levels on the level select screen, and Mafia Heat is blocked from being selected.

The next day, on June 20 2013, the first ever live stream Prototype build footage (aside from Spilbar) was shown by Youtube channel farfromsubtle.

The build they played appears to be more or less identical to Northernlion's. Another thing to note is that Hat Kid is shown in the footage to still have her Super Mario 64-esque double jump, which would stick around in all Prototype builds until Prototype Cosmo.

After their initial stream, they uploaded another video of them casually exploring the rest of Mafia Town, showing the build off quite clearly and thoroughly.

On June 21 2013, the stretch goal for a Grant Kirkhope tune was met.

On June 22 2013, the winner of the Kickstarter backer hat was announced.

It was also announced that Youtuber Josh Jepson would be doing a few videos of a playthrough of a Prototype build he received. He made a total of three videos:

His build seems to be largely the same as the build sent to farfromsubtle.

On June 23 2013, two more stretch goals were met. These were New Game + and Voice Mumble. New Game + ended up becoming Death Wish in the final game, released as DLC alongside The Arctic Cruise in 2018.

On June 25 2013, the final stretch goal was met, being Hat Kid's spaceship hub. At this point a new Grant Kirkhope tune was promised for $15000 above $200000. In the end, several additional tunes were achieved with this extra stipulation, but only two were made (one of which wasn't used int the final game, Beta Hero's Challenge's music). According to Jonas, Gears For Breakfast contacted their backers when Grant reported to them that he wouldn't be able to compose the amount that was achieved, and the money instead went into developing other areas of the game.

Additionally, the Cosmo Prototype build was compiled on this day and sent to Cosmo Speedruns, who did a playhtrough of the build the same day and then did another small video beating the build's staff ghosts in the challenge levels the next day. The ghost racing mechanic had coding in all known Prototype builds, but was non-functional in the GoBoiano Prototype due to missing ghost racing data. In Cosmo, however, the data is present, and the ghosts can be raced.

Incidentally, the now-defunct Goboiano website (from its identity back in June of 2013 anyway) posted their review of the build they got today. The article was sadly not archived, but a link to a preview still exists.

Finally, still on the 25th, Eric Gleiser posted two images of a Secret Level he was working on for the game, called "secretlevel_demo_e". This level never appeared in any known Prototype build of the game, but its unique assets can still be found in the Modding Tools. Several years later, in May of 2018, Eric would release a demo reel of some of his game design works he's made over the years, including footage of this level. The video on the right is an edited version of the demo reel to only show the A Hat in Time segments.

The first screenshot he shared, which was actually clipped from the footage in the video.

The other screenshot, which is a camera picture of his desktop monitor showing the level open in the UDK editor.

On June 26 2013, Gears For Breakfast posted a Kickstarter update saying that two additional Grant Kirkhope tunes had been reached. They also shared a piece of concept art showing two alternate mafia designs, which did not end up in the final game:

On June 28 2013, the Kickstarter campaign for the game officially closed, with the project greatly succeeding in their original funding goal. 9169 backers pledged $296360.

On July 1 2013, another press Prototype build was posted, this time by IGN:

The build shown appears to be identical to the Cosmo Prototype, although it's unknown if it contained any challenge levels, as none were shown in the video and the level select in the build also wasn't shown. The footage was recorded on June 28 2013, as can be seen in their video.

On June 29 2013, Youtubers Jesse Cox and Josh Mattingly uploaded a video showing a quick playthrough of the build they received. The build appears to have been sent to them at least a week ago, as the footage shows Hat Kid still has her scrapped double jump move.

July 2013

The earliest archive of the old A Hat in Time website's media page, dated July 1 2013, shows a new screenshot of the game from this period:

This screenshot depicts the entrance of Prototype Subcon Village.

On July 10 2013, Youtuber Brutalmoose uploaded a quick review video showing the build he was sent.













Much like the IGN Prototype, this build appears to be made around the same time as the Cosmo Prototype, although again, whether or not it contained any challenge levels is unknown for the same reasons.

On July 12 2013, A Kickstarter update was posted showing the first screenshot of Queen Vanessa's Manor:

The screenshot is dated July 10 2013. The level uses Mafia HQ textures as placeholder for now, and the unused 'escape' decal graphic can be seen on the wall, which was removed before the Alpha Builds.

It also discussed when the Alpha and Beta builds would be sent out to backers. Both were scheduled for a date when the game is close to or is content-complete. Both sets of builds would end up being released much earlier than originally planned.

On July 19 2013, Gaijin Goombah uploaded a video showcasing a Prototype build he received back on June 19. This press Prototype build is special, in that it contained Subcon Forest alongside Mafia Town.













The video does not showcase any footage of the build, but it does have its fair share of new screenshots, taken directly from the build itself. The new screenshots shown below are from Subcon Forest.

This first one is a screenshot of Hat Kid talking directly to Tim's Friend at the start of the level. This conversation was showcased in Jonas's walkthrough video of the level back in June, but this screenshot just so happens to show the third line that was completely obscured previously! Thus, the full known conversation with Tim's Friend in Prototype Subcon Forest is as follows:

If you want a bit of advice, then stay on the path.
The people here get... kind of crazy when they leave the path.
Don't tell anyone, but this isn't a real place.

The new line is strange, as it essentially claims that the level isn't real. What this means has never been officially confirmed by the developers.

Another screenshot shown in the video, showing Hat Kid talking to a Forest Dweller that Jonas did not in his developer video. The dialogue this Forest Dweller speaks could be found leftover in some early prerelease builds.

The remaining new screenshots are all from a scrapped sequence at the entrance to Subcon Village, showing a Forest Dweller who is planning to escape being attacked by Moonjumper's strings coming out of a portal in the sky. The Forest Dweller is then brainwashed into thinking that it wants to stay in Subcon Village forever. The dialogue for this sequence could be found in the Cosmo Prototype.

The portal shown was not seen in any other prerelese material.

On July 27 2013, Gears For Breakfast announced that they successfully got greenlit on Steam Greenlight. To celebrate, a video was uploaded showcasing a very early version of Queen Vanessa's Manor, alongside Jonas talking a bit about the game.

Throughout the whole video, different music for the level can be heard, and was composed by Eric Gleiser.

Prototype (Eric Gleiser)	Final (Pascal Stiefel)

This track was released as part of his An OST in Time album in 2018.

At 0:38 into the video, Vanessa can be heard speaking one of her unused lines that can be found leftover in the final game's Modding Tools.

The footage begins with Hat Kid at the start of the manor, in the cellar. Numerous differences can be observed.

• The water is blue compared to its orange color it would have in the Alpha builds onwards.
  
• There's no candles on the walls, and there's seemingly no staircase behind Hat Kid.
  
• There are no Pons in the level.
  
• There's no caustics on the walls.
  
• The arrangement of barrels near the key is different compared to the Alpha builds. In the footage, there's a small barrel near the wall on the left, two small barrels next to the shelf the key sits on, and one larger barrel directly to the shelf's right. In the Alpha, there is one large barrel up against the wall on the left, and another large barrel in front of the shelf.
  
• There is no pipe running through some parts of the cellar. There is also no crack in the ceiling.
  
• The large doors are textureless at this point, as are many parts of the level. The door model is also slightly different, lacking some definition.
  
• There is no pipe at the front of the room, next to the door that leads to the key area. The wall that divides the key area from the rest of the cellar is also not modeled in the middle.
  
• The three large barrels next to the door that leads out of the cellar are missing in the footage.
  
• The animation for opening a door is different. In the footage, the door flies open wildly, as if it were kicked open. By the Alpha builds, Hat Kid gently opens and closes each door much more slowly.
  
• When Hat Kid brings the key to the locked door in the cellar, an interesting white material shader effect envelopes the entire door and the door then disappears. By the Alpha builds, the door just swings open and remains visible.
  

The footage then cuts past what would be Hat Kid's initial encounter with Queen Vanessa, moving directly into the study.

• The study is very blue. Several decorations are using default textures that contribute to this color scheme, but the walls and floor are actually using textures seen in the Alpha builds. By the Alpha builds, the room would gain a wooden floor and a green color scheme for the walls.
  
• There doesn't appear to be any stoned victims of Queen Vanessa's magic yet.
  
• There are candles on some walls, but they do not yet have fire particles.
  
• There's a portrait shown in the top left corner of the study that shows the moon. In the Alpha builds, this became a portrait of Vanessa and the prince.
  
• The arrangement of books on the bookshelf is different.
  
• The piano and piano bench are using very basic models at this point.
  
• The vase next to the bookcase that borders the kitchen is larger than its appearance in later builds.
  

The kitchen has a few differences as well.

• The fridge's shape is a rectangular cube. In the Alpha, it has a rectangular shape but has smooth edges.
  
• There's a tall, rounded structure on the right that doesn't appear in any future build. According to concept art, this was intended to be a storage shelf.
  
• The kitchen table has a different design, and can be hid under.
  
• The candelabra on the table is just three separate candles.
  
• The floor tiles in the kitchen are smaller and more numerous in the footage.
  

For a brief moment, during a cutscene that plays when Hat Kid first enters the study, the game room can be seen.

• The locked door here has a completely different design than even the one in the cellar. It takes on a metal appearance, appearing thick and sturdy. A large circular lock is in the middle of it.
  
• The carpet in front of the locked door is red instead of purple, and has a different design.
  
• There is more furniture in the room that was removed before the Alpha builds. There are red-cushioned chairs around the circular table seen on the right, there's a couch to the right of the door that was removed and replaced with the dartboard, and there's a small table to the left of the door. A rug sits in the middle of the room as well, and was removed by the Alpha. This layout of furniture, as it turns out, is actually very faithful to the original concept art layout that was made for the level.
  
• The room, much like the study, takes on a very blue appearance. By the Alpha builds, it would gain a red color scheme for the walls and a wooden floor.
  

On July 28 2013, Jonas posted this screenshot on his Tumblr, Twitter, and the game's Facebook page:

Hat Kid is covered in bad chocolate, likely due to battling the Toilet of Doom given that the background appears to show a forest trap arena active. This shader actually still exists in the final game, unused but fully functional.