ANKEPs Demo

https://discord.gg/x2dPECQRdt

Hello and welcome to the demo! Please keep in mind that this game is still very early in development, so don't expect everything to be perfect. The main goals of this demo are 1 basically tell people this game exists and I've made progress on it 2 mark a milestone in development 3 get feedback on primarily the movement and mechanics.

This ended up being a little long, so if you don't have all the time in the world, you can skim the first bits, read controls, and stop there. It's still best if you read the whole thing. Also, this page is subject to change whenever I feel like it.

Being so early in development, some things will be, well, bad. This includes but is not limited to:
-Graphics. This is barely enough to tell what's going on.
-Audio. There is none currently.
-Camera. It's alright, but it's not great.
-Performance. I honestly have no idea how this will run on other devices.
-Graphics. Please just don't say anything about the graphics, you won't really make me feel bad but it's not helpful.

PLEASE GIVE ME FEEDBACK!!!

HOW TO GIVE ME FEEDBACK:
Ideally, sending me stuff on discord in the #feedback or #playtesting channel in my discord: https://discord.gg/x2dPECQRdt. You can also comment on the itch page if you want, or DM me/respond in whatever server or platform you found this from. You can also chat with me about it on discord. Please give AS MUCH FEEDBACK AS POSSIBLE!!! A facecam + screen recording where you're talking about the game the whole time and full analysis is *ideal*, but clearly that's not reasonable, so general feedback, screen recording plus maybe voice recording, or really whatever is totally fine. Give feedback on everything from movement to level design to mechanics, except avoid graphics and audio because I know they're bad.

Some info about the game:
ANKEPs (I kinda hate that title btw but it's all I have right now) is a 2D platformer with an emphasis on aerial movement. While most games have something like a jump, double jump, and maybe a dash, ANKEPs has 3 distinct movement options that can often be used multiple times before landing, as well as the ability to cling to ceilings. While not intentionally designed for this, I expect that most if not all levels in the final game will be possible without ever touching the ground. Hopefully, when I'm ready for release, it'll be on itch and steam, for something like 5 USD.

Controls:
Just a note, the demo has controller support in theory, but I haven't been able to fully test it, so if you are able, please try using a controller. Face buttons will be East/West/North/South.
There are 3 control schemes, all simultaneously active: WASD, Arrow Keys, and Controller. The controls will be stated in that order.

Move: A/D, Right/Left, Dpad or Joystick Right/Left

Ceiling cling/claw latch: W, Up, Up

Drop from claw: U/S, B/Down, East/Down

Flip: I, C, North

Spin: O, X, West

Burst: J, V, South

Respawn: Ctrl+Z (both at once), ditto, both bumpers at once

Interact with green launchers: U, B, East

Also, some buttons may be mapped to things that are no longer part of the game, you probably won't encounter them but ignore them.

MECHANICS:

There's something like a tutorial in the demo, but it's still useful to explain stuff here. Your main moves, burst, flip, and spin, all have different uses for movement. Flip (bluish) sends you upward, spin (purple) sends you forward and diagonally upward, and burst (yellow) gives you a bit of height and allows you to reorient yourself in the air. Their grounded forms are somewhat different (burst is VERY different, and I'm honestly not sure what to do with it so I made it closer to a standard jump) and don't count against air uses. When used in the air, a counter decreases, currently shown at the top but it will later be integrated into the character's design. When that counter gets to 0, that move can't be used any longer until you recharge. Ways to recharge fully include touching the ground, touching the ceiling, flipping over a corner (not the move flip, I just don't know what else to call it), and entering a claw/getting close enough to enter it. However, if you use a move on an enemy or level gimmick (more info later), it will recharge only that move. In the first level, you'll get one of each move, and in the second, you'll get 1 flip, 2 spins, and 3 bursts, which is the balance of moves I've tested the most. Also, you can stick to ceilings by holding 'up'.

When you enter a checkpoint, you can respawn there with Ctrl+Z if you've been hit at least once since entering a checkpoint OR if you're on the ground/ceiling. I'm still playing around with how exactly this mechanic should work, so suggestions are appreciated! It also goes with the health system I haven't implemented, so it may seem weird on the surface. You can also flip over ledges of platforms, just because it felt like it was needed during playtesting. You have to be holding forward for it to work. If you spin and then do another move right after while also holding forward, the momentum will carry and you'll get a slight height boost. This isn't and won't be required anywhere, but it flows much better.

There are a variety of level gimmicks already in the game, most of which are in the demo. The main one is the standard 'enemy', which you can hit with any of your main moves to defeat. To hit an enemy with a spin, simply spin right into it, the hitbox is right in front of where you're going. For flip, it's also where you're going, right above you. For burst, however, it's below you, more or less where the burst is.  You'll get sent upwards, and for spin also forward, when you hit any of these. You can also use them on 'logs', which function very similarly to enemies except that they're much wider, don't disappear, and you can't use spin on them. Poles are a little different, you can use spin but instead of going forward, you'll go around the pole and get sent backward. You can also flip and hold the button down to extend the flip, which is more obvious with taller poles. Bursts don't interact with poles. There are also launchers (those green things), press the 'use' button (U/B/East) to launch yourself in that direction. There are several kinds of platforms, only a few of which are showcased in the demo: conveyor floors and ceilings, ice ceilings (no floors), blinking blocks (appear and disappear on a timer), and blocks that disappear when you interact with them in various ways. There are also claws that do not serve as checkpoints.

KNOWN BUGS:
-Getting hit while on a moving ceiling does not deal knockback
-Spinning into a pole with the right spacing looks weird
-Sometimes launchers launch you in the wrong direction
-Hitting enemies with grounded flip was janky, I did a quick fix, hopefully it worked
-Grounded spin has a weird hitbox I think
-The very first obstacle is a little broken, I can't believe I missed that. The rest should be fine
-Not really a bug but the detection area for claws is too small. Try holding up instead of tapping it
-The game doesn't seem to function properly on mac :(
-Some stuff in the testing room that you won't see in the demo levels

OTHER STUFF:

If you're wondering why the colors of the itch page are so weird, they're all important in the game. Does purple, yellow, bluish sound familiar?

You might've noticed that I mixed up the order of burst, flip, and spin a lot here. That's intentional, sorta. They're all equally important when playing, so there's no order that I'm used to saying them in, it's more of whatever I think of first.

The testing room: yes, this is my testing room. It has at least one of every mechanic, in various states from fully functional to scrapped and I used that layer for something else and now they act really weird. There are some bits of level, but they were mostly to test mechanics and movement.

The numbers at the top can go up to their normal maximum plus one. This is intentional, unless they go 2 above their normal maximum or higher.

Level design: I'm still not completely sure how the level design is going to end up. Probably fairly linear, with plenty of checkpoints, but other than that I'm not sure. I'm thinking some levels will be 'tutorial' levels to introduce mechanics, and the majority will iterate on those mechanics. The level progression won't be linear though. Fell free to send me some suggestions!

Story: there's a ton of world lore, mostly created by accident, so there's that. It's where I got the name from. There isn't much 'story' yet though, more like a lot of worldbuilding to put in.

If you are recording this to put in a video, or something along those lines, please make it clear that I know the art is bad. Also that it's early in development. But mostly that the art is bad.

I AM LOOKING FOR AN ARTIST. If you want to be the artist for this game, PLEASE DM me. I don't intend to go fully into the next phase of development yet, but still tell me.

DISCORD: https://discord.gg/x2dPECQRdt

I HAVE NO OTHER OUTLETS FOR NOW

Sorry this has been so long, I won't hold you any longer, now go play my game or else.