Deckis Platformer
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android
A fast platformer built from nothing for the PS Vita. No game engine, no graphics library, no sound files and no image files. Every platform, every enemy, every note of music and every pixel on screen is produced by its own engine while you play. It runs at 60 frames per second.
10 WORLDS | 50 LEVELS | 10 BOSSES | 12 ENEMY TYPES | 3 MODES | 21 MUSIC TRACKS | SHOP | HARD MODE | GHOST RACING
THREE MODES
Fifty levels spread over ten worlds. Every level is fixed, so the same level looks exactly the same on every console and for every player. That is what makes stars, times and ghost runs fair. Each level gives you three lives. From the third world onward extra hearts appear inside the levels. The fifth level of every world is a boss fight.
One long random run from the start to the finish flag. The level is generated fresh every time. There are no lives here, a hit sends you back to your last checkpoint. Your score rewards a fast time and a lot of coins and punishes deaths.
The level builds itself in front of you and never ends. Old parts behind you are thrown away so it can run forever. You have three lives, and the difficulty keeps climbing the further you get, which also brings in the tougher enemy types.
STARS AND PROGRESS
Every level in the Levels mode holds three stars.
| ◆ | Reach the goal at the end of the level |
| ◆ | Collect every single coin in the level |
| ◆ | Finish under the target time shown in the level select |
That makes 150 stars in total. Beating a level unlocks the next one. Your best time per level is kept, and beating a boss unlocks that world's music track for the other two modes.
CONTROLS
| LEFT STICK or D PAD | Move left and right |
| CROSS | Jump. Hold it longer to jump higher |
| SQUARE | Sprint |
| R | Dash. One charge, it refills when you touch ground or a wall |
| TRIANGLE | Turn the music on and off |
| START | Pause |
| SELECT | Restart the current level |
Jump into a wall to slide down it slowly, then press jump again to climb it. You still get a short moment to jump after you run off an edge, and a jump pressed just before you land is remembered, so the controls forgive small mistakes.
COLLECTIBLES
| ◆ | COIN | The currency of the game. Spend them in the shop. Collecting all of them in a level earns a star |
| ◆ | SHIELD | Absorbs exactly one hit, then it is gone |
| ◆ | DOUBLE JUMP | A second jump in mid air for a while |
| ◆ | SPEED BOOST | Run faster for a while, useful for the time star |
| ◆ | EXTRA HEART | One more life, up to a maximum of five. Appears from the third world onward and never in Hard Mode |
PLATFORMS
| ◆ | GROUND | Solid from every side |
| ◆ | FLOATING | You can jump up through it from below and land on top |
| ◆ | WALL | Solid column, made for wall sliding and wall jumping |
| ◆ | HAZARD | Always the same orange in every world so you spot it instantly. Touching it sends you back to the checkpoint |
| ◆ | CRUMBLING | Shakes as soon as you stand on it, then falls away and rebuilds itself later |
| ◆ | BOUNCE PAD | Throws you far higher than a normal jump |
| ◆ | CHECKPOINT FLAG | Grey while inactive, gold and waving once you touch it. This is where a fall puts you back |
Some platforms move sideways or up and down, and you ride along with them properly instead of sliding off.
ENEMIES
Most enemies die if you land on their head, and the bright stripe on top marks that weak spot. A dash also destroys them. Enemies without a stripe cannot be beaten at all, so keep away from those.
| ◆ | WALKER | Paces back and forth on its platform |
| ◆ | JUMPER | Hops in a steady rhythm, so wait for the beat |
| ◆ | CHASER | Patrols calmly until you get close, then sprints straight at you |
| ◆ | FLYER | Floats up and down above hazards, usually right where you want to jump |
| ◆ | SAW | Fast spinning blade with a dark core. It has no weak spot at all |
| ◆ | WORM | A chain of five segments that crawls all the way around its platform, over the top and along the underside. Only the bright head can be stomped |
| ◆ | SPITTER | Sits still and fires green shots sideways once you are on its level. A dash smashes the shots |
| ◆ | GHOST | Half transparent, drifts slowly toward you and passes straight through walls and floors |
| ◆ | BOMBER | Cruises high above wide ground and drops bombs with a burning fuse |
| ◆ | SPIKER | Walks and raises three spikes in a steady cycle. While the spikes are out you cannot land on it, so wait for the bright stripe to come back |
| ◆ | CHARGER | Waits, flashes while it takes aim, then shoots across the whole platform at high speed. The flashing is your warning |
| ◆ | ORBITING SAW | A saw that circles its platform like the worm does. It cannot be beaten either, you have to time your way past it |
BOSSES
The fifth level of every world ends in an arena. The way back and the way forward stay locked until the boss falls. All ten follow one rule you can learn: they attack in waves, then drop to the ground exhausted and their eye turns yellow. That is your window. Land on the head or dash into it. Power ups keep falling into the arena during the fight, and a shield is the most common one while an extra heart is the rarest.
Between them the bosses use nine attack types, from spreading rings and aimed volleys to spike rain across the arena, arcing bombs, slow homing orbs, a saw blade that rolls along the floor and bounces off the walls, and a flat lance fired at exactly your height. Every boss draws from its own selection and shifts the order after each weak phase, so the same sequence never repeats.
| SLAMMER | Hovers over you and crashes into the floor, sending shock waves out to both sides |
| STINGER | Sweeps across the top of the arena and rains spikes down while it moves |
| SPLITTER | Fires aimed volleys and gets smaller and faster with every hit it takes |
| ORBITER | Stands in the middle with two shields circling around it. The shields hurt, so you have to find the gap |
| THE CORE | Follows you slowly and mixes rings, volleys and ground waves |
| LANCER | Races along the floor and bounces off the arena walls. Jump over it and count the impacts |
| HORNET | Stays high and fires quick bursts down at an angle |
| PILLAR | Never moves and never stops shooting. Waves, rings and rolling saws in turn |
| PHANTOM | Teleports to the other side of you and fires the moment it reappears |
| OVERLORD | The final boss. Seven hits, six different attacks, and below half health it chains an extra volley onto every second attack |
SHOP
Coins you collect anywhere are spent here on ten hats for your cube. They are cosmetic only and they show up everywhere, including on the ghost of your best run.
| NO HAT | free from the start |
| CAP | 400 coins |
| TOP HAT | 900 coins |
| HEADPHONES | 1500 coins |
| CROWN | 2400 coins |
| VIKING HELM | 3400 coins |
| PROPELLER | 4600 coins |
| HALO | 6000 coins |
| SAMURAI HELM | 7800 coins |
| FLAME CROWN | 9900 coins |
OPTIONS
| DIFFICULTY | Normal or Hard Mode. Hard Mode gives you a single life and removes every shield and every heart from the game, so one hit ends the attempt. Levels you clear that way are counted separately |
| CUBE COLOR | Ten colours from blue to black, plus a shining gold that is locked until you reach one hundred percent, meaning all 150 stars and all 50 levels beaten in Hard Mode |
| GHOST | Turns the ghost of your best run on or off |
| MUSIC | Music on or off. Sound effects always stay on |
GHOST RACING
Every run in the Levels mode is recorded ten times per second. Whenever you set a new best time the run is stored, and on your next attempt it races along beside you as a half transparent cube in your own colour. The corner of the screen tells you whether you are ahead or behind right now.
MUSIC
Twentyone chiptune tracks, all written into the game as note data and played by a synthesizer that runs on its own thread. There is one track per world, one battle track per boss and a menu theme. Every world plays its own track automatically, and the arena switches to the battle track the moment the fight starts. Beating a boss unlocks that world's track for Challenge and Endless, where you pick it in the music menu.
SCORES
The scores screen keeps the five best runs for Challenge and for Endless with score, time, coins and deaths. Below that it tracks the Levels mode: stars out of 150, levels cleared out of 50, how many of them were perfect, how many were beaten in Hard Mode, and your coins split into available, earned and spent.
INSTALL
Copy the vpk onto your Vita and install it with VitaShell. You need firmware 3.60 or higher with HENkaku or Enso. Everything the game saves lives in one folder, ux0:/data/deckisplatformer, which holds your save file and your ghost runs. Delete that folder to start completely fresh.
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
very good speedrun. playing on ps vita, cheers!
thank you and enjoy