∮ Flux Studios · Color It Company LLC
LAUNCHUP
Game Manual · First Edition

Available on Steam
Chapter 01
The World & Your Mission
"The Lattice was built to reach something. Nobody remembers what. After the collapse, the platforms kept floating — suspended in the orange void between the crystal walls. The only way out was always the same: up." — Found inscription, Level 1 Entry Platform

You awaken on the lowest platform of the Lattice — a vast vertical labyrinth of emissive cyan platforms, crystal formations, and ancient machinery that has long since turned hostile. The ground below offers nothing but a death plane. The sky above holds the only exit.

Climb. Score. Survive. There is no down.

Chapter 02
Controls

Movement

W A S D Move forward / left / back / right
SPACE Jump
MOUSE Look / aim
SHIFT Sprint (2× speed)

System

ESC Pause / menu
F1 Close active panel
F2 Video settings
F4 Fly mode (spectate)
TIP

Mouse sensitivity can be adjusted in the F2 video settings panel. RTX reflections and GI samples are also tunable from the same menu — lower them on weaker hardware for a smoother frame rate.

Chapter 03
Core Mechanics

Jump Physics

8.5
Jump Velocity
0.15s
Coyote Time
0.12s
Jump Buffer

Coyote time means you can jump for a brief window after walking off a platform edge — the game remembers you were grounded and allows the jump. This rewards confident movement.

Jump buffering means pressing Space just before you land will automatically trigger a jump on landing. Chain jumps by pressing Space slightly early rather than waiting to feel the ground.

TIP

Hold your jump button to reach maximum height. Short-tapping produces a shallow hop; holding gives full arc. Master both for precise platform routing.

Game States

Exploring
Climbing & scoring
— fall below
Y = −5m →
Dead
Score frozen
— automatic
respawn →
Respawning
Return to checkpoint
DANGER

The death plane sits at Y = −5 metres. Falling below this threshold instantly triggers the Dead state. Watch your footing on narrow platforms — there are no guardrails in the Lattice.

Platform Grounding

The engine uses a five-point ground cast — one centre point plus four corners of your footprint. This means you can stand reliably on platform edges and small surfaces without sliding off. Use narrow ledges and jutting corners as emergency footholds.

Chapter 04
Scoring System

Your score is tied directly to how high you climb. The Lattice rewards altitude above all else.

Height climbed 100 pts / metre
Reach new personal best height Bonus multiplier
Complete the level goal pad Stage clear bonus
Death (fall below Y = −5m) Score frozen at peak

Your HUD displays your current score and current height in real-time. Score is calculated from your highest point reached during the run — dying and respawning does not erase your peak height score.

STRATEGY

Even failed runs accumulate score. On a fresh level, prioritise reaching new heights quickly rather than perfecting each platform — every metre you haven't reached before is guaranteed new points.

Chapter 05
Hazards & Obstacles

The Lattice machinery has been running without maintenance for longer than anyone knows. Much of it wants to push you back down.

Pendulum Hammer

A heavy mallet mounted on an arm, swinging in a fixed arc across a gap or vertical shaft. Predictable rhythm — study the swing, wait for the backswing, then cross. Common in corridor sections.

Rotating Cube Cluster

Multiple dark cubes orbiting a central axis with emissive ring markers. The cluster rotates continuously and fills vertical jump lanes. Time your jumps through the gaps between cubes rather than trying to avoid the whole cluster.

Flail & Mace

A spiked ball on a chain, swung in wide arcs. Appears in late-level challenge sections and boss approaches. The chain radius is larger than it looks — give it full clearance. These typically guard high-value height gains near the goal platform.

Void Shaft

Open vertical drops between platform clusters. These are not obstacles themselves but fall hazards — miss a jump and there may be no platform below to catch you. Map the route before committing to a cross-gap jump.

Crystal Formations

Purple amethyst crystals embedded in walls and rising from platforms. Purely environmental — they cannot harm you, but they do obstruct sightlines and can confuse depth perception. Use the glow as a navigational landmark.

WARNING

Contact with any moving obstacle kills instantly — there are no hit points. One touch returns you to the dead state. Don't get greedy near rotating hazards; the gap you saw the first time may not be there on your next pass.

Chapter 06
Level 1 — The Lower Lattice
"The first level doesn't teach you the rules. The platforms do. By the time you reach 26 metres you'll have learned everything the Lattice ever needed to say." — Axiom Fragment, Level 1 Entry

Overview

The Lower Lattice is an ascending corridor of 17 platforms rising through warm orange walls lit from within. Cyan emissive platforms provide landing surfaces; purple crystal formations line the walls as ambient markers. The environment transitions from open wide platforms near the base to narrow suspended pads near the top.

17
Platforms
26.5m
Goal Height
2,650
Max Height Score

Route Notes

Art Direction

The palette is warm orange walls with cool cyan platform emissives and purple accent crystals. The contrast between the warm enclosing walls and the cold floating platforms is intentional — the path is cyan, the world is orange, and the crystals tell you where to look.

Chapter 07
Advanced Techniques
ROUTE

Look up before you jump. The emissive cyan tops of platforms are visible from below — plan your route two or three platforms ahead rather than reacting to each jump as it comes.

TIMING

Use the jump buffer. When approaching a platform edge at speed, press Space 0.1 seconds before landing to auto-trigger on contact. This removes hesitation from back-to-back jumps.

EDGE WORK

The five-point ground cast means platform edges are fully usable. A corner-land is still a land. You don't need to centre yourself on every platform — running across the very lip of a platform is valid and often faster.

OBSTACLE

Rotating hazards have consistent timing. If you miss the window, wait for the next full rotation — forcing a gap that isn't there is the most common death in mid and late sections.

SCORE

Your peak height score persists across deaths in a run. After a respawn you don't need to reclimb cautiously — sprint back to your last position to resume scoring new altitude quickly.

Chapter 08
Ra Engine & RTX Graphics

Launch Up runs on Ra Engine, a custom Vulkan 1.4 renderer with hardware ray tracing. The visual quality you see is physically simulated — every shadow, reflection, and emissive glow is calculated via RTX ray tracing in real-time.

Key Visual Features

Performance Settings (F2 Menu)

NOTE

Ra Engine targets RTX 2060 class hardware. Arc A380 and RX 6600 are also supported. On lower-spec cards, disabling GI samples and reflections provides the largest frame rate improvement while retaining the theatrical emissive lighting feel.