VHOLUME
FORM FORM G-01RECEIVING

Beginner Guide

Controls, momentum rules, the quest structure, and your first three hours. Written for people who just got DENIED.

Permit Plaza: the queue starts here and ends on the roof
▲ Steam screenshot — Permit Plaza: the queue starts here and ends on the roof

Default bindings (remappable, but the community runs these)

KeyActionNotes
WASDMoveNo acceleration curve — speed is pure momentum; slow starts are by design
SpaceJumpPress again 0.2s before landing to window a second wall-kick
ShiftSlideFree speed downhill; costs speed on flat — unless chained into a jump
CtrlCrouch/RollLow profile for ducts and counters; press on landing to cancel the stumble
EInteract/SubmitShared by all windows; with a form in hand E means SUBMIT, not talk
RRestart segmentThe timer's best friend: keeps progress, resets only the current split

The three real momentum rules (the game won't tell you)

1

Speed only ratchets up (on matching surfaces)

Running has a hidden cap, but downhill slides and ledge-refreshes bypass it — that's the "somehow I'm still accelerating" secret, and the foundation of every gold line.

2

Landings cost 0.3s of slow frames

Every landing cuts speed 30%; a roll (Ctrl) cancels it entirely. Every "drop into roll" in target-time routes is necessity, not style.

3

Altitude is speed

Fall from three stories and the velocity converts straight into a slide — the outer Vertical Records line survives entirely on "suicide drops into rolls". Sounds wrong; the frame table agrees.

The bureaucratic quest chain, end to end

  1. V-27 Ration Restoration Application

    Receiving Hall · Window 3

    The opening task. Getting DENIED is part of the plot — go file C-9.

  2. C-9 Proof of Residency (+3 annexes)

    Vertical Records · Records Office

    Annexes hide on the top shelf / in the elevator shaft / on the outer ledge. The third one teaches you to climb.

  3. D-14 Duct Passage Permit

    Underducts · gate booth

    The only "door" down there. Skip it with a jump if you dare — see the 340-reply thread.

  4. P-03 Stamp Appointment Slip

    Permit Plaza · queue machine

    Take a number, then don't queue: the line is decoration, the counter-hop chain is the way (Routes page).

  5. Z-01 Archival Request

    Central Archive · main desk

    The last form. Hand it in and — well, see the Lore page for what happens.

Your first three hours

Hour 1

Receiving Hall + lower Vertical Records. Drill exactly two things: slide-into-jump, landing roll. Ignore the clock.

Hour 2

Upper Records + the annex trio. Start using R on segments — build the habit now, thank yourself in time trials.

Hour 3

Take one shot at Records silver (4:30). Silver means momentum clicked; the Underducts awaits your corpse.

Window Q&A

My form got DENIED — what now?

APPROVED

Window clerk: "File the next one." No penalty exists — denial is part of the chain, not failure. You'll be denied 5 times across the run; each denial opens the next district.

Does the free demo carry over?

APPROVED

Yes. Clear Receiving Hall in the demo and the full game starts at the Vertical Records entrance with V-27 stamped "received". Officially confirmed (Steam announcement), not community superstition.

Is falling out of the map cheating?

PENDING

Gray zone. You respawn at the last checkpoint with your timer intact — so "deliberate void skips" are legal strategy in places. The leaderboard only bans one thing: clipping inside collision.

Why can't I beat bronze?

APPROVED

Nine times out of ten: no landing rolls. Controlled data: same player, only habit added = Ctrl on landing, Records time improves by 47s on average. Fix that before blaming the route.