- 2 Year Anniversary - Demo Released - 8 December 2023
Hi all. It's been a while. I've been rather busy with a lot of other things and that has taken me away from game development for a while. Hopefully that will be changing soon and I can get back to working on something new. In the meantime. Reflex is coming up to it's 2 anniversary - and so I thought I'd make a few changes. A demo version of the game is now available to download via the Reflex itch.io page. This version allows you to try out the first 16 levels of the game. Progress is continued to the full version if you decide to buy it. The itch.io version has been updated slightly. It's just a small patch that changes the head start time between sub-levels (levels that contain more than one floor) from 10 seconds to 5 seconds. This is because I felt that the pause was too long. As this is the only change you could keep using the previous build to keep those extra 5 seconds - I won't…
- Quick Fix Patch - 9 March 2023
Just a quick patch to fix the 10 second head-start fix that was applied during the QOL update not resetting properly if the level was restarted. Level 5.23 has also been tweaked slightly to lower the difficulty on the 4th floor.
- Reflex - Quality of Life Update - 5 March 2023
This is a relatively small update that makes a few improvements to the game: Adjusted the texture page compression to increase loading speed - this is especially noticeable on the Android version. For levels that feature more than 1 floor there is now a 10 second head-start to allow you to plan your strategy. It was felt that this would be a useful change to avoid frustration for players that aren't quite as quick at dealing with sudden level changes.
- Updated Gameplay Trailer - 29 August 2022
Since the launch of the game about 7 months ago I've been wanting to update the gameplay trailer so that it is easier to see what's going on if you only play it inside the Steam windows (instead of full screen). Finally, I've managed to grab some time to be able to do it. The new trailer replaces the previous one so you can check it out on the main store page for the game.
- Reflex - Dev Diary 84 - 20 May 2022
Slow going at Amazon App HQ, but the game is finally available for Amazon Fire tablets (Fire OS 6+). https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09YNWSC2B
- Reflex – Dev Diary 83 - 9 May 2022
Finally, after a week or so of battling it out with the Google Cloud verification team Reflex is available on the Google Play store. The Android version is identical visually to the Windows version except you play by tapping the game board and dragging the screen around with your finger. The Android version also supports vibrations for when a missile is destroyed (can be turned off); it also supports Google Achievements. The game can be purchased from the store by clicking here. For full details on the game, visit the Reflex product page.
- Game Update 1.0.2.2001 - 21 April 2022
The game will no longer hurt your ears and attempt to play dozens of explosion sounds when you have multiple missiles in play when the timer runs out. On rare occasions, the level music would stop playing after a level had been failed. This has been fixed.
- Game Update 1.0.1.1985 - 9 April 2022
Tweak level 4.14 to make it fairer Change texture sheet compression for faster load times Tweak the final level to correct issues with timing on the final section Fix the game completed message that is displayed when loading or starting a new game.
- Reflex has left Early Access - 26 March 2022
It is with great pleasure that I can now announce that the Steam version of Reflex has left Early Access and is complete. This has been quite the passion project for me, and I am extremely happy with the final product. Hopefully, you guys will be too. The official release version had the following alterations and tweaks from the last EA version: All 102 levels available Fix holder that cannot be deconstructed if it is interacting with 2+ missiles Increase max missile count to 16 Remove missile speed limiting on collision with another missile Finished all levels at 3 star rating on steam build – phew! Fix final achievement Prevent earthquakes from happening between level transitions Add stats to control steam achievements as they were broken! Fix other achievements Tweak timing on 5.18 Add screenwipe to ar ident Another attempt to hide the pause between the main menu pages Remove early a…
- Reflex - Developer Diary 77 - 20 March 2022
This week continues the final stages of development for Reflex. The focus this time has been on Achievements for the Steam and Google Play versions of the game. First up was to get an official build ready for submission to Google Play. Thankfully YoYoGames has a reasonably helpful document about setting up a game and integrating the extension. The downside is the supplied game project that is supposed to explain how it works is badly documented. Anyway, the process for signing up to be a Google Play developer is a long and particularly complex affair. And once again required a whole new set of graphics and the achievement icons all needed to be saved out at yet another resolution. After about 4 hours the process was complete and I had set up Reflex on Google Play for internal testing. Next came the process of getting a build onto the Google Play store so I could install it on my tablet…
- Reflex - Developer Diary 76 - 13 March 2022
Another very busy week of development. This time focused on polishing the game and getting things ready for the full release. The objectives panel displayed in the game has been given a new lick of paint. The expanding box has been replaced with a much sleeker-looking design, and the level complete and fail displays have been given some nice new icons. The fail display tells the player what happened and has a new music track. There are now level-specific tips rather than just displaying a random notice – which often meant telling the player about laser fences in world 1 (which is obviously wrong). The completion page has a much nicer animated star rating display. The screen wipe effect is now timed based on the resolution you’re playing the game; this means it’s not really slow on 4K monitors. There has also been a number of bug fixes this week: World select button was causing a strange…
- Reflex – Dev Diary 75 - 6 March 2022
It has been a very busy few days of development for Reflex. I have finished polishing the outro sequence and added in a short post-credits scene (it doesn’t hint at a sequel), and I’m entering the final stages of the game. Firstly, following on from last weekend all the tutorials have been recreated as animated sequences replacing all the videos and stills used. This means that the Android version will also benefit from having animated tutorials! The code for playing the sequences in place was a little tricky. GameMaker doesn’t give any control over the drawing process of sequences when using sprites (as opposed to objects), instead, they are just drawn during the usual layers draw event. The problem here is that the location of the tutorials is supposed to be on the GUI layer. Without it being on the GUI layer the tutorial is drawn behind the information panel and behind the full-scree…
- Reflex – Dev Diary 74 – Tutorials Mk2 - 27 February 2022
This week saw the release of a new version of GameMaker Studio 2 that changed a few things that affect Reflex. Firstly, the Steamworks integration has been removed from the core and replaced with an extension. In many ways, this is actually a good idea because it means that the compiled games that don’t need Steam no longer have those commands compiled making for a smaller executable. However, it did mean a fair amount of setting up and re-coding here and there to get the update working with Reflex. The other change is GMS now defaults to x64 compiling on Windows. Reflex up to this point has been compiled as x86 (32Bit) because the video player needed to show the tutorials only has a 32bit dll. It has been on my mind for a while that this isn’t an ideal situation. However, the only way to get around this limitation would be to remove the video player extension and change the way the tut…
- Developer Diary 73 - 13 February 2022
World 5 level testing continues, albeit slowly. The levels are really quite complicated and that means it takes quite a few attempts at getting everything right. A lot of the time I sketch a level plan and on paper, it all looks absolutely fine. However, when you get to actually play it you realise that the level is in fact completely impossible. I then spend some time refining it to make sure it can actually be done. The initial testing on levels up to 5.21 has now been done and is awaiting playtester approval. Just 3 more levels to finalise! A few bug fixes were needed this week (they only apply to world 5 environments, fortunately). The launchpads when triggered create an invisible collision box behind where they were. This is to ensure that if the player guides the missile back out of the base it is eventually destroyed. Unfortuantely, one map on world 5 (so far) had the launch pad…
- Patch EA2.1 - 7 February 2022
Fixed an issue that would prevent tutorial videos from playing properly
- Reflex Developer Diary 72 - 6 February 2022
A new update for Game Maker Studio 2 was released this week. Usually, that’s not a problem and Reflex doesn’t have any issues. However, this time compilation of the game into native code failed. After a quick post on the YoYoGames forum I was informed that the error I was getting from the compiler was because somewhere in my game I was using ++ or — in a function call. This is not something I personally would have done but there is code from a few extensions I’m using that might. To be on the safe side I changed all instances of ‘variable++’ and ‘variable–‘ to ‘variable+=1’ instead. This corrected the problem and I was able to recompile the game. Next up was to try out a new build for the forthcoming Android version. Again, with the new version the compilation failed. This time it was complaining that it needed Java 11 and I was using 1.8?! I ended up having to uninstall Android Studio…
- Early Access v2 released - 4 February 2022
The next big update for Reflex is now available. This version adds a ton of new features and fixes: World 4 is now available to play (up to level 4.23) New music plays when the timer gets below 30 seconds to add tension Fixed an issue where the level wouldn't fail if a duplicator still had charges and the timer had run out Laser turrets now have a visual display to see when they will be powered up again between firing Add GameMaker Studio 2 logo to logo animation intro Added sub-level doors to ensure each floors objectives are completed before proceeding to the next floor and also to ensure the missile cannot be sent back up (not that that was an option) A holographic display has been added to the world server (level 24 on each world) to show the route to the next world (story helper) There's a load of other changes and updates that you can read about via the Reflex blog or more recentl…
- Reflex - Dev Diary 71 - 30 January 2022
Early Access version 2 will be released next week. This update brings in the World 4 levels to the game. This world adds in new features such as phasing laser fences, gun turrets, the holder component, and smoke vents. My playtester has just a few more levels to complete and then we’re good to go. World 5 development continues and the testing is going well. Looking ahead I’m not sure that I’ll be able to meet the March deadline, but it shouldn’t be much longer than that. My guess would be late April for the full release. Over the last 2 weeks, I’ve been putting together the outro sequence which I think is coming along nicely. Obviously, I can’t reveal any details as that would spoil the ending of the game. This weekend I’ve been going through some blender 3D tutorials for creating a big explosion that I can convert to a sprite sheet to use for the outro. However, I have hit a bit of a w…
- Reflex – Dev Diary 70 - 16 January 2022
Smaller update this week than I would have liked. I received my booster covid-19 shot last week and it took a lot out of me. Still better than getting the virus though. Anyway. This week I have finally finished sketching up the last level of the game. It’s going to be one heck of a level. It spans 4 floors and involves just about everything the game has to offer. It’s certainly going to be very interesting playtesting it in a few weeks time. As well as that playtesting of the World 4 maps continues and I believe we’re just over halfway through. I myself have tested all the levels in world 4 but I use my results to work out the 3-star timings rather than as proof that the average player can complete them. For that, my friend steps in and plays. He has a very different way of looking at the puzzles and that helps me to make sure that things don’t go wrong and that the puzzles do actually…
- Reflex – Dev Diary 69 – 2022 - 9 January 2022
So here we are with the first developer diary of 2022. This is going to be a short one as I’ve only just returned to developing the game following my break for the Xmas holidays. Playtesting of World 4 levels continues and is progressing well. I’m hopeful that they will be ready to go by mid-February at the latest. If it takes a bit longer than that World 5 and the final release may be pushed a little bit further than March, but I’m still confident that the game should be complete before the end of April. One change I have made to the game that will be in the next early access update is to add a holographic display to the world server. The final level of each world (excluding the first) contains a world server this serves as a final mission that gives information to where the next world is on the path towards the enemy. I felt that something was missing and it needed to convey that info…
