Hi there, long time no see! I guess the break between this and the previous news was the longest... Okay, okay. Jokes aside (but only for the next 1.5 minutes of reading this text), it's time to talk about the latest updates. Ukrainian translation added to the game! Thanks to PineappleMan (aka. NikolasTesla) for his work. And also many thanks for his contribution to the Discord server of the game as a moderator: only because of him the channel with a gallery, where all sent fan-arts are collected, is still active. By the way, we recently reached 2000 members! If you are not on our server yet, but would like to chat a bit with other fans of the game... the link is below. https://discord.gg/SG48X7h2q6 There's more news: you can now put the game and achievements from it on your profile showcase! This means that you can now remind yourself and your friends of the best choices you could make in this life.
And, before the promised Q&A, I'd like to mention one very cool video essay made by Bad Ghosts. It would be great to watch to revisit the Prototype ver., and also to listen to some pretty interesting thoughts on the story and the novel ifself. Highly recommended! [previewyoutube=i3Tk6etcjI8;full][/previewyoutube] [hr][/hr]

It's time for Q&A!

Q: How to replay the game?

A: In addition to the well-known (and painful) method of deleting persistent files, recently one of the players managed to reset the progress by changing one number in the version of the game. Detailed tutorial in this video: https://youtu.be/RXNXWmFyLtk?list=LL

Q: Will it be possible to reset a progress in the remake?

A: Yes, you will be able to. And in the remaster, too.

Q: How long did it take to write the story for the prototype, and to create it itself in general?

A: It took about 3-4 months to write the script. The text was done in about 2 weeks. I drew all the graphics in 3 days. The music was written in 1 day, and I built the game on the engine in about the same amount of time... Deadlines do wonders.

Q: How did you come up with the idea to create REFLEXIA?

A: It came out of a smooth metamorphosis of a completely different idea about girls in purgatory. Then I wrote a script from it about a girl and her alter ego trying to save her from her desire to disappear. After that, I got tired of the depressing tone of the story, so I turned it into a parody where the main character had to go on dates with her alter egos. Then I got bored with that version, too, because it was so depressingly boring to write the text for this script, so I decided to send the main character on a date with the reader. This idea turned out to be much more fun, and the plot remained purely comedic for a while... until I was hit with unrequited feelings that I couldn't and wouldn't show to anyone at the time. And that was how disks had created. And I came up with and wrote the whole thing just for a visual novel contest (which I later won, awesome!).

Q: Will the Prototype ver. ever have stuff in a points shop?

A: Unfortunately, no... Just because it's only for paid games or games with an in-game store. However, for the remake I think no problem!

Q: Will the game soundtrack ever be on Spotify?

A: Yes! I can't really give exact dates yet, but I will definitely make it in the future...

Q: Will Nikita Kryukov be involved in the remake as a composer?

A: Yes! He has already written quite a lot of compositions just for REFLEXIA, from which we will then select which ones will go into the game and which ones will not.

Q: Will there be the promised yuri harem in the remake? Will there be pantsu jokes? Will there be more jokes about breaking the fourth wall? And what about the men in the game?

A: Yuri harem will happen. Pantsu jokes can live without REFLEXIA, but REFLEXIA can't live without them. There will be as many fourth-wall jokes as I can come up with while I watch paint dry on that fourth wall. Men? I don't think there's much need for them inside the game when there's already plenty of them outside by the game on screen.

Q: How much ice cream will there be?

A: Yes.

Q: What about achievements? Will you add them to the game?

A: Definitely! There will certainly be as many of them as in the Prototype ver. originally.

Q: Will there be any secrets in the game files this time, the possibility to manipulate them in any way? For example, similar to what was in DDLC or OneShot.

A: I have a lot of ideas about it, so there will definitely be plenty to do outside of the game. At the same time, any exploration and experimentation in the project directory won't be required to complete the game, just to see a little bit of new content. Not much more than that.

Q: So there are hidden achievements in the plans that you get for special actions?

A: Yes! In addition to the already mentioned file manipulations, it will be possible to get them simply for special actions within the game. For example, for trying to break the dialog.

Q: The remake and remaster of REFLEXIA will be in RenPy too?

A: Nothing changes, both projects will remain on the old engine.

Q: Absolutely serious question: will there be a working autoread feature in the remake? Asking for anyone who like myself doesn't like skipping lines manually.

A: No. I don't think it makes any sense: there are too many choices in the game that this feature will bump into every time, still forcing you to go back to the mouse/spacebar.

Q: How many languages do you plan to translate the remake into?

A: In the long term, as many languages as possible, but how many will be on release is an another question. I still need to contact all the translators, which I'll do only after the English translation starts, so I won't promise anything yet... Anyway, it would be great to release the game with at least all the languages that are already in the Prototype ver.

Q: Would love to see the main characters interact with each other more...

A: No worries! While in the Prototype ver. they meet just once at the beginning of the second ending, in the remake their relationship will be one of the most important parts of the game. Although it may not seem that way at first...

Q: Will there be color experimentation in the new game like in the disk part? Will the palette be replenished?

A: Yes! And also yes, new colors will be introduced alongside blue in the remake.

Q: Besides the remaster and remake are there any other plans for the games?

A: I've fallen in love with REFLEXIA too much over the years to never go back to it again... However, for now I've decided that after the remake I want to definitely take a break from it. So even if I get ideas for new REFLEXIA games, it'll be a long time to wait for it. Regarding new games in general... I still have a dozen or so other stories that I'd like to make in one form or another. It's mostly visual novels, but future works (starting with the remake) will have more gameplay implementations. That said, there's no need to worry about this within the visual novel genre: I want any new gameplay mechanics to emphasize the narrative, not to replace it by turning the game into a simulator game of something like that with occasional text insertions.

Q: Where can I support you? The game is free and I can't find donation links anywhere.

A: Thank you for wanting to support REFLEXIA and me as an author even more!!! I've now set up my page on boosty for this purpose. You can use it to send me some donation or make a subscription to the weekly development report. If enough people get interested in subscribing, I'll add more levels and rewards for them. The link itself: https://boosty.to/mahoumaiden/donate

Q: Do you have a Twitter?

A: Yes! You can find me as @mahoumaiden. Almost done! There are five more questions left, which are not really about REFLEXIA or my work in general, but about me myself.

Q: How are you doing? And what are you doing usually? I promise I won't calculate your coordinates and go to the same supermarket with you every day.

A: I'm much better now! I'm learning Japanese at a language school, every day trying to finish the general cleaning I started a month ago, get back to work, and get back on track my lifestyle, because of which my health problems have gotten noticeably worse. Basically, there's not much else going on...

Q: Is it difficult to learn Japanese? How do you speak it, write it at the moment?

A: I think after we recently changed our textbooks and moved up a grade, it has become a little bit harder to keep up with some subjects. Right now we're somewhere between N3 and N2. With N2 level you can already go to colleges/universities and get a job here. I think I speak Japanese pretty bad. In terms of writing, I'm having a hard time remembering all the characters we've learned. This year we've gone through, uhh... about 700 kanjis? That's tough. Grammar is probably the one thing I have the easiest time with. I loved it the most when I was learning Russian, and Japanese has a lot of constructions that remind me of my native language, which makes memorization a bit easier.

Q: What is your favorite visual novel? Have you played the Hate Story games?

A: I think it's hard for me to name a favourite novel but I can list everything that has ever made an impression on me. There was Tokyo Alice (my first vn that sparked my interest in the genre!), Ryukishi07's works (Higurashi&Umineko no Naku Koro ni, Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni), Steins;Gate, soundless - A MODERN SALEM IN REMOTE AREA - (I still revisit it from time to time! and also, it turns out, they released a remaster not too long ago... highly recommend, i love it) and Daiku no Medium. And I'll finally answer the second part of the question: unfortunately, I haven't read the novels in the Hate Story series. But they're on the list of things I'd like to play later!

Q: What games do you usually play?

A: I'm in love with The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, the mobile game Cookie Run: Ovenbreak, and hopefully someday I'll get back to Minecraft. Best games ever for me.

Q: Favorite flavor of ice cream? Favorite pantsu?

A: I love mint ice cream with chocolate chip. And also after eating strawberry ice cream at the airport the first time I came to Japan, it became one of my favorites too. Favorite pantsu? I made the Prototype ver. back in 2021, but my preference hasn't changed since then, so... I guess that counts as an answer. [hr][/hr] That's all for now. Thank you for your attention! Next time I'll post here when I've progressed enough to be able to announce a more precise release date. And until then... Intermission. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2271570/REFLEXIA/

[ 2024-02-26 16:39:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

PLEASE TAKE A LOOK...

Hi there! How are you? Long time no see! I'm really glad you're still here. Thank you! Thank you very, very much. No news on the game again for a long time, and I myself continue to disappear periodically - which I really apologize for. Sadly, I'm still dealing with health problems: both mental and physical - and the amount of it right now simply makes it difficult for me to at least maintain a normal routine... However! There is progress in the treatment, so just I just want to say that I'm fine. Yes, I should definitely do this more often... I'm also getting back to work on the REFLEXIA again.
I haven't changed my plans on making both the remake and the remaster. And both are now in the beginning of active development and will most likely be released around the same time (maybe a month or so apart). I already have specific dates in which I hope to release everything but... it will remain a secret for now! From my experience it's better to do it this way: the better the work goes and the closer the date is, the more exact I'll tell it. And at the same time, of course, I'll share new details about the projects! For now, I still need to think hard and finally decide which ideas are going to make it and which are not, so today's the insights are going to be a little vague... Nevertheless, at least they're there! Which means I can officially turn it into a zero entry of my development diary. Before that, I'd also like to mention that I'll be back here again on Sunday to add the Ukrainian translation in the Prototype ver., for which thanks to PineappleMan (aka. NikolasTesla)! It would be great to talk a little bit more together at the same time so... How about a Q&A? You can ask absolutely any questions (but still in some way related to me, my work, or my characters!), and you can leave them right below this post, under my Twitter (now it's X, weird) post, or on the game's Discord server. I'll write and post answers in the update post on Steam! And now...

DEVELOPMENT DIARY #0

PLANNED RELEASE DATE: 2024.

All the images above are sketches I didve'nt's've'd for the new Prototype ver. cover art. The character designs may change. It's entirely possible I may yet steal them for the remake. No one knows my next move.

Facts about the remake itself:

its page will be updated several times in the future (so until it comes to its final version, all up-to-date information will be in the development diary entries! some changes are already revealed in the points below);
all characters will be renamed and will receive improved designs in multiple variations;
there will be more endings;
the "psychological horror" tag will try to justify itself this time;
the story will become more autobiographical;
in general, the list of themes and experiences covered will be expanded, and I will try to explore them more deeply;
the underwear collection is updated and enriched with new models;
yes, all the comedy and fan service is in place! and all of this will be certainly a lot;
a point at which I've run out of ideas of what I could share right now.

Probably the most important thing that could still be mentioned... I wish myself not to give up. I've never had a problem with perseverance in the long run, but just getting my work done... it's not even a matter of me giving up. That's an outcome, not a cause. The problems are always with my desire to put out 100%, which is objectively more like 691%. And, of course, I don't have that much energy and resources for such good results. So every time I give up not necessarily on a goal like "make and release REFLEXIA" but on current tasks like "write a script for REFLEXIA". I always feel like I can do better. That's not my maximum. Which is why the best thing I could learn in the past year since the teaser... is to just trust myself. Mahoumaiden, who lives and breathes right in this moment, has grown up enough not to put off the projects to the ephemeral talented and accomplished self from the future. And she will never become one without doing something now. Even if my "growth" is only enough for a bunch of mistakes... it will be the inheritance future me will use to make one more attempt of getting closer to our shared dream. That's it. So, is there a reason to be afraid of something so desired becoming a little more real...? ...Which is why it's time to accept the way I and my work are, and just release the remake of REFLEXIA this year. Good luck to you, "Protagonist."

[ 2024-02-23 18:16:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

Latest news

Hello! It's been quite some time since we last saw each other.... So today I just want to catch up on the months of silence by talking about all the events of the past, as well as the near future. But before that: thank you for reading this right now. I'm far from the best developer one could wish for.... so I'm very happy to everyone who still stays with my work and with me as an author. Thanks again for all the support! [hr][/hr] Well... shall we begin? The first thing that happened was my move to Japan in April. Despite all the stress associated with it, I didn't so much gain inspiration as I SIGNIFICANTLY broadened my horizons. In short: it has greatly raised my expectations of my own work. The impact it has already had on the development is incredibly exciting to me! Next, I went with Nikita Kryukov to the Tokyo Indies (a small convention of indie developers in Tokyo). There, along with other games he has published, he presented my visual novel. I still really like his slide to this day:
And another month later, two REFLEXIA anniversaries happened. August 31st was one year since the game was released on Steam, and September 5th was two years since I finished and submitted it to a visual novel contest. This news was originally supposed to be released on one of those days, but something went wrong as always... Anyway, there is still a gift left in the plans for these anniversaries. More on that in a bit! Also by the anniversary Prototype ver. managed to reach the anniversary number of copies - as much as 200 000! And this, I think, is just the beginning. Thank you very much! [hr][/hr] And today - a little talk about the unobtainable achievement and French translation. I want to apologize to everyone I ignored on this topic all this time: it was really hard for me to decide how best to act and what to say. It was a really difficult problem for me. Actually, I created it: I shouldn't have added an unobtainable achievement in advance and promised a new translation before it was ready... so it's only my fault. Why didn't I give the opportunity to get the achievement without the language? To me it seemed disrespectful to the translator. Now I realize that by doing so, I only caused them more stress, while causing a lot of inconvenience to all the players. I really apologize... Regarding the translation itself: it's still not done yet. I'm sorry for the promises I made a year ago but still can't fulfill. Unfortunately, I won't be able to say anything about it even now. French is definitely coming, but when and in what version (more on that below) I have no idea. Anyway, I immediately inform you about any changes in situation! In the meantime, the language button will disappear from the game - just not to tease anyone anymore. I solved the problem with achievements in a similar way, because I don't want to further complicate things. And anyway, I had a plan to do it in the future, so... there are no more language achievements. Mentions of all translators have been moved to the game description on Steam. Now anyone who was only missing French or any other language achievement for some reason has the game completely finished. Congratulations! [hr][/hr] Now let's talk about the anniversary gift? I used to say all the time that I would never update the Prototype ver. Now, however, due to my incredibly broad horizons and raised expectations, I feel like the game just needs to be given a fresher look. Therefore... I'm making a remaster! The script and text will remain almost unchanged. But the rest... This post is already long enough, so I'll leave the details of the update for later. If you can't wait, you can find a couple of spoilers on my Discord server! In the meantime... I'd love to hear any expectations about what's going to change in the remaster. Maybe there's something you'd really like to see and I haven't thought of it yet...? And you can also ask me questions here, not only about the update, but about REFLEXIA in general. See you soon!

[ 2023-09-29 13:37:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

THE REMAKE TEASER IS OUT!

Here I am! So, let's celebrate our Valentine's Day, huh? What? How has it been three days already? I don't care. You don't think just because I'm a 2D that I don't need time to choose clothes? Or to put my hair in two ponytails? Anyway, I'm very glad to see you. And I want to say thank you. Your support means incredibly much to me. I was really happy to hear all those words. I feel better now. And now... let's go, yeah? The video is already here. It's right there, below. Yeah, you're not imagining it. It's really there. Why are you still reading this? Look at it. Go ahead. I'm waiting. No, seriously. The video's still there, right? That's correct. Open it. If you don't stop reading now, something terrible will happen... You want to know what? I'll tell you in a sentence. No, I'm kidding. In two. It was a joke again. There you go, you've wasted a whole minute of your life. All right, all right! Sounds like you're really want to read at least something. In that case, I've got a REMAKE STEAM PAGE: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2271570/REFLEXIA_THE_ARCHETYPES_ROOM_OF_THREE_WALLS/ Rumor has it that someday you'll be able to get the game from there... but if you don't add it to your wishlist, you might miss it. I warned you. Thanks for your attention! [previewyoutube=wLIGaEDRH0w;full][/previewyoutube]

[ 2023-02-17 19:17:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello!

Today I have not only good news, but also bad news. I had a hard time deciding to say until the last minute, but nevertheless... the remake of REFLEXIA is delayed indefinitely. The reason is stupidly simple: I exhausted myself before I could finish it. The constant rush, the endless attempts to get the script to perfection, and at the end, just questions. What do I really want REFLEXIA to be? Why am I doing it at all? If I wanted to make my reflection in this black and white world, then... what should it be? Who am I? Definitely an author who has forgotten everything about himself. And first of all, that she is a human being. Not the game development machine she wanted to think she was. She, unlike any other tool, has a life. But if you don't keep it alive, there's nothing to breathe into the story... and it will remain untold. All this time I've been pushing myself hard and depressing myself. I kept myself from doing anything else but the remake, I squeezed every last drop out of my head, and I lived only for this project. Because I wanted to finish it quickly, and only then to start living. Just because I didn't feel accomplished and worthy without it. And as a result, my work, which once gave me a lot of pleasure, became a real pain. It shouldn't be. And now that I've realized all my mistakes, I want to calm down and sit down for REFLEXIA again... but to do it in such a way that I don't regret anything in the process or in the result. And in the next comments on the development I want to tell how much I enjoyed working through these or those details, and not feel ashamed to explain what I had done in a hurry. That's not to say that the remake will be out in five years or more. I still want to release it in 2023. But this time I'll try to take care of myself: I'll slow down a bit and try to work without a deadline. So... I won't promise any specific date. It's much better if I give it when the game is mostly ready. In addition to everything else, I want to take a little break from REFLEXIA so I can come back with a fresh set of eyes afterwards. And that means... no, not a prolonged tumbleweed on all my social networks. I'm planning on doing a little project! All I'll say about it for now is that it will be a visual novel again, and it will also come out on Steam and on itch. Again, no, this is not the "good news" I was talking about at the beginning of this article. Well, it's kind of okay too... but this is primarily about REFLEXIA. Tomorrow is a great day. Some people hate it, some people finally get lucky with a discount on their favorite chocolate... and for some, it's a great excuse to spend special time with the person they love. You know what I mean? A date! The main character will be waiting for you. Or should I say Yandere-chan? Everything seems to have gotten mixed up in the continuation of that world, and now we don't know exactly how the roles have been split up. But at least one thing is clear: tomorrow you'll meet someone in a teaser on the remake's Steam page... or on YouTube, the place will be up to you. See you there!

[ 2023-02-13 18:44:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

OST & DLC release!

More details! You can find out even more about the DLC by following the attached links. The OST, in addition to the familiar tracks, includes two bonus tracks not used in the game. Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2165880/REFLEXIA_Prototype_ver_Soundtrack/ DLC is a collection of all the graphics (illustrations, sky backgrounds) in its original resolution of 1280x960 (and more) in .PSD format, so you can make any emotion on the face of the characters, as well as to find sketches there. Additionally attached are two text files: the terms of use (for example, i allowed to make merch with any pictures from the DLC) and comments on the development process (the whole story and the explanation of interesting details by me). After purchasing you can find all files in the main game's folder! Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2266310/REFLEXIA_Prototype_ver_Original_Graphics/ Thank you, dear players, for all the love and support you've given to the Prototype ver.! And even if you're only reading the news because you added the game to your library a long time ago and then forgot about it, your contribution is very important, too. We shall meet again.

[ 2023-01-12 11:20:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

UPDATE.04

What's new:

added Indonesian, author: Arachmadi Putra (Cimosoft).

What will be new:

original soundtrack from the game and fanpack-DLC for the Prototype ver. will be released on Steam very soon!

[ 2022-12-21 13:25:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

UPDATE.03

What's new:

added Japanese, author: MohiMojito;
fixed the appearance of Russian text in Spanish.

What will be new:

[ 2022-12-02 13:25:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

UPDATE.02

What's new:

added Brazilian Portuguese, author: Converting Minds: VNX+ (@vnxplus);
splashscreen before the start of the game, so that now everyone knows for sure: the game is not made by Nikita Kryukov and not even by his fake, but by a real three-dimensional girl.