Deflektor

Deflektor

Game No.	41
Voting	7.50 points, 26 votes
Developer	Jason Perkins, Steve Kerry (Grafik)
Company	Vortex Software
Publisher	Gremlin Graphics
Musician	Ben Daglish
HVSC-File	/Daglish_Ben/Deflektor.sid
Release	1987
Platform	Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Amiga 500/600, C64, C128
Genre	Logic, Arcade, Miscellaneous
Gamemode	Single player
Operation
Media
Language

Description[edit | edit source]

The aim of the game is, to direct a laser beam towards a reveicer. For this the player has several mirrors, whose angle (and therefore the direction in which the laser is reflected) can be changed.

To make the whole thing a bit more challenging there are also other objects on the screen: mines, "cells" (look like balls), polarisation filters, fiberoptic feed throughs, random deflectors and simplistic obstacles which block the beam. Every now and then enemies appear (the "Gremlins"), which alter the mirrors you have adjusted with effort. You can destroy these enemies with the fire button, if you position the cursor onto one (it is done easiest, when you get them on a mirror).

At the start of a level the way to the receiver is blocked by obstacles, which disappear, when all "cells" have been destroyed by the laser beam.

The laser is equipped with limited energy; if it is used up, the player will lose a life. As the energy is reducing constantly, the time which is available to finish the level is limited. Another possibility to lose a life is an overload of the laser. This happens, when the laser beam is reflected into the laser source, hits a mine or the laser beam is too long. If the state of overload is not resolved within a few seconds, you will lose a life.

Design[edit | edit source]

Each of the 60 levels has the size of one screen (no scrolling). Clear and well defined objects make for a good playability. The endless background music is nice... but endless - fortunately you can switch it off before the start.

Useless statistic information: Deflektor uses 15 of the 16 colours of the C64.

An animation from the game.

Hints[edit | edit source]

After finishing the last stage game finishes with message "Game Over"

Display[edit | edit source]

Controls[edit | edit source]

On the title screen

Key 1 / 2 = controls the game by joystick/keyboard.
Key 3 / 4 = to switch music on/off.
Key 5 = to start the game

in the game

Joystick
The quadratic cursor is moved into the corresponding direction.
If the cursor is placed over a mirror, the mirror turns in clockwise direction.
If the cursor is placed over a mirror, the mirror turns in anti-clockwise direction.
If the cursor is placed over the mirror turning monster, the monster will be destroyed.

Keyboard
Key ; Cursor up
Key / Cursor down
Key Z Cursor left
Key X Cursor right
Key Return + Key Z Turns the mirror in clockwise direction.
Key Return + Key X Turns the mirror in anti-clockwise direction.
Key Return If the cursor is placed over the mirror turning monster, the monster will be destroyed.
Key Q to return to the title screen.

in the highscore list

This is only saved in the REMEMBER version. If you have reached a high enough number of points, you can enter the list by typing your name and confirming it by pressing RETURN. Only a maximum of 5 letters per entry is accepted.

Elements[edit | edit source]

	Laser beam emitter From here the laser is shot. You have three per level.
	Laser beam receptor This is where the laser beam needs to get to.
	Walls They can absorb or reflect the laser beam.
	Polarisors Let the beam through only in certain angles.
	Prisms Deflect the beam randomly.
	Glass fibres Divert the beam (you can only see the two ends).
	Mines If a beam is directed onto a mine for too long, the mine will explode. This costs a life.
	Mirrors Reflect the beam dependent on the angle of the mirror and can be turned.
	Cells (balloons) You need to make them all burst with the laser beam.

Solution[edit | edit source]

Overview of all 60 levels of the game. Here you can also see, that the solution is not really easy in the higher levels.

Cheats[edit | edit source]

The REMEMBER version offers the following cheats: unlimited lives, no overload, no gremlins, setting the starting level.

Voting[edit | edit source]

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
7.50 points at 26 votes (rank 251). You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
C64Games	7	31st July 2007 - "very good" 2284 downs
Lemon64	7.6	31st July 2007 - 25 votes
Happy Computer	71%	Games Special 3/88
Powerplay	70%	Edition 3/88
Zzap!	81%	February 1988 - Edition 34, page 20
Kultboy.com	7.8	31st July 2007 - 5 votes

Reviews[edit | edit source]

Klaws: "The game is based on a simple concept, which you can see through after a few seconds. At the beginning the game is very gripping, but after a while it gets rather boring. The difficulty level is low and does not really grow during the game. When I played the game for the first time, I already made it rather far, until I lost interest somewhere between level 40 and 50 (I didn't know then that it was not far to the end). As there is no save function, I would have had to play through all the already known levels the next time. So there was only this one round for me, which was, however, great fun.

So if you want to spend some time with a gripping game, you should in any case try Deflektor. But one will play it only a few times."

Guybrush "At the beginning it is a nice tossing, which soon bores. It reminds my -by the concept- of The Incredible Machine which was later successful on the PC. Due to the missing long time motivation I can give Deflektor only 4 points."

Darkstar: "At that time an innovative, new game principle, which made it to captivate me for a long time."

Miscellaneous[edit | edit source]

Deflektor was originally developed for ZX Spectrum. In addition to the C64 version there were conversions for Atari ST, CPC and Amiga. The Atari ST and the C64 versions were coded by Jason Perkins, who also worked on the C64 versions of Avenger, Monty on the Run and Jack the Nipper.

Cover