Coming up with quick interesting factoids is a tad tough. However, the history of audio game development is full of surprises. As editor of Audyssey, I had to eat my words many times. I thought I had a pretty good handle on what was happening and was likely to happen, what would work and what would not. People constantly asked me about the prospect for a multi-player racing game for blind people. It seemed that every blind gamer wanted the driving experience but other than a very basic single-player racing game Jim Kitchen cooked up, offerrings were non-existent. There were, however, a few very established developers who I thought would want to cash in on that unmet demand. Shurely, they had the most incentive and would be first out of the gate so to speak. It was therefore a tremendous shock to me when Playinginthedark, a European group of enthusiasts, released Topspeed2 which allowed for up to eight players to race each other. It was one of those magic moments for shure. I often wondered whether any sighted people might stumble on heated discussions between blind list members discussing the merits of cars and the difficulties of negotiating hairpin turns and freak out.
Seeing a company like AllinPlay last all these years absolutely amazed me. Given the high unemployment in the blind gaming community, I simply didn't think the money was there to continue paying for subscription month after month. I thought they'd either fold or have to change their business model within the first year. That didn't happen though and I've long since stopped expecting it to. fold up like a bad hand of cards. I don't believe anybody's getting rich making games accessible to us. The economics just aren't there. However, people do seem to hang in there. On 3/27/13, Dennis Towne <s...@xirr.com> wrote: > Ashley, > > I'm certain that you've received a lot of good feedback from others > already, but I may be able to add some unique perspective: I'm not > blind, but I run a large multiplayer role-playing game which caters to > the blind. I've had to learn a lot in the last few years about how to > convert an originally sighted game to VI friendly. > > The game server I run, Alter Aeon, is entirely text based by default, > where a player types commands, and screen reader software reads back > what is going on. The game originally started in the mid-90's, before > screen readers were really that common, and it was almost by accident > that we started to get blind players. > > The biggest hurdle we've run into regarding the blind is that screen > readers, which read text to the player, are slow - sometimes very, > very slow. It is hard to skim material, and it is hard to filter > chaff text, something which is extremely easy for those with vision. > In order to really be playable, and to be fun for the blind, we had to > work very hard to limit and filter text. > > Another major improvement in the game came about when the special > blind client, Mush-Z, was released by a blind player. This further > speeds things up by replacing some lines of text with short sounds to > further speed up the process. In a real time game, speed is king. > > From a more general standpoint, it's important to remember that audio > data is linear, and it comes out of the speaker in a linear order. > The player can't skip around in the stream as easily as a sighted > person can skim a web page or glance at a geometric drawing. Text and > story games are well suited to this. > > One other information channel that the blind have which most sighted > players ignore is stereo or surround sound data from their speakers. > When sound is most of your interface, you learn to notice little > changes in the speaker balance, volume, and where sounds are coming > from. Games like Swamp make extensive use of this for targetting > zombies in a three dimensional world, and to help players find their > way around. Similarly, the Mush-Z soundpack can also use stereo audio > to indicate various real-time injury status. > > If you'd like to take a look at Alter Aeon for yourself, I've included > the web page link below. If you're sighted, keep in mind that you'll > be seeing something very different from what blind players see, but it > should still help you understand how and why the game is so popular to > blind players. > > I hope this helps you with some background for your article. Please > post a link here when it's complete, I'm sure we'd all love to see it! > > Thanks, > > Dennis Towne > > Alter Aeon MUD > http://www.alteraeon.com > > > On Tue, Mar 26, 2013 at 4:42 PM, Ashley Taylor > <ashley.p.tay...@gmail.com> wrote: >> Hello, >> >> I am a journalist writing an article about computer games for the blind >> and >> would really appreciate your input. Please only reply to this post if you >> are willing for me to quote you in my article (for the Popular Mechanics >> website). It would be helpful if you could describe yourself as you'd >> like >> me to describe you in the article. >> >> What are the qualities of a good computer game for the blind? What does >> it >> have to have to work well for someone who can't see? >> >> For blind or visually impaired gamers, what are your favorite audio >> games, >> and why? Which games designed for sighted people are these most analogous >> to? >> >> What are some examples of games for the blind that I can play online? >> >> What do you think is the most interesting factoid about games for the >> blind? >> >> >> Thank you, >> Ashley >> -- >> Ashley Taylor >> Writer and journalist >> ashleyptaylor.com >> (270) 485-1753 >> --- >> Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org >> If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to >> gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. >> You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at >> http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. >> All messages are archived and can be searched and read at >> http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. >> If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the >> list, >> please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. > -- Michael Feir Volunteer at The Dam http://www.thedam.org 2011-- Twitter: mfeir Skype: michael-feir Author of Personal Power: How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People 2006-2008 http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html A Life of Word and Sound 2003-2007 http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004 Check out my blog at: http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
