Category: Accessible Games
Entombed is currently available for download in beta 1.4 for free as there are some bugs to yet work out. This is a game where you pick your name, your race such as human, elf, ogre, and your job such as thief, fighter, healer and travel through a dungeon fighting enemies in order to find the exit. You collect gold which you use to buy better armor or weapons from various shops you stumble upon along the way. You battle goblins, worms, dongeon creeps, wolves and others until you reach the dragon near the last level. You use your arrow keys to move around the board and sounds will help guide you on your journey.
For info and the game please click the link below.
blind game
It's so sad that there isn't a bigger need for evolution in the blind gaming world. That sort of thing wouldn't really cut it in the regular gaming market. Blind gamers are getting shafted, and nobody sees any reason to do anything about it.
That said however, thank you for posting this on behalf of those who didn't know about it yet.
Guardian
I totally agree with you on that point! We need better games, more realistic to what sighted people play, but it's something. Maybe, I should try programming one someday. That is once I get the regular xhtml, css, and php coding down. I think a lot of the games are written in C++ or something like that.
That site is no longer up.
It's a great game, but agreed, I'm wanting to build some games that are more comprable to sighted games. :) I'm going to have my husband test them. Also, not necessarily on c++, some other languages for writing games are Visual Basic, C# (pronounced C Sharp) and Python; just to name a few.
I ave tons of ideas for comprehensive stories for gaming...sadly I lack any technical knowledge at all.
I agree with all of you, there seems to be a very limited scope of ideas in the market of blind games. Most of them are either card games or space shooter games, and while I have no problem playing those once in awhile, they get boring.
As for this game, I tried it, but didn't like it all that much.
Maybe it's because I haven't done much RPG, but I don't much care for having to sit back during a fight. That's my complaint about SoundRTS as well, it's that when combat is in progress, you don't *do* anything. Admittedly I'm relatively new to games and have purchased both Shades of Doom and GMA Tank Commander, both of which you engage in combat by moving your character around. I have been learning more of this, but it sure seems strange to take an almost passive role in a fight. Is this normal for RPG? I have learned you can focus a shot or strike, but then all the others strike back; you can't get away like you can in a FPS like Shades of Doom. So is it that I don't understand RPG or is that unique to these two; both Entombed and SoundRTS? I guess SoundRTS ought not be in the same category, since you build your empire; that all makes sense. But just in the thick of combat you can't move your people around, or have them avoid onslaught or whatever. I have been, and still probably will, play it, though at least for awhile.your prople ar
I agree with post six. I have lots of ideas for games, I've even written scripts for some, and did some audio recording for a couple, and can easily figure out how to make them work as an accessible game; I just lack the technical knowledge. It would be nice if the games released onto the public market would have an audio equivalent. for instance, call of duty wouldn't be that hard to make accessible really. We have games with outdoor terrain, like tank commander, and we have shooting games, like shades of doom, you mix those two together, and you have an outdoor first person shooter.
I just don't think any of the blind game makers have the resources to make such a large project, and none of the large video game companies would waste time on such a product that would only sell to a few thousand users at best. It unfortunate.
If I could find someone willing to do all the actuall programming, I'd love to get together and make a game, but I don't know anyone who is willing to take on such a project.
perhaps one day we will have a comporable game.
Judging by the description, max shrapnel is looking like it might be a good game, but it hasn't come out yet, and I don't know when it will. Until then, we're stuck with an indoor corridor battle like shades of doom or techno-shock, or a submarine like lonewolf, or a tank, like tank commander. Other than that I don't know of any true first person shooter games out there for us.
I agree with post 9. It would be nice to have better, more interactive, realistic games. The new call of duty came out last week and my roommates are up until 4 or 5 in the morning playing with each other on networks -- it would be nice to do the same with an awesome audio game. Shades of Doom is about all I found that comes near the complexity of the mainstream games my friends play. Moreover, it seems as If a lot of blind people are otherwise happy playing RPGs or text-based games which is fine, but only makes the niche market smaller.
I've heard Audio Quake was an awesome game, but I don't know much more than that.
Brice
I think the major problem with creating a blind accessible and sighted friendly game is the graphics. However, I too think that we need more games like the games for the sighted market, and I for one am working my way towards such a goal. :) There are a couple of projects I'd like to get done first, but after that I'm hoping it will be games away. My slowness comes from lack of programming time...But, I'm getting there. Anyways, some sighted games are like entombed, and those are the ones my husband and I don't particularly care for. We prefer ones more that are like 1st person. However, it takes all kinds I guess. The 1st person are the type I intend on producing. I think another problem with creating such games is that the sighted market has multiple people working on one game, and to my knowledge rarely do blind programmers get together to put a major effort into an extremely complex game. Though, I do know on occasion it is done. Also, there is the price. To my understanding a majority of the blind population; (I'm not by any means saying all), live on a fixed income, and when you have games coming out that run $40+ your reaching an even more limited market. However, where there is a will there is a way.
LightTech Interactive has written about the concept of adding more 3D audio into mainstream games; that would in fact benefit all participants as a sighted person will reflexively spin their character around and shoot at something behind them when they hear it, just as much as a blind person will.
I agree and the suggestion of putting something similar to a mix of Call of Duty and Shades of Doom together is a good idea. I'm investigating source codes and I did know about VB and Python, but just couldn't think of them at the time I posted that message. I'm relative new to the coding market to begin with and am still getting a handle on the CSS for websites, but I'm hoping that once I figure out basic stuff, I will be able to move on to more complicated things like games.
I too agree here, I've got some sight so can partake in many mainstream games to a degree. Many Xbox 360 and PS3 games have "3d" audio. Moste can run in dulby digital 5 or 7.1 eg having 5 or seven distinct channels for sound delivery. usually for a 5 channel system you have 3in frunt, a left center and right, in the back There are left and right. with a 7 set up you gain speekers on the sides of the room. the .1 or what ever part talks about subs. I've been playing a lot of PS3 games lately but am itching to try out in the theatre room. I think it will make my experience a little easier.
If we look at a first person shooter though one issue I might see in the sighted vs blind market is not everyone is on the same level all the time. Targets could be standing on things or on catwalks above you or other things like that. I'm just not sure how complex audio could get to reflect this.
But an audio god of war or something like that would be really interesting...
I've also got many ideas for full games but don't have all the programming skills to bring them together.
I feel I didn't explain my worry fully.
Usually on ps3 and x360 you run/walk with the left stick and look/aim with the right. so if someone is on a catwalk ahead of you, you could back up alittle with the left and push forward on the right to aim up and move either the characters view or the crosshares up. I think audio fps could get quite advanced but I'm not sure how complex reflecting things like this with audio would get if its even possible. I assume different styles of panning and different effects could replicate this, our auto aiming features (found in quite a few games) could compinsate to a degree though. Quake had somewhat of an auto aim feature, makeing audio quake possible. Add in it wasn't quite as complex as newer shooters that we have today. Many of the controll skeemes get more and more featured as newer and newer games come to the market...
just my thoughts.
I came up with the perfect solution for this problem, that is the problem of an elevated target. I was thinking of making a game like halo, which can require you to snipe, which usually puts you at an elevated level. The solution came to me when playing GMA tank commander, in that game you have a tone that tells you to move laterally, and a different tone to tell you to move vertically. The same could be implemented to show elevation for a sniping situation.
It would of course take some tinkering to make the mechanics of it work, but I'm sure its doable. I think all the problems of a visual game could be solved in some way by audio, if you just use your imagination.
I agree with everyone here. THe problem is that whenever a developer tries to make something more challenging, people complain that it's too hard. You should have heard the complaints on the Audyssey list when Thomas Ward released Beta 7 of Mysteries of the Ancients. There was a considerable step up in difficulty, and some of the complaints were quite childish. There's not enough ammo! I actually have to work to stay alive! That said I still think Entombed is a step in the right direction. It's the closest thing we have to an audio RPG, which is what I've been hoping for for about six years, ever since I discovered audio games.
I absolutely love mysteries of the ancients...I think the more challenging the better; though a game that is empossible to beat would put me off, I haven't found a game absolutely empossible to beat yet. :)
I do think the ammo ratio in that game is a little off, but its nothing that is impossible to deal with. It would be easier to strategize if they didn't have random generation of weapons, but other than that, its simple. Thats one of the reasons I'm not huge on it, technically, its simple, you get through on luck, not on how well you play the game. the actual actions of the game are easy, walk forward, grab item, open door, shoot thing, jump crack in floor, those are simple. There's no strategy to it.
But then you have the problem of knowing exactly where everything is, which was how the early Betas played. THere was no randomness at all. I think Thomas made the right decision when he found the way to add the random generation. As for Entombed, this game is probably going to be comparitively simple even when it's complete, but Jason did say that if the project is successful, and judging by the response on the discussion list I'd say that's more than possible, he plans on making more involved sequels that actually feature overworlds, towns, dungeons and everything you would expect in a full-blown RPG.
Hey Speaking of a game which lets your charactor participate in fighting, Theirs Technoshock. You Have to use machine guns, Granades, etc. to fend off the robots. Plus you have to explore envirments and avoid things such as fire and acid. And the game is free.
Got the Web adress for that?
OK, so for talking on the phone and trying to type at the same time. That was...Do you have the Web Address for Technoshock? If not, I plan on looking on a few sites I have...
Last I heard the site was down. I personally couldn't get into Technoshock. I'm all for more challenging games but I think the learning curve for Technoshock was just a bit too steep.
Never mind about the question above. :) I found it. For those who want it, the address is:
http://www.tiflocomp.ru/games/ts/index.php?lang=en
Looking forward to giving it a wirl in a couple of minutes. Thanks for the reference to it. :)
Hm will have to try it again; it was rather sluggish and buggy on Vista - and that with a couple of dual-core processors, my wife's laptop. Funny though she initially wondered why she 'needed all that stuff', now likes it ... so .... but anyone comment on the bugginess? Are you finding it to be sluggish? It sure didn't seem to respond to the game controller that well; Shades of Doom does, and even Puppy1 by Jim Kitchen and Playing In the Dark's Top Speed II game works well so the game controller's not hozed. I did download their supplemental patch to Technoshock but really, what's the deal with the sluggishness? Or is that just Vista? I can't really speak to the learning curve because to me if you press a button to turn your character around, or even do so with the joystick and it takes forever, that's not good. Combat is combat and you have to be able to respond.
I found it sluggish on every machine I tried it on.