Audyssey; Computer Games Accessible to the Blind Edited by Michael feir Issue 5: March/April, 1997 ++ Welcome Welcome to Spring, everyone, and welcome to the fifth issue of Audyssey. In keeping with the season, this issue will focus on the creation of games. Thanks to a timely suggestion by one of my readers on Compuserve, we will start a section for game developers. We'll also have the latest developments from Pcs. This magazine is published on a bi-monthly basis, each issue appearing no earlier than the twentieth of every other month. All submissions must be sent to me in standard Ascii format either on a 3.5-inch floppy disk, or via e-mail to my Compuserve address. I will give my home address and my Compuserve address at the end of the magazine. There are now several ways of obtaining Audyssey. To subscribe to the distribution list so that you receive all future issues, send a subscription request to J.J. Meddaugh. As he is running several lists, be sure to specifically ask to join the Audyssey list. His address is: jmeddaug@cris.com You can find all issues of Audyssey on the Internet on Paul Henrichsen's web site at: ftp.psnw.com/pub/users/h/henrich All issues are also available in the disability forum on Compuserve, and also in the gamers forum. For those of you who have trouble finding some of the software discussed in this magazine, or if you know someone who doesn't have access to the Internet, but would be interested in the magazine, this magazine is now available on disk. PCS has agreed to distribute Audyssey, as well as selected shareware or freeware software on disk for ten dollars US per year. To subscribe to Audyssey on disk, contact them at: Personal Computer Systems 551 Compton Ave. Perth Amboy N.J. 08861 Phone (908)-826-1917 E-mail: pvlasak@monmouth.com Please write articles and letters about games or game-related topics which interest you. They will likely interest me, and your fellow readers. They will also make my job as editor a lot more interesting and true to the meaning of the word. This magazine should and can be a highly interesting and qualitative look at accessible computer gaming. To insure that high quality is maintained, I'll need your written contributions. I'm not asking for money here, and won't accept any. This magazine is free in its electronic form, and will always remain so. PCS needs to charge a subscription cost to cover the disks and shipping costs that it incurs by making the magazine available on disk. I'm writing this magazine as much for my own interest as for everyone else's. Your articles, reviews, and letters, as well as any games you might care to send me, are what I'm after. Send any games, articles, letters, or reviews on a 3.5-inch disk in a self-addressed mailer so that I can return your disk or disks to you once I have copied their contents onto my hard drive. Please only send shareware or freeware games. It is illegal to send commercial games. By sending me games, you will do several things: first, and most obviously, you will earn my gratitude. You will also insure that the games you send me are made available to my readership as a whole. As a further incentive, I will fill any disks you send me with games from my collection. No disk will be returned empty. If you want specific games, or specific types of games, send a message in Ascii format along. *Never* *ever* send your original disks of *anything* to *anyone* through the mail. *Always* send *copies!* This principle may seem like it shouldn't even have to be stated, but when it comes to just about anything related to computers, there's always some poor soul who will act before applying common sense. Disks are *not* indestructible. Things *do* get lost or damaged in the mail, and disks are not immune to these misfortunes. If you have a particular game that you need help with, and you are sending your questions on a disk anyhow, include the game so that I can try and get past your difficulty. If you can, I recommend that you send e-mail. I have acquired a copy of the UUencode software, and can send and/or receive files which are encoded via this means. This way, no money will be wasted sending me a game I already have, and you'll get my reply more quickly. You are responsible for shipping costs. That means, either use a disk mailer which has your address on it, and is either free matter for the blind, or is properly stamped. I can and will gladly spare time to share games and my knowledge of them, but cannot currently spare money above what I spend hunting for new games. I encourage all my readers to give my magazine to whoever they think will appreciate it. Up-load it onto web pages and bulletin board systems. Copy it on disk for people, or print it out for sighted people who may find it of value. The larger our community gets, the more self- sustaining it will become. ++ contents: From the Editor Letters Prerequisites for Sightless Fun The Latest finds News from PCS Contacting Me ++ From the Editor: Hello, everyone. You might notice that this issue is particularly short. There are several reasons for this. First and foremost, I have received no articles at all for this issue. This shortage of material, combined with the heaviest load of academic work I've ever faced within two months, has contributed largely to the substandard length and quality of this issue. Remember, everyone, that it is vital that you send me articles, letters, and reviews to put in this magazine. I simply can't come up with everything myself, especially during a university term. This magazine is supposed to be a forum for the exchange of information, ideas and concerns about accessible games, not simply a vehicle for me to voice my own thoughts which I'm already quite familiar with. Give me your thoughts, and I'll be happy to add my own, and organize everything into a diverse and qualitative magazine. Without your articles, I cannot continue with Audyssey indefinitely. Also, there have been no submissions of episode ideas for Adam, the Immortal Gamer, and ideas are running low. This month, there will be no episode at all, since I haven't had the time to put one together. We're now reaching into at least eleven countries, according to J.J. Meddaugh, our excellent internet expert. That's only counting the people who actually subscribe directly, and don't just down- load the magazine off of bbs's and the various sites that it can be found on. With all of you out there, I find it hard to believe that none of you have views, concerns, or opinions you'd like to share with the rest of us. If I continue to receive little or no material, I'll be forced to turn this magazine into a quarterly one in order to insure that enough news occurs to build the magazine out of. I would very much prefer not to do this. There is plenty of material out there waiting to be discussed and commented on. the experience which a game can offer depends as much on the outlook of its players as on the game itself. Another event which has taken a good deal of my time is the arrival of a new computer. I am now the proud owner of a Toshiba laptop. This computer is proving most excellent, but learning to use it effectively has meant hours of training and reading manuals. I have Jaws for Windows, which is a very good tool to make Windows accessible to blind people. if anyone out there knows of a speech- friendly game which is written for Windows, please let me know about it. I see no reason why this operating system might not produce high-quality speech-friendly games. Because of my constantly having to use both of my computers, and of a lot of experimentation with various communications packages, I have misplaced at least two messages that I received. To those who sent them, you have my sincere apologies. Now that everything is back onto one computer, no more losses are likely. The idea for starting a section for game developers grew out of one such message. Eventually, I hope to turn what develops in this section into a guide for developers seeking to make their games accessible for blind players. My input will be from the perspective of a user. If programmers have suggestions to offer, I would be very grateful for them. Also, if players have thoughts on what would make games more accessible, I welcome your submissions as well. Hopefully, together, we can build a guide which will make a difference and expand the scope of the game universe currently open to us. Well, everyone, that's about all I have to say for now outside of the articles in this issue. Please send in your articles, letters, and reviews. I have enjoyed making this magazine, and hope to continue it indefinitely. I can only do that with your help. ++ Letters: + From J.J. Meddaugh: In case you didn't hear, WSBB, the World Series Baseball Game and Information System has a web site now. http://users.deltanet.com/ tdb/wsbb/wsbb.htm The page was started by Tom Baccanti who incidentally does not subscribe to Audyssey. J.J. Meddaugh + Nice timing, J.J. Great way to celebrate the start of the Baseball season. I've seen one early version of the World Series Baseball game, and although I'm not a big fan of the game, I can appreciate how it was done. I trust that those of you out there who are more familiar with the intricacies of the game than I am can furnish us with a review or two about the latest version. As you'll see in the update from PCS, one of their projects is an update to this program set complete with sounds. + One of my lost messages was an inquiry into the origins of the magazine, and why it was started. I'll offer a small response to this inquiry now, and will ask all of you who are curious about this to wait until the June/July issue, where I will offer a more in-depth answer. Back in July of last year, I decided to act on an idea I had thought about for a number of years. I wanted to start a forum for the exchange of information and thought regarding games which were accessible to the blind. Being an avid game player for at least ten years, I had a lot of knowledge that I wanted to share and expand on through discussion. I chose the name Audyssey because of its pun on words, and because it sums up my philosophy about games rather nicely. Games are journeys of discovery about oneself, the subject of the game, and one's fellow players. Again, I will offer a more in-depth answer in an up-coming issue. ++ Prerequisites for Sightless Fun By Michael Feir When games are made commercially, the objective is naturally to satisfy the desires of as many people as possible. Most of these people are visually oriented for the most part. They like everything shown to them in eye-catching ways. This explains why the Windows operating system was made. People found it bothersome and alienating to remember Dos commands. They found it much easier to simply point a cursor at a pictorial representation of what they wanted to do. Conversely, blind people find graphics to be a nuisance, if not downright troublesome. Since most games are made to please sighted people, most of them are largely inaccessible to blind people without sighted assistance. To make games accessible to blind people, their needs must either come first, or be dealt with by means of a special interface. This is because graphics cannot be interpreted by speech packages or by Braille displays. Sometimes, enough textual information is available to make a game which contains graphics playable without them, but this is rare. Even when a game could be played without seeing the graphics in it, chances are that the text of the game is written in a manner which cannot be understood by access devices. To illustrate this, let us examine a game which was not designed to be accessible at all to blind people. The game Begin2 has been discussed before in this magazine. It is a simulator of combat between two fleets of starships from the Star Trek universe. If played in its ordinary way, it provides its players with a graphical representation of the action taking place. Symbols show the positions of ships, the directions of torpedoes, the strengths of various shields, and a lot more. Speech synthesizers cannot read the information which is sent to the screen because it is written directly. In effect, the characters are drawn, like graphical symbols, onto the screen. if one runs the game and adds the word "text" on the command line, one can play the game in an entirely different interface. The text mode of Begin is completely accessible to the blind. There are still limited graphics, but these are of a kind which do not interfere much with the text, and don't screw up speech output. Less information is available for players using this interface. There is no way of telling which direction torpedoes are travelling. When ships are being boarded while the game is in graphics mode, the number of surviving crew and the number of boarding invaders are both shown. This information is not provided while in text mode. The game is still playable without this information, but blind players are clearly at a decisive disadvantage. The game of Nethack was also not designed for blind people. the only reason it is accessible at all is because it is possible to change the symbols which represent elements of the game into text characters. Also, the text which the game writes to the screen is written using the bios method instead of drawn directly to the screen. The game is not dependant on graphics, although they are available for sighted players who might wish to see them. It should also be noted that Nethack is not time-based, but turn-based. As PCS has demonstrated with its Bowling and Shoot games, it is possible to have a time-based game which is compatible with speech. In the two games mentioned, textual information is never presented during time-critical moments in the game. One does not need to absorb a lot of information and make a decision based on a lot of variables in seconds. this aspect should be more fully explored. It is quite conceivable that trivia or word-games, and possibly even adventure games could have time-based elements. It is only necessary for designers to bare in mind that accessing information on a screen can be time-consuming for players. the last issue that I will discuss in this article is that of menu interfaces. During the past five years, a few games have surfaced which would have been much more speech-friendly without menu interfaces which depended on a highlighting system to choose options. Many speech synthesizers cannot cope with systems such as this, and will not inform the player which option he or she is selecting. the option to use letters or numbers to select options can go a long way to making a game accessible. PCS provides for this in its games, and also designs their arrow-interface menus so that they are speech-friendly. I have never had a problem using their menus. Hopefully, I have managed to raise some of the larger issues in developing accessible games. In the months to come, I hope to receive input from all of you on ways to make games more accessible. I also hope that you who are developers out there will share your experiences with those who might be considering making accessible games. ++ The Latest Finds: + Perdition's Flames this piece of interactive fiction is freeware. It is written using the Tads system by the creator of that system, and makes good use of the power of the development system. Basically, you have died, and find yourself on a boat which eventually arrives in Hell. this hell is nothing like it is depicted in various religious literature. It has found itself in a position where it must compete for your soul with Heaven in a free and open system. Accordingly, it has been modernized and made a lot less unpleasant. You must become a member of an adventurers' club by collecting certain treasures and accomplishing certain tasks. All in all, the game is fairly easy to play in terms of its ability to understand ordinary sentences. You won't have to think of obscure ways of phrasing your commands or anything like that. The puzzles are logical, if not instantly solvable. The atmosphere is very well done. the level of humour is exactly right, enough to keep the game amusing without ruining it entirely. Perdition's flames can be found at: ftp.gmd.de It is located in the tads section of the if-archive. The solution is also available on the same site. + Frobozz Magic Support This is another excellent game written with the Tads system. It takes place in Infocom's Enchanter universe. You play the role of a magic support clerk assigned to solve the various problems people get into while using magic. You are joined by an animated burin [a kind of magical equivalent to a pencil], in your quest to set things right. The game is quite humorous, and comes complete with a built-in walkthrough and hints. Novice players might find the game a bit frustrating, but certainly not impossible. Descriptions are quite good, although the game doesn't really lend itself to developing a rich atmosphere since each task you must perform takes you into different regions of the Enchanter world. The game can be found in the same place that Perdition's flames can be found, at the ftp.gmd.de site. ++ News from PCS Sent by Phillip Vlasak NEW GAMES BY PCS PANZERS IN NORTH AFRICA. $30 Did you ever wonder what the difference was between the nation's armories were in World War Two, and if you had to be supplied and fight with one of the great powers. Which would it be? Command a World War Two tank, and fight your way to victory. this game allows you to battle enemy tanks from the great desert campaigns fought in the north African theater. In this game you will move your tank into battle, choose to fire smoke to obscure a more powerful tank, or blast away with armor piercing rounds. The game will worn you of trouble, such as being in range of your enemy's main gun, running low on ammo, or if enemy forces are moving beyond your visibility. you can be in a tank of four nations. German and Italians are the Axis powers, and the Americans and British are the Allied powers. this game enables a blind person to use their ear and hand skills to aim at an enemy tank and fire a cannon. it has over 60 multi media sounds. CAR RACING CIRCUIT. $30 Feel the sweat run down your back wile you try to control your super charged computer down the straight away towards the next critical turn. Will you make it or will it be curtains? you can race your car against opponents on five different tracks. two races are two lap qualifiers. One is an oval and the other is a figure eight. three long races are two ten lappers of the oval and figure eight, and a road race course twelve and one half miles long. The up and down arrow keys are used to control your speed. the right and left arrow keys will allow you to turn right or left. The space bar is the break, and will slow you up quickly. you use your hear and hand skills to successfully navigate a turn. You can use the function keys as a dash board to find out how fast you are going, what lap you are on, your race clock, how far you have travelled in the race, and gives the time difference between you and your nearest opponent. You are being challenged by 25 of the world's best drivers and if you beat the record score, your name is saved. Now you have the tools. Go out there and make them smell your exhaust and let them hear your tires squeal. WORLD SERIES BASEBALL SPECIAL EDITION. Hear the ball come off the bat, and the crowd roar when your teem rallies from behind. Even the organist gets into the game. In collaboration with Harry Hollingsworth, PCS has added real sounds to his World Series Baseball Game. it comes with 160 teams, including the 1996 pennant winning Yankees and Braves and the 1996 all star teams. you will feel even more like you are really at the baseball game. The sounds include ball meeting bat, ball hitting glove, vendors in stands, and music, including Star Spangled Banner, Oh Canada, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, and charge music. For those who already own Version 11 of World Series Baseball, the Special Edition Update is only $10. PCS DISTRIBUTES MICHAEL FEIR'S MAGAZINE AUDYSSEY; a magazine on Computer Games Accessible to the Blind. It is a bi-monthly released on Compuserve that we will make available on 3.5 inch IBM format disk for ten dollars per year. Each issue will contain the full text of the electronic edition plus share ware or free ware games to fill out the disk. Demos of our games are available from PCS for fifty cents each, plus two dollars shipping per order. Contact PCS in any format at: Personal Computer Systems 551 Compton ave. Perth Amboy NJ 08861 Phone (908) 826-1917. Email pvlasak@monmouth.com ++ Contacting Me I can be reached in two ways. The easiest is through Compuserve. My e-mail address is as follows: 72712.3103@compuserve.com alternatively, you may correspond with me on 3.5-inch disks, provided you be sure to send them in returnable disk-mailers. I don't have the money to pay for postage. My mailing address is: 5787 Montevideo Road Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Postal code: L5N 2L5 I have recently acquired a copy of UUencode and UUdecode for dos, so you may send files to me via this means.