Audyssey;
Games Accessible to the Blind
Issue : 51 2nd quarter, 2007
Edited by Ron & Sylvia Schamerhorn
Fun, Friendship, Knowledge, Charity
+++
Welcome
Welcome to the 51st issue of Audyssey. This magazine is dedicated to the discussion of games which, through accident or design,
are accessible to the blind either with or without sighted assistance. In this publication I've attempted to pack in a whole bunch of great
information about gaming and the ongoing developments that are taking place. So read on!
Note: This magazine uses plus-signs as navigation markers. Three plus-signs are placed above any articles or sections. Within these
sections, two plus-signs denote the start of a new sub-section. Smaller divisions are marked by a single plus-sign. This allows people to use
their search capabilities to go quickly to the next division they are interested in. For instance, the "Letters" section is preceded by three
plus-signs. Each letter within it has two plus-signs before it. Answers to letters have a single plus-sign before them.
+++
Contents:
Welcome
>From The Editor
Letters
Beyond Scrabble
Word Puzzle only great minds can read this
Vista Game Compatibility Chart
Phil's Funnies
Developing Accessible Games
News From Game Developers
Game Announcements and Reviews
Contacting Us
Distribution Information and Submission Policies
+++
>From the editor
I hope everyone is having an enjoyable summertime. Here in the great
white north I must say it's been more the humidity the last while that's
hard rather then the actual temperatures we've been having. Life's been
keeping me busy, as I'm just over two months married, and Things have been
going great!
This particular second issue of 2007 is more on the late side, however as
I hope you, my readers, will not only notice but appreciate significant
things have taken place in the accessible gaming realms.
As a few examples the game Sound RTS, extensive news in both the developer
and reviews sections of the mag, and the long awaited Audio Game Maker is
now on the scene!
So be sure to give this issue a complete reading. Many of the items might
be short but I have attempted to cram useful tips, tricks, and links
throughout these pages of this issue.
As always my inbox is always open for comments suggestions and whatever
Ron
editor@audyssey.org
+++
Letters
In this section the content is taken from the list primarily, but may also
include something I receive directly. Generally these are of course game
related, but perhaps not in all cases. A review or announcement as such.
Sometimes it might just be someone's thought's about a game or genre of
game. I hope these prove interesting and informative.
++
Hi all,
I work for the San Francisco Chronicle and am planning to produce an
audio podcast about audio games. I'm hoping to find folks in the San
Francisco Bay Area to interview who are either avid audio gamers or
developers. Is there anyone on this list who fits that description or
who might be able to point me toward someone who does? I'd be very grateful
for any help they could provide.
Thanks for your time,
Justin Beck
Justin Beck
Podcast Producer
San Francisco Chronicle
901 Mission St., San Francisco, CA. 94103
Office: (415)777-8713; Cell: (510)332-3719
AIM: podcasterjustin
Email:
jbeck@sfchronicle.com
Check out Chronicle Podcasts at sfgate.com/podcasts
<
http://www.sfgate.com/blogs/podcasts>
++
Lucky us!
Hey all non devs like me!
Is this not awesome? IN the past 6 months, we've had judgement day, rail
racer, a demo of monty me thinks, and now Sound RTS? I've dreamed of
playing games like this and for a beta, this is clean! Not one hang up or
anything. Really good year this year, and the quality I'd say has gotten
drasticly better...
Yay devs! Love you long time! *grins*
Seriously, thanks. We all appreciate it! Rock! Back to wimpy peasants
Everett
++
Below is an email I got earlier this week. I'm putting it here in hopes
that someone here can assist me in helping a friend out with this hand-held
game.
Message
Hi there, in case ya don't know who I am, it's Kim's mom!
Anyway I have a question for you and since I remember that you know about
games, maybe you can help me with this one even though it's not totally
computer
gameish!
One of my friends lucked out and found one of the Henry games I don't know
if you heard of them, they were put out maybe in the 80's very similar to
the
old Simon game where you repeat what the tones are that you hear and if you
do it correctly in the same sequence, well you either win or go to the next
level. Anyway when I was at dog school last fall that was when I found out
that this game called Henry existed. I've been looking for one cause it was
so much fun to play it but one of my friends did snag one for themselves but
of course the game did not come with the instructions to set it up or
instructions
for use. Would you or any of your game playing people happen to have those
sought after instructions? If they had the actual game I'd really be
interested
as well but I'd like to help in the search for those elusive instructions
for my friend if they are available. Any suggestions or help would really
be
appreciated.
I can't remember who made the game but she did call and of course they said
"we no longer make that".
bye for now.
Laurie and LD Weston
++
Hello all,
Here's an opportunity that might be right up your
alley, for one of you out here. We got any programmers
here who might be interested in developing an
educational, accessible game that is health-based? My
first thought was a video/computer game that teaches
one how to better, or properly, take care of their
Diabetes. Or maybe something about the various health
aspects of blindness and vision loss? Got any ideas?
Why not go with it, and give it a try? Details on the
competition are below.
Please forward this funding opportunity for game
developers and programmers, to people you think would
be interested.
Thanks,
Everett
www.everettgavel.com
New Competition Seeks Innovative Ideas for How Video
and Computer Games Can Improve Health and Health Care
Deadline: September 25, 2007
A new competition seeks novel ways in which video and
computer games can be used to help people manage their
health and improve how their care is provided. The
online competition, "Why Games Matter: A Prescription
for Improving Health and Health Care," is sponsored by
the Pioneer Portfolio of the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation (
http://www.rwjf.org/ )
and uses a unique,
Open source competition model developed by Changemakers
(
http://www.changemakers.net/ ),
an initiative of
Ashoka: Innovators for the Public (
http://www.ashoka.org/ ),
that promotes enterprising
solutions to social problems.
"Why Games Matter" is the third in a series of idea
competitions co-sponsored by RWJF and Changemakers. The
collaborative competition model attracts solutions from
social entrepreneurs from the U.S. and around the
globe. Innovators submit their ideas online and the
Changemakers community provides feedback on the problem
and proposed solutions throughout the life of the
competition.
Through this competition, RWJF's Pioneer Portfolio and
Change-makers hope to challenge game developers,
researchers, health organizations, and others to
demonstrate new and therapeutic ways in which games can
help improve health and health care. The open source
structure of the competition also will further build
and energize the community of people who see the
potential of connecting games and health.
An expert panel of judges will select approximately
twelve finalists. The Changemakers global online
community then will vote on the competition Web site
for three winners, each of whom will receive a $5,000
cash prize from Changemakers. All finalists will win
the opportunity to attend the "Why Games Matter" Change
Summit at the 2008 Games for Health conference, the
premier event for game developers, researchers,
funders, and other leaders in this growing field.
The online application can be found at the Changemakers
Web site.
RFP Link:
http://fconline.foundationcenter.org/pnd/10008206/changemakers
++
The Role Of The Mouse In Audio Games
from AudioGames.net
New Article: The Role Of The Mouse In Audio Games
The mouse is an accurate and versatile input device and it is used in many
mainstream games as a pointing device to direct soldiers to specific spots,
aim at enemies and turn the camera. These are things visually impaired
gamers won't need to do often in games. Audio games hardly use the mouse as
an input device. In this article Brian Bors discusses and examines why
the use of the mouse might make audio games more fun, backing up his
arguments with small downloadable examples.
You can find the article on Game-Accessibility.com through the following
link:
http://www.game-accessibility.com/index.php?pagefile=roleMouseAudioGames
Greets,
Richard
http://www.audiogames.net
++
Just curious about something, and I thought other list members could put
their input into a discussion: Firstly, how long has this game been
available to gamers? Now, having asked that question, here is my point and
a thought for discussion: Recordings are already surfacing that will show
you how to beat the game if you are stuck? While I appreciate these being
made available, I have to ask: So soon?? And at least 1 request has been
made for them? My thoughts are that if you are shown how to beat the game
this soon after it has been released, this will take away from the replay
value of the game. You just get a game and are already giving up after just
a few days?? Work at the game for a good long while before you have the
method of winning given to you. I wouldn't even think of asking until I
have worked at it for at a minimum of 2 months. A good example is Grizly
Gulch. Once you beat that game, there's nothing left to do. Their second
game was, from what I understand, a bit harder to beat, but the same thing
happens once you beat the game. Now that I can beat it because I know the
solutions to the puzzles, what do I do with the game? If Liam's game has
surprises that weren't there the last time you played, or if things are
randomized, that would give the game replay value, and if you're always
trying to play better, and you can do so to attain a higher score, that's
replay value--improve from your high score. But isn't part of the fun of
playing a game the challenge of figuring out, on your own, how to beat it
the first time?
++
Hi.
As people will probably know, I'm a huge fan of the Chronicals of Arborell,
http://www.arborell.com/
A site which contains several extremely well written gamebooks and stories,
with a full rpg and other game things in development.
Wain Densely, the Gm is absolutely fantastic about accessibility, and at the
moment is trying to make the site more accessible with text versions of maps
etc, as well as producing an html version of the card game. He's requested
that people please send him in put with comments and suggestions about
screen reader accessibility, so that he can improve things in the future.
As I said, these are probably my favourite gamebooks on the net, and the
fiction is extremely great as well. also, i've rarely come across a gm of an
online game esque thing who's so good about accessibility, so comments and
support for him would deffinately be a good thing all round, so I hope
people will take the time to check the chronicals out.
++
This was sent in regarding a blind mudders list starting up.
Hi all,
Support admins emailed me today saying that the issue with the audio has
been sent to the dev team to be worked on. In the meantime, however, he
said so that I can get subscribers now he said that you can email them at
support-admin@jiglu.com
to get yourselves activated and subscribed to
the list.
I'd just tell them that you're blind and want to subscribe to the TBMIC
because of the audio capcha not working on the invite page for the list.
Thanks and lets hope this gets resolved.
+
Hi all,
To subscribe to the group via email:
Send an email to:
tmic-request@jiglu.com
with the following command in the body.
subscribe [your email address]. If the brackets don't work, try without
them.
Then send it off. Then when you get it back you should be able to reply to
it and you're on.
++
For game music
Hi there.
The link in Yohandy's signature leads to a site that does not seem to be in
English, however, if you just go to
http://gh.ffshrine.org
it presents the English version of the site.
Hope that helps.
Jal
For more SNES music, plus other formats such as .gbs for Gameboy Color, and
.USB for n64 music, you can check out:
http://zophar.net/music.html
And for "all-complete" music tracks of Sega Gen games, check out:
http://www.project2612.org/
The plug-in for "Winamp" can be found there as well. However I don't know if
Mareo Brothers was ever on the Sega at all or not.
http://www.zophar.net./music.html
This was also recommended by another lister.
+++
Beyond Scrabble
By Nancy Feldman
Years ago I realized that I was no longer satisfied with the board game
choices I had available in Braille. There was only so much Scrabble,
backgammon, checkers or parcheesi one could play before throwing up one's
hands and begging for mercy.
Then one day a creative friend asked, "Why can't we just modify the games we
buy at game stores? I'll help you Braille them."
And with those few words, I was immersed in a hobby that has kept me
entertained for the past twenty-five years. I have hundreds of games
sitting in my closet, and I buy more every month. Some only get played a
few times, because they're boring, or need just the right group of people,
or were fad games that got played while the fad was hot (Harry Potter
Trivia, for instance), but lost their appeal as time went on.
There are games that stand the test of time, however, and I thought I would
mention two of them, because they're easy to adapt, and fun to play.
One of my fascinations is word games. I love Scrabble, but sometimes you
want a quick pick-up game that can fit in your purse, and the Brailled
scrabble game just doesn't qualify. Two card games satisfy this requirement
quite nicely, however: Palabra and Quiddler.
As games go, I prefer Palabra. There are 120 cards in the deck, each with a
letter, a point value, and a number of stars ranging from zero to three.
Each card also has a color. This information was easily transcribed on each
card, using a slate and stylus.
At the start of the game, each player is dealt seven cards. There are lots
of ways to score. You can build a word using cards of any color, but if you
use cards all of the same color, the value of the word is doubled. If you
manage to use letter cards with stars on them as well, then the final score
for the word is multiplied by the number of stars on the card. You can also
score for runs of three or more letters, for laying down six or seven
vowels, for putting down five letters of the same color, or by building on
the words of your opponents. And just when you think you've managed to
score for some fabulous 200 point play, there are two nasty jokers that can
be played to cancel your score, so watch out.
The game takes about thirty minutes to play, and is simply a lot of fun.
The rules are on-line, but also come in the box in print, and scanned fairly
well.
An alternative to this is Quiddler. These cards are also easy to Braille,
with only one or two letters and a point value. The game is played in eight
hands. In the first hand, you're dealt three cards, in the next four, and
so on until the final hand is played with ten cards. The game plays like
rummy, where you can draw from the face-up discard pile, or from the face
down deck. When a player can use all of his cards to form words except one
that he must discard, he can go out. Each remaining player then gets one
more turn to lay down as many words as he can, and his remaining points
subtract from his score. At the end of each hand, the player with the most
words, and the player with the longest word each receive ten additional
points.
This game is also fairly quick, taking from 30to 45 minutes to play.
Sometimes we change it up by saying you can only use words related to a
certain topic: animals, fantasy novels, etc. or by saying that words have
to be at least four letters long and so forth.
Both games can be purchased on-line. I found Quiddler at Amazon.com for
$8.99, while Palabra retails for about $19.99. These games can also be
purchased at your local game store. I'd strongly advise taking a trip to
your game store because there's a world of entertainment available at your
fingertips if you're willing to be a little creative in finding ways to make
the games accessible.
+++
Word Puzzle - Only great minds can read this
This is weird, but interesting! Below is an unusual puzzle, if your
screen reader sounds odd it's just part of the below puzzle. Are you able
to figure it out?
fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too
Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.
The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod
are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the
rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit
a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by
istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot
slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it
+++
Vista Game Compatibility Chart
By Thomas Ward
6/29/2007
Introduction
Before you read the chart below I feel it necessary to point out a few
things. First, to get most of these games to operate properly under Windows
Vista you must have a recent copy of the Microsoft dx7vb.dll and dx8vb.dll
files. These files cann be found on any Windows XP system located in the
c:\windows\system32 directory. They do not ship with Windows Vista so must
be manually copied from a Windows XP computer to the new Windows Vista
computer, and placed in Vista's
c:\windows\system32 directory.
Some games such as Sarah will install these files for you, but in most
cases there is no other way to obtain these necessary files other than to
copy them
from a Windows XP computer to your Windows Vista computer.
Second, some games such as Rail Racer require the very latest DirectX
updates from
http://www.microsoft.com/directx
and the .Net framework to run. So be sure to have the required system
requirements installed.
Finally, I do mention some games require full administration rights to
install. To do this arrow to the games installation file, press the Windows
context
menu key, arrow to run as administrator, and press enter. This will allow
you to install the game as administrator.
Blind Adrenaline Simulations
Name: Rail Racer
Version: 1.0
Results: Passed
Description: Requires .Net 1.1 and DirectX 9.0C latest.
BSC Games
Name: Bobby's Revenge
Version: 1.0
Results: Passed
Description: No issues.
Name: Chopper Command
Version: 1.0
Results: Passed
Description: No issues.
Name: Hunter
Results: Failed
Description: Unable to initialize.
Name: Pipe
Version: 2.0
Results: Failed
Description: Unable to initialize.
Name: Troopenum
Version: 2.0
Results: Failed
Description: Unable to initialize.
Draconis Entertainment
Name: Aliens in the Outback
Version: 2.02
Results: Passed
Description: No issues
Name:Dynaman
Version: 2.2.5
Results: Passed
Description: No issues
Name: ESP Pinball Classic
Results: Passed
Description: No issues
Name: ESP Pinball Extreme
Results: Passed
Description: No issues
Name: Monkey Business
Results: Passed
Description: No issues.
GMA Games
Name: GMA Dice
Results: Passed
Description: No issues.
Name: GMA Mine Buster
Results: Passed
Description: No issues.
Name: GMA Solitaire
Results: Passed
Description: No issues.
Name: GMA Tank Commander
Version: 1.2
Results: Passed
Description: No issues.
Name: Lonewolf
Version: 3.5.5
Results: Passed with errors
Description: Unable to use screen reader support with Window Eyes 6.1,,
but could be used with Sapi 5 tts engines.
Name: Shades of Doom
Version: 1.2
Results: Passed
Description: No issues.
Name: Trek 2000
Version: 5.0
Results: Passed
Description: No issues.
Kitchens Inc
Name: Baseball
Results: Passed with errors
Description: Must be installed using full administration rights.
Name: Battleship
Results: Passed with errors
Description: Must be installed using full administration rights.
Name: Golf
Results: Passed with errors
Description: Must be installed using full administration rights.
Name: Life
Results: Passed with errors
Description: Must be installed using full administration rights.
Name: Monopoly]
Results: Passed with errors
Description: Must be installed using full administration rights.
Name: NFL
Results: Passed with errors
Description: Must be installed using full administration rights.
Name: Snakes And Ladders
Results: Passed with errors
Description: Must be installed using full administration rights.
Name: Spanker
Results: Passed with errors
Description: Must be installed using full administration rights.
Name: Trivia
Results: Passed with errors
Description: Must be installed using full administration rights.
L-Works
Name: Judgment Day
Version: 1.0
Results: Passed
Description: No issues.
Name: Super Liam
Version: 1.0
Results: Passed
Description: No issues.
PB Games
Name: Dark Destroyer
Version: 1.0
Results: Passed
Description: No issues.
Name: Duck Blaster
Version: 1.0
Results: Passed
Description: No issues.
PCS Games
Name: Packman Talks
Version: 1.0
Results: Passed
Description: No issues.
Name: Sarah and the Castle of Which craft and Wizardry
Version: 1.0
Results: Passed
Description: No issues.
Name: Super Dog Bone Hunt
Version: 1.0
Results: Passed
Description: No Issues.
USA Games
Name: Final Conflict
Version: 1.0
Results: Passed
Description: Requires .Net 2.0 and DirectX 9.0C latest.
Name: Montezuma's Revenge
Version: Beta 1
Results: Passed
Description: Requires .Net 2.0 and DirectX 9.0C latest.
Name: USA Raceway
Version: Not Available
Results: Passed
Description: Requires .Net 2.0 and DirectX 9.0C latest.
+++
Phil's Funnies
Games We'd Like to Play,
by Phil Vlasak
Montezuma's Revenge side stroller game
Do you wonder how it will be playing a game with little kids in tow? Now you
can with this new Side stroller game,
Imagine exploring the temples of Montezuma's with a little baby in a
stroller or baby carriage!
Here it cry and cry until you give it a bottle.
Imagine stopping every twenty minutes to change its diaper!
The game comes complete with a full range of baby products, bottles,
diapers, baby powder, booster and car seats. And wait until your kid gets
hold of those door keys, gulp!
The game is perfect for Moms, Dads and caregivers of all kinds!
And when you complete the game on the single stroller level, try the
stroller in double and triple styles.
smiles,
Phil
+
More of Phil's Funnnies
Games we'd like to play.
by Phil Vlasak
Montezuma's Raceway.
Start your engines and stop your bitching, its,
Montezuma's Raceway.
a new and exciting fast action game from USA Games Entertainment. In this
high speed action treasure hunting adventure you are Panama Joe, racing at
215 MPH through several eerie and mysterious underground Aztec temples
searching for gold, gems, and other lost treasures.
Such traps as burning fire, pits filled with boiling lava, electric force
fields, vanishing platforms, and burning ropes are no challenge to your
realistic stock car racer.
You can hear your wheels crush deadly creatures including giant hairy black
spiders, rattle snakes, and rolling skulls. Along the way you can gather
such treasures as gold coins, gems, swords, colored keys with your hood
mounted vacuum cleaner and your headlights will light your way.
Find out if you have what it takes to play this game!
smiles,
Phil
+++
Developing Accessible Games
by Thomas D. Ward
When I began losing my sight in the late 1980's I dreamed of the day I
could write my own accessible games. Games which a totally blind gamer
could play, driven by sound, and that were the same quality as those my
friends were playing on the NES, Sega, etc.
Not surprisingly in 1997 when I began college at Wright State University I
decided I wanted to be a computer programmer. Writing databases in SQL, web
pages in html, CGI scripts in perl, etc was fine,
but what I wanted most was to write my own accessible computer games. In
2004
I started USA Games Entertainment.
Since starting USA Games I have been asked several questions about how to
write accessible computer games by the general VI community. I have
always tried my best to answer questions, give helpful hints, but never
seamed to put all of my experience into one location. In this article I
would like to banish some of the myths and preconceived ideas about
accessible game programming you may have, and replace it with some
informative information about the process of writing your own accessible
games. Weather you plan to ever write your own accessible games or not I
hope this is an interesting read.
One mistake that most new programmers often make is they get some idea they
can take a programming course or two, read a couple of programming
books, and then begin writing complex computer software. More often than
not many inexperienced computer programmers want to start out by
programming computer games. However, the reality is that computer games
are one of the most complicated pieces of software to program. Writing
computer games is much more than programming alone.
When a computer programmer decides to write a game of any serious
complexity he or she should have aduquit math skills, some knowledge of
physics, understanding of artificial intelligence, and should have
aduquit skills in a programming language. The one thing that really helps
above all else is good programming experience. I can't stress experience
enough.
In some ways a game developer's job isn't much different than a building
engineer when it comes to mathematics. In games where your character or
hero is in some castle, ancient temple, space station, etc you will have to
use allot of geometry and trigonometry equations to design the game
world. If a developer is really serious about 3D games then the developer
will need to depend on some calculus to design and move throughout the game
world.
Another job of the developer is to make the game act in a way that is as
real as possible. The only way that is possible is by using excepted
laws of physics. For example, we know we can calculate the distance
traveled by a moving object by multiplying it's velocity times the time
it took to travel from point A to point B. However, real life isn't that
clean. There may be some forces acting against that object such as water
or wind that slows the objects actual velocity down.
Consider a submarine game. As a submarine moves in deep water it must
contend with hydrostatic pressures which can damage the hull, destroy
the submarine altogether, or slow it's progress down. Fortunately, a
developer can create a physics equation in his or her game to handle the
hydrostatic pressures to make the submarine operate more realistically in a
virtual ocean environment if he or she wished. When computer programmers
discuss artificial intelligence, (AI,) sometimes people think of Sci-Fi
legends such as: Johnnie V, Commander Data, Hal, I.G. 88, and so on.
However, the truth is programming
artificial intelligence for a game isn't quite that complex, but there is
still quite a bit you should know before writing a really serious game.
In some games artificial intelligence can be accomplished by using simple
conditional statements such as if, then, else which will instruct the AI
characters to act in a certain way. While using if, then, else
statements may allow for some simple intelligence it isn't practical for
more complex decision making tasks. if a developer really wants to make his
or her game characters seam more realistic the developer should
study how to program fuzzy logic into the games major characters. Fuzzy
logic techniques will allow for much more lifelike decisions on the part of
the game's characters.
Finally, a game programmer can't even start writing games unless he or she
knows a programming language fairly well. Most professional game
programmers use C++, but for non-professional game programmers there are
quite a few language choices out there including: Python, C# .Net, Java,
and Visual Basic.
Personally, for a Windows developer I would highly suggest C# .Net, (called
C-Sharp,)for the main reason it is fairly simple to learn, is widely used
by professional software developers, is well documented, and
natively supports all the Microsoft technologies you would want for writing
accessible games such as: Sapi 5, DirectX, and the .Net Framework. I've
used it for quite a while, and I feel it is one of the best programming
languages for the Windows platform.
However, for an extremely beginner programming language Python might
have allot to offer. The language is very simple to learn, isn't as strict
as other programming languages, and is very handy to know. One of Python's
better features is it can be wrapped around Windows core features such as
Sapi, DirectX, etc to gain access to those libraries
for some high performance computer games. Since Python is primarily a
script language a developer could compile the game engine core into a
Windows exicutible but allow for end user custom scripted levels,
adventures, etc.
In recent years quite a few accessible game developers have turned to
Visual Basic and Visual Basic .Net for writing games. Both languages will
certainly do the job, but I have often found that quality documentation for
writing games in Visual Basic and Visual Basic .Net is extremely lacking.
The languages have become popular do to the fact Visual Basic is easy to
learn and statements and blocks use plane English statements like Function,
End Function, Sub, End Sub, While, End
Loop, etc rather than using braces around code blocks as is used in C style
languages. If the developer knows how to do it a Visual Basic .Net
developer can have the same features as C# .Net, but the beginner game
programming documentation for Visual Basic .Net isn't really out there for
inexperienced programmers.
Before I leave the topic of Visual Basic I'd like to point out the fact
that Visual Basic and Visual Basic .Net aren't really the same language.
Visual Basic .Net was largely based on classic Visual Basic, but many major
changes were introduced into the language as to make it a new language in
it's own right.
Earlier I mentioned experience plays a critical roll in writing computer
games. When a developer takes a programming course or reads a programming
book he or she learns the fundamentals of computer programming. Just
because a developer may know what statements does what, knows how to
structure a function, declare a variable, or knows where to put his or her
braces does not mean that same developer can put
together a working program let alone one as complex as a computer game.
That is where experience and practice comes in. No amount of book learning
can add experience to a programmer. A programmer really begins
learning when he or she actually begins by writing small programs, and
slowly writes more and more complex applications. The idea a developer
could read the, "Idiots Guide To Language X," and begin writing the next
Mortal Combat as his or her first project is frankly an impossibility.
Only through practice, trial, and error will a developer gain the
experience to write really high quality games.
For example, let's assume an inexperienced programmer tries to store a
floating point value like 9.6 as an integer value. The developer's game
compiler will give an error to the effect that a floating point value
can not be stored as an integer. After the developer learns his or her
mistake and corrects the problem it is unlikely that same developer will
make that same mistake again. As a result he or she has just gained some
experience.
The more a programmer programs he or she will find new ways to structure
programs, organize code blocks, store functions in files to be used in
other projects, etc. It is this kind of learn as you go that can't
really be described in a book, but has to be experienced first hand.
Each programmer sooner or later designs his or her own style. A developer
finds out over time what works and doesn't work. For most of this article I
have discussed what skills are required to write high quality games. the
one thing I have not mentioned is time.
Programming a game of any real complexity will require quite allot of a
developer's time. If the game writing is a developer's hobby it will
naturally have to be balanced between that developer's work schedule,
family, and other duties he or she may have. As a result it could take
weeks, months, and even years to complete a game title on your own. The
time it takes to create a game depends on complexity, style of game, your
own free time, your own skills, and so on. Plane and simple they
are really works of patient long hours of trial and error.
For all the negative points I have raised about game programming I can say
once you have the skills and experience writing accessible games can
be really rewarding. The true fun is creating places you never have visited
before, get to use all kinds of weapons, and generally just have fun after
months of hard work. You can be a criminal, hero, sub commander, fighter
pilot, whatever. It is all up to you.
If you would like to start programming your own accessible games the best
place to begin is by subscribing to Safari Books which is located at
http://safari.oreilly.com.
This internet service sells several programming materials online which can
be read in your favorite web browser. They have many exilent books on
Visual Basic .Net, C# .Net, Python, Java, C++, and more.
If you wish to download a free Visual C# .Net or Visual Basic .Net compiler
you can find a link to them from my web site at
http://www.usagames.us/faq.html.
+++
News from developers
++
News from Audio Games
07/18/07
from AudioGames.net News
"What are you doing hanging around here? Visit the Experimental Audio Games
Section http://www.audiogames.net/playcenter/index_exp.php
and go play not one, not two, not six but twelve new Experimental Audio
Games developed by 29 Game Design students of the Utrecht School of the
Arts! These audio games are the result of an assignment within a Game Audio
Design seminar. The students are all looking forward to hear your feedback,
so please tell them what you think of their games in the Experimental Audio
Games Forum http://forum.audiogames.net/viewforum.php?id=19
Have Fun!
Richard
+
22/04/07
Hi,
One of the students who developed "Nameless" (the untitled RPG audio game)
posted the following on the AudioGames.net forum
(http://forum.audiogames.net/viewtopic.php?id=1275):
*quote*
Hello, I'm one of the designers from that game, I have to admit the room
discriptions were done last minute, actually in the last 10 minutes before
we had to hand in the game, so it was rushed. The first room has some small
cracks in the walls which create a draft. Maybe try to cast a spell on that?
The gate is which the innkeeper used to lock you in the dungeon and which
you have to open to escape. But of course you can't open it right away, so
you have to investigate the rest of the creepy cellar first.
The game is a bit small I guess but the source code is included so people
can make it bigger by adding in more rooms, which is quite easy. Just copy
one of the room functions and give it a new name and add it to the list of
rooms, then you can modify it all you like. It's also possible to add RPG
aspects to the game like character statistics and include random encounters
and combat and all that. This was the plan originally but we did not have
much time and were quite busy with other projects as well. I have the code
for character stats, experience, gold, monsters, leveling up, and a simple
combat
system. So if anyone wants to have that just post it, I still read these
forums every few days.
Actually if anyone has a plan of a game world for me to program I'll do that
for them, but you have to provide the audio files and the ideas of
everything that is in the world. I'm just going to do programming and the
game mechanics.
*quote end*
So here's a great opportunity for those who would like a simple audio RPG
game maker. I suggest those who are interested contact Eva (the developer)
and let her hear your ideas and suggestions.
And you can find "Nameless" and the other eleven 2007 Experimental Audio
Games (and the 2006 Experimental Audio Games) here:
http://www.audiogames.net/playcenter/index_exp.php
Greets,
Richard
http://www.audiogames.net
++
News from Blind Adrenelin
13/06/07
Rail Racer It's alive! Alive!
enough said.
Get it here:
www.blindAdrenaline.com
Be sure and reed the reed me file included with the zip before installing
or bad things will happen, very evil and bad things.
Enjoy,
Che
Blind Adrenaline Simulations
Games by one of us, for all of us
www.blindAdrenaline.com
email: che@blindadrenaline.com
+
Ok, the first RR online tournament is done and it went off with great
success.
Kelvin ended up taking the top prize by beating Steady 3 out of 5 on the
final track, congratulations Kelvin!
A new tournament has started for players that did not finish in the top
ten of the last competition, this is to make it more fair for the newer
players.
Head over to Blind Adrenaline to sign up if you haven't already, the
tournament will be open to new registrations for 3 days, ending on Wednesday
August15.
Happy racing,
Che
Blind Adrenaline Simulations
Games by one of us, for all of us
www.blindAdrenaline.com
email:
che@blindadrenaline.com
+
In regards to the competition it is only for those with a full copy of
Rail Racer, not just the demo. Ron
++
News from Dreamtech Interactive
07/30/07
I tried posting the manual to wrecking ball a few times but it must be too
big. Patch one of the game is up for download at
http://dti.us.tt
and I'll put the manual up too.
Ken Downey
President
DreamTechInteractive!
+
07/28/07
Okay, I just compiled the latest version of Wrecking Ball--hopefully nothing
weird happened along the way and it *is* the latest version. Find it at
DTI.us.tt
and have fun. By the way, I'm still working on the ads situation--hope to
have it resolved soon.
Ken Downey
President
DreamTechInteractive!
+
07/23/07
Well, folks,
I finally have a webpage. I'm still using Kara's modgirl ftp site for
links, because I'm using Geocities for the web page and storage space is
limited.
Here is the site and what it contains.
The site:
www.DTI.us.tt
It has World of Darkness, which is now freeware! See the register.txt file
for the code.
The Sound RTS soundpack 4 modded from Bryan Smart's previous packs.
Enemy attack, where you shoot down jets, planes, choppers, and bombs
And,
Wrecking ball beta 1
free to download. Many more levels for this are coming!
I also have a site called the Treehouse, which shares a page with DTI. It
contains links to Teamtalk and channels on my Teamtalk server which is
always
up and running, and which should be accessible.
By the way, if you have a good picture of a treehouse, send it my way and
I'll put it on the site.
Ken Downey
President
DreamTechInteractive!
+
If using the above link exclude the 3 w from the link.
++
News from Kitchens Inc
07/20/07
Hi,
I have put a new file up on my web site.
File name wintgf6.exe File size 70k
Three new trivia files, basketball, birds, States and Capitals
TGIF and BFN
Jim
+
04/11/07
Hi,
I have put a new file up on my site.
File name winlife3.exe file size 283k
In version 3 I have fixed the bug in the beginning of the game that would
crash some computers.
The file can be found on my free windows sapi5 text to speech games page.
BFN
Jim
jim@kitchensinc.net
http://www.kitchensinc.net
++
News from L-works
18/07/07
HI gamers:
I've rewritten the LWorks website as well as put up an updated version of
duck hunt. You can find it on the all new free games page. New features
include a pause feature, two ducks, clay pigeons, and bug fixes. I've also
made most of the sapi speech interuptable by pressing space.
You can check it out as well as the other games at www.l-works.net
Liam
+
11/07/07
This afternoon I had a spark of creativity and decided to recreate duck hunt
for nintendo. For those who have never played it, Duck hunt was a game that
came bundled with the nintendo. You had a gun that you would shoot at ducks
on screen with. There was also this dog that tended to laugh at you if you
missed ducks. Of course he was all smiles if you shot one down.
You can download the game at
www.l-works.net/dhsetup.exe
I hope you find it fun.
Liam
++
News from PCS Games
07/23/07
Hi Folks,
Since I finished reading the last Harry Potter book, I am now adjusting the
Sarah game accordingly.
slight
spoiler
space
I hope to get Sarah to record the new descriptions and the real name of The
Gray Lady
It will take a few weeks to do this.
I will post the changes as a patch plus update the full game download.
Phil
phil@pcsgames.net
++
News from Spoonbill Games
15/04/07
Word Target
DESCRIPTION.
Blind Gamers Word Target is a game of anagrams. Each game consists of a 3 by
3 grid of nine letters, which are the scrambled letters of a random nine
letter word. Your task is to find as many words of four letters or more
using the nine letters in the grid. The letter in the centre of the grid is
referred to as the target letter. Each word in your list must contain the
target letter, and there must be at least one nine letter word in the list.
Plurals ending in 'S' and verb forms ending in 'S' are not allowed.
You cannot use a letter more than once in the same word. That is not to say
you cannot make a word with two E's for example, but you can only do this if
at least two E's appear in the Word Target grid.
You cannot make proper names such as London, Robert, or Mozart. You cannot
make any abbreviations such as E T C or acronyms such as U N E S C O. You
can make foreign words provided they have been adopted into the English
language.
At your discretion, you can add any words you find, which are not in the
Word Target dictionary, and which you deem to be acceptable words, to the
User dictionary. But you cannot change, add to or delete words from the Word
Target dictionary.
++
News from USA Games Entertainment
Aug. 1, 2007
USA Games Entertainment would like to announce the immediate release of
Montezuma's Revenge Patch 2. This patch fixes a number of bugs found in
Public Beta 1. This patch includes such new features as the ability to
get sound descriptions and to test your speaker orientation from the
main menu.
In addition, a number of miner bugs were fixed including the missing
exit game option, mysterious bug where you can jump through walls while
standing on a staircase, and several others. A complete listing is found
in the Changes.txt file that ships with the full patch.
To download this patch visit
http://www.usagames.us
and grab it from our download center.
+
USA Games News
July 6, 2007
Montezuma's Revenge Beta 1 Released
After a year of solid development and hard work USA Games Entertainment
would like to announce the immediate availability of Montezuma's Revenge
public beta 1. This 2 level demo is a breakthrough release for
Montezuma's Revenge.
Montezuma's Revenge is a fast action, classic side-scroller, supporting
Microsoft's DirectX June 2007 technology, has built in Sapi 5 speech
drivers for the most popular text to speech engines on the market, and
Microsoft's .Net Framework 2.
In this demo you will be able to explore two dark and eerie under ground
temples searching for such treasures as magic healing potions, swords,
torches, gold coins, and gems while you avoid such deadly creatures as
rolling skulls, giant spiders, and slithering rattle snakes. As you
travel the temple passages you will have to climb ropes, jump across
deadly ledges, navigate vanishing platforms, jump over pits of blazing
fire, and more. If you are ready for a fast action adventure join us in
Montezuma's Revenge. You can download Montezuma's Revenge from our web site
http://www.usagames.us.
Before installing Montezuma's Revenge you should download the
Montezuma's Revenge manual from the USA Games downloads center to
familiarize yourself with the proper setup. You also should read our FAQ
page, download and install any and all system requirements before
running the game's setup.
Thomas Ward
President of USAGames Entertainment
http://www.usagames.us
+++
Game announcements and reviews
Below are some of the new games available. Though an old treasure or
two may be discussed also. It's noteworthy that in some cases it's only
an announcement of a game, taken from the email list, and may not be a
full review, or an official notice from the developer. Reviews of games
will not appear in any particular order. The only exception to this will be
when we have more than one review for a game. In this case, reviews will be
placed consecutively so that it is easier to compare them.
++
Audio Game Maker
Freeware
from http://www.audiogamemaker.com
08/0207
Hi,
You guys can all go and download audio game maker right now! The download is
up. so go and grab it at www.audiogamemaker.com and hopefully we'll see lots
of new games whatever they may be coming out.
+
Hello,
Here is an alternative link to download the sound libraries for audio game
maker.
http://www.audiogamemaker.com/application/agm_soundlib.zip
+
Hi,
I made an mp3 of the audio game maker tutorial. then all you'll need open is
the audio game maker, and windows media player to follow along with it.
For this one I used ibm viavoice outloud which is the same as jaws
eloquence.
http://www.divshare.com/download/1449767-0d0
Josh
+
Some examples of Audio Game Maker
They are popping up on
http://www.audiogamemaker.com/index.php?pagefile=gamelist
+
AGM Game
Well, I've just released my first sample game, the demo from hell. Face
three cowardly drivers who will think nothing of taking you out as soon as
you hit the wall! If they back you into a corner, though, they win. One of
the opponents is on your side, and he goes for one of the other, faster
opponents. It's at http://tbrn.net/modgirl/Ken's%20games
Enjoy!
Ken Downey
+
Tool for soundports and AGM
Hi,
See: http://www.game-accessibility.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1896#p1896
"We have created a small application that helps you select the outport you
want instead of a trial and error-approach!
Sound_helper!
http://audiogamemaker.com/application/sound_helper.exe
Put this file in the root of your agm folder or the game you have created.
When you execute it, it will write a textfile to that directory. It is
called audioports.txt and it lists the numbers you can enter into the
soundport.txt in the data folder. The audio engine works best with DS
(direct sound) drivers. ASIO is also good if you like.
Running this application outside the AGM folder is useless, because it needs
files from the AGM data folders.
Let us know how it works. Remember, if AGM already works, you do not need
this application."
++
Play 20Q Speciality Games
Hi Folks,
20 Q just added a Harry potter quiz to its list:
Play 20Q Speciality Games
US Music
UK Music
Television
Movies
Sports
People
Places
Names
Harry Potter 20Q
Project Furry
Play 20Q Demo Games
20Q Junior
Pocket Game Flash Demo
Mobile Game Flash Demo
Play Other Games
Other Games
Hangman
- guess the word
Memory Game
- card matching
Fungus
- interactive web art
20Q game and A.I. related information
Play
F.A.Q.
- Game FAQ
About
Press
Awards
In The News
Store
Quick Tour
History of 20Q
A few questions for the inventor
Now Phil:
It is a little tricky gettin' to the game.
I do the following:
go to,
http://www.20q.net/
then go to the bottom of the page to,
site map and hit enter.
Then I can hit enter on which game I wish to play.
If someone can figure out the exact url to each game I would appreciate it.
Phil
++
Hi all,
This is just a post to say that I've found a game which is derived from
the first ever mud, which started life at Essex University in England in the
late 70's.
It is actually quite a bit different from most all modern mud games, and
is very fun in its own right. Best of all it's free--despite what the
account
pages might say. If anybody's interested, you can check it out.
The website is:
http://www.mud2.com
Hope you like it, and looking forward to bringing this game to life, it's
really quite amazing.
All the best,
Zack.
++
Games comparison - Change Reaction and Jawbreaker
By Charles Rivard
Both games can be played without sighted assistance.
Jawbreaker and Change Reaction are the same sort of game. Jawbreaker comes
preloaded on a Pac Mate, which is Freedom Scientific's PDA for the blind.
Change Reaction is a game for the PC.
from
www.draconisentertainment.com
In Jawbreaker, you work with differently colored jawbreakers, identified to
you through the use of a JAWS graphics file that you paste into your Windows
folder. The file can be obtained, and you can find out all you need to know
about the game, from the web site for Pac Mate users, which is
www.pacmategear.com
You break a jawbreaker that touches other jawbreakers of the same color that
are side by side or consecutively placed in a column of jawbreakers. Any
jawbreakers that touch, that are next to one another, will disappear.
Jawbreakers that are above those that have been popped fall down into the
empty spaces of their respective columns. The more you can pop with one
breakage, the higher your score. You play until you can break no more
jawbreakers.
In Change Reaction, 5 denominations of coins are used, identified verbally
through your desktop PC's soundcard. You left and right arrow across the
columns of coins, and drop the coin that you have randomly been given onto a
column. Any time there are 3 or more of the same denomination of coin you
drop onto a stack either across or down, those coins will explode, making
their respective stacks shorter. If there aren't enough coins to cause an
explosion, your dropped coin is added to the stack, making it higher. If
you discard the coin in your hand, twice the value of that coin is
subtracted from your accumulated total, and you are given another coin to
drop or discard. The object of the game is to race against the clock and
wipe the board of all coins before time expires, and rack up higher dollar
amounts in your jackpot. You can then send your high score to Draconis to
see if you can make it to the top 10 list.
Each game has different game settings. The difficulty settings of Change
Reaction, from the easiest to the most difficult, are 8, 6, 4 and 2 minutes
to clear the board, respectively. If you clear the board before time runs
out, you can choose to play a bonus game to try to double your score. Only
2 denominations of coins are used, and you have 2 minutes to clear the
board. If you do, you double your score. If you don't, you get nothing.
If you find the way to trigger a fun variation of the game, sounds are
different.
You can play different variations of Jawbreaker. Some will replace popped
jawbreakers rather than decreasing the columns, so different tactics must be
used to rack up your score.
I find both of these fun little puzzle games a challenge, and hope you'll
give both a try. Change Reaction can be downloaded and used as a demo for,
I think, 15 days, after which you must buy the game and use the registration
key you are sent to unlock the game into the fully featured version. All
info on the game can be found at
www.draconisentertainment.com
and this is also where you purchase the game.
Happy gaming!
++
The new GMA Mud client is coming
Hi all, thought some on the list would be interested in the below. I don't
think david greenwood is subscribed to this list so no point asking him
questions here, but feel free to discuss.
kevin - (lord l)
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Greenwood"
Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Subject: [GMAGamesTalk] The new GMA Mud client is coming
Hi all,
VipMud is a Mud client that we are currently about to alpha test. For
those of you who do not know what a Mud Client is, it is a communications
program which allows you to communicate with on-line multi-user games on
the
internet.
In the past such clients as the following were used:
1. GMud. More or less accessible, but not usually right out of the box.
Its main weakness was that it had no scripting capabilities, and in my
opinion not too much better than a Telnet client.
2. TinTin+ - an Unix text -based client which is an excellent program, but
it was only available for those accessing the internet through a Unix
shell.
3. ZMud - Another excellent program, but almost totally inaccessible.
4. Mush Client - A reportedly good client supported by Jaws scripts, but it
does not work right out of the box. Certainly it is not as powerful as
TinTin+ nor ZMud.
The VipMud client that I always wanted would do the following:
1. work right out of the box without having to download scripts or make
Many setup option changes.
2. Work directly with Jaws, Window Eyes, and MS Sapi.
3. Be able to use multiple voices concurrently, and be able to mix MS Sapi
speech with a screen reader voice. Also have different voices assigned to
different activities such as incoming text, command entry, script editing,
system messages, and so on.
4. The gamer should be able to play multiple characters on a single Mud or
on multiple Muds at one time, and the characters should be able to work
together using triggers, aliases, macros, and other scripting commands.
5. Support for.Wav, .OGG, and .MP3 files. These files should be played as
background, or when an event is triggered such as when you kill a monster
or you sustain an injury, or to indicate low stats such as energy, mana,
hit
points, and so on.
6. The scripting commands should be voice oriented. For example, you may
want to stop speaking spam, but you may want it still displayed on the
screen for future use. Or you don't want something displayed on the
screen, but you want it spoken.
7. Lots of accessibility aids. An example of one is let's say a character
name Xandiavier asks you a question. It is a painful and time consuming
experience to first find his name on the output screen, if your client
allows this, and then cut and copy it to your entry field. inStead you
could type: "Tell X", then press control-space to complete the word with
the client doing the work by finding it in your recent output info, and
then
finishing with "how's it going?" The End result is "Tell Xandiavier How's
it going?" Other shortcuts are needed as well, such as quickly finding a
previously entered command by typing one or more of its leading characters
and pressing, say Shift-space. Another helpful tool would allow you to
extract hard to remember place names, character names, spells, and weapons
from a built-in list of names and phrases which you maintain with just a
simple keystroke.
8. Be able to support powerful scripting capabilities to give you complete
control of your actions and environment.
VipMud does all of the above and much more. It is almost completely
Written and is going into alpha testing. Beta testing will start in the
summer
sometime, and it should be coming out early fall, and so stay tuned.
Regards,
David Greenwood
DavidGreenwood@GMAGames.com
http://www.GMAGames.com
++
Two football or socker games that are accessible.
hi all. For any one who likes socker here are two games that are
accessabel. They are easier than Free Kick and Hattrick.
http://www.footiemanager.com
this is a game with real teams, real stadiams, and real leagues, but the
players are fantacy.
http://www.sockermanager.com
this is a football game with real teams leagues and players. But it is
harder than footie manager.
any one who wants more info email me off list and i am willing to help you
get set up. Even set up your account for you if you give me the details i
will need. Although you should not need my help with that as it is very
accessible forr blind users. Their is also a chat room and forams to chat
on. any one who does not really understand socker i can help them.
ian and riggs
riggs_mcnamara@yahoo.co.uk
++
Harry Potter Wombat Test
Hi Folks,
I've been wanting to take the wombat test since the first one came out and
finally J.K.Rowling has made it accessible on the ,
accessibility enabled version of her web site.
http://www.jkrowling.com/
Hints:
1. You need flash to make it work.
2. you need to hit enter on the Eraser - question mark
3. next hit enter on the fly.
4. The fly turned into a key that opened the door to the Room of
Requirements. Through it is a view of my desk from above. There is a
wombat test paper on it under three paper weights.
a paper weight in the shape of a triangle
a paper weight in the shape of a circle
a paper weight in the shape of a line
You need to hit enter on all three paper weights.
You can now take the test but be quick because you only get 35 minutes to
finish.
++
Harry Potter Guess the voices
Hi Folks,
There is a Harry Potter Guess the Voices Game.
It is flash based and quite accessible.
You need to have read the Harry Potter books thoroughly and even better
listened to Jim Dale reading them.
If You answer 15 out of 15 questions correctly, You are a prefect!
Here is the link to the page,
http://www.randomhouse.com/audio/features/harrypotter/
Then click on the link,
Guess the Voices Game
The 5 multiple choices will be numbered and a button to guess then the
person's name below the button.
Between questions you get your current score with a next button to go to the
next audio question.
Have fun!
++
Jedi Quake 4.1 qmod
Cara Quinn
Hi All, -been a while since I've posted
and I wanted to let y'all know that at long last, update 1 for Jedi Quake
is here!!!
For those who might be unfamiliar with this, Jedi Quake is a series of
mods or modifications to the game Audio Quake, which, itself, is a mod for
the extremely popular FPS Quake.
You can download the installation for the game itself, as well as the
latest JQ release / update at:
http://tbrn.net/modgirl
The game installations are in the AQ folder, and the JQ releases are in
the root.
For those familiar with the mod, this update contains several bug fixes as
well as many new features, so I've posted it as a self-contained
release. It's a standard QMOD file for Quake and can also be converted
into a zip file if you'd rather install or work with it that way.
If you find you have any trouble downloading it, (as Windows sometimes
wants to treat it as a zip file) you can set your browser to download all
File Types in the save as dialogue, and it should save properly, as a QMOD
file.
Then, as long as you already have Audio Quake installed, you can simply
press enter on the JediQuake QMOD file and it will automatically install
into your installation of Audio Quake.
As always, please feel free to contact me on or off list with any
questions, concerns, or feedback.
Enjoy! and have a most wonderful weekend!!!
Smiles,
Cara :)
++
Hi,
I've just started up my TWGS game server, for anybody interested. Right
now, there's just the one game--a 5000 sector universe with a limit of 250
turns per day. I plan to create a couple more games to suit different
styles of play and lengths of daily time if this is requested.
For the interested, you can find my server with your Telnet client or
helper program at: zkline.dyndns.org, port 2002.
If anybody has any questions about this, please feel free to contact me
on list or off. I'll get back to you guys as soon as I can.
Have fun, and good luck,
Zack.
Z_kline@hotmail.com
++
JMC Scripts Now Updated to V3.0
By: Bryan Garaventa
Hello, I originally tried signing up for the BlindGamers list, but I guess
it's no longer around. Well, it's been about 4 years since I've checked, so
that's probably it.
This is simply to let people know that I've finally added some new features
to the JMC Scripts at http://gutterstar.net/jmc_scripts.php . I was a bit
surprised to realize that the last build was in 2003, but well, it's been
pretty busy.
Hopefully people will enjoy the new features, they add quite a bit of
advantage for blind MUD gamers, but we can keep that a secret right? Shhhh.
Have a great day,
Bryan Garaventa
http://gutterstar.net/
++
Judgement Day
Available from L-works.net
By Andy Smith
Hi:
In L-work's newest title, called Judgment Day, which was launched December
12, 2006, It is quite good; however, you wouldn't know that
from the demo. I was not sure if I should buy it actually. But once
you unlock the thing, wow! You've got a whole world of fun right at
your fingertips!
bonus games
perhaps the most exciting feature is the bonus games. There
are 4 bonus games, plus a little extra bonus game that doesn't do much
of anything but give you a trophy.
rocket rage, it's you up against mad rockets dropping faster, Or, itt seems
that
Way. At first, your machine gun goes so fast it's a mystery
how you can get only one bullet out at a time. But, my strategy is to
just hold down ctrl the entire game and move from side to side.
The catch is that your gun fires slower. And slower. And slower.
Until... 10 rockets land, oh no!
Parachute jump, this one's fun! You're falling out of this parachute
with bags falling to make you fall faster. You've got to avoid these
rocket-enemies, and at the same time, get the bags. They've got to be
exactly in the center; not even a centimeter off.
Weapon Search, this one, to me, is kind of similar to super egg hunt
in a number of ways. You move up and down, among the rows and columns,
trying to collect as many weapons as possible within 3 minutes. You've
got to make it to the door before it is known there is an intruder.
number guess, in this game, you've got a menu (if that's the propper word),
with
the numbers 1 to 12. You have to guess the number the computer is thinking
of, however, you only get 4 tries per number.
The trophys:
There are 40 of them all combined; even counting bonus games, and
regular game trophys, and also extra trophys. In Judgment Day, you do
certain things to obtain them. For example, to start, once you get
your unlock code you will want to beat it, right? On easy, right?
Well, if you beat it on easy normal hard or even unlockable ultra, you
get trophys. However, in the demo there is no way to tell how good
this is.
L-works theater
It's movies! Yeah, and they're being mailed right in your computer!
In this theater there are little unlockable pieces of audio; but
please keep in mind there is no video to watch. They're quite funny,
once you've got the propper amount of trophys!
submitting scores:
You can show your fellow gamers how good you are! Get number one and.
And finally, the regular game!
In the regular game, you got to shoot down rockets, copters, planes,
and disablers. From personal experience, planes are the hardest to
kill. They love to move around; keep your machine gun, rockets or
nukes on them and you'll stay away from harm.
closing thoughts:
While the keyboard interface is good, the mouse input option is much
Better. It gives me the sensation that I am actually shooting stuff
down, rather than pushing buttons.
I also like the trophy system; I became addicted, staying up to 3 am
on weekends to play it to get the trophys. I like the unlockable
system; with the movies, bonus games, and other content; it's just
awesome!
++
Playing with the Wii
Reviewed by Che Martin
Hi all,
I purchased a Nintendo Wii last week, and I'm here to share my impressions
with my fellow blind gamers.
The Nintendo Wii, pronounced "we" is the latest entry into the video game
console market by Nintendo.
What makes the Wii unique is the way you interact with the system.
Instead of punching buttons, you hold a wireless controller in your hand
much like a small TV remote. This controller, called a Wiimote is
absolutely amazing.
Instead of pushing up and down arrows to select menus, you just point at
the menu item you want and click the A button.
I was afraid I wouldn't be able to operate the menus because of this, but
fortunately this is not the case.
When you move the pointer over a menu selection, the Wiimote vibrates
slightly, and by memorizing where the different menu items are, you can go
right to the menu you want.
The Wii comes with a sports disk that contains basic versions of baseball,
tennis, golf, bowling and boxing.
As a blind player, I can compete quite well with my sighted friends and
family with all the games, which is amazing.
This is made possible by the unique control system the Wii remote affords.
For example, in the bowling game, you hold the remote up in front of you
as if you were holding a bowling ball, hold down the B button, then swing
your arm back then forward just as if you were tossing a real bowling ball.
At the bottom of your swing, release the B key and listen to the pins fall.
The faster you swing, the faster your ball goes, and you can even put
english on the ball by twisting the remote.
Baseball allows you to swing the remote like a bat, and this one takes
some good timing, as you need to swing just after hearing the swoosh of the
pitch.
Tennis can be played the same way, though I had the most trouble getting
the timing down for this one.
Golf is a real treat, as you hold the remote like a golf club and you
really start to get a feel for how hard to hit the ball after some practice.
This one requires a sighted friend, as the game does not speak your distance
to the pin.
The best of the lot in my opinion is boxing, which uses an additional
attachment to the remote called the Wii Nunchuck. By holding the Nunchuck
in one hand and the main remote in the other, you have the ability to throw
punches with either hand, and the system recognizes your glove position at
all times, so you can guard your face or body, lean back, left and right to
avoid punches and so forth.
It is an amazing gaming experience for the blind, and I have yet to be
defeated by any of my friends or family, which shows you how well the blind
can play these games.
Additionally, boxing is a great workout, and you will be sweating after a
couple of rounds.
Overall, I would highly recommend this system to any and all accessible
gamers out there, especially if you have kids in your family, it is a real
blast.
If anyone has questions, I'd be happy to answer them if I can.
The Wii is 250 dollars, comes with the sports games and a remote and
Nunchuck. I bought a second remote and Nunchuck for 50 bucks so I could
play head to head with friends.
Later all,
Che
++
Mortal Kombat on the Wii First Impressions
By Che Martin
So I rode down to the local Wal Mart to buy MK Armageddon for the Wii
yesterday, since Amazon informed me without explanation that my order would
be delayed 2 weeks. I hate Wal Mart and all it represents, so you can
imagine how badly I wanted to check this game out.
My 11 year old nephew was here to check it out with me, which is a good
thing because the menus and so forth don't talk and need to be memorized.
After finally figuring out we had to register the second controller
through the Wii setup menu, we were on our way.
After choosing Baraka, my old time favorite from MK, I went into practice
mode. The game shows a diagram of special moves you can do, one after the
other, and with the Wiimote, the special moves are super easy to pull off
now.
For example, with Baraka, you hold down the b button and go back forward
to throw his blade, or up down to wind mill his blades, works almost every
time like a charm.
I have never played MK blind before, and the things I was afraid would be
a problem with two player are indeed a problem. I cannot tell when I am
near enough to the opponent to kick or punch, likewise how far away I am to
pull off a projectile move.
Also, there is no consistent way of telling quickly what side of your
opponent you are on. You can do a back back and listen for the sliding back
sound, but if you aren't on the side you think you are on, suddenly you have
moved into range of the enemy and you get ppounded. Maybe with more
experience, I can pick up on more subtle clues and be able to tell where I
am better.
Punches and kicks are handled by the direction pad on the main remote,
with movement and blocks done on the nunchuck. It all works quite well.
Anyway, this is a first impression, I will probably do a podcast of the
game and make it available on my website sometime this week, as well as give
a text file that lays out the menus, as that is very much needed for blind
play.
More to come...
Che
++
Some stuff about the PS3
Commercial console game
Reviewed by Shadow Dragon
Well, just got a little bored, and figured since a review of sorts has been
done about the WII, might as well throw in my two cents about the ps3.
Hopefully this hasn't been done yet, to my knowledge it hasn't, so I'm gonna
do it now.
Basically the PS3 would be worth the 600 dollars you spend on it... if you
were sighted. Right now in my opinion its basically what you could call a
glorified ps2, if even that, from a blind gamers prospective. If you're
sighted, you can browse the net, download games, demos and all kinds of
things, stream video directly to your ps3, do streaming from ps3 to psp and
all that stuff if you're interested in movies, and many more things. You can
play blue ray discs on it, which basically amounts to super high
def video and not much else, so that's pretty much useless to blind players
as well. The games, I have to admit, are pretty OK. Granted its about all we
can do on the ps3 is play games, which is what it was made for, but we can't
use a lot of the other features, and what we can use is basically useless to
us, high def video has no effect whatsoever on the blind, and it doesn't
change the sound one bit. Anyway, I'm getting off topic, back to the games.
I bought 3 games with my ps3, or rather, I bought 2 and
my brother bought 1. Fight Night is, for all intents and purposes, probably
the best boxing game I've ever played. It has realistic boxing effects,
nothing's synthasized, its almost like they actually had a couple guys throw
punches at eachother and go through the motions of boxing, and then recorded
it in high definition sound. It sounds awesome, and the slow motion KO
moments just add to the awesomeness. Career mode is pretty sweet , though
you'll need sighted help to play the training games. The autotrain almost
never gives max benefit, and all 3 of the minigames you play for training
involve sight. The weight lifting could probably be a timed thing, but I
haven't messed around with it much. Anyway yeah, if you're going to spend
the huge amount of money for a ps3, be sure to throw in an extra 60 bucks
for this game. Even if you're not a huge fan of boxing, you will be after
you play this. Especially if you have some sighted help. The controls are
quite simple, though I'd recommend having someone help you change
the control scheme to something easier, it starts out with no buttons to
throw punches, you have to toss all your punches with the joystick. You can
switch it though so that your square and triangle buttons are left and right
jabs and your x and circle buttons are left and right hooks. I personally
prefer this, but I'm sure there are those of you out there who will like the
fact that your joystick gives you total punch control, that is to say, you
can actually wind up your haymaker before tossing it, you can fling stunning
left and right hooks, jabs, straights, uppercuts and almost any other type
of boxing punch you can think of. Just by making the correct motions with
the joystick.
Next up, Virtua Fighter 5. Basically they made this game immensely tough for
blind players. At least from my experiences. What they've done is advanced
the AI to the point where its like you're in a real fight. That is to say,
in the later rounds of the game, you'll never get away with throwing repeat
attacks. If you throw the same attack more than once, sometimes you can get
it off twice if you're lucky, but after that the AI knows that attack, and
it starts countering it, shooting in under it and attacking you before you
can get another attack off. So if you keep throwing high kick combos, the AI
will duck, dodge or parry your kick and come in under it with an attack of
their own. For those of you who have played MK, Tekken, basically any other
fighting game on the market, you probably know what I'm talking about. I'm
sure everyone likes to repeat combos sometimes. Well not in this game.
They've taken it to the next level on the grounds that, if you keep
repeating the same attack over and over in a real fight, you're going to get
owned, which is exactly what happens in this game. The controls are easy to
master. Sadly it doesn't make any use of the 6 way axis controller motion
censer, its basically got the same control scheme of the old virtua fighter
games with a much more advanced AI.
So that's the PS3 for you. I guess if you've got the cash, go ahead and snag
one. They're ok, and I have a feeling they're going to get a whole lot
better, for example, Tekken6, WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2008, etc. So far it
seems like they're feeling out the capacity of the blue ray discs and seeing
exactly what they can and can't do with this system. Once again, I say, if
you're not sighted, its not really worth the 600 bucks you pay for it, its
probably worth the price of a ps2. But then again, there's not much we can
do about that. The more realistic sounds make the game a little more fun,
but that's about all you get out of the system for 600 bucks, is just
realistic sound. So its up to you, I won't make a decision either way. The
games are pretty fun, but you could just as easily live without this system
and stick to your old ps2, games are still coming out for that and getting
more and more realistic in sound by the year anyway. Basically what it
amounts to right now in my mind is tossing about 600 bucks into a shiny new
ps2. My brother loves it, but he can use all of the features, like WWW
browsing and downloading games. Anyway I think this message may be way too
long already. So I'm gonna cut it short so it doesn't get rejected. Feel
free to ask any questions you may have about the ps3, and I'll try to answer
them.
++
TAFN for golf and mudding
Hi all.
We've set up a golf group on Tafn The Accessible Friends Network which is an
organisation and chat site based in the UK.
We also have two Alter eon Mudding sessions for beginners and advanced
players.
For golf we're using Jim Kitchen's golf game version 10.
If your interested come to
www.tafn.org.uk
or contact
bob@tafn.or.uk.
>From John Snowling.
++
Rail Racer
By Che Martin
Available from http://www.blindadrenalin.com
Hi, this is Che martin, the developer of Rail Racer writing to give a
brief overview of my new game for the blind.
Rail Racer is set in a future where 80 percent of the western hemisphere
has lost there sight due to an explosive comet entering the atmosphere. In
this future world, the blind race on rails for fun, and that is where our
game comes in.
As the name implies, Rail Racer is run on multiple rails, one Rail per
racer. But this isn't your average train rail friends. Besides having to
accurately switch gears and keep your RPM up, you will have to deal with
jumps, loops, nasty curves, and force shields, sometimes 2 or 3 of these at
once, depending on the track you are racing, it can be quite challenging.
Every effort has been put into Rail racer to give it as much replay value
as possible.
Here is a partial list of features of the full version:
Multiple control choices, mouse, keyboard and joysticks are supported.
Career mode, open up new and more difficult tracks as you earn more money
racing.
Upgrade your racer as you earn more money, upgrades include supercharger,
nitros, a gravity puller, six speed transmission and more.
Post your times to the web for bragging rights.
Over 20 custom designed tracks included.
Both lap racing and tag racing modes, where you take turns catching the
other guy.
Adjust the gear ratio and wing angle of your racer depending on the type
of track.
Strategize pit strategy on longer tracks.
An included track editor so you can make your own tracks and share them
with friends.
Track upload and ratings page for uploading and reviewing other tracks.
Professional voice over in the menu system.
Extensive Sapi support allows you to adjust all aspects of your Sapi voice
in game.
And much more.
The best feature of all though is the online racing support built into the
game.
With Rail Racer, a dedicated server account is provided, so you can select
to join or create an online race from the game menu and be racing in
seconds, no need to type in IP addresses or hope your friends server doesn't
go down.
The multi player rooms have built in chat support so you can talk some
trash before or after your online race.
Also, you can place bets in online mode with your friends, risking some of
your hard earned career money, just another incentive to do well.
Multi player mode supports up to 20 players per race.
Blind Adrenaline also has an exclusive tournament system to manage online
tournaments, once you register online, you simply join the tournament,
report who won each match, and the system tracks everything else for you.
We just finished a tournament, and the competition was very tight,
especially near the end.
Rail Racer is a different type of accessible game, few games for the blind
offer the number of features of RR, and none offer the ease of use or speed
of its online play.
Even if you aren't into racing games, I urge you to check out the free
demo, we have many players who never tried a racing game before that
absolutely love it because of the multi player competitions and ability to
talk to the other racers online and make bets.
You can get the demo here:
http://www.blindAdrenaline.com
Happy racing, and feel free to email me if you have any questions.
Che Martin
che@blindadrenaline.com
++
Sound RTS
By Che Martin
Available from http://jlpo.free.fr/soundrts/
There have been lots of questions on the forums and email lists about
Sound RTS strategy. Having logged many hours with this excellent game, I'd
like to provide a few pointers to the new player.
The biggest mistake I see in online play is players not recruiting enough
peasants. Depending on the map you are playing, you should have anywhere
from 8 to 15 peasants going to gather resources and construct buildings. If
you only have 3 or 4 peasants, by the time you have enough gold to outfit a
decent sized army, your opponent will have amassed a huge force and will
crush you like a hollow bug.
One very important keystroke in the game is control alt e, this will pick
all inactive peasants so they can be put to work on something else. So if
you hear "work complete", use this keystroke to re assign these peasants to
doing something else, every second they stand around is another second you
are losing the resource race in the game.
Keep in mind that several peasants can be used at once to accomplish a
task. 5 peasants assigned to build a barracks will complete the job much
faster than just 1, and time is of the essence in this game.
Also use the number keys on the top row to select various amounts of your
units. For example if you have 12 peasants, and you want six of them to
mine gold while the others build a town hall, select all peasants with
control d, have them start the building, then press control 2 to select half
these peasants and hit backspace on a gold mine to start them mining, being
efficient with your unit selection is a key part of the game.
One last note on peasants, don't worry about using up lots of food slots
with peasants, once they are no longer needed or if you need the extra food
slots, simply put them in offensive mode and send them to the enemy to be
slaughtered, they will go willingly and leave a little tear in your eye.
Feel free to play taps after giving the order.
One strategy a lot of players use is to skip right over using footmen, and
upgrade their town hall to a keep so they can build a stable and therefore
recruit knights. Knights are far superior to footmen, they have 45 hit
points versus 15 for footmen, and they are the fastest units on the board.
At 15 gold each, they are a bit expensive, but well worth it.
On map 3 for instance, when I am ready to go to battle, I will often have
over 10 knights, a few archers and a couple of mages. This is a hard
combination to beat.
Having said all that though, it is important to defend against an opponent
who tries to launch an early offensive. If you are up against someone that
uses this tactic, you should build a barracks fairly early and produce a
few footmen in case you are attacked near the beginning of the game. Losing
a couple farms at the outset can be devastating, and just 3 footmen can help
avoid this often.
Make sure you have the map you are going to play memorized. you don't
want to be wandering around wondering where the gold deposits are in the
middle of a match. For example, map 3 consists of 4 equal areas on each
side of a 7 by 7 grid with a very large gold mine in the center at position
d 4. It is important to hold d 4 due to this large deposit of gold, but
don't try to take it too early or you will just get knocked off when your
opponent comes in with a superior force.
The best way to do map 3 is to get up to 13 or so peasants, wipe out the
gold mine that you start on, then set up a town hall on the next gold mine
closest to the first. By the time this second gold mine is exhausted, you
should be in good shape to defend and attack.
Speaking of town halls, be sure and build one near new gold and wood
reserves, so your peasants won't have far to travel to drop their goods,
this is very important.
Finally, make sure you take advantage of the upgrades to your troops
afforded by the sawmill, blacksmith and stables for archers, footmen and
knights respectively. Having these upgrades can mean the difference between
victory and defeat.
If you haven't tried Sound RTS yet, you can get it and read the
documentation here:
http://jlpo.free.fr/soundrts/
There are also links to sound packs and tutorials on the site.
Lastly, I host sound RTS tournaments at my web site
http://www.blindAdrenaline.com
Sound RTS is currently on version beta 7, with beta 8 coming out soon,
which will address some online speed issues. Once that is released, we will
be starting up a new tournament for anyone interested.
Hope to see you on the battlefield soon,
Che martin
+
Sound RTS tutorial
By Che Martin
I have created a tutorial for the beginning Sound RTS players, which I
hope will help get more folks playing this amazing game.
By the time you finish this tutorial, you should be able to take on the
computer with no problems.
You can get it here:
http://blindadrenaline.com/downloadCounter/download.php?x=RT+audio+tutorial
Have fun,
Che
+
Further on Sound RTS
By Ken Downey
The main things are:
First, hit f10, go up until you hear increase game speed, and hit enter.
This will give you an edge against those who don't know to do this, but it
will cost you the game if you don't speed up and your opponents do.
Build town halls near big gold deposits and forests, gold and wood is
carried back to the nearest town hall before it is counted.
Town halls are hospitals too, so if you're in the thick of it you can send
your wounded back there. The easiest way to do this is to press w until you
get to the nearest town hall, then control space for first person mode.
This takes you there. Press escape, then start checking hit points.
Through first person mode, you can go anywhere your people are--just control
them and hit control space and you're there. Here's the way I work it.
I'm at the battle and I hear someone saying he's almost dead. I hit w,
control space, and escape and instantly go to the town hall, then I check my
wounded footmen by pressing r for footmen and v for hit points. If the hit
points are low, hit back space. This will send the soldier back to the town
hall to be healed and, of course this works with all units. By the way,
first
person mode is great for scouting and knowing what might be delaying your
units as each square is announced as they move on, which gives you exact
knowledge of their movements and can tell you how far they have to go to
drop supplies off at the town hall, as well as helping you understand the
speed
of each unit. Remember, just because a1 is next to a2, there may be a six
square path that must be taken due to obstacles. As far as soldiers go, the
footmen and archers don't last long and do little damage, so when you buy
them treat them as expendable resources.
You can't exploit your peasants. As much as you would like to for whatever
twisted reason, you cannot exploit peasants or soldiers. I say this because
bad keystrokes cost time, and time can cost the game.
For want of a nail, the horseshoe was lost.
For want of a horseshoe, the horse was lost.
For want of a horse, a knight was lost.
For want of a knight, the army was lost.
For want of an army, the war was lost.
Time is valuable, so when you go to recruit footmen for example, make sure
that it says "barracks," and not "town hall," when you press w. Also, you
can't choose the path to the west and hit enter--the 'go' to command must be
selected or the backspace key used. Your peasants like to be lazy--I've
heard them pacing back and forth when I gave them a path without the "go
to" command.
Upgrade--always upgrade. |Remember that the town hall can be upgraded
immediately after completion of the barracks, and to upgrade to a castle you
have to have a sawmill, blacksmith, and stable. The workshop is not
necessary.
Knights are your best soldiers by far until you can get mages, which can
heal other units and cast deadly spells. Once your stables are built,
upgrade the horses' speed as soon as possible. This makes any knights you
have
deadly foes and lightning-footed scouts.
3. In map 3, d4 is the location to have, and anyone who possesses it will
probably win if he plays his cards right--but Che, who gave me a sound
thrashing not once but twice last night and taught me to respect my betters,
(I'll get you yet Che Martin,) has taught me that this is not the case
unless you have many soldiers right from the start
Recruit, recruit, recruit! Ten peasants at the start of a game will net
you much wood and gold. But, you ask, what about the population limit!
Well, press control d for all peasants, then 2 to control half of them, and
set their mode to offensive by pressing shift a twice followed by enter.
Then, use them as scouts--that's right, sacrifice them to the dogs of war!
Speaking of scouting, here's the best way. Go to a square you've never
visited before, (next to a known square, if possible) control some units and
hit back space. Then move another square and back space again--there is no
need to hit the keystrokes for controlling units a second time because the
game remembers whom you commanded last, so just arrow around and hit
backspace and soon, much of the board will have been explored.
This is an etiquette thing, so pay attention. Don't log in, invite
everybody
to a game, get no response, log out, log in, invite everybody, log out, log
in, invite everybody, log out and please don't use long names. Messages of
your doings can be very annoying, and can cost a player a key building
during attacks since your messages prevent them from hearing the attack
coordinates in time. There really should be a keystroke for announcing
positions of enemy attacks.
Hope this helps
Ken Downey
+
Sound RTS sound pack
Made by Ken Downey
http://tbrn.net/modgirl/Ken's%20games/
++
Hi folks
At
http://playball.ws
A new audio promo with some folks you may know from
http://for-the-people.com
Second new item:
Updated stats for the 1940Replayed season for strat-o-matic's HRFL League.
Victor Chang aka Hong Kong Champ Grand Prize winner of the
Crash's 3-pointer pool
Has gotten his prize
Strat Computer Baseball game version 12
You can check the final Standings on the playball.ws home page
Vic's nickname is Buffalo Hunter.
Be sure to come back to playball.ws for the upcoming NFL pool the best
Accessible pool on the net.
Lastly, I have submitted the lastest Jaws configurations for the
Strat Baseball game version 12 in the Strat Instructional Jukebox page.
Those who may want to demo the game there is a demo game and a startup kit
with its own Jaws configs.
Crash
++
Baseball Mogul
Hi all,
I just stumbled on this game while I was in a fresh Baseball kinda mood
from listening to the OSU Beavers squeak by good old UC Fullerton this
evening. It seems quite accessible, albeit a little complex and managerial.
What I'd really like is a game with the old Triple play-style play-by-play
announcements, which I can fully play without the need for a playstation
controller. Heh. Anyway, here's a link for you guys. Anybody with a more
strategic or patient mind willing to check it out? Has somebody
already?
http://www.sportsmogul.com/baseball2k5/free.htm
+
Update on baseball mogul
Hi all,
For anybody interested, I've been doing some playing around with the
Baseball Mogul game I mentioned a few days back. It has a fairly useable
interface, with a few annoyances and things which someone like a Jaws
scripter might be able to fix. The principle one is that it uses lots and
lots of tables and tabular formats for representing statistics. On the plus
side, nearly all controls are standardized menus, buttons, etc. I'm not a
Jaws user myself, so can't help with the scripting.
If anybody is interested in helping me figure this game out, or scripting it
or whatever, please do let me know.
Thanks,
Zack.
++
Space Empires 3
Hi all,
This is one of those games which is accessible mostly by complete
surprise. It's the shareware title Space Empires III, created by Malfador
Machinations. This is a turn-based strategist's dream--complete with ship
design, planets, colonization, AI, etc.
I have found almost every component of the game to be quite accessible,
because of the standard and mostly standard Windows controls it uses. The
mouse cursor is essential, because you need it to explore dialogues and read
reports in a meaningful way. But it works, folks! Most of it anyway--I've
asked them about movement and the like, but I really don't see a reason that
shouldn't work, too.
The URL for download is:
http://www.malfador.com/
>From there, you can find Space Empires III--though I've not looked at the
>others in the series as extensively yet.
Anybody have any thoughts on this game?
Thanks much,
Zack.
++
It's time to play Scrabble
Well, for those of you who don't have a pac mate but do have a PPC with Jaws
on it, or for those PM owners who haven't been checking their email, a
version of Scrabble has been made accessible for Pac mate and can be found
at
www.pacmategear.com
Hope you like it--and by the way, the game and scripts are free.
+++
Contacting Us
All material for inclusion in upcoming issues of Audyssey should be sent
to me at the following snail or email address:
Ron Schamerhorn
1180 Dorval Dr. #303
Oakville On L6M 3G1
[905]-842-1933
blindwonder@cogeco.ca
or
editor@audyssey.org
and to chat find me at
rschamerhorn@hotmail.com
for Windows/MSN messenger no email to this one please.
+++
Distribution Information and Submission Policies
This magazine is published on a quarterly basis, each issue appearing
no earlier than the fifteenth of the publication month for its quarter.
All submissions to be published in an issue must be in my possession a
minimum of two days before the issue is published. I use MS-Word to
produce Audyssey, and can therefore accept submissions in pretty much
any format. They may be sent either on a 3.5-inch floppy disk, or via
e-mail to:
blindwonder@cogeco.ca
Please write articles and letters about games or game-related
topics which interest you. They will likely interest me, and your
fellow readers. This magazine should and can be a
highly interesting and qualitative look at accessible gaming. To insure
that high quality is maintained, I'll need your
written contributions. I reserve the right to unilaterally make changes
to submissions if I deem it necessary to improve them grammatically or
enhance their understand ability. I will never make changes which will
alter the spirit of a submission.
All submissions must be in English. However, people need not be great
writers to have their work appear in Audyssey.
Many of our community come from different countries. Others are quite
young. Where possible, I try to preserve their
different styles of expression. The richness that this adds to the
Audyssey experience far outweighs any benefits
gained from having everything in prose so perfect as to be devoid of
life. Audyssey is a community and magazine built
on the need for blind people to have fun. There are no formal
structural requirements for submissions. Within reason,
they may be as long as necessary. Game reviews should all clearly state
who created the game being examined, where it
can be obtained, whether it can be played without sighted assistance,
and any system requirements or other critical
information. Although profanity is by no means banned, it should not be
used gratuitously. Submissions not published
in a current issue will be reserved for possible use in future issues
if appropriate.
* Those who are on the Audyssey discussion list should be aware that I
often put materials from the list in the "Letters" section if I feel
that they warrant it. Anything posted to this discussion list that in
some way stands out from the common and often lively ongoing discourse
will be considered fair game for publishing unless it contains the
author's wish that it not be published. From now on, this is official policy
of the Audyssey community.
This magazine is free in its electronic form, and will always remain
so. 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 via E-mail, or on
a cd or 3.5-inch disk in a self- addressed mailer if you want your
media returned to you. Please only send shareware or freeware games. It
is illegal to send commercial games unless you are their creator or
have obtained permission to do so. 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. If you can, I recommend that you send e-mail.
I can send and receive attachments with ease. 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.
Those who want to receive issues of Audyssey as they are published
should send a blank E-mail to:
Audysub-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
The Audyssey discussion list facilitates discussion about games
accessible to the blind between the publication of issues of Audyssey.
All are welcome as long as they respect their fellow community members
and keep in mind that the topic of the list is supposed to be games.
Other topics are allowed within reason as long as they don't begin to
monopolize the list traffic for too long. Newcomers should be advised
that traffic is frequently fairly heavy. Anyone participating in the
discussion list will have issues of Audyssey automatically sent to them
via E-mail. Representatives from all major developers of games for the
blind are actively participating on the list. There are two moderators
keeping things civil and orderly. Be certain to read the Audyssey
Community Charter as all list members are expected to follow its rules.
If you want an active role in shaping the future of accessible games,
this is where you can dive right in. To subscribe to this discussion
list, send a blank message to:
blindgamers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Stan Bobbitt has made Audyssey Magazine available in HTML format for
easy on-line browsing. To take advantage of this, you are invited to
visit our home-page. People can easily and quickly navigate through the
various articles and reviews, and directly download or visit the sites
of the games that interest them. This will be of especial benefit for
sighted people who wish to make use of Audyssey and/or join the growing
community surrounding it. The Audyssey community thanks Mr. Bobbitt for
his continued efforts on its behalf in this matter.
Darren Duff also provides a home for Audyssey.
http://www.angelfire.com/music4/duffstuff/audyssey.html
Where the issues can be read, downloaded individually or one zip file
of all the issues. Thanks Darren!
Another location to find Audyssey current and back issues is
http://www.audiogames.net/page/audyssey
Thanks to Richard and those at Audio-games!
We extend our gratitude to Kelly Sapergia who has provided a place for all
the issues of the magazine. . You can find them at
www.ksapergia.net/audyssey.html
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