[games_access] Looking for feedback

[Chad Philip Johnson]

I'm thinking more about accessibility accommodations that would also
work to contribute to the core experience and improve gameplay.

A simple example that comes to mind is making a target on an enemy
standout clearly from the rest of its form.  Perhaps the color is a
bright red against a dark blue (done tastefully, of course).  In this
case, the target is much more visible because of its high contrast and
you have made the player's objective very clear:  keep shooting the red
spot until your enemy is defeated.

Perhaps a subtler example would be to allow multiple puzzles in a level
to move forward to the next zone, but only one needs to be solved.
Puzzle A emphasizes sound clues while puzzle B emphasizes visual clues.
The player would then choose which puzzle he or she wants to complete in
order to move forward.  Aside from from making the game more accessible,
it would also achieve the following:  01) add replay value because
another puzzle could be attempted the next time through, and 02) create
a higher probability that the player will be able to figure out a way to
advance through the game and not give up in frustration.

-- 
Chad Philip Johnson
Anacronist Software





> Date: Fri, 17 Apr 2015 09:32:39 +0200 From: Thomas Westin
> <thomas at westin.nu> To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
> <games_access at igda.org> Subject: Re: [games_access] Looking for
> feedback Message-ID: <00B71BB3-F47B-4ADB-BDA3-133AB6556A5D at westin.nu>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
> 
> Hi Chad,
> 
> I don?t think developers need to make two versions of the game for
> focus group testing or different markets. Just having a setting in a
> file or database with a binary switch should work:
> ShowAccessibilityOptions = true/false
> 
> Or do I misunderstand something? 
> 
> Unless of course, the accessibility is integrated with the game
> mechanics, but then we are talking more about specially designed games
> like audio games and not games in general.
> 
> Best regards Thomas