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An article just went up on Eurogamer talking about the Periphery Synthetic game and the state of game accessibility for both blind gamers and blind developers. It features comments from many respected blind consultants and developers including @talon, @shaysters and yours truely. I think it's totally worth a read because it covers the topic from multiple angles very well eurogamer.net/periphery-synthe… #GameAccessibility #GameDev #IndieDev
#gamedev #indiedev #gameaccessibility @Talon @Shay

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in reply to Pitermach

Pitermach
Pitermach
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And if you haven't checked out the game the previously posted article is talking about you absolutely should. It's a very chill experience where you're exploring a planet with an advanced suit that can be upgraded to drive, fly and even travel underwater. What's really unique is all sound in the game is synthesized in realtime, giving it a very unique, kind of synth wavy vibe. That also means that when you do things like skip on the surface of the water or drift around in the sand in the vehicle mode it has a very organic sound, and this is coupled with very good use of vibrations if you have a gamepad connected. There's also a musical instrument included that you can play as you game. It really shows off what's possible with the WebAudio API. You can get it either on Steam or DRM free on itch:
store.steampowered.com/app/212…
shiftbacktick.itch.io/peripher…

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aaron
aaron
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I so wish this could work in a mobile browser. I could see myself playing this while sat on a buss.
in reply to aaron

Pitermach
Pitermach
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@fireborn It might, though you'd need a controller or keyboard. If you get the itch version there's a raw html zip as part of the download as well as a demo you can play right in the browser. . I remember trying either a much earlier version of this game or one of his previous in Safari and it seem to mostly work though iirc some ambient sounds were missing. I should try again.
@aaron
in reply to Pitermach

aaron
aaron
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I have a Bluetooth keyboard in my bag most of the time. True I also have a laptop in the bag, but sometimes I don’t want to get it out.
in reply to aaron

Pitermach
Pitermach
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@fireborn Well, from your other recent post I see you're now on Android so I'd totally give it a try. It'll either work really well because it's developped with electron so just Chrome, or fail spectacularly because it really pushes web audio to the limit so between a mobile CPU and Android chrome not being as well optimised it just won't be able to keep up. But there are also some settings to turn off things like reverb and lower the audio quality a bit for slower systems so you might very well get it going.
@aaron
in reply to Pitermach

x0
x0
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I'm actually kind of sad that when talking about indie games they completely failed to mention Sequence Storm. The sheer gamut of accessibility options in that, above and beyond those for BVI players, is a big deal I think. The size of the accessibility menu alone indicates that much.
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Kelly Sapergia
Kelly Sapergia
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I've been trying to play Periphery Synthetic for awhile now, and have no idea of what I'm doing or supposed to do. I'm obviously moving, but the environment hasn't changed. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually, but playing the musical instrument is pretty neat, especially with my Xbox controller.
in reply to Pitermach

Orinks
Orinks
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Glad to see Periphery Synthetic getting some love in the press.
in reply to Orinks

Sarah Russell
Sarah Russell
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@Orinks I just wish I could figure it out. I really wish there was a sound guide to understand the different sounds. I want so much to get into this because it is such a chill thing.
@Orinks
in reply to Sarah Russell

Pitermach
Pitermach
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@blindbat84 @Orinks What I would suggest you do to start with is go into the settings and turn down the music a bit at least to start. It’s really pretty and dynamic changing based on where you are but it can make things more confusing. Then, just keep doing the area scan which will reveal any materials you can collect with pings followed by a continuous sound that you can just center and move toward. After you collect a material, rinse and repeat. Eventually this will let you upgrade parts of the suit to let you drive around and eventually also fly. The other sounds you hear when you scan is a continuous rhythmic beeping for your next destination of interest which might be more prceptions you can read or a portal to the next world, and the other sounds you hear that quickly change in pitch is the terrain shape around you. So if you hear the scanner make very high pitched humming that tells you there are hills you might need to jump up to climb, while if you hear lower descending sounds that tells you there are valleys. @bscross32 did a short gameplay recording that demonstrates a lot of this in practice though his suit is already upgraded a bit which yours won’t be at first. audiopub.site/listen/f4205bca-…
@Orinks @Sarah Russell @Brandon Cross
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