Hi Phil, That's probably true. Although, I think I have an idea how to resolve this sticky situation. What I could do is write a one level demo, a concept demo like Philip Bennefall did with Perilous Hearts, and see how people do with it. If I get a lot of feedback this game is too hard, its too complicated, I can't figure it out, whatever then we can revise it by creating a 2d side-scroller if need be.
However, I think one of the problems is just fear of the unknown. People doubt what they can do or what is possible until they try it. I know before Che released Rail Racer there was all kinds of erroneous assumptions about the mouse that were based on nothing more than lack of personal experience. "I can't use the mouse I'm blind. The mouse is too hard to use. I tried using the mouse with application x and couldn't get it to work." All of those assumptions were proven false. The mouse is a programmable device and it will do whatever the application tells it to do, and Rail Racer proved that it is and can be just as accessible as a keyboard if supported properly. However, what we found out after Rail Racer was released is most blind gamers didn't even know how to properly hold and move the mouse let alone use it in a game. So there was an educational curve involved in getting it accepted by a large number of VI gamers, but it did happen. Now, days games like Rail Racer, Swamp, etc are popular because they go beyond just the keyboard approach to input and those users are requesting more developers to provide mouse support as well. So what really needs to happen here is break the ice by releasing a fully playable demo with a full 3d environment and take it from there. Let's see how many of those people truly have actual difficulty with it and how many are willing to take the bull by the horns and try something a bit different. Cheers! On 12/31/11, Phil Vlasak <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Mike and Thomas, > Although I would enjoy a 3d version of MOTA, I think a side scroller version > has advantages. > Usually it is much easier to move around. > Many people trying out Shades of Doom and Sarah give up because of their > difficulty in moving around. > They get frustrated, running into wals and don't know which way to go. > While some people have good memories of where they are and can picture the > whole level in their minds, many people do not have this ability. > For example when I worked with Carl on Maze Haze for DOS we both created > five mazes. > I could easily get around mine as I remembered exactly how to get from the > start to the finish. > But when I tried Carl's, I was completely lost. > I had to brail out maps of his mazes in order to figure how to solve them. > Carl could not complete my mazes until he plotted them on a pizza box, > making walls out of push pins, which took him many hours. > But some of our customers could do the mazes in minutes. > It is a skill like having perfect pitch. > In our DOS bowling game we used a C note to designate the point where you > should hit the space bar to throw the ball. > Some people with perfect pitch could anticipate when the C note was coming > next and consistently got perfect bowling scores. > So in conclusion, there are probably more people who would like a side > scroller than their are those who would like a 3d game. > Phil > --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
