Hi Tom.
I disagree on visualization or spacial awareness, since that is a skill i
just do not have. This is why I find a game like battleships,
patience/solitare, mine sweeper, chess, or even draughts/checkers nearly
impossible to play unless the board is in front of me in either a visual or
tactile form for me to get that sort of overview, since I just cannot
maintain the memory of where each object is after the audio view of it has
moved on.
That being said, i do find gma tank commander and shades of doom possible,
but my mental way of playing is probably different from other peoples, since
instead of attempting to build up a larger, mental map of the entire
location, I simply work by memorizing the relations betwene landmarks, and
the directions provided by the coordinates system.
For example, I know in the first level of shades of doom, that you follow
the corridors until you get to the end of one with two doors, one leading to
a radio room, the other up a corridor to the fan room.
once in the fan room, you can go left into another passage then right into
another large room, with a door leading to a passage going out of it to the
left, and in that passage is the false wall where the message is (and
usually a monster with a gun).
I have no practical idea where that room is in comparison to the rest of the
stage at all, but by memorizing the landmarks and directions I know just
where to find it with respect to the rest of the stage.
I actually believe it was playing massive, exploration games like Turrican
and Metroid that really improved my memory skills for landmarks, since there
I'd often have to spend a fair amount of time wandering around an area
looking for a specific configuration of ledges or a specific landmark that I
know leads to where I'm going, and this skill in fact has stood me in very
good stead.
For example, last weekend I was in brightan at the mini aims music school
and auditions, and since I know I'll be back there perminantly I determined
to learn the 10 minute or so walk from my hotel to the music school.
I have no idea where practically in directional terms this went, but I know
it's right, streight on, through a style, cross one road, walk until i find
the grass verge, cross again, right, then up a very long road to a white
wall, cross on the right, streight on up to a main road, follow the railings
right again, and left to the entrance.
My parents were staying with me at the time (they wanted a holiday), and it
just took one run there and back with them for reever and I to get the
route, ---- and in fact having a dog really help with that since I could
concentrate upon my land marks instead of worrying about what rubbish people
stuck on the pavement (indeed, she remembered it as well if not better than
I did).
So the point of all this is that mental overview of space is actually
unnecessary if you are sufficiently used to working with an alternative set
of skills.
I'm always frankly amazed at the mental mapping skills some blind people
have, ----- I just realized it's not something my mind will do, ---- indeed
there is probably a physiological explanation for this, since when i was
born I apparently suffered mild brain damage, and though we can't determine
anything wrong with other mental areas, my spacial perception really isn't
what it should be.
Fortunately, my memory is more than up to the task.
Beware the grue!
Dark.
---
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