Re: [Audyssey] A Hero's Call, an Accessible Windows game Under development.

2017-01-13 Thread Michael Feir
If you go to outofsightgames.com and look through the audio demos or look
at the channel of out of sight games on Youtube, there are demos for
equipment, radar, and a full quest demo. I believe they're working on more
to post. I'd go ahead and contribute. This game's going to be huge and the
extras for Kickstarter backers are pretty nice. Discussion over how such a
game could be made has gone on as long as Audyssey Magazine and the blind
gaming community has existed. Now, it's actually being created. What a
grand start to 2017.  The devs seem very responsive to questions and a bit
stunned by the intense interest their project has received. Even better,
they experienced the kind of games we all wanted to play but couldn't due
to blindnesss before they lost their sight. This is going to be
stupifyingly good gaming for us.
On Fri, Jan 13, 2017 at 8:24 PM Justin Jones  wrote:

> That looks pretty damn impressive, actually. I watched the demo on
>
> YouTube, but I still am not sure how it controls. That is what is
>
> making me hesitate to contribute to the game.
>
>
>
> On 1/13/17, Phil Vlasak  wrote:
>
> > A Hero's Call, from Out of Sight Games.
>
> > An Accessible Fantasy Role Playing Game.
>
> > Under development, the premier title from Out of Sight Games,
>
> > you are a traveler thrust into a world of possibilities
>
> > when you find the city of Farhaven under attack by a mysterious enemy.
>
> > Along with a small band of allies, you must explore the surrounding
> lands,
>
> > discover the identity of your enigmatic foe, and save Farhaven from
> certain
>
> >
>
> > conquest.
>
> > Do you have what it takes to answer a hero?s call?
>
> > Discover an expansive world, Venture forth from the town of Farhaven to
>
> > explore mysterious forests, goblin-infested tunnels, haunted catacombs,
> and
>
> >
>
> > much
>
> > more.
>
> > With 17 unique maps, you'll always have new lands to explore.
>
> > Follow a turn-by-turn beacon system to locations you've already
> discovered,
>
> > or venture out on your own, you never know what you might find!
>
> > Build your characters, Choose from one of six different classes, each
> with
>
> > unique skills, and tailor your attributes for your specific style of
> play.
>
> > Will you use melee or ranged weapons?
>
> > Will you strike down your opponents with the power of the elements? Or
> will
>
> >
>
> > you attack from the shadows?
>
> > Will you heal and defend with holy magic?
>
> > Or strike terror with the powers of necromancy?
>
> > Expand your party with four unique allies.
>
> > Engage with a dynamic world, Meet over 40 NonPlayer characters, with
> dynamic
>
> >
>
> > behaviors and dialogues affected by your choices and actions.
>
> > Some will fight alongside you, while others may have secrets to reveal.
>
> > Test your might as you explore and encounter over 70 different enemies,
>
> > from bandits and wolves to giant spiders, golems, and dragons,
>
> > you will never be lacking for foes to vanquish.
>
> > Turn-based combat provides comfort for players of all skill levels,
>
> > while positional audio puts you in the center of visceral, action-packed
>
> > battles.
>
> > http://outofsightgames.com/a-heros-call/
>
> > A Hero's Call KickStarter project.
>
> > This project will only be funded if it reaches its goal by Friday,
> February
>
> >
>
> > 3 2017.
>
> >
> https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1112411595/a-heros-call-an-accessible-fantasy-rpg?ref=discovery
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > ---
>
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>
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>
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> >
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Justin M. Jones, M.A.
>
> atreides...@gmail.com
>
> (254) 624-9155
>
> 701 Ewing St. #509-C, Ft. Wayne IN, 46802
>
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Re: [Audyssey] why i build the games the way I do

2016-04-18 Thread Michael Feir
Hi Dark. Excellent points there. You and I agree in most respects. One can 
indeed create great games without needing to incurr vast expense. I think 
there's a very real game between what's possible with one or two individuals to 
create and make accessible versus the expectations. As blind people grow more 
aware of what their sighyed counterparts are playing, they simply don't realise 
what's involved in driving the economics of production. I would absolutely love 
it if a developer created an text or audio rpg made from the ground up to be 
fully accessible. However, I think it far more likely that as with King of 
Dragon Pass, we'll be given access to a game devised for sighted players. I 
guess we'll see going forward.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Apr 18, 2016, at 3:43 PM, dark  wrote:
> 
> Hi Michael.
> 
> I disagree on costs there.
> You can use mostly text for the interface with some sound effects, and use 
> the mechanics of the game to create replay. Look at the way dos rpgs did it, 
> games like fallthru, and more recently a dark room, not to mention the 
> wastes, heck the wastes random generation system is so extreme your unlikely 
> to see the same object or location in two different games.
> Plus, those sorts of games could potentially be far more expandable with new 
> items, quests etc, simply by tweaking the properties and descriptions of 
> certain items, and thus can create far morr prophet through in game sales. 
> Online games manage it all the time with a lot of free players, the principle 
> difference being those are not as focused on story or single player 
> experience as opposed to beating up other people online, though if a 
> developer did it wouldn't be a problem.
> 
> King of dragon pass is hugely complex and took a lot of work and is a massive 
> achievement, but nobody says every rpg needs to be like that, look at some of 
> the tabletop games like talisman which are currently available, or look at 
> how well a simple game like nano empire which had progress, description etc 
> worked, heck the developer of nano empire could easily expand the game quite 
> a bit just using the same framework he created.
> 
> I must confess this is one thing that frustrates me a little. There are indi 
> devs out there creating graphical rpg games. Kings quest, atic adventures 
> etc, just check the ap store and you'll find hundreds.
> 
> Yet whenever someone says an accessible rpg designed for blind people it's 
> "oh no, the cost is too much, stick to the same sorts of games we've had 
> before"
> 
> This isn't to say there's anything wrong with traditional or arcade style 
> games, I just find it considerably frustrating that there isn't more 
> available.
> 
> All the best,
> 
> Dark. 
> 
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Re: [Audyssey] why i build the games the way I do

2016-04-18 Thread Michael Feir
ervice.  It's not like you release a game and
>> it's a never go back to proposition.  Further, if you want to keep the
>> costs reasonable, you have to make choices.  You can't release a
>> professionally produced sound scape, voice acting, music background,
>> story, proofreading, and fully tested and stable code and charge only
>> 10 dollars for it.  A lot of the sorts of games that people cite when
>> they mention this genre are games that originally retaled for well
>> over $35 or 40 U.S. or, have monthly subscription charges that come to
>> the same thing.  While Marty's assessment that most blind people don't
>> like RPG's might be skewed, he is right that most blind people will
>> not pay for the kind of quality that most would like to demand.  Not
>> in my experience in any case.  That said, I know all the developers on
>> list attempt to put out as professional and interesting a game as they
>> can.  Remember too, that by moving his company to an IOS focus, Marty
>> is not breaking new ground in terms of style of game perhaps, but by
>> moving into the mobile app market he has broken ground for blind
>> people and audio games in terms of providing well received simple
>> games that are inexpensive.  That is a huge step from the any audio
>> game is either cheap and developed as a labor of love by one
>> programmer or $40 and developed to be profitable, or at least,
>> hopefully profitable.
>>
>> As usual, my two cents.  I'll expect change from that please :)
>>
>> Take care,
>>
>> Jeremy
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> In the fight between you and the world--back the world! Frank Zapa
>>
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-- 
Michael Feir
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Volunteer at New Horizons Peel Multicultural Centre
www.peelmc.ca
2014--2015

Disability advocate
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www.meadowvalecrc.ca
2013--2014

Volunteer at The Dam
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2011-2013
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
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Re: [Audyssey] iDevice game thoughts - Re: Why I build the games as I do

2016-04-13 Thread Michael Feir
ith them or not.
>
> While I do enjoy the games in the collection thus far, I am a little sorry
> none are games intended for longer or more complex play. There's nothing
> wrong with a game of hearts, blackjack  etc or a quick arcade game, however
> unfortunately there has already been a lot of that sort of thing produced,
> indeed I do wonder if some people are taking the attitude "well there are
> several versions of hearts for pc, why should I pay to have one on my
> Iphone?"
>
> this isn't meant as an attack, as I said I enjoy the games for what they
> are, it just saddens me to see developers now producing exactly the same
> sorts of games we were seeing in the community 10 years ago, especially
> with
> the greater distribution and easier development inherent on Ios, indeed
> it's
> a little ironic that with one exception all of the more complex games we've
> seen recently for Pc or Ios have been games produced by sighted developers
> who have accidently created accessible games, or have included access
> requests in games that are %80 accessible such as adventure to fate, where
> as games produced with the express intention of writing games for blind
> people have intended to be simpler.
>
> This isn't to say "where's audio final fantasy", only that some change and
> advancement would be nice, especially if kidfriendly software are doing so
> well as a company.
>
> All the best,
>
> Dark.
>
>
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-- 
Michael Feir
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http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2015/01/journeys-of-mind-play-is-where.html

Volunteer at New Horizons Peel Multicultural Centre
www.peelmc.ca
2014--2015

Disability advocate
Meadowvale Community Christian Reformed Church
www.meadowvalecrc.ca
2013--2014

Volunteer at The Dam
http://www.thedam.org
2011-2013
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
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Re: [Audyssey] About games rolling out in a matter of a couple of months, or weeks?

2016-04-13 Thread Michael Feir
I certainly hope he eventually attempts a more complex game. Actually,
there's a lot he could do with Pinball now that he has the basics
pretty well down. One thing to note here is that he always seems to
look for ways to reuse what he's already created. The ball physics so
vital to good Pinball have been honed in previous games like bowling
and his version of Skiball. It would take a whole lot longer to crank
out games if he did each of even these more simple ones from scratch.

Basically, developers are put in a vicious catch22 setup economically.
You need to initially crank out as many games as you can in order to
generate income you can invest in better assets. It's next to
impossible to really make a living as a developer of games primarily
for the blind. Creating games which truly engage the sighted player
but still let blind people play on equal terms is no easy task. Back
when I edited audyssey, we had a real problem of impatience since a
lot of blind people really didn't understand the disadvantages of
scale our developers operated under. Most modern apps and games
enjoyed by sighted players have actual companies behind them. A good
rpg would have writers, programmers, all sorts of artists, game
designers and actors working on it. There might be hundreds of people.
It's all too easy to face our one or two-person developers with the
impossible task of creating something normally done by dozens of
people.

Once the audio engine from Something Else software is made available,
it wouldn't surprise me if we saw some spectacular uses of it
presuming changes in how iOS handles audio don't render it obsolete.
These are very exciting times for blind gamers. I would never have
guessed we were in for such a golden age.

On 4/13/16, Devin Prater  wrote:
> Well, to be honest, they are simple games. Not that simple is always bad,
> but I'd love to see how he'd do a long-term game project, like an RPG or
> something like that. Of course, he'd have to spend a little more time
> writing, as the games have at least a few spelling or grammar errors, but
> besides that I think he'd do well.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Apr 12, 2016, at 11:08 PM, Sharon Hooley  wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I must say that, although I haven't played all the Blindfold games, I've
>> become a fan of Kidfriendly Software!  And I'm curious, how do developers,
>> including from this company, roll out the games so quickly? [smile)
>>
>>
>>
>> Sharon H.
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-- 
Michael Feir
Creator and presenter of Journeys of the Mind: Play is Where Community Begins
http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2015/01/journeys-of-mind-play-is-where.html

Volunteer at New Horizons Peel Multicultural Centre
www.peelmc.ca
2014--2015

Disability advocate
Meadowvale Community Christian Reformed Church
www.meadowvalecrc.ca
2013--2014

Volunteer at The Dam
http://www.thedam.org
2011-2013
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
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Re: [Audyssey] Question About The Get Lamp Text Adventure Documentary

2016-03-30 Thread Michael Feir
Hi Kelly. I found the extras really fascinating. It was so neat to
hear the creators of the games. If I hadn't gotten my own copy for
participating in the documentary, I definitely would have bought it.

On 3/30/16, Kelly Sapergia  wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Back in 2010, producer Jason Scott created a two-DVD documentary about text
>
> adventure games, or Interactive Fiction if you prefer, called "Get Lamp".
> From what I've read, the discs consist of the main documentary (which you
> can also watch on Youtube), featurettes about Infocom and other subjects,
> longer interviews, and a DVD ROM section with various games.
>
> I've watched the main documentary on Youtube and thought it was good. I'm
> wondering if anyone has the DVDs as I've been considering purchasing them.
> If so, I'm curious as to how good the rest of the content is?
>
> If you'd like more information about this set, visit
> http://www.getlamp.com/.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Yours Sincerely,
> Kelly John Sapergia
> Show Host and Production Director
> The Global Voice Internet Radio
> http://www.theglobalvoice.info
>
> Personal Website: http://www.ksapergia.net
> Business Website (KJS Productions): http://www.kjsproductions.com
> Follow me on Twitter at: kjsapergia
>
>
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-- 
Michael Feir
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http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2015/01/journeys-of-mind-play-is-where.html

Volunteer at New Horizons Peel Multicultural Centre
www.peelmc.ca
2014--2015

Disability advocate
Meadowvale Community Christian Reformed Church
www.meadowvalecrc.ca
2013--2014

Volunteer at The Dam
http://www.thedam.org
2011-2013
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
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Re: [Audyssey] ji sum IOS?

2016-01-15 Thread Michael Feir
The deadline for submitting your preferred name has just passed. I
expect it'll take some time to translate everything into English
before the game becomes available. It's only been a couple weeks.
since they got the funding. I've found that they've tended to post
news to the forum on
www.audiogames.net
I would have expected backers to get news first but I guess they don't
really understand the politics of that. I expect we'll all know pretty
quickly when it comes out.

On 1/12/16, william lomas  wrote:
> hi all any more news on Ji EUm for IOS?
> irritated as backed this project and no news
>
>
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Volunteer at New Horizons Peel Multicultural Centre
www.peelmc.ca
2014--

Disability advocate
Meadowvale Community Christian Reformed Church
www.meadowvalecrc.ca
2013--2014

Volunteer at The Dam
http://www.thedam.org
2011-2013
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
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[Audyssey] splendid news for any game developers

2015-10-14 Thread Michael Feir
Hello everyone. I have long been seeking an accessible copy of Jesse
Schell's book The Art of Game Design; A book of Lenses. A friend found
me a very questionable copy which wasn't indexed at all so I had to
read it sequentially. Despite this drawback, I still found the first
edition of this book to be the best book on game design and creation
that I've ever come across. I've got quite a large library of such
books now but if I had to pick one book, The Art of Game Design would
be it. Jesse does a great job of introducing concepts in layman's
terms and then building your understanding up to a decent level very
smoothly and quickly.

The version available on Kindle is sadly inaccessible at present.
However, you can get a fully accessible one for Windows, Androiad, Mac
and iOS from:
www.crcpress.com

The ebook is a text book and is priced accordingly. There's a sale on
now but it still ran me over $50. In my humble opinion, it's worth
every penny. the Vital Source bookshelf software is what you'll need
to read a purchased book from CRC Press. You can download them for
offline reading quite easily. The iOS app and Windows software are
both designed to be accessible with screen-readers. I found the book a
pleasure to navigate through and read so far. I'm just starting to
feel my way around the iPHONE app. On the PC, it lets your
screen-reader and therefore your preferred voice do the reading.
Voiceover does a good job on iOS too.

Doubtless, there are more books of interest on CRC Press and likely
other places which use the Vital Source bookshelf too. Having a book
like this really elevates one's thinking about games. I hope that some
of you would-be developers will have a lok at it for yourselves. --
Michael Feir
Creator and presentor of Journeys of the Mind: Play is Where Community Begins
http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2015/01/journeys-of-mind-play-is-where.html

Volunteer at New Horizons Peel Multicultural Centre
www.peelmc.ca
2014--

Disability advocate
Meadowvale Community Christian Reformed Church
www.meadowvalecrc.ca
2013--2014

Volunteer at The Dam
http://www.thedam.org
2011-2013
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
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Re: [Audyssey] Katie

2015-09-22 Thread Michael Feir
Hello. I have gotten many of their games for my sighted mother. To my
knowledge, none of their games are accessible for blind people.
They're all very graphical. Their site is quite accessible so I found
it a good place to find things which might be of interest to my
mother. He like mysteries and hidden object games and they have
hundreds of them.

On 9/22/15, Dorothy Martin  wrote:
> Dear Katie:
> I found a game website called bigfish.com  . it has a lot of games that
> you might want to check out. If you do , please let me and the group
> know if they are  blind friendly please.
> Thank you for every thing ,
> Dorothy  Martin
>
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-- 
Michael Feir
Creator and presentor of Journeys of the Mind: Play is Where Community Begins
http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2015/01/journeys-of-mind-play-is-where.html

Volunteer at New Horizons Peel Multicultural Centre
www.peelmc.ca
2014--

Disability advocate
Meadowvale Community Christian Reformed Church
www.meadowvalecrc.ca
2013--2014

Volunteer at The Dam
http://www.thedam.org
2011-2013
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.ca

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Re: [Audyssey] Podcatcher for the IPhone

2015-05-14 Thread Michael Feir
Apple has a free podcatcher called podcasts. I use a paid one called
downcast that I'm very happy with. Another free one which has a five
star rating and is accessible is called overcast. Questions like yours
could go to the iPHONE users list. Also, don't forget about
www.applevis.com
which has its forums and app directories. Hope that helps.

On 5/14/15, Leo  Cantos  wrote:
> At first,   this  may not seem gaming related but it is.
>
>
>
> I am looking for a podcatcher for the IPhone that is accessible,
> preferably
> one which is free.
>
>
>
> I actually think I have one,  is IBlink  Radio a podcatcher?
>
> If not,  what are some good Podcatchers for the IPhone?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Leo
>
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-- 
Michael Feir
Creator and presentor of Journeys of the Mind: Play is Where Community Begins
http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2015/01/journeys-of-mind-play-is-where.html

Volunteer at New Horizons Peel Multicultural Centre
www.peelmc.ca
2014--

Disability advocate
Meadowvale Community Christian Reformed Church
www.meadowvalecrc.ca
2013--2014

Volunteer at The Dam
http://www.thedam.org
2011-2013
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.ca

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Re: [Audyssey] Two items from weekly top tech titbits relating to gaming

2015-01-08 Thread Michael Feir
Many factors keep us from being included. A big one is a jenuine lack
of awareness of our capabilities. Incidentally, we can't play either
of the two games chosen as being worthy of the Able Gamers Most
accessible Games of the Year awards. This is despite one of them being
mostly text-based and turn-based. We often simply aren't thought of as
an audience  worthy of making efforts for from an economic point of
view. Also, developers must often choose between game engines which
make it far easier to do what they want but don't offer easy ways to
make the games accessible or an engine which doesn't allow for as much
pollish or glash but might make it easier to render a game accessible.

Other times, such as with board games, the economic and conceptual
challenges of how to make games accessible get in the way. Until
64ounce games appeared, we were essentially stuck playing older less
popular board or card games if we wanted them to be fully accessible.
At last, we've reached a point where technology and funding models
like Kickstarter bring us fresh possibilities for inclusive play. I'll
be discussing this in the lecture and question period. You can read a
better blurb at:
www.accessibleworld.org

On 1/8/15, Charles Rivard  wrote:
> Regarding the first entry, my immediate question would be, "Why would blind
>
> people not be included?  We are people, and we do play games, after all?
> Why would any people be excluded?
>
> ---
> Be positive!  When it comes to being defeated, if you think you're finished,
>
> you! really! are! finished!
> - Original Message -
> From: "Jacob Kruger" 
> To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
> Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2015 10:49 AM
> Subject: [Audyssey] Two items from weekly top tech titbits relating to
> gaming
>
>
>> Firstly, you can read/subscribe to the weekly top tech titbits here:
>> http://www.flying-blind.com/tidbits2015/01082015/index.html
>>
>> And, from this weeks edition/issue:
>>
>> 1) Take part in a lecture and question period discussing the history,
>> current and future possibilities of accessible games and why it matters
>> that blind people are included, on Tek Talk on GMT Tuesday, 13 January at
>>
>> 01:00:
>> http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rsc9613dc89eb2
>>
>>
>>
>> 3) Back to games, AbleGamers select the most accessible mainstream games
>> of 2014:
>> http://www.mediaaccess.org.au/latest_news/digital-technology/ablegamers-select-most-accessible-games-of-2014
>>
>>
>> Jacob Kruger
>> Blind Biker
>> Skype: BlindZA
>> "Roger Wilco wants to welcome you...to the space janitor's closet..."
>> ---
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-- 
Michael Feir

Volunteer at New Horizons Peel Multicultural Centre
www.peelmc.ca
2014--

Disability advocate
Meadowvale Community Christian Reformed Church
www.meadowvalecrc.ca
2013--2014

Volunteer at The Dam
http://www.thedam.org
2011-2013
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.ca

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Re: [Audyssey] New games for windows not being produced any more?

2014-03-05 Thread Michael Feir
The only game I know of under development for Windows is Three
Monkeys. It's going to be an audio action roleplaying games using
binaural sound. That should be pretty awesome. News of accessible Game
development has always been very slow in coming for numerous reasons.
The only area where I think this has really changed is with games for
the iOS devices like iPAD or iPHONE. Some developers have gotten a lot
more hesitant to post news about games they're working on since people
are inevidably disappointed when things are delayed.

On 3/5/14, Thomas Ward  wrote:
> Hi Lindsay,
>
> Yes, there are still accessible games for Windows being developed.
> Although, you don't always here about them on this list there are
> various new games available that have been written in the last few
> months or so.
>
> From Draconis Entertainment we have their Silver Dollar game for
> Windows as well as for Mac. Draconis has also released Change Reaction
> 2.0 for Windows as well.
>
> From Blind Adrenaline we have Rail Racer 2.0 in beta, and should be
> made available as a full version sometime in the next few months.
>
>  On the Audio Games Forum someone has recently rewritten Hack by
> Daniel Zingaro in BGT and released it as freeware for Windows.
>
> Then, of course, I myself am still developing games, but do to time
> and circumstance haven't been able to bring any of my projects to
> release just yet. However, I can say there are more games coming from
> me hopefully in the not too distant future.
>
> In short, while games for the PC are seemingly few and far between
> that doesn't mean nobody is developing them. they are still under
> development even if it seems like they aren't.
>
> Cheers!
>
>
> On 3/5/14, lindsay.cow...@virginmedia.com
>  wrote:
>> Are games for windows not being produced any more, if so, what games?
>>
>> Lindsay Cowell.
>>
>>
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-- 
Michael Feir

Disability advocate
Meadowvale Community Christian Reformed Church
www.meadowvalecrc.ca
2013--

Volunteer at The Dam
http://www.thedam.org
2011-2013
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.ca

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Re: [Audyssey] Mysteries of the Ancients Considerations

2013-05-02 Thread Michael Feir
only resolve my debt to those customers who preordered it from
>> Alchemy and USA Games, but it would also free up Tomb Hunter to be
>> rewritten exactly the way I want to. I think it is a win/win
>> situation.
>>
>> Now, I know some of you are probably going to say that this will cause
>> unnecessary delays, or that I should do whatever I want. Some of you
>> are just sick and tired of me changing my mind etc. You are right, and
>> I agree with you for the most part. Although, I think it needs to be
>> pointed out that the situation is a lot different now than it was back
>> in 2008.
>>
>> For one thing since 2009 I have been actively developing a game engine
>> in C++ called Evolution. At this point the engine is both very far
>> along in development and as been well tested. That means should I
>> start on the new Mysteries of the Ancients today it shouldn't take me
>> too long to have a working beta of the game. Probably by the end of
>> summer if I work on it every day. So any worries about this taking
>> years and years to finish isn't going to be the case. :D
>>
>> Another thing is back in 2008 when I was discouraged by Utopia to
>> continue development of Montezuma's Revenge I didn't know anything
>> about copyright law. However, I've done a lot of research, studying,
>> and educated myself on my rights as a U.S. citizen and developer. As a
>> result I know exactly how to develop the game so I don't get caught up
>> in copyright infringement with Utopia again. So now that I know more
>> about my legal rights, what I can and can't do, I don't see any reason
>> to deny my customers the game they paid for.
>>
>> So with all that said what do you guys think? Are you still interested
>> in a game like Montezuma's Revenge, and would you be happy if I
>> rewrote that game using my new engine and tools?
>>
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-- 
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http://www.thedam.org
2011--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
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Re: [Audyssey] Hardware keys was: Re: An Announcement Regarding BSCGames

2013-04-25 Thread Michael Feir
 nut
>>> there are a few simple things devs can do to minimise this.
>>> Firstly no one will buy your software if the price is to high or if
>>> it needs to be they are not getting what they would concider enough.
>>> If people can't afford things and want them the only thing to do is
>>> crack it and you get it.
>>> unless you can pay in installments say for example the blindsoftware
>>> package, maybe pay 10 bucks or 20 bucks a month, and you would
>>> eventually pay it off vary few software titles for the blind actually do
>>> this.
>>> have promos and competitions to win free software but encourage the
>>> gamers to participate and interact with things we have not to many of
>>> these and these would improve things in the community.
>>> Communication.
>>> its a no brainer but even if you don't have anything even if you only
>>> communicate twice a year or something at least people think you are
>>> doing something rather than have you just go quiet.
>>>
>>
>> ---
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-- 
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Volunteer at The Dam
http://www.thedam.org
2011--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.ca

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Re: [Audyssey] Giving Away Free Games was Announcement AboutBSCGames

2013-04-25 Thread Michael Feir
e etc, but the over all image and personality of the
>>website and writing.
>>
>>to take an example, while it is obviously quite important and
>>natural to present information on your games and products in as
>>clear a way, if there is no information about yourself, why you
>>write games, no jokes etc, then a person has nobody in mind as a
>>single creator of the games and is thus more likely to engage in piracy.
>>
>>this is actually a skill that it is valuable to learn in any sort of
>>personal presentation, whether your a doctor, a lawyer, or indeed an
>>actor, since if you just appear as someone from whome people get a
>>service, well people will think! of you as a machine.
>>
>>Beware the Grue!
>>Dark.
>>
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2011--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.ca/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
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Re: [Audyssey] An Announcement Regarding BSC Games

2013-04-23 Thread Michael Feir
Lets be clear about things here folks. I think there's danger of a
mix-up here. A developer who creates free games is being generous.
We're not entitled to them. They're gifts to the community. The real
issue currently under scrutiny is whether it's fare of developers to
simply remove their games from the market and make it impossible to
obtain legal copies. I think it's clearly lawful for Justin to do what
he's doing. They're his intellectual property and as long as he meets
any obligations owed his current customers, I can't fault him. I
personally don't feel that I, a legitimate owner of his products,
should have to pay for keys needed after he closes his business.
However, that's a moral obligation that I feel is not being met rather
than a legal one. The only way he would fail to meet legal obligations
was if he promised in his software licences that he'd provide such
keys forever. I haven't read the full license but very much doubt it
would say this.

The selection of games blind people have access to is still incredibly
small when compared to what sighted people have. For this reason, I
hope that developers will leave their creations freely obtainable once
they've become commercially unviable. This adds to the library of
example games which people may try which will wet their appetites for
new games from currently active developers It also increases the
freely available examples of accessible games which interested sighted
people can try without having to purchase anything.

On 4/23/13, Raul A. Gallegos  wrote:
> Hi, if you are referring to BSC games and free games, they did in fact
> have a couple of free games out there. So, I fail to see the point of
> your message.
>
> --
> Raul A. Gallegos
> Last night I had a crazy dream that I weighed less than a thousandth of
> a gram. I was like, 0mg! - Sheldon Cooper
> Twitter and Facebook user ID: rau47
>
> On 4/23/2013 1:37 PM, michael barnes wrote:
>> Yes, I agree that a developer does not have to make his or her game free.
>> All I was saying was with the way some of these developers do it would
>> be nice of them to give out a free game or two to show that they want
>> purchasers for their products.
>> Myself If a game has a good storyline to it, and has great sounds then I
>> would buy it.
>> That is why I bought Phil Valasak games and David Greenwood games.
>> I know that when I do business with people like those two guys, I know
>> that I always got great support!
>> However if Justin or/and Bavisoft was to come back with a new game and
>> the game sounded pretty good I would buy it.
>>
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2011--
Twitter: mfeir
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Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
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Re: [Audyssey] An Announcement Regarding BSC Games

2013-04-23 Thread Michael Feir
What a fascinating can of worms Justin's decision has opened for us.
Like many of you, I personally dislike when companies whose software
has run its commercial cycle remove it from the world rather than make
it freely available. It does leave a bad taste in the mouth. However,
I too have experienced how quick Justin was at replacing lost keys.
Same with GMA Games who also use keys tighed to the computer the game
is installed on. The only point at which hardware generated keys
really become a major issue is when situations like what's happening
now occur and developers no longer make replacements available. I
can't help but resent that. I don't have $75 to spare. Nor should I
need to spend that to keep playing Pipe2 and Troopanum2, the two games
that most appealed to me and that I legally purchased. I'm not about
to rule out buying games which use hardware keys to secure them.
However, this incident will definitely come to mind and make me think
twice much as what happened when James North pulled the plug gives me
pause regarding pre-ordering a game which has yet to be finished.

While it's perfectly fare to keep in mind what's happened here if
Justin ever decided to develop future games, it isn't fare to
dishonour his wishes and spread keys and such around. That's crossing
an important line of trust. We don't know what conditions are attached
to the licenses of components used in his games. For instance, there
may be conditions related to the sounds or voice acting he used which
prohibit him from giving away the games. It could be any number of
things. It's unreasonable to expect developers to support their games
forever. However, I also very much wish they didn't have this idea
that they could basically cut off one's ownership of a fairly
purchased game.

On 4/23/13, ryan  wrote:
> Know one ever has to make there games free.
> It's there choice and who knows, they may resurrect them or parts of
> them some day.
> I agree with Charles
> On 4/23/2013 1:51 AM, Charles Rivard wrote:
>> Good quality games for free?  I really doubt it, nor would I demand it
>> or expect it.
>>
>> ---
>> Shepherds are the best beasts, but Labs are a close second.
>> - Original Message - From: "michael barnes" 
>> To: 
>> Sent: Monday, April 22, 2013 11:48 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] An Announcement Regarding BSC Games
>>
>>
>>> The only way that Bavisoft and Justin could get back in our good
>>> graces is to make the next few games free and really good.
>>> Two show their apology by making their old titles freeware, and to
>>> get on the list so we could talk with them.
>>>
>>> ---
>>> Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org
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>>> All messages are archived and can be searched and read at
>>> http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org.
>>> If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the
>>> list,
>>> please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
>>
>>
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>
>
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http://www.thedam.org
2011--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of 

Re: [Audyssey] A Possible Offer To Consider

2013-04-21 Thread Michael Feir
leave the list, send E-mail to
> gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org.
> You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at
> http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org.
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> please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
>


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Volunteer at The Dam
http://www.thedam.org
2011--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
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[Audyssey] a murder mystery virtual getaway weekend

2013-04-07 Thread Michael Feir
Hello everyone. I've just found out about some very ambitious plans
for Mushroom FM's upcoming third birthday celebration. Starting on
april 26th, the internet radio station is staging a weekend of fun and
festivities set in a virtual castle. There are prizes and points to be
won, trivia questions to answer and other entertainment to be had.
People should check out
www.mushroomfm.com
prior to April 26th and look at the section about this third birthday
bash. Registering for a room in the virtual castle is free and you
don't need any special software. Just tune in to the station with your
media player of choice and interact via Twitter and email to take
part.

-- 
Michael Feir
Volunteer at The Dam
http://www.thedam.org
2011--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
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Re: [Audyssey] Inquiry From Popular Mechanics

2013-03-27 Thread Michael Feir
 the blind
>> and
>> would really appreciate your input. Please only reply to this post if you
>> are willing for me to quote you in my article (for the Popular Mechanics
>> website). It would be helpful if you could describe yourself as you'd
>> like
>> me to describe you in the article.
>>
>> What are the qualities of a good computer game for the blind? What does
>> it
>> have to have to work well for someone who can't see?
>>
>> For blind or visually impaired gamers, what are your favorite audio
>> games,
>> and why? Which games designed for sighted people are these most analogous
>> to?
>>
>> What are some examples of games for the blind that I can play online?
>>
>> What do you think is the most interesting factoid about games for the
>> blind?
>>
>>
>> Thank you,
>> Ashley
>> --
>> Ashley Taylor
>> Writer and journalist
>> ashleyptaylor.com
>> (270) 485-1753
>> ---
>> Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org
>> If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to
>> gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org.
>> You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at
>> http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org.
>> All messages are archived and can be searched and read at
>> http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org.
>> If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the
>> list,
>> please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
>
> ---
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> gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org.
> You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at
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> http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org.
> If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list,
> please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
>


-- 
Michael Feir
Volunteer at The Dam
http://www.thedam.org
2011--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
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Re: [Audyssey] Inquiry From Popular Mechanics

2013-03-27 Thread Michael Feir
t
>
> and thirdly, there aren't as many, but there are audio games for the iPhone
>
> too. for information go to http://www.applevis.com
>
> Fred Olver
>
> Author of Dealing with Vision Loss
>
> http://www.dealingwithvisionloss.com
>
> - Original Message -
> From: "Ashley Taylor" 
> To: 
> Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 6:42 PM
> Subject: [Audyssey] Inquiry From Popular Mechanics
>
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> I am a journalist writing an article about computer games for the blind
>> and
>> would really appreciate your input. Please only reply to this post if you
>> are willing for me to quote you in my article (for the Popular Mechanics
>> website). It would be helpful if you could describe yourself as you'd
>> like
>> me to describe you in the article.
>>
>> What are the qualities of a good computer game for the blind? What does
>> it
>> have to have to work well for someone who can't see?
>>
>> For blind or visually impaired gamers, what are your favorite audio
>> games,
>> and why? Which games designed for sighted people are these most analogous
>> to?
>>
>> What are some examples of games for the blind that I can play online?
>>
>> What do you think is the most interesting factoid about games for the
>> blind?
>>
>>
>> Thank you,
>> Ashley
>> --
>> Ashley Taylor
>> Writer and journalist
>> ashleyptaylor.com
>> (270) 485-1753
>> ---
>> Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org
>> If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to
>> gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org.
>> You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at
>> http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org.
>> All messages are archived and can be searched and read at
>> http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org.
>> If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the
>> list,
>> please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
>>
>>
>> -
>> No virus found in this message.
>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
>> Version: 2013.0.2904 / Virus Database: 2641/6205 - Release Date: 03/26/13
>>
>
>
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-- 
Michael Feir
Volunteer at The Dam
http://www.thedam.org
2011--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com

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Re: [Audyssey] replayability and Usa games was Re: Looking For Something New to Play

2013-03-22 Thread Michael Feir
I totally agree with what you're saying here Dark. A lot of
unchannelled potential is going to waste for poor Tom. Thankfully,
I've had enough experience with other aspects of life and my own
creative tendency to wander to have more sympathy for what Tom's gone
through than impatience for the game I've waited years for. I'd far
rather have it take another decade and have it be the best game it can
be than have Tom rush to just get it done and off his back. That's why
I'm so incredibly careful not to impose any expectations or deadlines
on my own projects. Even after I finish Enchantment's Twilight, it'll
be a very long time in testing before I release it as a hopefully
bug-free finished product.

Books are where I tend to tread familiar ground the most. I often
re-read old favorites whose characters and stories have become almost
like comfortable companions for me. For me to replay games, the game
play itself must in some way make this a worth-while experience. There
are a great many ways of doing this from items which don't always
appear to changed locations of things to secrets which might not be
discovered the first time through. It does take a real effort to add
this quality into a larger game. I look for opportunities such as
greed and risk versus reward to have a game that really stands the
test of time well.

On 3/22/13, dark  wrote:
> Hi Michael.
>
> On the replayability angle, I often find that games are replayable from the
>
> perspective of reexperiencing the atmosphere or story, or just trying to
> best the tough challenges another time. It is this that has made me replay
> shades of doom and Sarah. By the same tocan, i've replayed games like super
>
> Metroid and Mega man x 1 more times than I can count, just because the
> gameplay, design and structure, not to mention atmosphere and music are so
> perfectly designed. There are several audio games that I view in this same
> catagory, particularly Gma's offerings. So though I do completely agree
> random elements are great in games for keeping you on your toes, which is
> why games like smugglers and kerkerkruip are so awsome, they're not a
> necessity if design etc works out well. heck, this even goes for arcade
> games and is the reason i've replayed Q9 and the pinball games despite them
>
> being symple arcade titles.
>
> whether mota will fall into this catagory I am waiting to see, though i've
> been impressed enough with what we've seen thus far to think that tom's
> ability to not just code games but design them is up to the task,  which
>
> is another reason I would so much appreciate seeing him produce an honest to
>
> goodness finished project, bet that the wrestling game, Arc of hope, an
> acessible castlevania type side scroller, a mission based startrek game or a
>
> vampire text rpg, heck I'd even! like to see raceway despite racing games
> not being a favourite genre of mine.
>
> Concepts are great, and what we've sene of Tom's design has been great, I
> just sometimes feel a little frustrated that with all these ideas we haven't
>
> yet seen anything that has gone past a couple of playable levels.
>
> I am quite aware that this isn't always Tom's fault, and have followed all
> the community debates and opinions (some not so flattering) that have been
> voiced. I am also aware of other commitments, but at the same time I do feel
>
> a little like usa games is the tantalus of the accessible games markit and
> just as we all reach for that big bunch of juicy grapes they get yanked away
>
> again for one reason or another.
>
> This isn't intended as an insult, just a statement of feelings and a
> continuation about the debate over game design, since I do genuinely believe
>
> Tom has the ability to design a real block buster, which is also why I would
>
> so much like to see a complete,  or at least completely released game.
>
> Beware the Grue!
>
> Dark.
>
>
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-- 
Michael Feir
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http://www.thedam.org
2011--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-

Re: [Audyssey] Looking For Something New to Play

2013-03-22 Thread Michael Feir
Well Tom, I would have to say that you're suffering the effects of
what you've engaged in yourself. We all still wait with eager
anticipation for the Mysteries of the Ancients sidescroller that you
began work on... errh... when was that now? Large-scale projects like
the ones a lot of us have taken on tend to do one of two things. They
either swallow our attention completely to the exclusion of all else
or they make other ideas and projects extremely tempting which pull us
away from them for periods of time. It's an infernal balancing act for
the creative mind. This tug of war is increased for you since the
projects you started aren't completely obligation free. You
effectively have placed an albatross of expectation around your neck
which must somehow be dealt with.

The good side of that is that when you at last finish one of these
games, you get the monument effect provided the game is good and
replayable enough to be kept on people's hard drives. Shadowgate is an
example of a game that lacks this. Once I've completed it, I have
nothing substantive to gain by playing it again. On the other hand,
kerkercruip will always have a spot since so much changes from game to
game. Same with Nethack and Fallthru. Swamp has the draw both of
adventure and community participation. Jeremy is still adding features
to that work of art so there's still that "what will he do next"
factor too. Once abandonned, it shouldn't suffer as much as has
Castaways since players themselves provide so much of the game's draw.



On 3/22/13, john  wrote:
> I do remember that conversation myself, though not who supported
> which point.
>
>  - Original Message -
> From: Jeremy Kaldobsky  To: Gamers Discussion list  Date sent: Fri, 22 Mar 2013 00:53:44 -0700 (PDT)
> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Looking For Something New to Play
>
> I'd also love to set Swamp aside to work on other games, but so
> far that hasn't been easy.  Swamp got so big that it took a
> tremendous amount of time just to maintain it, and the security.
> I do plan to do other games and projects, but I guess I have been
> telling myself that for 6 months, haha!
>
> Actually, the guy who was constantly bringing out new games like
> Towers of War, Dog Who Hates Toast, Castaways, and so on, was in
> a lengthy conversation here on audyssey where the majority of
> people agreed that instead of a lot of little games, a single
> game should be stuck with and developed into something really
> big.  I prefer doing a lot of smaller games, but I went with what
> the community wanted and we have Swamp as a result.  I was pretty
> sure you participated in that conversation Thomas, but I might be
> remembering it wrong and you may have been on the side supporting
> more, smaller games.  It's been a long time.  :)
>
> - Aprone
>
>
> ---
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-- 
Michael Feir
Volunteer at The Dam
http://www.thedam.org
2011--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com

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Re: [Audyssey] King of dragon price?

2012-11-18 Thread Michael Feir
Splendid! I know you're in for a fantastic time. Best of luck to your clan.

On 11/17/12, dark  wrote:
> Hi Michael.
>
> I just heard your podcast, and the first thing I did was pickup my iphone
> and buy the game (it's installing now actually).
>
> This sounds like a game that could've been made for me! :D.
>
> And there goes sleeping tonight.
>
> beware the grue!
>
> Dark.
> - Original Message -
> From: "Michael Feir" 
> To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
> Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2012 1:15 AM
> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] King of dragon price?
>
>
> The game is fully accessible as far as I can tell. I haven't found
> anything I can't do or any information I can't read. They've gone to
> incredible efforts and are still eager for any input. They've done a
> heeping lot of work since the game's initial release and the result is
> a spectacular example of accessibility. I don't know what else I can
> tell you. Check out my podcast and review and keep in mind that
> updates have occurred since the review. The podcast was somewhat more
> recent.
>
> On 11/17/12, Zachary Kline  wrote:
>> Hi dark,
>> The current version of the game is 99.9% accessible. The issues with
>> sacrifice results and magic sliders have been fixed, and honestly the
>> explore button is about the only one I can think of which is still
>> present.
>> Even that is not so much an issue as just something to be aware of, and
>> I'm
>> not sure how fixable it is.
>> Yours,
>> Zack.
>> On Nov 17, 2012, at 3:10 PM, dark  wrote:
>>
>>> Hi michael.
>>>
>>> thanks, I think I will buy the game sinse it's exactly my sort of thing,
>>> and actually it's great that the iphone version is accessible (I thought
>>> when I saw the mention of the windows version that it wouldn't be thanks
>>> to all the graphics).
>>>
>>> How current is your podcast regarding the game?
>>>
>>> I've read the applevis guide (I didn't know you wrote that), and it
>>> mentioned a couple of issues such as with the explore button and some
>>> other aspects, do they still have an affect on things?
>>>
>>> Beware the Grue!
>>>
>>> Dark.
>>> - Original Message - From: "Michael Feir"
>>> 
>>> To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
>>> Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2012 6:33 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] King of dragon price?
>>>
>>>
>>> There's no demo for the iPHONE version that I'm aware of so you'll
>>> just have to purchase it. Be patient with it and I can pretty much
>>> garantee you won't be disappointed. It's got so much depth and
>>> replayability that it's worth every penny of it's admitedly high
>>> price. There's my review of it on applevis.com and a podcast I did
>>> more recently but that's all there is to go on. There's no demo
>>> version. It was sold as shareware on the PC but that version was
>>> completely inaccessible. Best of luck to you. It's great single-player
>>> fun that you don't need to be online to enjoy.
>>>
>>> On 11/17/12, dark  wrote:
>>>> Hi matheus.
>>>>
>>>> Fair enough. I obviously missunderstood the process of selling the game
>>>> and
>>>> I will change the genre in the db accordingly. I will however get
>>>> myself
>>>> a
>>>> copy sinse you are right that it really! looks my sort of thing.
>>>>
>>>> beware the grue!
>>>>
>>>> Dark.
>>>> - Original Message -
>>>> From: "Matheus Rheine" 
>>>> To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
>>>> Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2012 5:59 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] King of dragon price?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Hi dark, there's no demo available, you must purchase the game to try
>>>>> it.
>>>>> It works well with vo, it just takes getting used to.
>>>>> I particularly find the game very hard to play because there are many
>>>>> things that you should remember, so much info, for example sacrificing
>>>>> to
>>>>> x god will give you certain benefits, some years are better to
>>>>> harvest,
>>>>> to attack other clans, etc. also there's the map which is a bit
>>>>> confusing
>&g

Re: [Audyssey] King of dragon price?

2012-11-17 Thread Michael Feir
The game is fully accessible as far as I can tell. I haven't found
anything I can't do or any information I can't read. They've gone to
incredible efforts and are still eager for any input. They've done a
heeping lot of work since the game's initial release and the result is
a spectacular example of accessibility. I don't know what else I can
tell you. Check out my podcast and review and keep in mind that
updates have occurred since the review. The podcast was somewhat more
recent.

On 11/17/12, Zachary Kline  wrote:
> Hi dark,
> The current version of the game is 99.9% accessible. The issues with
> sacrifice results and magic sliders have been fixed, and honestly the
> explore button is about the only one I can think of which is still present.
> Even that is not so much an issue as just something to be aware of, and I'm
> not sure how fixable it is.
> Yours,
> Zack.
> On Nov 17, 2012, at 3:10 PM, dark  wrote:
>
>> Hi michael.
>>
>> thanks, I think I will buy the game sinse it's exactly my sort of thing,
>> and actually it's great that the iphone version is accessible (I thought
>> when I saw the mention of the windows version that it wouldn't be thanks
>> to all the graphics).
>>
>> How current is your podcast regarding the game?
>>
>> I've read the applevis guide (I didn't know you wrote that), and it
>> mentioned a couple of issues such as with the explore button and some
>> other aspects, do they still have an affect on things?
>>
>> Beware the Grue!
>>
>> Dark.
>> - Original Message - From: "Michael Feir"
>> 
>> To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
>> Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2012 6:33 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] King of dragon price?
>>
>>
>> There's no demo for the iPHONE version that I'm aware of so you'll
>> just have to purchase it. Be patient with it and I can pretty much
>> garantee you won't be disappointed. It's got so much depth and
>> replayability that it's worth every penny of it's admitedly high
>> price. There's my review of it on applevis.com and a podcast I did
>> more recently but that's all there is to go on. There's no demo
>> version. It was sold as shareware on the PC but that version was
>> completely inaccessible. Best of luck to you. It's great single-player
>> fun that you don't need to be online to enjoy.
>>
>> On 11/17/12, dark  wrote:
>>> Hi matheus.
>>>
>>> Fair enough. I obviously missunderstood the process of selling the game
>>> and
>>> I will change the genre in the db accordingly. I will however get myself
>>> a
>>> copy sinse you are right that it really! looks my sort of thing.
>>>
>>> beware the grue!
>>>
>>> Dark.
>>> - Original Message -
>>> From: "Matheus Rheine" 
>>> To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
>>> Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2012 5:59 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] King of dragon price?
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hi dark, there's no demo available, you must purchase the game to try
>>>> it.
>>>> It works well with vo, it just takes getting used to.
>>>> I particularly find the game very hard to play because there are many
>>>> things that you should remember, so much info, for example sacrificing
>>>> to
>>>> x god will give you certain benefits, some years are better to harvest,
>>>> to attack other clans, etc. also there's the map which is a bit
>>>> confusing
>>>> for me, but if you like explorations, RPGs and storytelling get it, I
>>>> know
>>>>
>>>> you will like it. Happy playing!
>>>>
>>>> Enviado via iPad
>>>>
>>>> Em 17/11/2012, às 15:30, "dark"  escreveu:
>>>>
>>>> Hi.
>>>>
>>>> I've been to the A sharp site, (easy to remember as that's generally
>>>> the
>>>> highest note a tenor has to sing! :D).
>>>>
>>>> I've looked at the manual and tips and such, and the game looks very
>>>> nice,
>>>>
>>>> however just because I'm new to vo, I'd appreciate trying it first if
>>>> possible, particularly because seven quid, while not the earth is still
>>>> a
>>>> trifle on the expensive side for an Iphone game.
>>>>
>>>> I believe Zack mentioned something about the 

Re: [Audyssey] King of dragon price?

2012-11-17 Thread Michael Feir
Hello to all interested parties. You'll find my podcast at:
http://www.applevis.com/podcast/episodes/king-dragon-pass-epic-saga-conflict-mythology-and-community
You may also want to read my review where I describe some of the ins
and outs. It's on the applevis blog. I can't remember the precise link
but if you go to:
www.applevis.com
you'll find a place to search the site. Searching for King of Dragon
Pass will yield my review and podcast plus other things like the app
entry and comments from users. Hope that helps.

On 11/17/12, Lora  wrote:
> I would love to listen to the Podcast as well, as I had trouble getting
> into
> the game and making it do things.
>
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Gamers [mailto:gamers-boun...@audyssey.org] On Behalf Of Christina
> Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2012 11:38 AM
> To: 'Gamers Discussion list'
> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] King of dragon price?
>
> May I have the link to your podcast please?
> Christina
>
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Gamers [mailto:gamers-boun...@audyssey.org] On Behalf Of Michael Feir
> Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2012 1:34 PM
> To: Gamers Discussion list
> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] King of dragon price?
>
> There's no demo for the iPHONE version that I'm aware of so you'll
> just have to purchase it. Be patient with it and I can pretty much
> garantee you won't be disappointed. It's got so much depth and
> replayability that it's worth every penny of it's admitedly high
> price. There's my review of it on applevis.com and a podcast I did
> more recently but that's all there is to go on. There's no demo
> version. It was sold as shareware on the PC but that version was
> completely inaccessible. Best of luck to you. It's great single-player
> fun that you don't need to be online to enjoy.
>
> On 11/17/12, dark  wrote:
>> Hi matheus.
>>
>> Fair enough. I obviously missunderstood the process of selling the game
> and
>> I will change the genre in the db accordingly. I will however get myself
>> a
>> copy sinse you are right that it really! looks my sort of thing.
>>
>> beware the grue!
>>
>> Dark.
>> - Original Message -
>> From: "Matheus Rheine" 
>> To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
>> Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2012 5:59 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] King of dragon price?
>>
>>
>>> Hi dark, there's no demo available, you must purchase the game to try
>>> it.
>>> It works well with vo, it just takes getting used to.
>>> I particularly find the game very hard to play because there are many
>>> things that you should remember, so much info, for example sacrificing
>>> to
>>> x god will give you certain benefits, some years are better to harvest,
>>> to attack other clans, etc. also there's the map which is a bit
>>> confusing
>>> for me, but if you like explorations, RPGs and storytelling get it, I
> know
>>>
>>> you will like it. Happy playing!
>>>
>>> Enviado via iPad
>>>
>>> Em 17/11/2012, às 15:30, "dark"  escreveu:
>>>
>>> Hi.
>>>
>>> I've been to the A sharp site, (easy to remember as that's generally the
>>> highest note a tenor has to sing! :D).
>>>
>>> I've looked at the manual and tips and such, and the game looks very
> nice,
>>>
>>> however just because I'm new to vo, I'd appreciate trying it first if
>>> possible, particularly because seven quid, while not the earth is still
>>> a
>>> trifle on the expensive side for an Iphone game.
>>>
>>> I believe Zack mentioned something about the game being  shareware, ie,
>>> that there is a demo to play before trying the full version, and
> certainly
>>>
>>> that's how it's listed on the audiogames.net db, however I don't see
>>> anything like that on the ap store entry.
>>>
>>> Is there a demo version, and if so, how do I try it?
>>>
>>> if not, never mind, I'll just buy the thing and chance it, although it
>>> does slightly sound like jumping in at the deep end as far as vo is
>>> concerned.
>>>
>>> If however there were a demo mode I'd appreciate trying it, 
>>> particularly because my stupid service provider still! hasn't activated
> my
>>>
>>> phone on their mobile network so I can't actually phone anybody.
>>>
>>> Beware the grue!
>>>
>>> Dar

Re: [Audyssey] King of dragon price?

2012-11-17 Thread Michael Feir
There's no demo for the iPHONE version that I'm aware of so you'll
just have to purchase it. Be patient with it and I can pretty much
garantee you won't be disappointed. It's got so much depth and
replayability that it's worth every penny of it's admitedly high
price. There's my review of it on applevis.com and a podcast I did
more recently but that's all there is to go on. There's no demo
version. It was sold as shareware on the PC but that version was
completely inaccessible. Best of luck to you. It's great single-player
fun that you don't need to be online to enjoy.

On 11/17/12, dark  wrote:
> Hi matheus.
>
> Fair enough. I obviously missunderstood the process of selling the game and
> I will change the genre in the db accordingly. I will however get myself a
> copy sinse you are right that it really! looks my sort of thing.
>
> beware the grue!
>
> Dark.
> - Original Message -
> From: "Matheus Rheine" 
> To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
> Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2012 5:59 PM
> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] King of dragon price?
>
>
>> Hi dark, there's no demo available, you must purchase the game to try it.
>> It works well with vo, it just takes getting used to.
>> I particularly find the game very hard to play because there are many
>> things that you should remember, so much info, for example sacrificing to
>> x god will give you certain benefits, some years are better to harvest,
>> to attack other clans, etc. also there's the map which is a bit confusing
>> for me, but if you like explorations, RPGs and storytelling get it, I know
>>
>> you will like it. Happy playing!
>>
>> Enviado via iPad
>>
>> Em 17/11/2012, às 15:30, "dark"  escreveu:
>>
>> Hi.
>>
>> I've been to the A sharp site, (easy to remember as that's generally the
>> highest note a tenor has to sing! :D).
>>
>> I've looked at the manual and tips and such, and the game looks very nice,
>>
>> however just because I'm new to vo, I'd appreciate trying it first if
>> possible, particularly because seven quid, while not the earth is still a
>> trifle on the expensive side for an Iphone game.
>>
>> I believe Zack mentioned something about the game being  shareware, ie,
>> that there is a demo to play before trying the full version, and certainly
>>
>> that's how it's listed on the audiogames.net db, however I don't see
>> anything like that on the ap store entry.
>>
>> Is there a demo version, and if so, how do I try it?
>>
>> if not, never mind, I'll just buy the thing and chance it, although it
>> does slightly sound like jumping in at the deep end as far as vo is
>> concerned.
>>
>> If however there were a demo mode I'd appreciate trying it, 
>> particularly because my stupid service provider still! hasn't activated my
>>
>> phone on their mobile network so I can't actually phone anybody.
>>
>> Beware the grue!
>>
>> Dark.
>> ---
>> Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org
>> If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to
>> gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org.
>> 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/gamers@audyssey.org.
>> If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the
>> list,
>> please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
>>
>> ---
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>> If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to
>> gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org.
>> You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at
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>> All messages are archived and can be searched and read at
>> http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org.
>> If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the
>> list,
>> please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
>>
>
>
> ---
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> If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to
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> If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management

Re: [Audyssey] What the sparcle?

2012-09-30 Thread Michael Feir
Pipe 2 Blast Chamber had sidescroller levels but these were extremely
basic. Sparkle takes place in a complex of stacked levels that you'll
constantly be going up and down between in order to gather trophies
and deal with events. There'll be pits to jump over, walls to climb
over and ice patches to slip on. There are all sorts of factors in
Sparkle that play off each other making it a far more complex
strategic experience. Pipe 2 had levels that you simply went through
one way as quickly as possible. The old Sparkle manual should give you
enough of an idea to see how ludicrous such a comparison is.

On 9/19/12, Ron Kolesar  wrote:
> Hey Mike, I'm curious about something.
> Will this be some what like pipe two called blast chamber.
> How is the boxing game coming along?
> Many Thanks.
>
> Ron and current Leader Dog boz who states
> "that a service dog beats a cane paws down any day of the week."
> -Original Message-
> From: Michael Feir
> Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2012 8:13 AM
> To: Gamers Discussion list
> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] What the sparcle?
>
> This is precisely why we haven't been discussing it much. I'm actually
> working on an updated manual which will give more of a substantive
> guide to everyone. A whole lot has to be changed and adapted. It'll
> probably take a couple of months at least to do proper justice to the
> new manual.
>
> The original game was my attempt to adapt an idea for a sort of
> stacked sidescroller I had into  board game. You play it in a word
> processor so there never was a physical Sparkle board. In essence,
> we're still working out what the computerised sidescroller will
> ultimately be like and don't have more solid answers to give. I'll
> have to make major changes to the magic system among other things so
> that it better suits being programmed. For now though, the old manual
> is one's best option for getting a feel for what Sparkle is all about
> since that's all there has actually ever been. All of us are working
> on this project in our spare time and development is subject to that.
> It'll be a long haul as each of us has other interests and
> commitments. I was quite surprised at the continued interest in the
> idea that a few people seemed to have. The game was disasterously
> clunky to play in a word processor and would have been a bit of a
> chore even with a physical board and pieces. As a computer game,
> however, it should turn out to be a fun fast-paced game. It's a matter
> of correctly using sound and speech information to give enough of an
> overall perspective while still allowing one to concentrate on the
> immediate situation and surroundings. No easy task, but possible I
> think.
>
> On 9/18/12, dark  wrote:
>> Hi Ryan.
>>
>> Side scroller meets rpg? two of my favourite things together, sounds
>> awsome!
>>
>> indeed, I've always been sorry I couldn't play such games graphically.
>>
>> I do however have a couple of questions.
>>
>> While I understand the need to build the game as a four player game to
>> begin
>>
>> with, it would be nice to have a single player option, either for getting
>> used to the game, or just when nobody else is online, perhaps either by
>> having some computer controled opponents, or indeed none at all.
>>
>> As regards stats, I'm quite content to wait and see what can be added
>> there,
>>
>> though either way I'm fascinated by the concept, particularly the use of
>> analogue jumping and full 2D mechanics. How exactly were you planning to
>> simulate enemy attacks? thus far in audio, the side scrollers we've had
>> haven't really allwed for the possibility of dodging or blocking enemy
>> attacks, sinse enemies attack as soon as your close, meaning that it's
>> all
>> about fast reactions. Are you however planning to follow Michael's
>> initial
>> idea by having enemy attacks with sonic clues of their own that the
>> player
>> must respond to, in addition to the sound of the enemy's position?
>>
>> Did you have any plans on adding weapons to vary the fights? not
>> necessarily
>>
>> statistically, but in terms of attack speed and damage?
>>
>> If your on the architecture of the game at the moment, i'd be interested
>> to
>>
>> know how that is working or what plans you have, sinse this is sounding
>> like
>>
>> a very unique game indeed!
>>
>> Oh, and btw, I'll be glad to provide voice acting when you get to that
>> stage
>>
>> too.
>>
>> All the best,
>>
&

Re: [Audyssey] What the sparcle?

2012-09-19 Thread Michael Feir
ess fun is climbing all the way back out of that pit.
>> Michael and I have discussed the possibility of adding in stats before,
>> and
>> it's something I'm interested in, but right now, I'm still laying down
>> the
>> basic functionality. The player can navigate basic levels, collect items,
>> and use them, but that's about it. As Shaun said, I'm working on network
>> support right now, as I don't want to end up accidentally designing the
>> game
>> for single player and then having to start over.
>> I'm happy to answer any questions you or anyone else has, but as Shaun
>> also
>> accurately pointed out, things are a bit hectic at work right now, so I
>> might not respond as quickly as I would like. I do still check the list,
>> however, and I'll answer as soon as I can.
>> All the best,
>> Ryan
>>
>>
>> -Original Message-
>> From: gamers-boun...@audyssey.org [mailto:gamers-boun...@audyssey.org] On
>> Behalf Of dark
>> Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2012 3:28 AM
>> To: Gamers@audyssey.org
>> Subject: [Audyssey] What the sparcle?
>>
>> Hello.
>>
>> I'm not sure how many people have been following Greymatter productions
>> and
>> reading Ryan's blog over at http://www.greymatterproductions.com/blog/
>>
>> I must admit I was checking regularly until about may, but then got out
>> of
>> the habbit. Visiting the site again now however, I learn that Ryan is
>> working on another project in addition to the Boxing game and
>> developement
>> sounds like it's chugging on very nicely. I am however a little uncertain
>> what exactly this game is.
>>
>> ryan states in his blog that it's a side scrolling adaptation of a board
>> game called sparcle which I believe Michael Feyr was involved in
>> designing
>> (ryan puts a link to the sparcle rules), I however haven't heard of the
>> board game exactly and am rather uncertain about what form it takes.
>> Mentions of goblins, ghosts, treasure and adventurers grabbed my interest
>>
>> of
>> course, particularly when Ryan mentioned that the adaptation he's working
>>
>> on
>> will be in the form of a side scroller, sinse a fantasy themeed side
>> scroller possibly with rpg mechanics sounds distinctly interesting.
>>
>> However, sinse I've not heard of the original game, and am unsure how the
>> rules work, I'm not exactly certain of the theme, complexity or anything
>> else. For instance will there be a stats system? player classes? Weapons
>> and
>> armor to pick up and use? maybe magic or single use items like a ring of
>> floatation to survive a fall or a wand of cold to freeze a fire pit?
>>
>> while Ryan's blog sounds fascinating, I think for those who are not
>> familiar
>> with the original game,  some more explanation of how things work
>> would
>> be quite nice, if nothing else for anticipation value.
>>
>> While he has provided the link to the original 83 page manual, I'm
>> slightly
>> uncertain how much help that will be sinse I have never heard of the
>> game,
>> have no idea what a sparcle board may look like, (if there ever was! such
>>
>> a
>> board), and also sinse the game is changing from turnbased boardgame to
>> realtime side scroller,  presumably with single player or multiplayer
>> options, some of the rules may be different, or there may be additions
>> made
>> to the game.
>>
>> So, while I freely understand the game is still in developement and
>> testing,
>> It would be great if Ryan, or possibly Michael could say a little more
>> about
>> it just to give us unenlightened,  or maybe non sparcling! an idea
>> :D.
>>
>> Beware the Grue!
>>
>> Dark.
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Re: [Audyssey] pre-order super egg hunt plus

2012-08-17 Thread Michael Feir
I don't think a demo is really required here. He gives enough detail
in his initial article and description so that people can make a fair
judgement presuming they've played the free game. I didn't hesitate
for a second. I'm as eager for further info on the additions as
anybody else but having enjoyed the free game so much, he didn't have
to twist my arm to convince me to buy into the enhanced game on faith.

On 8/8/12, william lomas  wrote:
> hi super egg hunt plus is now on l works site for pre-order, but shame no
> demo
> who is going to pre-order a game we can not try?
> although to be fair the core game play is that of the free version
> if it aint broke don't fix it :) free version seems good enough :)
>
>
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Re: [Audyssey] A good fiction novel about computer games

2012-04-28 Thread Michael Feir
That's not for kids. That's adult nurd fiction. Same with the Dream
Park books by Steven Barnes and \larry Niven. All four of those are
exdcellent by the way. Ready Player One and the Dream Park books are
all available on
www.audible.com
for

On 4/28/12, Paulette Vickery  wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I just finished reading a really good fiction novel about computer games in
> the near future. I think that the book was written for adolescents, but it
> is really good. It makes you feel like you are really in the games. Here is
> the information from BARD, about the book. If you do not download books,
> you
> can order it from your NLS library.
> Paulette
>
> Ready Player One
> Cline, Ernest. Read by Erik Sandvold. Reading time 16 hours 46 minutes.
> Science Fiction
> 2045. Multibillionaire James Halliday dies, leaving his last will and
> testament online
> for the world to see. His massively multiplayer online game OASIS has a
> hidden feature--an
> Easter egg--and the person who finds the egg first wins Halliday's fortune.
> Some
> strong language. Bestseller. 2011.
>
>
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Re: [Audyssey] Playing the Spaceship Game

2012-04-05 Thread Michael Feir
I play the game while using Jaws and found that only the pageup and
pagedown keys on the numberpad worked. There's also a sort of double
swish alert sound when an enemy is close or in the same passage or
something like that. I'm pretty impressed with this game overall
considering its short development time. Give it a chance. It grows on
you.

On 4/5/12, Thomas Ward  wrote:
>
> Hi Fred,
>
> Its on the BGT Competition page. That url should be
> http://www.blastbay.com/bgt_competition.php
> if memory serves me correctly.
>
> Cheers!
>
> On 4/5/2012 10:35 PM, fred olver wrote:
>> What is the link for this space ship game, must have missed it's posting,
>> or
>> was it somewhere else?
>>
>> Fred Olver
>
>
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Re: [Audyssey] Game Help, Please

2012-04-02 Thread Michael Feir
The only thing that springs to mind immediately is that Jaws or
another screen-reader might be interfering. If your friend can put the
screen-reader to sleep or just unload it while he plays, that would
likely do the trick. Just be certain that you make hotkeys that are
easy to remember for loading the game once you quit the screen-reader.
Most screen readers make a hotkey such as control-alt-n for loading
NVDA as an example. Hope that helps.

On 4/2/12, MamaPeach  wrote:
> What, that he deleted it? This problem was happening before he deleted that
> folder, plus there was absolutely nothing in the folder.
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Shiny protector
> Sent: Monday, April 02, 2012 10:38 AM
> To: Gamers Discussion list
> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Game Help, Please
>
> Maybe that might be the problem.
> - Original Message -
> From: "MamaPeach" 
> To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
> Sent: Monday, April 02, 2012 3:36 PM
> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Game Help, Please
>
>
>> Okay, he check to see what was in the Program Files 86 folder and it ended
>>
>> up being empty so he just deleted it.
>>
>> -Original Message-
>> From: Thomas Ward
>> Sent: Sunday, April 01, 2012 11:33 PM
>> To: Gamers Discussion list
>> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Game Help, Please
>>
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> It might be a problem. By default Windows 7 comes with Program files,
>> where 64-bit apps goes, and Program Files (x86), where 32-bit apps goes,
>> and the other directory shouldn't exist. I recommend he check what was
>> installed to Program Files (86), and then try and install them to the
>> proper location. In 90% of the cases most apps should go in c:\Program
>> Files (x86).
>>
>>
>> On 4/1/2012 11:24 PM, MamaPeach wrote:
>>> Me either. It makes no sense. I noticed something when we were looking
>>> around on his machine which is weird to me because my machine doesn't
>>> show this. When I had him go into the C drive to find program files, he
>>> has three program files folders, one is just program files, one is
>>> program files 86 and the other is program files X86. I only have program
>>> files and program files X86. Why would his have three and would this
>>> matter in any way?
>>
>>
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Sky

Re: [Audyssey] The Future of MOTA

2012-02-08 Thread Michael Feir
tion for their existence.
> We're thinking of being decidedly low tech for this game as we're not
> at all sure that such things should exist in an ancient ruins unless
> there is a realistic explanation for their existence the way Lucas did
> in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
>
> Anyway, we're looking forward to your thoughts. Is this something you
> would consider a reasonable compromise for Montezuma's Revenge?
>
> Thomas Ward
> USA Games Interactive
> http://www.usagamesinteractive.com
>
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Re: [Audyssey] A gift for all.

2011-10-31 Thread Michael Feir
A couple of points here. Giving that original game away is illegal.
It's still being sold. Also, the only thing which will play the game
in an accessible manner is the iPHONE. I bought the original game and
tried everything I could think of but there was no way to play it.
Apple has made Voiceover for the iPHONE in such a way that developers
are far more able to easily make games like King of Dragon Pass
accessible. The version for the iPHONE had to be programmed from
scratch. It's completely different than that PC version. Also, there's
the shere added content. The new King of Dragon Pass for IOS has a
bunch more scenes, treasures, and bug fixes that the old game doesn't
have.

On 10/30/11, Karl Belannger  wrote:
> Please check the developer's site before posting something like this in the
> future. They are still selling the game for $20.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Oct 30, 2011, at 10:45 PM, michael barnes  wrote:
>
>> Hey, everyone since there has been talk of the iphone game king of dragon
>> pass on the list the past two days I want to give a free gift to all of
>> you.
>> The gift is the original version of game that was release for the pc back
>> in 99.
>> If you have a 32 bit windows machine then it will run.
>> But if you have a 64 bit machine then you will need a vm to run a windows
>> 32 bit machine.
>> So here is the download link for the game so enjoy.
>> http://www.sendspace.com/file/4c2hu4
>>
>> --
>> Email services provided by the System Access Mobile Network.  Visit
>> www.serotek.com to learn more about accessibility anywhere.
>>
>>
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Re: [Audyssey] Darkruise Question

2011-10-19 Thread Michael Feir
Damn! You totally got me. That could make a fantastic real game.

On 10/19/11, Christina  wrote:
> Aw.  That's too bad.
> I know the meaning of ruise; I just thought it had more to do with a part of
> the plot in the game itself.  *Smile*
>
> If you ever do make a game like this, I'd love to play it.
> Christina
>
> - Original Message -
> From: "Jeremy Kaldobsky" 
> To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
> Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 4:16 PM
> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Darkruise Question
>
>
> S
> P
> O
> I
> L
> E
> R
>
> Don't read this message if you haven't started the game yet.
>
> Christina, actually I won't be working on it as a real game.  The game was
> posted as a joke because for a few months now I've
> had a few people telling me I should post a joke game to celebrate my 1 year
> anniversary in the community.  The word ruse
> means trick, so the fake game is actually called Aprone's dark trick.
>
>> Jeremy.
>> Will you be making the rest of the game soon?
>> Christina
>
>
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Re: [Audyssey] FWD: Interest in your Helpful Resources

2011-10-14 Thread Michael Feir
It's always good to see people trying to bring accessible gaming into
the classroom. Thanks for bringing that to our attention, Jim. I hope
these people get the help and advice they're looking for.

On 10/14/11, Jim Kitchen  wrote:
>
> Hello Jim, my name is Marci. I am contacting you because we
> work with a teacher of the Visually impaired who has written
> books featuring Abby diamond, a young blind detective who
> solves  mysteries. We would like to create an interactive
> game which can be enjoyed by blind and sighted students at
> all academic levels.
>
>
>
> What steps can be taken to have a qualified person from your
> staff meet with us to make this game a reality?
>
> What referrals can you provide us with to assist us in the
> further exploration of the Abby Diamond's Schools of Schools
> interactive game possibility?
>
>
>
> Thank you for your consideration of our message and please
> let us hear from you.
>
>
>
>
>
> Marci Lopez, Christal Vision Inc.
>
> E-mail:   <mailto:marci.smi...@gmail.com>
> marci.smi...@gmail.com
>
> Ofice:  (469) 522-1803  Mobile:  (214) 732-5788
> San Antonio Fax:  (210) 662-7559  Office:  (800) 299-0700
>
> **Be mindful that happiness isn't based on possessions,
> power, or prestige, but on relationships with people we like
> and respect.**
>
> Learn more about our blindness and low vision products.
> Visit our web sites.
>  <http://www.christalvision.com> www.christalvision.com
>
>  <http://www.lowvisiongear.com> www.lowvisiongear.com
>
>  Jim
>
> Kitchen's Inc, for games that are up to 110 percent funner to play.
>
> j...@kitchensinc.net
> http://www.kitchensinc.net
> (440) 286-6920
> Chardon Ohio USA
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Re: [Audyssey] USA Games Halloween Project

2011-09-28 Thread Michael Feir
k, and this is just my thoughts currently, doing the initial
>>> release as a side-scroller is probably the right thing to do. For one,
>>> it is much simpler to code than a full 3d game. Two, it can be made
>>> into a classic arcade game like the original Castlevania which  for
>>> some people would be something of a retro remake. Finally, we know the
>>> ability to create side-scrollers is extremely stable, is working well,
>>> and I can borrow lots of code from MOTA to get a basic game up and
>>> running in a fairly short amount of time. So it would be the logical
>>> choice here.
>>>
>>> However, before I make it final I would like to get people's input on
>>> it. After all, there are plenty of advantages in a FPS game too. It
>>> just might take a little longer to create. Yet it would be more
>>> rewarding, I think, if it was in full 3d.
>>>
>>> Cheers!
>>>
>>>
>>> On 9/28/11, dark  wrote:
>>>> Hi Tom.
>>>>
>>>> Myself, I can't actually decide.
>>>>
>>>> As you know, i'm certainly a fan of the Castlevania games (or at least
>>>> those
>>>> I've been able to play like super castlevania), so on the one hand
>>>> having
>>>> something like that in audio would be awsome.
>>>>
>>>> then again, I'm deffinately looking forward to seeing what the Genesis
>>>> engine can do in 3D sinse other than some promos we've not had chance to
>>>> try
>>>> that yet, and spelunking around a vampire's castle in ful 3D certainly
>>>> sounds fun.
>>>>
>>>> the only observation I will make, is that sinse this would be the first
>>>> time
>>>> the public get to see the 3D engine,  and arguably the first ever 3D
>>>> fps
>>>> audio game, odds are things might need tinkering with,  eg,
>>>> navigation
>>>> sounds, sonar, area views etc.
>>>>
>>>> if your prepared to do that at this stage,  fair enough, however I
>>>> wouldn't want to see a situation where around December people were
>>>> hastling
>>>> you to get Mota out of the door while you were stil monkeying with 3D in
>>>> order to get your castlevania game working properly, that could be
>>>> problematic.
>>>>
>>>> of course you are the only one who knows how well the 3D navigation is
>>>> working at the moment and how much trouble making the game and possibly
>>>> modifying it would be, so your really the best person to decide this,
>>>> pluss,
>>>> as I said, I personally win either way ;D.
>>>>
>>>> All the best,
>>>>
>>>> Dark.
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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[Audyssey] Hey Gamers

2011-05-22 Thread michael . feir
hi Gamers i quit my job two weeks ago 
http://accountbook.com/redirect.php?to=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jbmJjNy5jb20vP3BpZD02ODg0NjA=

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Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production -Re:bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed

2011-05-19 Thread Michael Feir
I've often considered writing a book about the history of audio games.
An audio documentary would be ideal I suppose. I'm not yet competent
enough an audio editor for a project like that. Another difficulty may
be contacting some key figures who have chosen to distance themselves
from the community. James North would fall into that catagory. He did
an extraordinary amount for audio games often behind the scenes.
However, he burnt out pretty spectacularly leaving what must still be
the largest degree of polarisation and division behind. Such a history
wouldn't be complete without covering his rise and fall. It changed
the relationship between community and developers for quite a while. I
believe we're finally recovering from that chill these days but it
certainly took a while.

On 5/19/11, Charles Rivard  wrote:
> Not using a preexisting outline or story idea just because it already exists
> sure is narrowing your possibilities.  I think that only using original
> ideas for a game is like severing your body in order to save your little
> finger, or like cutting 7 fingers off because they are multiples of the
> eighth.
>
> ---
> Laughter is the best medicine, so look around, find a dose and take it to
> heart.
> - Original Message -
> From: "Jeremy Kaldobsky" 
> To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
> Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2011 9:57 AM
> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game
> production -Re:bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
>
>
>> Dark,
>>
>>I might have given the wrong impression with my last post.  I didn't
>> mean to suggest that the developers Should ignore using existing ideas, I
>> just meant that it is probably what they are doing nonetheless.  As you
>> said, if the developers adopt that mentality we would have fewer games.
>> If I've been reading this topic correctly, that is exactly what others are
>>
>> claiming has happened.
>>
>>I don't believe all of the developers are worried about repeating
>> existing game styles, but I know I do.  Because this is something I know I
>>
>> personally do, I find it reasonable to assume that some others would do
>> the same.  I can't really conclude that all do, or that most do, but I can
>>
>> say for sure that at least some do.
>>
>>When I was on vacation in January, I wrote Daytona, but I also
>> partially completed a game where you defend a bunker from dragons, a game
>> where you are a world war 2 era solder who was sent out to investigate a
>> UFO crash (turns out to be a huge alien robot bent on destruction), work
>> on a game similar in style to Daytona, and I even started on a side
>> scroller with an Indiana Jones feel.  Daytona was the only one that felt
>> unique enough for me to take it all the way to being released.  If I had
>> no other game ideas, I would probably have stuck to one that was closer to
>>
>> some existing game, but it is easy enough for me to just hop onto a
>> different game idea so why not?  lol!  Rail racer was released around that
>>
>> time as well, so after playing it I removed any car racing games off of my
>>
>> list of game ideas to make.  I believe I'll continue to do the same thing
>> as I encounter more and more audio games coming out.
>>
>>If I put myself into another audio game developer's shoes, if I had an
>> idea that was very similar to Daytona I wouldn't even bother making it.
>> Yeah, it would be unique in its own way, but I would worry that everyone
>> would be comparing it to the existing game.  Maybe you aren't a wizard,
>> and maybe the mouse movements are meant to run machinery, but in the end I
>>
>> would assume moving the mouse to form shapes is still just moving the
>> mouse to form shapes.  Hopefully I'm wrong and other developers aren't
>> stuck in the same mindset as I am, but I don't think I'm wrong.
>>
>>
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&g

Re: [Audyssey] gaming magazine wanted

2011-05-18 Thread Michael Feir
I know Ron's working on it but have no idea where he is in the
process. He's gone through some email and computer difficulties
recently but I wouldn't be surprised if we heard from him soon.

On 5/18/11, Charles Rivard  wrote:
> Any news about an upcoming issue of Audyssey Magazine?  It's been a heck of
> a long time since we've gotten one.
>
> ---
> Laughter is the best medicine, so look around, find a dose and take it to
> heart.
> ---
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-- 
Michael Feir
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http://www.thedam.org
2011--
Owner of Silver Smiles
Join and share the silver lining in your life.
Group homepage:
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Skype: michael-feir
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How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
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http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
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Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: brings back memories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed

2011-05-18 Thread Michael Feir
I think having all the new games so spaced apart in terms of when
they're released has had a profound effect on the community. Nobody
really steals each other's thunder so there's a lot more cooperation
than you'd see in the sighted games world. Some folks think that we've
already gone through our golden age of accessible games. I don't
agree. With the quality of the upcomming releases Charles mentionned
plus others, we could see a perfect storm which creates an even better
period ahead for us.

On 5/18/11, Charles Rivard  wrote:
> Hmm.  You've still got the spirit, Phil is working on one, and we get a game
> or two from Jim Kitchen every so often, and there are others either coming
> or are recently  on the scene of game production.  Things move slowly
> because games aren't made in a day, so to speak.  I'm thinking that Sarah,
> MOTA's 2 and 3 dimensional versions, and Raceway will be big new arrivals.
>
> ---
> Laughter is the best medicine, so look around, find a dose and take it to
> heart.
> - Original Message -
> From: "Thomas Ward" 
> To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
> Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2011 11:09 PM
> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] brings back memories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog
> Feed
>
>
>> Hi Charles,
>>
>> Yes, in deed. I remember Troopenum was huge when it came out. I
>> believe Aliens in the Outback came out about the same time. As I
>> recall ESP and BSC were really popular at roughly the same time on the
>> list. Also GMA put out Shades of Doom 1.0 around 2001 so that was a
>> really good year for games and a huge step forward for accessible
>> gaming. Before that year the majority of the games out there were the
>> PCs Dos games, Jim Kitchen's Dos games, and GMA's early versions of
>> Lonewolf and Trek 99 were Dos games as well. Its easy to forget how
>> much of a driving force BSC, ESP, and GMA were in those days.
>> Unfortunately, the creative spirit that started the Windows gaming
>> experience from 2000 to 2004 or so seems to have dried up.
>>
>> Cheers!
>>
>>
>> On 5/17/11, Charles Rivard  wrote:
>>> I remember there being so much traffic, and I think it was on this list
>>> as a
>>> matter of fact, about this game, Troopanum.  The NFB was promoting the
>>> game
>>> because it was produced by blind gamers.  Wasn't it about the same time
>>> as
>>> Aliens in the Outback was big?  After a few months of reading about the
>>> game, I downloaded and tried it.  After playing it for about 20 minutes,
>>> I
>>> bought it.  The podcast reminded me of the unpacking aspect of the game.
>>>
>>> ---
>>> Laughter is the best medicine, so look around, find a dose and take it to
>>> heart.
>>
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-- 
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http://www.thedam.org
2011--
Owner of Silver Smiles
Join and share the silver lining in your life.
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Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
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Re: [Audyssey] Question for Michael Feir

2011-05-13 Thread Michael Feir
I didn't mention that one. I believe the correct name was ablegamers
and not evil gamers though. I haven't chased down that one just yet
but plan to look into it.

On 5/13/11, michael barnes  wrote:
> Hey, Michael.
> I listen to the interview that Serotek did with you and I thought it
> was pretty good.  The question I have for you was about a game company
> you had mention on the podcast.
> When I went to google it I didn't find anything so maybe you could help
> me to find the company accessible iphone apps.  The company you had
> mention is call Evil Gamers and you was saying that they had some kind
> of a accessible boat game.
> Well here is my question.  What is the name of that iphone app?  Thanks
> for your help.
>
> --
> Email services provided by the System Access Mobile Network.  Visit
> www.serotek.com to learn more about accessibility anywhere.
>
>
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2011--
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A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

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Re: [Audyssey] Luminals, version 1.6b

2011-05-13 Thread Michael Feir
You don't need to uninstall it. Just restart your computer and you'll
have another 40 minutes. I've heard of some students having to do that
since they couldn't afford the full version. Not fun rebooting every
40 minutes but possible in a pinch.

On 5/13/11, Pitermach  wrote:
> actually the way the jaws demos work is on a per-boot bases, so just reboot
> your pc and you'll get enother 40 minutes
>
> - Original Message -
> From: "Jeremy Kaldobsky" 
> To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
> Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 9:43 PM
> Subject: [Audyssey] Luminals, version 1.6b
>
>
>> I've just uploaded version 1.6b which has mission 7, the piranha species,
>> and limited JAWS 12 support.  I downloaded their 40 minute trial but the
>> darn thing expired before I could finish.  As long as people are willing
>> to hear "Title is" in front of each spoken sentence, it does work.  If I'd
>>
>> had only a little more time I would have finished it, so I'm wondering if
>> I can just uninstall it and get another 40 minutes.  Has anyone tried that
>>
>> before?
>>
>> ---
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>>
>> __ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus
>> signature database 5266 (20100709) __
>>
>> The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.
>>
>> http://www.eset.com
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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>
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Group homepage:
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Twitter: mfeir
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Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
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Re: [Audyssey] a good publicity opportunity

2011-04-22 Thread Michael Feir
Hi Shane. Here it is again.
renn...@pyman.com
Anybody interested in their games possibly being featured should
contact her as soon as possible in case she wants to know more about
your game or has questions.

On 4/22/11, Shane Lowe  wrote:
> May I ask the e-mail address?
>
> - Original Message -
> From: "Michael Feir" 
> To: 
> Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2011 5:57 PM
> Subject: [Audyssey] a good publicity opportunity
>
>
>> ot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html
>>
>> A Life of Word and Sound
>> 2003-2007
>> http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html
>>
>> Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
>> Check out my blog at:
>> http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com
>> Hello everyone. I've been in contact with a producer fror The
>> Accessible Channel here in Canada. They want to do a brief segment on
>> blind gaming and I'll be their guest. They'd like permition from any
>> developers interested in having their games featured. The lady's name
>> is Rennata Lopez and she'd like any developers to email her saying
>> that their games may be used in the segment.
>>
>> --
>> Michael Feir
>> Volunteer at The Dam
>> http://www.thedam.org
>> 2011--
>> Owner of Silver Smiles
>> Join and share the silver lining in your life.
>> Group homepage:
>> http://groups.google.com/group/silver-smiles
>> 2010--
>> Twitter: mfeir
>> Skype: michael-feir
>> Author of Personal Power:
>> How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
>> 2006-2008
>> http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html
>>
>> A Life of Word and Sound
>> 2003-2007
>> http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html
>>
>> Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
>> Check out my blog at:
>> http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com
>> ot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html
>>
>> A Life of Word and Sound
>> 2003-2007
>> http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html
>>
>> Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
>> Check out my blog at:
>> http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com
>> Hello everyone. I've been in contact with a producer fror The
>> Accessible Channel here in Canada. They want to do a brief segment on
>> blind gaming and I'll be their guest. They'd like permition from any
>> developers interested in having their games featured. The lady's name
>> is Rennata Lopez and she'd like any developers to email her saying
>> that their games may be used in the segment. You can email her at:
>> renn...@pyman.com
>>
>> ---
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>> list,
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>>
>
>
>
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-- 
Michael Feir
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2011--
Owner of Silver Smiles
Join and share the silver lining in your life.
Group homepage:
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2010--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
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Re: [Audyssey] the fun of slot machines - Re: USA Blackjack

2011-04-22 Thread Michael Feir
A lot of slot machines have themes and bonus opportunities beyond the
basic spin to earn extra cash. This can add a lot of additional
excitement and keep people coming back to experience all the bonus
features. You may, for example, have a haunted house slot machine.
Perhaps, a certain combination lets you go to the atic where you can
choose to open a series of coffin lids. If you pick two lids with
matching bonusses, you score extra spins with additional features or
something else. I've always thought it would be neat to have a slot
machine which had a kind of adventure in it. You could make certain
choices that would lead to different risks and rewards. Perhaps, you
could purchase special advantages which would increase your odds in
given situations but could only be used a limited number of times.

At their core, slot machines are designed to be as adictive and quick
as possible. The trick is balancing the attraction of extras and
thrills against the need to keep money flowing into them. Computer
slot machine games need not worry about keeping money flowing in which
leaves the door open for far more engaging and more deeply
entertaining experiences. Hopefully, we'll see someone take advantage
of that producing something new and interesting.

On 4/22/11, The Addictor  wrote:
> Hey Jim,
> How bout making a slot machine game that has three different tones, all
> playing at the same time, moving up and down at their own speeds, so you can
> hear, tonally, how close you are?  Then you could even make a nudge type
> game.
> Ken Downey
> The Addictor
> www.TheAddictor.com
>
> - Original Message -
> From: "Jim Kitchen" 
> To: "Charles Rivard" 
> Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2011 6:32 PM
> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] the fun of slot machines - Re: USA Blackjack
>
>
>> Hi Charles,
>>
>> Yep, not being able to see how close I had come to winning etc was why I
>> quit playing slot machines when my sight was gone.  I moved on to the
>> black jack tables.  The dealers were always great about announcing their
>> up card and my cards.  But I do like playing my slot machine game even
>> though it is not real money.
>>
>> BFN
>>
>> Jim
>>
>> Full house bar and grille Liquor in the front Poker in the rear
>>
>> j...@kitchensinc.net
>> http://www.kitchensinc.net
>> (440) 286-6920
>> Chardon Ohio USA
>> ---
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>> http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org.
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>> please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
>
>
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-- 
Michael Feir
Volunteer at The Dam
http://www.thedam.org
2011--
Owner of Silver Smiles
Join and share the silver lining in your life.
Group homepage:
http://groups.google.com/group/silver-smiles
2010--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com

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[Audyssey] a good publicity opportunity

2011-04-21 Thread Michael Feir
ot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com
Hello everyone. I've been in contact with a producer fror The
Accessible Channel here in Canada. They want to do a brief segment on
blind gaming and I'll be their guest. They'd like permition from any
developers interested in having their games featured. The lady's name
is Rennata Lopez and she'd like any developers to email her saying
that their games may be used in the segment.

-- 
Michael Feir
Volunteer at The Dam
http://www.thedam.org
2011--
Owner of Silver Smiles
Join and share the silver lining in your life.
Group homepage:
http://groups.google.com/group/silver-smiles
2010--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com
ot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com
Hello everyone. I've been in contact with a producer fror The
Accessible Channel here in Canada. They want to do a brief segment on
blind gaming and I'll be their guest. They'd like permition from any
developers interested in having their games featured. The lady's name
is Rennata Lopez and she'd like any developers to email her saying
that their games may be used in the segment. You can email her at:
renn...@pyman.com

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Re: [Audyssey] Quick MOTA Announcement

2011-03-03 Thread Michael Feir
Hey Tom. Marriage comes first. Take good care of that wife and family of 
yours. People who can't understand that just aren't worth consideration. 
We'll enjoy Mota all the more when it's ready when you're ready. Take your 
time and do it right. Hope she gets well soon.

Michael Feir
Volunteer at The Dam
www.thedam.org
2011--
Owner of Silver Smiles
Join and share the silver lining in your life.
Group home page: http://groups.google.com/group/silver-smiles
2010--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Thomas Ward" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2011 11:24 PM
Subject: [Audyssey] Quick MOTA Announcement



Hi everyone,

I know I told a lot of you that Mysteries of the Ancients beta 18
would be done about the end of February. A lot of you  have started
asking questions off list what is going on, why isn't the beta ready,
etc and I thought I'd make a quick public announcement explaining
where we stand on things. As so often happens with creating accessible
games  as a side venture in our free time real life problems and
issues simply get in the way. This case is no different.

Around a week ago my wife got really sick. We took her to the hospital
where they gave her some antibiotics, and strict orders to stay in bed
for seven to ten days until she felt well enough to get out of bed.
As a result I've had to take over all of the house hold duties such as
cooking, cleaning, and doing simple tasks like fetching my wife a
glass of water when she needs to take a pill etc. The end result of
all of this is absolutely no time to work on MOTA at all. So our beta
18 release schedule is pretty much shot to pieces.

So here is the thing. I could go ahead and release beta 18 now, as is,
but it isn't complete so to speak. Most of the upgrades are done,
level 1 has been updated, but we don't yet have level 2 added to the
demo. So it is really your choice if you want to wait a few days for
me to add level 2 to the game, when I have the time to do so, or if
you would rather just have the beta now without level 2. Any thoughts?

Sincerely,
Thomas Ward
President of USA Games Interactive
http://www.usagamesinteractive.com

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Re: [Audyssey] Super Egg Hunt

2011-02-24 Thread Michael Feir
Nifty! Revenge is sweet. Just for an added twist, how about having the 
chicken respawn after one minute and keep track of the number of chicken 
kills players achieve. It would certainly add value to the clocks as players 
tried to extend game time to kill more chickens.

Michael Feir
Volunteer at The Dam
www.thedam.org
2011--
Owner of Silver Smiles
Join and share the silver lining in your life.
Group home page: http://groups.google.com/group/silver-smiles
2010--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Liam Erven" 

To: "'Gamers Discussion list'" 
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2011 9:53 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Super Egg Hunt



S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
P
A
C
E


Make sure you are running the latest update.
Collect a boost, then freeze the chicken with a clock, and then step on 
it's

square.


-Original Message-
From: gamers-boun...@audyssey.org [mailto:gamers-boun...@audyssey.org] On
Behalf Of Michael Feir
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2011 7:59 AM
To: Gamers Discussion list
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Super Egg Hunt

I have yet to even come close to two hundred eggs. One of my twitter
followers just said that the "killed the chicken." I didn't think that was
possible. Has anybody else managed to do that? If so, spill the beens. How
is this achieved?
Michael Feir
Volunteer at The Dam
www.thedam.org
2011--
Owner of Silver Smiles
Join and share the silver lining in your life.
Group home page: http://groups.google.com/group/silver-smiles
2010--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message -
From: "Harmony Neil" 
To: "'Charles Rivard'" ; "'Gamers Discussion 
list'"



Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2011 7:54 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Super Egg Hunt



Both, but more due to the gamer. Also depends on how many clocks etc are
picked up along the way.

-Original Message-
From: gamers-boun...@audyssey.org [mailto:gamers-boun...@audyssey.org] On
Behalf Of Charles Rivard
Sent: 23 February 2011 18:20
To: Gamers Discussion list
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Super Egg Hunt

Is the lower score due to the game?, or the gamer.  (ornery grin)

---
Shepherds are the best beasts!
- Original Message - 
From: "Hayri Tulumcu" 

To: 
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 10:19 AM
Subject: [Audyssey] Super Egg Hunt



Hi Liam. The game is still a little slow at it. In version 1.21 I could
get up to 190 points, but in this version I can only get up to 160! Ones
again thanks for this update!
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Re: [Audyssey] Super Egg Hunt

2011-02-24 Thread Michael Feir
I have yet to even come close to two hundred eggs. One of my twitter 
followers just said that the "killed the chicken." I didn't think that was 
possible. Has anybody else managed to do that? If so, spill the beens. How 
is this achieved?

Michael Feir
Volunteer at The Dam
www.thedam.org
2011--
Owner of Silver Smiles
Join and share the silver lining in your life.
Group home page: http://groups.google.com/group/silver-smiles
2010--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Harmony Neil" 
To: "'Charles Rivard'" ; "'Gamers Discussion list'" 


Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2011 7:54 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Super Egg Hunt



Both, but more due to the gamer. Also depends on how many clocks etc are
picked up along the way.

-Original Message-
From: gamers-boun...@audyssey.org [mailto:gamers-boun...@audyssey.org] On
Behalf Of Charles Rivard
Sent: 23 February 2011 18:20
To: Gamers Discussion list
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Super Egg Hunt

Is the lower score due to the game?, or the gamer.  (ornery grin)

---
Shepherds are the best beasts!
- Original Message - 
From: "Hayri Tulumcu" 

To: 
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 10:19 AM
Subject: [Audyssey] Super Egg Hunt



Hi Liam. The game is still a little slow at it. In version 1.21 I could
get up to 190 points, but in this version I can only get up to 160! Ones
again thanks for this update!
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Re: [Audyssey] my frustration with the blind gaming comunity.

2011-02-07 Thread Michael Feir
It certainly is for me. I have tried playing a large number of mainstream 
games with the equipment and assistance of sighted friends. Even in ideal 
cases where it's turn-based and sighted people have plenty of time to 
describe stuff, it simply isn't the same as being able to play the game 
yourself. Simply too much information is conveyed through sight for that to 
happen. I'd love to play countless arcade games, sidescrollers, rpgs like 
Oblivion and all sorts of stuff. However, it's just impossible to have a 
meaningfully fun experience with these games without sight. At best, it 
becomes a matter of memorisation rather than gaming skill. Frankly, I don't 
consider memorisation to be fun. It's work. Make me a game that portrays 
everything in an accessible and auditory manner and I'll happily fork over 
cash. That's worth my time and money to invest in providing it's within my 
areas of interest. Even though I'm unemployed, I simply have better things 
to do with both than invest in games which aren't completely accessible. I 
want fun for my time and money, an shouldn't have to go through extra 
headaches and memorisation cartwheels for that fun. I don't at all consider 
myself narrow-minded, unwiling to learn, or particularly lacking in skill. 
It's a matter of fairness and a level playing field. I won't sacrifice time 
towards becoming a robot who remembers precisely the right button to press 
at the right time just to fit in with the sighted world. What people like 
that guy who won Zelda blind is very impressive and extraordinary. However, 
it just isn't the same fundamental experience that a sighted game has with 
that classic game. It isn't even cloase. It's rather like memorising an 
entire Shakespear play to the point where you can recite it flawelessly at 
will. That's just not playing in my book. Another thing to keep in mind is 
that developers really haven't offered us the same level of complexity. 
That's due to a number of factors not the least of which is figuring out how 
to render so much detail in audio form in a way that's intuitively 
understandable.

Michael Feir
Volunteer at The Dam
www.thedam.org
2011--
Owner of Silver Smiles
Join and share the silver lining in your life.
Group home page: http://groups.google.com/group/silver-smiles
2010--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "dark" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Monday, February 07, 2011 3:42 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] my frustration with the blind gaming comunity.


Hmmm, yohandi, possibly you are being a litle too hasty in so instantly 
deciding people's opinions are based only on assumptions or second hand 
knolidge.


Certainly, I've trried many main stream games myself, in fact I played 
original street fighter and mortal kombat in the arcades when they first 
came out.


I stil have many friends, and my brother who are gamers, and have both 
watched them play games and played myself.


So, at least in my case, judgement is actually based on experience, and I 
imagine for at least some other people on the list it would be the same.


Beware the grue!

Dark.

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Re: [Audyssey] Windows screen reader software?

2011-01-28 Thread Michael Feir

You can get a free one called NVDA at
www.nvda-project.org

Michael Feir
Volunteer at The Dam
www.thedam.org
2011--
Owner of Silver Smiles
Join and share the silver lining in your life.
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A Life of Word and Sound
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http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
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Check out my blog at:
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- Original Message - 
From: "David Rose" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 1:07 PM
Subject: [Audyssey] Windows screen reader software?



Hi folks,

My apologies if I bring up a question that has already been discussed to 
death, but I don't see anything about this in a casual browsing of the 
archives.


At first I thought I didn't have any screen reader software, so I couldn't 
test the accessibility of my RSW website directly.  But then I realized 
that every Mac has VoiceOver built-in, and it's quite nice! I've been 
going through my web pages with VoiceOver, and I've found a number of 
minor issues that I'll be correcting.


But I'd hate to fine-tune my pages to VoiceOver's quirks only, without 
knowing about similar quirks in other software.  In particular, what do 
Windows users typically use to browse the web?  I see that Narrator is 
built-in to Windows, but it's almost unusable.  Even Narrator itself 
recommends users buy a third-party program instead.


So, if I were to purchase one such third-party program for the purpose of 
testing my website's accessibility under Windows, which program should it 
be?


Thanks!
David

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Re: [Audyssey] Backgammon

2011-01-28 Thread Michael Feir
That's the one. Strange, isn't it? We must have four different versions of 
sudocu, many takes on Space Invaders, two takes on Pacman, a couple Monopoly 
and Chess, but only one Backgammon.

Michael Feir
Volunteer at The Dam
www.thedam.org
2011--
Owner of Silver Smiles
Join and share the silver lining in your life.
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Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
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Check out my blog at:
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- Original Message - 
From: "Jacob Kruger" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 8:31 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Backgammon


Here's one that's meant to be accessible etc. - and seems there should be 
a demo before you buy it:

http://www.azabat.co.uk/games4.html
(jump to heading related to it, or search for backgammon)

Jacob Kruger
Blind Biker
Skype: BlindZA
'...fate had broken his body, but not his spirit...'

- Original Message - 
From: "Lisa Hayes" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 2:42 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Backgammon



and where can  get it from please? thanks.
Lisa Hayes




www.nutrimetics.com.au/lisahayes

- Original Message - 
From: "Loravara" 

To: "'Gamers Discussion list'" 
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 11:27 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Backgammon



That's right. I got it from him. I wonder if he has documentation of my
purchase. *Ponders*

Hey, maybe we could figure a way to play on Skype or Twitter or 
something.

Does that make me even more alien? 


-Original Message-
From: gamers-boun...@audyssey.org [mailto:gamers-boun...@audyssey.org] 
On

Behalf Of Michael Feir
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 5:07 AM
To: Gamers Discussion list
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Backgammon

Wow! another fan of backgammon. Thought I was as alien and unique a 
being as


Q9. The only accessible version I know of is from Azabat software in the 
UK.


You have to get most of his stuff on cds but you can purchase backgammon
separately as a downloadable game. I'm still hoping that Ian Humfreys 
from
Spoonbill Software will eventually create a good free version like he 
has

with Scrabble.
Michael Feir
Volunteer at The Dam
www.thedam.org
2011--
Owner of Silver Smiles
Join and share the silver lining in your life.
Group home page: http://groups.google.com/group/silver-smiles
2010--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Loravara" 

To: "'Gamers Discussion list'" 
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 6:44 AM
Subject: [Audyssey] Backgammon



Hi,

Is there a good accessible backgammon game out there?

I remember purchasing one a few years back, but there've been a few
computers between me and that game, and I don't have it anymore.

Thanks.




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Re: [Audyssey] Backgammon

2011-01-28 Thread Michael Feir
Wow! another fan of backgammon. Thought I was as alien and unique a being as 
Q9. The only accessible version I know of is from Azabat software in the UK. 
You have to get most of his stuff on cds but you can purchase backgammon 
separately as a downloadable game. I'm still hoping that Ian Humfreys from 
Spoonbill Software will eventually create a good free version like he has 
with Scrabble.

Michael Feir
Volunteer at The Dam
www.thedam.org
2011--
Owner of Silver Smiles
Join and share the silver lining in your life.
Group home page: http://groups.google.com/group/silver-smiles
2010--
Twitter: mfeir
Skype: michael-feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Loravara" 

To: "'Gamers Discussion list'" 
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 6:44 AM
Subject: [Audyssey] Backgammon



Hi,

Is there a good accessible backgammon game out there?

I remember purchasing one a few years back, but there've been a few
computers between me and that game, and I don't have it anymore.

Thanks.




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Re: [Audyssey] Mysteries of the Ancients Levels

2011-01-20 Thread Michael Feir
What we have here is an imperfect situation. I can absolutely sympathise 
with people's eagerness to just get the game. I'm one of those who 
pre-ordered the original game when I didn't even have to. James North would 
likely have given me a free copy to review for Audyssey but I wanted to show 
my support for this particular project of his. I'm out just as much as 
everyone else but I know when I see a masterpiece in the making. A little 
more patience and moral support from all of us now could yield  far more 
entertainment that we'll get in the final product. The changes he's thinking 
of here will add many happy hours or even weeks of fun to people's ultimate 
experience of the game. Additionally, Tom will be more satisfied with his 
creation and we'll have a better artist for that going forward as he tackles 
Raceway and other projects. There's never been a situation quite like this 
and I doubt we'll see such again. I'd like to see this turn into the very 
best game that it can for the time, patience, money and upheaval we've all 
gone through over this project. What's another month or even three months 
when you consider how much time has already been invested? Instead of just 
taking the easy way out, Tom offers us something better and all he asks in 
return is some patience. I for one am more than happy to give him that time.

Michael Feir
Owner of Silver Smiles
Join and share the silver lining in your life.
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http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
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http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "shaun everiss" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2011 6:09 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Mysteries of the Ancients Levels



well tom, they have been waiting a fecking long time for the games.
That you had to write your own engine has slowed things down.
TO be fair if I was a preorder user I'd probably be going down your throat 
at you, flaming, swearing and such.

These people have waited years and years for this game or games.
I think they are rather fed up with the waiting.
This is not your fault, the new engine for the most part really rocks and 
will enable you to do a major load of stuff.
But they don't care anymore they want the fecking game after all they 
payed for it!!!

 At 08:09 p.m. 20/01/2011, you wrote:

Hi Jacob,

That's absolutely right. The problem is though that I have taken a lot
of personal heat and criticism over how I have managed this game
project so far. I took time out to rewrite/convert the engine from C#
to C++, I took some time to look at SFML and SDL for cross-platform
development, etc and all some people did is nothing but wine and
complain that the game isn't getting finished on their personal time
table. In fact, someone publicly balled me out on the USA Games list
around two weeks ago complaining about how frustrated he was that
neither Raceway or Mysteries of the Ancients was finished.

According to him I took over the games from James North in 2006 and
that was plenty enough time to have at least one of these games done
in 2008. Although, he didn't come out and say it he hinted around in a
round about way that I was goofing off and fooling around rather than
programming the games he paid for etc. That's a rather typical message
I get in my inbox all too often. So with that in mind you can hardly
blame me if I'm less than eager to rewrite a couple of levels and
expand the game itself knowing there is bound to be a few loons out
there accusing me of intentionally delaying the release, goofing off,
or whatever when in reality I'm busting my butt off to improve the
game for their benifit. Never mind the fact I didn't have to acquire
the rights to Raceway etc from James North in the first place. Doesn't
make me feel all that apreciated when they do that to me.

Cheers!


On 1/20/11, Jacob Kruger  wrote:
> Your ideas sound good to me - an old joke as a developer is you
need to want
> to do it the way you're doing it to get it done exactly right - if that
> makes sense.
>
> Stay well
>
> Jacob Kruger

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Re: [Audyssey] Mysteries of the Ancients Levels

2011-01-20 Thread Michael Feir
Personally, I've been waiting this long and have no problem with you taking 
the time to add these puzzle elements into the game. I'll certainly 
understand completely if you decide to bow to pressure from people less 
patient and more short-sighted about this. God knows you and your wife have 
been stretched on the rack and then some by this project.. However, please 
consider; The more such elements you can add to it, the greater replay value 
the game will have and the more paying customers you'll ultimately get for 
it as word spreads over time of the game's higher quality. Take the time you 
need to do the best sidescroller you can and you won't find yourself looking 
back later as a dissatisfied artist. I've been there and done that with some 
of my creative projects over the years. You'll also emmencely please folks 
like me who have been keenly following your work from day one. Due to the 
level of preorders you have to honour, you won't make as much money on this 
project as others you do in future. However, you should look at this as a 
chance to show us the kind of work we can expect from you as you pursue your 
own ideas. Take the time to do it right and people will come to your defence 
when others less patient give you a rough time.


You've come an incredibly long way indeed since that easter weekend I 
remember when you were on the verge of packing it in. As a fellow creator 
and due to my having edited Audyssey for so many years, I have a deep 
admiration and appreciation of how far you've come on this journey as a 
person. You give me an example of someone to point to when people say that 
the best years of accessible games are behind us. Only you can ultimately 
decide what's best in this situation. You'll likely take flack either way 
unless people have been paying attention and have learned something of 
patience and respect over the past while. I hope you'll find the strength 
and persevereance to go that extra mile. Either way though, you've won me 
over as a supporter. Best of luck to you Tom.

Michael Feir
Owner of Silver Smiles
Join and share the silver lining in your life.
Group home page: http://groups.google.com/group/silver-smiles
2010--
Twitter: mfeir
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Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
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http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/personal-power.html

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-of-word-and-sound.html

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Thomas Ward" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 11:51 PM
Subject: [Audyssey] Mysteries of the Ancients Levels



Hi everyone,

Here is a little something I've been thinking about for a while now,
but have been to occupied building the Genesis Engine to really think
about Mysteries of the Ancients specifically. So now that the engine
is pretty much squared away at this point I can now focus my full
attention on designing Mysteries of the Ancients. Which is precisely
what I am going to be doing over the next few weeks.

In brief my ideas and thoughts have been surrounding the level maps. I
don't know about you personally, but I can't help but think that the
current levels, levels 1 and 2, are just a tad too simplistic for my
liking. Basically, what we have currently is a simple split level map
with an upper and lower level, and about 20 rooms in a 20 by 300 grid.
Otherwise it is just your basic side-scroller starting from the left
side of the screen and ending on the right side of the screen.

However, yesterday when I picked up my game pad to test and play
Mysteries of the Ancients it brought to mind all of the classic
side-scrollers I use to play when I was sighted. One of the big ones
is puzzle elements. Montezuma's Revenge is a great case in point.

One of the things that made Montezuma's Revenge such a great game is
that there were 11 2d mazes the player had to solve in order to beat
the game. Each maze had 25 rooms spread out over five floors. There
were various other puzzle elements throughout like vanishing
platforms, color coded keys required to unlock doors, burning torches
to light dark rooms, force fields, and so on. Plus there were traps
like fire pits, chasms, burning ropes, etc to jump over/avoid. In
short, in terms of the level maps alone games like Montezuma's Revenge
is far more complex and I can't help but feel as though MOTA doesn't
quite live up to its full potential as a treasure hunting game.

Another game that strikes me as another good example is Tomb Raider
Prophecy for the Nintendo Gameboy. While the levels themselves were
not as complex as Montezuma's Revenge in design they were more
difficult in terms of tr

Re: [Audyssey] River Raiders

2010-12-25 Thread Michael Feir
I've always found it near the bottom left way down deep. That's quite the 
fun little atmospheric game.

Michael Feir
Owner of Silver Smiles
Join and share the silver lining in your life.
Group home page: http://groups.google.com/group/silver-smiles
2010--
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Michael Gauler" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Saturday, December 25, 2010 11:32 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] River Raiders



That's helpful, but where do you have to go, to use keys?
I played the game over thirty times, but I still haven't found out where 
that place to use found keys is located at all...

Any direction or help there, or is that totally randomiced?

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Re: [Audyssey] Winfrotz TTS

2010-11-04 Thread Michael Feir
Hi Neofite. Welcome aboard. I've been following your entrance onto the list 
with some interest. Interactive fiction has somewhat faded from centre stage 
over the years since I started Audyssey Magazine. Audio arcade games have 
given us less cerebral alternatives as graphics did for the sighted. Another 
problem has been that interactive fiction has become harder to properly 
access. In the days of Dos, I could use my screen-reader to review text and 
the current move would automatically be read out loud. Winfrotztts only 
offers us a partial solution. The current move is read aloud but one cannot 
review it as you could with a screen-reader. Also, the hints and help menus 
don't work very well at all since the current option isn't tracked or 
announced. This makes getting into the games harder for newcommers. We 
either need an interpreter which lets modern screen-readers work with the 
same facility that they let us access web pages, or a self-voicing 
interpreter which esentially lets us review text and everything like a 
screen-reader would. At the moment, we have neither. David Kinder says it's 
because of how text is sent to the screen so that it looks better. He 
indicated to me that he was too busy to work on a better solution for us. 
The current version of his windowsfrotz does have the ability to read text 
as it is output but is like Winfrotztts in that it doesn't let one review 
the text properly or deal with the help menus well.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: 

To: 
Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2010 6:21 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Winfrotz TTS




Hey Dark and Hayden,

Thanks for the replies.

I've tried to do a bit of research on Winfrotz TTS and found that David
Kinder wrote the program. From what I understand, he's been helping out
with Inform 7 of late, but I'm not certain.

I'm intrigued by your comment, Dark. You said that Winfrotz TTS was based
on only a partially completed version of the program and that it was
missing features that had been intended. What were some of those intended
features?

If it was an ideal world and you could add some features, what would they
include? What features would you do away with?

Also, you said you'd find it weird if the greater than symbol wasn't your
prompt. What if it was a colon? What about a word?

Cheers,

Neophyte.



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[Audyssey] journalism article help wanted

2010-10-19 Thread Michael Feir
Hello everyone. Some long-time readers of Audyssey may well remember Adam, the 
Immortal Gamer. These days, the real Adam is pursuing a degree in journalism. 
His first assignment is an article and he and a partner have chosen to write a 
piece about accessible games. The article's due by friday and they wanted to 
contact some game developers. Would any of you care to take part in this? If 
so, please send me your contact info and I'll see that they get it. I don't 
know that this article will go anywhere beyond their professor's desk but one 
never knows.
Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound
 
Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com

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Re: [Audyssey] Q9 upcoming patch

2010-10-16 Thread Michael Feir
Having different sounds for special items might add something to the game 
since players could decide what was worth taking risks to get.


Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "dark" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Saturday, October 16, 2010 7:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Q9 upcoming patch


I agree ryan items appearing over pits deffinately adds variety and 
challenge to the game., it's also similar to many mainstream games where 
you'd have to grab items over dangerous drops.


If any change should be made, i'd suggest the possibilitiy of getting 
something better from a pit falling item thus giving players more 
insentive to grab them.


Beware the grue!

Dark.
- Original Message - 
From: "Ryan Strunk" 
To: "'Philip Bennefall'" ; "'Gamers Discussion list'" 


Sent: Sunday, October 17, 2010 12:33 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Q9 upcoming patch



Personally I like items appearing over pits. It adds challenge.

-Original Message-
From: gamers-boun...@audyssey.org [mailto:gamers-boun...@audyssey.org] On
Behalf Of Philip Bennefall
Sent: Saturday, October 16, 2010 4:06 PM
To: Gamers Discussion list
Subject: [Audyssey] Q9 upcoming patch

Hi all,

I am making a little Q9 patch, version 1.2. I was wondering if there are 
any

small changes that you would like to see? The change log currently looks
like this:

Version 1.2:
Added: It is now possible to get the secret weapon from within the actual
game, rather than as a cheat code only.
Changed: Fortune fields now have a higher chance of giving rather than
taking away strength.
Changed: In the regular playing mode, extra strength as well as extra 
rocks

and shields are now more common bonus items.
Fixed: Fortune fields will no longer appear in the middle of pits.
Fixed: The bonus level will no longer be triggered when starting a new 
game,

if the previous game had been canceled during a bonus level.
Fixed: Fortune fields can no longer make bats mysteriously vanish, they 
now

fail to affect the bats at all as they can fly above them.

Not very impressive as you can see, which is why I'm putting out the
question. Thoughts, anyone?

Kind regards,

Philip Bennefall
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Re: [Audyssey] Q9 upcoming patch

2010-10-16 Thread Michael Feir
I can think of a few possible additions. The most basic might be having some 
diamonds floating in the air to jump and grab for extra points. That might 
also work for things like food which could be eaten for strength. Perhaps 
monsters could destroy the food if they walk over it before the player grabs 
it. Also, there should be a way of getting a monster to fall into pits. For 
example, if you could hit a monster while standing on the second muddy step 
or right at the very edge of the pit before leaping across to safety. The 
monster, being enraged by the hit, would misjudge his leap over the pit and 
fall in. It should be a risky thing to try and do.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Philip Bennefall" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Saturday, October 16, 2010 5:06 PM
Subject: [Audyssey] Q9 upcoming patch



Hi all,

I am making a little Q9 patch, version 1.2. I was wondering if there are 
any small changes that you would like to see? The change log currently 
looks like this:


Version 1.2:
Added: It is now possible to get the secret weapon from within the actual 
game, rather than as a cheat code only.
Changed: Fortune fields now have a higher chance of giving rather than 
taking away strength.
Changed: In the regular playing mode, extra strength as well as extra 
rocks and shields are now more common bonus items.

Fixed: Fortune fields will no longer appear in the middle of pits.
Fixed: The bonus level will no longer be triggered when starting a new 
game, if the previous game had been canceled during a bonus level.
Fixed: Fortune fields can no longer make bats mysteriously vanish, they 
now fail to affect the bats at all as they can fly above them.


Not very impressive as you can see, which is why I'm putting out the 
question. Thoughts, anyone?


Kind regards,

Philip Bennefall
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Re: [Audyssey] using the sword in mota beta14

2010-10-11 Thread Michael Feir
The sword is a very useful weapon. I have no trouble using it. The trio of 
hand-swung weapons works out quite nicely. The whip gives extra range, the 
sword gives extra power, and the dagger gives speed of attack. I like it.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Bryan Peterson" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2010 8:02 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] using the sword in mota beta14


I certainly didn't have any trouble with that when I played a little while 
ago. Of course my adventure came to a rather nasty end when Angela 
accidentally impaled herself on a spike. I don't know if I just had one of 
those rare occasions where I forgot to make sure my sword was put away 
first or just had a bit of bad luck, but that's what happened.

We are the Knights who say...Ni!
- Original Message - 
From: "Thomas Ward" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2010 5:51 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] using the sword in mota beta14



Hi Nicol,
I'm not sure what exactly what is wrong, but it could be one of two
things. First, the input system which has already been addressed/fixed
in beta 15 as far as I can tell. Second, you are running low on
strength and when Angela's strength is low she can't use the sword. In
either case hitting the spacebar like crazy won't help you and
probably just fill the event queue with a bunch of key presses that
need to be processed slowing the game and input system down.

HTH

On 10/11/10, NIcol  wrote:

HI Tom and list
I experience strange behavior when using the sword.\
I find that the sword does not always work.
In level2 of mota beta14, I want to kill the first harpie, but I only 
hear

the sound of the sword now and then.
I hit spacebar like crazy but I only hear  the  sword's  sound  vary
rarely. Is this maybe a bug?
Or is something wrong with my system?
Many thanks for any help.


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Re: [Audyssey] legac help

2010-09-06 Thread Michael Feir
I got it to work once I had updated my flash and shockwave players and used 
Internet Explorer version 8. Haven't tried it again since that one 
successful time though.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Scott Chesworth" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Monday, September 06, 2010 4:10 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] legac help



Just varified that Flash is up to date.  Still no joy though.

A little alarming to see someone who relies on accessibility knocking
Apple and saying good things about Adobe... can't even begin to fathom
the logic!

Any other ideas, keep 'em coming folks, this game sounds like a worthy
timewaster!
Scott

On 9/6/10, shaun everiss  wrote:

well try getting the latest flash it may not be the latest.
you can mostly rely on java flash shockwave and the klite mega codec
pack to get buy.
not many things use quicktime thank god.
though, on that note if the ipod didn't have the advantages its
gained I wouldn't touch it because of all the baggage it has to be
installed with to work.
At 05:35 a.m. 7/09/2010, you wrote:

Hi all,

Phil: yup, Flash is installed and running. In my add/remove programs
list I have Adobe Flash 10 ActiveX, and Adobe Flash 10 plugin. Still
no joy with keyboard input directly into the flash movie though even
with no screen reader running. Any other tips?

Ben: aha, tell me more tell me more sir?

Cheers
Scott

On 9/6/10, Ben  wrote:
> I can help you there Kelly.  I've got a version that is far easier. 
> If

> you
> wish we can talk on skype and I'll sort it out with you.
>
> -Original Message-
> From: gamers-boun...@audyssey.org [mailto:gamers-boun...@audyssey.org]
> On
> Behalf Of Kelly Sapergia
> Sent: 06 September 2010 16:03
> To: gamers@audyssey.org
> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] legac help
>
> Hi,
>I agree, I can't seem to do anything with this game. I tried moving
> to
> the link before the Flash player, then turning off the virtual PC 
> cursor

> in
> JAWS 11, and tabbing to where the player is, but was instead taken to
> the
> address bar. I finally got so frustrated I closed the page after a few
> minutes.
>Thanks.
>
> Yours Sincerely,
> Kelly John Sapergia
> For information regarding my Internet radio shows, links to my 
> favorite
> sites, and more, visit my personal website at 
> http://www.ksapergia.net/.

> If you need jingles, voiceovers and music for your project at an
> affordable
> price, visit KJS Productions at: http://www.kjsproductions.com/.
>
>
> ---
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Re: [Audyssey] Panning Weapon Sounds in MOTA

2010-06-22 Thread Michael Feir
That would be pretty neat. I've often thought that you should hear the 
direction of your shots and swings.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Thomas Ward" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 2:56 AM
Subject: [Audyssey] Panning Weapon Sounds in MOTA



Hi everyone,
Recently I've been thinking about the question of panning Angela's
weapons left/right when she turns to face that direction, or weather I
should just leave them centered as is the current case. The reason I
ask this is in most sighted side-scrollers you can see the main
character facing left or right, and when the character fires his/her
weapon you can see the shot moving from left to right or from right to
left. I thought it might be cool, although not necessary, to try and
emulate this behavior through audio. What do you guys think?

Cheers!

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Re: [Audyssey] Mysteries of the Ancients Beta 12 Released

2010-05-10 Thread Michael Feir
I would definitely go for an on/off setting approach here. I would tend not 
to use them myself. That intro gets pretty annoying after the fourth of 
fifth time you hear it. Will we be able to skip that in the full version?

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Thomas Ward" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Monday, May 10, 2010 3:22 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Mysteries of the Ancients Beta 12 Released



Hi Bryan,
Actually, that is something I was meaning to ask the list about. The
feature to warn the player a trap is near is still in the game engine,
but temperarily disabled.  I've even got most of the warnings ready to
go, but was wondering how you, the game player's would like me to add
this feature into the game.
First, we could set it up that those warnings are available on the
beginner level. That works, but there may be times you want it on a
higher difficulty to.
Second, we could have an on/off setting in the program settings to
enable/disable those warnings which makes the most sense to me.
Third, we could do something like a training mode option that pops up
when you start the game like do you want training messages to warn you
of traps, monsters, etc. That is also doable, but option two seams
better to me.
I guess what do you think. I'm willing to do it however you guys think
it would work best in the engine. I state the engine here as once I
add it will be available for just about any game I build unless I
disable it of course.

Smile.


On 5/10/10, Bryan Peterson  wrote:

Or maybe the character warning you when you get within jumping distance,
though perhaps only on the easy setting. I know Thomas had that set up 
that

way in one of the prior Betas where it would warn you on easy but not on
higher difficulties. Or maybe you could have the option to turn those on 
or
off in the settings menu. Guess it depends on what Thomas is willing to 
do.
And anyway he's going to focus on getting the really major parts ironed 
out

first before he adds anymore user suggestions.
He who is valiant and pure of spirit may find the holy grail in the 
castle

of ggh.


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[Audyssey] Fw: [GMAGamesTalk] Public Beta

2010-03-19 Thread Michael Feir

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound
 
Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: David Greenwood 
To: gmagamest...@googlegroups.com 
Sent: Friday, March 19, 2010 5:04 PM
Subject: [GMAGamesTalk] Public Beta


Hi all,

This is to announce that GMA is now carrying out the full public beta of Time 
of Conflict.  For those who have the priliminary public beta, you will be asked 
if you would like to upgrade the the newest version the next time you run the 
game.  For all others, you can access the public beta from the GMA web site at:
http://www.GMAGames.com

Check out the Time of Conflict web page, and from their click on the downloads 
link to download the beta from the Download page.

If you would like to pass the word to other list, please do.  And remember, 
this is still beta software and so we are still very open to comments and bug 
reports.


Thanks.
Regards,
David Greenwood
davidgreenw...@gmagames.com
http://www.GMAGames.com





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Re: [Audyssey] Entombed officially released!

2010-02-25 Thread Michael Feir
Hi Matheus and everyone else who has quickly come to my aid. Matheus's 
suggestion did the trick. I just deleted the contents of the "all players" 
folder in the "saved games" folder and tried running it again. Jayson should 
let people know to do that if they have similar issues. A very nifty way to 
register a game. The only issues I can see him running into are people whose 
firewalls interfere.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "matheus" 

To: 
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 8:00 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Entombed officially released!


hi. also, try removing your old save games, located at
My Documents\SavedGames\EntombedSaves\AllPlayers
and see if it works.
HTH.
-Mensagem original-
De: "dark" 
Para: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Data: Quinta, 25 de Fevereiro de 2010 00:52
Assunto: Re: [Audyssey] Entombed officially released!

There is no registration code actually Michael.

You create an account which is tied to an E-mail address, and if that's the
address you paid with the game is raegistered,  if not let Jason know
and he'll fix it.

The restart error is more serious. firstly, have you downloaded the full
entomed setup from the site rather than the update? That should've already
installed any required redistributables like the net framework if you didn't
have them, that should hopefully work.

If your stil having trouble, try E-mailing Jason to ask.

Beware the grue!

Dark.
- Original Message - 
From: "Michael Feir" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Thursday, February 25, 2010 12:44 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Entombed officially released!


I bought the game but am having no luck so far. I haven't received any
registration code yet. However, I can't even get the game to start on either
my desktop or netbook. I've even downloaded all the redistributables from
the site and run those. Nothing has worked yet. An older version
successfullly ran on my computer so I figured I was pretty safe in buying
it. Hope others are having better luck and a solution for my system can be
found.
Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "dark" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 7:03 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Entombed officially released!


Absolutely George. jason has said he'd like to take up developement full
time if he gets the support, so the more people buy this the better, 
asside from the fact that of course it's a fantastic game in it's own right!

Beware the grue!

Dark.
- Original Message - 
From: "Jorge Gonçalves" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 10:00 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Entombed officially released!


Thank you very much! If it's that great game, 39.99 usd is not much! What we
need is great games like that, and encourage developers is essential if we
want more and better games.
Let's all try and discuss this game and all its features.

Jorge Gonçalves
Email & MSN: jopo...@hotmail.com
Skype Username: joport3
Webpage: www.jorgegoncalves.com
- Original Message - 
From: "dark" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 8:39 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Entombed officially released!


It's 39.99 usd (the site needs a litle redesigning).
Yes, this is at the higher end of the audio games price range, but
considdering that this is one of,  if not literally the most replayable
audio games out there, it's well worth it, and I can certainly recommend the
full 25 floors and range of jobs as distinctly worth seeing.

Btw, there are yet more bennifits planned if you buy the game as well even
in addition to the ones already there.

Beware the grue!

Dark.
- Original Message - 
From: "Jorge Gonçalves" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 7:27 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Entombed officially released!


Hi friends. This is a great news for the market!
I will try it from today and I am seriously considering update to the full
version but the problem is that I was not able to find in website of the
game, the p

Re: [Audyssey] Entombed officially released!

2010-02-24 Thread Michael Feir
I bought the game but am having no luck so far. I haven't received any 
registration code yet. However, I can't even get the game to start on either 
my desktop or netbook. I've even downloaded all the redistributables from 
the site and run those. Nothing has worked yet. An older version 
successfullly ran on my computer so I figured I was pretty safe in buying 
it. Hope others are having better luck and a solution for my system can be 
found.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "dark" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 7:03 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Entombed officially released!


Absolutely George. jason has said he'd like to take up developement full
time if he gets the support, so the more people buy this the better, 
asside from the fact that of course it's a fantastic game in it's own right!

Beware the grue!

Dark.
- Original Message - 
From: "Jorge Gonçalves" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 10:00 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Entombed officially released!


Thank you very much! If it's that great game, 39.99 usd is not much! What we
need is great games like that, and encourage developers is essential if we
want more and better games.
Let's all try and discuss this game and all its features.

Jorge Gonçalves
Email & MSN: jopo...@hotmail.com
Skype Username: joport3
Webpage: www.jorgegoncalves.com
- Original Message - 
From: "dark" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 8:39 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Entombed officially released!


It's 39.99 usd (the site needs a litle redesigning).
Yes, this is at the higher end of the audio games price range, but
considdering that this is one of,  if not literally the most replayable
audio games out there, it's well worth it, and I can certainly recommend the
full 25 floors and range of jobs as distinctly worth seeing.

Btw, there are yet more bennifits planned if you buy the game as well even
in addition to the ones already there.

Beware the grue!

Dark.
- Original Message - 
From: "Jorge Gonçalves" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 7:27 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Entombed officially released!


Hi friends. This is a great news for the market!
I will try it from today and I am seriously considering update to the full
version but the problem is that I was not able to find in website of the
game, the price for the full version!
Please, could someone tell me what is the price of the full version?
Thanks a lot

Jorge Gonçalves
Email & MSN: jopo...@hotmail.com
Skype Username: joport3
Webpage: www.jorgegoncalves.com
- Original Message - 
From: "Thomas Ward" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 7:59 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Entombed officially released!



Hi Dark,
That's great news. I'm going to grab 1.0 right now, and run it through
its paces.  I'm eager to try the final release since I haven't kept up
with all the development releases regularly.

Cheers!

On 2/24/10, dark  wrote:
Just to let everyone know, Entombed now see it's offocial release after 
all

the bug fixing and preordering shinanigans which have gone on previously.

This, as the first ever complex audio rpg, is a truly unique and 
fantastic

game,  I really can't say enough good about it.

Eitherway, for anyone who hasn't played,  much less bought the game 
yet,

go to  http://www.blind-games.com/ and grab a full copy.

The demo will let you play 7 floors of the full 25 floor dungeon, and a 
fair
number of jobs and races,  with some unlockables, though of course 
more

such as Bard, Monk and barbarian are available if you perchice the full
version.

The game will also work with JAws, Window eyes, System access or sapi.

I hope everyone has as much fun with this one as i already have.

All the best,

Dark.
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Re: [Audyssey] The future of Blastbay Studios

2010-01-13 Thread Michael Feir
Very true. Presuming my writer's block goes away and I eventually get the 
game I've begun working on done, I can't see myself charging more than $40 
or $45 at the very most. Even if it takes me a decade to do, there comes a 
point when charging more severely limits the potential customer pool and 
drastically increases the likelyhood of piracy. I'd far rather have less 
money from more honest customers. It'll be very interesting to see how 
Entoomed does when it's released.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Thomas Ward" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Wednesday, January 13, 2010 10:14 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] The future of Blastbay Studios



Hi Bryan,
Definitely. A full blown RPG like Xeno Gears or Final Fantasy would take
years to complete. Mysteries of the Ancients is a much simpler game in
design and it took me two years to get the basic engine written and
stable enough for play. True, I had some recent setbacks such as the
bugs with Managed DirectX forcing me to basically adopt a new
engine/design, but the basic point is with only one or two man
operations a game of any serious complexity takes lots of time and
patients.
I've been thinking of doing some sort of RPG game, but the time involved
with such a project is staggering. Even a straight text based game like
Sryth is rather complex and time consuming. Something more like Final
Fantasy is unthinkable for a single person to do unless he/she plans to
put five years or more into that project. Then, when it comes out what
should the developer charge for that work. Certainly not $20 for a game
like that. Try at leas $50 or $60 considering the time and effort
involved. Then, of course people will scream and complain about the
price.

On Tue, 2010-01-12 at 07:33 -0700, Bryan Peterson wrote:
The problem with what you want is that most accessible game developers 
are
one to two man operations. So programming a truly great game like what 
you

describe would take years, quite literally.




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Re: [Audyssey] strategy games: any interest?

2009-12-27 Thread Michael Feir
I would certainly be interested provided that there were enough chance-based 
and random elements like events to keep things interesting. I don't like 
Chess at all but will cheerfully play Backgammon for hours due to the 
randomness in that game. I'd love to play something like Civilisation or 
Heros of Might and Magic if these could be made fully accessible.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Zachary Kline" 

To: 
Sent: Sunday, December 27, 2009 3:35 PM
Subject: [Audyssey] strategy games: any interest?



Hi All,
This is a topic I've mentioned on list before, but I've never gotten a
to my mind definitive answer concerning it.
I'm curious as to how much interest there might be in strategy games?
By "strategy" I don't just mean board games like Chess, but computer
games along the lines of Civilization, Master of Orion, or even
Warcraft.  SoundRTS is a good though limited example of the form.
I for one have always been interested in playing these sorts of games.
Sighted help is useful when I can find it, but I'd give anything for a
game I can play on my own time.  The closest I've come is one rather
silly session of Civilization in which I somehow managed to build a city
so inaccessible or uninteresting that I survived, untouched, for three
thousand years or so.  The French were the most backward, unhappy,
poorest nation imaginable with neolithic bronze-age weaponry when
everybody else had moved to airplanes.  We still made it to 1950!
Anyway...
I wonder.  Especially for turn-based strategy games I'd say the most
challenging element to code would probably be a reasonable AI which
didn't cheat, as many such things do.  Audio work isn't nearly as
intensive as 3d FPS, is it?  I'm just putting this out there to see how
many would be interested in such a beast if it came out.
Thanks much,
Zack.

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Re: [Audyssey] Q9 and cracks

2009-11-26 Thread Michael Feir
That depends on a couple of things. As a customer, I strongly prefer having 
a name and id key which I can install on both my desktop and netbook without 
having to bother the developer. If I spend money on a game, I think I should 
have the right to have it available on either computer. Also, if I have a 
bad computer failure, I can still use my key on a new computer without 
having to explain everything to a game developer. There are a few games I 
simply haven't bothered to re-register because their keys are specific to 
computers I no longer have.


From a developer's perspective, it's a choice between more customer 
convenience for less security. I know that can be a tough one. Keep in mind 
though that the more complex the security, the more agrivation your 
customers experience and the more work you potentially have to do. I hope 
you stick with the current system since it rewards honest customers with 
ease of use. It's sad that a number of people aren't worthy of such trust. 
However, these internet-based systems rob honest customers of a sense of 
ownership. If I buy a game on a CD, I own that game just like I own a book. 
These digital schemes feel more like you're renting games and don't actually 
own your copy.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Philip Bennefall" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 11:57 PM
Subject: [Audyssey] Q9 and cracks



Hi all,

I just wanted to throw out a quick question here. As expected, there are 
quite a few user keys for Q9 floating around as I am only using a name/key 
registration system. Now, my question is; is it the best way to do things, 
or should I adopt an Internet unlocking strategy? The product ID/key 
approach is out of the question as regenerating keys for people can become 
quite a nightmare, and so the only option left for me is to make it check 
the registration data online. This of course forces the user to have an 
active Internet connection at the time of registration, but I think most 
people do these days. So, should I keep the registration system as it is 
or change it for all my future products to be Internet based?


Kind regards,

Philip Bennefall
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Re: [Audyssey] speaking of Audyssey Magazine

2009-11-19 Thread Michael Feir
Hello everyone. You'll be pleased to hear that Ron has reappeared once 
again. You can send any contributions you might have for the next issue of 
Audyssey Magazine to his email address which is now active again. It seems 
there was a miscommunication with his service provider which took a while to 
sort out. He's in the process of re-subscribing to this list and I have no 
doubt we'll hear something from the man himself fairly soon.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Allan Thompson" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 3:08 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] speaking of Audyssey Magazine


Sounds like a good solution to me. Who are the powers that be who would 
get something like that rolling?

al
- Original Message - 
From: "dark" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 2:53 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] speaking of Audyssey Magazine


How about appointing a temporaryediter who can take the reigns for a 
while,  hopefully until Ron gets back, just so that we stil have an 
audeasy magazine come out to read.


I would offer myself, accept that betwene www.audiogames.nett and my 
thesis I've got quite a bit on at the moment and probably couldn't devote 
the time to this required,  though if a magazine will be forthcoming, 
I'll be glad to woffle up an artical.


I do think it'd be better to at least have a magazine in production, 
rather than having this period drag on Ronlessly,  -and if Ron comes 
back and wishes to edit again, the temporary editer would work with him 
to get the next issue out then gracefully step back into the wings,   
no harm, no foul,  and no mistake sinse obviously whoever was taking 
up the post would know that this would not be a perminant position.


Just my suggestion to keep things going.

beware the Grue!

Dark.
- Original Message - 
From: "Allan Thompson" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 6:09 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] speaking of Audyssey Magazine


This is kind of tough. You hope nothing has happened to Ron, yet at the 
same time, there is this magazine that is  a foundation of the blind 
gaming community that he did a great job with and also should not be 
allowed to disappear...


al


- Original Message - 
From: "Thomas Ward" 
To: "Charles Rivard" ; "Gamers Discussion list" 


Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 9:27 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] speaking of Audyssey Magazine



Hi Charles,
Unfortunately, no. Ron unsubscribed from the Audyssey list quite some 
time back and he never resubscribed. I've tried e-mailing him as part 
of the list moderators to inquire about the magazine, and I get a 
message back that his e-mail account is no longer in service. I'm very 
concerned, and I do worry that the Audyssey Magazine is no longer being 
produced. At least until someone can contact Ron and get the scoop. I'd 
offer to take over the job as editor, but without knowing Ron's 
intentions neither I or anyone else is in a position to take over the 
magazine without asking Ron first.



Charles Rivard wrote:

Has anyone heard from Ron?  The editor?
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Re: [Audyssey] q9 on netbook

2009-11-19 Thread Michael Feir
I had no problem running Q9 on my netbook. I have an Asus 900HA and it works 
fairly well in high performance mode. It works perfectly in super 
performance mode. You can adjust the power settings using the utility found 
in the system tray on Asus EEEpc netbooks. I presume that other netbooks 
have similar facilities. The only upgrade I have on my netbook is 2 gb of 
ram instead of the one it came with.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "william lomas" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Monday, November 16, 2009 3:39 AM
Subject: [Audyssey] q9 on netbook


hi q9 does not work well at all on a netbook. it sluggish crackley  and 
hard to play

Wish this game could work on mac


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Re: [Audyssey] Just a thought on Q9.

2009-11-18 Thread Michael Feir
I seem to be stuck on the death world. I get there on easy pretty regularly 
now but can't seem to get through more than the second level without running 
out of everything and dying. Of course, I'm having endless fun doing that. 
It's about time I stopped playing and started writing a review for Audyssey.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Ryan Strunk" 

To: "'Gamers Discussion list'" 
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 9:13 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Just a thought on Q9.



I haven't noticed running out of strength to be a problem, but I have
noticed a tendency for extra lives to be weighted pretty heavily in the
bonus items. I finished normal difficulty yesterday with 26 extra lives.
Perhaps the percentage of extra life drops can be lowered in favor of
bringing other things up?

-Original Message-
From: gamers-boun...@audyssey.org [mailto:gamers-boun...@audyssey.org] On
Behalf Of Michael Feir
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 7:52 AM
To: Gamers Discussion list
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Just a thought on Q9.

Having enemies fall into pits would be a good thing as long as you had to
work at it. There has to be something to balance that. For instance, you
could make an enemy angry by hitting it once with the club. This attribute
of anger would last a couple of seconds. If, during those brief seconds, 
you


were close enough to a pit and jumpped across it, the enemy might fall 
into

the pit. Something like that would work. There has to be some sort of risk
factor though. Also, there should perhaps be a way, other than bonuses, of
regaining strength. Perhaps, the alien could find and gather snacks which
could be consumed when needed in order to increase strength.
Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "dark" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 2:30 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Just a thought on Q9.



I think it'd be too easy if enemies mindlessly walked down pits,  thus
all you'd have to do is run like the clappers when you got attacked.

If however enemies either jumped over or waited for you across pits, 



I think it'd just add some interesting tactics to the game.

Beware the grue!

Dark.
- Original Message - 
From: "Ryan Chou" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 4:26 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Just a thought on Q9.



nah that makes it a bit too easy
one, you wouldn't have the surprise
2, you could just stand on the other edge and peck them with rocks

On 11/17/09, Ryan Conroy  wrote:

Hi guys,

I think the enimies in Q9 should be made so they fall in the pit if
trying
to attack you when you're standing at the edge of one. Either that, or
they
should stand at the edge, and wait for you to jump over. I'm thinking 
of

Super Liam here when I say this. That's how it was in that game, and I
think
it'd be good if it was like that too in this one. Plus, it's more
realistic.
If an enimy is trying to go over a pit, it's only fare that they'd fall
into
it, or if they wait on the edge.. I just think it's more realistic.
Any thoughts?

Ryan

Save On Health Insurance
Compare health insurance companies and save money today.


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pB6CPeiffPNfNRseoUAAQFALMAWj4AAAMlAAiWOQA=

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All mess

Re: [Audyssey] Just a thought on Q9.

2009-11-18 Thread Michael Feir
Having enemies fall into pits would be a good thing as long as you had to 
work at it. There has to be something to balance that. For instance, you 
could make an enemy angry by hitting it once with the club. This attribute 
of anger would last a couple of seconds. If, during those brief seconds, you 
were close enough to a pit and jumpped across it, the enemy might fall into 
the pit. Something like that would work. There has to be some sort of risk 
factor though. Also, there should perhaps be a way, other than bonuses, of 
regaining strength. Perhaps, the alien could find and gather snacks which 
could be consumed when needed in order to increase strength.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "dark" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 2:30 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Just a thought on Q9.


I think it'd be too easy if enemies mindlessly walked down pits,  thus 
all you'd have to do is run like the clappers when you got attacked.


If however enemies either jumped over or waited for you across pits,   
I think it'd just add some interesting tactics to the game.


Beware the grue!

Dark.
- Original Message - 
From: "Ryan Chou" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 4:26 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Just a thought on Q9.



nah that makes it a bit too easy
one, you wouldn't have the surprise
2, you could just stand on the other edge and peck them with rocks

On 11/17/09, Ryan Conroy  wrote:

Hi guys,

I think the enimies in Q9 should be made so they fall in the pit if 
trying
to attack you when you're standing at the edge of one. Either that, or 
they

should stand at the edge, and wait for you to jump over. I'm thinking of
Super Liam here when I say this. That's how it was in that game, and I 
think
it'd be good if it was like that too in this one. Plus, it's more 
realistic.
If an enimy is trying to go over a pit, it's only fare that they'd fall 
into

it, or if they wait on the edge.. I just think it's more realistic.
Any thoughts?

Ryan

Save On Health Insurance
Compare health insurance companies and save money today.
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2131/c?cp=C121iQ3N7XWhvkNKHbgvhAAAJz2jaNpB6CPeiffPNfNRseoUAAQFALMAWj4AAAMlAAiWOQA=
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Re: [Audyssey] Q9 action game, my opinion.

2009-11-17 Thread Michael Feir
I kind of like the fact that it's creatures fighting each other and that 
there aren't humans to be killed. That makes it far less likely that parents 
will object to their children playing the game. When you include the killing 
of people, that crosses a social line which Mr. Benfall currently doesn't 
have to worry about. I haven't heard of any parents other than perhaps some 
vegetarians who would object to all the animal killing. Lets not forget that 
this game is aimed at people as young as fourteen. It just so happens to be 
fun for us older folks also.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "lirin" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 8:21 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Q9 action game, my opinion.



peter Mahach pisze:

don't agree with everything you said but I do agree with a few things.
*more worldsand enemies. that's true. from the game's point of view it 
feels like earth is a wild planet, wild life all around, no humanity...

a few world ideas
*the cityworld. you know, streets, that sort of thing. could have enemies 
such as cars or some random gun wielding guys.

*the factory world. industrial, you're walking on metal... etc etc.
*the water world. let's take q9 for a swim. enemies could include 
different fish, perhaps wails (could have  alot of hp and, with their 
attack tehy could perhaps throw you back a few steps), sharks, ...
*the garden world*. something more to the nature feel of the game but 
still with a twist. new enemies could include lawnmowers that could run 
you over (can't kill them like rino's), flies (require jumping up like 
bats but can give you poison that could take away health durring time) 
...

and some more weapons such as
*gun, classic. requires ammo.
*grenade launcher, could be called classic, too. useful for destroying 
packs of enemies, but there aren't much available to not make things 
simple.
*taser for those who don't know, in rl this sends an elecctrical charge 
at someone stunning them for a while. in game this could be fun to have.


and what about this. if q9's an alien he could have abilities of his own 
such as hyper jump (jumps high to avoid attacks but lasts a short while 
and you can't avoid pits with it) or charm (makes an enemy attack other 
enemies for a brief amount of time and requires recharging.)

sorry for the long message and hth.
- Original Message - From: "lirin" 

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   Hi peter. Great ideas, very interesting, and i want have this in game.

Cheers
Tom
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Re: [Audyssey] My Opinion of Q9

2009-11-15 Thread Michael Feir
I second Tom's opinion having just purchased the game. Very well done 
indeed. The combat works quite well and so do the bonus items. You've 
thought your game mechanics through rather nicely indeed.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Thomas Ward" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2009 10:21 PM
Subject: [Audyssey] My Opinion of Q9



Hi Philip,
I want to commend you on an outstanding product. This side-scroller 
reminds me a lot of the classic side-scrollers I use to play on the 
Nintendo like Donkey Kong, Super Mario, etc. In a way it is much better 
than those given the random enemies, extra strength, extra lives, good 
voiceover work you did, high quality sounds, and good music. It is well 
worth the $25.00 to $30.00 you plan to charge for it.





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Re: [Audyssey] Blastbay Studios - upcoming sidescroller

2009-11-11 Thread Michael Feir
I just heard your new Q9 example and am impressed with the sound work. What 
I'm a bit less taken with is a distinct lack of anything to do but kill 
enemies and jump. There aren't any treasures to jump and grab and no useful 
items to get. If I'm going to shell out even $20 for a game, I expect there 
to be somewhat more to it.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Philip Bennefall" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 11:20 PM
Subject: [Audyssey] Blastbay Studios - upcoming sidescroller



Hi folks,

Alongside the game creation toolkit, I've also been working on a 
sidescroller called the Q9 action game. I intend to release this game in 
about a week, and thought I'd post a little sneak preview for you to 
enjoy. The game contains four worlds with three levels in each, a few 
bonus rounds as well as a grand finale which is an intense boss battle. 
All the enemies are dynamic so there's lots of replay value there, and you 
also have four difficulty levels to choose from ranging from easy to 
insane.


This recording demonstrates a few levels from the game, from the simple to 
the more advanced ones.


The link is:
http://www.blastbay.com/audio/q9_preview.mp3

Feedback and spontaneous thoughts are more than welcome.

Thanks!

Kind regards,

Philip Bennefall
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Re: [Audyssey] Blind Adrenaline was Announcing All inPlay Blackjack!

2009-11-10 Thread Michael Feir
At least blackjack is a simple enough game that it wouldn't take a developer 
too much time to put out. Having two different versions of online Blackjack 
doesn't make me cringe like what happened with Sudoku. There are at least 
four versions of that around which the developers obviously put some serious 
time and effort into. I felt bad for the two developers who made commercial 
versions. Spoonbill Software's free version would pretty much satisfy nearly 
anybody's liking for that kind of puzzle. Here's hoping for something truly 
unique in the near future.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Ryan Strunk" 

To: "'Gamers Discussion list'" 
Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 2:57 PM
Subject: [Audyssey] Blind Adrenaline was Announcing All inPlay Blackjack!



Healthy competition is always a good thing, but I'd like to point out that
Che Martin of Blind Adrenaline has already released an accessible version 
of

blackjack on his website: www.blindadrenaline.com/cardroom

I would encourage people to look at both if they're looking to play
blackjack.

Ryan

-Original Message-
From: gamers-boun...@audyssey.org [mailto:gamers-boun...@audyssey.org] On
Behalf Of peter Mahach
Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 1:17 PM
To: Gamers Discussion list
Subject: [Audyssey] Fw: Announcing All inPlay Blackjack!

here you go guys, time to have fun again! hope to see you on the tables. 
my

nick is stfan1208 and I'm decent at the game.
- Original Message - 
From: "The All inPlay Team" 

To: 
Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 6:51 PM
Subject: Announcing All inPlay Blackjack!



Greetings All inPlay Community,

It's that time again! Time for you to test drive All inPlay's newest 
game!



All inPlay's sixth game, Blackjack, is now in open beta. This means we
want as many people as possible to play. Therefore, we're delighted to
announce that All inPlay Blackjack is now playable free of charge. The
beta is open to everyone, regardless of whether they've signed up with 
All



inPlay in the past. Keep reading for all the info.

Remember, blackjack is beta software, and as such we make no warranties 
as



to its functionality on your system.  If you're not comfortable running
software that is not finished and may cause your system to become
unstable, we recommend you wait until the game is finished before 
playing.



We don't expect that your system will suffer any negative side effects
from running the game, but the possibility must be mentioned.

When you play the game for the first time, you'll be given 5,000 chips. 
If



lady luck is not with you, and you end up going broke, not to worry, you
will be given 1,000 chips to keep playing.

You can learn all about blackjack and start playing from the beta page 
at:

http://allinplay.com/games/beta.php

There you'll find a link to sign up for the beta group, help links and a
link to go to the play page.

Notes:

If you were previously subscribed to the beta group, you are still
subscribed.  Just send a message to allinplay-b...@yahoogroups.com in
order to post.

Be sure to read the information provided on the beta page in order to 
help



us improve the game by filing good bug reports.

Thanks for helping us perfect blackjack!  As usual, we'll be taking all 
of


your suggestions into consideration in order to make blackjack the best 
it



can be.

Enjoy!

-The All inPlay Team




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Re: [Audyssey] 80's games suggestion

2009-10-28 Thread Michael Feir
Sounds like a good idea. However, I would think that at this stage, it would 
probably be better if you kept the game as is and ultimately finished with 
it. While I would appreciate the opensource sidescroler in addition to MOTA, 
that smacks of yet more work for Tom when he's clearly at the end of his 
rope. I can't say that I'd be very satisfied at all if you ended up making 
MoTA into an FPS. I think that a sidescroller like you're making now has a 
lot to offer the community. It certainly would be a game that I would 
treasure. You're in a rather nasty predicament at the moment and I've always 
empathised with you. I very much want a sidescroller to emerge from all 
this. Just because a style of game has been around for a while doesn't make 
it bad. Chess is still a very popular game and it has survived for 
centuries. Are Chess players idiots and throwbacks since they aren't playing 
more modern games? I don't think so. A good game mechanic remains good 
despite the passage of time.


Although I would be happier with a game which more closely resembled an 80's 
sidescroller, Tom has largely won me over with what he has added to the 
game. It still retains that classic vintage feel but offers a good deal of 
replay value. I beilive he has found an excellent compromise between the two 
factions here and will ultimately find that the game sells splendidly when 
he's finally finished it. Having said that, I would rather have Tom keep 
developing games than force the issue at all. Having this project cost the 
community two star developers really isn't an outcome I'd care for at all. 
I'm definitely in the crowd that want Tom to keep things in the direction he 
found for the game. However, I won't be asking for a refund should he come 
to a different decision. Nore does he have to fear that I'll pepper him with 
suggestions. I've refraned from that and will keep doing so. Poor Tom has 
been buffetted quite enough as it is. His efforts to get to this point have 
already more than earned my respect and admiration. All that remains to do 
at this point is wish Tom the very best of luck.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Thomas Ward" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 10:33 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] 80's games suggestion



Hi Dark,
I may have the source code for Montezuma's Revenge around here, but I 
can't tell you what version of the source I have. I can say that beta 9 
was full of miner bugs, and obviously I wouldn't be updating the game to 
fix those bugs. So even if I rereleased that game it would be with the 
understanding that it is a test release and not a stable version.
Personally, I think a better suggestion is to create an all new open 
source project that is like Montezuma's Revenge but with a different name. 
That way I could put it on my developers center as an open source example 
of a simple accessible game while at the same time satisfying those who 
want a completely classic side-scroller.


dark wrote:

Hi Tom.

Here's a rather crazy idea to salve the feelings of those who are 
desperate for an 80's game.
Go back to the last stable version of montizuma's return,  say beta 
9,  I stil have this on my harddrive,  which is possibly illegal, 
but deleting good games is against my principles.


The game already has 6, highly playable 80's side scroller levels.
Re-reccord the name of the game to something generic,  Temple 
adventures, treasure quest, --- Montizuma's avengence, do a quick search 
and replace on the instructions to change the name of panama Jo to 
something else,  peruvian Jim?

Then offer it as an extra freeby to those who buy Mota.

They then get all of Mota,  which I hope will continue as a modern 
side scroller, pluss 6 levels of pure classic 80's!

Just a suggestion.
all the best,
Dark.




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The message 

[Audyssey] Fw: [JAWS-Users] Free advanced Chess program for Windows - WinBoard 4.4for JAWS

2009-09-09 Thread Michael Feir
Hello everyone. I came across this and figured it might be of interest to 
Chess players in the blind community.


Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Flor Lynch" 

To: 
Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 7:58 AM
Subject: [JAWS-Users] Free advanced Chess program for Windows - WinBoard 
4.4for JAWS



- Original Message - 


From: cur...@calweb.com



Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 9:09 AM

Subject: Free advanced Chess program for Windows - WinBoard 4.4 for JAWS




Hello Friends,

I'd like to introduce a free advanced Chess software program for Windows
for the totally blind and persons needing audio announcements and /or
full keyboard access.

It is called Winboard 4.4 for JAWS. It uses any Windows version of the
JAWS screen reader to announce the chess moves and other selected
content to the player. Winboard is used world wide and represent the
state of the art in free Chess software.

Winboard 4.4 for JAWS functions to play chess on the internet at ICS
servers (Internet Chess Servers), namely the "Free Internet Chess
Server" more commonly known as "FICS", and also provides Chess position
analysis through adaptable, Grand Master strength, free and commercial
"Chess Engine" programs. In addition you can saves and review games in
the popular PGN format file.

Until now no advanced, ICS compatible Chess software was available to
the blind and sight impaired or handicapped in any form. This is solely
a volunteer, non-profit effort undertaken by myself and H.G. Muller, the
chief programmer.

A version of this program called Winboard for JAWS was released in 1999
at Freedom Scientific under the GNU Public License but functioned poorly
and could not connect to the ICS servers at all.

This repaired version is updated with the latest WinBoard code and is a
significant advancement over regular WinBoard with new functionality
added by the programmer H.G. Muller. I asked him to repair WinBoard for
JAWS after I had become friends with a blind player at FICS and saw his
Telnet access to the server was sub-optimal. Further he had no access to
Chess engine analysis. Please spread the word to the blind and
handicapped. This software is ad-ware and mal-ware free and absolutely
safe and non-invasive.

Please see details and free download at the WinBoard Forum here:
http://www.open-aurec.com/wbforum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=50387&start=1

http://www.open-aurec.com/wbforum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=50387&start=1

Sincerely,
David D. Acevedo




For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit:
http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ 



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Re: [Audyssey] The real Game Circle

2009-08-14 Thread Michael Feir
 to produce the game I have in mind. I have a 
very good appreciation for what a powerful influence games can be to people 
who play them. I also am passionate about creating a game which delivers a 
deeper well of thoughtful fun and does so in a way which is infinitely 
replayable. Whether that's enough to see me through to completion of the 
project is anyone's guess. My creative engine has been sputtering and 
stalling lately.




Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Thomas Ward" 
To: "Che" ; "Gamers Discussion list" 


Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 2:51 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] The real Game Circle



Hi Che,
I know the feeling. I'm not sure why but simple and easy games appears to 
be what sells in the accessible games market. As many people know one of 
my plans will be to create a full blown 3d game engine, as in actual 3d 
levels with 3d objects, 3d movement, as well as 3d audio support. No 
sooner did i mention my plans I got various comments to the effect that 
anything I made using it would be "too hard" even though they never seen 
the final product yet.
One of the things that bothered me was some people immediately tried to 
tell me that because they have problems with Audioquake and Technoshock 
they absolutely know that they couldn't play any of my games. They didn't 
seam to consider the fact that with Audioquake accessibility is poorly 
implemented, and because it is  a modified version of Quake it wasn't 
designed from the ground up for a blind player. Accessibility is an add 
on, and there could be a lot more done to it to provide accessibility. 
Technoshock also has some accessibility issues, that make it harder than 
say Shades of Doom to play, and i feel accessibility could b done better 
in that game. I've seen what works and what doesn't and I'd use that 
experience plus my own blindness to work out any and all accessibility 
problems that might crop up.
Anyway, the bottom line is now and then we see a thread like this where 
someone suggests coming up with something new, something different, 
something more mainstream, and when a developer tries to do that, come up 
with something truly amazing like Rail Racer, the complaints thatit is too 
hard come rolling in. As a developer we really can't win. No matter if we 
do something easy or something new and slightly challenging someone is 
going to complain.



Che wrote:

I agree with ya man,
 I tried something different with rail racer, and I suppose it was 
somewhat successful, but i got lots of complaints that it was too 
complicated to play.
 folks complain if it is too easy, if it is too hard, if it takes too 
much practice to master, blah blah blah. just can't please all the folks 
all the time.
  next i am doing an online playable football game, driven with mouse 
support, custom plays, online season play against human opponents, high 
end sound effects, etc. . I was going to do a really involved fighting 
game as posted on list here, but didn't get much feedback on it, and 
didn't want to spend the next 18 months on something that wasn't going to 
sell, especially such an ambitious project. I think the folks that would 
have enjoyed the online fighting game would have really enjoyed it a lot, 
as those that play rail racer constantly do, but there just aren't enough 
of them out there to justify the time spent.
you can check the archives for details. the project might still get done, 
but it will have to wait.
I think the masses want simple and easy, and those kind of games seem to 
sell the best. troop n em sold a lot of copies, and at its core, its just 
a simple shoot em up.
 anyhow, i want a killer football game myself, so I'm gonna make one. if 
folks like it fine, if not, whatever, you got to go with what yer 
passionate about, or the results come out luke warm at best.
 as for other developers out there, i can't comment, they do what they 
do, and so far innovation hasn't been at the top of any of their lists 
lately from what i've seen.

We can only hope that changes soon.
This is not a money making market to spend hundreds and perhaps thousands 
of hours on a project and make just a few grand on it. you have to love 
doing it almost as a hobby , or yer in for dissapointment.
 I set up the card room because I love poker, and also to offset some of 
my dedicated server costs, and folks that have played have told me they 
are the best card games out there for the blind, with features not seen 
anywhere else. But even so, nobody

Re: [Audyssey] a Giganticbug in alien outback!

2009-08-02 Thread Michael Feir
Make certain you have the latest version of Alien Outback. It has been 
updated a number of times since its original release. I have no problem 
saving games. If you choose a level to start from, you don't get to go onto 
the mother ship level. It states that clearly in the manual.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Bryan Peterson" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Sunday, August 02, 2009 6:42 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] a Giganticbug in alien outback!



Those aren't bugs. That's just how the game works.
You have acquired the skill of Weaponry Theremin.
Your current level of mastery is 10 Apprentice.
- Original Message - 
From: "Nicol" <0722001...@vodamail.co.za>

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Sunday, August 02, 2009 1:49 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] a Giganticbug in alien outback!



This bug is really gigantic!
You know what? IF YOU DIE IN A GAME AND YOU TRY TO  load a saved game it
does not work.
I saved a game on level1 wave3 and I died in wave4.
And I was back in the main menu and I tried loading  my  game but I heard 
a

sound telling me I cannot load a saved game.
This is really a very nasty bug.
And I found another bug.
I start  all over from level1 and I had no landers on all 5 waves and I 
was

taken straight to level2 without a bonus game
This is a nasty bug!

-Original Message-
From: gamers-boun...@audyssey.org [mailto:gamers-boun...@audyssey.org]on
Behalf Of Nicol
Sent: Sunday, August 02, 2009 10:27 AM
To: gamers
Subject: [Audyssey] a Giganticbug in alien outback!

Hi all
I found a giant bug in  alien outback.
If you saved a game by pressing q and at a later stage you press 
escape,that

saved  game is erased.
I want to play the bonus levels.
If you select start level from the main menu,  you  CAN't play the bonus
level.
It only allows you to pick a level from level 1 to level6.
This is what happens:
at the start of wave3 level1  I press q and my  game  is saved.
So now I load that GAME from THE MAIN MENU.
IN WAVE 4 IT HAPPENS THAT A SHIP LANDED, SO NOW I CANNOT PLAY THE BONUS 
GAME

BECAUSE A SHIP HAS LANDED.
NOW I pressed escape and I tried loading my game I saved on wave3 but now 
I

hear an invalid selection sound if I press enter on load game.
This is definitely a giant bug.
Does alien outback store a saved game on my hard drive the same as g m a
games does?
If so, I can easily back up that saved game and use it when I need it.


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[Audyssey] torchlight text based version available

2009-06-29 Thread Michael Feir
Hello everyone. I've just checked over at:
www.arborell.com
and found that the long awaited text version of Torchlight Tabletop adventure 
has been released. I haven't dug into it yet but figured people on here would 
be interested. Lots of luck with it everyone.
Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound
 
Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com




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Re: [Audyssey] MOTA Beta 5 Released!

2009-06-10 Thread Michael Feir
Hi Tom. I've tried twice to download the new mota beta but it won't 
complete. It'll get to 99 percent and just stop. I haven't had that problem 
with other files I've snarfed down today so you may want to take a quick 
look.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Thomas Ward" 

To: 
Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 6:09 PM
Subject: [Audyssey] MOTA Beta 5 Released!



Greetings gamers,
At long last Mysteries of the ancients beta 5 has been released. Do to 
technical details we were unable to make available the cross platform 
version at this time so we have elected to go ahead and release the 
Windows only version instead. Please, remember to uninstall beta 4 before 
upgrading to this release.


What's New

Arcade mode is no longer available in this release.
Several keyboard commands have been changed.
Most menus now have keyboard shortcuts.
Fixed several miner bugs.
Updated the game documentation.

Download
http://www.usagamesinteractive.com/products.php

Happy Gaming.


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Re: [Audyssey] klango and muds

2009-06-01 Thread Michael Feir
That seems pretty unlikely. The Klango games I've tried so far have been 
fairly simple ones. It's probably possible to build something like that 
using Klango though. Same with a really good interactive fiction game 
player. However, I suspect we're more likely to see something like an audio 
arcade game or more of the simpler puzzle-style games. I've enjoyed being 
proved wrong before though.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Josh" 

To: 
Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 2:47 PM
Subject: [Audyssey] klango and muds



Hi
I hope in the next version of klango that klango will have a built in mud 
client.


josh

Josh email isjkenn...@gmail.com
msn: kenn649...@hotmail.com
skype: jkenn337
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Re: [Audyssey] MOTA Arcade Mode

2009-05-01 Thread Michael Feir

I very much prefer the arcade mode. Please keep that in there if possible.
Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Thomas Ward" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Friday, May 01, 2009 1:19 PM
Subject: [Audyssey] MOTA Arcade Mode



Hello Listers,
I have a real quick question for some of you Mysteries of the Ancients 
fans. Over the passed few days/weeks I have been involved in performing a 
major upgrade of Mysteries of the Ancients. As the work I am doing is 
largely experimental I don't want to say too much about the work as yet. 
Although, I think if it pans out it will be a big step forward with the 
game, and possably will resolve several issues with the game.
That said, here is the deal. I've been porting MOTA over to a newer 
version of the Genesis Engine, and so far so good. Thing is since Genesis 
is primarily for First Person style games I never put an arcade mode in 
the main Genesis Engine. It was strictly an addition to the modified 
engine for Mysteries of the Ancients. Obviously I can add an arcade mode 
to the Genesis Engine, make it a standard feature, but I'm not sure if 
that is necessary. So I am going to ask this question. When playing 
Mysteries of the Ancients do you prefer arcade mode or standard mode when 
playing?

Thanks.


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[Audyssey] legends of zork is live

2009-04-01 Thread Michael Feir
Hello everyone. This morning, I played my first cession of Legends of Zork. I 
created my first character, Eldrex. He's a recently fired magic sword salesman. 
I've managed to advance two levels and survive my first day's explorations of 
the dark forest near the white house. The game is completely playable for us 
blind Zork fans. However, when it comes to more minor points like choosing your 
character avatar, there are no alt tags on the choices. I have no idea whether 
what I perceive as a buff, rough and ready male adventurer is depicted visually 
as a wafer-thin fashion model. The map is certainly functional enough for us as 
the locations near enough to travel to are properly labelled. Exploration 
doesn't rely on seeing anything. You just click on the "explore the dark 
forest" or a similar link in order to search an area and have encounters. It's 
a lot like Legend of the Green Dragon in that regard. I hope those who are 
interested will try out this new browser based online game and take the time to 
send feedback to the developers. Happy adventures, everyone.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound
 
Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com

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Re: [Audyssey] MOTA Mouse Support

2009-03-25 Thread Michael Feir
I certainly don't need mouse support at all. You're doing terrific with the 
game overall Tom.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Thomas Ward" 

To: 
Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2009 7:54 PM
Subject: [Audyssey] MOTA Mouse Support



Hello everyone,
Ok, got a question for you Mysteries of the Ancients fans regarding mouse 
support. I've been trying for the passed couple of months to get the mouse 
working properly in the game, and still haven't been able to get total 
error free support. At this point you can use the mouse to run, walk, and 
climb which is fine. However, if you pres the left mouse button down to 
jump or the right button to fire the game window loses focus and you end 
up clicking something on your desktop. Definitely not cool. It is because 
of that reason mouse support has been turned off in the last three public 
betas. So here is the question.
Would you guys be ok with a keyboard mouse combo such as control-mouse 
left to jump left, control-mouse right to jump right, etc and I can make a 
note not to use the mouse buttons which aren't supported? On the other 
hand would you be alright if I just drop mouse support for Mysteries of 
the Ancients altogether since the mouse buttons are being a royal pain to 
get working on my end of things?

Thanks.

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Re: [Audyssey] MOTA Silencing Speech Output

2009-03-09 Thread Michael Feir

The control key sounds fine to me Tom.
Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Thomas Ward" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 2:27 PM
Subject: [Audyssey] MOTA Silencing Speech Output



Hi everyone,
I have some good news. After several hours of testing, experimentation, 
etc I have finally figured out how to silence speech output in Mysteries 
of the Ancients Beta 3. Fortunately, because speech now operates 
independantly from the input loop you can now shoot, move, whatever while 
speech is going at the same time.
Anyway, now that I have this all working how do you want me to go about 
silencing speech output? I've thought about attaching the silence command 
to the control key. If you are listening to a high score, number of keys, 
whatever and want to shut up the speech just press the control key. Is 
everybody ok with this or do you have an alternative suggestion?

Thanks.

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Re: [Audyssey] Windows/Linux Interactive Fiction Interpretors

2009-03-05 Thread Michael Feir
Windows users don't really have a satisfactory solution for playing those 
games at all. Some people play and use the Jaws cursor to review everything 
but I've never been happy doing that. It used to be so easy. However, with 
the modern crop of games written with Inform7, Winfrotztts is the only thing 
I've found which comes close. Using that system, however, you can't properly 
access a game's built in help and hints without having to memorise menus. 
Also, there's no way to review text written previously to the screen. The 
current version of Windowsfrotz doesn't work at all with Jaws or NVDA and 
the author has no time to work on it for us. I asked a while ago. He says 
that it has something to do with how text is printed to the screen so that 
sighted people can have various fonts. The old version of winfrotz53 won't 
work well with Malinche titles or other more modern games. Add to that the 
new Zblorb format and Glulx and we're in quite a mess. If somebody came out 
with an interpreter which either used Sappi speech and let you properly 
access these games, it would certainly be appreciated. Particularly if it 
could handle most formats of interactive fiction. Essentially, it would need 
to provide screen-reader like access to the games so that new text is read 
out and old text can be properly reviewed. With NVDA, I've managed to play 
some interactive fiction using Dosfrotz in fairly satisfactory fashion but 
that won't work with zblorb and Malinche games.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Draconis Entertainment" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 12:33 AM
Subject: [Audyssey] Windows/Linux Interactive Fiction Interpretors



Hey all,

What interactive fiction interpretors are you WIndows and Linux users 
using these days?  For Linux, we're talking something that works well 
with Orca.  With Windows, something that just works well.  Something  that 
works well with ZMachine games and their derived formats, like  Z3, Z5, 
Glulx, and so on.  Other formats are a bonus.


The Mac has a spectacular interpretor, but I've been so far out of the 
loop with interactive fiction for so long, I'm wondering where Windows 
and Linux stand these days.


Thanks for satisfying my curiosity.


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Re: [Audyssey] Accessible Mainstream Games

2009-03-01 Thread Michael Feir
No. I'm over here in Canada. Both Ron and I live in what's known as the 
Greater Toronto Area. Glad you found my remarks to be of assistance. If I 
can help in any other way, just ask.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Mani Djazmi" 

To: 
Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2009 10:32 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Accessible Mainstream Games




Hi Michael,



many thanks for such a comprehensive reply. Do you live in England by any 
chance?




Cheers

Mani




From: michael.f...@gmail.com
To: gamers@audyssey.org
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:39:32 -0500
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Accessible Mainstream Games

Hello Mani. I've been an intermittant listener of In Touch for years. A 
very

well-done show indeed. Your arrival on this list is most timely. Tom Ward
has just galvanised things with the release of his first public beta 
level

of Mysteries of the Ancients. That's woken the list up for certain. Che
Martin is another developer you'll definitely want to chat with. Quite a 
few
of the people currently developing accessible games either had sight or 
have
it. All of our developers have their own interesting stories. As the 
creator
and former editor of Audyssey Magazine, I got to know several of them 
over

the years. People get into this for the passion and interest in what they
do. We've certainly come a long way together since I published the first
issue in 96. Ron Schamerhorn's the current editor and has a somewhat 
better

grasp on the state of things these days. Life has pulled me in some
different directions but I still keep an ear on things and try to help 
where

I can. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about past
developments.

You'll find quite a range of oppinion here concerning what constitutes an
accessible game. I'm happy to see that you've already gotten a few
responses. There are plenty more to be had as the debate is one of long
standing in this community. There is a stronger sense among sighted game
developers these days regarding the use of sound as more than window
dressing. That's going to eventually pay off for us but I don't believe
we're anywhere near that point yet.

Personally, I'm from the old school which says that a game can only be
counted as accessible if blind people can truly play it as it was 
intended

to be played and have access to all information. They shouldn't be
handycapped in any way in terms of how far they can get with a game due 
to
being blind. Sight brings an incredible amount of information very 
rapidly

to a person. To be accessible, a great deal of thought must go into the
sound of a game as well as the interface. That means I don't view arcade
games designed for sighted people as technically accessible. We're just 
not
privy to all the information. Playing something via shere memorisation 
and

luck just doesn't count for me. Other people have fun doing that sort of
thing. There was a fellow who is now world famous due to his skill in
playing Mortal Combat.As a child, I used to be more in the "if I can have
fun with it, then it's accessible" camp. My father would take me to 
arcades

and we'd try to play the videogames together. He'd desperately try to
describe things as fast as possible and I'd be in charge of the controls. 
It

was certainly fun at the time and there was a good degree of cameradery.
However, when you take all the bells and whistles away, I was just 
following
my father's instructions as quickly as possible. I eventually tried a 
game
on my own and found out just how much of the experience I was missing as 
I

got obliterated due to having no idea of the game situation. When you
reduce a game to purely responding to sound cues and memorization, it 
stops

being at all the same kind of fun that sighted people enjoy.

There are a number of tragic cases of games which are almost accessible 
and
could easily have been made so to the benefit of all players whether 
sighted

or blind. The most disappointing one during my editorship of Audyssey was
the North American version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. The 
questions

were printed onto the screen rather than read out loud as they are in the
show and apparently in the UK version of the computer game. A very
disappointingly inaccessible Christmas present for our family. Other 
games

like the You Don't Know Jack series are again very close to being
accessible. In fact, for the earlier games in that series, nearly all of 
the

game was. There were some visual questions making r

Re: [Audyssey] Accessible Mainstream Games

2009-02-28 Thread Michael Feir
s in the Outback.


As to originality, I certainly want to see that from developers. However, 
we're tipically dealing with one person who has to wear a lot of different 
hats. It isn't very common to find people who are both good at programming 
as well as good at creative writing. We're fortunate to have some of these 
people around. I expect very good things from Tom Ward and Che Martin as 
well as Josh Delioncourt over the years. They have the depth of vision to 
think of original settings for their games and the programming knowledge to 
turn their dreams into working fun games. I myself am a writer at heart. I 
could probably turn the story for my game into a good novel with far less 
effort. I'm going to use Inform7 to code my game in. That language is 
designed to produce interactive fiction with and understands basic English 
sentence-like source code. Despite that, I know I'm going to be taxing 
myself to the limit trying to explain to the computer what I want from it. I 
just don't have that sort of mind or inclination. There are probably a lot 
of people who could program quite well but don't have the creative capacity 
to conceive of a whole new universe for a sidescroller or space flight 
simulation. The moment you partner up with somebody though, things become a 
lot more complicated in terms of the business of selling your game. There's 
the whole "who's done what amount of work" thing. Add to that the relatively 
small amount of profit an accessible game will make and you see why 
developers tend to work alone. I presume Tom Ward is doing his best to avoid 
as much of the head-aches associated with royalty payments as he can.


To truly change things, you'd need a fully accessible game which had the 
same success as something like Space Invaders or Trivial Pursuit. Something 
which was utterly original and released at that magical right time where it 
grabbed hold of society as a whole. Games like Zork achieved that kind of 
thing way back when. Asmash  hit like that might get people to at least 
entertain the idea of accessible games more generally. Until such a 
watershed moment happens, we're essentially stuck where we are. AS people 
lose their sight due to age-related conditions, that might grow the market 
for some games. Again though, one has to think about how different 
approaches required to be fair to blind players would go over for sighted 
people. Take Aliens in the Outback for instance. The first wave of each new 
level features a new kind of enemy coming down one at a time. That makes it 
easier for blind people to encounter a new ship and get used to dealing with 
it. I myself find those initial waves boring since I'm now familiar with all 
the ships. Sighted gamers would find that to be excrutiatingly boring even 
on the first encounter and would perhaps find the third wave onwards in a 
level to be worth their attention. Developers are still finding out what 
works and what doesn't in terms of introducing new concepts and abandoning 
others. We haven't had anywhere near the depth of experience that sighted 
gamers have.


There's still enough interest in interactive fiction to keep at least one 
commercial developer afloat. However, there's not enough interest to get 
anybody to produce an interpreter for interactive fiction games which would 
make these text adventures easily and universally accessible to blind 
people. Think about that for a moment. Nobody has come up with a shareware 
interpreter which would make text adventures fully accessible without a 
screen-reader. If somebody did that, I'd cheerfully pay twenty to thirty 
bucks for one. It would have to let me review the text and make it easy to 
access built-in hints and help. It would also have to support all current 
Zcode, Tads and other popular game formats. That has proved to be 
problematic with my screen-reader and the various interpreters available for 
free today. Yes, folks. I would pay for something I used to be able to do 
effortlessly in Dos for free. Sad, isn't it? But as technology moves 
forward, that's the kind of twisted world we live in. Style is far too 
easily trumping substance. There's certainly a backlash against that out 
there though as Microsoft has well and truly begun to find out.


Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


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Re: [Audyssey] Accessible Mainstream Games

2009-02-28 Thread Michael Feir
True enough. I would wager that most of the sidescrollers could be made 
accessible with the efforts of a good programmer and audio person who took 
sound seriously as a means of conveying functional information rather than 
window dressing. Surreal Horrizons was extremely close to releasing a 
splendid version of Asteroids for us. I dearly wish that had not been 
abandonned. We've seen more than one racing game now. I would also think a 
lot of puzzle games could be done. The economics just aren't there to 
attract people yet. Unless they are in some way personally connected to the 
blind community, it's very unlikely we'll see their efforts directed at us.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Darren Harris" 

To: "'Gamers Discussion list'" 
Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2009 7:36 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Accessible Mainstream Games



Hi,

The point is, a lot of these so-called accessible games are nothing more
than rince and repete type games. Which actually does annoy me because
so much more could be done and yet isn't.

-Original Message-
From: gamers-boun...@audyssey.org [mailto:gamers-boun...@audyssey.org]
On Behalf Of Constantine
Sent: 28 February 2009 01:50
To: Gamers Discussion list
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Accessible Mainstream Games


Hi

I'm a classic gamer myself. I think I'm one in 100 because there
doesn't
seem to be much interest here.

Anyway, onto my report - I'll make this as detailed as I can, sorta.

Well, to start off with, I own a sega genesis, soon to own a sega cd,
3do
and dreamcast - I also own a n64, and gamecube.

Sega Genesis:
Well, this heres pretty obvious - the 16 bit lovable genesis released in

1989. Anyway, the best beat-em-up ever is Streets of rage. Its one of my
all
time favorite games - and while I can't beat it, I can get to level 4
pretty
easy - I made  it to level 5 once, but that was by luck. If I practiced
enough, I could beat it - but I get enough enjoyment out of it that
beating
it doesn't matter to me.
Mortal kombat 1, 2, and 3 - Well, fighting. Nothing talks, but I don't
care.
I'm slowly learning all the moves. I love mk 3, though, its got the
coolest
music, and my favorite MK character of all - nightwolf!

Sega CD:
This heres an add on to the genesis. Its got the same color pallit - but

better sound, more storage space - which means more things talk and more

accessibility is here...
Mortal Kombat for this system wasn't widely recognized. Bad graphics.
Jesus.
Who cares about graphics!
Its basically MK1 for the genesis revamped to have characters names
spoken,
and music from the arcade version. The most horrible thing here though
is
the load times. Nearly 30 seconds between each fight. If you do a
fatality,
you have to wait about a second before it actually does it. Keep in mind
I'm only brushing the top. I could go into much more details
over each game, each system, etc.
I'm missing a system or two here - but you get the idea. Mostly fighting

games - but then again, Rush 2: extreme racing for the n64 was and still
is
one of the coolest racing games of all time.


contact details:

email: tcwoo...@shaw.ca

and others
msn: the_conman...@hotmail.com
skype: the_conman283

system details:
Hp pavillion dv5220CA notebook pc
AMD Turion(tm) 64 Mobile Technology ML-37 2.0 GHZ, 1024 mb DDR ram,
Fujitsu
100 gb 4500 RPM Hard Drive, connecsant AC-link audio
- Original Message - 
From: "Mani Djazmi" 

To: 
Sent: Friday, February 27, 2009 10:11 AM
Subject: [Audyssey] Accessible Mainstream Games




Hi,



my name's Mani Djazmi and I'm a reporter on the In Touch programme at
BBC
Radio 4 in England. I'm currently researching a feature on the
accessability of computer games for blind and partially sighted

people.

The impression I'm getting is that mainstream games generally aren't

very

accessible so bespoke ones are being produced. Is this fair? Do any of

you

guys play mainstream games and how do you find them?



I look forward to hearing your thoughts and knowledge.



Cheers

Mani



_
Check out the new and improved services from Windows Live. Learn more!



http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/132630768/direct/01/
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Re: [Audyssey] Avoiding attacks was: Mota demo, my thoughts

2009-02-28 Thread Michael Feir
I second that motion. This is going to raise the bar in so many ways. You've 
got a great thing going here Tom. The only danger to be wary of now is 
staying true to that overall vision. Don't let us wreck the overall 
challenge with features that take away from the challenge. You'll show 
everyone what a superb sidescroller can be.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Clement Chou" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2009 3:54 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Avoiding attacks was: Mota demo, my thoughts


Tom... I will say this now, before it slips my mind. If this game really 
needed a grade, it'd get an A from me, no question. If what I've seen and 
played is only a small snipet... then I truly cannot wait.


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Re: [Audyssey] Accessible Mainstream Games

2009-02-27 Thread Michael Feir
Hello Mani. I've been an intermittant listener of In Touch for years. A very 
well-done show indeed. Your arrival on this list is most timely. Tom Ward 
has just galvanised things with the release of his first public beta level 
of Mysteries of the Ancients. That's woken the list up for certain. Che 
Martin is another developer you'll definitely want to chat with. Quite a few 
of the people currently developing accessible games either had sight or have 
it. All of our developers have their own interesting stories. As the creator 
and former editor of Audyssey Magazine, I got to know several of them over 
the years. People get into this for the passion and interest in what they 
do. We've certainly come a long way together since I published the first 
issue in 96. Ron Schamerhorn's the current editor and has a somewhat better 
grasp on the state of things these days. Life has pulled me in some 
different directions but I still keep an ear on things and try to help where 
I can. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about past 
developments.


You'll find quite a range of oppinion here concerning what constitutes an 
accessible game. I'm happy to see that you've already gotten a few 
responses. There are plenty more to be had as the debate is one of long 
standing in this community. There is a stronger sense among sighted game 
developers these days regarding the use of sound as more than window 
dressing. That's going to eventually pay off for us but I don't believe 
we're anywhere near that point yet.


Personally, I'm from the old school which says that a game can only be 
counted as accessible if blind people can truly play it as it was intended 
to be played and have access to all information. They shouldn't be 
handycapped in any way in terms of how far they can get with a game due to 
being blind. Sight brings an incredible amount of information very rapidly 
to a person. To be accessible, a great deal of thought must go into the 
sound of a game as well as the interface. That means I don't view arcade 
games designed for sighted people as technically accessible. We're just not 
privy to all the information. Playing something via shere memorisation and 
luck just doesn't count for me. Other people have fun doing that sort of 
thing. There was a fellow who is now world famous due to his skill in 
playing Mortal Combat.As a child, I used to be more in the "if I can have 
fun with it, then it's accessible" camp. My father would take me to arcades 
and we'd try to play the videogames together. He'd desperately try to 
describe things as fast as possible and I'd be in charge of the controls. It 
was certainly fun at the time and there was a good degree of cameradery. 
However, when you take all the bells and whistles away, I was just following 
my father's instructions as quickly as possible. I eventually tried a game 
on my own and found out just how much of the experience I was missing as I 
got obliterated due to having no idea of the game situation.  When you 
reduce a game to purely responding to sound cues and memorization, it stops 
being at all the same kind of fun that sighted people enjoy.


There are a number of tragic cases of games which are almost accessible and 
could easily have been made so to the benefit of all players whether sighted 
or blind. The most disappointing one during my editorship of Audyssey was 
the North American version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. The questions 
were printed onto the screen rather than read out loud as they are in the 
show and apparently in the UK version of the computer game. A very 
disappointingly inaccessible Christmas present for our family. Other games 
like the You Don't Know Jack series are again very close to being 
accessible. In fact, for the earlier games in that series, nearly all of the 
game was. There were some visual questions making reference to pictures 
though. Also, there were the jack attacks which flashed up printed clues and 
information which had to be matched. With some elements like that, it simply 
can become impossible to accomodate. You could have a trivia game with 
questions all read aloud and no visual questions but it wouldn't be You 
Don't Know Jack. The same goes for such elements in many video games. We're 
simply too small a market to be worth a company's while. That's the major 
problem.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Mani Djazmi" 

To: 
Sent: Friday, February 27, 2009 11:11 

Re: [Audyssey] issue when using the view command in mota

2009-02-25 Thread Michael Feir
A targetting scope robs the game of some of its challenge. Learning the 
effective range of weapons is a healthy and fare part of what makes a 
sidescroller fun. Lets not dumb everything down for the lowest common 
dinominator. Same with the torches. Tom's really on the right track with 
MOTA.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Thomas Ward" 
To: "Charles Rivard" ; "Gamers Discussion list" 


Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 11:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] issue when using the view command in mota



Hi,
Personally, I say no, but then again we are dealing with the public now, 
and lots of people have different views on this.


Charles Rivard wrote:
Would a targeting scope be needed?   With practice, you'll know how close 
a monster is, I think.  JMO


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Re: [Audyssey] mota demo

2009-02-25 Thread Michael Feir
There's also grabbing onto ledges to be considered though. It isn't just 
weight. I think you'd probably end up breaking or dropping a bow if you lept 
across a chasm while holding it and had to grab the ledge since you fell a 
little short of the far side. Again, Tom has it about as right as possible 
while still being fairly simple and sensible. Free hands means a better 
chance at surviving a leap, especially a longer one.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Thomas Ward" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 11:56 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] mota demo



Hi,
Yeah, that sounds about right. The German MP5 Angela finds in the temple 
is a younger cousin of the Uzi, and many experts say a better submachine 
gun. However, the Glock 19 Angela carries, (the pistol,) doesn't way much. 
Those are very small hand guns and very compact. However, it was easier 
just to check if a weapon, any weapon, was drawn rather than do a weapon 
by weapon check. The Magnum ways a bit too. Not sure of exact wait, but 
they are fairly heavy. A bo and arrow might be light, but the size could 
throw you off.


Shadow Dragon wrote:
Hmm, I just looked up sub machine guns on wikipedia, I guess they're a 
bit more heavy than I originally suspected. The average uzi weighs in at 
about 7 pounds, I guess that's enough to unbalance someone mid jump, 
especially someone inexperienced with the weapon.



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Re: [Audyssey] mota demo

2009-02-24 Thread Michael Feir
I think what's confusing people is that you have to select the torch and 
then light it by using the space bar. Thanks to a hint from Charles, I just 
figured that out. Things are working much better now. I prefer that method 
of using torches to having them automatically light. However, there should 
perhaps be more of an indicator that one is in a dark place. Perhaps, a 
spooky undertone or something of that sort would work there. It should be 
recogniseable as a darkness indicator without overpowering what you could 
still hear around you.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Charles Rivard" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 3:23 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] mota demo



s
p
o
i
l
e
r


s
p
a
c
e


Pick up all items and use what is in your inventory.

---
If guns cause crime, pencils cause misspelled words.
- Original Message - 
From: "Angellko21" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 9:53 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] mota demo


Object are invisible,ok,but when I go forward (right) and press 
enter,without the object sound I take it.But we must be optimistic,it is 
beta and Tom makes good work and this problems will be 
deleting.:)Oh,sorry for my English.:)Greetings.
- Original Message - 
From: "Bryan Peterson" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 6:30 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] mota demo



AllI  can say is I'm excited for the full version.
Eeny meeny miney mo. Is Homer a hero? The answer is...no.
- Original Message - 
From: "Scott Chesworth" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 9:59 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] mota demo



That's not an issue you're seeing mike, it's that the rooms are dark.
if you light one of the enchanted torches objects like that become
visible so you get clues as to where they are.  Assuming Tom doesn't
go overboard on torches, this is gonna be a frustrating and very
welcome way of doing things in my book, because it might mean doubling
back on yourself and having to remember the way you've come to go back
and check for items you need if you've run out of torches.

This is cool.  I don't dig side scrollers at all, but this is s
cool.  Played it right through a few times now, and it's still cool.

On 2/24/09, Michael Feir  wrote:
I think there might be a problem with the object viewing. I've hit the 
enter
key in various places and picked up items which I have no way of 
knowing
were there. I got an enchanted sword that way which never made any 
sound to
let me know it was anywhere near me. I also found a healing potion 
that way.

This is going to be a stupendously excellent game when Tom gets it all
worked out.
Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message -
From: "Angellko21" 
To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 11:22 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] mota demo


Hm,i have the same problem,but if I climbed the rope twice or once,I 
got
to the stone statue.It is very special,oh.:)Try climb up once more 
and

have lightning torche.
- Original Message -
From: "Clement Chou" 
To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 5:05 PM
Subject: [Audyssey] mota demo


Anyone know where to go after the first door? The statue seems to be 
a
dead end and the rope doesn't lead anywhere, and torchlight or 
viewing

the room helps nothing. Tips? Thanks.
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Re: [Audyssey] mota demo

2009-02-24 Thread Michael Feir
I think there might be a problem with the object viewing. I've hit the enter 
key in various places and picked up items which I have no way of knowing 
were there. I got an enchanted sword that way which never made any sound to 
let me know it was anywhere near me. I also found a healing potion that way. 
This is going to be a stupendously excellent game when Tom gets it all 
worked out.

Michael Feir
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound

Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com


- Original Message - 
From: "Angellko21" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 11:22 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] mota demo


Hm,i have the same problem,but if I climbed the rope twice or once,I got 
to the stone statue.It is very special,oh.:)Try climb up once more and 
have lightning torche.
- Original Message - 
From: "Clement Chou" 

To: "Gamers Discussion list" 
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 5:05 PM
Subject: [Audyssey] mota demo


Anyone know where to go after the first door? The statue seems to be a 
dead end and the rope doesn't lead anywhere, and torchlight or viewing 
the room helps nothing. Tips? Thanks.

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