Audyssey; Games Accessible to the Blind
Issue 46: Fourth quarter, 2005
Edited by Ron Schamerhorn
Fun, Friendship, Knowledge, Charity
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Welcome
Welcome to the forty-sixth issue of Audyssey. This magazine is dedicated to the discussion of games which, through accident or design, are accessible to the blind either with or without sighted assistance.
Within the text of this issue we have some welcomed game developer announcements, some extensive online game review, and a new section which hopefully you will enjoy! Note: This magazine uses plus-signs as navigation markers. Three plus-signs are placed above any articles or sections. Within these sections, two plus-signs denote the start of a new sub-section. Smaller divisions are marked by a single plus-sign. This allows people to use their search capabilities to go quickly to the next division they are interested in. For instance, the "Letters" section is preceded by three plus-signs. Each letter within it has two plus-signs before it. Answers to letters have a single plus-sign before them.
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Contents:
Welcome
From The Editor
Letters
Winfrotz TTS
Phil's Funnies
Dungeons & Dragons update
Accessibility Crusade
News From Game Developers
Fearless Flin Development Diary: Part VI
Game Announcements and Reviews
Contacting Us
Distribution Information and Submission Policies
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From the Editor
Okay well now feeling more comfortable in the seat that I have I hope all do enjoy the new bit with the Audyssey Magazine. I've been planning it and now finally it's bearring fruit. I will apologize in this being a later release then expected, life just has gotten in the way of it. Rest assured though It won't happen again. We're embarking on 10 years of this publication! So I have a idea or two for upcoming issues about what might be the content. I hope all enjoy the read, and with help it will only get better from here. Let me know what you think! Contact info below.
Michael and I took part in an email interview a few weeks ago and regrettably the page is available in a language I don't understand at all. If any of the magazine readers would consider translating the below link I would greatly appreciate reading how it turned out. Thanks to Jure and the internet for broadening the horizons of Audyssey magazine!
Okay, here's the link
http://www.mladina.si/tednik/200543/clanek/nar--racunalniki-jure_aleksic/
all the best, Jure
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Letters
This section is some of the good material taken from the general discussion list we have with the community. Most is game related but sometimes OT questions are good too.
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The blind-puzzlers@smartgroups.com is an email list for puzzles of a good nature. Below is a good example of the types of puzzles sent through the list. It's a good thinking list for sure.
Brothers and sisters I have none,
But that man's father is my father's son.
Who am I/explain
You are yourself.You, are your father's son.
++
Hello, everyone. It's been a while since I set down my thoughts regarding a virtual accessible games convention in the last issue of Audyssey. I'm somewhat surprised and troubled by how little discussion and feedback I've received from this community. Have we all become so apathetic over the past few years that nobody is willing to put forth any effort to support the growth of accessible games? I'll do whatever I can to make certain that people other than myself can benefit in the same ways I have in life by being exposed to good quality accessible games which don't treat us blind folks like dullards. Having an accessible games convention won't make everything all roses and light for game developers but it would provide a chance to attract new players and community members. It would also be a terrific rallying point where we could all chat freely, share our expertise as developers or gamers, and enjoy ourselves among people with similar interests. Ron and I will certainly do our part. We're each willing to give lectures about accessible games and the history of them among other subjects. However, we can't do it all. Some of you gamers have become expert in some areas such as muds or online games. We would certainly be interested in having you give talks which introduce people attending the event to these areas of gaming. Others of you may wish to serve as moderators. Current thinking is to have a room open for events and another for people to be able to talk amongst themselves with other gamers. It might make parents and others feel safer if we had responsible moderators present to keep things fair and orderly. There are likely other ways of helping indirectly by putting in some time helping Ocusource with tasks for the overall event such as making phone calls or contacting people. I want this to be the community's event which offers a broad community perspective and not just a pulpit for us and whichever developers decide to invest their time and effort to give presentations. I already know what I think and where I stand.
Although I'm happy to share this with a wider audience, it's much more personally interesting to hear what others think. If people would like to attend an event like this, we need at a minimum to hear from you. Are you at all interested in attending? If you are, please send either Ron, myself, or Dr. Lipschultz at Ocusource an E-mail so that we can have some idea of the level of interest out there. It doesn't have to be long and prosaic. Just indicate that you would be interested in attending an accessible games convention. Richard from Audiogames.net, Phil Vlasak from PCS Games, Liam Mervan, and Bavisoft have expressed some interest. A more widespread effort to contact more developers will happen once things are a bit more hammered out. However, I'd love to hear from other developers who are interested and take that information back to Ocusource.
During the past while, the folks at Ocusource have had their hands quite
full running the macular degeneration convention which has taken place. The
archives of proceedings are available until the end of October. There's also
a virtual art show where people can view art created by blind and visually
impaired people and hear interviews and comments from the artists. I'm
keeping an eye out for statistics from this convention regarding attendance
and such. However, we have them from the first more widely focussed
blindness expo which is more applicable to us since an accessible games
convention would be a part of such a larger event.
Now that the AMD convention is over, they'll be starting to plan their next
event. Ron and I would like to continue working on making this dream of a
convention come true. However, we need your help to do it. I'd like to be
able to say that there is definitely some community interest in attending
and in helping run our part of the event. If we want this to happen, it'll
take a team effort. Ron and I are very passionate about accessible games and
will do all we can to see that this opportunity is used well. However, as
much as our egos would be boosted by the contrary, that just isn't enough.
The folks at Ocusource need to have some sense of why they should take the
time and invest the resources to advertise and sponsor our efforts. Frankly,
I need to have a sense that people have an interest. This Blindgamers list,
afterall, is supposed to be where the people who are truly inspired and
enthusiastic about accessible games hang out. Even by putting up with the
flame wars, repeat questions and other things which are part and parcel of
having an online community, you've proved you care about your accessible fun
more than average. Now, Ron and I are asking you to go that one step
further. If you're willing to do that and perhaps even make a commitment of
time and enthusiasm to help build this event, we'll do all we can to make
certain those efforts have as much of a lasting impact as possible. Let's
prove to ourselves and to as many current and prospective accessible game
developers that we're not just takers. Let's show them that we're a
community who cares and is capable of giving effort and support. All
presentations at the convention will be recorded and may inspire future
accessible game developers. Just as important, hearing proceedings from such
an event may draw in a whole new generation of gamers from a wider community
who might not otherwise seek us out. Let's make this happen, people. In the
words of Maximus from the movie Gladiator: "What we do now echoes in
eternity!"
Michael Feir
Creator and former Editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
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well, I spoke to someone in yahoo's headquarters and
they set this group up for me. also some good news
about the box with the security graphics. they will
be getting rid of that shortly. If yahoo knows that
you are visually impaired, they will set any group you
wish to belong to. This may take a week or so, but at
least they are in the process of revising there
policy. so if any of you are interested in checking
freekick, you go to
and if again, you are
interested in joining the freekick yahoo group,
freekick_for_the_blind, you send an e-mail to freekick_for_the_
blind-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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Pricing Christmas gaming
Here is a list compiled by Phil of PCS games of the available games and the cost. If interested in purchasing any of the below titles, check either
+++News from developers
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BSC Games
Hello,
After numerous requests to release our classic versions of pipe 1.0 and troopanum 1.6, we have went ahead and once again released them for sale at only
$19.99 each.
If you have been itching to get a copy of our classic versions of these games, now you can!
Note: you must download and install the Microsoft Media Components prior to installing the games. There is a link to download the Microsoft Media Components
on each page for our classic games at the top of the page. Once you install the Microsoft media components, install the game and then run the configuration
manager to unpack the game files. You must unpack the game files prior to being able to play the games. Our second versions of the games did not use this
technology, only our classic versions used it .
Now for the info.
For troopanum 1.6 follow this link:
http://www.BscGames.com/troop.asp
for pipe 1.0 follow this link:
http://www.BscGames.com/pipe.asp
Enjoy!
BSC Games
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Draconis Entertainment
Introducing Draconis Entertainment!
We are pleased to introduce Draconis Entertainment, committed to delivering high-quality entertainment to the blind, partially sighted, and fully sighted alike.
To that end, we are pleased to announce that we have acquired the rights to all games formerly the property of Adora Entertainment, including:
. Alien Outback
. Change Reaction
. DynaMan
. ESP Pinball Classic
. ESP Pinball Xtreme
. Monkey Business
. Ten Pin Alley
It is important to note that, aside from having acquired the rights to these software titles, Draconis Entertainment is in no other way related to or associated with Adora Entertainment or its owner. We do not know what, if any plans, there are for the future of that company, so cannot answer any questions pertaining to it.
The online score servers for the above titles which utilized them have been down for a few months, and will be down for a bit longer while we work to rebuild them from the ground up. The new servers will be more robust and suffer from little or no down time, an issue which frequently plagued the older server implementation.
We are pleased to announce that our Download Center and the Draconis Shop are now open, featuring five of our game titles, all of which have been updated and enhanced for their release!
Updated versions of the following titles are available for purchase and download:
. Change Reaction - $24.95
. DynaMan - $24.95
. ESP Pinball Classic - $29.95
. ESP Pinball Xtreme - $39.95
. Ten Pin Alley - $24.95
Important! If you order the games on CD, the discs will not ship until mid December. Once discs begin shipping again, you can expect them to be sent within three to five business days.
For detailed information on enhancements and bug fixes in these new versions, check out the Revision Notes for each title in the Products area of our site. You can download full game installs from our Download Center. Legally registered users of these titles may upgrade to the new versions for no additional price.
Change Reaction Revision Notes (25/Nov/2005)
The current version of Change Reaction is V1.4.7, and includes the following changes, fixes, and enhancements:
. Stereo representation of the in-game action, coin stacks, and game board.
. The "Glance" keys have been changed to the left and right shift keys.
. You tremble, shaking the coin stack when you are sharing the space with a bomb.
. The jackpot of the current play field is announced at the start of the game. (Note that coins that you add to stacks will increase this jackpot, so your final score may be substantially higher.)
. Your start position changes every time you start a new game.
. All new menu music.
. New, fully self-voicing registration dialog.
. Revamped manual in HTML for ease of use.
. In previous versions, the menu system could sometimes become sluggish. This has been corrected.
. In previous versions, the sound of the coin stacks collapsing occasionally panned improperly. This has been corrected.
. Score submission to the online score server has been disabled while we revamp to a more robust system.
DynaMan Revision Notes (25/Nov/2005)
The current version of DynaMan is V2.1.1, and includes the following changes, fixes, and
enhancements:
. The Sparx Brothers are faster and more devious than ever before!
. New, fully self-voicing registration dialog.
. Revamped manual in HTML for ease of use.
. Under certain circumstances, saved games would not resume properly. This has been corrected.
. Under certain circumstances, the fourth level of the Power Grids was difficult to get in or out of. This has been corrected.
. In previous versions, the menu system could sometimes become sluggish. This has been corrected.
. Score submission to the online score server has been disabled while we revamp to a more robust system.
ESP Pinball Classic Revision Notes (25/Nov/2005)
The current version of ESP Pinball Classic is V1.7.2, and includes the following changes, fixes, and enhancements:
. New ambient music for the Haunted House table.
. On the Soccer star table, the Visitors must score five goals before the game ends.
. New, fully self-voicing registration dialog.
. Revamped manual in HTML for ease of use.
. Score submission to the online score server has been disabled while we revamp to a more robust system.
ESP Pinball Xtreme Revision Notes (25/Nov/2005)
The current version of ESP Pinball Xtreme is V1.1.2, and includes the following changes, fixes, and enhancements:
. Spell switches scan more quickly.
. Game ends properly if you attain a score higher than 2,000,000,000 points.
. Revamped manual in HTML for ease of use.
. Score submission to the online score server has been disabled while we revamp to a more robust system.
Ten Pin Alley Revision Notes (25/Nov/2005)
The current version of Ten Pin Alley is V1.0.1, and includes the following changes, fixes, and enhancements:
. Altered commentary from Bo Linball.
. Revamped manual in HTML for ease of use.
Monkey Business and Alien Outback will be available soon, along with new products. Check back over the next few weeks as we add more and new products to our catalog.
Multiple new accessible game titles are in varying stages of development and we hope to bring you lots more news on these shortly.
We are also pleased to bring movie reviews with both blind and sighted movie-goers alike in mind. Sarah Star is writing a column called the Cinema Citadel exclusively for Draconis Entertainment. These reviews offer up insightful opinions on films, how difficult they are to follow without vision, and whether or not the film is available in MoPix descriptive audio at theatres which offer it.
In the mean time, please explore our site, join the Draconis Online Community to post questions for Draconis staff or to talk gaming with your fellow gamers.
From all of us here at Draconis Entertainment, we look forward to many years of providing you with the best in accessible computer games and other forms of entertainment!
We are happy to announce that the DynaMan Grid Creator formally DynaEd has been re-
introduced with a few minor bug fixes. It is now offered as a separate
add-on for DynaMan. The DynaMan Grid Creator allows you to create your own maze grids
for DynaMan to explore, fighting off the fiendish Sparx Brothers and munching electrons!
The DynaMan Grid Creator can be downloaded by registered DynaMan users from our
Download Center under Software Add-Ons and Plug-Ins.
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Lighttech Interactive
as you mey already know, I have started an audio games company,by the name of Lighttech Interactive.
our team consists of another programmer,a beta testing team,and a voyce actors team
we have come up with 3 games ,witch are still being tested at the moment
one of them is a horse racing simulation game, another one is a "fun for all ages" guessing self voycing game called "num crunch"
and the third game(still in development),is called ls - attack (ls stands for lite sabre)
while of course, being our thirst games,they are kind of simple and not the kind of 3d games made by GMA games ,but I am sure they can be enjoiable,and
of course our team has plans for the future.
we hope to get our site up in less than a munth,and I thot a small paragraf about our up coming company in audisy's anounsments/news category will be nice
as a start
please email me back if you want more info about our background,or a ritten introduction about our selfs to audisy.
best regards
yours,
yakir arbib
Lighttech Interactive
++
Malinche
Dear fiction fan,
With the crisp air and the changing leaves, there's a bit of fall magic in the air. I
hope you're enjoying all that fall has to offer while it lasts; a cold winter is around
the corner. Of course, if you live in the south or the southwest of the United States
this won't necessarily apply to you... but even so! Enjoy this season!
Here's what's happening at Malinche...
Pentari: Second Dawn is in the Works
I just updated my designer's journal a couple of days ago with a very special
"inside look" at implementing Second Dawn and Malinche's titles in general. It's
sure to make interesting reading. While you're there, please take note that I've
pushed back the Second Dawn launch date; it's not being released next month. All the
details and my designer's journal are here:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?uaHlMED2vPILxEW2Sm.n1g
Malinche Free Seminars Return!
Are you new to the world of Interactive Fiction and need some "how-to" tips?
You could be an IF veteran who wants to pick up some new tricks or a seasoned
Malinche adventurer who just wants to shoot the breeze with me. Starting Saturday
November 12th at 1:00 PM EST, open chat sessions with me resume!
Just surf over to Malinche's own web-based chat room here:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?hdcyjGOPx8yHE0H3GKa6XA
These open chat sessions are a fun way to learn more about Malinche's Interactive
Fiction, how to get the most out our titles and learn some neat tricks and secrets
that are inside every Malinche title. See you there -- every Saturday at 1:00 PM EST
at the chatroom in the link above.
The Holiday Shopping Seasons has Begun -- Here's How to Beat the System
Don't shop in the malls. Just surf over to
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?BmGGTKgIQGDtIlZVLYJK.A
for a sensational holiday offer that will be a boon to all holiday shoppers. While
any one Malinche title is a perfect gift for a fiction fan or a book lover, the
magic elves of Malinche have gone a step farther in making the holidays truly memorable.
For the first time since I started Malinche, we're making a Malinche gift pack
available. What's in the gift pack?
All four of our titles in a spiffy gift box along with a comfortable t-shirt and
free shipping. All that is on top of an amazing low price that's giving my accountant
nightmares and had our sales guy Jimmy jabbering for days, mumbling something about
me going off the deep end or something like that.
Supplies are limited so please surf over now and check it out:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?BmGGTKgIQGDtIlZVLYJK.A
Apple Computer Jolts Malinche with Lightning - Twice!
Malinche's Greystone and The First Mile have both been selected by Apple Computer
as the hottest and newest titles to come to the Mac and iPod lines. I am flattered
by this distinction and hope you take a moment to celebrate this milestone with me.
No worries if you don't own a Mac or an iPod; our titles work on all major computers
and PDAs. For the full news announcement click on our news section at
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?FuBe4_B2o4g6SCTe1XOTqQ
To see our two titles "in lights" visit Apple's own product guide that features us at:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?szVM368xRFAXwhIXjQpDKA
The First Mile has Star Quality
-------------------------------
At the risk of appearing to be an egomaniac, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that
The First Mile has been given four stars by AdventurGamers.Com! Rob Michaud has given
The First Mile a glowing review that I'm very proud of. Full details are available,
once again, in the Malinche news section (once again) at
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?FuBe4_B2o4g6SCTe1XOTqQ
Click on this link to read the entire, exquisite review:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?KRc24sTi2jC10E78Dhn2_w
Malinche Tip of the Month
The sheer size of a Malinche title makes them challenging all by themselves. That's
why I'd like to remind everyone that every title we sell comes with a full set of maps
that some players swear by and others swear off.
Adventurers come in all shapes and sizes and when it comes to maps, some adventurers
like me hardly ever look at the maps, saving them as a "last resort". A whole other
breed of adventurer loves our maps and wouldn't think of exploring the many worlds
of Malinche without them.
Whichever type of adventurer you might be, maps are a good idea to help you keep your
bearings and are also neat to write notes on. All games have maps that can be found
in the folder where you installed them. For Windows users, this is almost always
a folder called Malinche with a sub-folder with the name of the game. Look in that
sub-folder and eureka! There they are. Print them out and you have an excellent resource
to keep track of your location in the game and a neat medium to take notes on key
discoveries and observations you've made and where you made them.
That slams the lid on things for November, good adventurer! Have a wonderful November.
Howard A. Sherman
Implementor
++ PCS Games
Hello, my name is Sarah.
I knew I was a witch at three-and-a-half. I don't remember much about it but what I do remember is that I was chased by a big dog in our back yard and all
of a sudden I found myself on the roof of the house.
My mom heard me crying for her and she ran out and pulled something out of her robe and I was slowly picked up and lowered to the ground.
Then she told me that our family were all magical and that I shouldn't apparate again until I was much older.
For years after this I was involved with magic. I always seemed to be so busy with performing magic, it was most definitely my passion.
Only looking back now I realize how this passion and need to do magic was so deep in me.
My dad has always been a keen and talented wizard and
he has always encouraged me
not to just cast a spell but to really know how it worked and to study all about it from the few books that we owned.
I spent seven years at The Salem Witches' Institute, and for my eighteenth birthday we all traveled to London from Salem by Portkey. I found Diagon Alley
opened up my mind.
Never have I seen so many shops and so many magical people in one place! However, I realized that it wasn't enough for me to have one days visit. This
is when my love for
magic seemed to naturally increase my curiosity for visiting the most famous school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
When I was shopping in the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes joke shop I talked to one of the owners about myself and he commented what a fantastic experience
it would be if I got a look at the castle. He was right, I couldn't get it out of my head and I found myself bubbling with excitement about this idea.
That was definitely my most inspiring time. Apparating there, I made my way up to the stone steps.
My mind was in a tizzy. Should I try to go in or not?
There was a short silence and then I reluctantly knocked on the door.
and because of this I found myself spending the next thirteen hours trapped in the castle.
I became completely absorbed in exploring and found I really did not want to leave.
Although at times with all the encounters I had in the castle, it felt like a struggle, but it also was an enjoyable long and winding adventure for me
too.
I managed to pick up the article on me so you can read it.
The Daily Prophet Price: 7 Knuts
Page 1 - Headlines
Sarah intruder in the castle
by Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent for the Daily Prophet.
Attractive blonde Rita Skeeter, forty-three, whose savage quill
has punctured many inflated reputations--Has just discovered that there is an intruder in the most famous Wizard castle in the land.
A reliable source has told this journalist that late in the evening of July one, a young female was spotted entering the Castle of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"She looked to be about eighteen." said Verity, a staff member of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes Joke Shop, at ninety-three, Diagon Alley.
"She shopped in our store and purchased one of our most popular items, a Headless Hat.
Then she had a long discussion with one of the owners, and I overheard the two of them talking about a map. The next thing I knew she was gone"
She probably Disapparated right outside our front door, since she couldn't inside the shop."
Since it is mid summer, she knows there wouldn't be the rush of students through the corridors, but I think she heard so much about the magic castle, here
in Weasleys' Joke Shop,
she probably wants to explore it. Maybe she could even find some of the
magical objects reported to be somewhere inside.
In conclusion, Verity said, "If she gets out it would be something like a tale worthy of Harry Potter."
Caretaker of the Castle, Argus Filch, says he may have heard an intruder in the corridors, but it may also have been a pack of rats.
Our secret source of news says the girl was seen creeping toward the dungeon, carrying some very dubious magical objects, and was almost ambushed by the
caretaker's
cat, Mrs. Norris."
"Someone creeping into the Castle in the dead of
night?" asks Filch, "It is more likely, some far-fetched story and there's probably a very shell-shocked
cat wandering around somewhere, covered in potato peelings."
But, there have been
some funny rumors flying around lately, making a lot of people nervous.
The very reliable source, who holds a position in the castle staff, but who's identity this reporter can not divulge, tipped this correspondent off saying
she spotted the Stunningly pretty girl several times in the past few hours sneaking into classrooms.
Mr. Filch says he is biding his time until the headmaster is finished what he is doing. If the stories are true, and once I get my hands on her, I will
string her up by
the ankles in my office.
Hi, it's Sarah again.
Instead of reading about my story, why don't you actually follow me around the castle?
In this game , you will be able to find and use wands that increase my powers, a two-way mirror, Extendible Ears, a racing broom, a
Time Turner Necklace , and a very expensive invisibility cloak. With all that and more, I won't have to go through the corridors of the castle unprotected.
The Castle of Witchcraft
and Wizardry transports Sarah into a world of corridors and
secret passageways. she travels through the castle searching for
magical items, fighting creepy creatures knowing at any minute,
disaster may strike.
So, take a trip with Sarah to the Castle of Witchcraft and Wizardry and pay a visit to the ghost's Deathday party in the dungeon, pop into
the kitchen for a chat with the sometimes helpful Dobby; go out
for a spot of spelunking in the chamber of secrets, gasp in awe
at the speed of the golden snitch, pick up plenty of coins and
spells, get ready to hide from the malevolent Dementors, but
always remember - the basilisk may not be what it seems!
Sarah and the Castle of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a fantasy castle inspired
by JK Rowling, is under development and a public beta is close to being released.
You can find out what is in store at PCS Games by joining the PCS games
list.
To subscribe to this discussion list, send a blank message to,
PCS_Games-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
My mailing address is,
PCS Games
666 Orchard Street
Temperance, Michigan 48182
phone (734) 850-9502
Call me between the hours of 9:00 A M to 9:00 P M Eastern time, Monday to Saturday.
E-mail Phil Vlasak,
We make games that tickle your ears.
++
Spoonbill games
Hi,
You are receiving this email because you have previously requested an accessible game from the Spoonbill Software Blind gamers series. Spoonbill Software
is pleased to announce the release of another accessible card game, Blind gamers Penguin Solitaire, or BG Penguin for short.
BG Penguin Solitaire contains similarities to both Free Cell and Scorpion, but with a twist! It is the most challenging of all the Blind-gamers solitaire
games.
Like all the previous Blind gamers games, BG Penguin has been designed to be really easy to use, unlike other so-called accessible offerings you may have
encountered in the past. It has been thoroughly tested and approved by a panel of blind people and is guaranteed to provide you with hours of enjoyment.
You may also be pleased to know that an accessible version of the card game called Hearts is officially released.
If you would like a copy of BG Penguin Solitaire, please reply to this email requesting your copy.
<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]-->
Thank you for your past interest in my Blind-gamers series. You can read more by visiting the Spoonbill Software website. Don't forget to visit the Newsletter
page as well as the Blind-gamers page.
Click here to visit Spoonbill Software's Newsletter page.
Click here to visit Spoonbill Software's Blind-gamers page.
Regards
Ian Humphreys
Spoonbill Software
Albany, Western Australia
++
USA Games News
Nov. 29, 2005.
Good news, gamers! We at USA Games would like to announce the approach
of Final Conflict 1.0. The game has been totally rewritten from
scratch, many features have been added, many bugs have been fixed, and
Final Conflict 1.0 will hopefully prove to be better than ever. So what
is coming up in this title?
After the release of Final Conflict Alpha 4.x many of you sent in
complaints about the removal of the Defiant and the Sovereign-class
ships. We at USA Games have heard your requests, and have restored all
the original Federation starships to the game including the Defiant.
However, this Defiant has some changes over the one in Alphas 1,
2, and 3.
In version 1.0 we have attempted to keep the Defiant true to the Deep
Space 9 TV series. The Defiant is a small ship so it does have less
photon and quantum torpedoes than other ships in the fleet. However,
it's forward pulse phaser cannons are nearly triple in strength of a
standard phaser. On lower levels like beginner and intermediate
the Defiant's phasers are enough to take on multiple enemy ships alone. On
higher levels though Defiant's lack of weapons may require additional
fire support from other Federation starships and starbases.
Another advantage to this small but mighty ship is the cloaking device.
This device renders the Defiant completely invisible to enemy and
friendly ships when turned on. The only downside to the cloaking device
is that once you select to fire the weapons, the cloaking device is turned
off for the remainder of the move leaving a window of opportunity
for the enemy to attack for that move.
Another major change in Final Conflict is do to a lack of technical
information on the Breen we at USA Games have elected to remove them
from the game. In their place we have added 5 Klingon battle cruisers,
and two Klingon starbases. Thus far the enemy Klingon starships are
tough, unrelenting, attackers.
One of the best changes in version 1.0 is that all enemies have
individual specifications rather than a generalized set of
specifications.
Cardassian ships tend to do less damage to Federation ships in battle
and gain strength in numbers. Shielding is also less than other enemy
vessels, and thus takes less weapons to destroy.
The Klingon battle cruisers are about equal with a standard Federation
starship in shielding and weapons. What makes the Klingons so dangerous
is their own cloaking devices. Aided by invisibility Klingon battle
cruisers can often get in close and do serious damage before you [our
Federation commander] can mount a counter attack. However, you usually
still have the upper hand in firepower.
The Romulans are extremely tough. Like the Klingons they have a cloaking
device, and often can do much damage before a Federation commander can
respond. In addition Romulan Warbirds have powerful disruptors, and
extremely good shielding which out matches all Federation
starships.Alone A Federation starship is well matched in battle. In
numbers it will often spell the defeat of the commander's fleet.
Finally, last but not least, is the Borg. The Borg AI has been
completely rewritten. While they can be defeated you must use all your
skills and resources to find a weakness in an enemy which apparently
has none. They are highly advanced and need no others to crush the
Federation.
The autopilot system has undergone a massive upgrade. The new autopilot
when selected you will first be given a series of options such as:
follow enemy, starbase, starship, and starsystem. Follow enemy allows
you to chase uncloaked enemy ships with in range which attempt to flee.
The starbase option allows you to autopilot to friendly starbases. the
starship option allows you to autopilot to friendly starships. The
Starsystem option allows you to autopilot to any of the major
starsystems. Also, as requested, a nearest starbase and nearest
starship option has been added to the autopilot.
During the Alpha test builds many of you requested that status reports
be read in full. Thanks to some rewriting it is now possible to have
the entire status report read at once. In addition, a setting called,
"announce status," found in the settings menu will allow you to have
them read automatically or manually if desired.
As per request we have also added a damage report system. This damage
will report the systems currently damaged as well as the expected
length of repair time.
In addition, in previous versions it was unknown when an enemy vessel
made repairs. Now, long range sensors are able to announce when an
enemy ship repairs warp, shields, disruptors, etc. This greatly aids
the player in knowing when the tactical situation has changed.
Another advancement in 1.0 is enemies now are smart enough to restock
shields and weapons during combat. If a player fires weapons and only
knocks an enemy shields down slightly the enemy vessel will recharge
it's shields during it's move, and often it's weapons and counter
attack. Sometimes, especially on advanced levels, this makes for
multiple turns to destroy a enemy ship. It all depends on if the first
attack was successful in destroying the enemy vessel.
Another vital change is all the menus now have short cut keys. This
makes for quick and fast navigation through menus. For example to
switch to Enterprise it would be as easy as pressing v, e, and the ship
would be changed. All short cuts are spoken so it is very easy to learn
the short cut keys.
One other major change with menus is it is possible to disable the
main menu. By turning menus off in the settings menu it is possible to
enter commands rather than using the main menu system.
Some of you with hearing disabilities made requests to make it easier
to hear the computers voice. We have made several changes to the game
which should aid you in playing STFC. The first is bridge effects can
be disabled completely via the settings menu. The second is that the
weapons and explosions are played before and after the computer is
speaking. This allows what is being said to be heard clearly without
other disturbances.
Sometime in December, perhaps the second week, USA games will begin
putting STFC 1.0 in private beta testing. We will give the private
testers an initial copy of the game, and then weekly patches will be
sent to them with possible bug fixes, solutions, and updates. Once we
are certain the game is reasonably stable we will release a public beta
demo, and begin taking preorders.
Unfortunately, we don't believe the public beta will appear before
Christmas, but we do believe it will appear sometime after the first of
the new year. Sometime in January depending on if all the testing goes
well.
For more information about USA Games titles visit:
You can email us about questions at:
You may also join our discussion list at:
usagames-list-subscribe@smartgroups.com
++
VIPGames
Dear parents!
If you have children who are blind or visually impaired here is some news for you.
3 learn programs for children from 6 to 10 years old are available for download now on
So please visit our site and try these new programs with your children.
We are asking teenagers: if you are older then 10 years, please, don't send your score to our server, because your results will disappoint children from
6 to 10 years old.
Yours sincerely
Vipgameszone
+++
Chatting with creaters : with Josh De Lioncourt of Draconis Entertainment
This is a chance to get some insight on those who produce the games we all enjoy. Being a new segment to the magazine, this might undergo a few changes over the next issue or two until such time as I'm happy with the format and such. To begin I'm using just Ron & Josh for this one. Any developers who are wishing to be in the hot seat can contact me privately to set up an interview, or I might be contacting them! Hope readers like the below. Suggestions are welcome.
Ron :
The main reason I suggested voice was to allow you to expand on answers instead of typing tons. But we could give it a shot either method.
Josh :
I'm much better at typing..and I can expand as much or as little as you like. *laugh*
Ron :
Well write till your hearts content! *lol*
Give me a moment and we'll get it under way.
Josh :
sounds good
Ron :
Okay I've got things set up here so let me know when you're ready.
Josh :
I'm ready. Feel free to begin.
Ron :
All righty, I think to begin we'll start with some background info about yourself. so how about just general info about you? We'll get into gaming shortly.
Josh :
My name is of course Josh de Lioncourt. I'm rapidly approaching my 28th birthday. I've been programming on various platforms as far back as the late 1980's, when I first began tinkering with an Apple 2E at school, and later got my first computer, an Apple 2GS. I wrote games on that system for my own entertainment, as well as more serious utilities and things.
I have twin daughters, who I adore, and live in southern California.
Aside from programming, I write fiction, articles, music, and poetry, and produced a charity CD with Tyler Hilton among other artists in 2001. Tyler Hilton stars on the hit TV show One Tree Hill, and will be portraying Elvis Presley in the film "Walk the Line" about Jonny Cash that will be released on November 18th.
I've been a life long fan of fantasy and science-fiction, as well as musicians like George Michael, Elton John, Sting, etc.
at the moment, in addition to all the other projects I am involved in, I am also a moderator at He-Man.org, a fan site devote to the fantasy property Masters of the Universe, as well as co-host a podcast devoted to that property.
That's me in a nutshell. if there is anything you'd like me to elaberate on, feel free to ask.
Oh, and I am a huge hockey fan! Go Kings!
Ron :
*g* That gives a good idea of who you are and glad that you mentioned more then just gaming. We all have lives/interests outside of that. Okay I guess next is what was your first gaming experience the title, system etc? Computer or console styles you've played over the years?
Josh:
As far as I can remember, my first gaming experience was before I lost my vision. I was four or five years old, and I played Donkey Kong and Frogger on my uncle's Atari. Over the years I played more games than I can count on various computer systems, including the old Apple 2 series of computers, MS DOS, Eureka A4, and of course Macintosh and Windows. Of those, the most memorable have been...
...the Eamon adventure series, which I hope to adapt for an audio platform on Windows soon, the more modern accessible game Monkey Business from ESP Softworks originally, and the Chess game on Mac OSX, which is now fully accessible thanks to Apple's VoiceOver technology. I also played classic Nintendo and Super Nintendo, primarily sticking to the Super Mario Brother games. The first of the
Super Mario Brothers games I memorized the first few levels and could play them OK, despite having no vision by the time Nintendo came onto the scene. I also enjoyed other interactive fiction titles, such as the very famous ones from Infocom. I think that about covers it.
oh...I should add one more thing
My first introduction to accessible computer games for Windows was Bavisoft's Grizley Gulch, and while i find the characters quite memorable from the game, the game itself leaves a lot to be desired for me personally, I do see its attraction for others though.
Ron :
Okay a two part here. So you are meaning that MB was quite memorable for you? Also did you ever play any arcade or other type games? Card or board etc.
Josh :
MB was extremely memorable for me. In fact, I think it is still to this day the best accessible game ever written for Windows, and that includes the ones I've done myself.
I am a huge fan of traditional games, like card and board games. I love chess, Monopoly, Clue, Uno, poker, blackjack, and just about any other sort of board game you can imagine. I also have done tabletop role-playing games, like Dungeons and Dragons, for many years and adore those types of games as well.
Ron :
Even though it's almost answered above I'll ask anyway.... *g* What genre of a game do you enjoy playing the most? RPG, card, FPS and so on?
Josh :
Wow, that's a tough question, actually. Board games are probably my favorite, but tabletop role-playing isn't far behind.
Ron :
And I'm guessing it's because of both the game and the group involvement? I lived with my brother and his family for a few years and about 1 or 2 nights aweek we'd play trivial pursuit, monopoly, or Risk.
Josh :
yes, definitely. Plus my family (parents, sister, and I) played a lot of games while I was growing up, so a love of them and the group interaction has definitely stuck with me.
Ron :
I understand exactly what you mean. What or how did you decide to develop accessible games?
Josh :
well, I've always been a fairly creative person, but it is hard to make a living writing music or stories in this day in age. I worked for Marriott International to make their reservation software accessible for blind agents, which was the first time I'd used my programming skills extensively in a workplace, though other computer skills had aided me at other jobs before that. Developing
accessible games allows me an opportunity to use my programming knowledge professionally, as well as creatively write stories, music, etc for the games. and I of course started working with Phil Vlasak of PCS Games back in early 2003 to update his Ten Pin Alley game. I had been looking for a job with various established accessible game companies, such as ESP, Bavisoft, and PCS Games. We worked on that for a few months before I decided to start a partnership and found Adora Entertainment, which I worked at for about 2 and a half years.
Ron :
Any chance on getting some insight or what you thought about owning the previous titles from ESP? Feel free to say you'd rather not answer no problem.
Josh :
I will gladly answer that. :)
Owning the previous titles from ESP Softworks gave Adora quite a boost. We were able to quickly increase our catalog, and improve the games beyond the scope of their original vision. This did have some backlash, as the already many times delayed ESP Pinball 2 (renamed ESP Pinball Xtreme under Adora) was further delayed as we tried to integrate the ESP titles.
Integration was a lot of work, but that was to be expected. It is always difficult to acquire and then working with someone else's code.
I'm happy with the changes and improvements we made, and now that Draconis Entertainment owns the titles, you can expect additional updates, changes, and added functionality to those titles, as well as many future titles.
Ron :
Since I'm a very happy player of PBX, I bet you can think of a question that I'm wanting to ask about?
Josh :
I can think of several. Ask away.
Ron :
First I must tell you that you did a great job on an enjoyable and challenging game!
Josh :
Thank you, I appreciate the compliment.
Ron :
Is the table editor going to be Released in the future?
Josh :
Yes, the table editor will eventually be released. It would've been ready much sooner, but it has been delayed by the demise of Adora Entertainment and the founding of Draconis Entertainment. We need to establish ourselves and get a title or two under our belts before thinking about the table editor, but it will definitely be released. Pinning down the time frame is something I'm not really comfortable doing, given the amount of trouble that has caused for other game companies, but I think it would be relatively safe to say it should be available some time in 2006.
Ron :
I can see where giving a date could be bad. Bugs and such in software are an ongoing thing and could take awhile to pin down for sure.
Josh :
Yes, exactly.
Ron :
So you are planning to get a new title or two out first? Could I get any hints on what sort you have in mind for development?
Josh :
as of right now, we have two titles under development. We hope to have one released before the end of the year. On the drawing board are multiple titles of a much more complex nature, including the long promised Eamon series, as well as a surprise or two that I think will really, really excite accessible gamers. The re-issues of the old ESP and Adora titles will sport some changes and improvements as well.
We also have the revamped score boards under development, which will not suffer from the same down time and other issues that plagued the older ESP implementation.
Ron :
Sounds like some good changes coming up that we can look forward to.
Josh :
Yes, I think gamers will be very pleased with everything we have planned. Also, one thing that I was quite proud of was the packaging of our CD games at Adora. For those gamers who prefer ordering and owning an actual physical disc, they can expect an even higher quality of product.
Ron :
I do understand, One question that does occur to me is how far do you see accessible games going? Could there be a time when the blind/vi community could have comparable titles like Resident Evil?
Josh :
Well, that's hard to say. Unfortunately, even more so than mainstream industries, accessible games have been plagued by an awful lot of piracy. We've seen quite a few accessible game companies come and go, or release only spiraticly. The returns on investment for this industry are OK, but pretty microscopic when compared to the millions brought in by mainstream video games. Companies like
Draconis have to keep prices down, since many in the VI community have limited funds for entertainment. When that is combined with a lot of passing around of registration keys and other forms of piracy, it makes it difficult for industry leaders to develop titles that require the kind of resources needed for something like Resident Evil, to use your example. I would encourage gamers ...strongly, that if they enjoy the games, please don't pirate them. The time will come when you won't have any new games if you continue to do so. That gloom-and-doom scenario is a long way off yet, but not as far as someone might think in a industry as small as ours. *steps off soap box*
Ron :
Hey that will be in there. But what about steps like those taken by GMA with the individual codes? Wouldn't that, if not completely, prevent piracy or at least bring it to a minimum in the community? As opposed to a registration key that could unlock any downloaded game?
Josh :
well, yes, they cut down on piracy, but also at the inconvenience of the customer. I have, on more than one occasion, considered switching to a similar system that is tied into the user's hardware. I'm not comfortable with making things that difficult for both us and the customer...especially the customer. If you purchase a game, you should not have to jump through hoops to continue playing it when you upgrade.your computer system. Which, in this day in age, happens more and more frequently, with the speed of technology's improvements.
I don't support the recent controversy surrounding Sony's stealth methods for copy protecting CD's, crippling Windows and preventing you from enjoying the music on your iPods or other music players. I think that you have to walk a line between protecting your work, and punishing the majority of gamers, who really are honest and not pirating the games. Or at least, I like to think they are.
Ron :
Which I guess always could be like running the original pinball tables. It required the disc for more then the demo to work. So how viable is a system like that. Would the disc be easily copied?
Josh :
it is, and that is another method that I have considered and may eventually employ. Such methods are better than hardware tying, but I'm still not entirely sold on them. As a gamer myself, I am just like the rest of you. When I buy a game, I want as close to instant gratification as possible. I've paid my money, let me download the game and play! *grin*
Ron :
*l* I hear what you are saying completely! A set up like that is almost irritating if you've beat the demo and are chomping at the bit for the key to the rest of the game.
Josh :
Yes. And that is exactly how it was with MB when I first got that game. Waiting for the full version was excrutiating. Now, of course, we offer MB as a full unlockable download.
Ron :
well it's been a bit and I appreciate the time. I'm looking forward to having this in Audyssey! I can't think of anything much else, so if there are any comments or constructive criticisms I'm wanting to know. Things I didn't ask etc. Thanks tons Josh! The floor is open.
Dang I fibbed! What made you want to start up your own company instead of maybe working with a previously existing developer?
Josh :
LOL OK well, most of the accessible game companies are pretty small affairs, and none, to my knowledge, are hiring. It is a lot more creatively satisfying to work on your own projects, and to steer the ship, as it were. My business partner and I are both programmers, and have known one another for more than a decade. It made sense to start Draconis this way, and between volunteers and staff, we
probably have the biggest roster of any accessible game company out there.
As far as anything I'd like to add, I would like to encourage everyone to visit the Draconis Entertainment web site, sign up for the community forums, and tell us what you'd like to see in our products. Whether that is ideas or suggestions for future games, or updates and enhancements for existing titles. It's a great place to chat and get to know your fellow gamers, as well as the staff of Draconis.
Ron :
Right on, and I guess thus finishes the first for the upcoming Audyssey. Again I appreciate your time for doing this.
Josh :
no problem. Thanks for interviewing me. I'll make sure you get a newsupdate for the company before the next issue, which will likely be pretty lengthy by then.
Ron :
Sounds great and I look forward to putting it in for you.
Josh :
thanks.
Ron :
Well unless we work together it's pretty tough...
Josh :
agreed
+++
Fearless Flin Developer Diary: Part VI
By Michael Feir
The muse has come very rarely to me over the past few months. A two-week
illness certainly didn't help. There were plenty of other things as well
that I won't bore you with the details of. There should have been plenty of
time to get a lot more done. However, things just seemed to go against much
progress in anything over the past while. Whenever I had time to spare, I
didn't seem to have the drive and focus necessary to work on the game.
Whenever I felt I could have worked well, the rest of life seemed to find a
way to thwart me. Unlike last Summer where I feel I made substantial
accomplishments in other areas, there's nothing at all I can console myself
with this time. Writer's block is certainly frustrating.
One thing I have managed to do is read quite a large number of books. I have
yet to read through the whole video game history book I got from my parents.
That still no doubt has much to teach me. Perhaps, I needed to become
re-inspired. I found myself turning to favourite books and authors such as
Larry Niven's Dream Park trilogy, Raymond E. Feist's Rift War and Serpent
war sagas, David Brin's Uplift Wars books and most recently, Robert J.
Sawyer. He's a Canadian science fiction writer. Quite an interesting
collection. In a very real sense, many of these works have inspired me to
start creating games. They all feature people cooperating with each other
either to fight evil or to improve their collective circumstances. This
theme is at the core of Enchantment's Twilight and Fearless Flin. Recently,
I read an excellent article at:
about the best games being made by people trying to demonstrate core values
they've learned themselves as part of a figurative journey they've taken in
life. The quest to achieve balance seems to be my journey. I've been
exploring avenues to possibly spend more time with other people outside our
apartment so I feel more like I'm contributing to and connected with
society. These have included looking into volunteering at a distress centre
and attending a support group for blind people which has collapsed due to
lack of commitment. A lack of funds as well as no suitable transportation
prevent me from doing anything locally such as helping at a distress centre.
Until at least one of these conditions changes, it looks like I won't be
able to make much of a change in this area. Fresh stimulus and a certain
amount of exposure to other people are absolutely vital to the creative
process. Reading books, listening to radio/tv programs, etc, is certainly of
very high value and importance. However, there's a certain inescapable
frustration about being in a situation where I have an easier time getting
involved with communities of people online who I'll likely never actually
meet than I would have getting to know people in my community. I can write
articles and work on projects which will interest, engage or help many
people around the world, but have perhaps managed to similarly engage with
five or six people within driving distance. Welcome to the digital age.
Long-term compassionate thinking is what it will take to make our lives make
sense. Affordable housing and suitable transportation would make a world of
difference for my wife and I and would let us make a bigger difference for
others. That struggle is what's at the heart and soul of Fearless Flin. You'll
score plenty of points gathering treasures and completing quests by yourself
in the game. However, companions are at the core of the play. They will
assist Flin in his goals and Flin will find that guiding them to success or
promotion will reward him. Improving conditions in the arenas will similarly
be of benefit to everyone allied with Fearless Flin. I want my players to
have a sense of fun found in arcade adventures of the Gauntlet variety as
well as the sense of wondrous excitement and suspense found in cartoons such
as He-man. This means that players have to actually start to care about the
companions they can find. Any moral lessons will feel natural since the
actions of enemies are largely driven randomly. People shouldn't have a
sense of being spoon-fed a lesson on good citizenship. Rather, anything they
learn will flow naturally from the enemy's objectives and game play. For
example, take Shane R. Monroe's favourite vice of greed. Treasures will keep
on appearing in the arena as groups of them are retrieved. There are high
point rewards for collecting large numbers of these. However, while Flin is
concentrating on this, trolls will attack various helpful places such as the
forge or a royal castle. Nothing shouts: "Greed is bad!" at the player. Yet,
he/she may easily come to grasp this in a fundamental way through playing
the game.
I suppose one thing I have accomplished over the past few months is to win a
good deal of my motivation and determination back. I've come through a very
frustrating period, but as the holiday season draws near, I begin to feel
more on top of things. Sometimes, you have to step back and realise that you
can't solve all your problems no matter how hard you try. Time, friends,
family and faith can do a lot to help cope with life's dark spots once you
don't feel you have to tackle it all by yourself. That's one of my problems
at times. The design document has undergone another sixty or seventy small
changes mostly concerning companions and their associated items. I've also
picked out another forty or fifty sounds. Dave Greenwood released an update
to the Shades of Doom game which uses the engine I'll be using to create my
game. I've had some tremendous fun with it and have also gotten a good sense
of how a game with similar action to what I'm thinking of plays like using
the engine. I particularly like how grenades were implemented. Over the next
while, the design document gets my priority attention. I'd dearly love to
get it completely squared away by next quarter. However, I'm beginning to
wonder if I'll ever be completely satisfied with it. After this next while,
I'll really have to set some sort of limit on future changes.
Michael Feir
Creator and former Editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
E-mail:
+++
Game Announcements and Reviews:
Below are some of the new games available. Though an old treasure or
two may be discussed too. It's noteworthy that in some cases it's only
an announcement of a game, taken from the email list, and may not be a
full review, or an official notice from the developer. Reviews of games will not appear in any particular order. The only exception to this will be
when we have more than one review for a game. In this case, reviews will be placed consecutively so that it is easier to compare them.
++
Enemy Atack
Dreamtech interactive
A friend of mine is forwarding this to the list for me. I just uploaded version 2 of Enemy attack to my server, so everyone can
go download it.
Anyway, here is the URL to the file, it is a little more than 4 mb in size.
http://www.pb-games.com/enemy_attack_v2_setup.exe
http://www.pb-games.com/enemy_attack_v2_setup.exe>
++
Freekick
online freeware
Reviewed by Stephen Rogers
First off, let me tell the readers of this article, that I'm not a game player. I never could get into these text adventure games. I couldn't really get into the role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons and the like. The only games I got into were the fantasy sports games like Fantasy football, baseball, and basketball. The problems with these games is that it is all dependent on the manager's decision on how to play or who not to play. Freekick is better, because you have the choice of who to play, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Freekick is an online game. You sign up for it at freekick.org. If you sign upk, of course you need to put it a user name and password. You won't get a team right away, because, I guess, they have a limited number of slots. Some people, go bankrupt, or inactive and so after awhile, there team loses so much that they fall out of the lowest division. That's only my guess, as to why it takes a couple of days to get a team.
Now when you get your team, you need to read the manual, it is comprehensive enough, but there are forums where you can ask questions. You see, one of the things I love about freekick, is its comprehensiveness. You not only play the game, but you own it. From recruiting sponsors, to adding new seats to your arena, to buying and selling players, and if you do decide the v.i.p. function, to writing press releases about your club.
Ok, OK, so how do you start playing? There are 8 categories of statistics that you must keep track of. Scoring, offensive positioning, ball control, passing, aerial, const itution, tackling and defensive positioning. The current value is low and the potential value is high. So how do you raise those current values to a higher level? Well, they have a feature in the game where you can train your players. It has an a.m. and p.m. So in the morning, you could have one of your players train for passing and in the afternoon, you can have them train for scoring. You can do this for every player on your squad. You can have as many players on your team, but remember, each of these players has to be paid. When you go into your office, (one of the rooms) it will have an economy update. This will break down how much money you are paying out. It breaks it down into great detail. It even says how many people attended your matches and how many were turned away. This is where the arena comes into play. You can add a certain number of seats to your arena. If you give a number of seats that you want your arena to be expanded by, it will build seats equally between stands luxury terrace, etc. etc.
It is also incumbent to invest in the little league. The more you invest in the little leagues, the better your draft selection will be for your youth team. You don't have to do it. There are many 15-21 year olds that can be had for $100.00 That's strictly up to you.
Ok, Ok, you've explained about the various categories and such, but what about the game itself. You have two matches a week. A youth match on Saturday and a senior match on Sunday. There are also friendly matches. These are played on Thursday. The great thing about having a friendly match is that you can experiment with different strategies and put in different players that you might not want to use in your senior match. The senior match will have an effect on your league standings.
If you don't want to get bogged down on strategy, you could just have your assistant coach pick the best players for you. The match will go on as usual. If you want to be adventuresome, you could go ahead and make your own line-up. There are nine strategies, one of which you can employ. The one that is selected for you is variable. I'm not sure what that means. Then there is variable pressing. I guess this means that you push the ball up and down the field. Then there is pressing, opportunistic, opportunistic-stalling and a few others which I don't know, but I don't have to. This week, I'm using opportunistic-stalling because my team has a few decent scorers, but not much of a defense. I don't know how this is going to work.
Now understand, that I'm not a soccer officionotto, so I don't know all of the strategies of the game. However, you have for your offense forwards and strikers. The
Next players are your midfielders, you can either pick an offensive midfielder or a defensive midfielder, depending the make-up of your team. You also have your four defenders. You have left wingback, center wingback or right wingback, and, a sweeper. The sweeper is in the penalty area, right before the goal. He's the last line of defense before the goalee. However, you don't have to have the 4-2-4 formation. You can have 5-2-3 or 3-5-2 or 3-4-3. You can have one of your players mark another player. For instance if you know that a forward is a tremendous scorer, you might want someone to shadow him the entire game. For more information about the various match strategies and a cursory viewof what the role of players are, read the manual.
Now let me talk about with form. This was a hard concept for me to grasp, so I can hopefully explain it. They grade the players on form from excellent to awful. Why is this important? Let us say that you have a player that has awful form for a particular week, and another player that excellent form. The first player has better current statistics but the second player that has excellent form has worse numbers. Unless the current values for the player that has awful form far and away exceed the player' that has excellent form, you might be inclined to use the player that has excellent form even though his current numbers are worse.
Now, about buying and selling players. I haven't sold a player but I imagine it works the same way. There are always players on the market. When you go into the office there is a category called transfers. You can set this up to only look for a player with current statistics above a certain amount or a potential above a certain amount. Myself, I have the lowest values because I want to see the entire list. So let's say you've found that player that will help to turn your club around. You enter on his name it will show you the team he's playing for, and it willalso show you his current statistics. Not only for the current year, but for his entire career. It will show you if he's been in any world cup matches and what he's done in regular league matches. It will show you his current skill levels and his potential levels and what they might be. I've seen cases where the current potential of a player is lower than his actual current value. It happens because the manager of that particular team has just trained a player hard. Its like in any sport, how some players may have all the ability in the world but don't live up to there potential and in other cases, the player works to improve himself and gets the maximum and more out of himself. It will tell you about his experience, his personality and any notes the team that owns him might have. For instance, I saw one player and in the note concerning his playmaking ability they put Pelee. Now, everyone in the world knows who Pelee is, he's has the same name recognition of Babe Ruth. By the way, that player fetched the sum of $75,000. In selecting the player you are asked to put in a bid. It will not show you the highest bid, they will only show you the average bid. You are to bid what you feel the player is worth. So, if your bid is too low, you will be told, use your cursor keys to find it. If your bid is the highest bid, you will get the player in question. In either case, whether you get the player or not, you are sent a memo which told you how much you bid for a player and how much player went for. This can be quite helpful for future reference because if a player has certain statistics you begin to get a feel of how much the player is worth.By the way, if you subscribe to the v.i.p mgr, it will give you a bidding agent. And the agent will ask you percent above that you want to outbid your opponent but not to exceed, so you put in another figure.
Next, I want to tell you about making your screen reader more accessible to the game. Whatever screen reader you use, you must learn how to read tables. You must also use a frame viewer, like the one that jaws has. It's not absolutely necessary, but it will be helpful for you. One other thing, if, for instance you go and select to edit your line-up, once you do, it will open up another screen separate from the one you are working on, so you hit alt tab to get to that other screen. Maybe, this doesn't have to be said, but they have a save button, so you can change your line-up settings. You also must go into your jaws configuration screen. go into the options menu and enter on html options then hit control until you hear misc. then go until you hear page refresh filter you must suppress that option. You must then go to active ex controls where you must suppress that option as well. Of course, you must save these settings. One other thing, even after this, the pages might still refresh. Let's suppose you are in the forum list box. Hit alt down arrow and it will stop the screen from refreshing and then you can move the up and down arrows to read the list box. In the beginning, my time was broken down %75 figuring how to access the game fully and the other %25 was used to make decisions about the running of my team.
This should decrease since I've configured my screen reader to work with the freekick website.The reason for that, is that this game is so complex.
There is one especially great add on that I would get. It is free! It's called freekick personal assistant. It will help you set your line-up You can edit your line-up through this program. It also has a match agent which I'm not sure what it does and a training assistant where it will figure out for you in what areas your players would be best suited to train. Remember those categories?
There is another great resource on the newbie forum call the newbie's beginner guide. That I found most helpful. It also has a link in that article for the freekick personal assistant.
In conclusion, some of you might be put off by my own verbiage and talking about statistics, training schedules, finances, and the like. However, if you only want to spend one hour a week, you can do it. You must get yourself sponsors to run the team and you can let the personal assistant (assistant coach) pick your line-up for you. You will have an ok team, not great, possibly not good, but if you really want to win your league, or go into a higher division, it is incumbent for you to learn about the innerworkings of your team. Where your team's strengths and weaknesses are. You might think that I've been playing this game forever, I've only been playing it for two weeks.I love it! I'm hopelessly addicted to it. I can't wait for Thursday to see how I did in my friendly match, Saturday to see my youth team play. I wait with great anticipation to see my senior league play. If you want to know how your team did, they send you a match report. It goes into pretty great detail about how the game was played. It even grades the players. If I can, let me see about appending this article with a match report.
2005-11-12 Youth League Match at Almond FC's Arena.
2997 visitors (3 VIP, 150 Luxury, 999 Seats, 1845 Stand)
Club:
Almond FC
vs
neptune titans
Match Strategy:
Variation
Opportunistic
Preferred Side:
None
None
ST
Sanford Batz
Keenan Cothren
FW
Jake Fogleman
Lonnie Weisz
Shane Crumb
Heriberto Wallen
Chas Mccarron
LM
Willian Spear
CM
Sherman Pena
Weston Perine
RM
DM
Earl Kizer
Odell Eubank
Arden Beech
LB
Oliver Svensson
Jody Hasson
CB
Ronnie Gros
Armando Pires
Cleveland Espino
Bennie Polo
RB
SW
Carl Salmon
Ashley Tackett
GK
Amos Claybrooks
Jarred Whelchel
S
Avery Quinlan
Eloy Simons
Darrel Suhr
Chance Westlund
Arron Cardona
Otha Berrier
Stacy Kinkead
table end
Minute 3:
Chas Mccarron
of
A a lmond FC
made a short, weak pass to
Willian Spear
in the middle.
Odell Eubank
was there while
Oliver Svensson
was close.
Spear
made a decent reception, and
Eubank
made a decent challenge.
The tackle of
Eubank
sent the ball astray.
The ball was free!
Carl Salmon
was first at the ball, and cleared it to safety.
[0-0]
Minute 8:
Chas Mccarron
of
Almond FC
made a high, poor pass to
Keenan Cothren
at the left side of the pitch.
Due to weaknesses in the right defence and the right midfield of
neptune titans,
there was no one there to challenge him.
Cothren
was free.
Cothren
made a poor reception, and went for a volley.
Cothren
made a short, weak pass to
Lonnie Weisz
in the penalty area.
Cleveland Espino
was there while
Carl Salmon
was close.
Weisz
made a poor reception, and
Espino
made a poor challenge.
Weisz
took control of the ball.
Weisz
didn't get an opportunity to score.
He tried to dribble inside the penalty box with a decent dribble.
Espino
failed to halt the advance, even with the help of
Salmon.
Due to a weakness in the right defence of
neptune titans,
there was only one defender there to challenge him.
Weisz
was almost free as
Oliver Svensson
was close.
Weisz
made an awful dribble.
The dribble was so bad that he lost the ball.
The ball was free in the penalty box!
Carl Salmon
was first at the ball, and cleared it to safety.
[0-0]
Minute 10:
There was a chance to create an opportunity for
neptune titans,
but it was denied due to a weakness in the left midfield.
[0-0]
Minute 16:
Willian Spear
of
Almond FC
made a decent pass to
Lonnie Weisz
at the left side of the pitch.
Due to a weakness in the right defence of
neptune titans,
there was only one defender there to challenge him.
Weisz
was almost free as
Cleveland Espino
was close.
Weisz
made a weak reception, and took control of the ball.
Goal Attempt!
Weisz
unleashed an awful long shot!
Espino
failed to block the shot.
Weisz
missed the goal by a mile.
[0-0]
Minute 18:
Chas Mccarron
of
Almond FC
tried to get out of trouble with a decent pass.
Heriberto Wallen
of
neptune titans
failed to steal the ball with a decent challenge.
The ball was cleared to safety.
[0-0]
Minute 20:
Sherman Pena
of
Almond FC
made a short, decent pass to
Weston Perine
at the right side of the pitch.
Due to a weakness in the left midfield of
neptune titans,
there was only one defender there to challenge him.
Cleveland Espino
was there.
Perine
made a decent reception, and
Espino
made a weak challenge.
Perine
took control of the ball.
Perine
made a high, weak pass to
Keenan Cothren
in the penalty area.
Espino
failed to block the pass.
Cothren
was almost free as both
Carl Salmon
and
Earl Kizer
were close.
Cothren
made a decent reception, and went for a volley.
Goal Attempt!
Cothren
tried to score with a poor shot!
Salmon
blocked the shot, with the help of
Kizer,
and managed to clear the ball to safety.
[0-0]
Minute 26:
Keenan Cothren
of
Almond FC
tried to get out of trouble with a decent dribble.
Heriberto Wallen
of
neptune titans
failed to steal the ball with a weak challenge.
The ball was cleared to safety.
[0-0]
Minute 29:
There was a chance to create an opportunity for
neptune titans,
but it was denied due to a weakness in the right midfield.
[0-0]
Minute 33:
Willian Spear
of
Almond FC
made a high, poor pass to
Weston Perine
at the right side of the pitch.
Due to a weakness in the left midfield of
neptune titans,
there was only one defender there to challenge him.
Earl Kizer
was there.
Perine
made a poor reception, and
Kizer
made a decent challenge.
Kizer
managed to clear the ball to safety.
[0-0]
Minute 35:
Bennie Polo
of
Almond FC
broke free towards the right with a poor dribble.
Due to weaknesses in the left midfield and the right defence of
neptune titans,
there was no one there to challenge him.
Polo
was free.
Polo
made a weak dribble, and kept control of the ball.
Polo
made a decent pass to
Keenan Cothren
in the penalty area.
Carl Salmon
was close while
Cleveland Espino
was there.
Cothren
made a decent reception, and
Espino
made a decent challenge.
Cothren
took control of the ball.
Goal Attempt!
Cothren
tried to score with a decent shot!
Espino
failed to block the shot, even with the help of
Salmon.
Amos Claybrooks
between the posts was fooled, and he made a weak attempt to save the ball.
GOAL!
[1-0]
Minute 38:
Sherman Pena
of
Almond FC
tried to get out of trouble with an awful dribble.
Sanford Batz
of
neptune titans
stole the ball with a decent challenge.
Batz
made a pass towards the right side of the pitch.
Due to a weakness in the right midfield there was no one there to receive the ball.
The ball was free!
Jake Fogleman
was first at the ball, but
Arden Beech
was there.
Fogleman
made a decent attempt to get the ball under control, and
Beech
made a decent challenge.
Beech
managed to steal the ball.
Counterattack!
Arden Beech
of
Almond FC
made a poor pass to
Weston Perine
at the right side of the pitch.
Perine
made a weak reception, and took control of the ball.
Perine
made an awful pass to
Keenan Cothren
in the middle.
The pass was so bad that the ball was lost to
Odell Eubank.
Eubank
made a poor reception, and took control of the ball.
Counterattack!
Odell Eubank
of
neptune titans
made a decent pass to
Sanford Batz
at the right side of the pitch.
Batz
made an awful reception.
The reception was so bad that he lost the ball.
[1-0]
Minute 41:
Weston Perine
of
Almond FC
tried to get out of trouble with a poor pass.
Earl Kizer
of
neptune titans
stole the ball with a decent challenge.
Kizer
made a pass towards the right side of the pitch.
Due to a weakness in the right midfield there was no one there to receive the ball.
The ball was free!
Armando Pires
was first at the ball, but
Heriberto Wallen
was close.
Wallen
couldn't stop
Pires
from clearing the ball to safety.
[1-0]
Minute 42:
Chas Mccarron
of
Almond FC
made a short, weak pass to
Willian Spear
in the middle.
Spear
was almost free as
Earl Kizer
was too late while
Odell Eubank
was close.
Spear
made a decent reception, and took control of the ball.
Spear
made a high, poor pass to
Keenan Cothren
in the penalty area.
Eubank
failed to block the pass.
Cleveland Espino
was assisted by
Carl Salmon
in attempting to take
Cothren
down.
Cothren
made an awful reception, while
Espino
made a poor challenge.
Espino
managed to clear the ball to safety.
[1-0]
Minute 45:
neptune titans:
Shane Crumb
looked pretty tired.
HALF TIME
All players regained some stamina, and the coaches took another look at their match strategies.
neptune titans:
Shane Crumb
no longer looked pretty tired.
Minute 53:
Armando Pires
of
Almond FC
made a high, decent pass to
Weston Perine
in the middle.
Due to a weakness in the right defence of
neptune titans,
there was only one defender there to challenge him.
Perine
was free as
Odell Eubank
was too late.
Perine
made a decent reception, and went for a header.
Perine
made an awful pass to
Keenan Cothren
in the penalty area.
Carl Salmon
was close while
Cleveland Espino
was there.
Cothren
made a poor reception, and
Espino
made a poor challenge.
Espino
managed to clear the ball to a throw-in.
Throw-in
Bennie Polo
threw the ball to
Lonnie Weisz
at the right side of the pitch.
Oliver Svensson
was too late while
Odell Eubank
was there.
Weisz
made a poor reception, and
Eubank
made a good challenge.
Eubank
managed to clear the ball to safety.
[1-0]
Minute 57:
Keenan Cothren
of
Almond FC
tried to get out of trouble with a poor dribble.
Sanford Batz
of
neptune titans
stole the ball with a good challenge.
Batz
made a high, excellent pass to
Heriberto Wallen
at the right side of the pitch.
Wallen
was free as both
Arden Beech
and
Bennie Polo
were too late.
Wallen
made an awful reception.
The reception was so bad that he lost the ball.
The ball was free!
Jody Hasson
was first at the ball, and cleared it to safety.
[1-0]
Minute 58:
Keenan Cothren
of
Almond FC
made a short, good pass to
Weston Perine
in the middle.
Due to a weakness in the right defence of
neptune titans,
there was only one defender there to challenge him.
Perine
was almost free as
Earl Kizer
was close.
Perine
made a weak reception, and took control of the ball.
Perine
didn't get an opportunity to pass the ball forward.
He tried to dribble into the penalty box with a weak dribble.
Kizer
failed to halt the advance.
Carl Salmon
was assisted by
Oliver Svensson
in attempting to take
Perine
down.
Perine
made an awful dribble, while
Salmon
made an awful challenge.
Salmon
managed to clear the ball to safety.
[1-0]
Minute 61:
neptune titans:
Shane Crumb
looked pretty tired.
Minute 63:
neptune titans:
Carl Salmon
looked pretty tired.
Earl Kizer
looked pretty tired.
Minute 65:
Almond FC:
Weston Perine
looked pretty tired.
Chas Mccarron
looked pretty tired.
Minute 67:
Jody Hasson
of
Almond FC
tried to get out of trouble with a poor pass.
Odell Eubank
of
neptune titans
stole the ball with a good challenge.
Eubank
made a pass towards the right side of the pitch.
Due to a weakness in the right midfield there was no one there to receive the ball.
The ball was free!
Jake Fogleman
was first at the ball, but
Willian Spear
was there.
Fogleman
made a decent attempt to get the ball under control, and
Spear
made a weak challenge.
Fogleman
took control of the ball.
Fogleman
made a short, decent pass to
Shane Crumb
in the penalty area.
Spear
failed to block the pass.
Armando Pires
was assisted by
Arden Beech
in attempting to take
Crumb
down.
Crumb
made a decent reception, while
Pires
made a decent challenge.
The tackle of
Pires
sent the ball astray.
The ball was free in the penalty box!
Sanford Batz
was first at the ball, but
Sherman Pena
was there.
Batz
made an awful attempt to get the ball under control, and
Pena
made a weak challenge.
Pena
managed to clear the ball to safety.
[1-0]
Minute 68:
Willian Spear
of
Almond FC
made a poor pass to
Keenan Cothren
at the left side of the pitch.
Due to a weakness in the right defence of
neptune titans,
there was only one defender there to challenge him.
Cothren
was free as
Odell Eubank
was too late.
Cothren
made a decent reception, and took control of the ball.
Cothren
made a short, weak pass to
Lonnie Weisz
in the penalty area.
Weisz
was totally free with the goalie as both
Carl Salmon
and
Oliver Svensson
were too late.
Amos Claybrooks
left his goal to make an excellent interception.
He managed to get hold of the ball.
[1-0]
Minute 69:
Almond FC:
Jody Hasson
looked pretty tired.
Minute 71:
Almond FC:
Sherman Pena
looked pretty tired.
neptune titans:
Cleveland Espino
looked pretty tired.
Minute 72:
Sherman Pena
of
Almond FC
made a long, high, weak pass to
Lonnie Weisz
at the right side of the pitch.
Weisz
was almost free as both
Oliver Svensson
and
Odell Eubank
were close.
Weisz
made a poor reception, and went for a header.
Weisz
didn't get an opportunity to score.
He made a short, poor pass to
Keenan Cothren
in the penalty area.
Svensson
failed to block the pass, even with the help of
Eubank.
Ronnie Gros
was assisted by
Carl Salmon
in attempting to take
Cothren
down.
Cothren
made a poor reception, while
Gros
made a poor challenge.
Cothren
took control of the ball.
Goal Attempt!
Cothren
tried to score with a weak shot!
Gros
failed to block the shot, even with the help of
Salmon.
Cothren
missed the goal by inches.
[1-0]
Minute 73:
neptune titans:
Sanford Batz
looked pretty tired.
Minute 74:
neptune titans:
Oliver Svensson
looked pretty tired.
Minute 75:
Sherman Pena
of
Almond FC
made a short, weak pass to
Willian Spear
at the right side of the pitch.
Due to a weakness in the left midfield of
neptune titans,
there was only one defender there to challenge him.
Spear
was almost free as
Earl Kizer
was close.
Spear
made a weak reception, and took control of the ball.
Spear
made a short, weak pass to
Weston Perine
in the penalty area.
Kizer
failed to block the pass.
Carl Salmon
was assisted by
Ronnie Gros
in attempting to take
Perine
down.
Perine
made an awful reception, while
Salmon
made an awful challenge.
Salmon
managed to clear the ball to a corner kick.
Corner Kick
Keenan Cothren
stepped up to deliver the corner kick from the left.
He made a high, decent pass to
Arden Beech
in the penalty area.
Oliver Svensson
was there.
Beech
made an awful reception, and
Svensson
made a decent challenge.
Svensson
managed to clear the ball to safety.
[1-0]
Minute 75:
neptune titans:
Ronnie Gros
looked pretty tired.
Minute 76:
Willian Spear
of
Almond FC
tried to get out of trouble with a weak pass.
Odell Eubank
of
neptune titans
failed to steal the ball with a weak challenge.
The ball was cleared to safety.
[1-0]
Minute 76:
Almond FC:
Lonnie Weisz
looked pretty tired.
neptune titans:
Odell Eubank
looked pretty tired.
Minute 78:
Almond FC:
Armando Pires
looked pretty tired.
neptune titans:
Jake Fogleman
looked pretty tired.
Minute 79:
Willian Spear
of
Almond FC
made a long, high, weak pass to
Keenan Cothren
at the right side of the pitch.
Due to a weakness in the left midfield of
neptune titans,
there was only one defender there to challenge him.
Oliver Svensson
was there.
Cothren
made a poor reception, and
Svensson
made a decent challenge.
Svensson
managed to clear the ball to safety.
[1-0]
Minute 80:
Almond FC:
Keenan Cothren
looked pretty tired.
Minute 81:
Almond FC:
Willian Spear
looked pretty tired.
Bennie Polo
looked pretty tired.
Minute 82:
Almond FC:
Arden Beech
looked pretty tired.
Minute 83:
neptune titans:
Shane Crumb
looked extremely tired!
Minute 84:
Chas Mccarron
of
Almond FC
tried to get out of trouble with a poor pass.
Odell Eubank
of
neptune titans
stole the ball with a decent challenge.
Eubank
made a pass towards the left side of the pitch.
Due to a weakness in the left midfield there was no one there to receive the ball.
The ball went straight to
Sherman Pena.
Pena
made a decent reception, and managed to clear the ball to safety.
[1-0]
Minute 87:
neptune titans:
Carl Salmon
looked extremely tired!
Earl Kizer
looked extremely tired!
Minute 88:
neptune titans:
Heriberto Wallen
looked pretty tired.
Minute 90:
Sherman Pena
of
Almond FC
made a weak pass to
Keenan Cothren
at the left side of the pitch.
Due to a weakness in the right defence of
neptune titans,
there was only one defender there to challenge him.
Cothren
was free as
Oliver Svensson
was too late.
Cothren
made a poor reception, and took control of the ball.
Cothren
made a short, decent pass to
Lonnie Weisz
in the penalty area.
Weisz
was almost free as both
Cleveland Espino
and
Carl Salmon
were close.
Weisz
made a decent reception, and took control of the ball.
Goal Attempt!
Weisz
tried to score with a poor shot!
Espino
failed to block the shot, even with the help of
Salmon.
Weisz
missed the goal.
[1-0]
Minute 90:
Almond FC:
Weston Perine
looked extremely tired!
Chas Mccarron
looked extremely tired!
Table with 6 columns and 5 rows
Club:
Almond FC
neptune titans
Opportunities:
14
(58%)
10
(42%)
Goal Attempts:
5
0
Shots on Goal:
1
0
Final Score:
1
0
table end
Minute
35:
Keenan Cothren
(
Bennie Polo)
1
-
0
Table with 9 columns and 19 rows
Almond FC
Performance
neptune titans
Performance
Keenan Cothren
FW 90'
Dominant
*****
Sanford Batz
ST 90'
Average
**
Lonnie Weisz
FW 90'
Average (-)
**
Jake Fogleman
FW 90'
Average
**
Chas Mccarron
LM 90'
Insignificant
*
Shane Crumb
FW 90'
Insignificant
*
Willian Spear
CM 90'
Average
**
Heriberto Wallen
FW 90'
Insignificant
*
Sherman Pena
CM 90'
Average
**
Earl Kizer
DM 90'
Average
**
Weston Perine
RM 90'
Insignificant
*
Odell Eubank
DM 90'
Dominant
*****
Arden Beech
LB 90'
Significant
***
Oliver Svensson
LB 90'
Average
**
Jody Hasson
CB 90'
Insignificant
*
Ronnie Gros
CB 90'
Insignificant
*
Armando Pires
CB 90'
Average (+)
**
Cleveland Espino
CB 90'
Average
**
Bennie Polo
RB 90'
Average (-)
**
Carl Salmon
SW 90'
Important
****
Ashley Tackett
GK 90'
Average
**
Amos Claybrooks
GK 90'
Average
**
As you can see, the match report really does go into great detail. I hope you enjoyed the review and I hope everybody signs up at freekick.org.
Stephen Rogers.
++
Hi gang,
Just wanted to let you all know about this Harry Potter game I ran across.
It allows you to role play in the HP universe, fighting forest creatures,
wandering around the campus and towns, and conversing with other players.
The wife and I have been really enjoying it the last couple of days, and
because the game is web based, there is no need for a download or anything,
and it works very well with screenreaders.
The url is http:www.hogwartslive.com
Two quick tips:
Set up short cuts with your screenreader so you can jump from the section
of the pages that allow you to make decisions to the section that informs
you of what is going on. The game is free, but unfortunately contains ads
on the pages, absolutely no spyware or anything.
Secondly, once you make your character, go to the bank and borrow as much
as you can before purchasing a wand and cloak.
Also, make sure you read the FAQ, as it will answer most anything you need
to
know about the game.
Good luck, and send me an OWL when you get on, my name on there is Shay.
I am currently a second year.
Later,
Che
++
Hello to all the blind gamers and sighted frends
If you have internet capability and enjoy roll playing type games; then the
following information could be of interest to you. It's an opportunity to
get in on the ground floor as one of the first players in a fresh game.
This is a game that I and two other people set up.
The game is Legend of the Green Dragon. It's an internet version of Legend
of the Red Dragon, a very popular game from the old bulletin board systems.
The web address for the game is:
www.velvets-dragon-hideaway.net
Be sure to include the dash between each of the words or just click on the
link above. This will bring you to the front page where you will find a link
to play the game as well as links to contact the administrators of the game.
Hit "enter" or click on the link "Click here to play Legend of the Green
Dragon" to begin the game.
The first thing you will need to do is register and create your character.
At this point JFW users will need to make sure the navigation keys are
turned off. You do this by hitting insert-shift-v to bring up the dialogue
box and arrow down to navigation keys, hit space to turn them off and then
hit tab until you come to close. Close the box to save the settings for the
page.To begin you'll be asked for the name of your character, a password and
your e-mail address. Once this information is entered you can hit the enter
key to create your character. The game will tell you that your character is
created and take you to the "log-in" screen. You can now log-in using the
character name and password you just entered and begin playing the game.
The first time you enter the game you will be asked which race and skills
your character will have. You will begin on an island which is a training
area.You have enough gold to purchase your first armor and weapon. On the
island there's a small village to explore and a forest to hunt creatures to
kill for gold and experience. There's a training master where you can raise
your level. While on the island the creatures can injury you but they will
not kill you. You can stay on the island until you complete level 4 then you
have to leave the island and go forth in search of more challenging
adventures. Although it is not recommended, you can leave the island before
you complete level 4.
When you're ready to leave the island you build a raft and sail to the
mainland. You'll find yourself in Your home town according to the race you
chose at the beginning of the game. This town is where you'll find the
training master you need for the remaining levels. The mainland has several
towns to explore. Each town has it's own shops, places of employment,
forests and more for you to investigate. There's rewards to be had but
there's lots of danger too. You can even chat with and kill other players.
Oh dear, you've gotten yourself killed! Well it's not the end of the game.
There's adventure in the graveyard too. You may even be able to revive
yourself and continue in the real world.
Well, that's a summary of the game. The site is under development and there
will be changes from time to time. If you have any questions, comments, or
suggestions you can contact the administrators using the links on the front
page or you can send an e-mail to one of the links below.
swampy@velvets-dragon-hideaway.net
lingo@velvets-dragon-hideaway.net
velvet@velvets-dragon-hideaway.net
We wish you luck and hope you enjoy the game.
Tom Klaus, Aka Lingo as I'm known on the game.
++
Harry Potter online games
Unfortunately, I don't know of any Harry Potter interactive fiction, but
there are some Harry Potter role-playing games going on.
If you want to check them out, try www.rpol.net. You can search for games
there.
I searched for titles that have Harry Potter or Hogwarts in the title. A
few came up. Some are more active than others.
Hogwarts: Love and Virtues
*
Narrator
Fantasy
446
09:59, Today
Hogwarts:A Magical Adventure(D20 MODIFIED)
*
Albus Dumbledore
Fantasy
253
11:07, Wed 30 Nov
Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
*
Professor Salamander
Fantasy
20
21:00, Sat 26 Nov
Hogwarts: the Orb of Mysteries
*
Storyteller
Contemporary
1054
11:06, Today
Hogwarts: Behind Closed Doors
*
Potter
Fantasy
251
20:12, Fri 02 Dec
++
Thank you for your interest in Top Speed. Among the new features of Top Speed 2 are :
- more cars,
- the ability to race against computer opponents
- the ability to race against other people on a local network or via the internet
- support for steering wheels with force feedback
- a elaborate options menu to customize various settings
- the ability to create your own cars and tracks
- probably some stuff I'm forgetting right now.
Your next question probably is when will it be ready? Well, we're ironing out the last bugs now but we have a serious one (a crash). It's hard to tell when
this will be solved, but I will update the site soon to inform everyone.
Happy racing!
Davy
++
Hyborian War
Hyborian War is a game based on the world of Conan, where you get to play one of the great nations of that time, from well-known lands such as Aquilonia
and Stygea to tiny little nations such as Kush, Punt and Uttara Kuru. I used to play, years ago, when this was a paper game conducted through the U.S.
mail, but nowadays, you can submit your turns on-line, and I believe that your turn reports are sent to you electronically. This is a pay to play game,
like all of the games run by Reality Simulat ions (and they do have several).
If you're interested in strategy games, Reality Simulations might have something to interest you. And I might even start back in their next game of Hyborian
War, as it was a lot of fun. And you get to play with people from all over the world who are like-minded.
Like any game designed for the sighted (or rather, without ever thinking about blind people in the first place), you need to pay careful attention to the
games and ask good questions before you start. For instance, Hyborian War has a map, last I recall, that showed all the provinces in the game, and what
countries they bordered. As I couldn't read this map, I had to enlist a sighted person to describe to me which regions bordered what, but I made a text-based
map from that, and only ever had to ask once.
Other games, such as It's a Crime (where you create and try to elevate a New York City gang), require even less adaptation, with rules on-line, cheap turn
fees, and easy to write turn cards.
Why do I bring all of this to everyone's attention? Probably because I want others to know about the great games out there that I discovered, many of which
are actually quite playable, especially nowadays, with on-line rules, electronic submission of turns and the like.
Hyborian War and other play-by-mail games can be found at www.reality.com.
It's a Crime can be found at:
++
Toodle tiles
Toodle tiles
Tootle tiles mahjong game is in public beta from American Printing House.
You can listen to a review of the game by Larry Skutchan at
Look for
bct124ToodleTilesBeta.mp3
It is 15 mb in size.
Or you can go to
fill out the beta agreement and download the game that is
55 mb in size.
Tootle tiles uses the basic tiles and strategies of the ancient mahjong
game, in which you attempt to match 72 pairs of tiles in a stack five
levels deep.
This game is made more accessible for people with low vision by replacing
the
Chinese characters on the traditional tiles with simple, bright,
high-contrast
graphics.
The game is accessible to people who are blind by adding a speech component
that announces the name of each tile as the person moves to it.
The beta comes with four different tile sets, the traditional Chinese one
and another with 36 kinds of bugs and another with 36 kinds of fruits and
vegetables.
Plus one more set with 36 shapes and people and properties from the village
of Emuville.
From the main menu you can pick the tile set to play with by hitting alt
plus s.
You may wish to subscribe to the Toodle Tiles email list. This list
lets you speak to other users and directly to the developers of the product
and
provides you an opportunity to make suggestions and observations that can
help
the product improve.
To join the Toodle Tiles email list, send an email message to
and put the word subscribe in the subject line of
the message.
++
Hey people,
Since some of you wanted it, I have now released the tic tac toe game, as well as it's source code. It is totally audio based, and you can play both against
a friend on the same computer, or against someone all the way across the earth online. Go check it out and feel free to give me some feedback. And feel
free to play with the code as much as you want!
Regards
Philip Bennefall
++++
Contacting Us
All material to be included in future issues of Audyssey should be sent
to me at the following address:
Ron Schamerhorn
1180 Dorval Dr. #303
Oakville On L6M 3G1
[905]-842-1933
for MSN no email.
Brenda Green is the co moderator. Her efforts on behalf of the Audyssey
community are very much appreciated. She can be contacted at:
Kevin, co-owner/moderator of the blind gamers discussion list also
helps out greatly with the community and can be contacted at the
following email/msn:
+++
Distribution Information and Submission Policies
This magazine is published on a quarterly basis, each issue appearing
no earlier than the fifteenth of the publication month for its quarter.
All submissions to be published in an issue must be in my possession a
minimum of two days before the issue is published. I use MS-Word to
produce Audyssey, and can therefore accept submissions in pretty much
any format. They may be sent either on a 3.5-inch floppy disk, or via
e-mail to:
Please write articles and letters about games or game-related
topics which interest you. They will likely interest me, and your
fellow readers. This magazine should and can be a
highly interesting and qualitative look at accessible gaming. To insure
that high quality is maintained, I'll need your
written contributions. I reserve the right to unilaterally make changes
to submissions if I deem it necessary to improve them grammatically or
enhance their understand ability. I will never make changes which will
alter the spirit of a submission.
All submissions must be in English. However, people need not be great
writers to have their work appear in Audyssey.
Many of our community come from different countries. Others are quite
young. Where possible, I try to preserve their
different styles of expression. The richness that this adds to the
Audyssey experience far outweighs any benefits
gained from having everything in prose so perfect as to be devoid of
life. Audyssey is a community and magazine built
on the need for blind people to have fun. There are no formal
structural requirements for submissions. Within reason,
they may be as long as necessary. Game reviews should all clearly state
who created the game being examined, where it
can be obtained, whether it can be played without sighted assistance,
and any system requirements or other critical
information. Although profanity is by no means banned, it should not be
used gratuitously. Submissions not published
in a current issue will be reserved for possible use in future issues
if appropriate.
* Those who are on the Audyssey discussion list should be aware that I
often put materials from the list in the "Letters" section if I feel
that they warrant it. Anything posted to this discussion list that in
some way stands out from the common and often lively ongoing discourse
will be considered fair game for publishing unless it contains the
author's wish that it not be published. From now on, it is now
officially a policy of the Audyssey
community.
This magazine is free in its electronic form, and will always remain
so. I'm writing this magazine as much
for my own interest as for everyone else's. Your articles, reviews, and
letters, as well as any games you might care to send me, are what I'm
after. Send any games, articles, letters, or reviews via E-mail, or on
a cd or 3.5-inch disk in a self- addressed mailer if you want your
media returned to you. Please only send shareware or freeware games. It
is illegal to send commercial games unless you are their creator or
have obtained permission to do so. By sending me games, you will do
several things: first, and most obviously, you will earn my gratitude.
You will also insure that the games you send me are made available to
my readership as a whole. If you can, I recommend that you send e-mail.
I can send and receive attachments with ease. This way, no money will
be wasted sending me a game I already have, and you'll get my reply
more quickly. You are responsible for shipping costs. That means,
either use a disk mailer which has your address on it, and is either
free matter for the blind, or is properly stamped. I can and will
gladly spare time to share games and my knowledge of them, but cannot
currently spare money above what I spend hunting for new games. I
encourage all my readers to give my magazine to whoever they think will
appreciate it. Up-load it onto web pages and bulletin board systems.
Copy it on disk for people, or print it out for sighted people who may
find it of value. The larger our community gets, the more
self-sustaining it will become.
Those who want to receive issues of Audyssey as they are published
should send a blank E-mail to:
Audysub-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
The Audyssey discussion list facilitates discussion about games
accessible to the blind between the publication of issues of Audyssey.
All are welcome as long as they respect their fellow community members
and keep in mind that the topic of the list is supposed to be games.
Other topics are allowed within reason as long as they don't begin to
monopolize the list traffic for too long. Newcomers should be advised
that traffic is frequently fairly heavy. Anyone participating in the
discussion list will have issues of Audyssey automatically sent to them
via E-mail. Representatives from all major developers of games for the
blind are actively participating on the list. There are two moderators
keeping things civil and orderly. Be certain to read the Audyssey
Community Charter as all list members are expected to follow its rules.
If you want an active role in shaping the future of accessible games,
this is where you can dive right in. To subscribe to this discussion
list, send a blank message to:
blindgamers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Stan Bobbitt has made Audyssey Magazine available in HTML format for
easy on-line browsing. To take advantage of this, you are invited to
visit our home-page. People can easily and quickly navigate through the
various articles and reviews, and directly download or visit the sites
of the games that interest them. This will be of especial benefit for
sighted people who wish to make use of Audyssey and/or join the growing
community surrounding it. The Audyssey community thanks Mr. Bobbitt for
his continued efforts on its behalf in this matter.
Darren Duff also provides a home for Audyssey.
http://www.angelfire.com/music4/duffstuff/audyssey.html
Where the issues can be read, downloaded individually or one zip file
of all the issues. Thanks Darren!
Another site has recently added Audyssey issues to its resources. We
welcome:
Note the dash in the below address.
to the Audyssey community and hope that visitors to this site find our
resource to be of value to them.
Also another place to find both the issues of the magazine and the links to the games is
http://www.audiogames.net/page/audyssey
Again our thanks.