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Audyssey Issue 54
Audyssey;
Games Accessible to the Blind
Issue : 54
Edited by Ron Schamerhorn
Fun, Friendship, Knowledge, Charity
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Welcome
Welcome to the 50th 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.
In this publication Ive attempted to pack in a whole bunch of great information about gaming and the ongoing
developments that are taking place, also Im pleased to say as far as Im aware this time we have an Audyssey first!
So read on!
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.
+++
Contents:
Welcome
>From The Editor
Letters
Top 10 accessible games
The Golden Geyser D&D gaming session edited by Phil Vlasak
Sarah Goode and the castle of witchcraft and wizardry Chapter one by Phil Vlasak
News From Game Developers
Phils funnies
Game Announcements and Reviews
Contacting Us
Distribution Information and Submission Policies
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>From the editor
Hello to all
I realize its been awhile since my last issue. However this has provided the chance to really put a good one
together. Ive taken an editorial stand here and kept back a few part of this issue in order to make the spring issue
at least have some content.
Also lately the two biggest reasons are one my email client crashed and Ive been attempting to retrieve any email I
can from that to include in the magazine. If there is someone who might be able to extract from a dbx Id happily
hear from you.
As well as personally circumstances have changed. I wont go into any amount of detail as to why but personally
2008 the second half was not the best time of my life.
You may notice the chatting with creators section doesnt appear this time and again see above. I want to see the
publication get back on track here. Which I fully believe the next issue will for certain be.
Ive tried to pick and choose the really good/informative emails that have come my way. Most of which some readers
may see as being a repeat of the general discussion list of Audyssey. Though If that is all one has to work with you do
your best to make lemonade from the lemons and cross your fingers. I think all the sections turned out pretty well, and
Chatting with creators as well as the specific game reviews will return. I hope that section has been well received by
you all.
Anytime you want to write saying maybe a suggestion helped in playing a game, or if you know a method of making a game
easier to play Im ready for it. It might sound like Im harping but lets hear your thoughts! What did you
think of a game [and it doesnt matter if its new or been talked about before], Maybe youve found something
quite good on one of the console systems thatd be awesome! I view this magazine as a team effort and everyones
help makes it that much better.
+++
Letters
In this section the content is taken from the list primarily, but may also include something I receive directly.
Generally these are of course game related, but perhaps not a review or announcement as such. Sometimes it might just
be someones thoughts about a game or genre of game. I hope these prove interesting and informative.
++
Hi all,
If there are any, I'd love to hear stories like what I had in my
Article. Where you put on Nintendo games and you had no idea what they were?
Like my example with the game with the jewels and the blocks, and there was
also a game called Ninja 3 where the one button sounded maybe like a sword
and the other button was to jump, but to me it always sounded so funny!
Also is it just me, but when you've finished writing an article, you think
"wow, this article is so long" but when it comes in the mag, you just read
it and then think "wow, this article is actually not too long." It's like
writer's nerves or something, or when a person writes an article, the
thought a person puts in makes the article seem long?
Ari
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Hi all.
I don't usually post stuff I pull from blogs unless it means something.
However this post from andrelouis is a demo of the wiemote on the actual nentendo system.
I know there has yet to be a demo of this, now there is.
http://tbrn.net/voiceposts/voicepost_Onj&Kirsten-04-01-2009_-_Wii_demonstration.ogg
Note the link is mega long+ However it does demo the system and a few games at least in sound quite well but does lack
accessible explanations for whats happening..
++
Hi Tom.
This is a case where I'd absolutely apply to the spirit of the ethical
thinking behind the initial law, not the law itself.
To give a symple example of this sort of thinking, ---- one in fact from
Mary Warnock's book on ethics (herself both an ethicist and member of the
house of lords), imagine a law banning all vehicles from a park.
Following this law strictly, this would not only count cars and trucks, but
also vehicles such as bicycles and skateboards.
Someone could reasonably argue that the spirit of the law, ---- allowing
people to enjoy a public park without fear of being run over or disturbence
from motor noise, is not being violated by the use of a skateboard.
In this symple case the law can just be changed appropriately, --- -but in
the case of copywrite law as you've said yourself, the case isn't that
symple.
My own thinking on this subject is that copywrite law is to A, prevent
plagerism or taking of creddit for someone else's work, and B, allow a
commercial enterprise to receive some sort of payment for the creative
service of providing said copywrited material (often in my humble opinion this gets extreme
with large corperations and hollywood, but that's another debate entirely).
Obviously here we're mostly concerned with option B.
My thinking is that a company or individual cannot claime any legitimate
loss of prophit and/or due creddit where they themselves do not seak to
obtain any.
While there are cases, --- such as when I tried to buy a dvd of the Lion
King this Christmas to find it utterly unavailable sinse a remastered
version is in the works, where a creative project may be unavailable for a
comparatively short time, in these casis the company has a vested interest
in stating that the creative project will be available.
In casis such as infocom, old games and out of print books however, this
arguement does not apply.
Of course there has to be a reasonable delay before things become public
domain, ---- in the publishing industry for example it ranges from country
to country to anything betwene 30 and 50 years after the author's death,
however in these days of fast communication and easy distribution, it
strikes me the delay should be much shorter.
This is why i've frequently donated to things like project.aon and some of
my favourite websites,while at the same time I freely admit I have quite a
bit of copywrited material kicking around.
Btw, Applied to disability, there is also the huge mire of access. For the
past 20 years, copywrite law and the greed of the publication industry who
may or may not wish to release overpriced audio versions of books has played
a massive part in unavailability of audio in the Uk.
While the situation is slowly improving, it's a long long long way
behind what it is in the states.
Accessible computer games I'd view in a similar light I think. Afterall,
it's not as if we can all go out and make money for activision's successors
by buying their latest games.
Beware the Grue!
Dark.
++
up on my podcast at
http://feeds.feedburner.com/liamsland
is a demo of my x box, as well as a couple games.
check it out
Liam
++
Hi Folks
This is an article about the game AudiOdyssey ,
See Me, Hear Me: A Video Game for the Blind
Students have released a video game that makes it possible for visually
impaired people to get in on the action. Match the clapping beats, and
clubgoers dance.
By ABBY ELLIN
Published: December 26, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/education/edlife/ideas-blindvideo-t.html
A version of this article appeared in print on January 4, 2009, on page ED20
of the New York edition.
++
Hi Folks,
Slightly off topic but for those who have games that allow imported mp3
songs to be played as background music,
iTunes announced today that by April, there will no longer be DRM
restrictions on the music sold in the iTunes store, and most music
will be sold without DRM immediately. Here's an article about it.
http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/01/apple-promises.html
Very cool!
I hope I can convince David Greenwood to add this capability to the GMA game
engine.
Phil
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Hi all
The following quiz is pretty long and hard. It consists of 50 questions about the year in review and how well you paid
attention.
Do you remember? Take the 2008 news quiz
Take msnbc.com's end-of-year brainteaser and see how much you recall.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28114969/from/ET/
ps. i got 64%.
++
Hi
Which Warcraft game do you mean *exactly* ? See list below:
Warcraft Computer games
a.. Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994) - real-time strategy game
b.. Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (1995)
a.. Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal (1996) - expansion pack to Tides of Darkness
b.. Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition (1999) - allowed online play of Warcraft II on Battle.net
c.. Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans - adventure game, cancelled
d.. Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002)
a.. Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne (2003) - expansion pack to Reign of Chaos
e.. World of Warcraft (2004) - MMORPG
a.. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (2007) - expansion pack to World of Warcraft
b.. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (2008) - second expansion to World of Warcraft
Warcraft Tabletop games
a.. Warcraft: The Board Game - strategic board game from Fantasy Flight Games, based heavily on Warcraft III
b.. Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game - role-playing game from Sword & Sorcery
c.. World of Warcraft: The Board Game - board game based on World of Warcraft, also by Fantasy Flight Games
d.. World of Warcraft: The Adventure Game - board game based on World of Warcraft, also by Fantasy Flight Games
e.. World of Warcraft Miniatures Game - a miniature war game based on World of Warcraft, by Upper Deck Entertainment.
Warcraft Collectible card games
a.. World of Warcraft Trading Card Game - 2006
Assuming you mean World of Warcraft, there are original features in the game as well as several addons that may help
making it (slightly) more accessible for a few visual disabilities. One is Color Blind 4.0 (
http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info6395-ColorBlind4.0.html )
which makes the game accessible for color blind players.
To enlarge fonts you can use Clearfont2 (
http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/clear-font2.aspx ).
The Dominos addon (
http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info9085-Do
minos.html ) allows you to scale your action bar buttons.
Scale Everything (
http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info10292-ScaleEverything.html )
lets you scale all dialog frames. There are more addons out there for scaling other stuff. Simply do a Google search and
check out WowInterface. I haven't tried most of these addons myself, though. You can also code your own addons (there's
a HUGE community out there, so you could also post your question on a forum and have someone else help with building or
build
the addon).
"Scaling" the gameworld (where your avatar walks around) is not really present in an addon since WoW allows the player
to zoom the camera with the mouse
scrollwheel, from 1st person to 3rd person, far away. WoW also features a neat feature called "follow". If you select
follow and then click another character (for instance a fellow party member) your character will follow that other
character automatically. You can probably write a simple macro (= an in-game script written in simple programming
language,
which for instance you can assign a keyboard key to execute the action "follow <party leader> = ON" or something).
Macros are actually very powerful and could assist in making WOW a whole lot more accessible. Unfortunately Macros can
be used to 'cheat', for instance, someone could program a macro to make an avatar
automatically fight. This way someone could simply start the game and leave it on with the macro running for a couple of
days/weeks and then return to have a high level character. So the functionality of
macros was cut back a lot in the past :(
But even with all the addons and macros that are out there, there is not yet a blind-accessible addon/macro that makes
the game accessible. I've been looking into this in the past and found none, although I discovered that there are some
possibilities. For instance, it is possible to simply play sound external files in the game with a simple macro:
/run PlaySoundFile("Interface\\AddOns\\PlayMe\\PlayMe.mp3"
This script runs the file PlayMe.mp3 located in the PlayMe addon folder. This way it is possible to record sound files
for everything in the game (a huge task, which could be sped up with recording speech synths reading textfiles and batch
processing for cutting it up - still a huge task with the 100.000+ items/options/etc. in WoW). But since using macros
not very handy [1] this should really be done in an Addon. I think you can also play sound files from addons, since the
Shared Media addon (
http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/shared-media-blizzard.aspx)
supposedly can do this. The addon should then be able to capture in-game events, such
as when the player presses the TAB-key (automatically selects the most nearby enemy), and on the in-game event play a
sound file (for example "Level 36 Troll"). If this is possible I don't know. Mmm... I guess I'll visit the Addon Dev
Community forum (
http://wowinterface.com/community.php )
and make some inquiries about what is possible.
Hope this shed some light on the accessibility of WoW for blind gamers...
Best regards,
Richard (
http://www.audiogames.net)
[1] You then need to connect all keyboard keys to the actionbar buttons, and add macroscripts for each button. Meaning
that every time you gain a new spell/ability, you need to add such a sound script (and since WoW is not screenreader
accessible, so when you are blind you can't do this yourself).
+++
Top 10 Accessible Games
As promised, the Top Ten Accessible Games as voted for by you are now
published!
They're on Day 19 of the Action for Blind People Advent Calendar.
http://www.actionforblindpeople.org.uk
Don't forget to leave your comments and a big thank-you to all those who
voted.
Jason Bell
Digital Media Officer
Action for Blind People
Tel: 0207 635 4902
Fax: 0207 635 4899
www.actionforblindpeople.org.uk
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Some people will not go to a site just to find the game list.
I hope you don't mind me listing it below.
Top Ten Accessible Games
Over the past month we have been running a poll on the Action website to
determine the Top Ten accessible games.
To keep things simple and to avoid any confusion we stuck to only two
categories - free or commercial and we have the top 5 results for each. All
accessible PC games, including online games and interactive fiction were
included. So, without further ado, here are the eagerly awaited results;
Top 5 Free Games
1. Top Speed 2
2. Sound RTS
3. Technoshock
4. Super Deekout
5. Star Trek Final Conflict
Top 5 Commercial Games
1. GMA Tank Commander
2. Shades of Doom
3. Judgement Day
4. Sarah and the castle of witchcraft and wizardry
5. Super Liam
It is with special thanks to Dark at audiogames.net and the Audyssey
discussion list for their advice and contributions in producing this list.
+++
Dungeons and Dragons
The Golden Geyser
edited by Phil Vlasak
This Dungeons and Dragons adventure is in the public Gamer's room
on Audio-Tips, Sunday night at eight o'clock Eastern time.
Audio-Tips is at:
www.audio-tips.com
Note: This story contains graphic descriptions of violence. It therefore may not be suitable for younger readers.
Dungeon Masters: Shelley Proulx and John Proulx
DM-played characters:
Strumblor and Drumblor, are two dwarven bards, who's unique attitudes are
not well-received.
Aurora Flagstone is an invocation specialist who is currently employed by
the Tourism and Information Center in Imor.
Judith Scarsdale, is a strong-willed young woman, and perhaps even a force
of nature.
Ashley Scarsdale, is a student at the School of Wizardry at Imor University
Player Characters in alphabetical order
Kessa, a Halfling Female, priestess of Sedrick.
Li-Jorus, Gnome ,Male, Thief.
Ralnar, Dwarf ,Male, Fighter.
SniffWind , Half-elf,male, Bard, Herald.
Thorodin , Half-elf,Male, Mage.
Tripper Leebow, Human,Male, Druid.
WildFire, Elf, male, Fighter.
Everyone rendezvoused back at the Red Dragon Inn, and decided that they
would not wait for Tripper, and would go ahead to the party at the Golden
Geyser in honor of Orpheus.
Efrem arrived with several Tenser discs to bring the group to the Geyser,
and shortly thereafter Judith and Ashley appeared, and the group confirmed
that they are, indeed, sisters, with Ashley being the elder.
The group was transported to the Geyser, and entered one of the larger
buildings, to be greeted by the eruption of a true geyser. Judith quickly
began making the rounds, introducing SniffWind to the other guests. At first
Ashley treated WildFire as her escort, but once the group arrived at the
party she abandoned him to meet her friends. Li held court at a table in the
corner, telling stories, while Kessa and Ralnar gravitated toward a familiar
face, Aurora, who was also a guest. Thorodin made a beeline for the pool,
where he met a young woman named Lorin.
The party went on, with the biggest event being the arrival of Robin
Ellison, a local athlete and celebrity. Strumblor and Drumblor set up their
instruments to perform, but just as they were about to begin, there was a
commotion on the balcony. Thorodin looked up, and it appeared that one of
the crystal statues had come to life and was wreaking havoc upstairs. As the
group reacted, a second commotion began among the baths, and a second statue
appeared.
Thorodin fires a magic missile at this one while the rest of the party
prepares for battle...
When the missile slams into the crystal creature, it turns to Thorodin and
starts to move his way.
Kessa and Ralnar make their way over to the southwest corner of the room to
join Li. Conversation occurs.
WildFire grabs Ashley's hand and pulls her out from under the table, and
they do their best to dodge other running people as they also head
toward Li.
Thorodin momentarily glances at the pool, then takes off around the
southern end of the pool. Lorin, who has started to get out of the pool,
kind of stares as he runs off, then scrambles toward the front door.
Judith gets to the top of the balcony steps and sees what's happening, then
runs toward the buffet tables.
Aurora, who was near Li, takes off up the
southern balcony staircase, trying to plow her way through people coming the
other way.
SniffWind, as soon as he gets the creature on the balcony within sight,
tries to aim his sling, but he is jostled by someone coming down the stairs
and the bullet bounces harmlessly across the carpeted floor.
Meanwhile, the second crystal creature among the baths, seeing that Thorodin is
running away, stops pursuing him and picks up a tray with several
bottles of some kind on it and throws it, bottles and all, at a group of
fleeing people. One of them, a teenage boy, is hit by one of the
bottles, which shatters, and knocks the boy to the ground, his head
bleeding.
The first statue stands on the balcony as one of the chefs starts
yelling at it. The statue picks the chef up by his shirt and tosses him
over the balcony railing into the pool. The chef bobs to the surface,
still yelling and shaking his fist.
WildFire gets to the group by Lee. He takes out a piece of black fabric and
covers his hair.
Strumblor slides behind his brother.
Ralnar says "We need to stay together, but we should try and get these
kids out of here. Where the hell did that bard go?"
Kessa reaches into her pocket for a sling bullet to load her sling.
Judith runs toward the buffet table and grabs a shish kebab skewer off the
table.
WildFire turns to Ashley and asks her if she's armed.
Kessa says to Ralnar "I think he went upstairs?"
The second Crystal Creature, the one in the baths, knocks over a massage
table.
Ashley stares at WildFire with panic in her eyes.
SniffWind reaches the top of the north balcony stairs. He sees Judy
Approaching the first Crystal Creature, the one on the balcony, with the skewer and
gasps.
Ralnar, seeing the remaining statues, says "We better move it before the
rest of these wake up!"
WildFire turns to the others and says "I think you're right. Any plans good
friends? I don't think I have anything that will stop them."
SniffWind begins preparing his sling, keeping a careful eye on the drama
unfolding in front of him.
WildFire turns back to Ashley and asks "Have you ever seen those things
before?"
Ashley replies, "No, and I never want to see them again! Get me out of
here!"
Ralnar turns to WildFire. "Get 'er out of here and check out the
situation outside!" and he gestures to the entrance with his sword.
"Make someone run for help and then come back in if it's safe there. Direct
as many of these, and Ralnar gestures with his other hand to the scurrying
fools, outside and away from the building!"
Aurora reaches the top of the south balcony stairs.
Thorodin casts Grease between himself and the second Crystal Creature.
Ralnar then turns to Li. "See if you can get that bard, and everyone else,
back down here. We got to get as many of them out as we can.
Don't forget to come back. We need to stick together as a group!"
The first Crystal Creature picks up a bowl of food and throws it at some of
the girls, who are hiding in a corner behind the other statue. It shatters against the
statue's shoulder, and the girls scream.
Drumblor picks up his instrument and puts it on its side in front of him.
Li nods to Ralnar, then follows Aurora up the south balcony stairs.
Thorodin begins taunting the second Crystal Creature.
WildFire says "OK, Ashley, so far we are good. As soon as these guys decide
what they want to do we'll be out of here, but whatever happens don't
panic."
Turning to Kessa, Ralnar says, "Stick with me for now, but be ready to take
off if things get bad. I want to see if the mage has anything of use
left." and he starts working his way over to Thorodin's position.
Ashley's grip on WildFire tightens. "What if they decide to come after us
when we run for the door?" Her voice is just a pitch higher now.
Kessa nods and follows Ralnar, slipping a bullet into her sling as she goes.
Ralnar curses, grumbles, and mutters to himself as he approaches
Thorodin, who is standing near the dais near the entrance.
The second Crystal Creature ignores Thorodin, instead busying itself with
heading toward the lounge area, where several teenagers are huddled in
fright.
Thorodin, seeing that the Creature is not paying attention to him, looks
around for something to throw at it. He finds a piece of broken glass from
the shattered bottles and tosses it in that direction.
WildFire replies to Ashley "Shhhhh, these guys here," WildFire looks at his
assembled friends, "don't want to get hurt as much as you do. We are
going to do fine."
Ashley looks at WildFire with a confused expression, then turns her gaze
back towards the steady stream of folks exiting the area. She says nothing,
but keeps a firm grip on the elf.
Judith yells at the first Crystal Creature "Hey, you! Stop ruining my
party!"
The second Crystal Creature ignores Thorodin and continues toward the
southeast corner of the room, tossing random brick-a-brack aside as it goes.
WildFire turns to Ralnar and Kessa, saying "So, ladies and gents, shall we
make our exit since this party has gotten a little rocky and head back to
the RDI for some drinks? The company there is better."
At the mention of better company, Ashley jabs WildFire. "Hey!"
Judith tries to stab the first Crystal Creature with the skewer, but it is
able to dodge the
shot. It turns around to face her, and she jumps back slightly.
With the first Crystal Creature no longer facing her, two missiles come
shooting out of Aurora's fingertips and streak toward it, slamming into its
back and causing 6 points of damage.
WildFire raises an eyebrow and looks around then looks back at Ashley and
just shrugs his shoulders. Then he smiles at her and says, "Don't worry I
won't let anything happen to you. We have a date at the range tomorrow."
SniffWind finally gets his shot lined up, but just as he's about to shoot at
the first Crystal Creature , his foot slips on some of the food on the
floor, and he drops his sling over the edge of the balcony and into the pool.
Ashley says "Yeah, yeah, sure, let's just get out of here first." From her
tone, you can tell she's pretty distracted at the moment.
WildFire, finally realizing that someone other than Ashley said
something to him, nods gives the long-gone Ralnar a thumbs up and turns to
Ashley. "You heard him you are out of here. He grabs her by the hand and
runs towards the door.
Li, having seen SniffWind's sling go into the pool, calls out to him,
"Ralnar wants you downstairs, mon! Get your girlfriend and let's go!"
At hearing the desire to vacate being supported, Ashley says in an
indignant voice: "What? What about all my friends?" She flops on her butt
and looks at WildFire imploringly. "I thought you were brave. Don't let
these things hurt my friends! Please!" Her eyes begin to water.
WildFire replies to Ashley "Brave is one thing stupid is another. First
things first: I'm going to get you out of here and then look for some more
muscle or whatever it takes to stop those things. Unfortunately we don't
have the means to deal with them ourselves. Then I plan on getting all these
people out of here safely.
Ashley gets back onto her knees and takes a quick look around the room for
anyone in uniform. "Well, OK...so long as I, er, I mean, my friends get out
of here in one piece."
WildFire replies to Ashley, as the entire room pauses and watches this
soap-opera-esque conversation going on: "OK, then, less talking and more
walking."
SniffWind calls out "Judy, get away from that thing! We'll get the
soldiers to take it down!"
Li calls out "Both of you get out of there!"
Ralnar, having reached the dais, asks Thorodin what he's got left for
spells.
Ashley finally extricates herself from under the table, saying, "Anytime
you're ready, bow boy..."
The Crystal Creature on the balcony turns around to face Aurora.
SniffWind pulls out a dagger and begins advancing on it.
Judith replies "Normally, I'd think that's a good idea, but I think Aurora
needs us up here now!"
Thorodin replies "I cast a magic missile, doing minor damage. Then
grease hoping to lure the statue toward me." Thorodin gestures toward
the grease spot near the edge of the pool.
Aurora looks around and spots a tablecloth in the midst of the debris.
WildFire sighs dramatically, then bolts for the front door, Ashley in tow.
As SniffWind moves up behind her, Judith brings the skewer up, ready to
swing again.
Li, seeing that nobody's listening to him again, mutters something as he
pulls his blowgun out of his pant leg.
After listening to Thorodin's account, Ralnar asks "You have any other
attack spells?"
SniffWind is in position, but finds it hard to get a clear shot with his
dagger.
Li begins loading his blowgun, sliding behind a potted plant for cover.
Thorodin replies "I'm fresh out," then turns to Kessa and says "there's a
boy bleeding over there," as he gestures toward the fallen teen. "You being
a cleric and all, I thought you'd want to know."
Kessa replies "I should get over there. I don't think that one will make it
out on his own and it doesn't look to good from here."
Aurora picks up the tablecloth and says "Okay, big guy, if you can throw
stuff, try this for size!"
She tries to throw it over the Crystal Creature , but it gets caught on the
balcony railing behind her and flutters harmlessly to the floor.
Still looking for an opening to throw his dagger, SniffWind shouts down to
the stage, "Strum and Drum. "How about
throwing some daggers you guys!"
The Crystal Creature on the pool level continues advancing threateningly on
the group of teens.
Thorodin says to Ralnar "I'm going to get my clothes and daggers," and
begins making his way toward the changing room door.
The first Crystal Creature swings one of his fists at Aurora, hitting her
for two points of damage.
Ralnar replies "Hurry up, no telling what may be in there, and get back with
the group. Try and help direct these kids out of here."
Kessa yells after Thorodin "How long does this grease thing last?"
WildFire and Ashley make it out the front door, but a quick glance
around shows no guards to be seen. They do see a number of partygoers hiding
in some nearby bushes, though.
Thorodin turns briefly back to Kessa, shrugs, and then continues walking.
The Crystal Creature swings a second fist at Aurora, but connects with
nothing but air.
One of the threatened teens tries to throw a couch pillow at the second
Crystal Creature, but it gets batted aside.
Kessa mutters "Spell caster doesn't know the effects of his own spells."
She looks at the Crystal Creature, the boy, the place where the grease is
and back at Ralnar. She checks her sling.
Li puffs a dart out of his blowgun, but it wails off to the right, lodging in the balcony railing.
Ralnar glances at the fallen teen. He then looks back at Kessa and nods,
gesturing for her to go ahead.
As Thorodin enters the dressing room, he notices a sharp pain in the sole of
his left foot. He looks down, and there's a huge shard of glass embedded in
it, and he's bleeding profusely. Thorodin takes 1 point of
damage, and will need some healing quickly.
Judith jabs the shish kebab skewer at the first Crystal Creature again, but
it slides past the creature's midsection.
Kessa begins to make her way toward the fallen boy. She is being careful and
trying to move quickly but not so fast as to call attention to herself. As
she goes, she says a few words to Lord Sedric, hoping that the short journey
from Ralnar to the boy will be uneventful for everyone.
Ralnar, grumbling all the while, makes his way toward the Crystal Creature
advancing on the teens near the pool.
It reaches the group of teens and takes a swing at the one who threw the
pillow, but misses and demolishes a nearby ottoman instead.
Thorodin falls through the doorway into the changing room, grabs his injured
leg and yowls in pain.
He stands on one leg and quickly scans for danger, then looks for something to stop the bleeding.
He notices some robes behind the counter where the attendant was standing.
It sounds like there are several people hiding in one of the changing rooms.
He yells out, "Hey, any healers back there?"
The attendant comes out and says, "Um, no, but I can call for one."
Thorodin says, "Pleas do that, meantime, I need something to stop the
bleeding here."
The attendant replies, "Ah, yes, by all means."
As he looks around he asks, "What all is going on out there?
One of the party goers came running in here and said the statues came alive,
and that we should all hide."
He pulls a belt off one of the roves and hands it to Thorodin.
"This should do as a tourniquet."
He then goes over to a wall panel, presses it and says, "This is Kenneth in
the party area. We need a healer in here quickly!"
Thorodin takes the belt and says, "Thanks, yes, two of the statues came
alive, well animated anyway, and they are rampaging through the party. One
boy was down already with a lot of bleeding. So you may want to call for
some backup too."
Kenneth exclaims, "There should be guards just outside the front entrance!
Where are they? There should also be a guard on the balcony, behind the
buffet tables."
Thorodin says, "I haven't seen anyone that looks like a guard out there."
Kenneth says, "This is not good, not good at all."
He goes back over to the call box.
Kenneth yells into it, "Hello, hello?"
He examines the box and says, "This doesn't seem to be working!"
Meanwhile on the balcony, SniffWind finally sees his chance and tosses his
dagger at the first Crystal Creature, but it
sails over its left shoulder, over Li's head, and clatters down the stairs.
Kessa reaches the side of the fallen boy, but a quick examination tells her
that it's already too late.
Kessa looks over to the second Crystal Creature that killed the boy and
thinks of what spell to use against it.
Ralnar reaches a position behind the Creature and brings his short sword up,
ready to strike...
Strumblor stays hiding behind the drum as Drumblor stands up and starts
heading up the stairs.
Aurora tries to back up but the creature is still focused on her.
As she edges towards the stairs, it follows her.
Judith takes another swing at it with the skewer, but misses its head.
WildFire turns to go back in the place and waits to make sure the door isn't
blocked.
As he walks in the door, he notices that most of the room has cleared out.
The chef that was tossed into the pool passes by him out the door.
There is maybe a couple dozen people in the area.
When WildFire gets near the fountain, the Geyser goes off with a blast.
This pulls him up short, saying, "Wow, what the hell was that?"
Seeing no immediate threat he glances around looking for something long and
hard. Something he can wield like a bat.
The closest thing would be a leg to a banquet table but he doesn't want to
get that close to the creature.
He still looks for something to strike the creatures wile also looking for
Ralnar. He glances at a chair and thinks he may have to use it to throw at the
creatures.
the second Crystal Creature takes a big swing at one of the
threatened teens, misses but spins in a big circle and tumbles over the
couch, and falls onto the kid he was trying to swing at.
The teen is crushed flat by the statue.
Ralnar swings at the prone statue with his short sword, breaking the
creatures left arm off at the elbow for 9 points of damage.
The Crystal Creature struggles to get up but is having trouble, flailing its
legs and one good arm.
The first Crystal Creature on the balcony swings at Aurora who is
climbing down the stairs, but misses over her head.
It gets hit by SniffWind's dagger, for 3 points of damage.
Kessa casts Faerie Fire, and the spell outlines the second creature with a
pale blue glowing light making it easier to strike.
Ralnar surprised by the glow, steps back a moment, being caught off guard.
WildFire getting closer to Ralnar sees him take a arm off the statue.
Still looking for a weapon he only sees broken plates and trays strewn
around the floor. He shrugs and trots over to Ralnar.
The creature on the balcony turns to face SniffWind as he backs off a bit
and reaches into his back pack for another dagger.
Li seeing the creature turn towards SniffWind, puffs a dart out of his
blowgun, hitting the creature in the back.
Drumblor reaches the top of the stairs with his dagger out.
WildFire pulls out a dagger as Kessa asks him, "Did you find anyone out
there to come help?"
He answers, "The only ones out there were a bunch of scared kids. No guards,
nothing. Hopefully, Ashley went to get them."
Thorodin looks at the robe belt around his ankle and it is already bleeding
through losing another hit point. He asks Kenneth to bring him his daggers and clothes.
Kenneth says, "Oh, yes, of course." He rummages around and pulls out some stuff.
"This is yours, I believe."
Thorodin grabs his items and hops out the door yelling, "I could use some
help over here! I think I'm bleeding to death!"
He is very, very careful not to hop on any glass.
Aurora is one or two steps below the balcony watching the creature turn
towards SniffWind. Since its attention is turned away and she has no more weapons, she will
continue down the stairs.
Kessa hears Thorodin and glances his way seeing him drip blood.
She mutters and heads over to him wile still keeping an eye on Ralnar and
WildFire.
On the balcony Drumblor heads closer to the creature.
It takes a swing at Judith, and fortunately she is able to get the shish
kebab skewer up and block its arm as it comes down.
Kessa reaches Thorodin and notices it looks like he cut an artery in his
foot and there is still a big chunk of glass stuck in it.
She frowns and says, "You need a serious healer."
Thorodin cries, "I'm gonna die from a foot wound, how embarrassing!"
Kessa says, "Well, I don't know if it will help, but I can get that out, and
try for a cure light, or wait for a real healer."
Thorodin pleads, "Pleas try, whatever, I'll be dead soon if you don't do
anything!"
Kessa pulls out the glass and she rips a larger hole in his foot causing 1
point of damage. Thorodin is looking pretty faint from loss of blood.
There is blood all over the floor from him and the kid who got his head gashed open and the one who got crushed.
Kessa is praying that Ralnar and WildFire can get lucky and take care of
themselves.
Meanwhile, upstairs, SniffWind is free to get his dagger out
He throws it but trying to miss Judith it just barely clinks off the statues arm.
Drumblor throws his dagger and hits the first crystal creature for 2 hit
points.
it stumbles backwards and falls down the stairs, breaking into fifty
chunks.
Aurora at the bottom of the stairs, watches the peaces roll past and says,
"Oh well, guess I'm done!"
Looking up at the dwarf, she adds, "Nice shot!"
Li comes out from his cover and says, "What do ya know, da Bards came tru!"
SniffWind frowns at Drumblor and says, "You took all the glory bringing the
creature down but my little nick there set it up!"
Drumblor gives him a thumbs up saying, Hey, it's teamwork remember that!"
The second crystal creature is finding it oftly hard to get up with only one
arm. It doesn't seem to know what it is doing.
WildFire throws a dagger at it but he misses and the dagger imbeds itself in
the carpet.
WildFire curses, "Why does this blinkity blink work at the blinkity
blinkity RDI, blinkity blink."
Ralnar swings at the crystal creature, hits and it breaks cleanly in half
along the edge of his sword.
WildFire smiles and says, "Well, good job!"
Then he takes a quick bow.
Ralnar glances over to WildFire, but all he says is a muttering grumbling
cursing at the damn thing that is in pieces now.
Then he has the presence of mind to look around to see if anything else came
to life.
Kessa hears the chunk clunk behind her as she casts a cure light wounds
spell on Thorodin and cures 8 points.
He suddenly feels much better.
Thorodin exclaims, "Oh thank you!"
He looks down at his foot and sees a healed scar.
Judith comes over to SniffWind who is collecting his daggers, and says,
Well, so much for my party, I guess!"
She looks out over the balcony down at the pool area and gasps, "Dennis?"
SniffWind says, "What caused those statues to come alive? Did that ever
happen before?"
At her mention of Dennis he looks down and sees blood all over the floor.
He exclaims, "Holy mackerel, there's a lot of blood down there! We'd better
see if we can do anything to help them."
Judith says, "Yes!" and immediately rushes for the south stairs and heads
down towards the pool.
Ralnar looking around for more danger sees nothing but a room that looks
like it was hit by a tornado.
He turns to WildFire and asks, "So, what was the situation out there?"
Judith dances around the broken glass as she heads for the fallen boy.
At this time the Golden Geyser goes off again and they notice Ashley
entering the room with Efrem.
He takes in a deep breath and says, "Oh my goodness! Is everyone alright?"
Aurora walks over and says, "I doubt it."
Thorodin points and says "I'm afraid we have two casualties back there."
Efrem exclaims, "Where are the guards? Has anyone called for a healer?"
Thorodin answers, "Yes, apparently, the communications device is not
working."
Efrem eventually finds the guards dead in the bushes.
The group leaves the building by the servants entrence and finds several
Tenser discs waiting.
At the gate of the Golden Geyser, SniffWind receives a note.
To SniffWind & Party
>From Military Intelligence
Re Missing Person: Tripper Leebow
Mr. Leebow is in custody for suspicion of murder.
His hearing is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. at the Central
Military Complex.
+++
Sarah Goode and the castle of witchcraft and wizardry
by Phil Vlasak
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and
owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic
Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is
being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
CHAPTER ONE
The sanctuary.
Salem Massachusetts, June 1995
Sarah flew through the forest, her long thatch of straw-colored hair
disturbed by the air rushing past her ears. Gripping her racing broom
tightly, she was concentrating on her prey, not noticing the cloud of
dust and leaves billowing in her wake. She flew hard and fast, as if to
escape the storm, which had peaked behind her, over the large oak trees.
It was already casting huge raindrops in her face drenching the lush
landscape. Soon she would be soaking wet and when she caught up to it,
the little bird might slip out of her slick fingers. Just ahead was a
rock formation, and she knew under it was a labyrinth of caves, a
perfect sanctuary. The creature flying ahead of her was small and its
golden color flared blindingly as the lightning flashed behind them.
The bird rushed just a little faster than her, seeking a means of
escape.
With the Snidget's wind chime wings slowing, the bird shot quickly
into the cave opening not much larger than it. A moment later, Sarah
slowed herself and dropped to the ground with a thud,twigs breaking off,
swiftly dismounting. She pulled the wet hair from her eyes, then looked
at the opening in the cliff face. Whipping her wand out, pointing it
into the small crack where the bird went, she tried a Summoning Charm
without luck. Sarah put her ear to the hole and could hear the fading
ring of the Snidget's wings flying away. "Merlin's Beard!" she
exclaimed, pounding her fist on the unmovable rock. Even her best effort
at catching the bird in the air failed. It was obvious she would need a
faster broom than her old Shooting Star to succeed. Sarah had enjoyed
exploring the dense forest around Salem alone after her graduation, and
knew that her finding the location of the endangered Snidget hideout
would need a bird as proof. She was so over school. "Same people, same
teachers, going to your room, worrying about stupid boys . I wanna get
something going, I wanna travel," she kept telling herself over and over
in the last weeks. Then, a friend told her of a Snidget sighting that
put Sarah on her quest to find it.
Rain pelted the teenage girl as she examined the massive boulder looking
to find another way inside. Sarah heard that the caves were once home
to a group of Puritan Religious dissenters escaping during the Salem
Witch Trials of 1692.
The rain was falling harder now and her robe was drenched. At a flash
of lightning Sarah noticed a snake slithering into a bush about ten feet
to her left. It was muttering in snake language, "dry, dry, must get
dry."
When she pulled the branches away, she found a gap large enough for her
to squeeze through. "Lumos!"
She illuminated her wand and examined the opening, then said, "This
better be good," She stepped inside the mouth of the cave. It was cool
and dark, and the smell was musty and acrid. The snake had long gone so
she couldn't talk to it in parselmouth, but she could still hear the
tailtale ringing of the birds wings. Sarah left her broom near the
entrance and continued on, following the faint, but distinct sound
through a tunnel to the left. Sarah glanced back in the direction of
the opening to the forest listening to the thunder getting closer, said,
"Flagrate" and placed a fiery X on the wall, then continued down the
side tunnel. Sarah heard tell Some of the passages ran on for miles.
She reached an area that looked like it was caved in from the rocks
covering the ground. She seemed uncertain about what she should do,
running her fingers through her hair, then made up her mind and
scrambled ahead. "Okay, Snidget, I'm coming for you." She mumbled under
her breath. The passageway was darker and cooler and obviously not well
used. Each time she made a turn or reached a fork she listened intently
then placed a mark to help her find the way back. The sound of the
Snidget's wings were louder now. The walls ahead were slightly
illuminated, and lights danced across them. Sarah pressed herself
against the wall as she whispered, "Nox." putting out her wand. Then she
slowly, very slowly crept towards the ethereal lights. As Sarah rounded
a corner, she held her breath as she spotted three Snidgets lit by a
glowing object. Looking down she was mesmerized. It was a wand held in
the bony hand of a skeleton that was lying on the ground, almost covered
in rocks.
Sarah peeked over at the birds, trying not to attract their attention.
One of the birds was smaller than the others, and now she could see that
it wasn't an adult bird at all. It was a chick, just out of the egg. It
flew around the small area, its wings twinkled in the light, then it
swooped down into its nest.
She moved soundlessly ahead a couple of steps to get a better look.
Water was dripping off her hair down her forehead and onto the ground.
Sarah's sneaker slipped on a wet stone. It made a soft, crunching noise,
and the girl winced and slapped the wall to regain her footing. She
hunkered down low, trying to blend in with the shadows hoping her noise
would be drowned out by the sounds of the Thunder rumbling outside.
One of the adult Snidgets near the light turned slowly, raised its head,
and looked her way. It flapped its wings and then turned back to its
nest and continued to feed its chick. Sarah noticed with rapt attention
that water was pouring from a crack over a mineral-shrouded object. In
the pale light, Sarah could make out that it was a gold colored wand.
Now that Sarah was close enough not to miss she whispered quickly,
"STUPEFY." and the three birds fell into their nest. Sarah walked over
to the pool of water and picked up the gold wand. She turned it in her
hand, appraising its beauty and value with a crazy flicker of her
eyelids. It was covered in gold and precious jewels. Sarah was astounded
by its beauty and richness. Unnoticed by her, as soon as her hand
touched the wand a pale glow surrounded her body. Sarah was holding her
breath without realizing it, unable to contain her excitement then she
exclaimed. "Oh, my goodness, It's the wand of Merlin!" her words echoed
through the tunnel as she thought about the implications of its
existence.
Sarah examined the skeleton covered in loose rocks. Its scull was
crushed by a large stone, and the right hand was reaching out, inches
away from Merlin's wand when the person had died. It looked like an
unfortunate wizard found it right before a deadly cave in.
Sarah couldn't understand how the ordinary wand in its other hand was
still lit. She remembered from her lessons that when a wizard died, so
did his or her spells. She started to bend down and reach for the wand,
then thought about it and stepped back. She was reluctant to take the
wand as it might be cursed.
Her own wand was a hazel and niffler
hair Magic wand. It was good for finding treasure, and maybe
that was why she always had a flair for finding valuable things.
She knew that nifflers often tore places apart in their search for shiny
objects and thought her wand might have been helpful in finding this
chamber.
Sarah shifted her gaze toward the stunned Snidget family in their nest
and thought they would be better off here . "I'll come back for you when
you're older." she whispered while petting the smallest bird with
concern. Sarah slipped the treasure into her robe and with a sense of
anticipation, spun around and dashed along the passageway, retracing her
steps out of the cave. As Sarah rushed by the first corner she failed to
notice that the bony hand holding the lit wand crumbled into dust. The
ancient wand falling from its grasp was extinguished.
+++
News from developers
++
7128 Software
http://192.168.100.1/
11/30/08
Hi folks,
We've just released seven accessible educational PizzaGames for toddlers
and young children ages 2 - 7.
For the past couple of years we've been asked for games like this by
parents at Perkins School for the Blind.
So I've been in this long coding tunnel (Thomas and Jim, I'm sure you can
relate) getting them done.
The games all self-voice and work with JAWS.
They work on Windows 98, XP, and Vista, as well as Mac OS X.
They include:
* Here Comes the Duck!
Which teaches animal names and is maybe the only game playable by blind
2-year olds.
* The Letters Game, Spelling Game, and Dictionary Game.
Which teach your ABCs.
* The Numbers Game, Numbers Plus, and Numbers Minus.
Which teach numbers, addition, and subtraction.
They cost $7 each, and are cheaper in the BabyBear and MamaBear packs.
Check out our Web site,
www.7128.com
BTW. That brings our total of blind-accessible games to 23. Not quite up
to Jim's count, but we're gettin' there.
John Bannick
7-128 Software
+
11/30/08
Folks,
We aren't really much of a Mac forum, but I really wanted to let people
know that 7-128 Software has just released all 29 of its games to Mac OSX.
That includes:
Six Inspector Cyndi in Newport detective mysteries
Eleven Tyler puzzle games
Five Woople word games
And seven new accessible educational PizzaGames for toddlers and young
children.
All of the Cyndi's self-voice.
Some of the Tylers and all of the Wooples self-voice.
And all of the children's PizzaGames self-voice.
I did ping Gabe down in Arizona as he's a Mac person.
If you know anyone who's looking for accessible Mac games, we got em.
John Bannick
www.7128.com
++
All In Play
http://allinplay.com
12/09/08
+
Happy Holidays from All inPlay!
We've got great news for the holiday season.
First, our holiday tradition is back and better than ever. It's the All inPlay Holiday Gift Sale. And this year, we've
spiced things up by including additional discounts:
* A three-month gift membership is available for only $19.95.
* Buy a six-month gift membership for only $39.95.
* And a 12-month gift membership costs only $69.95.
Visit the gift section of the store at:
http://allinplay.com/participate/gift_membership.php
Remember, you can give a gift to anyone, whether they have an All inPlay account or not. Many of our prior
members take this opportunity to give a gift to themselves and come see what they've been missing. Current
paying members can also take advantage of these low prices. If you're signed up for a monthly
or quarterly billing plan, Your gift subscription will start immediately, and your plan will start up again after the
gift subscription period has expired.
If you're signed up for a year, you're gift subscription will start after your current year's subscription ends.
Remember, these gift subscriptions entitle the recipient to all four of our current games, plus any future titles we
release during their subscription period at no additional charge.
In addition, if you haven't given a gift in a while, we've made the process quicker and easier than ever.
Get started at:
http://allinplay.com/participate/gift_membership.php
And to top it all off, tournaments are still available at our new low prices! So visit our store and take a look around
http://allinplay.com/participate/store.html
And lastly, we'd like to say a big thank you and best wishes to all of our players past and present. We couldn't
have come this far without you.
Cheers,
The All inPlay Team
++
Blind Adrenaline
http://www.blindAdrenaline.com
12/19/08
Greetings all,
Blind Adrenaline Simulations has dropped the price of Rail Racer for the holidays from $33 to $19.95.
Just barely in time for the shopping season, but it is never too late to get in on the incredible fun that is Rail
Racing online.
No need to go into details about the game here, but know that there is no other online gaming experience like it, and
don't take my word for it, just
ask any Rail Racer out there that has competed in one of our tournaments. Blind Adrenaline indeed my friends.
If you want to take advantage of this offer, simply go to:
http://www.blindAdrenaline.com/railracer
There you can read about the game, and click on the order page link to place your order, pay pal is the quickest method,
but credit cards are accepted as well. If you would like to have a special message sent with Rail Racer as a gift, email
me and I'll hook that up for you.
Also, for those of you that have the game, we will be holding a new years tournament the week following christmas,
check the rail racer email list for details next week. For anyone that bought the game in the past three months, I will
be issuing free racing credits to you when the game goes to a paid subscription for online racing early next year,
anyone before that has been able to race online for free for a while now, so your savings are already built in.
Happy holidays, and happy racing.
Che
Developer
Blind Adrenaline Simulations
www.blindAdrenaline.com
Email:
che@blindAdrenaline.com
++
BrailleSoft
http://
11/27/08
Hi all,
Another small program, the Madlib Story Writer from BrailleSoft is now available.
Welcome to the Madlib Story Writer for the PAC Mate 4.1 and earlier, PAC Mate Omni, Pocket PC without JAWS and Windows
Mobile Smartphone
Write humorous stories by answering the questions the program prompts for, then once you hear 4 stories and decide which
ones were funny, save them to a text file to read them later using the builtin word-processor on your device.
Smartphones don't support the save option.
It's available from BrailleSoft.net. Make sure if you are a Smartphone user, or a Pre-Omni PAC Mate user you have the
appropriate version of the .NET CF installed.
+
11/02/08
Hi all,
BrailleSoft has released a new game called Bomb!
This is a mine-sweeper-like type game. How many squares can you uncover without uncovering a square with a bomb?
Originally written by Dan Zingaro for the Freedom Scientific classic notetakers, it is now available for your Windows
Mobile powered PDA. Instructions are included with the game, and for PAC Mate users and PM Omni users JAWS scripts are
automatically installed during program setup.
This program runs on the following devices:
PAC Mate 4.1 and earlier
PAC Mate Omni 6.0 and later
Other Pocket PC
and All Smartphones
You can download the game from BrailleSoft.net. Look under Either BrailleSoft's PAC Mate Software for all PAC Mate
specific games, and under BrailleSoft's Windows Mobile Smartphone Software for all of our Smartphone games. If you own a
Pocket PC and it is not a PAC Mate, PAC Mate Omni or Smartphone, then either link for you will do, however if it's Bomb
you want you want to choose Other PPC after choosing one of the above links. . HTH.
+
The great escape
04/23/08
The Great Escape requires the Microsoft .NET Framework to run.
You are in a maze of 100 rooms. Find your way out --- if you can! This is version 1.01. SAPI has been included in this
version! You will need your screen reader active as dialog boxes that have Yes/No questions aren't read by SAPI. Edit
boxes are no longer extensively used, however focus is given to one edit box in particular at the beginning of the game,
and after a dialog box disappears. This allows you to type in other responses.
Please let me know what you think and what could be better. Thanks.
++
Draconis Entertainment
http://draconisentertainment.com
11/10/08
Greetings gamers,
If you've been wondering what was happening with Draconis
Entertainment, it's time to lift just the corner of the veil of
secrecy for a quick peek.
First, if you've tried to contact us in recent weeks and not received
a response, or have placed an order and not yet received your
registration key, our web host has been having some significant
problems with our email servers. We were not aware of the existence
of these problems, nor the extent to which they were effecting us,
until recently, as email would sometimes be fine, and other times get
lost in the ether. Please contact us again if you're still waiting
for a response. Chances are, our reply or your original message was a
casualty. We believe that our web host has corrected the problem.
For quite some time, we've been developing new tools and techniques
for the future of accessible gaming. The fruits of those efforts are
coming together at long last, and we will have new games to release in
short order.
What can you expect to see from Draconis Entertainment? The following
are some of our plans. They are subject to change.
1. All future game titles will be fully cross-platform for both Mac
OS X and Windows XP/Vista. Versions of the games for both operating
systems will always be released simultaneously.
2. Our first new release will be a freebie game, available to all on
the web site.
3. Following the freebie game, we will be releasing both brand-new
titles, as well as entirely rewritten versions of our classic games
which will take advantage of our new gaming engines and be cross-
platform for Mac and Windows. These releases will be staggered
between new games and new versions of old games.
4. New versions of old games will be substantially enhanced from
previous versions with tons of new features, audio, and in many cases
new modes of game play, or entirely new sub-games.
5. We expect new game releases to come much more quickly, now that the
framework for the future has been designed and is well underway. We
hope to avoid problems like those experienced under Vista.
More soon, and thank you for sticking with us during this time of
transition.
++
Kitchens Inc
http://www.kitchensinc.net
12/02/08
Hi,
I have put a new file up on my site.
File name winpoly9.exe File size 705k
The file can be found on my free windows sapi5 text to speech games page.
In Monopoly version 9 the board files now contain things like the tokens, the currency and other squares on the board.
There is also now a separate monopoly board file maker program that can create a new board file or edit an existing one.
BFN
Jim
Kitchen's Inc, for games that are up to 100 percent funner to play.
jim@kitchensinc.net
http://www.kitchensinc.net
10/27/08
Hi,
I have put a new file up on my site.
File name winmbfs3.exe File size 70k
10 new monopoly board files
Aircraft, Bedrock, Chicago, ChicagoHiltonProperties, DallasAreaHiltonProperties, Grateful Dead, MASH, OldTimeRadio,
Stockholm, super cars.
The file can be found on my free windows sapi5 text to speech games page.
Jim
Check my web site for my free blind accessible pc dos and windows games.
jim@kitchensinc.net
+
Hi,
I have put a new file up on my site.
File name wingcfs4.exe File size 78k bytes
The file can be found on my free windows sapi5 text to speech games page.
25 new golf courses
1 sick and twisted rating 74 By Marty <br>
2 the mental course rating 83 and witch rating 67 By Lisa <br>
22 By El Ciego <br>
420 Country Club rating 72, Brainerd Lakes Public Course rating 77, Breezy Point Course rating 78, Caged Heat Fantasy
Links, dare dells rating 72, Down in the Valley C_ C_ rating 75, Odd Bottom Community rating 71, Plantation Society C C
rating 75, poke County Country Club rating 74, Rancho Malario Resort and Spa rating 73, Ravenhill Public Course,
Roadtrip to Tijuana1, Surreal Estate and Orgy Club rating 71, Triton Valley Country Club rating 74, Urban Blight Downs,
Westbrook Triple X rating 74, Wren Meadows Country Club rating 80, Yankee Springs Country Club rating 75, Ye Old Acid
Trip rating 75, Zee Easy Eighteen rating 75, Zee Short Run Course and zephyr lakes country club rating 74 <br>
Jim
++
News from L-works
http://l-works.net
11/07/08
hi gang
Here's the latest news. It's not much, but it'll answer a few
questions.
new games with version 1.2
I hope to be releasing super egg hunt 1l2 and the great toy robbery 1.2.
Here's some of the features I've added in both games.
what's new in super egg hunt 1.2
new sounds for chicken
new music thanks to Andre Louis
talking installer thanks for help from X-site Interactive
game now uses pb streamway
built-in talking configuration program.
updated scoreboards
less load on processors
multiple copies can't be run at the same time.
i, k, j, and l can be used instead of arrows.
new and much better footsteps
scores are now saved, and your personal highscore is kept.
what's new in v1.2?
game is written using pb streemway
game will no longer crash on random systems
added talking config
added talking installer
more toys
you are no longer transported to the top right corner of the grid when santa
appears.
new scoreboard system.
As you can see, I've been fairly busy. No release date has been confirmed
on the new titles, as I have to wait for the completion of PB Streemway
before anything can be released.
what's with those random projects we hear about:
I get asked questions about various random projects, so I figgured I'd
dispell what ever rumors were circulating and give an update on what I'm
working on and what I'm not working on.
super liam 2:
For right now, there are no future plans to release super Liam 2. It's
deffinitly hinted at in the end of the first game that there will be a
sequel, and this is very possible. As of right now, I have no official
plans.
judgment day 1.5:
As soon as streemway is
released to the public, I plan on releasing updated
free games, and then focusing my attention on Judgment day 1.5. among
planned features are: bug fixes, possibly one or two new bonus games, new
trophies, possible joystick support, and more. don't forget you can always
send suggestions for features that should be added. I certainly can't
promise that I'll add every feature that is suggested, but I take all
comments and suggestions seriously.
that really cool fighting game on the podcast:
What I receive the most emails about is that awesome sounding fighting game
that I posted a sample of on the podcast. People want to know what it is,
where they can get it, and if it's availible. First off, it's the basics of
an engine I was building. The working engine's name is street brawl, but
this certainly doesn't mean that that is what the game will be called. I
have no plans to make any concept demos availible in the near future. As a
bit of history, the original engine I had written three years ago and
demonstrated in Salt Lake City Utah. You'd think that with the overwelming
reaction I received, I would of continued producing it. I suppose it's
just one of those many projects I forgot about.
bar games:
Probably the most frustrating project for me is bar games. It's rare that I
ever started building a game that I really didn't enjoy, but Bar games is
the exception to that. It's been very frustrating to work on it, as I don't
seem to have any real direction to take it in. I hope that in the future I
can do something with it, but as of right now. I just don't know.
Development blog and podcast:
Did you know that there's ablog and a podcast full of interesting tid bits
from me? The blog contains random thoughts from the development process of
games, and the podcast contains exclusive sneak peaks and new games and
features. It's very simple to check it out. Go to
if you want to subscribe to the podcast directly, you can use
http://l-works.net/blog/?feed=podcast
Finally, If you use the klango player. Add the LWorks podcast to your
favorites.
Look for more exciting updates in future, keep watching the lists, and
the blog for updates as well as posts.
Liam Erven
www.l-works.net
http://www.l-works.net/blog
*note* I know Liam recently has full-time employment [Way to go man!], so things mentioned above are subject to change.
++
Marr-dy
http://www.odissa.de/en
03/28/08
Hi Listers,
Mississippi has come up with the new Version 1.30.
Here's the Update-log:
What's new in version 1.30
we have corrected some spelling errors.
The installation-file has been changed. If there are just textual
updates in the future, you won't need to download the whole 35 mb file,
but a little file, around 1 mb.
the first entry in High and Low is now automatically selected.
We have changed the headerlist, which informs you about dollar, stock room
and so on. It should be more readable now.
The program settings have been moved from the windows registry to an
ini-file, because some PC's have problems with the rights on writing to the
registry. But every user on the same computer can have different settings.
You can download the Version V1.30 from our Website:
http://www.odissa.de/en
The old adress
http://www.mar-dy.com
is still working.
The price for the Update is $ 500, ;-), no! it's free of course! ;-)
Old registration-codes work with this version too.
Your feedback is very wellcome!
Best regards from germany and a nice day!
Marco
Mar-Dy-Team
++
News from PCS Games
http://www.pcsgames.net
11/03/08
Hi Folks,
I have been promising people an update to the Sarah game for months.
I am planning a lot of changes, additions, and bug fixes.
However some of the bugs were caused by the old game engine itself.
Three weeks ago I got a new version of the engine from David Greenwood, but
when I tried it out, there were new bugs in the engine that David would need
to fix. Then David went to get a new guide dog and will be back in a week.
This has delayed my working on the game.
While I was waiting, I started writing a novel based on Sarah's experiences
in the Hogwarts castle. I am about half way through writing the story and will include it as a
separate text file in the next game patch.
I plan to send the first chapter to Audyssey magazine to be included in the
next issue.
As a teaser to changes and additions, I am adding some Peruvian darkness
powder, and a hand of glory.
I will also be adding a hedge maze next to the Quidditch pitch.
In the center of the maze Sarah will find a cup that will send her to
another place.
That's all I can tell you.
Phil
+
Hi Folks,
I took my games list page and removed everything but the online games.
If I missed any, let me know.
It is at,
http://www.pcsgames.net/onlinegames.htm
++
Playing In The Dark
http://www.playinginthedark.net
11/22/08
Hey Gamers,
A new release candidate of Top Speed 2.1 has been released. Download it at
http://www.playinginthedark.net
Note: The multiplayer in this version doesn't match with other versions.
New functions:
- A new car
- Some small bugfixes
- Some changes to the tracer file to make it easyer to debug
Happy racing and regards,
Leonard de Ruijter
Playing in the dark
++
Spoonbill Software
www.spoonbillsoftware.com.au
09/21/08
Hi all
Announcing the release of BG Ches Challenge. BG Chess Challenge runs in three different modes: Blind accessible, Vision
impaired and Sighted, so it is suitable for all levels of visual acuity. It is
also suitable for beginners as well as experienced chess players. A separate Word document explains how to play chess,
if you have never played before, or need to brush up on the rules. You can set the computer player's skill level
anywhere between Novice and Expert, so that you can be ensured of a challenging game regardless of your own skill level.
In blind mode, graphics are still provided so that sighted spouses can play along with their blind partners. As with all
Spoonbill Software's accessible games, it is completely self voicing. You will only need your screen reader to read the
on-line help, or the separate How To Play Chess document.
You can read all about the new game by visiting the blind gamers page at:
www.spoonbillsoftware.com.au/blindgamers.htm
BG Chess Challenge is the fourteenth game in the Blind Gamers series of accessible games and is free for the asking.
Only people who have kept me up to date with their latest email address will be
able to be notified of new games. Why not send for a copy today, even if you've never played before, and take up the
chess challenge?
Regards
Ian Humphreys
Spoonbill Software
++
USA Games
http://www.usagamesinteractive.com
12/23/08
Hello everyone,
This is a public announcement letting everyone know that USA Games
Interactive is now back up and running again. However, there are a few very
important changes we would like to announce.
First if you haven't saved this in your web browsers favorites or bookmarks
directory the new web address for USA Games Interactive is:
http://www.usagamesinteractive.com
For sales questions send e-mail to:
sales@usagamesinteractive.com
For technical support issues send e-mail to:
support@usagamesinteractive.com
To join one of our mailing lists such as the USA Games gamers list or our
developers training list go to:
http://www.usagamesinteractive.com/lists.php
Note, our software developers site
http://developers.usagamesinteractive.com
is still down but is being worked on as fast as we can.
+
12/23/08
Hello everyone,
USA Games Interactive has just released an all new trailer for Tomb Hunter
Mysteries of the Ancients. You can download this new audio trailer at
http://www.usagamesinteractive.com/products.php
+
12/20/08
USA Games News
Introduction:
Hello, and welcome to another edition of the USA Games News Letter. We
at USA Games Interactive want to wish you a very wonderful and joyous
holiday season this year. We at USA Games are pretty excited about the
progress of Mysteries of he Ancients, and we will be telling you all
about that later in this news letter.
First, we have a bit of bad news to break to you. Earlier this month
our web host has discontinued service with one of their associates who
runs the current USA Games web server. As a result all of our account
information needs to be moved to a different web server our web host
uses. Ordinarily this process wouldn't take more than a couple of
days, but we have encountered some problems.
It seams our domain registrar, the company we purchased the USA Games
web address from, is having difficulties working with our web host's
new web servers. We don't know when the problem will get resolved, but
we expect the USA Games web site and lists will be down for quite some
time. So stay tuned to the Audyssey mailing list for news of when the
USA Games web site will be back up and running.
Second, we at USA Games want to give our fans a big thanks and thumbs
up. WE recently have been told that one of our games, Star Trek Final
Conflict, has reached the top 10 list of accessible games in the U.K.
This news is very exciting, and we want to thank all of you who voted
for Final Conflict for this 2008 top 10 list.
Now, we are certain you want to know what is in store for you with our
future titles such as: Mysteries of the Ancients, Raceway, Star Trek,
and our other projects. Without delay here we go.
Mysteries of the Ancients:
As far as development goes this certainly has been a long year for us,
but we are happy to say that Mysteries of the Ancients is coming along
nicely. We have worked long and hard to produce a rock solid game, and
this game is better than ever. I don't even think we could have
imagined this game turning out so well when we first started
production on the project. For those who have not yet heard of Tomb
hunter Mysteries of the Ancients here is the basic premise of the
game.
In, "Tomb Hunter Mysteries of the Ancients," you must guide famous
archeologist Angela Carter to the long lost Orb of Wisdom. As legend
has it Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, wanted to preserve the wisdom of the
gods in an orb so that when mankind was ready they could possess the
wisdom of the gods. Athena took the orb, and placed it in a temple
deep underground and set magical creatures to guard it from thieves
and any others who were unworthy to possess it. Only the mightiest or
cleverest mortal would be able to retrieve the Orb of Wisdom from its
resting place.
Now, after nearly three millennia news of the orb's existence has
reached daring adventurer and explorer Angela Carter. She has set out
for Greece in hopes of retrieving the Orb of Wisdom. However, her
mission will not be an easy one. She must face several deadly magical
creatures such as flying harpies, charging centaurs, and sword
wielding skeleton warriors. She must avoid such deadly traps is pits
of boiling lava, towering fire, metal spikes, deep chasms, and poison
darts. Along the way she will collect gold coins, ancient scrolls,
enchanted weapons, and healing potions. She will also discover dropped
weapons and ammo left behind by previous adventurers. If Angela makes
it to the Hall of Wisdom she must face her greatest challenge.
Besides a great story line Mysteries of the Ancients will be
completely unlike any side-scroller you have ever played before. One
of the best features of Mysteries of the Ancients is that it is now
almost fully randomized. Most of the monsters and items are randomly
placed in the level making each and every game slightly unique. In
addition, we have introduced various boss creatures you must defeat to
advance to the next level of the game. This we feel has dramatically
increased the games over all replay value.
Something else we have been doing is creating a more traditional
side-scroller type level. By this we mean that the levels tend to be
long, running from left to right, but there is still a fair amount of
climbing and jumping involved as well. You will need to climb up and
down ropes, stone staircases, and jump from ledge to ledge, etc. As
the levels increase so will the difficulty in navigating the level.
Level 1 will begin very basic and by level 10 we expect it to
be quite challenging.
At this current point in time USA Games is about to release Alpha 3 to
our private testers. Alpha 3 seams quite stable, is pretty far along
in development, and is one more important step towards a public beta.
However, with that in mind there is still quite a bit to do. At this
point we have been focused on level 1 and even when we get the game
stable enough to play we will have the rest of the levels to complete.
We can't honestly expect anything coming out for the public until mid
spring or so. As always we can't promise a date and time, but just
stay tuned for news.
Final Conflict:
Some of you are no doubt wondering about the status of Final Conflict
2.0. Well, seeing how popular STFC has become we have decided to let
you in on what is happening with Final Conflict 2.0. WE have every
reason to believe Star Trek Final Conflict will be better than the 1.x
series you have now.
About the most important news we have for you regarding this title is
that we have completely revamped the game from the ground up. One of
the major changes is that Final Conflict has been renamed Star Trek
Deadly Alliance. From this point on we will refer to this title as
Star Trek Deadly Alliance, (STDA,) for short. It offers several new
changes, several updates, and lots of new features that Final Conflict
lacks.
The Federations three greatest enemies the Romulan Tal Shir,
Cardassian Obsidian Order, and the Klingon House of Duras have formed
an alliance and have openly attacked the Federation. Captain Picard of
the U.S.S. Enterprise has assembled a task force of top of the line
Federation commanders and ships in hopes of stopping the alliance
before the galaxy breaks out into all out war. As fleet commander of
this special task force it is up to you to lead the Federation to
victory or defeat. You will command two starbases, a shipyard, as
well as the USS Enterprise, USS Monitor, USS Phoenix, USS Sutherland,
and USS Venture.
Perhaps the most exciting new feature in Star Trek Deadly Alliance is
the shipyards. With a fully equipped shipyard under your command you
can rebuild destroyed starships, replenish photon torpedoes, and
upgrade various ship systems such as: upgrade your warp drive,
phasers, shields, sensors, and add additional photon torpedo bays.
As if that was not enough to really get you interested in playing
Deadly Alliance we have also completely redesigned the games universe.
One of the nicest features of Deadly Alliance is the asteroid fields,
neutral zones, nebulas, etc. The asteroid fields, nebulas, etc are
excellent places to hide Federation ships where they can not be easily
located by enemy vessels. The area known as the Badlands is also a
great place to hide if you wish to avoid enemy attacks or to prepare
for a strike into Cardassian, Romulan, or Klingon space virtually
unnoticed.
Another feature many of you have requested is also coming in Deadly
Alliance. New In Deadly Alliance you will now be able to save and
restore a total of 10 missions. As a result you will no longer have to
abandon games currently in progress. Just save it and continue at a
later time.
One of the features I especially like about STDA is the enemy
artificial intelligence has been completely redesigned to coordinate
attacks. If the enemy decides to mass a force against your shipyard
chances they will send multiple ships to that specific location to
reinforce each other. As a result it is possible to have full fleet
engagements rather than just single ship encounters.
The Borg have also been completely revised in Deadly Alliance. After
you defeat the alliance forces a Borg ship will appear in Federation
space bent on finishing the Federation of Planets. Unlike the previous
version where you could only face off with a Borg Cube, Deadly Alliance
features Borg Spheres and Borg Scouts as well. Which one you unlock
depends on the skill level that you have selected.
As we said earlier Deadly Alliance is going to surpass Final Conflict
by far. There are many things we need to do in order to get this game
ready for the public, but it is definitely more exciting and more
challenging than STFC. If you voted for STFC this year then Deadly
Alliance is going to really be a treat.
USA Raceway:
As much as we would like to be able to give you an update on this
title there isn't much to report presently. Most of our efforts have
been spent on Mysteries of the Ancients and we have worked on Deadly
Alliance from time to time. As a result development has temporarily
stalled. Once we get finished with Mysteries of the Ancients
development on Raceway will continue.
Summary:
Again we at USA Games interactive would like to wish you a happy
holiday season. Events of this year have really put us off schedule,
and we were not able to meet our own release dates. However, 2009 is
just around the corner and we expect you will see some really great
titles from us soon. The future looks bright and very exciting. So
merry Christmas and a happy new year.
+++
Phils Funnies
by Phil Vlasak
++
Games we'd like to play.
Race your horses and stop your bitching, its,
Mysteries of the Ancient Raceway.
Or how Thomas can get all his commitments accomplished in one easy step.
a new and exciting fast action game from USA Games Interactive.
In this high speed action treasure hunting adventure you are Angela Carter,
racing her horse at 35 MPH through several eerie and mysterious ancient
raceways searching for the long lost Orb of Wisdom.
You can hear your horses hooves crush deadly
creatures including charging centaurs, and sword wielding skeleton warriors.
Find out if she has the flexibility to pick up gold coins, ancient scrolls,
enchanted weapons, and healing potions while still on horseback.
smiles,
Phil
++
Merry Christmas Disclaimer from PCS Games.
Free Shipping plus great values on all of our sale games.
Sarah and the castle of witchcraft and wizardry,
now costs only 2 gold Galleons.
Pacman Talks,
now costs only 5 bunches of cherries.
Ten Pin Alley, with inflatable bowling ball,
now costs only 2 six packs of Bud.
Ten Pin Alley, with real bowling ball,
Price upon request.
The More The Merrier Sale prices are in effect online through December 4,
2008, unless otherwise noted.
*TO GET FREE SHIPPING: Place $99 of qualifying items in your shopping bag;
then enter promo code MERRY in the box labeled "HAVE A PROMO CODE?" and
click "APPLY." You can enter the promo code in your shopping bag at any time
before or during checkout. Only one promo code may be used per transaction.
Minimum purchase amount for Free Shipping does not include gift wrap
charges, purchases of gift cards or tax. Offer applies to Standard Shipping
to one location and may be applied to Premium or Overnight Shipping for an
upgrade fee. Free Shipping does not apply to Tank Commander and Super Dog's
Bone Hunt, or prior purchases. Due to size and/or weight, such as purchasing Ten Pin
Alley with a bowling ball, certain items bear a shipping surcharge, which
will still apply. When shipping to multiple addresses, only shipping to the
first address will be free; Standard Shipping will apply to all other
addresses. Free Shipping offer cannot be applied to purchases being shipped
to Alaska, Hawaii, US Territories or Hogwarts and other Wizard world
addresses. Free Shipping offer ends December 4, 2008.
**Discount taken at checkout; offer ends December 6, 2008.
Regular and original prices reflect offering prices that may not have
resulted in actual sales, and some original prices may not have been in
effect during the past 90 days. Clearance, closeout and special purchase
merchandise is available while supplies last. Sale merchandise is from
specially selected groups. Sale prices may include reductions taken from
regular stock, plus clearance/closeout items such as our DOS games.
Intermediate markdowns may have been taken. Everyday Values and Best Value
items are excluded from all sales, price reductions and coupons.
PCS Games prices, promotions and selections may differ from those at other
game company sites.
\Prices and promotions (e.g., promotion codes or free shipping) offered
online may not be used on other game company sites, and their prices and
promotions (e.g., coupons or additional discounts) may not be used on the
PCS games site online.
Smiles,
Yes,this is a joke, as PCS has no shopping bag, and is a Merry Christmas
note guaranteed to end up in your junk mail folder.
Phil
+++
Game announcements and reviews
Below are some of the new games available. Though an old treasure or
two may be discussed also. 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.
++
Addict Mud
Online at
http://www.addictmud.org
By Patrick Brown
Greetings,
AddictMUD has been around for 12+ years and has a very stable code
base, robust areas and a simple interface. It is based somewhat on the
Dragaera novels by Stephen Brust. There are many other areas in the
game dedicated to many different genres, some examples being Olympus,
Rome, Ender's Game, Dragonlance, Japan, Narnia and many, many more,
including unique areas. In terms of playability for the blind, I don't
know from personal experience, however a couple of my blind friends
have tried it and said it was easy to play using a screen reader. You
can play two characters at once, and create any number of characters.
There is pretty much no ceiling on how much you can improve your
character through leveling and remorting (going back to level one at a
certain level and gaining stats/extra equipment slots/special
abilities). There are also quests, both immortal run and integrated, a
bazaar system to buy and sell equipment and many other features. The
game is a non-PK game, there is no player versus player involved
except for the very occasional Total Carnage, in which the game is
backed up and people are allowed to kill and loot each other with no
drawback, as the game is restored afterward. There aren't a TON of
players, but there is a stable community of very helpful, nice people.
I think that anyone looking for a fun, ever-changing environment, they
should check out AddictMUD. Check out addictmud.org
Here is the address and port to the game itself:
game.addictmud.org port: 4000
Regards,
Patrick
++
Conquest
Available at:
BY ShadowDragon
Hi everyone
So I was looking through the listings on mudconnector the other day and I
stumbled across this little gem. Its in a rather early stage of development
at the moment, all that's available currently is the newbie town. But even
so there's plenty to do within said town. You have your choise of 15
different quests, many npc's to duel, and a selection of weapons and armor
to choose from to build your character just how you want. The game also uses
manual combat, no typing kill goblin and waiting 10 minutes ocasionally
throwing a kick or fireball in for good measure. You actually have to tell
your character to perform every action, from basic swings to counters. And
to add to that the combat system is rather advanced, with combos,
retaliation attacks (if you parry an attack, you can then use a counter
attack, riposte, fend, retaliate, etc), and revenge attacks, (if you take a
blow you can strike back). It's a rather advanced combat system. There's
also no death penalty. In the few places you can die, you're either
transported to the room you started in or taken to the graveyard and can
just re-enter the town square. Generally though you'e simply duelling npc's,
and all that happens is you get defeated at 1 hp. I definitely recommend to
give this game a try, it has a lot of potential. Within perhaps a month the
wilderness will be opening up, and players will actually be able to start
exploring, delving into dungeons, building cities (yes, you heard me right,)
etc. It sadly has no real homepage to my knowledge, but you can check it out
at:
patrickmn.com:5000
Look for talerous or gordan if you need any help.
++
Little hoolidans
Online at: http://www.littlehooliganz.com/
Notice by Ari
Hi,
I'm a little busy at the moment, but I heard about a game that might be
accessible if someone wants to check it out. It's called Little Hooligans,
and it's about you having to be a football hooligan and trying to run a
group and do battle against other hooligans. Here's the site
http://www.littlehooliganz.com/
Ari
++
Land of hope
http://www.forlornonline.com/
04/19/08
By ShadowDragon
Hi,
I just recently came across a game called Lands of Hope. Its kind of a complicated game to describe, it has a focus on
exploration, questing and grinding, with some resource management thrown into the mix as well (though I'm level 9 as of
now and I haven't seen any resource management bits. Though I have seen buildings and shops and dungeons and the like
crafted by other players.) Its got a lot of advanced systems, you can craft and build things, get/train pets, enslave
other NPC characters to work for
you, [which leads me to believe that later in the game you might be able to get a party of some kind going.] The game
is multiplayer, and it does have PVP, but the PVP is more tacked on for people that enjoy that sort of thing, its not
all that well fleshed out and its optional. There are several professions you can play as, you have your classics,
fighter, mage, etc, and your not so classics, animator (or golem craftsman,) salvager (has massive loot bonuses,) etc.
You can also unlock new professions, races
and enhancements as you explore the land with your multitude of characters. Now that I've gotten all your hopes up, time
for the bad news. The interface is very, well, complex to use with screen readers. Battling is fine, but you'll have to
get used to doing mouse overs, that is, letting your jaws cursor hover over an option, then moving to where the
information for that mouse over would be displayed. A lot of the menues in this game are drop-down mouseovers, and if
you want information on beast, NPCs, items, etc, you have to do a mouse over and look in the main window to find out
what it is. Most of you probbably don't consider this type of thing accessible, but it is workable once you get used to
it. Movement is a little tough, you can click on various paths and the like to go to places, but what I do, and this is
with jaws, not sure about other readers, is turn off the virtual PC cursor and use the arrow keys to move around,
turning the virtual cursor back on to read the info. If I've found the monster I
need to kill or whatever. Once you get out of the newbie area, you can also type x y coordinates into edit boxes and
move around that way. Though I imagine that'd be tougher till you've learned the lay of the land. Combat is a rather
interesting affair. It works as I would imagine diablo working if it were browser based. You have your basic attack
options, but to cast spells, use abilities and the like, you actually have to go into the abilities screen and ready
them for battle, then click the ability button
or spell button in battle and that ability will be used. The battle system is one of the more accessible parts of the
game so there should be no trouble there.
Anyway, I'd say this game is worth a look if you're up for a bit of a challenge in accessibility. It can be made fully
accessible if you just stick with it and have patience, and if you encounter any problems the game master is
accomidating. You can find the game at:
http://www.forlornonline.com/
Please put bladestorm360 down as your referer. If you need assistance learning the interface or the like, feel free to
contact me off list or add me to msn at elementalultima (at) hotmail.com
Just remove the spaces and change the at to and @ sign. Enjoy.
++
Legend Mud
Online at
http://www.legendmud.org
By Kirstan Mooney
"You wander away from the cacophony of sounds and smells of the
Romanian town and out towards the countryside. One can only take the
repeated rumors of sadistic guards and vamperic nobles for so long
before it's time to set out for some fresh air. Not too many minutes
down the road you walk upon a small family farm, orchard, and barn.
Hearing a commotion from the barn, you walk through the large open
doorway and see..."
"A Small Bare wood Barn
The dry drafty barn has one stall and several farm tools hang from racks along the walls. A small loft is above you
with bales of hay packed in the log rafters. Everything appears cheap, but well taken care of. Even the rough wood
planks used for the barn's construction do their job but little else. [Exits: w] A wooden cart sits here. A bale of hay
is stacked here. A thin boy with a shrill voice plays some rough-and-tumble game in the dirt. A strong-looking man of
middle years is here puttering around his farm. A young boy looks for a place to hide. The young boy turns to you,
"Please help me!!" "The guards will kill me if they find me, where can I hide?"
What would -you- do?
This game is into it's 14th year and with many different areas covered, has something for everyone. This is an example
of one of 1000s of decisions you can make as you live in the lands of LegendMUD.
It can be found at
http://www.legendmud.org
++
Lusternia
Available at: http://www.lusternia.com
By ShadowDragon
My wife and I have been looking around for complex games which we can
both play. As she is sighted and I am not, this can occasionally pose
a challenge.
One genre that we have both rather latched onto are MUDs. She is an
fan of Miriani, as am I.
We have, however, been looking around for a good fantasy MUD. She hit
pay dirt when she discovered the MUD Lusternia, found at
http://www.lusternia.com
Connection to this MUD is possible using any client, as far as we
know, via ports 23 or 2003.
There is a section in the beginning called your "Journey Through the
Portal of Fates."
Due to some options which are not as yet modifiable at that point,
some MUD clients react badly to the ansi characters and the onscreen
map, but these options can be turned off midway through the journey,
and the hosts are looking into enabling the modification of these
options immediately upon starting the journey.
to modify the options, type CONFIG ANSI OFF and CONFIG MAPVIEW OFF for
the ansi characters and onscreen map respectively.
When asked to select a race, please keep in mind that you can easily
read about races and their characteristics on the Lusternia website.
The same is true concerning guilds, cities, and communes.
Another plus to Lusternia is that you can have as many characters as
you desire. Keep in mind, however, that Lusternia is a MUD with a
large player base. Therefore, they will delete low-level characters
upon only a few days' inactivity, so don't overdo it.
Since I've only been playing this MUD for a little while, there is
really no soundpack available. However, this could change rapidly,
either due to the colaborative efforts of my team, or through the
efforts of any of you.
I hope to see you there.
Signed:
Dakotah Rickard
++
Muelsfell: Rise of the Golems
http://www.muelsfell.com
04/05/08
Hey all,
Thanks to a post on the Audio Games forum, I've found a resource
management game that's worth playing. You're a Golem craftsman, and
you construct your own golems from parts which are then made from
various resources to attack players and monsters with. That's not all, though.
When you sign up, you have a workshop, complete with a worktable to
atatch parts to golems and also to repair severed limbs from combat.
The game actually has a world. Your workshop has a location,
where you can go out as your character and see the surrounding areas
of it. The combat descriptions aren't detailed, but they're nice
enough to read, unlike other games where it's just a table of numbers
with nothing about advancement. It's always presented in a
spread sheat-like form, but not here. Each event is a round, and events
aren't placed in the same rounds, providing easier reading of combat
results.
I haven't yet provided the compass, but if there is anyone on here who
plays from the AGF, do you know if the map screen used in other areas
is the same as the other map? If it's the same, well then I think this
is the first game with exploring that I've seen where maps are
accessible, finally!
Check it out at: http://www.muelsfell.com
+
Indeed the map works exactly the same way once you have the
cumpus, ---- in fact it's the exploring in the game I really like, and it's
a great reward for all your work maintaining your Golems.
i believe there was a message about the game on this list a few days
ago, ---- but the more people know the better.
My character in the game is Kestha, should anyone wish to look me up, and
yes, she's female.
++
Second Life
Available at: http://www.textsl.org/
Hi all!
I have found a projekt that is very interesting.
It is a program that will allow you to use second life with jaws.
The program is in it's beta, but you can download the beta already.
The projekt is under the gnu license, so any developer who is interested can
work at it.
Please note that this software does only work with jaws.
To read more and download it, go to the following page:
http://www.textsl.org/
Good luck,
Claudio.
++
Smugglers 4
12/20/08
I thought people would like to know that Niels has posted another fix to smugglers 4.
this one apparently fixes the problem encountered by Jaws users with the mission markers for the various planets
obscuring the planet names. I also wonder if this will fix the issue people have been talking about with planets
disappearing off the screen? you can read about it
http://www.nielsbauergames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1379
and download the patch there as well.
Hope this makes things easier for people. Sinse S4 is an absolutely fantastic game which I've been having loads of fun
with. Though I know from personal experience that the more trouble it can be access wise playing a game, the less fun
it is.
Hth.
Beware the grue!
Dark.
+
12/13/08
Hi.
Jus thought anyone playing S4 would appreciate knowing that the program is now up to 1.1. Included in the
various updates is the textifying of the fleet
combat and all screens in the game, which is great.
I'd stil personally like to see the ability to minimize the traide window so that you can view the prices for the
selected commodity on each planet, but
this does mean that essentially the game is entirely now playable (though trading is a trifle slow for the moment).
Also in the upgrade is apparently a new battleship class, called battlegroup. Comprising a battleship and several
escorts, which sounds cool, though annoyingly
my battleship game is saved on my laptop, and sinse the wireless bit of my dsl internet box isn't currently working,
I can't download onto it at the second.
if you download a fresh copy of the game, it'll be v1.1. But if people need to upgrade, you can get the upgrade on
http://nbsd.fileburst.com/Smugglers4Patch.zip
i know a couple of people were looking into writing script files to fix the compatibility issues, and in my humble
opinion this would be a really good thing as there is so much more to the game even than S3. If script files are
written, please let me know. I'll be creating a game page for S4 for audiogames.net
very soon (I was just waiting until the compatibility mode was finished), and if files are created, obviously I'd
want to put a link to them there.
++
Trukz - A Trucking Simulation Game
http://www.trukz.com.
Browser based game
By Tiffany Kim
Hello,
I thought I'd jump right in and start my posting career here by discussing an accessible trucking simulation that I
found. It's much like Jim Kitchen's trucking sim, Trucker, except it is online and multiplayer in nature. It can be
found at
http://www.trukz.com
The object is to deliver different cargos to the cities that demand it on time. As you deliver your cargo in a timely
manner without getting tickets or falling asleep at the wheel, your driver rating (DR) increases, allowing you to
haul other cargo. Types include (hazardous waste at 40 and nuclear waste at 50) and buy various endorsements
to haul a larger load and make even more money. There are many different
cargo types to choose from, examples being fruit, vegetables, groceries, and appliances. As you accumulate
money, you are able to upgrade your truck and buy goodies such as new tires, extra fuel tanks, and radar
detectors, which will enhance your gaming experience. I will cover some of the basics of this
game, including registration and features.
Registration: When you start out, you will fill out a form with your driver name (equivalent to a username) and
choose the continent where you would like to start. Currently, you can start in Australia, Europe, or North America.
North America, by far, has the most companies (explained later), Europe's
fuel prices are more expensive but there are many shorter routes (good to start with at the beginning), and Australia
just got released a little less than
a month ago and people seem to think it has the best
contract routes. The site does require you to enter a Captcha but this is also available in audio form (and the voice
is quite clear without any background noise or distortion.) Also, Firefox's Web Visim application can pick up this
Captcha if you have difficulties with it.
Starting Out: When you first start out, you are given $5,500. Depending on the continent you start out, you will have
different trucks you can choose from. Of course, they won't be very good and are known as beaters. If you're lucky,
you may find one that goes at around 53mph. The best thing to do here is to either join a company that offers the truck
discount or take out a $1,000 loan at the bank (click on banking, then on request loan) and buy the 1989 Volvo.
Depending on the time of day you join, you will inevitably be flooded with messages in your inbox to join up with a
company. A company can best be described as a group of drivers working together. Advantages to companies may include
10% truck, item, fuel, and repair discounts, the ability to run contracts,
and at least one terminal that allows you to refuel and repair with a 25% discount without the expenditure of fatigue
points (FP). These great benefits don't come free, however, as the company will take
a collection from your driver's earnings. The lowest possible collection is 1%. If you decide to join a company,
there are two camps of drivers: those that like small companies and those that prefer large ones. Small companies
provide more one-on-one attention, mentorship, and camaraderie. My favorite small company is by far Everybody's
Trucking Company, which is run by 2 old-timers in the game. They will take 1% collection and provide 20% repairs and
fuel assistance, which I haven't yet found anywhere. This will last until you reach a driver rating of 10, when you
will be able to get your first driver endorsement. Large companies can provide you with
the ability to make more money on contract runs. Contract runs are specific requests by cities to haul a set amount of
cargo to them within a week. It pays a base rate of $0.99 to $2 per mile and can earn you quite a sum. They can only
be run by companies with at least 25 active drivers, however. The best large company I have found is Bulldog Trucking
with around 60 drivers, lots of contract runs, and 4% collection with 50% repairs/20% fuel assistance.
As far as the game goes, once you've purchased your truck, you'll need to select a route. The best way to do this is
using the combo box because the map (as far as I know), isn't accessible to the blind. You can see the cargo types and
city stats by going to the Game Statistics area.
Tips: Try to keep your routes to under 1,000 miles for now. Once you've selected a city, select a cargo type. Never
haul general merchandise. Even if the cargo your city provides isn't demanded in a neighboring city, it will pay you
more than hauling general merchandise. Once you've selected your route, you can click on next leg to drive for one game
hour. For each game hour you drive, you will gain one FP. Don't ever drive above 10 or you risk falling asleep at the
wheel/getting a ticket for running
above your hours of service (HOS). You can repair and refuel above 10 FP though without penalty. For each game leg you
drive, you will need one real-world hour to recover the lost point. You can either go do something or chat on the CB
($300 game money). These are the very basics. If you decide to try it out, I hope you enjoy your experience!
++++
Contacting Us
All material for inclusion in upcoming issues of Audyssey should be sent
to me at the following snail or email address:
Ron Schamerhorn
1180 Dorval Dr. #303
Oakville On L6M 3G1
[905]-842-1933
blindwonder@cogeco.ca
or
editor@audyssey.org
and to chat find me at
rschamerhorn@hotmail.com
for Windows/MSN messenger no email to this one please.
+++
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:
blindwonder@cogeco.ca
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, this is official 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:
magazine-subscribe@audyssey.org
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, Go to
http://www.audyssey.org
then follow the links to sign up.
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 location to find Audyssey current and back issues is
http://www.audiogames.net/page.php?pagefile=audyssey
Thanks to Richard and those at Audio-games!
We extend our gratitude to Kelly Sapergia who has provided a place for all the issues of the magazine. . You can find
them at
www.ksapergia.net/audyssey.html
---
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