Audyssey; Games Accessible to the Blind Issue 35: Fourth Quarter, 2002 Edited by Michael Feir Fun, Friendship, Knowledge, Charity Current Community Members as of Nov 29, 2002: Audysub members: 105 Blindgamers: 179 +++ Welcome Welcome to the 35th 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. You're in for a real treat this time around. Being our seventh holiday issue, I've pulled out all the stops. Updates from several game developers are present in this issue as well as reviews and an interview with a new rising star in the field. An unprecedented four reviews deal with an old favourite made shiny and new by one of the first developers of accessible games. They're back in a ghostly blaze of glory which will add a dash of spooky pleasure to this year's festivities. 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. +++ 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: mfeir@cogeco.ca I will give my home address at the end of the magazine. 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. Until now, this practice has been commonly consented to. From now on, it is officially a policy of the Audyssey community. This magazine is free in its electronic form, and will always remain so. Due to a lack of demand, PCS Games is no longer making Audyssey available on disk. 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 3.5-inch disk in a self- addressed mailer so that I can return your disk or disks to you once I have copied their contents onto my hard drive. 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. As a further incentive, I will fill any disks you send me with games from my collection. No disk will be returned empty. If you want specific games, or specific types of games, send a message in ASCII format along. If you have a particular game that you need help with, and you are sending your questions on a disk anyhow, include the game so that I can try and get past your difficulty. 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. There are now several ways of obtaining Audyssey. Thanks to the generous support of Monarch Business Systems, Audyssey Magazine now has an official home on the Web. All previous issues of Audyssey can be obtained from there in several different formats. Visitors may take advantage of a growing amount of content as well as submit material. Check it out at: www.audysseymagazine.org Those who want to receive issues of Audyssey as they are published should send a blank E-mail to: Audysub-subscribe@yahoogroups.com The Audyssey discussion list facilitates discussion about games accessible to the blind between the publication of issues of Audyssey. All are welcome as long as they respect their fellow community members and keep in mind that the topic of the list is supposed to be games. Other topics are allowed within reason as long as they don't begin to monopolize the list traffic for too long. Newcomers should be advised that traffic is frequently fairly heavy. To help those who are swamped with E-mail cope with this, there is a digest mode available which sends one large E-mail per day containing the day's traffic. 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. All staff members of Audyssey are also encouraged to participate on the discussion list. There are two moderators keeping things civil and orderly. Be certain to read the Audyssey Community Charter as all list members are expected to follow its rules. If you want an active role in shaping the future of accessible games, this is where you can dive right in. To subscribe to this discussion list, send a blank message to: blindgamers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To post messages to the list, send them to: blindgamers@yahoogroups.com Should you wish to unsubscribe, send a blank message to: Blindgamers-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com To change your subscription to digest mode so that you only receive one message per day, send a blank message to: Blindgamers-digest@yahoogroups.com To go back to receiving individual messages, send a blank message to: Blindgamers-normal@yahoogroups.com There are more options at your disposal. To find out about them, send a blank message to: Blindgamers-help@yahoogroups.com Stan Bobbitt has made Audyssey Magazine available in HTML format for easy on-line browsing. To take advantage of this, you are invited to visit our home-page. People can easily and quickly navigate through the various articles and reviews, and directly download or visit the sites of the games that interest them. This will be of especial benefit for sighted people who wish to make use of Audyssey and/or join the growing community surrounding it. The Audyssey community thanks Mr. Bobbitt for his continued efforts on its behalf in this matter. You can also find all issues of Audyssey on the Internet on Paul Henrichsen's web site at: www.henrichsen.org J.J. Meddaugh has long been famous in the Audyssey community. He has now started his own web-site called The Blind Community. All issues of Audyssey are there in zipped files in the file centre. Another site has recently added Audyssey issues to its resources. We welcome: www.blindhelp.com to the Audyssey community and hope that visitors to this site find our resource to be of value to them. If you have ftp access, all issues are also available at Travis Siegel's ftp site: ftp://ftp.softcon.com Look in the /magazines directory. +++ Contents: Welcome Distribution Information and Submission Policies Contents From The Editor Letters Are You The Next Great Game Author My adventure through the world of games IF Only Chipping In and Chatting Up Sunday Night Dungeons and Dragons, Free Game Winner News From BSC Games News From ESP Softworks News From Lworks News From PCS News From Zform Grabit Grotto Development Diary: Part I Game Announcements and Reviews Contacting Us +++ From The Editor: As we close off the year, things are looking up on the whole for the Audyssey community. We've gained many new members in our active discussion list as well as our list for subscribers who simply want the magazine when it appears. Both kinds of readers are very much welcome. One trend I'm still noticing is that pretty much all of our material is coming from members of our discussion list. I would therefore like to encourage all our readers to participate. Even if you can't participate fully by joining our discussion list, our readers as well as game developers would still like to hear from you. Give us your thoughts in a review, article, or letter. Your voices can be heard as well. I was surprised to see an increase in the amount of submitted material. Keep it coming, folks. I know how easy it is to sit back and enjoy what others have written, but we need more readers to put on their writing caps if Audyssey is going to remain fresh and healthy. Remember that your material doesn't have to wait for each quarterly issue. It can appear first on our web-site. Some of that has begun to happen, but things aren't moving as quickly on that front as I would have liked them to. One exciting development being worked on by Monarch Business Systems is to have the ability to have audio content on the site. This may encourage some people who might feel better doing recordings than writing. We'll always need writers though, and I hope the new year sees more of you taking up the torch instead of merely taking advantage of its presence. For the first quarter, I'm going to focus on ways to expand the community. One of these is by approaching the Canadian media which I'll feel more comfortable doing after a couple more games are released which will hopefully happen prior to mid January. Radio would be an excellent medium for coverage of these games, and I hope to interest a number of programs which seem suited for human interest material. I received a brief note from the folks at Code Factory to tell everyone that they expect to release Time Adventures by Christmas time. I wasn't clear on whether they're releasing the first game, or a whole series. I naturally suspect the former given the ambitious nature of what they're attempting with those. I'll close here by wishing everyone a happy holiday season. This will be the first one I've spent as a married man, and it ought to be quite a different experience for us. The next issue should come out at the end of February. Until then, I hope you'll all check out our site from time to time and keep well. +++ Letters: ++ Traffic was quite high during the fourth quarter. This first letter might interest any sports fans out there. I'm not much of a sports enthusiast, and have no idea about various season starts and whether you can join in after they start. However, it seems to me that people who are more up on various sports may want to give the site in this letter a try. Hi, have you ever imagined owning a sports franchise or being the GM/Coach of one? Would you like to compare your knowledge of a given sport against other fans? Well here's your chance. http://smallworld.com This is a web-based fantasy sports game run by The Sporting News. They offer both premium and free versions of their games. The seasons and players/participants correspond exactly to the actual sport the fantasy game is based upon. Best of all, these fantasy games are accessible with screen readers. My favourite sport is hockey and I played the free fantasy hockey game last season and it was a blast. Anyone who follows hockey knows the season is coming up soon. Therefore, if you would like to participate in this season's game, you need to register with the web site. Once you have registered an account, you can participate in as many of the fantasy games as you wish. For example, I actually created two fantasy hockey teams and managed them against each other, as well as against thousands of other teams. As far as I know, most of the fantasy games are based on a salary cap system. Since I am personally familiar with the hockey game only, that will be the one I will focus on. Once you have created an account, you will want to create a hockey team. If you choose to play the free version, you will want to look for the link "basic fantasy hockey-season 1" and proceed to create a team name. Once you have a team created, you need to fill your roster. For this particular game, you are given $30,000,000 and need to select 7 players in the following breakdown: 1 centrer 2 wingers 2 defensemen 1 goaltender 1 any additional attacker You are also given 2 transactions per week, starting on 10/9/02. You'll receive each new set of transactions at 12:00 noon on Wednesday of each week. Since this is a salary cap based system, the game also works in a stock-market-like manner. The initial prices attributed to each player is based on last seasons stats. However, once the first night of games is complete, at 12:00 noon the next day the player prices will fluctuate on a daily basis. Price changes work on the simple supply and demand theory, the more team owners buy a given player, the more the price increases for that player, and vice versa. Therefore, the better you are at picking up an undervalued player, the more money you create for yourself to use later in the season. Of course, if you buy an expensive player and he goes on to have a bad stretch, you may loose a bit of your buying power. In terms of actually buying a player, there are a couple of ways. When you first create your team, there will be a link for the empty roster spot. For example, "buy centre" is the first roster spot. If you click on this link, you will get a list of centres. You can also generate your own list buy using a series of combo boxes where you can select the position you want to search, maximum price, and a sort criteria. The sort criteria consists of "by TSNPs, which stands for The Sporting News Points, "by TSNP per game, and "by price". Finally, you can also buy a player by directly entering the players name into an edit field. There are several links that explain how the game works and the rules. The only draw back, like most other web sites, you will have to deal with a number of links at the top and left margin of each page. However, once you understand the lay out and know what you are looking for, you can easily use the find feature of your screen reader. There's probably more that could be described here, but this should be enough to determine if you would be interested in such a game. Don't be afraid to poke around the web site and feel free to ask any questions. I'm willing to help, if I can. Have fun ++ I was somewhat disappointed that this quarter did not see any thought-provoking debates or particularly insightful messages. However, there were numerous positive indications of a thriving and more welcoming community being formed. Quite a few new members were added, The noteworthy games which were discovered and released provoked lengthy discussion and sharing of experience. PCS's long-anticipated Pacman Talks arrived just in time for Halloween to the general delight of the community. Around the same time, ESP Softworks released Change Reaction which also received lots of loving and some frustrated attention. I have reviewed both of the preceding games further on in this issue. InspiredCode released a musical game called Metris which also got its fare share of band width. A review of that game will have to come from somebody more musically inclined than myself, as I have not yet figured out how to get anywhere at all with it. A more recent release was a game from some students over in Holland. This free racing game, despite being targeted at children aged ten to fourteen, has been discussed and played by people of all ages and has generally fared quite well. Credit for discovering the game goes to Sally. A fine discovery you've made for the youngsters in our community. The place to visit to grab this free game is: http://www.soundsupport.net The other game to cause far more major a stir than I would have expected was a Harry Potter text adventure which I stumbled upon during one of my searches for undiscovered games. There are a lot of blind Harry Potter fans among us, and they attacked this game with vigour. I can only hope that the professor of these students who made the game as a school assignment was as much of a Potter enthusiast as our readers are. One of our community contacted the developers and learned that no updates at all are planned for the game as they consider it a finished project. Last reports from the Blindgamers list are that the manual written by the students was not fully translatable into plain text for some reason. However, what I read of it was certainly enough to give players a good start in playing the game. I hope that one of our Potter enthusiasts will be kind enough to write a more detailed review for Audyssey. You can get this free game from: http://cs.northwestern.edu/~josha/random.htm Phil Vlasak sent in the following information about a new game which appears to possibly be accessible. I should caution you that nobody in this community has sent in any feedback on this game, so be certain to check it out for accessibility before giving it as a gift. I'd hate to be the cause of disappointment during the festive season by not reminding everyone that just because things may talk does not mean that they are necessarily accessible. Here is Phil's information below: Hi Folks, I went to the games page of the catalogue and found a new bop it type game: NuJam Guitar It's the game that jams when you master the commands! Can you keep up with the riffs and lights? Play solo or battle it out in a 2-player command jam. Then, jam to the advance level. There's twice the challenge in DOUBLE TIME, when your fingers got to move at double the speed. PLAY lights out as the music is your only cue. Repeat it to the beat as the music is your only command! Other features include; R & Be and rock music styles, plug into your stereo or headphones, multiple skill levels and keeps and stores your scores. NuJam measures 17" long and requires 3 AA batteries (not included). NUJAM $24.95 http://www.speaktomecatalog.com +++ "Are you the next great game author?" Interview: by Stan Bobbitt A self voicing game engine that will enable any and every user to create their own good quality games? A programming language that is so straight forward that anyone could read down through a source file and understand how to modify it? A wizard that will converse with the user to create a new game within this easy to understand language? Well, a programmer named Robison Bryan has proposed just such a game engine, and after some initial inquiries to the blindgamers list, he has decided to take on the mammoth task of putting it all together. This idea has sparked so much interest among the members of the blindgamers discussion group, that I thought that the audyssey community at large should be made aware of it. It is very exciting indeed! First, I would like to introduce Mr. Robison Bryan: (SB: Could you tell us a bit about yourself Mr. Bryan? (RB: I'm an Electronic Engineer by day and a Programmer by night. I'm sighted, but am primarily an auditory learner, as many musicians are. I first became interested in accessible software when members of the VI community wrote to me about my first major software product, ChurchBells. I added a speech capability to it, then created an accessibility enhancement called4BlindMice, and a talking text editor called SayPad. Don Coco reviewed these three programs on ACB radio. Next came Metris, and now this project ... (SB: Yes, I remember quite a rave over that Metris on the list. I haven't given it a shot for myself as of yet. Perhaps time will allow soon. An engineer and programmer ... wow, when do you find time to sleep? (RB: Occasionally. And when I'm not doing that I'm working on music. (Oh yes, I remember what sleep is.. that's an API call in kernel32.dll) (SB: Hehehe, well, I know first hand that the learning curve is a major deterrent for anyone attempting to create games of any kind. How will your audio adventure engine be different? (RB: From the beginning, the idea has been to enable any and every user to create their own good quality games. To accomplish this I envisioned a two level approach. The first level is for there to be a language that is so straight forward and so close to ordinary English that anyone could grab a game file, read it and understand what is going on so well that they could modify it or write their own. The second level is a wizard that will simply converse with the user to create a new game within this easy to understand language or format. I'll be the first to admit that the language itself provides more flexibility and power than any wizard could take advantage of, but the wizard will be a great place for many to start, and even limited as it may be, it will still empower any newcomer to create some great adventure games. The next step after using the wizard is to make minor modifications to one's own game. (SB: Yikes, this is where they get to look at all that complex coding lingo? (RB: The first time a wizard user gets to look at their game's source code, they'll most likely say something like: "Hey, where's all the geek jargon? Wait a minute, this stuff is in English!" From there they may just go straight into writing games directly in WordPad or SayPad or something, and then test it on the system. What I'm hoping to achieve is a path that is easy to get on and easy to follow at one's own pace, that leads without much noticeable effort to the place where game authors can write games directly from their imaginations. (SB: What about all the varying degrees of programming ability out there? Will it be able to meet the needs of the beginner as well as the advanced? (RB: It is intended for all levels of ability, easy for the beginner yet having advanced features to make very impressive and complex adventures. (SB: Sounds simple enough to me. Oh yes, you said that the engine is self voicing? (RB: Yes, the Engine is self voicing via the MS TTS voices Mary, Mike and Sam. For those who do not like those voices there is an option to mute the self voicing and let the screen reader do the talking. There is also the option to include wave files, filling out the idea of an audio adventure. (SB: Ok, could we get just a bit more technical? Could you break it down and tell us exactly, step by step, how one would go about putting together a game using your audio adventure engine? (RB: There will be a wizard guiding you through using this stuff. As the wizard will converse with a game author in English, it will take notes by writing game files in a language pretty close to plain English. I have posted the wizard's private language on my site for any technically minded humans who may want to get a head start. It will take a while to make the Engine, and then the Wizard. By the time the Engine is done there may already be games available that are written to run on it. (SB: I see ... and the actual games? (RB: Games are made up of a whole bunch of files (you can have one for each scene). Every situation file has a bunch of situations. (duh). A situation is a moment in the game where the person playing it is told what's going on and is asked to make a choice. Here is what each situation has: Situation Name Wave sound (if you want) Picture (if you want, but pictures will load only if you also provide a description of it). Text (You can have either Mary, Mike or Sam say anything you want said. The person playing it can mute that and let the screen reader talk. You can have more than one speech, and by more than one voice.) Choice (It's up to you whether it's multiple choice or a phrase they type.) List of where to go when the player does certain things. You make up this list. Depending on what they decide, you send them of to a certain situation in a certain scene. There are ways provided that you can tear apart and rebuild the things they type, and to make decisions based upon the stuff you come up with. You can remember how things are and stuff from what people say. By changing how things are based on what the player types, you can create and maintain a world that works according to rules you can make up. You can send players off to various situations based upon the present condition of things. Or else you can keep it really simple and within every situation, have a certain response send the player off to a certain other situation. (SB: There were a few points brought up on the blindgamers list which you promptly responded to ... I would like to reiterate those here and get your input for the benefit of the audyssey community. (RB: Certainly. (SB: This may yet seem a bit complicated to some out there I mean like setting up situations for the player and such. (RB: Yes and no. If you get the concept of menus and sub menus then the idea of setting up something like that for the player is a simple idea. How complicated it gets is up to you. (SB: What about total novices, non-programmers? A (beginner)? They too, will be able to create games? (RB: Yes. You answer questions in interactive dialogs to create situations. You don't even have to look at your game files directly, you can just use the situation editor wizard. All you need to know is how you want it to be. (SB: And again, what about the more advanced users? (RB: You can hand hack the game files even if you know zip zilch nothing about programming. Just use some common sense and observe the format. There is a simple and straight forward format for the situation files, which I believe is self explanatory. Even the math you can do is on a one by one simple calculator like basis. It is like ^C = ^A * ^B, or ^Stamina = ^Stamina - ^Exertion You can make it more complex by making several such equations if you like. (SB: Ah I see, and what about those programming wizards out there? (RB: If you are a wiz at programming, good for you, but no special advantage, except that you are probably used to thinking practically and using common sense. (SB: There was also mention of being able to include random? (RB: That was a good idea. I will include a variable called ^Random. Each time it is used it will deliver a random number from 0 to 99. Just don't make your own variable called ^Random or you'll get random results. (SB: Let's see, someone asked about random background sounds? (RB: That would make it complicated. What I can do, though, is to allow you to specify that a sound would loop until the player has made a choice. (SB: Now I don't know if we've mentioned that this engine will be shareware. Will it include a demo so that one could give it a shot before committing? (RB: This engine has a 30 day demo, plus grace period. That should certainly be enough time to play plenty of games and even try your hand at making a scene. (SB: You said this game engine will be self voicing. Will the user be expected to have any special speechware already on their machines? (RB: This engine will expect you to already have either Sapi4 or Sapi5 on your system, along with the three voices Mary, Mike and Sam. You can get all that stuff from my site already. When I post the engine, I'll have my site arranged to make it easy to get what you need for your particular windows, just like I have now for 4BlindMice. (SB: Ok, another issue was, let's say that I have come up with what I consider to be an awesome game using this engine. Is there anyway to protect my game, to keep anyone else from making changes? (RB: I can provide a check sum feature. The game author would certify a file when done, and they would be prompted for a password. The password is combined with the author's name and a checksum of the whole game file. If someone modifies the game and then re certifies it, then the encrypted password does not match what the author has posted somewhere, and the player will know that this copy of the game is bogus. That is as far as I can go with an open text format such as this. (SB: Hmmm, there was one other point ... ah, multiuser? (RB: I'll see what I can do. If it is implemented, the game author will have to keep track of the players interaction with the same universe and with each other by a careful use of variables. Beginners should write single user games, for sure! (SB: Well, I must say that I am impressed. I believe that even I could come up with a game using this engine. By the way, Mr. Bryan, how did the idea for this audio adventure engine come about? (RB: The initial request for this software is credited to Mike Coulombe, who found my site and had some questions about SayPad. For some reason I thought he found me through the blindgamers list, but I just found out he recently joined. Mike told me about wanting to write Adventure text games, and that tads was not considered an entry level authoring tool by any means. We talked a little about it, then I posted the first "Is this something you want?" message to the BlindGamers group. There was such a unanimous affirmation of the idea that I made a commitment to the project within a day or so. Since then I have sought and received guidance and preferences from gamers on and off list. (SB: I am certainly looking forward to giving this engine a try myself when it is ready. For any other interested folk out there, how can they get started? (RB: Initially, the way it works is that whoever wants to do so can go to my site, http://InspiredCode.net/Adventure.htm and download the language document. Then they can start writing games immediately. By the time they are done writing some creative and elaborate games, I should have the Engine ready so they can test and debug their games. After the Engine has been out a little while I'll post a version that includes the wizard, so that anyone who was not ready to learn the language can start writing their own games that way. (SB: On behalf of the audyssey community, I would like to thank you in advance Robison Bryan, for all the hard work that this project will for sure take, and for all the hours you have already put in toward making things just a bit easier for gamers in the VI community. I think I'll go grab that document right now and get started. I'll let you close out this interview. (RB: Thank you Stan. For those early birds (and others) who write game files directly in the language, there is another opportunity for infamy. (grin) Suppose you notice that certain sections of your game files provide generic, common or useful functions. You could send them in and I'll make room on my site for posting such as "library files". I'll soon make a page section all about library files, including a growing list of library files that are either available or suggested. If anyone is interested in more technical details, please let me know. My e-mail address is: InspiredCode@InspiredCode.net One final note: There are some geek toys hidden at the bottom of the document. There is support for every higher math function known to man and UFO And there is also support for having functions that write or edit other functions. People into artificial intelligence might have a blast with that! +++ My adventure through the world of games Article by Tommaso Nonis Hello people, With this article I would like to present myself to the audyssey community and tell you a bit about my story with computer/video games. My name is Tommaso Nonis. I am from Italy and I am 13 years old. My hobbies are listening to and playing music, playing games, meeting my friends and more. So, let's talk about games now... My adventure through the gaming world began when I was only 4. At that time, I had a Nintendo Entertainment System (nes) with tons of games thanks to my aunt who was from the USA and worked at a store where they rented games. And when the person wanted that particular game and the rent time was expired, she sent it to me. So I had lots of games ranging from platform to sports etc... Then, one year later, we bought a Sega Mega Drive. We had a few games on it, and they were fun to play. I don't remember when, but one time I was at my cousin's home and he introduced me to street fighter, an exciting fighting game. So...my sixth birthday present was a Super Nintendo. I liked the games that were on it too! I must say that all those games developed some of my skills a lot. For example, Street Fighter increased my reflexes, some other games developed my timing skills, etc. Then, when I was 8, my cousin gave me a cd with some interesting dos games. And one of these was "Dungeons of the Necromancers Domain", the role playing game that brought me into that kind of game and to the fantasy genre. Some time later, I won a lottery (the only one in my life). The prize wasn't a big amount, but enough to purchase a Sony Playstation console. So I went and purchased one...and I still have fun with it! When i was eleven, I remember that I emailed the author of a very good text adventure to ask a question. She then pointed me to the Gma Games website, cause she said that there were games for the blind and Shades of Doom was one of the best. So I went and checked it out. It was pretty cool! But, some days later, I decided to search the net for other accessible games, and I found out about the magazine, Jim Kitchen's site, Esp softworks, Pcs, and other resources of interest. So now I am here, playing a lot of games ranging from action/adventure, to sports, to card/board games... People, I hope this article gives you a good idea of who I am and about my story with games. +++ IF Only: News About Interactive Fiction This section of Audyssey will feature news about developments in the world of interactive fiction which have a broader scope than new games released. For information about newly released games, you should still look to the Game Announcements and Reviews section. Now that we're operating on a quarterly basis, I hope that more people will submit reviews of interactive fiction games they have played. There should be more time for people to play through a game in order to give it a more in-depth review. Items in this section will be separated by single plus-signs to make navigation easier when more than one item is present. I would appreciate it if anyone responsible for websites related to IF or for major projects in the IF community would submit material on these things for my inclusion in Audyssey. Developers of interactive fiction should be aware of how appreciative blind people are for such a wealth of accessible thought-provoking entertainment. This time around, the major event was the Interactive Fiction competition. I haven't gotten any reviews yet of the various games, but long-time IF contributor Kelly Sapergia has sent the competition results to the list. I include them below for everyone's benefit. 1. Another Earth, Another Sky 2. Till Death Makes a Monk-Fish Out of Me! 3. Photograph 4. The Moonlit Tower 5. Janitor 6. The PK Girl 7. TOOKiE'S SONG 8. Fort Aegea 9. The Temple 10. Jane 11. MythTale 12. Unraveling God 13. Identity Thief 14. Augustine 15. Rent-A-Spy 16. The Granite Book 17. Eric's Gift 18. When Help Collides 19. Evacuate 20. Constraints 21. Sun and Moon 22. Not Much Time 23. Hell: A Comedy of Errors 24. Out Of The Study 25. Color and Number 26. BOFH (The Bastard Operator from Hell) 27. The Case of Samuel Gregor 28. A Party to Murder 29. Screen 30. Concrete Paradise 31. Scary House Amulet! 32. Coffee Quest II 33. Four Mile Island 34. Moonbase 35. Koan 36. Ramon and Jonathan 37. Terrible Lizards 38. Blade Sentinel +++ Chipping In and Chatting Up By Rebecca Feir For the longest time, i was hesitating about whether or not to write an article about zform's popular online poker game, because i figured that there would be tons of articles and reviews about it in other issues of audyssey. However, Michael suggested that i write an article about what poker means to me. so here goes: Out of all of the sound based games on the market so far, poker is the one that i love the best. I have tried playing many of the games with Mike, but poker is the one which I find the most fun, the most rewarding, and i think it will be here with us for a very long time. When i first started playing poker, i found it very addictive, and of course many of you can relate to this. I always felt a certain satisfaction and degree of excitement when i would win several hundreds of chips, or any amount for that matter. I found later that being able to chat with one or more people while i was playing made the game more fun, and i grew tired of just playing hand after hand with no one saying anything during the game. Since I've been playing for a while though, I'd begin a game and people would remember me, and we'd proceed to tell jokes back and forth, or just be there for one another, and then we'd add one another to our growing list of msn contacts. I feel that poker is a great game for beginners and experienced players alike and that we can all be considered equal with one another. we can either win or lose at several hands of poker and no one player is better or worse than another. I like the fact that there is always plenty of time to decide whether you want to fold or call, discard your cards, or tab over and chat with someone else while you're playing. When you've completed these tasks, you just hit the enter key which makes the game very user friendly for blind players. then if you want to hear what cards you have you just type f one. There are very few key strokes which one has to remember in this game. You don't have to worry about how much time you have to select things as you do in other computer games for blind persons. The thing which makes this game unique is that you can play it online with people all over the world, and of course there aren't many games like that available yet for blind computer users. In past articles, i have said that with other games there is not a lot of support for people who are new to computer games. Most people do not experience poker in the same light as they might other games, because Zform gives you a lot of clear help and instructions about playing the game, and you can ask other players for help while you're playing. That is my experience with poker and I'm glad i wrote this article so that i could share this with you. In a few months my year of poker will be up and I'm probably not going to be able to afford another one because of it being so expensive in Canadian money. however, I'm glad that i have this experience with an online computer game. +++ Sunday Night Dungeons and Dragons, This story contains graphic descriptions of violence. It therefore may not be suitable for younger readers. The Dungeons and Dragons adventure is now held in a private Gamer's room on Audio-Tips each Sunday night at nine o'clock Eastern time. George Buys says he will soon make this room public again. The Dungeon Master during this campaign was Randy Hammer. Cave Confrontations By Kava My life was changed by the talk with the great wizard. In the past, I would experience my day to day events and not try to sit down and describe them. Now with the possibility that I would be his student and study the art of Alteration, I thought it was my duty to record the events and deeds of our party. From that moment on, this idea was constantly on my mind. It became an obsession, my own personal crusade. I must tell our story! Our party now consisted of Two dwarves, two elves, a human Mage, a Githzerai magic user and finally our Druid healer, a half-elf. We were still nursing the wounds of our previous battle with a group that carried magic weapons, when we encountered a strange cave at the edge of the mountains. After investigating the area, we thought it might give us protection from the impending storm. Outside of the cave was a curious lake that glowed from magic. I had put in long hours preparing the spell of identification, and when cast, I discovered that the water was tainted with a spell of enchantment. My world began to spin and my head grew fuzzy. My thoughts dimmed for a good part of the day so I only know in retrospect what happened then. MayFire, our Priestess of the Sky and Weather, used her breathe water prayer on Tylen, Drax and herself. They could go underwater for an hour to an hour and a half to search for what was enchanting the lake. I recalled a story about a powerful sword that was hidden in a lake's depths. The two gradually waded into the water while Mayfire walked on its surface. She grinned and looked at her hand. She was still wearing the ring of water walking. She quickly slipped it off and handed it to Syrah the Druid healer. What weakened my memory seemed to affect them too, for as the three descended, they looked around, confused and befuddled. MayFire's danger sense went nuts and she hurriedly swum to the surface. Tylen glanced at his feet, then followed after a moment. Drax came up only after swimming around for a while. The three all felt a sense of deja vu. They asked why was the rest of the party gathered at the lake's edge? The three seemed to either have lost time or their memory. Mezai recommended not going in again and suggested that this might be related to the River Styx. Galen though, being foolhardy, drank some of the water and experienced the same effects. Mezai said, "This smells of a trap. This lake was changed to catch its victims. The thing that set this trap will attack us soon." But MayFire saw the dark clouds approaching and we decided to stay only until the storm passed. Syrah cast his 2 healing prayers and planted a tree that could grow us more healing fruit. I spent the afternoon recovering from the great weakness, thinking of how our original adventure, searching for the mysterious silver mine, had gone awry. Right at the beginning, we had lost our leader, Thoren, a famous war hero when he was called back to consult with the king. Just recently, two of our party had died. The first, Rejec, a human Assassin, was plucked off his horse by a black dragon and disappeared before we even had a chance to think. He was off like a thief in the night. The second, Drax was the object of a glance from the death eye of the Beholder. At least we were able to keep his body with us so that the priests could res erect him. These kinds of shocks made old men of young ones. Not to mention the Evil ghost that did just that to myself. Well, I pondered, a wizard with grey hair does look more distinguished after all. Some residual ache still clung to my bones when the sun set and we started the night's watches. I could sense the great storm coming soon as I sat in the middle of the cave during the second watch, a dying fire glowing a deep red at my feet. Around me I could hear the loud snores of the stocky heavily muscled dwarves, Drax and Galen and the quieter sniffles of the others. One of the horses was having a bad dream and its hooves were clawing a few pebbles covering the floor. Outside in the full moonlight, Nostromo my familiar cat was scouting to the west of the lake of forgetfulness while Tylen with his sharp night vision was scanning the vast plain that we had just crossed. I was going through my spell book when suddenly In my head I felt a flash of warning. Nostromo was scampering back, gripped by a great fear. I hurriedly rolled the large scroll and tried to get up. I could only accomplish this slowly. Then I felt the vibrations of heavy footsteps coming my way. Tylen yelled a curse and I heard the twang of his bow. An instant later there came a loud screech of pain in a low booming voice. I shouted to my party members, "Wake you chittermouses! We have guests of a terrible nature!" Drax quickly rose to his feet with a magic axe already in hand and rushed to the narrow opening next to the bolder that was blocking the entrance to the cave. With my knees still aching, and my cat clinging on my ankle, I gradually followed him. I saw Tylen with his back against the outside of the rock shoot another arrow at whatever was coming. Just then, In the full moonlight I could pick out 2 large figures rushing down the hillside towards us about thirty yards away and coming fast. Now I could clearly make out their dark skin, long thin legs, bushy hair and long muscular arms and fingers ending in claws. I smiled for I recognize what they were and I knew some of my spells would be very effective. They were trolls, and their great strength was the ability to regenerate limbs and even be brought back from the dead. They could be stopped permanently with either fire or acid. I yelled out to Drax, "Are you awake yet, ready to fight?" Drax frowned and replied, "I'm not ready to fight, I'm ready to kill!" I was concentrating on a spell when Drax suddenly ducked, and Tylen dived into the cave over his head. The horses, awakened by the yells, were shuffling and whinnying nervously, frightened by the commotion and tried to back up as far into the cave as they could go. Mayfire watched the onrush of the trolls thinking of the oncoming storm and if she would have enough time for her powerful lightning prayer. Syrah grabbed several rains in an attempt to calm the horses. He handed the other rains to Mayfire and pleaded for her to help him saying, "Our horses are very nervous and I'm afraid some will try to bolt!" The lead troll slammed into the barrier rock with a earthshaking crash and reached over it to attack Drax It flailed wildly with both hands missing high then leaned down to bite his head. Drax jumped away from those teeth while swinging his battle axe slicing through nothing but the air. I noticed that The troll didn't seemed to mind Tylen's arrow that was imbedded deep in its shoulder. I cast two Melf's Minute Meteors, one against each troll. that hit their chests with satisfying sparks and sizzles. They both stumble back jarred by the small globes of fire and sudden pain. The lead one recovered and renewed its attack on Drax Mezai cast a stinking cloud spell ten feet beyond the rock directly at the second troll. The front troll shook its head briefly but continued to come on while the other one doubled over with a fit of vomiting. The near troll, with the spell confounding its senses, missed its attack against Drax again. But its sudden stopping caused Drax to miss too. With her senses attuned to any changes, alarm bells went off in Mayfire's head. Then she heard a low rumble from behind. She spun around and saw that the back wall was moving. I was busy casting two more Minute Meteors so I didn't notice what was going on behind my back. My two spells were directed to the Troll that was now in the mouth of our cave. One hit its upper arm and the other burst near enough to singe the Troll's leg. While all this was happening at the front, the rear of the cave opened and six little creatures rushed out. Mezai not knowing what these things were, cast an invisibility spell to protect himself. He then dumped a bag of marbles by the lead troll's feet while squeezing through the opening in the barrier rock. The marbles only made the Troll slip slightly, but they also through off Drax's attack and his swing cut through the empty air. Meanwhile, Galen joined his friend and his axe bet deeply into the Troll's arm. Outside, the other troll was bent over facing the lake, still throwing up. I cast my last meteor on this troll and hit him in the rear making a satisfying sizzle but without causing too much damage. Mayfire called out, "goblins are attacking!" Which caused a howl of glee to erupt from the two dwarfs. Syrah and Mayfire both swung their weapons hitting the two lead goblins while the other ones were blocked by the horses. Tylen's mighty sword decisively cut into the lead troll and it dropped. I looked back at the commotion behind me but with only the dying campfire for light could just make out some indistinct shapes. So I switched my attention back to the troll on the ground. I quickly cast my burning hands spell on it. Ten flames shot out of my fingers covering the troll charring its skin with the intense heat. The black hulk that previously was a troll was now truly dead. Behind me, Mayfire attacked the goblin with her plus club while in front of me, the second troll fled down to the lake to get out of the stink cloud. Inside the cave, two goblins swung their short swords at Syrah but missed him. The troll by the lake was raised up into the air a foot but it soon landed unharmed. Its attention was centred on Mezai, standing by the lake, for his invisibility spell had dispersed. Galen used his new axe of hurling and hit the troll with a critical blow. It dropped with a crash, and the axe returned to his hand. Drax turned to the back of the cave and threw his axe of hurling at a goblin but it hit off the rock before coming back to him. Mezai turned away from the fallen troll by the lake's edge and slowly returned to the cave where he still noticed the sound of fighting. Incredibly, the troll quickly jumped up alive and well, its wounds healed. Mezai heard the approaching footsteps, spun around and shot three magic missiles. They were all direct hits to the Troll's chest. It lurched back and screamed with its belly ripped open. Back in the cave, Drax on his second throw sliced the head off one goblin. Mayfire smashed her goblin's side with a club killing it too. Syrah swung his weapon down on the third goblins head driving it to a pulp. Outside, Galen threw his axe of hurling at the troll but it missed its head by a hair. The two remaining goblins, realizing that their forces were dwindling, try to run away. Drax, Syrah and Mayfire all threw weapons at their backs Drax and Syrah missed while Mayfire hit her target squarely, killing it. The last goblin reached up to a stone, moved it and the great rock door slammed shut behind it. The troll by the lake only had to wait a moment while its wound closed before advancing again. I cast three Magic Missiles at it an with a flash of light, flames engulfed its shoulders. The Troll screamed in pain, shook its head, spun around and ran away from us. Galen threw his axe at the retreating creature but missed to the left and the troll quickly disappeared over the hill. Mayfire examined the wall where the opening appeared but found no controls on this side to open the door. Her brow furrowed, realizing that the escaping one could call on a host of others to come back. Mezai came over to the rest of our party in the cave. He said shaking his head, "you might have warned people about creatures that come back to life!" I now think back on the fight and feel lucky that I cast the burning hands spell at just the right time. We examined the five dead goblins and troll but found no treasure to speak of. As the lightning crackled outside, we had to decide where was it safer. Here in the cave where a greater force of Goblins could suddenly spring out, or out in the middle of a thunder storm with no cover to speak of. We were truly caught between a rock and a wet place. +++ Free Game Winner Congratulations this quarter are in order for William Lomas for contributing his review of Pacman Talks. William has attempted numerous times to write reviews for Audyssey, and has done a very good job indeed for a game he apparently enjoys a lot. Justin Daubenmire of BSC Games has sponsored this quarter's free game. William, congratulations. Be certain to contact BSC Games at: www.bscgames.com and claim your well-earned reward. +++ News From BSC Games: Greetings, Gamers! It's Justin Daubenmire, owner of BSC Games. Thanks to all of you for emailing about Hunter and expressing such excitement about it. I wanted to take a few minutes here and give you some detail about the game. For those of you who don't know, Hunter is a new game I am currently developing and it is to be released mid to late January 2003. Hunter brings a new twist to BSC Games and I am thrilled about it! Of course, true to the heart of BSC Games, Hunter is packed full of arcade action at its best! However, it also has a touch of adventure! For the Hunter project, I have teamed up with a new programmer named Igor Khmelevtsov. Only Igor and myself are programming Hunter and we know it will bring hours of enjoyment to your ears and fingers on those arrow keys! *smile* The game is based on an actual story, which I wrote, and it will be installed with the game for your reading enjoyment. The game is directly modeled after the story. Although it isn't required to read it, it is recommended to read it prior to starting the game so you can get the full effect of the game. Although Hunter is an arcade style game, it has heavy overtones of an adventure/role-playing game. I'm certain it will hook arcade fans with ease. Those of you who enjoy role-playing games or adventure games will find Hunter to be delightful. It's really a unique and fresh blend for BSC Games and we think it will hook ya! Your characters name is Hunter Joe. Your adventure is to hunt through 10 back to back levels of intense play gathering as many points as possible! Are you a skilled enough hunter to journey far enough to find the ancient land of Bobo? Once you find it, are you good enough to capture the ancient Bobo tribal statue and win the game? Here are a few of hunter's currently developed features. Please understand that this is in no way a complete list of what Hunter has to offer. We are still developing the final stages of the game so this is sort of a "sneak preview". Jungle level - you use a blow dart gun to hit jungle beasts to lull them to sleep. After all, they clue the voodoo doctor in to your location and if the doc gets you, its lights out! However, if he comes at you, you can climb up a tree if you're quick enough and avoid him. Fishing level - You have your net in hand and listen for swimming fish that pass before you. Once they are in the centre cast your net and catch them for points. Look out! The crocs will come up out of the water at you and you must be quick enough to step back away from them or become their dinner! Valley of the tigers - you're running across a valley avoiding oncoming tigers almost like oncoming meteorites. You also have to jump over the wacky Rhino who charges you occasionally trying to ram ya! Mountain climb - Your climbing up the side of a mountain avoiding rattlesnakes etched in the cracks of the mountain. They want to strike you and those buggers are quite sneaky. A silly monkey on top of the mountain isn't to happy your getting closer to him so he whips coconuts at you trying to knock you off the mountain. Vine level - The ancient warrior Marpoo is hot on your heals trying to kill you! While running from him, you come up to a waterfall with a swinging vine in front of it. You have to jump up and grab the vine and swing across the water and let go on the other side before Marpoo gets ya. If you let go to soon... splash! you lose a life. Hunter will consist of 10 arcade adventurous levels. The 10 levels will directly model the story line, which again, is installed with the set-up for your reading enjoyment. You can play the 10 levels at three different difficulties: easy, normal, and insane. This totals 30 levels of game play! Hunter has our ever-popular easy to use keyboard interface. Install the game and be playing in seconds. It's that easy! Each level has its own distinct set of digitized stereo sound effects. While at the main menu, you can individually play any of the 10 levels by pressing numbers 1 through 0 on the number keys. The unregistered version of Hunter will let you play the first 6 levels of the adventure on all three difficulties for 12 days. Registered users will enjoy the ability to play the entire adventure with no restrictions and post scores real-time to our Hunter top 10 score charts. Registered users will also receive a new menu item upon registering the game called random adventure. Every time you select this option, the levels will shuffle up into a new order and toss ya right into a new adventure! Talk about variety! Hunter has many full-bodied stereo sound effects. As of this writing, we are close to 200 of them! We really went all out trying to engage you in the game by using many rich stereo sound effects! Hunter is expected to be released mid to late January 2003 and will cost $30 USD. Once you place an order for the game using our secure order form, your unlock code will be emailed to you within seconds! Or I should say as quick as your local ISP can deliver your email. You will need to be running DirectX 8.0 or higher to play the game. You must unload your screen-reading software before playing as Hunter is a self-voicing game. To stay up to date with Hunter's progress, visit my web site at: http://www.BscGames.com While you drop by, feel free to sign up for our newsletter (there is a link on the home page). When Hunter is released, we will send out a newsletter to your email box and then you can start the adventure! A final warning! Hunter will cause you to stay up hours upon hours playing it and could cause sleep deprivation! *smile*. Thanks to all of you for your continued support. I appreciate it! Stay tuned and happy Hunting! Justin Daubenmire President BSC Games +++ News From ESP Softworks: Editor's note: This is a copy of an E-mail sent by ESP Softworks in order to update everyone on their lists about what's going on. They will always be included in issues of Audyssey Magazine unless they are sent out after it is published. I advise everyone to check out the ESP Softworks site and sign up for their lists in order to make certain that you are kept right up to date with developers who particularly interest you. Seasons Greetings, Gamers! This e-mail is being sent to help keep everyone up-to-date as to what's going on at the ESP Softworks' website as well as to let people know of new additions to the site. If you don't already know what it is that we do, or haven't already been to the web site, now would be a *great* time to find out! *grin* ESP Softworks is a premiere developer of accessible game software that's completely accessible to those with low or no vision. You can visit the website at www.espsoftworks.com. If you don't wish to receive further ESP updates via e-mail, please send an e-mail to updates@espsoftworks.com with the word 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. ESP Pinball Is Back.. With An Add-On Three Pack! ================================================ Get back into one of ESP Softworks' all-time favourites with a three pack add-on featuring three completely new tables! Due to popular demand, we're releasing three new themed tables just in time for the holiday season. The three new tables are: Batter Up!, Top Gun, and Sudwerks. In 'Batter Up!', take to the plates in this hard-hitting rendition of the popular game of American baseball. Take to the skies and dogfight your way to glory in 'Top Gun'. And, serve 'em up cold and frosty to the customers in Sudwerks! Each table features lots of cool sound effects and great ambience with plenty of objectives. So, head back to the ESP Pinball arcade and, ".. serve me up some of your finest!" ESP Pinball Pack #1 is scheduled to be released December 20th, 2002. The retail price is $14.95. If ordered on CD, an additional shipping and handling charge of $4.00 will be applied (shipping on additional titles is only an extra $1.00 per title). Pre-orders are accepted--click here to reserve your copy today! Holiday Special--ESP Game Trilogy ================================= Own the ESP trilogy game set compilation that launched ESP Softworks as the forefront developer of accessible games with this single CD three pack compilation featuring: ESP Pinball, Monkey Business, and Alien Outback. Not only do you get all three of our most popular games on a single CD, you get them all at one heck of a deal! Almost a hundred dollars worth of ESP games for just $69.95--more than 25% off the retail price! A great holiday gift for someone special or even yourself! Only fifty copies of the ESP Trilogy will be available--So, don't delay! ESP Trilogy is available for immediate shipping. Each CD will feature special edition artwork and a personalized and serialized certificate of authenticity. The retail price is $69.96 plus $4.00 shipping and handling and is shipped on CD media. Order your copy by visiting our website at http://www.espsoftworks.com (click on the order link) New ESP Game--Change Reaction! ============================== Looking for a break from the intense action-arcade games and craving something a bit more cerebral and puzzle-oriented? Check out Change Reaction! It's a race against the game timer in a bid for connecting as many similar coins as you possibly can to start a chain reaction--a Change Reaction! You start off playing above a ten by thirty coin grid and given a coin to toss amongst the denominations in hopes of starting a chain reaction.. exploding as many contiguous coins as possible. Clear a row and the coin denominations are added to your jackpot score. Reach the bottom for a bonus! Try to grab a randomly placed time bomb to set off multiple reactions to help you in your race against the ever-present clock. The faster you play, the more coins you react and the bigger your jackpot! Best of all.. your jackpot translates directly into ESP Bucks that can be used toward the purchase of any game title by ESP Softworks if you can top the competition! The retail price for Change Reaction is $19.95. Shipping and multiple title discounts apply. See order form for details. For a playable demo of Change Reaction and our other games, please visit our website or click here to download a demo! ESP Raceway News ================ Hey, racing fans! A quick update to let everyone know that ESP Raceway is *still* coming along and coming along wonderfully! We know it seems like it's been forever in development--actually, it has!--but, it will be well worth the wait! We're adding two new special features to the game that'd we *love* to tell you about, but we'd like to surprise you all instead! Muuaahhh!! Seriously, though.. in addition to the cool stuff we've added, the tracks are now able to be over seventy-five percent larger with a much greater array of effects and detail! ESP Raceway will be accessible racing like you've *never* heard before! The retail price for ESP Raceway is $34.95 and will be initially shipped on CD media. A downloadable version will be available shortly after release as well as a playable demo. Pre-orders are accepted--reserve your copy today! The Genesis Project News ======================== We're still not ready to release many details on the development status of what's promised to be the most incredible accessible game of all, but.. We'd like to let everyone know that, "Yes, it's now in active development.." and, that that development is going wonderfully. You guys n' gals really have no idea how fantastic this release will be! We often have to take work breaks and guzzle a few frosty ones just to recover from the sheer awesomeness of it! *grin* We'll be featuring news regarding the T G P development via the AccessibleGames.Com website as time goes on.. (well, as soon as David gets around to setting it back up!.. okay, don't tell 'em I said that!) E S P's BIG Secret.. Shhhh!!! ============================= If we told you, then we'd have to...? Okay, we can't really say.. but, it c ould very well change the way you play accessible games.. forever. More later.. maybe! Demonstration CD's ================== Demonstration CD's are now available via the secure online order form at no charge (other than shipping and handling charges). These CD's contain all the playable demos of current products, company information, product information, audio trailers, and much more. Great for those who'd like to sample the accessible game products we offer or to use for distributor demonstrations. Other Stuff.. ============= As usual, we encourage everyone to visit the ESP Softworks' website at http://www.espsoftworks.com where you'll find the latest news and playable demos of our games. You may also click here for information regarding our current product line-up. If you have any questions at all, please e-mail us at custserv@espsoftworks.com or call via telephone at 916-359-2224, Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. 'til 6 PM Pacific Standard Time. Please Note: All pre-orders are offered as a way for you to lock in the current price of titles before their release dates (at which point, they may be raised). All titles that are offered as pre-orders will be shipped upon completion. By pre-ordering now, you're guaranteed the best price on upcoming titles. Any of our game titles may be purchased via our secure online order form at https://hestia.ntsecure.net/espsoftworks/orders/secureorder.asp or by calling us at 916-359-2224. +++ News From LWorks: Hi gamers: Here's more news from That company with the L in it's name. News on our latest game. Have you ever wanted an action packed, fun filled, an addicting computer game? Well, LWorks is promising that, and more. Super Liam is our latest project scheduled for release next summer. Run, climb and duck through 7 levels of intense arcade action. Run across the sands of the beach avoiding robotic seals that will zap your energy. Dash through a cave filled with fire and lava. And much more. With lots of cool music, and cool sfx. This game will make those summers even more fun! current games: LWorks has some of our old games on the site like LWorks words, and the original Super shot. Check them out today. If you enjoy LWorks words, feel free to purchase it. new super shot: At the end of December, look for the new Super Shot. New features, new modes of play, and new fun is what is in store for you. Super shot will be priced at 15 dollars. The most exciting feature of this release is the online real-time scoreboards allowing you to compete with friends from all around the world. Find out what the buzz is about at www.l-works.net today +++ News From PCS: PCS breaks into Windows with Pacman Talks. Deunhnhnhnhng, Deunhnhnhnhng! Deunhnhnhnhng, We have released the epic arcade game, Pacman Talks that is self-voicing, and will now play on Windows ME and XP systems. Pacman, a rolly polly pizza shaped guy, is set amidst a simple pattern of passages, and after twenty two years, he's still going strong on the computers of blind and visually impaired people around the world. You can play Pacman with your latest computer technology to reap havoc on the ghosts who want to scare the lives out of you. You are taken into a multi level audio environment, set in the world of weird sounds and quick action as you become the elusive Pacman chomping away on dots while trying to avoid those four relentless ghosts! Suddenly, you've got super power on, O'o'o, O'o'o, O'o'o, chomp, O'o'o, O'o'o, O'o'o, chomp, Ourhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrohrhrhrhrhrhrhrhg! Now that it's worn off, you've got to stop and listen, Zeunhnhnhnhngowhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhzeunhnhnhnhng, to the sound of your ghost detector, You hear Inky's voice saying, "I would make each hair of yours to stand on end." then you hear the Deunhnhnhnhng, Deunhnhnhnhng, Deunhnhnhnhng, of an opening just a few blocks away You quickly tap the space bar and, Owhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwh, Nowhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwhwh! you find that Inky is blocking your path while Clyde is hot on your trail repeating "You don't belong here." "You don't belong here." "You don't belong here." Sh'sh'sh'sh'sh'sh'sh'sh'sh'sh'sh'sh'oot, Could that be Pinky or Blinky off to the left? And do you try to get away or hit that panic button to get out of danger? And, Deunhnhnhnhng, Deunhnhnhnhng, Scrkrskrskrskrskrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrash! Nowhwhwhwhwhwh nowhwhwhwhwhwhwh nowhwhwhwhwhwhwh? You get caught! Pacman Talks takes the most exciting elements of our DOS Pacman game, such as the original sound effects and music, blending them with the kind of multi channel sounds you're accustomed to in today's top accessible games. You come equipped with a powerful ghost detector and several dot finding tools, plus many ways to tell you where you are and what the heck is going on around you. Pacman Talks brings an exciting twist to arcade games and takes blind gamers into a new type of sound experience. There are enough twists and turns to give you hours of all-out action and thought-provoking fun. Deunhnhnhnhng, Deunhnhnhnhng! Deunhnhnhnhng, Free Game Contest! Now you can ring up thousands of points and be known world wide as the top Pacman player, plus win a free game! Just send an E-mail message to Phil Vlasak, phil@pcsgames.net with your high score, and you may be awarded a free PCS game for Windows. There will be a high score winner for playing the first demo level, and another for playing all twenty four levels of the game. Just send your best score as a number in an E-mail message. Then when we sort the scores, we will ask for the highscores.dm file from the top scorer in both categories. We can read this file but it can't be tampered with. This way, we won't be flooded with lots of attachments! The contest ends December 31, 2002 at Midnight eastern time, and the top ten players will be posted on the PCS web site. Pacman Talks was created by PCS Games using the GMA Games engine. It has an MSRP of $30 US. For more information, and to download the demo, visit the PCS Games web site at http//www.pcsgames.net Pacman Talks is the first PCS game created for Windows. What will the next one be, Snipe Talks, Duck Talks, Beep Bop Breakout, or Cops Talks? You can find out by joining the PCS games list. To subscribe to this discussion list, send a blank message to, PCS_Games-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Our mailing address is, PCS Games 666 Orchard Street Temperance, Michigan 48182 phone (734) 850-9502 Call us between the hours of 8:00 A M to 10:00 P M Eastern time, Monday to Saturday. E-mail Phil Vlasak, phil@pcsgames.net We make games that tickle your ears. Nowhwhwhwhwhwh ghosts were hurt in the making of this game. +++ News From Zform: Contact: Paul G. Silva Cofounder and President ZForm LLC psilva@ZForm.com (413) 585-9692 ZForm Announces Release of ZForm Poker Version 1.1 New Version Adds Many New Features, Integration with Window-Eyes Screen-reader Northampton, MA - October 30th, 2002 - ZForm today announced the release of version 1.1 of their flagship product, ZForm Poker. The new version offers a host of exciting new features, while maintaining the robustness and reliability of version 1.0. The upgrade can be downloaded from ZForm's website (www.zform.com). Foremost among the new features is complete integration with the Window-Eyes' screen-reading program from GW Micro, adding to ZForm Poker's existing integration with the Jaws for Windows screen-reader from Freedom Scientific. These two products combined represent an overwhelming majority of screen-reader users. "One of the goals of ZForm is to make games that are equally accessible to the blind, visually impaired, and fully sighted," noted Jeremie Spitzer, ZForm's cofounder and CEO. "Integration with Window-Eyes allows us to give the vast majority of our blind players unparalleled access to ZForm Poker." "We at GW Micro have been working closely with ZForm to ensure that users of our product have easy access to this hitherto unexplored area-that of modern, online entertainment," said Doug Geoffrey, cofounder and Vice President of Support and Development at GW Micro. Version 1.1 of ZForm Poker also boasts significantly upgraded audio. The Wild West ambience is enhanced, complete with saloon background activity and dialog. Starting with version 1.1, there are now two versions of the game available for download. One version is optimized for shorter download times, while the other is larger and includes additional ambient audio. The audio in both versions is improved over version 1.0. "The atmosphere really compliments the game now," said one customer. "The new ambience makes for a much more immersive experience." Also new for 1.1 are several usability features. The Away From Keyboard mode lets players hold a seat at a table while attending to other tasks. An enhanced review mode allows more flexibility in reviewing prior game activity. Players can now keep track of how long they've been playing and how many chips they've won or lost in the current poker session. Ability to change the speech rate on the fly helps players keep up with those fast-paced hands, and the ability to ignore all chat lets players who are only in it for the gold have only game-related messages spoken to them. "I didn't think it could get much better than 1.0," remarked one customer. "Then I played 1.1 and was impressed all over again." ZForm Poker 1.1 can be downloaded via: http://games.zform.com/download/index.html New customers can sign up for a fifteen-day free trial by browsing to: http://www.zform.com and clicking on "Sign up for a Free Trial of ZForm Poker". About ZForm: ZForm's mission is to create fun and engaging ways for friends and family to interact as equals regardless of visual impairment. The company got its start in a college dorm room in 1997. "I had a friend who was totally blind," remembers Silva. "I wanted to hang out and play games with him, but there was just nothing out there that would be equally fun and playable by both of us." Cofounders Paul Silva and Jeremie Spitzer had a dream of starting a game company, and when they realized the need for these games they formed their company with a mission to fulfill that need. "We were sure we weren't the only ones to come up against this social barrier," said Spitzer, "and we hoped that if we could break it down, the entire blind and visually impaired community could benefit." They spent the next three years recruiting the ZForm team and securing the funding needed to bring their vision to life. Their efforts culminated with the launch of ZForm Poker in April of this year. ZForm can be found online at: www.zform.com ### Quotes from people playing ZForm Poker: "You play against other people who are sitting at this virtual poker table on the Internet, and the software does not care - the players do not care - who is blind and who is sighted." - Curtis Chong, Director of technology, National Federation of the Blind "My family has played games on the net for a good while but Friday night was the first time ever that I have been able to play with them. Which is fantastic to feel a part of the same sorts of things that your other family members do for entertainment." - Scott W. "One thing I'd very much like to add is that I've made a number of friends and increased my contacts with people from all over the world. ZForm has truly brought a new and pleasant meaning to the term Global village, and if poker was to be used as a yardstick to measure the success of building a community, then I say let there be more of such games." +++ Grabit Grotto Development Diary: Part I By Michael Feir I've spent a lot of time over the past six years seeking new accessible games. These have long been a primary source of fun for me. In almost every game I've ever come across, no matter how good it is, I find myself wishing that the designers had thought to add this or that feature, provide for this or that possibility, etc. Of course, I realise that it is an incredibly hard thing to create that illusive "perfect game", assuming for the moment that it's actually possible. I'm certainly not about to stop being an ambassador for all the developers of accessible games. Nor am I going to step away from the editorship of Audyssey Magazine. These objectives are, I still believe, how I can best contribute to the advancement of accessible games. For as long as I'm able, I'll do my best to make certain that Audyssey remains the informational hub for accessible games that it has become over the years. I have decided that it would be worth my time and energy to put on the additional hat of a game developer and try to make my own computer game. After years of reporting on the efforts of others, I feel that it's time I took a dip in the pool. At this stage, I believe that even if it proves impossible to make the game, I'll learn a lot by trying and be able to use the incites I gain to be a better editor. It's so easy to look at what a developer is doing and demand more and more from games when you don't have to make them yourself. I've certainly been guilty of this in the past. Of course, I do this with a number of people having volunteered to help me. As with Audyssey Magazine, the contributions of others will be crucial to ultimate success. We're still in very preliminary stages of talking things through. However, it looks like I, a complete novice at programming, will be able to achieve a life-long dream thanks to the GMA Games engine designed by David Greenwood. I've also have the assistance of Kelly Sapergia, owner of KJS Productions to aid in providing sounds and music for the game. People have also agreed to lend their voices to my project. I don't for a moment think I'll find it easy going. If I've learned anything from reporting on the efforts and anguishes of the many capable individuals involved in producing accessible games, it's that my path will be as full of unexpected twists as any good novel. I hope to eventually produce a game which you, my readers, will find worth your while to purchase. Now that I'm a married man, I have to be certain that any large-scale projects I become involved with will compensate both of us for the time and energy they take. As I'm also aware of how tight money can be, I'll set the price of the game as low as I can while still maintaining an acceptable level of compensation. What is this idea which has finally succeeded in getting me to take on such a level of commitment? I'll let the introduction to the game's design document speak for itself before I proceed further. The game is going to be called Grabit Grotto. Deep beneath the surface of a kind wizard's enchanted island, a small furry creature called a grabit must collect various jewels which appear randomly and deposit them in the treasure chest in the centre of the grotto. Opposing the player's efforts are terrible trolls, ghastly goblins, frightful fraggons, and the dreaded phantoms. While the goblins attempt to steal jewels from the grotto, trolls will attempt to tip the treasure chest and cause damage to the passages and mushrooms. The only ambition of the fraggons and phantoms is to destroy the grabit in order to decrease the powers of the kind wizard. Knowing that danger might threaten his little helper, the kind wizard has not left it defenceless. Four passages are available to hide in or slide quickly through to escape enemies. The passages also have other magical properties which will aid the grabit. A crystal barrier has also been erected protecting the area near the treasure chest. This inner sanctum will allow the grabit to rest in relative safety and heal injuries rapidly. The grabit may use its sharp horn to attack adjacent goblins and trolls or fire lightning bolts at more distant enemies on the ground or at phantoms and fraggons in the air. Eating mushrooms which grow in the corners of the grotto will cause injuries to be healed. On occasion, pits will be uncovered and filled in by quakes. Special items will also appear which present additional opportunities and dangers to be faced. The grabit must also try to keep the grotto in good repair, or face being crushed by cave-ins or ultimately having the grotto collapse onto them. All of these responsibilities must be born in mind while at the same time striving for the highest score possible. This main portion of the game will play like a classic arcade game and hopefully have that kind of cartoonish atmosphere. The game should be able to go on indefinitely if players are skilled enough. I may have both a simpler arcade mode as well as a more detailed campaign mode. If I'm able to, I would also like to have another portion of the game involving the kind wizard and his enchanted island more fully. Every so often, an event will occur on the enchanted island which will require the wizard's attention. These events may even require the wizard to put himself in peril of his life if he has been previously injured or the grabit cannot retrieve enough jewels to give the wizard the power to deal with a crisis in the most optimal way. In the arcade mode, the grabit would be given an amount of time to gather enough jewels to allow the wizard to deal with a crisis on the island. Success would win bonus points and a victory story scene while failures would have unpleasant consequences. The campaign game would keep track of the enchanted island as well as the wizard's health and possessions. Successes and failures the wizard had while dealing with situations would have more far-reaching consequences. If players couldn't collect enough jewels in time to deal optimally with a situation, the wizard would have to choose from more risky options. The player would choose on the wizard's behalf which of these options to try. For instance, pirates might try and capture the island. If the grabit retrieves enough jewels in time, the wizard can cast a spell which causes a storm which leaves the pirates lost at sea far from the island. If the grabit cannot do this, the pirates can land on the island's shore and begin to attack various structures or settlements. If the wizard is in good health, he might choose to summon a mystic knight to do battle with them. If the elf forest is in good condition, he might call on elven archers to defend the island. However, if too many of these are killed, they won't be available to help the grabit for a time. There will always be at least two options at any point of decision. The campaign would lead up to an ultimate duel between the wizard and an evil arch enemy. After this battle, the game would end differently based on the condition of the island and the wizard's health. Decisions would have to be made quickly before circumstances changed for the worse. This gives you a fairly good idea of my initial overall vision. I've only had to make one major change so far. Originally, I wanted the game to be multi-player. It would have been a hot-seat game with one player in active control of his/her grabit. The other players would be able to set priorities for their grabits who would be controlled by artificial intelligence until their turns came up. However, this was beyond the capabilities of the GMA engine which is designed for single-player games. It also very likely would have been beyond my capabilities to figure out how to implement this to my satisfaction. Other than the above, my original vision seems possible at present. I've started collecting some sounds for my game. However, my primary focus for the next while will be completing the design document containing the basics of all game elements. The grabit's enemies have been worked out. However, they might need to be revised when actual programming starts. I still have to work out the enchanted island's geography and design most of the kind wizard's situations. A keyboard layout will also have to be worked out for the main game. The wizard's choices will be made using a standard menu with up and down arrows. In future issues, I'll keep you all informed of my progress or possible lack of it in further developer diaries. A very long road lies ahead of me if I'm going to see this project all the way through. I'll also be looking for employment as opportunities come up which may further delay work on the game. Audyssey will always take precedence over my spare time. However, at the slow rate that material for Audyssey arrives, I should have lots of time between issues to work on the game. Keep it coming, readers. Audyssey is counting on you. +++ Game Announcements and Reviews: Above the full reviews which appear in this section, any new games which have not been fully reviewed yet will be announced in the hopes that readers and/or the Audyssey staff will try out and review these games for us. 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. As with Anchorhead a few issues back, I may wish to interject my own thoughts on a game should it provoke significant reaction or otherwise prove itself especially noteworthy. When I choose to do this, you'll find my remarks above the review or reviews for the game in question. Should a game have more than one review, two plus-signs will be placed above the first review and/or my remarks. This policy will hopefully encourage people to try both the latest as well as some older games which may have been overlooked. Just because something isn't hot off the presses doesn't mean that it is any less worthy of a gamer's attention. Also, remember that it doesn't matter if a game has been reviewed before. If you have a different take on the game than has already been published, send in your review and I'll consider it for publication. If a review fails to interest you, simply skip to the next plus-sign. It's that simple, folks. One new game that shows some promise was discovered for us by Zachary Kline. He writes: Freeciv is the best strategy game I have found that is of the sort that sighted people play regularly. Has anyone heard of the "Civilization series" by Microproes? Well freeciv is a clone of civilization released for free under the general public license. Basically, for those who have not heard of civilization, it is a game of empire managemen t and conquest set on earth. You take command of one of many nations, each expanding, each fighting for supremacy. Well, if you want to know how to access freeciv, read on! You have no need for sighted assistance, and a grid of graph paper might be handy for mapping, or whatever. Well, the display can be a bit confusing, but it is like a windows program with the menu bar at the top and the map and things like that in the middle. Basically, I use the mouse emulation of Window-eyes to navigate the screens, select controls, etc. You start with a settler and an explorer, which you move around with the arrow keys like all units. Well, I leave you to the very well written manual that is on the web site: www.freeciv.org Editor's note: I had some difficulty getting the game going, but haven't spent a lot of time on it. It could be helpful if somebody writes up a general help file for blind players which we can put in a future issue of Audyssey and on the Audyssey site. ++ King Of Dragon Pass: Available commercially for $19.95 US from: www.a-sharp.com Game requires sighted assistance Reviewed by Michael Feir Being fortunate enough to have sighted friends willing to play computer games with can open the door to a lot of marvellous fun. One game which is particularly suitable for assisted play is King of Dragon Pass. For an independently produced game, it has done remarkably well in sales despite being mostly text-based and not easily categorised. It is, in essence, a story-based strategy game. You must make decisions governing the lives of a clan settling in a new and magical land. I've included material below from their web-site to give you a better sense of whether the game would be suitable for your situation. First of all, however, I'll relate my own experiences and observations. Right off the bat, I should make it absolutely clear that there is sadly no way to enjoy this game without a sighted person to help out. There are enough inaccessible graphical elements to make this impossible. In all other ways, it would have been perfectly suitable. It's all reading dialogues, learning about your clan's people, myths and history, and entirely turn-based. There are no timed elements at all leaving you plenty of time to think about your next move. You and your sighted helper can discuss what to do next for as long as it takes. Battles and all other situations result in text output explaining what has happened or what people say. I contacted one of the game's designers about the possibility of making the game more accessible. Unfortunately, he didn't think it would be possible. However, he did suggest that the game would be suitable for playing with sighted assistance. He was absolutely right on that score. The music and sound adds a lot to the game despite the sounds being fairly minimal. There is no voice acting or battle sounds, but different areas of the game usually have small sound clips and their own music to accompany them. The game comes with a good deal of online help as well as a manual which scanned quite well on my Kurzweil 1000 software. The rich background of the game is astonishing. As long as your sighted partner doesn't mind reading, the game provides a lot of depth and detail about your clan members, history, and other things. For instance, the people who lead the clan, known as the clan ring, each offer their own advice whenever it is requested. There are seven people on the clan ring, each having their own personalities and agendas which can influence what they say. During one situation, a group of people tasked with hunting the undead arrived at our clan's home. They offered to hunt for any spectres, spirits or other undead creatures in our land if we permitted them. Our clan members had various opinions. Some worried about how intrusive it would be for clan members. Others thought that we should offer gifts and have a feast to honour the brave hunters. In another case, Adam and I were thinking of conducting a raid on another clan. Various clan members had conflicting opinions on that as well. The game which Adam and I started will likely take us quite a while to finish. We've played for around twenty-five game years. Each season, two things may be initiated using members of your clan ring. For instance, we sent out an exploration party and also sent a trade caravan to a distant clan to attempt to start a trade rout. Our explorers found a woman who feared she was still being pursued by enemies and had to decide what the best course of action was. We elected to take her into our clan which pleased the people but may have repercussions in the future. The game is chalk full of things like that. You never know when decisions made years ago may come back to haunt you, but can safely assume that most decisions will have consequences in the longer term. With the exception that the sighted player must control the computer and read, blind and sighted players are placed on an equal footing. No sharp perception or lightning-fast reflexes are required. It's all about memory and judging risks. As you play, the game writes a saga as a text file which can be read afterwards. I should warn parents that the game deals with some mature subject matter. However, it contains no overtly offensive material which I've noticed. I would recommend this game for people aged fifteen and older as they'll likely be able to appreciate the game's intricate nature. Below, I have included some text from the King of Dragon Pass homepage. See the top of the review for the URL, and pay the site a visit. King of Dragon Pass is the saga of colonizing a magical land. You control the future of a ragged clan which has decided to settle the empty land of Dragon Pass. Your decisions determine whether they prosper over the course of a century, and whether they will be remembered forever as a great clan. Of course, yours isn't the only clan which has emigrated to Dragon Pass. You will ha ve to cooperate and compete with other clans of your own people, as well as folk you know nothing about. Each has their own personality. Your goal is to become King of Dragon Pass, uniting all these people through diplomacy, magic, and battle. (The objective for a shorter game is to forge a tribe and remain king for ten years.) The game is set in the magical world of Glorantha, explored in detail through the games Hero Wars and RuneQuest. This provides a rich background not seen in most computer games. Block quote end Play Block quote start The game begins with an overview of the clan's legends and ancient history. You choose how your clan responded to important events. These choices define your clan, and provide goals for victory. They also serve as a gentle introduction to Glorantha. The backbone of the game is the economic model. You can review the status of your clan in screens for Farming, War, Trade, Relations, Magic, and The Clan. In each of these areas, you're given advice from your clan council, or Ring, and can make changes or initiate activities (such as a raid or diplomatic mission). Your clan's magic is directed towards worship of Glorantha's many gods. For example, you'll want to make sure the agriculture deities are worshipped properly to improve your harvest. As you develop temples and sacrifice to deities of different aspects, more magical options become available. A detailed map shows what your clan has learned about Dragon Pass through exploration or from other clans. You also have access to background about your people and their myths and history. And you can review your own deeds in the computer-written saga of your clan. Although the game is centered around the clan as a whole, at any time 15-18 outstanding individuals are presented in more detail. Each has a distinct personality, which colors the advice they give. From these clan leaders you pick your Ring, and can attempt to nurture a Hero. Over time, these leaders gain knowledge, but grow old and eventually die, to be replaced by promising youngsters. Block quote end Turn Sequence Block quote start In each of the Gloranthan year's five seasons, you can make two changes (such as increasing the amount of land devoted to crops, enlarging a temple, or arming new warriors). About once a season, you have to respond to an event (offers of alliance, visitors from distant lands, or raids). Your decisions can trigger other events, and have long-lasting consequences. Your clan Ring will advise you. You also initiate activities, such as sending a trading mission to another clan, or building a new temple. And you can risk performing a heroquest, reenacting the mythical deeds of one of your gods in the hope of gaining a similar reward. Combat is handled abstractly. After assigning your forces, you choose your tactics and objective. You may also get the chance to exploit battle opportunities through individual heroism. Block quote end Story Line Block quote start The game is composed of hundreds of unique stories, which fit together into an overall saga. At the beginning, the player's concern is the clan: building up magic potential, strengthening relations with other clans, responding to cattle raids, and exploring the new land in search of treasures. The next phase of the game is the attempt to form a tribe, through a series of negotiations with neighboring clans. Once there is a tribe, new problems arise, from the election of a king to warfare to tribal politics. After the clans of Dragon Pass band into tribes, the final step is integrating them into a kingdom. This requires a series of tests, including making peace with enemies you've been fighting for dozens of game years, and fulfilling various prophecies. Block quote end Replay Block quote start A fair degree of variability enhances replay. Different clans will be found in different locations, and local details (such as ruins, sacred groves, standing stones) are randomized. And your clan's leaders will be different each game. Their abilities are used to randomly resolve most situations. The pre-game decisions also allow for replay, since they change the starting situation and victory conditions. Block quote end Platforms Block quote start King of Dragon Pass runs on Windows (95 or later) and Mac OS (PowerPC). Hardware requirements are fairly minimal. Block quote end Designers Block quote start The game was designed by David Dunham, Greg Stafford, and Robin D. Laws, with additional design by Rob Heinsoo and Elise Bowditch. Block quote end + Monkey Business Available commercially from: www.espsoftworks.com Fully playable without sighted assistance Game created by ESP Softworks Reviewed by Kelly Sapergia "Monkey Business" (hereafter referred to as MB) is a new audio arcade game from ESP Softworks. The evil Doctor Wobble has broken into Professor Smegal's lab and let the monkeys loose. They, in turn, have escaped, taking parts of a new teleporter with them in the process. You play the role of Professor Smith, Professor Smeegal's assistant. You must go through ten challenging levels to get back the parts for the teleporter by catching all the monkeys you can, then battle it out with Dr. Wobble himself. When you start playing MB, you find yourself outside the lab. Professor Smeegal arrives, and you follow him inside and through a long hallway to the lab. Here, you discover that all but one monkey has escaped. Professor Smeegal will give you a quick intro on how to use some of the keys on your keyboard, and will communicate with you at the beginning of each level. MB is loaded with keyboard commands. The arrow keys are used to move your character, while the "six-pack" set of keys is used to give you feedback about your location, your health, percentage, and more. You can also start various scans using these keys. These "scans" are similar to Lone Wolf's radar system, where you hear different sounds for different objects as the scanner sweeps over them. I really like the atmospheric sounds in this game. You can tell where you are by listening for certain sounds. For instance, if you hear a bubbling sound, you know you're near an acid pit. You can also tell where a monkey is if you hear one running away from you. (The monkey sounds differ, depending on whether it's running through the grass, or into water.) When you catch up with a monkey it will shriek and try to get away from you. At this point, you have to catch it using your net by using the space bar. The Object Locator is another important part of this game. It beeps to let you know there's an object near you, but it does more. If you press the C key, you can see if there are any coins near you. The more coins you get, the more bonus points you'll get. The M key is used to track a monkey. When you get near one and press M you'll hear a beep which is louder depending on how close the monkey is. While MB is a great game, there are a couple things that could use some improvements. There is some great voice acting in the game, but some of the voices could use a bit more in the way of dramatics. I also think that some of the puzzles are a bit too advanced for beginning players. For instance, on the Aztec Temple level, you first have to get around various acid pits, avoiding snakes along the way, then you have to try getting into the temple without getting killed by rocks or poisoned arrows. In situations like this, I think it would be a good idea to add a feature where you could save your game anywhere. (Currently, when you load a previously saved game, you begin at the beginning of the level you're currently on.) I'm rating MB 8 out of 10. If you like a game with lots of action, this is the one for you. For more information about MB, or to download a playable demo, go to www.espsoftworks.com ++ Change Reaction Available commercially for $19.95 from: www.espsoftworks.com Created by ESP Softworks Reviewed by Michael Feir Fully playable without sighted assistance. If anything, Change Reaction is solid proof that ESP Softworks hasn't lost its pioneering spirit. Once again, the edge of the envelope has been pushed farther a field for accessible games. Nobody has ever done a real-time puzzle game for the blind like this one. Complete with background music, randomness, and well considered sounds, the game is an excellent introduction to its type. I used the demo version to base my review of this game on. This lasts for fifteen days which gave me ample time to get a feel for the game. I never got a chance to see the high-speed bonus round, so I can't comment on that. The full version gives you the ability to post your scores to the Internet and participate in monthly contests. The winner can use the ESP bucks won playing the game to lower the actual cost or even purchase games from ESP Softworks. This is the first time something like this has ever been done by a game developer. Given the industry's early stage where developers aren't even expecting to earn their livings by producing these games, I never would have expected such a generous move. The instructions which come with the game are in a text file and are well-written. There is also audio help which makes it easier for players to learn game sounds. The usual menu interface has been used where you move up or down to reach various options. James North, president of ESP Softworks, speaks all the options as you move over them. He also speaks the coins and narrates other dialog boxes in the game. The concept is pretty straight forward. Nine columns of twenty coins each are positioned in a line from left to right. The denominations of these coins are random. The player is given a coin to toss onto one of the columns in an attempt to start a chain reaction by having it land so that three or more coins of the same denomination are adjacent. This will cause all such coins to explode and disappear from the playing field. When a whole row is cleared of coins, its total is added to the player's jackpot. Only when a whole row is cleared are coins added to the jackpot. Clearing columns doesn't score any points. A cash register sound tells you when you've cleared a row and added to the jackpot. At times, a fuse will be lit. This fuse will move slowly over the columns while it burns, and is a bomb. This bomb has the capability of exploding all of the same denomination of coins in a column if a coin matching the top coin in the pile where the bomb is getting ready to explode. If the bomb explodes when you're on top of it, or you throw the wrong coin onto the bomb, you are penalized ten seconds. Every minute, a siren will sound making it easier to keep track of how much time you have left. The interface is simple and about as intuitive as it's possible to get with a game like this. The left and right arrows move you in their respective directions over the columns of coins. You can use the shifted left and right arrows to quickly glance to the columns immediately left and right of you to see if coins match up. The down arrow enters coin review mode which lets you look down, left and right through the coins lower in the columns. The up arrow snaps you out of review mode back to the top row. The space bar or insert key on the numpad will toss coins. Other keys give you information such as the percent of coins cleared and the coin you're currently holding. You certainly don't need all of them for beginning or casual play, but they'll come in handy when you're going for that top jackpot. The music which plays in the background is cheerful and doesn't take away from one's ability to focus on the task at hand. Due to the short time duration of the game, it doesn't get annoyingly repetitive. The coin explosions are neat, and you can hear the coins above the ones which exploded fall onto the columns. All of the exploding sounds are proportional and nothing struck me as over the top at all. Very importantly, I never felt that I was losing time by listening to something fully. Having a game like this completed certainly raises some interesting possibilities for future games. It has now been proven that arcade action-style puzzles can be done for blind people very effectively. What developers do now that Change Reaction has thrust open the gates is anyone's guess. This game is suitable in content for all ages, but I can't picture people younger than around eight getting a very good grasp on the game. It would make for an especially good gift for people who might not be able to afford to buy many games due to the ESP bucks contests. + Handheld game DELUXE SLOT MACHINE Reviewed by Charles Rivard No sighted assistance is needed if you have a method of keeping your total such as your head, a calculator, a Cranmer abacus ETC. Available from Radio Shack stores, website, or phone. Around Christmas time, handheld games come out by the ton! You can get such a slot machine that has enough sound so you can keep track of how you're doing as far as winning and losing is concerned. I use a Cranmer abacus, but you can use a calculator or your head to keep your current total. It runs on one AAA battery which will last for a year or longer, and if you do nothing for a few minutes, it shuts off, retaining your current total. There are 5 buttons on the deluxe slot machine. Going from right to left, here's what they do: #1: Places the maximum bet and then spins the wheels. For each 10 points bet, a beep is heard. #2: You can place from 10 to 50 point bet in 10 point increments, rather than the full bet. A beep is heard each time you add a 10-point bet. If you only have 20 points as a total, this is your maximum bet, and the wheels will spin at this point. #3: Makes a single 10-point bet and spins the wheels, or, if you have placed a bet using the second button, this third button, which is larger than any of the others spins the wheels. #4: Press this button if you want to reset the game to the starting point total of 500. Actually, you hold it down until a beep is heard. Continuing to hold for a few more seconds, and the wheels will spin without making any bet. This is so you can see the operation of the machine. No wins or losses. #5: Toggles sound on and off. The default is on. If you want to add quickly and move on to the next bet, press the second button once while the machine is adding to your total. It adds faster and then, makes a bet of 10 points when complete. If that is all you want to bet, spin the wheels with the third button at this point, or continue adding another 10 points with the second button until you reach your desired bet. Be careful, because if you bet too much, you cannot take any of it back. You can bet a little faster if you hold the second button down until your desired bet is reached and immediately let up on it. Again, you will hear a beep for each addition to your bet. You always know how much you're betting, unless you cannot count to 5, that is. (Just kidding, folks.) It's a very easy game to use for the blind, and far, far, far cheaper than going to Vegas. The games are priced at approximately $15 US. As far as being playable by the totally blind, I would give this a 9 out of 10 rating only because the visual screen cannot be read by us, but, as I mentioned, with a simple method of keeping score, it's no problem. The website is www.radioshack.com for more info, or to order online, or to check on availability. SCORING The visual display will show a score of up to 19,999 and then stop. However, any higher score is retained in memory, and when you get back down to 19,999 or lower, the correct score will be displayed. This chart lists the winning combinations and points awarded for each, based on a bet of 10 points. # Lines Bet 1-4 5 Triple Bar 3000 6000 Double Bar 300 300 One Bar 50 50 Any Bar 20 1 20 ++ It's been quite a while since a game has had four reviews of it submitted for a single issue. It seems that Personal Computer Systems has really hit the nail on the head with their rendition of this old arcade hit. I think you'll find the four reviews below will give you a good idea of whether the game will suit either yourself or somebody on Santa's list. It generated quite a lot of traffic on the Blindgamers list during the latter half of the fourth quarter. I can't recall another occasion where four people have written reviews for the same game for the same issue. Given what the developers are working on for next year, it'll be interesting to see how long PCS has that record. Pacman Talks Developed by and Commercially available from: www.PCSGames.net Totally accessible without sighted assistance Review by Stan Bobbitt I check to see how many dots are remaining, Ah, only 7 dots to go and this level will be cleared ... Ooo, but only 1 life left, hmm. I suppose I should turn the dot detector on. (CLICK) The audio navigator tells me that there's a passage to the left and I hear the ding-ding signal from the dot detector telling me that there are more dots down that passage but ... I can also hear that low hum and that taunting, haunting voice in the distance, letting me know that there are ghosts near by. (CRINGE) Well, let's just see how near by. (CLICK) Hmm, 39 blocks. I wonder which ghost it is ... (CLICK) Yikes! It's Clide! I turn and flee, kicking into cruise control, back down the passage from whence I came. The ghostly voice and the hum grows fainter and fainter in the distance, then fades away. (PHEW) I slow to a walk and listen. Everything is quiet save for the low, inspiring background music. Suddenly I hear a welcome voice calling out, "Super power, super power." (SMILE) A few more steps, the voice grows stronger, and the audio navigator tells me that there's a side passage to the right. (AH) An agile turn into the passage, I grab the super power pill, and I am super powered! It won't last for long though, so quick, I'll head back and get those last 7 dots, with no worry about those pesky ghosts, Clide and his friends Blinky and Pinky. As I skid left into the passage and begin gobbling up the last remaining dots, I hear those ghosts taunting me, telling me to leave, that I don't belong here ! They have me surrounded! It sounds like Blinky is ahead of me and old Clide is hot on my trail! A quick check tells me there are only 3 dots left. Let's see, Clide is the slowest of the ghosts, so I guess I'll try to get Blinky first and hope to gobble the last of the dots before my super power pill wears off. Reassured by the friendly whine of the alarm, signalling that I am yet super powered, I make a mad rush forward ... One down! (GRIN) Bye-bye Blinky! I hear another close by. How many dots left ... (AGH) only two! Oh no, the rate of the alarm has speeded up, meaning that my super power is about to run out! As I turn to take flight, Clide is upon me ... I hear a low pitched oomph ... meaning that the super power has run out. Oh well, better luck next time. (GRIN) ----- ----- ----- That's just a taste of some of the fun you can have with PCS Games' Pacman Talks, an audio version of Pacman for windows. The sounds are excellent, well chosen for their purposes, and certainly reminiscent of the old arcade game. I found the interface to be very intuitive and easy as well. The demo includes the full version which allows you to play only a single level. You'll have to purchase a product key to unlock all 24 levels. When you first start the demo version, there's a (product security) window. Just click ok. The next screen will ask for your product key. To run the demo version, simply click OK or CANCEL without entering anything in the edit field. Next comes the Pacman Talks' theme music, which you may recognize, and then a voice giving the product name, copyright, and version. You can hit the CONTROL key at any time to skip these. Now you can choose training mode or not; the training mode stops the ghosts. You can turn this on and off later under options in the help menu during the game. Pacman Talks includes an extensive help file. Part of the help file plays the game sounds and tells you what they mean. Another part of the file is available in text format and must be read by your screen reader. Hitting F1 any time during game play will bring up this help file. Hitting CONTROL+F1 will bring up the text files, which again, will have to be read by your screen reader. It only took me a few minutes to familiarize myself with a few essential sounds and key strokes using this help and I was off, chasing down those passages, avoiding those ghosts, gobbling up dots, and racking up some high scores. So I won't go into any specifics here. Just take the time to peruse through the help menu and you shouldn't have any problem racking up those humongous scores for yourself! I recommend this game for all ages. As far as game re-play, well, with 24 levels to play with ... I give this game a 10 out of 10. Phil Vlasak has done a superb job putting Pacman Talks together using the GMA game engine. PS, It would make a very nice Christmas present. (HINT HINT) Santa ... + Pacman Talks Available commercially for $30 US or $46 Canadian if downloaded Also available on CD for $40 US or $56 Canadian if Visa or Mastercard is used. Available from: www.pcsgames.net Game fully playable without sighted assistance Created by PCS Games Reviewed by Michael Feir My long-time readers will have noted my fascination with classic arcade games. This has doubtless struck some as strange since I cannot play most of them. While I won't go into a long personal defence of this interest, I am quite pleased to be able to review this excellent adaptation of a classic arcade game that I wasn't certain could be effectively done in accessible form. The first fully Windows-based game to come from PCS Games, Pacman Talks has proved that we can still hope for more exciting developments from this long absent pioneer of accessible games. Using the game engine from GMA Games, a brilliant rendition of the game which swept the world in the early eighties has been created. I was quite surprised to discover that the game engine which brought the blind community its first action shooter could be used for such a non-violent game as Pacman to such good effect. The game features excellent documentation as well as on-line help which will likely be all players will need to get started. The speech used in the game is of very good quality. The only words I didn't fully understand were those spoken by the ghosts which seem to have been intentionally made to sound creepy and distorted. Controls are very simple and intuitively laid out. It may take players a while to get used to the layout of the board as well as how navigating passages works. When you move forward, you do so continuously until you either tell Pacman to stop or hit a wall. As you come to branching passages, a three-chirp warning is sounded in your left or right speaker depending on which way you can turn. You can hit the left or right arrow as soon as you like, but won't turn until after the three chirps. As you go through the maze, you'll hear dots being eaten unless you're going down a passage through which you've already travelled. When you've eaten most of the dots, you can resort to a handy dot detector to help locate remaining dots and keep from wandering endlessly through passages you've already explored. The sounds work quite well in the game. Each ghost has a different voice and says various things depending on the circumstances. It is also easy to tell when you have superpower and are able to scare ghosts, when that power is about to expire, when ghosts are near, and other things. A lot of spoken audio navigation help is also available if it is needed. When compared to the normal version of Pacman, the layout of the board has been greatly simplified. I'm usually not one who appreciates this sort of thing, but think it was a wise decision in this case. Blind people have a fighting chance to become familiar with the layout where I'm not certain that would be possible with the normal one. Even though I've played over a hundred games by now, I can still find myself getting confused if I'm not careful. The minimal graphics available will make this game particularly suitable for families where there are blind and sighted siblings. There is enough complexity to this accessible version of Pacman that I would not be able to recommend it to as young an audience as its normal counterpart was suitable for. Small children may have trouble piecing together what the sounds mean and becoming used to the layout. I would suggest that children aged ten and up would be able to enjoy the game. New players should try out the training mode to become familiar with how the game works. On the whole, the game seems free of bugs with one exception that I know of. I have on occasion found myself closer than six spots away from ghosts. This is supposed to be impossible, but I've managed it and found that movement becomes sluggish and that it is hard to navigate. While in this situation, ghosts are unable to eat Pacman. Other than the above, the game seems flawless. It has excellent replay value, and should hold the interest of players for quite some time. The demo gives players an excellent opportunity to evaluate the game. The full version lets players go through twenty-four levels, while the demo lets players experience only the first level as often as they wish. In higher levels, ghosts are faster and power pills last for shorter amounts of time. The ghost house is a nifty part of all levels. A lot of different sounds can be heard while Pacman is in there, and there is a bonus item which can be picked up for additional points. It can be quite a challenge getting into the ghost house before superpower expires, and it is quite dangerous entering the ghost house without such protection. It can become a bit frustrating when all power pills have been used and only the escape tunnels can be used to flee from ghosts after luring them away from areas where dots remain to be eaten. The background music is an impressive addition with adjustable volume and the option to have it completely turned off if players find it too distracting. It is of a non-distracting nature, and good enough not to become annoying after prolonged exposure. In closing, I would like to reiterate my hearty endorsement of this game. It would make an excellent gift for blind people of almost all ages. PCS Games has managed to capture the essence of what make the original game so universally enjoyed by people from all walks of life, and I hope blind people who may have previously feared computers or thought that no games were out there which would interest them will give this one a try. + Packman talks Produced by: PCS inc. Requires no sighted assistance to play Demo version of the game available from: www.pcsgames.com, www.gmagames.com Reviewed by William Lomas Many people have enjoyed packman especially in the 1980's, when he was seen chomping away on those dots on arcade machines. I personally liked the dos version of packman that PCS produced, but this windows version is truly unique and professionally well crafted, as it uses the GMA game engine found in the shades of doom release from GMA. The game is still packman but with many more variants. There are escape tunnels so you can move from one side of the maze to another, panic buttons in case you are really stuck and you are surrounded by ghosts and 25 levels!! In the demo version, you only get one level, but this is enough to give you a sampling of the game. It certainly provides many hours of fun for both the newby to packman and the advanced. It is certainly tense as you zoom through the echoing corridors trying to find all those dots and avoid those ghosts. Installation. The game is a standard installation program, and shouldn't cause any difficulty. From what I remember off hand it does run off all operating systems but do check on the websites mentioned at the start of this article for the system requirements. Starting the game. When you start packman talks you are presented with a dialogue box that asks you to enter your registration name and key, just press enter until the music starts, which I think means pressing enter twice. The registration key will be supplied to you upon purchase of the game. One thing I should point out here, is that there is no expiry period on the game, so you can play the one level for as long as you want. The game does have 25 levels, which means the ghosts get harder and smarter as you progress. Interface. You can move in two ways in the game. Step by step, or continuously. When you move continuously, you can set the game so that packman can describe what is around him as he is zooming down each passage way. One nice feature is when you are approaching a wall you will hear it on your left, and you will know that you can turn left then. There are sound description items in the main game sound menu so all the sounds will be revealed too you. Avoiding the ghosts is fairly straightforward and when you are getting near a ghost you will hear them getting louder, there are four ghosts each with different characteristics, but I'll let you read about those for yourself grin Also in the game, the sound effects are stunning, this game is really immersive and well crafted for all arcade lovers. I myself may purchase the game. It is a shame you don't get more than one level, but the other levels will certainly provide a challenge to you, the player. The instruction file in the game is well laid-out, giving you clear and precise instructions on how to play the games. To order it, go to www.gmagames.com, where you can also download the demo. You can also go to www.pcsgames.net as well. Happy fruit picking!! +++ Contacting Us I can be reached in two ways. The easiest is via my Cogeco E-mail address. My e-mail address is as follows: mfeir@cogeco.ca Alternatively, you may correspond with me on 3.5-inch disks, provided you be sure to send them in returnable disk-mailers. I don't have the money to pay for postage. My mailing address is: 350 Lynnwood Drive Apartment 103 Oakville, Ontario L6H 1M8 Adam Taylor, star of Adam, The Immortal Gamer, and our resident ADOM guru, can be reached three ways. You can send him e-mail at: blade@ican.net Or, you can check out his homepage on the web: Blade's Armoury http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/9111 His page is dedicated to providing help, cheats and solutions to many games. Send him a request, and he'll do his best to find what you need. He also has sections on ADOM and Nethack available. Also, you can download the magazine from his page. Finally, if you wish to contact him at home, his address is: 3082 Bartholomew Crescent Mississauga, Ontario Canada L5N 3L1 Jay Pellis is an avid fan of graphical adventures and console games. For those of you wondering which Sega or Nintendo games are at all enjoyable to the blind, he's the one to turn to. He can be contacted at: jalucard@icontech.com Justin Fegel has resigned his official position as an interactive fiction staff member. As such, he will be sorely missed. However, Justin plans to remain active in the Audyssey community. Therefore, those who need guidance with interactive fiction may still benefit from his experience. He can be contacted at: Jfegel@earthlink.net Kelly Sapergia is our expert in interactive fiction. He is a well-established reviewer of games for Audyssey, and has an interest in developing interactive fiction as well as playing it. He can be contacted at: kjsman2@sk.sympatico.ca James Peach is responsible for maintaining our new official homepage. Your feedback will help him make our site a better place to be on the Web. He can be contacted at: jamespeach@hotmail.com Randy Hammer conducts an ongoing search for worth-while mainstream games that can be enjoyed by blind players with sighted assistance. He will also review commercial games and shareware produced specifically for the blind, such as that from ESP Softworks, PCS, and eventually, Zform. He can be contacted at: RHammer@illuminet.com Justin Ekis is our new web-based games expert. He will search for and report on on-line games like Utopia and Archmage. He is also going to keep a close eye on the re-emerging BBS scene. You can contact him at: j.ekis@verizon.net Dave Sherman has become well-known on the Audyssey list and has now joined the Audyssey staff as our multi-user-dungeon expert. Interest in muds has popped up again and again in the Audyssey community and elsewhere among the growing net-savvy blind community. Thanks to Dave's efforts, newcomers will have another expert to turn to for guidance. Dave will also report on the various different MUDs out there and steer us to the more blind-friendly ones. You can contact him at: drsherm@earthlink.net Muds take a long time to become familiar with. Therefore, Maria Dibble joins Dave Sherman in his exploration of muds. They also make a great team to tackle interactive fiction games together. Maria can be contacted at: mdibble@pronetisp.net David Lant has long been an active member of the Audyssey community. He is now one of our two moderators keeping things pleasant and orderly on the Audyssey discussion list. He can be contacted at: DLant@btinternet.com Brenda Green is the new co moderator. Her efforts on behalf of the Audyssey community are very much appreciated. She can be contacted at: bdgreen@tru.eastlink.ca Randy Hammer conducts an ongoing search for worth-while mainstream games that can be enjoyed by blind players with sighted assistance. He will also review commercial games and shareware produced specifically for the blind, such as that from ESP Softworks, PCS, and eventually, Zform. He can be contacted at: RHammer@illuminet.com Paul Nimmo is a long-time resident of the Audyssey community who maintains a Frequently Asked Questions or faq file for Audyssey. When it is updated, it gets posted to a number of sites. He can be contacted at: pgnimmo@iprimus.com.au