Audyssey;



Games Accessible to the Blind



Issue :  52 3rd  2007



Edited by Ron Schamerhorn







Fun, Friendship, Knowledge, Charity







+++



Welcome



Welcome to the  50th issue of Audyssey. This magazine is dedicated to the 

discussion of games which, through accident or design, are accessible to the 

blind either with or without sighted assistance.



In this publication I've attempted to pack in a whole bunch of great 

information about gaming and the ongoing developments that are taking place. 

Notenavigation markers. Three plus-signs are placed above any articles or 

sections. Within these



sections, two plus-signs denote the start of a new sub-section. Smaller



divisions are marked by a single plus-sign. This allows people to use



their search capabilities to go quickly to the next division they are



interested in. For instance, the "Letters" section is preceded by three



plus-signs. Each letter within it has two plus-signs before it. Answers



to letters have a single plus-sign before them.







+++



Contents:



Welcome



>From The Editor



Letters



RTFM online help for accessible games



Video games' new frontier:  -



Accessible Multiplatform Games?



Phil's Funnies



Chatting with Creators



Are role playing games changing the way we view gaming?



News From Game Developers



Game Announcements and Reviews



Contacting Us



Distribution Information and Submission Policies







+++



>From the Editor







  Firstly let me wish aHappy Holidays to one and all.  I hope this seson 

allows time with friends, family and wonderful times.



  This issue of the magazine does have some great information.  I feel the 

letters section is above average with some links to various articles about 

accessible gaming which provide a good read.  The articles number about 

three this time which discuss various points involved with gaming.  The 

developer has a number of recent releases aand updates.  Lastly the Chatting 

with creators section is in this issue, this time with Mathew of the online 

game Sryth.



  Also I wish everyone the best of the season, I'm going to try and keep 

warm here in Canada, and Enjoy this issue of Audyysey!











+++



Letters



  In this section the content is taken from the list primarily, but may also 

include something I receive directly.  Generally these are of course game 

related, but perhaps not a review or announcement as such.  Sometimes it 

might just be someone's thought's about a game or genre of game.  I hope 

these prove interesting and informative.







++



Folks,







In my humble opinion, the blind community isn't notably different from any 

other collective re entitlement attitudes,



or, for that matter, proportion of lazy thinkers, or people who behave



unwisely.



People are just people: good and less good.



As for how this affects our sales:



Most computer games end up in the bargain bin and lose money.



Most computer companies lose money.



Even EA posts losses some quarters.



Games are not as essential to potential customers as groceries.



We do it because it's fun, same as actors.



If you want to make money doing software, build financial systems.



Been there, done that, ugh!



If you want more sales, suggest you let additional markets know of your 

games.



Try the Family Friendly market. Except for some of Jim's racier stuff.



Try the Seniors market. Old folks got tired eyes.



Try the Female Gamers market. You might be surprised.



Maybe even the Educational market, like VIP games does.



The Casual Games market is really competitive, but the latest issue of 

Inside Gamesutra has an excellent review of that



market



http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15955.







There's opportunities in other disabilities markets too.



Richard's Game Accessibility Project has some great pointers.



Then there are 7 large English speaking countries besides ours.



Look where Azabat and Bavisoft are on the Web.



 From what I've seen these past few months,



this is a knowledgeable bunch of people who are passionate about what they 

do.



Let's have some fun.







John Bannick



CTO



7-128 Software







++



Hi all,



Here's a fun article I found in today's Guardian from the UK, reliving those 

wonderful sport's games, just sort of choosing the best 1980's ones.



Enjoy



http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/11/02/joy_of_six_retro_sports_games.html







++







You mentioned "...true 3D environments are almost impossible to relate to



in an audio only format."



If you haven't seen it yet, check out the article "Playing by Ear: Creating



Blind-Accessible Games",



GamaSutra, May 20, 2002, by Gavin Andresen. It's at



www.gamasutra.com/resource_guide/20020520/andersen_pfv.htm.



He's got some specific techniques that could be coded.



Not that true 3D is easy at all, even with some good techniques.







John







++



Hi all,



I'd like to mention a problem which I think we as audio and blind gamers 

should really take seriously and somehow solve. The problem is this: we must 

have



some sort of central site which houses abandonware of our games. This is, 

not just so that we can access them later if we need to, but also because I 

think



it's a real pity that if so much effort has been put into developing an 

audio game, we should be able to play it if the developer abandons the 

project



or closes the site down. I'm talking about many  games here, The Blind Eye, 

Tarzan Junior, The Savage Gambit, Shell Shock, PCS DOS stuff, all sorts of 

these games really can't be found easily if at all.



I know that people could say that people should have backed up files when 

downloading, but, take my case, for example, where the problem is that



a few years ago when I was downloading them, flash sticks weren't that 

cheap, and my old laptop didn't have any sort of CD writer. I only backed up 

what



could fit on a wonderful floppy disk, and my new  computer now doesn't have 

a drive for them! And what will happen if more  audio game developers who 

made a game decide to close down? Just a bit



of advice here, back up all your game files you have, as you never know if, 

for example, a company like Spoonbill or UA Games, or anyone for that matter



can't, or decide to abandon distribution of their games entirely. We have 

now got much more choice when it comes to gaming, but I still don't think 

that that allows us to forget or ignore the older stuff.



Ari







+++



RTFM: Online Help for Accessible Games



By John Bannick







As developers, a big frustration is that players don't read our online help, 

yet they complain when they don't know what to do next. This is the reality.



Here's how we can deal with it, based on observations from our group's 

playtesting.







Part 1. Types of Help:



All of help can be divided into the following categories:



1. The Help button and F1 key



2. Faceplate Help



3. Stealth Help



4. Help Prompts



5. Frequently Asked Questions



6. Tutorials







1. The Help Button and F1 Key:



Players expect a Help button and / or to get help from the F1 key. Our 

playtesting reveals that no one uses either, ever, at all. So much for all 

that work.  When asked, playtesters say that their experience with other 

software is that online help is useless. My experience with commercial 

software development



is that the folks who write online help are given neither the time nor the 

information necessary to do a decent job. This isn't likely to change. 

Therefore, we can expect our players to continue to ignore the Help button 

and F1 Help.



We still use the F1 key because that's what user's expect, though we still 

don't see playtesters using it. However, when we renamed our Help button the



"How To" button, we saw playtesters use it.







2. Faceplate Help:



Faceplate help is a block of text displayed as part of the panel itself. It 

doesn't require any action on the player's part in order to be displayed. It's



a separate block of text; not a label to a control. It tells the player what 

to do next or explains the current panel.



The problems with faceplate help are:



1. Limited real-estate in a graphical user interface



2. Context ambiguity in an audio user interface



3. Information overload in either after the first time it's displayed



Still, if used judiciously, faceplate help can be useful.







3. Stealth Help:



Stealth help is what we call help that pops up the first time, and only the 

first time, a player starts to play a game. It's part of the main panel, not



a separate dialog box. It is not labeled as "Help."



Stealth help tells the player what the objective of the game is and gives 

simple 1, 2, 3 instructions for how to play the game.



We observe playtesters actually reading Stealth Help.







4. Help Prompts:



Players get into a game and then ask, "What do I do next?"  Well, they could 

press the F1 key or select the Help button. But they don't.



We use a timer to detect how long it's been since the player used the 

keyboard or mouse. After 60 seconds,  a dialog appears that suggests the 

next thing



the player might do.



This suggestion is not specific to the content of the game; for instance: 

"Ask Cecil why he was playing tennis instead of attending the ball with his 

parents."



Rather we suggest: "To ask the next question, press the letter A key."



The dialog contains a checkbox that tells the program not to display any 

more help prompts. This is similar to commercial file download dialogs that 

say



"Close this dialog automatically after the file is downloaded."



We've observed playtesters read and use these help prompts.



BTW. We call our help prompts, "The Idle Twit", as in: when you are idle, it 

twits you.







5. Frequently Asked Questions:



The format of FAQ help is to have an index at the top and the indexed 

questions and answers below.



Computer users are familiar with FAQs on Web sites. Our Web statistics 

indicate that people read ours.







We use the FAQ format for our "How To" help pages. We've observed 

playtesters use them. The suspicion here is that the format itself breaks 

the player from



their prejudice against traditional help and stimulates their prejudice in 

favor of FAQs.







6. Tutorials:



We don't use them. Our objective is to make simple games that are so 

intuitive that tutorials are unnecessary.



Still, some excellent games have lots of features and options just as part 

of the game.



Our reading of the various gaming forums indicates that players want 

tutorials for those types of games.







Part 2. Accessibility Issues:







The three things our group focuses on are:



a. Bandwidth



b. Context



c. Linearity







Even with speech speeded up, it takes longer to hear online help than it 

does to read it. With Braille output this is even more the case.  So help 

that



is going to be spoken needs to be less verbose and have some sort of indexed 

access such as the use of headers. We try to be sensitive to bandwidth.



It's important to players who are either blind or sighted that they not lose 

the context of where they are. Help content needs to relate specifically to



where the player is in a game. Players who are blind need to have a way to 

know that they are in a help dialog and not in the game itself. We include 

specific



text to that effect in our "Idle Twit" dialog.



Linearity is the same issue in games as for Web pages. Audio or Braille 

output is linear; reading is not. Accessible online help must include some 

kind



of indexing for direct access. FAQs are how we do that.







Part 3. General Techniques:







1. Progressive Revelation:



Good business correspondence and news articles are built on a pyramid. Start 

with the specific point you're trying to make. Follow that with the details.



Good online help uses the same technique. This makes it less likely that the 

player will bail out because they can't immediately find what they want. It



also makes it easier for the player to exit after they have found what they 

want.







2. Repetition



Homer (the Greek poet, not Simpson) used repeated phrases to make the Illiad 

and the Odyssey more entertaining and understandable.  Using consistent 

phrasing,



format, and organization throughout our online help has the same benefits.



The player knows where to find things and what to expect when they get 

there.







2. Verbosity Management:



A novice player needs information that an experienced player finds boring.



Our use of Stealth Help and The Idle Twit is how we address this. Another 

method is to have a verbosity setting in a game's control panel.







4. Information Filtering



A specific category of player may need information content that other 

players don't need. This help can be grouped separately so it's easy to find 

and the



player doesn't have to wade through irrelevant text.



We use the F2 key to present online help that is filtered and organized 

specifically for players who are blind or visually impaired.



We've observed our blind and visually impaired playtesters use this F2 help.







Final Words:



The best help is presenting a simple, intuitive user interface that requires 

a minimum of online help.  The practical takeaway for game developers is to



put our limited time into simplifying our user interfaces rather than using 

online help as a bandaid.







+++



Video games' new frontier: The visually impaired -



sent in by Phil Vlasik







I think this article is important enough for the blind community to post it



in full:



Video games' new frontier: The visually impaired -



from CNN.com



By Steve Mollman



September 4, 2007







. Story Highlights



. New interactive music video game developed for visually impaired



. Nintendo Wii's Wiimote controller or keyboard used to play



. Developers hope game will also be played online by mainstream players



Forget shoot-em-up addicts -- video games are reaching out to the rest of



us.



The greatest symbol of this is the Wii console from Nintendo. Its innovative



wireless control -- the Wiimote -- has even non-gamers excited as they swing



it through the air to control, say, a tennis racket on the screen.



Wii's Wiimote may play a pivotal role in bringing the visually impaired into



the electronic gaming fold.



But not quite everyone has been reached. One group is still largely ignored



by video game makers: the blind.



With that in mind, a team of researchers at the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game



Lab in Massachusetts set out this summer to make a music-based video game



that's designed for mainstream players and also accessible to the blind.



Appropriately, perhaps, they incorporated the Wiimote into the game-play,



though it's optional.



The resulting DJ game, designed for the PC, is called AudiOdyssey. In it,



players try to lay down different tracks in a song by swinging and waving



the Wiimote in time with the beats. Or they can just use keyboard controls.



The game reminded this writer of my lack of any rhythm whatsoever. I used



the keyboard version, where you're instructed to follow the beat by hitting



an arrow key. Miss a beat and you get an ugly sound. Things sounded pretty



ugly. But I did start to get a little better after 15 minutes and was



awarded occasionally by crowd cheers. It's a fun game. And I got a kick out 

of it.



So did 41-year-old Alicia Verlager. For her, though, the fun is a bit more



significant. She's visually impaired.



"Play is one of the ways in which people build relationships," she notes.



"It's fun to take on the challenge of a game and take turns encouraging and



Laughing at each other's sillier mistakes. That's the experience I am really 

craving in a game -- the social aspects."



AudiOdyssey is presently single-player only, and there's no scoring system.



But a multiplayer online version will be released in a few months.



Intriguingly, players in this version won't necessarily know whether their 

opponent is blind -- and it won't make a difference in the game.



"Ideally, they shouldn't even know that it is designed with the visually



impaired in mind, since we want to make a 'mainstream' game," says Eitan



Glinert, a 25-year-old grad student at GAMBIT and the lead researcher on 

AudiOdyssey, which is his thesis.



That said, "after they find out that the game is designed to be accessible,



it increases awareness," he adds.



 Though using the Wiimote isn't necessary, Glinert believes it's a more fun



and expressive option. From a development standpoint, getting the Wiimote to



work with a PC game (it's meant to be used only with Nintendo's Wii) was a



considerable engineering challenge.



And players who want to use the device will have to do a little extra work,



as well, including linking a Wiimote to a PC wirelessly via Bluetooth signal



(instructions on how to do this are included with the game).



Verlager believes AudiOdyssey's use of the Wiimote makes it unique among



accessible games. It's also, as far as she knows, the first accessible music



game for blind players. A startup called All inPlay offers online games,



including poker, designed to allow play between blind and sighted users.



For Verlager, it's important that games be mainstream and inclusive --



rather than "special" and for blind players.



"I really get frustrated with the way blind people are portrayed as if they



live in isolation from the rest of the world and have no sighted family or



friends," she says.



Media, which includes video games, "is something people share and



participate in together, a way of building relationships and exploring



feelings and attitudes about real life," she says.



For now, AudiOdyssey is an "early concept prototype," says Glinert. But



"ultimately, we'd love to bring the game to consoles," he adds. "If we get



the chance we'll definitely move quickly on that."



The current version of AudiOdyssey is available for free at the GAMBIT Game



Lab Web site.



http://gambit.mit.edu/loadgame/



Here is the game direct download link:



http://gambit.mit.edu/loadgame/summer2007/AudiOdysseyinstall.exe



It is 120 MB in size.







+++



Accessible Multiplatform Games?



By Thomas Ward







For many years accessible software such as games, screen readers, OCR



software, screen magnification, etc was primarily designed for the



Microsoft Dos and Windows platforms. It was rare a developer wrote



something accessible for a computer running Mac OS or Linux. However,



since the passage of Section 508 allot of companies including those who



target Mac and Linux operating systems have been developing more



accessible software for the blind as well as other handicaps. For



example, the Mac Cocoa API allows a developer to provide almost instant



accessibility out of the box. The GTK+ 2.0 API does rather the same



thing for FreeBSD, Solaris, and Linux based operating systems. Now, that



these operating systems have become more blind user friendly more and



more blind computer users are experimenting and even switching to



non-Windows based platforms. However, accessible gaming for these



platforms is still lacking.



Fortunately, for accessible game developers there are some very good



programming languages available which directly targets the specific and



often sticky issue of how to write a program that will support Windows,



Mac, Linux, Solaris, all at the same time. Two of these languages are



Python and Java. Both are generally platform independent languages and



can be designed to support a wide array of operating systems and cross



platform APIs.



Perhaps one of the easiest multiplatform programming languages to learn



and use is Python. It is an extremely powerful programming language that



has very clear, readable syntax,, strong introspection capabilities,,



intuitive object orientation,, natural expression of procedural code,,



full modularity, hierarchical packages,, exception-based error



handling,, very high level dynamic data types,, extensive standard



libraries and third party modules for virtually every task,, extensions



and modules easily written in C, C++, Java, or .NET languages.



Python can easily integrate with COM,, .NET,, and CORBA applications.



Basically, you can say, "it's in there."



Recently the Python programming language has had some growing support in



the accessible development community. For example, the NVDA screen



reader for Windows, the Orca Screen Reader for Linux, and the Sound RTS



game have all been written in Python. Which only proves that the



language is well suited for development of accessible games and products.



Another very popular multiplatform language is Java designed by Sun



Microsystems. Unlike most programming languages it was designed by Sun



specifically to address the issue of running the same application on



multiple operating systems without creating a new version of the program



for each operating system. Java is easier than C++ to learn, is fully



object oriented, and since version 1.4.2 has shipped with platform



independent libraries specifically designed for Java based gaming. Java



has been growing in support among mainstream game developers in such new



Java based titles including: Madden NFL 2008, Metal of Honor, Turbo 21,



MVP Baseball 2007, as well as a variety of card and board games. Java



has proven to be well suited for games, and can be used to create



multiplatform games. Not just for computers, but for some mobile phones



as well.



Currently, USA Games Interactive is considering the possibility of



switching to a platform independent language sometime in 2008. It is



uncertain which language we will use for our development, but recent



thoughts are that the next release of STFC, STFC 2.0, will be developed



in a platform independent language like Java or Python. No final



decisions have been reached about STFC 2 and the programming language



the engine will be designed in, but it is certain we look forward to



expanding into other operating system markets beyond Windows.



At USA Games your input is very important to us. if you have an interest



in seeing multiplatform based games write me at:



tward@usagames.us



and we will consider your opinions, suggestions, and thoughts about



multiplatform games.







+++



Games we'd like to play,



by Phil Vlasak,







Dumbledore and the Castle of Witchcraft and Wizardry



Phil jumping at the news that Dumbledore  was gay, slows the voice of Sarah



down and creates a new game...







There is an intruder in the most famous Wizard castle in the land.



Late in the evening of July seven, a young female was spotted entering



Hogwwarts  school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.



 "She looked to be about eighteen." reported the Caretaker Filch to the



headmaster.



 Dumbledore did not want to stop his great bowling game but realized that 

the



girl might get into trouble.



Dumbledore  knew if Filch got his hands on her, he would string her up by



the ankles in his office.



 And while Albus  often enjoyed an evening hanging up-side-down, he did not



think the girl would appreciate it. So Dumbledore   put down his bowling



ball and strode over to his desk, and under a copy of Magical knitting



patterns magazine, picked up his Death Stick to confront the intruder.



The Castle of Witchcraft and Wizardry game transports Albus   and you into a



world of fantasy filled with secret passageways and hidden chambers. He



explores the castle searching for the girl while cleaning up the loose 

magical items, confronting the creepy creatures knowing at any minute, 

disaster may strike and his current lover might decide to leave the bowling 

alley.



So, take a trip with Albus   to Hogwwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry



and pay a visit to the ghost's Deathday party in the dungeon,



pop into the kitchen for a chat with the sometimes sexy House-Elf Dobby,



walk down to Hogsmeade for a spot of Firewhisky in the Hog's Head,



try to calm down the cranky caretaker and his maniacal obsessions, ,



pick up plenty of coins to buy sweets at the sweet shop, ,



and finally, hold on tight as you fly on a broom trying to catch the



illusive teenage girl.







+++



Chatting With Creators



  This section as the title infers is exactly that.  An informal question 

and answer with one of the game developers.  The focus isn't only on the 

game, but also to find out more about the person or people who create the 

games we all enjoy playing!  This time the chat is with Mathew Yarrows, who 

many know as the man behind the popular online RPG of Sryth: The Age of 

Igtheon.  I hope everyone enjoys reading the interview below.







Ron: All right, I think to begin we'll start with some background info about



yourself.  so how about just general info about you?  We'll get into gaming



shortly.







Mathew's answer: As most players know, my name is Matthew Yarrows, and I'm 

the



owner, designer, writer, and gamemaster for Sryth: The Age of Igtheon. I'm



a computer hobbyist and an avid writer. I'm in my early 30s (yes let's



stress EARLY, hehe), married to the love of my life, Stacia, and the father



of an ever-inspiring 4 and a half year old daughter named Emma, whose lively



and imaginative play never ceases to produce ideas for the game -- she is to



blame for the Catamaroks, the Destroyer Crab (from the fifth Proving 

Grounds),



and the Troll-Bont (all long stories!).



I live in northern Connecticut and do nearly all of the Sryth development



and writing on my trusty IBM Thinkpad, running Fedora Linux.







Ron: Next what was your first gaming experience the title, system



etc?  Computer or console styles you've played over the years?  Favourite



titles and so on.







Mathew's answer: My first computer gaming experience were two text 

adventures on



the Tandy Color Computer: Raaka-Tu and Pyrmaid 2000 (for those who may



remember them). After that I played Dungeons of Daggorath (still on the



Tandy Color Computer) until the game brought about the ruin of my



spacebar! I thank my parents for getting the computer (the Tandy Color 

Computer)



as it was my introduction to computers and the start of what has been a 

lifelong



love of computer games! I was also an avid gamer on the Commodore Amiga in 

the late 1980s and



enjoyed games like the Bard's Tale series. One game that I played 

extensively on the Amiga that probably directly and indirectly influenced 

the design of Sryth, was Beyond Zork. It took the standard text adventure 

game and added some great



role-playing elements to it. I'm not sure if Beyond Zork is still available 

anywhere, but if you can find it, it's definitely worth spending some time 

with!



I haven't played many of the more recent computer games, with the exception 

of Diablo I and Diablo II which I thought were both great fun.







Ron: What was your initial reaction when you found out your game was 

accessible



to blind and visually impaired players?







Mathew's answer: I had not set out to make Sryth an accessible game, but I 

was surprised and delighted to learn that by its text-based nature and some 

accidents of design it was accessible to blind and visually-impaired gamers. 

I created Sryth as a text-based game because those are the sorts of games I 

would enjoy playing, so the fact that it's accessible to all players is 

great and I'll make sure it stays that way.







Ron:   Did you have to change the code for Sryth or did it work from the



beginning for blind/vi players?







Mathew's answer: It worked from the beginning for all players, so just by an 

accident of design it was accessible. I've made a few changes to some 

different things in the game after receiving player suggestions regarding 

accessibility, but they have all been fairly small changes.







Ron: A question from AC



"I don't know how others feel about this suggestion, but I think it may be



manageable and maybe even beneficial to game play.



What about selling kepbekk leaves or kepbekk elixirs for either gold and/or



adventure tokens?



Besides, maybe Mathew could put a limit on the amount of kepbekk leaves



and/or elixirs you can buy.



Most importantly, what does Mathew think? smile"







Mathew's answer: I've received this suggestion quite a bit from players and 

have it on my list for things to implement in the near future. As the player 

has



suggested, there would likely be a limit to how many healing elixirs and/or



leaves a player could acquire within a given timeframe.







Ron:  During combat, if you obtain a MR bonus which says something like



You execute a stroke worthy of your Master level of mastery in Weaponry:



> Slashing...



> @ +36 MR for this round.



> Why is it regardless of how much your mr increases the damage on your 

> enemy



> doesn't go up accordingly?  I'll hit an extra 2 or 3 points if I roll and



> get 11 or 27.







Mathew's answer: The damage you do against your opponent depends on the 

number



you roll, as compared with the difference between your Melee Rating and



that of your enemy. There is a cap to the difference between the two



Melee Ratings, so it's very possible that a large increase in your Melee



Rating may not provide a similarly large increase in damage done to your



opponent, and in some cases it may not provide any increase in damage at



all (if you already had a Melee Rating much higher than your opponent's,



etc.)







Ron:   How long has Sryth been around?







Mathew's answer: The first beta for Sryth was launched in late 2002 and the 

game was officially live in the summer of 2003. The game didn't truly enter 

into



its current version until late 2004.







Ron:  For nestalgia sake, what was Sryth like in the early days?







Mathew's answer: The first few versions of Sryth were quite a bit different 

in appearance and other aspects than what the game is like today. Combat had 

fewer



options and the game mechanics did not work as smoothly as they do now.



Since those early days things have become more streamlined, giving the



game a more recognizable look and feel throughout.







Ron:    Anything further on what got you interested in developing a text 

rpg?







Mathew's answer: My friends and I played Dungeons and Dragons for a handful 

of years, and I always (willingly) took on the role of the GM, since I 

enjoyed coming up with adventure scenarios more than I liked playing. In 

those tabletop



RPGs there aren't really any visual aids, so you have to paint the



pictures of what's going on in your own imagination -- which seems to



work out for the best, since everyone is allowed to imagine it in their



own way.



 I wanted to create a game that attempted to capture the spirit of



tabletop RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons, etc., where players were



presented with written/verbal descriptions of what was going on and



could then imagine/visualize it any way they saw fit. That's what I had



always liked about other text adventure games I had played on computers.







Ron:   I'm asking this out of complete curiosity.  Could you list the best 

of



the currently available weapons/armour?  Are they findable or is it Tallys?







Mathew's answer: Probably the best weapons and armour currently in the game 

are available at Tallys's, and would include the Dragongem collection. Some 

items,



however, not available at Tallys, are very powerful as well and would



include things like the Runeskin items, the Shimmering Silver weapons,



and Iakor's items (also part of the Runeskin scenario).



 An upcoming scenario will of course feature the chance for characters to



acquire the fabled Sword of Merzekk, which will be a very unique and



powerful weapon.







Ron:   Off hand how many of the Sryth adventurer's Guild and those with free



accounts are blind/vi?  If you would know that is.







Mathew's answer: I would have to guess at the number as I have no way of 

truly knowing, but offhand I would say that perhaps 10 to 15 percent of the 

players are blind/visually-impaired. I could be way off on that guess, but 

that's the best I can estimate as I have no way to really track that.







Ron:  from Mongwen



"A lot of the newer weapons have special attacks, and if you're lucky, they



can be nasty.  I've seen signatures on the sryth forum with weapons doing



better than a hundred points in damage.  My experience, however, is that



they most often seem to do only a couple points of damage, when the enemy's



special attacks are nearly guaranteed to be 8, 10, 15, 20, or better.  Also,



you're right that the special attacks in our weapons don't happen often,



especially when compared to the enemy's attack.  The enemy's attack is



guaranteed to happen at least once during a fight.  Our weapons never seem



to go off when actually needed."



  An interesting point.  How does that get calculated?







Mathew's answer: Weapons that have special attacks have a small chance 

during each round of combat to execute that special attack. Some weapons 

only have a small range of damage they can do per special attack, while 

others have a chance to do several different levels of damage. When the 

weapon executes its special attack, the system then determines (if 

necessary) what level that attack is. The chance of the weapon executing its 

highest level attack (those are the ones that undoubtedly spawned the forum 

signatures you mentioned) are quite rare. If you use a particular weapon all 

the time, you will eventually see its entire range of special attacks.



Enemy special attacks have undergone certain revisions since they were first 

introduced. They were added to bring more balance to combat, as the combat 

system gives the advantage



to the player's character by design. For example, rolls of 1 or 2 during 

combat have a good chance of being rerolled automatically by the system (you 

won't even know you rolled a 1 or a 2 when it happens). The chance for the 

reroll is increased if your character



has a high luck score. The last revision of the enemy special attacks made 

it so that if you roll equal to or higher than the number you need against 

your enemy, your enemy's chance of executing any special attacks they may 

have is greatly reduced. In most cases a successful combat roll will 

completely remove the chance for an enemy to unleash a special attack.







Ron: I'm curious as to how you manage to keep coming up with the excellent



storylines for things such as the Proving Grounds Silver Crest and



Solundor's Grand Ring of Illusion?  Just to mention a couple.







Mathew's answer: I try to come up with adventures that I would enjoy playing 

as a gamer. Many adventures/storylines start out as just a phrase I jot down 

while I'm working on other parts of the game. My wife, Stacia, comes up with 

many of the adventure ideas, usually in the form of short synopses which I 

then revise, expand, and make ready for play.







Ron: from list member Casey



"I would like to know if it will ever be possible to fight other AG members



in a turn by turn fight?"







Mathew's answer: Yes, it's possible that we will see players have the 

ability to challenge other players in turn-by-turn fights at some point in 

the future. Such scenarios won't impact characters in any way, although 

wins/losses may be recorded for bragging rights of course.







Ron:    What factors decided in having Sryth become a full-time undertaking?







Mathew's answer: What really motivated the decision to take on Sryth 

full-time was the positive response I received from players regarding the 

game. I knew that to give the players the game they deserved (and the game I 

wanted to produce) working on Sryth needed to become a full-time effort. 

And, I enjoy creating the game immensely, so the thought of being able to 

pursue it full-time was a great motivator!







Ron: this one being asked by Darren



"I would really like to know when the text version of the map will be



available for us to make use of? Because I find myself getting rather lost



if I want to get anywhere and it's most frustrating."







Mathew's answer: The text version of the map is on the list of things that 

will be added in the very near future. It will be a text version of the 

graphical map of the Kingdom of Tysa (the game's official map), and will be 

broken down into the nine sectors that make up the realm. There will be an 

overall description of the map, as well as a detailed description of each of 

the nine sectors. The text description will flow from point to point on 

whatever portion of the map it is focused on and will describe in what 

direction



its moving to reach the next point -- it will be a narrative/descriptive 

version of the map.







Ron: Lisa would like to know



"Is there any way to cut-down on the number of frames?  Especially the ones



between the main and the fight frame?"







Mathew's answer: The number of frames in the game is something that will 

hopefully be addressed in an update not too, too far down the road. I would 

like to cut down on the number of frames and to also improve the performance 

of the combat screen.







Ron: Is there anything coming up for Sryth you could give us a hint at?







Mathew's answer: As I write this, I'm preparing the final scenarios in the 

current Proving Grounds event for play. Upon the completion of the fifth 

Proving Grounds event, the focus will be on adventures and new places to 

explore in the Kingdom of Tysa. Two areas that are



in the works include the Forest of Fogbough and the Saarngard Isle. The 

Adventurer Collective will also be expanded, and will include the ability to 

acquire and train familiars, which are pets that are magically bound to 

their owners. Familiars will be able to aid their owners in combat and 

perhaps other game situations.







Ron:I'd like to again extend my gratitude to you for taking time out to lend 

a



hand with this, and answer questions that myself and others are wondering



about one very fun, challenging, and great game.  All the best to you and



long live Sryth!







Mathew's answer: Thanks for taking the time to read my answers! I thank all 

the Sryth players for their support, kind and encouraging words. I'm happy 

to be able to bring the game to everyone!







+++



Are Roll Playing Games



Changing The Way We View Gaming



By Thomas Ward







Since the beginning of oral and written human history the art of story



telling has instructed, inspired, and inflamed the imagination of



humankind for centuries. Many of these stories still remain to this day



as old fables, myths, and legends. Such classic works as Homers'



Odyssey, Virgils' Aeneid, or Dantes' Inferno remain today as great works



of story telling and writing. They have lasted for centuries, and will



continue for centuries to come.



Story telling remains a fixation, a need, a desire for humankind for



many reasons. On one level it allows the reader to follow the heroes



quest with the  fictional hero through countless adventures. We rejoice



when the fictional hero succeeds and feel genuine sorrow and perhaps



anger when the hero fails or even dies. On another level the story is



not about the heroes at all, but a quest for self discovery in the world



of imagination.



Most of all stories are a way for us to communicate our deepest fears,



thoughts and feelings disguised as characters, people, places and



things.. John Milton, in his work Paradise Lost, describes hell a



completely different way from the way we think of hell, and his version



of Satan takes on the persona of a fallen hero, a rebel, a character



humankind can easily identify with. Identifying with the character or



characters is essentially the point of writing or telling a well crafted



story.



Roll playing games have taken the art of story telling to a completely



new level. Unlike normal games where you go around the board collecting



money, blast flying saucers out of the sky with lasers blazing, play



cards, etc roll playing games allow the gamer to become an active part



in the story. Not only is the gamer a player but he or she also decides



how the story turns out based on several decisions made before, during and 

after



the game gets started.



Any good roll playing game weather it is a classic paper and pen style



rpg or a computer based rpg allows for the creation of the player's



character. In a Dungeons and Dragons type rpg the player can select



class, race, and special skills for his or her character. Depending on



what was picked his or her character might end up having special magic



skills, special weapon skills, various other special skills, that will



aid him or her in completing the adventure. In team play several



different characters may provide an interesting array of unique



characters and skills with each character playing an important roll in



the game play.



For example, your party of characters may have just successfully



navigated through the black swamp, and have arrived at the tomb of the



undead where vast treasures await you and your party inside. Problem is



the lever that opens the stone door is behind a pile of rubble. Perhaps



there is a narrow space where a small person could get in and pull the



lever. It just happens one in your party is a dwarf and he can crawl in



between the rubble and the lever and pull it. Alternatively there is a



mage in your party who can change into some small creature to get inside



and pull that lever or levitate the rubble away. Either way it turns out



you find yourself playing as a team, and experiencing the adventure



together.



What I personally find satisfying in a really good roll playing game is



the character creation. Not only do you get to roll for stats such as



combat, stamina, ora, spirit, etc but you can design from scratch who



your character is and who they are in the game world. Perhaps you are a



powerful mage who is the high priest of the kingdom of Elron, a dwarf



warrior from Iron Mountain, a boarder ranger from the town of Blackwood,



etc. Adding a character's place to live, work, and other background



information allows the gamer to become closely attached to the character



and the story on a deeply personal level. Allot of your thoughts,



feelings, moral up bringing, etc will shape your game character and be



projected into the shared game experience.



For example, you and your party were walking down a lonely dirt road



when you and your party come across a group of bandits attacking a wagon



full of men and women. You and your party decide to jump in and defend



the wagon. The moral game player who dislikes killing in real life may



choose to knock out his bandit opponents, tie them up, and take them to



the nearest town for the authorities to take care of. The aggressive



gamer may choose to draw his or her sword and kill every bandit. The



more calculating gamer may kill many bandits, keep one alive, to



question to find out who was in charge of the robbery and why they were



interested in that wagon. Which would result in information the moral



and aggressive character missed.



If interactive story telling, roll playing games, have so dramatically



changed the way we think of story telling imagine how much it has



effected the way we see gaming. In traditional games side-scrollers,



first person shooters, etc all players begin at the same starting point



and end at the same ending point. The storyline, if the game has one,



unfolds for the gamers at a predictable and linear rate for everyone.



Roll playing games completely redefine the way games unfold and are



fluid rather than linear.



For example, a gamer playing an electronic roll playing game may choose



to under take the Dragon's Hollow adventure before taking on the Black



Forest adventure etc. The story unfolds at the gamers choice, and by



doing so each game will turn out different.



In addition character combat status, stamina, etc isn't as fixed as is



in typical games. In a typical game such as Shades of Doom you begin



with a rather generic character who over the course of the game collects



better weapons and armor, but the game does not offer a wider range of



choices. In a roll playing game a character might begin with poor armor



and weapons, but over the course of his or her adventures may buy,



steel, or win different classes of armor. It is possible, for example,



to have a poor piece of armor but come into possession of a well crafted



piece of armor without having to up grade through the poor, common,



sturdy, well crafted linear progression of upgrades.



One major bridge between good roll playing games and popular stories is



the quest for magical and powerful weapons which will improve your



characters stats. For example, in the tales of King Arthur Merlin placed



the sword, Excalibur, in a stone that only Arthur could pull out. In the



latest Harry Potter book, the Deathly Hallows, the plot spent allot of



time searching for the legendary Elder Wand. As with Arthur or Harry



Potter the quest for special items is all part of the fun of under



taking the imaginary adventure. Being able to use those special items



in   future adventures is even more fun.



As a result of the popularity of roll playing based games video game



companies have began producing complex and interesting roll playing



games. In the late 1980's Nintendo Entertainment introduced to the NES



platform a roll playing style game called the Legend of Zelda. While not



as complex as paper and pen roll playing games it had huge success and I



found it a very fun and interesting game to play. As time went on more



and more computer based roll playing games like Heroes Might and Magic,



Final Fantasy, etc became available and prove that roll playing games



could be the most successful style of gaming yet. It is doubtful



traditional arcade, first person shooters, strategy based games will



disappear, but I do think roll playing games will continue to grow and



become a very important way to play games. With the creation of the



internet it is now possible for hundreds of eager gamers to create



characters and battle it out over electronic battle fields, and take



group quests through virtual game worlds complete with sights, sounds,



and virtual reality. undoubtedly roll playing games have a bright and



interesting future.







+++



News from Developers







++



News from 7-128







The 7-128 Software Game Book







The Engine



. The Game Book program is the ENGINE that runs all of our games.



. The Game Book allows all our games to work with the same controls.



. The Game Book makes our Easy button, BigType, High Contrast, JAWS, 

self-voicing, and other accessibility features available for all games.



. The Game Book comes initially with FOUR games.



. The Game Book will store up to 100 of our games.







The Games:



 Inspector Cyndi in Newport - Mysteries



Newport, Rhode Island in the 1890's is the summer home to the Astors, 

Vanderbilts, and Morgans, the Worthingtons, Statelys, and the Huffingtons.



You are a Newport Police Detective. Travel around Newport questioning 

witnesses. Inspector Cyndi is a world renowned detective on loan from the 

Vienna Metropolitan Police, here to help you solve the mysteries!







The six currently available Inspector Cyndi in Newport games include:



 Death Nell



Nell Langtree, the Worthington's Upstairs Maid has been found dead in the 

Worthington library. There is no obvious cause, but Constable Duffy suspects 

foul play!



Ten suspects. Was it Townsend the butler?  Was it O'Brien, the Worthington 

horse trainer with radical leanings?  Was it a Worthington?



 Lights Out



Muffy Huffington's engagement ring has been stolen, right off her finger.



What will her fiance, Royal Tarkington, do if it is not recovered? Was it 

taken by one of the young ladies who were sitting with Muffy when the new 

electric lights went out?  Was it one of the servants?  Where did it go?



 When Irish Spies are Smiling



The submarine Holland 5 has vanished from the Newport Torpedo Station dock.



Have those Fenians have struck again?



Who was on that dock on the night of the twenty-third? Why did the Watch 

hear singing?  Where were Father MacNamara's parishioners on Sunday?



 Fall from Grace



Helen Grace Stately has vanished from the steamship Plymouth, just as it 

arrived in Newport from New York. A note has been found. Has Helen Grace 

been abducted by Irish nationalists? Could that handsome First Mate have 

gone a bit overboard? Or is her suitor, Freddy Foxworthy involved?



 Unfinished Symphony



Mrs. Worthington's toy symphony was going along splendidly until the trumpet 

player keeled over into the potted palm. Constable Duffy suspects foul play!



Was it Miss Alice Chalmers, the French teacher? Or one of the unhappy hired 

musicians. Was it the Grafin Josepha von Vogelhuber? And just what is a 

Graphin,



anyway?







Puzzle and Word Games



 There are four accessible puzzle and word games available now:



 Kim's Game



In Rudyard Kipling's book, Kim, a boy was challenged to memorize a set of 

objects, and then to pick those objects out of a larger set of objects.



Kim's Game challenges your memory.



There are ten levels, each with an increasing number of objects to remember.



 Orchestra



The instruments play when you select them. But can you remember their 

original order?



Orchestra challenges your spatial memory.



There are ten levels, each with an increasing number of objects to remember 

and place in their original sequence.



 The Definitions Game



Definitions is a word game that says a word and you select its meaning from 

a menu. Not as easy as it sounds when you're racing the clock. It's a good 

brain training game.



 The Synonyms and Antonyms Game



Synonyms and Antonyms is another word game.



It speaks either Synonym or Antonym and a word, and then speaks a list of 

words. You pick the synonym or antonym from a menu.



Its surprisingly challenging, given that you never know whether you're going 

to be asked for a synonym or antonym and that you're working against the 

clock.



It has 10 levels and an Easy button.







Accessibility for All



Affordable:



. The Game Book, including  4 initial games, costs $25.



. Individual games cost $5 - $10 each.



. Our games play on Windows computers available in 2000.



. The Game Book and games work with Windows 98, XP, and Vista.







Understandable:



. None of our games requires a manual.



. There is a special F2 key for help that is organized specifically for 

players who are blind.



. If you are unsure of what to do next, wait a minute and the Idle Twit will 

suggest your next move.







Accessible:



. The Game Book and all of the above games, and their installation programs 

work with JAWS and also self-voice.



. The Game Book and all of our games use larger print.



. Neither the Game Book nor any of our games is color-dependent.



. Players with different challenges can play together. Scoring is adjusted 

automatically.







The Game Book and our games are available via electronic download from our 

Web site, or on CD via the US Mail.







The Game Book and all games have free downloadable demos.







John Banick







++



News from All In Play



11/26/07







Season's Greetings from All inPlay,







Whether you're warming yourself by the fire or working on your tan in



the land down under, we hope this finds you well and enjoying the start of 

this holiday season.







We have some news that should further brighten your day. The All inPlay



Holiday Sale is back!







For a limited time, you can treat your friends, family, or even yourself, to 

a year of All inPlay games for the reduced price of $69.95 - that is over a



26% savings from the monthly rate!







Here's how it works:







Visit the All inPlay store at:







http://allinplay.com/participate/gift_membership.php







Select a 1, 3, 6, or 12 month gift membership. When you submit your credit 

card information we'll send you two e-mails. One is your receipt, the other 

has



instructions on how to redeem the gift. You can forward that e-mail to the 

person receiving this gift.







The recipient can then either log into an existing account or create a new 

account and redeem their gift. Important: Don't redeem the gift from your 

account, unless you're planning to give yourself a gift.







It's that simple.







If you have any problems during the process, you can give us a call at



(413) 585-9690 between 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. U.S. eastern time and



we'll be happy to help you.







Cheers,



The All inPlay Team







++



News from Blind Adrenelin



10/02/07







  The new update to Rail Racer is here for all owners of the full version.



  This update includes a new item you can purchase for your racer called the 

nitro burner, which gives you ten seconds of nitro boost to use as you like.



  Also, you can now use the shift a command to find out what your jump 

altitude was on your last jump, helping greatly to make your jumps more 

accurate.



  There have been some minor bug fixes and a few new chat commands added as 

well.



  Check the main site page at



http://www.blindAdrenaline.com



for the new download and instructions on the new features.



  Please note you will have to have this update installed to race online 

after Friday Oct. 5, so hurry on over to the web site and grab it while it 

is hot.



if you haven't signed up to the tournament system, you can get hooked up 

while you



are there  for some of the most fun competition available for the blind.



  Happy racing!



  Che







+



10/03/07







  Hi all,



  For those interested in the podcast of Sarah's Rail Racer review and



tutorial, you can get it here:



http://www.blindadrenaline.com/uploads/railRacerReview.mp3



And believe it or not, I didn't have to pay her a dime to say those nice



things about RR, grin.



  Later,



  Che







++



News from Draconis  Entertainment



11/23/07







Greetings gamers,



We've been quiet over here at Draconis.  There's been a lot going on,



and we have one major new project that will have you all very excited



soon.  We hope to release details on the new title in the not-too-



distant future.  In the meantime, please check out our holiday sales



that are beginning today and help support Draconis.  We thank you all



for your continued loyalty.  The wait for our new title will be well



worth it.







Draconis Entertainment



"Feel the power...wield the magic..."



http://www.DraconisEntertainment.com







++



News from Dreamtech Interactive



11/10/07







Okay, you fast action arcade lovers,



Wrecking ball beta 1 is out at



www.dti.us.tt



and has lots of new sound effects and bonuses.  It has ten levels and two 

modes of game play--classic mode, called Super Breakout, in which you start 

by



hitting the ball with your paddle--not launching it as in previous versions, 

and Wrecking Ball mode where you launch the ball.  Nearly everything you do



in the game other than checking stats and adjusting volume can be done with 

the mouse, but if you prefer the keyboard you can play too.  (Personally, I



play with both keyboard and mouse.)



The newest thing, besides the modes and the fact that the bonuses actually 

work in this version, is that when the ball hits the ceiling, the blocks 

aren't



the only things to shrink--your mouse-controlled paddle does too.



The manual should explain everything you need to know about how to play.



Oh, the bug where the paddle caught the ball is fixed--it only makes the 

ball move while it's moving so keyboard players don't have to worry about 

the unwanted paddle.



If you have ideas on how to improve the game, let me know.  There are more 

plans in the works, such as additional bonuses, but most of what I'll be 

doing



is getting the TTS stuff out and replacing it with human speech--and oh 

yeah, I've decided to make it donationware--mostly because I don't have the 

slightest



idea on programming licensing stuff and just don't feel like messing with 

it, so have fun.







Ken Downey



President



DreamTechInteractive!







+



10/18/07







The new version of Air hockey is up and ready to go.  Get it at



http://tbrn.net/modgirl/Ken's%20games



I'd like some feedback on a few points.



1.  Since this is the first game where the mouse moves things both 

vertically and horizontally, do you need a system letting you know that the 

paddle is



in line to hit the puck?  We could implement this by a few means, such as a 

sound that gets louder the closer the paddle is to the puck, as in the 

jousting



game, or different beeps indicating either vertical or horizontal alignment. 

If you need positional assistance, what is harder--getting it lined up 

horizontally



or vertically?



By the way, the mouse button functions have changed a bit.  They are:



Button 1: sets your paddle to center and closest to you.  Very handy!



Button 2: reports the puck's speed, x then y, then the mouse's speed--x then 

y.  Negative numbers mean movement left or down.



The source code is also included, so if any of u are using vb6 and want to 

know how to get mouse support, go at it!  Also, if you want to modify the 

game,



go ahead--just remember to please send me a copy and keep my name on it 

along with other credits.



While this game has a huge way to go before completion, I hope you enjoy it. 

I know it's not the strategy game yall crave, but it does push the envelope



in some ways.  Imagine a game where you use the mouse exclusively for 

navigation, without any keyboard input.  Also, I plan to incorporate mouse 

support into Wrecking Ball.



By the way, if you only play with the keyboard, you might as well not 

download this version--I only fixed mouse related issues.  Next, I'll work 

on the



AI--make him smarter and put difficulty  levels in the game and so on, as 

well as working to make the mouse support better.







Ken Downey



President



DreamTechInteractive!







++



News From GMA Games



11/01/07







This is not a game exactly, but we are well along in the writing and



user-testing of an accessible mud client.  For those who are not familiar



with muds or mud clients here is an explanation.



A mud is normally described as a a multi-user online text based game.  In



most cases, the actual game should be accessible, but the clients are either



under powered, inaccessible, or both.  In most cases they require screen



reader scripts and take some time and technical knowledge to get going. The



client we are working on should allow a non-technical person to get up and



running aalmost immediately. Muds have many types of themes such as



medieval, Lord of the Rings, science fiction based, social, and so on.



There are hundreds to choose from and so it isn't hard to find something you



like.  In general they are free, or nominally priced.



I can't say when it will be out, but it should be within the next two



months.







Regards,



David Greenwood



DavidGreenwood@GMAGames.com



http://www.GMAGames.com







++



News from Kitchen's Inc.



11/26/07



Hi,







I have put a new file up on my web site.



file name WinHH.exe  file size 2.2 meg



You are Homer, the Harley riding motorcycle dare devil.  You have brought 

three of your specially modified Harley Davidson motorcycles to a small oval 

race



track to try to set the record for the number of school buses you can jump.



Note* you will need to disable your screen reader to play this game.



You can find the file on my free windows sapi5 text to speech games page.







BFN



     Jim







+



09/08/07







Hi,







I have put baseball version 4 up on my site.  It fixes the bug where on some 

computers the half inning stats were not being spoken.



The file can be found on my free windows text to speech games page.



file name winbase4.exe file size 4.1 meg







BFN



     Jim







+



09/06/07







Hi,



I have put a new file up on my web site.



File name wintgf7.exe. File size 86k.



Four new trivia files, Amusement Rides, Classic Commercials



 Harry Potter 2, and the Terminator Series







BFN



     Jim







+



11/05/07



Hi,







As some of you may know, the new game that I am working on is named Homer on 

a Harley.  It is all about the first or second video game that I ever 

played.



 You are Homer on a Harley Davidson motorcycle. You must build up the 

correct speed to jump the successive number of school buses.



BTW Saturday evening I got to break bread and sit and talk for an hour and a 

half with the producer slash writer of the Simpson's show Michael Reiss and



then listen to him give a talk to an audience.  It was great!  He was 

hilarious.  My friend Kathy, the umpire from my baseball game took me.



I don't know if I will have the game out by Christmas or not, but it is 

coming along nicely.







BFN



     Jim







++



News from RS Games



10/31/07







Hello Audyssey,



I am Ryan of RS Games. You may know me as the *poor* creator of Guess



The Voice. Well, I have gotten much better at programming. I had this



idea in a dream, that you would hit either left, right, or down arrow



for left, right or middle sounds. It is called Shoot Da Me and is ready



for public beta. Here is a quick list of features right now for



Public Beta 1:



� Main Menu



 20 Levels, gets faster each level



 Unlimited Support



 Using DirectInput 8



 Score and Health



 Sapi and Sounds



All of my beta testers have not gone up to level 20, only 12. It is very



challenging. The game will be available tonight at 11:59 PM EST,



technically October 31, 2007 or Halloween. The game is at



www.rsgames.co.nr,



Please, from now on, only use



www.rsgames.co.nr.



On that site, you may download Shoot Da Me Public Beta 1 tonight. It is 

stable, and it's really fun, unlike GSV. I



highly recommend you try it, several people cannot wait for it. It will



be in .ZIP or .RAR, on SendSpace, YouSentIt and My Computer. If you want



more information on the server for my computer, please go to



www.rsgames.co.nr



and find the link about the Server. This is only Public Beta and includes 

all features above, so have fun.



Features in the Future:



 Score Posting



 Trophies



 Unlockables



 Mini and Bonus Games



 Difficulty Levels



 Dialog (Enemy Interaction)



 Thank You and I hope you finally enjoy an RS Games Game!







Your Fellow Gamer,



Ryan Smith



RS Games







++



News from PCS Games



11/26/07







Sarah and the Castle of Witchcraft and Wizardry.



Patch4,  for version 1.0.



For those who downloaded the full game, here is a smaller patch that fixes



some bugs.



http://www.pcsgames.net/Sarah-Patch4.exe



Sarah Patch4.



It is 19.6 MB, finished November 26, 2007.



Many people did not like the objects calling out their names so I made an



attempt to limit this and replaced the name with a sound effect.



This makes the game a little more difficult as you will have to examine or



scan an object to tell what it is.



Once you recognize the sound though, the game will become easier and I hope



more enjoyable.



Object detector.



You hit O to turn this object detector on and when you walk through the



halls you will hear



suit of armor in four feet.



or trick step in two feet.



To turn this feature off hit o again.



New Spells.



I moved the apparate to the spell list. And I added two new spells,



Homenum revelio and disillusicorpus.



You can find out what they do in the full spell list.



I changed the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw common rooms to match Jo's



description in the last book and from her answers to interview questions.



I also moved some of the rooms and doors around, especially on the ground



floor and basement.



I connected the Kitchen wing with the Hufflepuff wing with an east west



corridor.



And I moved the kitchen door to the center of that corridor.



I also put an antiChamber door in the Great Hall.



There is a new object in your inventory, your Potion Making Kit.



At the beginning of the game it is empty, but when you pick up a potion it



goes right into the kit.



You can drop the kit and later pick it up.



You can check how many of the seven potions you have by hitting x on it from



your inventory.



I added new creatures in the Forbidden Forest and in the lake.



I now allow you to get on and ride the flying Motorbike, but you have to



find it first.



I also added a few new magical items and books around the castle and



especially in the Headmaster's office.







Patch 4 has all the bug fixes that were in Patch 1, 2, and 3, so I removed



them.



It is to be installed in the same folder as the full Sarah install.



Unless there are any problems, I will eventually include the patch into the



full version.



You can try out the first game chapter which includes the Ground floor, and



Basement.



You can play this chapter as many times as you wish.



A registration key will unlock all 14 chapters.



Sarah and the Castle of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is sold through a



collaboration with Draconis Entertainment.



the Draconis Entertainment home page.



The price for a registration key that unlocks the full game is $31.95 US.







If you have any questions, E-mail Phil Vlasak,



phil@pcsgames.net



We make games that tickle your ears.







++



News from Spoonbill Software



11/18/07



Hi,



This is to announce the release of a new version, BG Uno 1.1 which includes



a fix for a reported bug. In BG Uno 1.0, when you were down to 2 cards and 

you played a Skip card, the next player around was not skipped. This has 

been



fixed in BG Uno 1.1. In addition, you can now use the arrow keys to step 

through your cards when you are deciding which color to choose for a Wild 

card.



In BG Uno 1.0 this was not possible.



If you would like a copy of BG Uno 1.1, just reply to this email requesting 

BG Uno 1.1. Please also state your full name to enable me to easily locate 

you



in my records. Thank you.







Regards



Ian Humphreys



Spoonbill Software



Albany, Western Australia







+



Hi,



We are pleased to announce the release of BG Uno, the accessible version of 

the popular card game, Uno. This is the thirteenth game in the blind gamers



series. You may read a full description of the game on Spoonbill Software's 

Blind gamers page at:



http://www.omninet.net.au/~irhumph/blindgamers.htm



If you would like a copy of this game, email me with your full name and 

country of residence and I will gladly send you one. This email is being 

distributed



to approximately 1000 clients so please allow up to one week for delivery 

from the date of ordering.







Ian Humphreys



Spoonbill Software



Albany, Western Australia







++



News from USA Games Interactive



11/25/07







Attention USA Games Customers!







Hello Gamers,



We at USA Games have started compiling our Alchemy records into a



database so we can begin shipping Monte product keys in early December.



However, since our Monte and Raceway sales records are years out of date



we wish to make sure all of the contact information is up to date. Here



is what to do.



Send an email to



info@usagames.us



with the subject contact information.



We need the following information.







1. The product or products on pre-order.



2. The name of the person who placed the order. For example if your



father, mother, or legal guardian made the payment give their name as a



point of contact.If you made your own payment your name as it shows up



on your credit card. This is required for payment varification.



3. Your current email address so product keys can be emailed to you.



4. A current phone number. This is required in case we are unable to



reach you by email.



5. A postal address. This is required if you ordered a product disk.







Thank you.



Sincerely,



Thomas Ward



Owner of USA Games Interactive



Email:



info@usagames.us



Web Site:



http://www.usagames.us







+



11/23/07







Montezuma's Revenge News







Hello gamers,



USA Games Interactive would like to make our customers of Montezuma's



Revenge aware of some late breaking changes involving Montezuma's



Revenge. As of December 1, 2007 USA Games will be renaming Montezuma's



Revenge to Montezuma's Return. The new version of Monte will be very



similar to the classic Montezuma's Revenge though it will have some



differences which will allow USA Games to copyright the game as an



original work. Changes included in the new version will be as described



below.



First, we at USA Games felt the game should be given a new name. We



could site many reasons that brought us to this decision, but the one



that really stands out is the game has already been legally copyrighted



under that name in 1984.



Second, a good number of gamers really expressed interest in playing the



game using our former character Angela. We also feel this is a good



idea. Not only does it make the game a bit different from the original,



but we liked her character our selves. We have hand picked all new



effects for Angela, and she has already been placed into the game.



Third, from the beginning of its development Monte hasn't exactly been



purely designed on a one to one comparison with the classic. For



example, in our version magic potions are used rather than magic



amulets. The difference in their use is miner, but it does stand out as



a difference between the two games.



in addition when it came to building the levels into an accessible



format we at USA Games used our poetic license to alter them some to



provide maximum accessibility or added a trap here or there to make the



game more challenging or fun.



In the end I personally don't think our version of Montezuma's Revenge



has stayed true to Montezuma's Revenge. However, since this version is a



vastly updated and perhaps even improved version I think it can be built



around the idea of a sequel where the main character isn't Panama Joe



but some other hero or heroin following the same or similar adventure.



Thus Montezuma's Return.



As of Nov. 23, 2007 USA Games has finally introduced the ability to



register the game using a product key. This is a major step forward for



us as we will be able to ship product keys to pre-ordered customers



fairly soon.



We wish you all a happy holiday, and hope to have 1.0 ready with in the



month.







+



11/16/07







Hello gamers,



USA Games would like to announce the availability of Montezuma's Revenge



public beta 6. This new release of the game offers some substantial



changes since beta 5 including: initial game pad and joystick support,



the m key will announce the distance to monsters, magic potions will now



give you 20 seconds of invincibility from monster atacks, several bug



fixes, some new icons, updated manual, and more.



As always previous versions of Montezuma's Revenge should be removed



prier to installing this latest test build. To get it visit our web site at



http://www.usagames.us/games.php







Sincerely,



Thomas Ward



President of USA Games Interactive



http://www.usagames.us







+



Holiday Sales



 From USA Games Interactive







Hello gamers,



It seams it is that time of year again when we begin looking for that



perfect gift for that friend or loved one, dream of Santa on his slay,



sing Jingle Bells, watch reruns of White Christmas, and generally enjoy



the holidays in our own way. This year USA Games would like to



especially extend a happy holidays to our friends and supporters around



the world. This year we have something special for all our customers and



friends. This Christmas season watch our web site



http://www.usagames.us



for details about the pending release of Montezuma's Revenge 1.0.



As of the November 15, 2007 test release of Montezuma's Revenge the



basic game engine and operation is complete. Over the course of the next



month USA Games Interactive will be scripting the remaining levels , do



final testing, and add the product key registration feature to the game.



As of the time of this writing USA Games Interactive is also in the



process of designing our online store powered by Paypal.com's instant



payment notification system. Once the store is completed simply go to



our web site



http://www.usagames.us



and click on the store or buy now options on the site. You will be able



to select Montezuma's Revenge from a list, and simply select the Buy Now



option from the store page. You will be redirected to paypal.com for



credit card payment and verification. After payment is complete you will



be redirected to a download page where you may download the full release



of the game, and should receive a product key by email with in 1 to 7



business days.



Montezuma's Revenge 1.0 is currently scheduled to go on sale sometime in



December 2007, and will sell for $35.00 USD. So check the USA Games



Interactive site often, and happy holidays to all of you.







+



What's Ahead In 2008



 From USA Games Interactive







Greetings gamers,



As 2007 comes to an end USA Games has began preparing for even bigger



and better game projects for 2008. In this article we hope to shed some



light on what 2008 holds in store.







Genesis 3D



For many years now most audio based games have been restricted to a



completely 2 dimensional environment. Even good first person games such



as Sarah, Shades of Doom, and Monkey Business remain fixed in a 2d



environment though they may fake 3d in some instances. The Genesis 3D



engine is an all new engine from USA Games which will emerge the audio



based gamer in a truly 3d environment.



Unlike many other accessible audio games designed for the blind Genesis



3D offers an entire range of player movements such as: climbing, walking



running, jumping, doing flips, crawling, swimming, using safety drops,



etc all in a virtual 3d environment. The Genesis 3D engine also allows



the player to carry and use a variety of tools and weapons such as:



guns, swords, laser sights, torches, keys, etc. Future additions of the



engine will allow the player to acquire and drive a variety of vehicles



such as motor cycles, boats, planes, and other vehicles the player



acquires during the course of the game.



Why is Genesis 3D so important to audio gamers? Genesis 3D is planned to



be the engine that drives an entire new generation of 3d audio based



first person games that are equal to or based on games like: Tomb



Raider, Star Wars, Halo, Resident Evil, Gear Wars, and so on. Frankly,



there is currently nothing like it in the audio games market today.



For example, imagine yourself in a castle trapped in a room. You find a



switch along the wall, you pull it, and a trap door opens a few feet



away you need to safety drop through, to find a hidden chamber below the



room you are in to continue your quest.



In another example imagine yourself in a truly 3D Star Wars game aboard



an Imperial Star Destroyer. You might not be able to access a control



room via the door because it is locked, but you might be able to climb



an access ladder near by, crawl through an air  duct, cut a hole through



a grate with your light saber, and safety drop into the control room



taking some Imperial storm troopers by surprise.



Bottom line the Genesis 3D game engine offers more complex puzzles,



navigation, and options for expanding audio games beyond a simple 2d



first person or shoot-m-up game.







Accessible Tomb Raider



In 2007 Edos Interactive released it's 8th Tomb Raider game named Tomb



Raider Anniversary. Tomb Raider Anniversary is a retelling and complete



remake of Edos original Tomb raider game written in 1996 for MS Dos,



Windows 3.1, and Windows 95. Unlike it's predecessor Anniversary offers



superior graphics design, additional moves, sound effects, and



unfortunately is more unaccessible for the blind gamer.



However, USA Games Interactive has plans sometime in 2008 of releasing



our own accessible version of Tomb Raider driven by the Genesis 3D



engine. Like Tomb Raider Anniversary our version will be fixed in a true



3D environment, offer several different combat and physical moves,



several different styles of weapons, a training level with Lara Croft at



her house, 15 standard levels of game play, and more.



For those of you who never played the original Tomb Raider or



Anniversary version here is the basic story of the game that started it



all.



Thousands of years ago when Atlantice was destroyed the four rulers of



Atlantice fled to safety in Egypt, Peru, and Greece taking with them the



pieces of the Scion. Centuries later Jaclin Natla  hires  British



treasure hunter, Lara Croft, to locate and find the lost pieces of the



Scion. Lara travels the world Rome, Greece, Peru, Egypt, and eventually



Atlantice to find the pieces of the Scion. Once she reaches Atlantice



she soon discovers Jaclin Natla, once the former queen of Atlantice,



wants the pieces of the Scion in an attempt to take over the world. Only



Lara Croft has the ability to defeat Jaclin Natla and her army of



genetic mutants before it is too late for mankind.



Throughout Lara's adventure she must face such enemies as wolves, lions,



mummies, bears, bats, and even a T-Rex. In addition she must locate and



learn to use  a pistil, 357 Magnum, shotgun, Uzi, laser sight, keys,



special artifacts, medipacks, and more.



If the game play and sound effects of Tomb Raider wasn't enough the



music has always been great in all of the Tomb Raider games. The music



is almost a legend in of itself.







USA Raceway



As many of you may know USA Games has big plans for USA Raceway this



coming year. Raceway is probably going to be the most involving and



exciting racing game of its kind. The game is based on games such as EA



Sports Nascar Thunder 2006 complete with a full season mode, ten game



race for the USA Raceway champion ship, several official Nascar tracks,



sponsors, drivers, and more. There never has been a game like this



produced with a true Nascar racing theme to it for the blind. Raceway



will especially target Nascar fans who want to feel what it is like to



get out there on the track and race at 215 MPH against 41 other cars on



the track.



We have been asked quite a bit about an online playing mode similar to



Rail Racer. Unfortunately, do to time and budget constraints we have



elected not to include an online racing feature in version 1.0 of



Raceway. However, we do feel it's single player mode, season based



racing schedule, realistic Nascar scoring, upgrades, etc will more than



make up for online racing.



Keep an eye out for USA raceway this up and coming year. We hope to see



you out there on the track.







+



11/05/07



Hi everyone,



I have just posted an all new Raceway trailer. New in this trailer is an



improved car engine with more mustle and speed sound to it, engine



accelleration as it builds speed, and I dropped in a racing song from an



80's rock band, Vixon, called Rev It Up. I also show off such things as



speed announcements, fuel announcements, lap announcements, lap time,



etc so you can here that as well. I have disabled the other AI cars on



the track so you can focus on the car I am driving. Basically, there is



nothing fancier in this trailer right now than me driving around the



demo track, but it is a nice demo of what is to come. Without further



ramble here is the trailer.



http://www.usagames.us/trailers.php



Let me know your thoughts of this trailer.



Cheers.







++



News from X-site Interactive



11/21/07







some of you may already know, but some not.



recently we've just released chopper challenge on x-sight-interactive.net.



we are now on 1.1, fixing a few minor issues in 1.0. not sure if anyone has 

mentioned cc on here, as i've only just resubscribed today.



*snip*



X-Sight has an amazing new game out!



Chopper Challenge. It's a super fun real time shoot-'em-up style game.



You are faceing the intimous Copter Man, a ruthless half-man,



half-machine, hired to finish you off. Fire at the Copter Man with your



laser gun, avoid bombs, pick up items and attempt to last the entire 10



minute battle, racking up as many points as possible! Go on to the



X-Sight Website, so you can download and play this amazing game!



*snip*



thanks.







Regards,



Damien Sadler







+++



Game announcements and reviews







  Game Announcements and Reviews:



Below are some of the new games available.  Though an old treasure or



two may be discussed also.  It's noteworthy that in some cases it's only



an announcement of a game, taken from the email list, and may not be a



full review,    or an official notice from the developer.  Reviews of games 

will not  appear in any particular order. The only exception to this will be



when  we have more than one review for a game. In this case, reviews will be 

placed consecutively so that it is easier to compare them.







++



Hi all.







They braught you Hattrick. They braught you Popomundo. Now here comes 

another one. BasketSim.



As the name suggests, this game puts you in control of a basketball team, of 

at the start, 12 players, as you buy players you get more and sell it 

decreases



but by default you get 12.



The reason I say that it's the hattrick team again is because the forums 

look exactly the same as Popomundos and Hattricks. The match reports are 

detailed,



similar to their flagship product. Though I might add that this is the most 

detailed they're ever gonna get I think.



The matches do have a few typos, but you can easally know what they mean, 

and there's a new match engine coming next season, and I think the 

off-season



is now so any players who want to start managing a team should start now.



This game's got a big playerbase and is bound to grow, especially with how 

fast popomundo whent up the ranks.



If you want to have a friendly with me, my team name is OAS. Also, I'll add 

that this is probably one of the teams best games for screen readers. 

Everything



is labled with heading, which is almost the same as hattrick but better 

here.



Here's the link:







http://www.basketsim.com







Enjoy. Hope to see ya on the court.







++



Hi,



I found something pretty cool while browsing the



rec.games.roguelike.announce newsgroup.







It's a role-playing game similar to games like Nethack and ADOM but based



on the Castlevania gameworld. In adition to the features commonly found in



such games there is also sound and music!



Bundled in the game download are MIDI arrangments of various tunes from



the Castlevania series that are used throughout the game as well ass very



decent sound effects. It's all very atmospheric and original.



The game features a good story and several game modes such as a prologue,



a prelude and a training mode in a dition to the main story mode.



The game requires a Java engine and has both a graphical and a text-based



interface. The text (console) mode worke dwell for me in Linux, so I



suppose it would work pretty well with Windows screen readers too.



Now, this is what I'd call a real Halloween treat! :-)







+



Hi,



This game requires a Java installation. You can grab one from



www.java.com.



The game itself is a .jar-file, but to start it you can use



the .bat-files found in the game folder. For those who don't know,



.bat-files are a sort of script-files that were common in the DOS



operating system and that can be used in Windows too. They are simple text



files containing commands in the command line environment.



The game itself is a roguelike game, meaning it's similar to Rogue, an



ancient predecessor to Nethack.



Monsters, items and geography in the gameworld are represented by



characters onn the screen. In modern roguelike games the characters are



often replaced by graphical tiles. I don't know if i.e. Jaws can be used



to label these tiles, but what I do know is that this particular game



(CastlevaniaRL) has a console mode, which in plain English means a text



mode.



I've found it to work in the Linux text console. Given that Nethack and



similar games seem to work with Jaws, I thought it might be possible even



for this game to work with Windows screen readers.



Happy gaming,



Tobias







++



Hi! I didn't see the start of this thread, so if this has already been



mentioned, I apologize. I just would like to recommend Discworld. It is by



far my favorite mud right now. There aren't any race choices, everyone is



human, but the game itself, to me at least is highly enjoyable, especially



if you're a fan of the discworld novels. Being familiar with the novels



definitely isn't manditory, and you can roleplay as much or as little as



you like. A google search will provide you with tons of resources for



making your play time on discworld as enjoyable as possible, and there are



a lot of really friendly people there.



Anyway, for anyone who might be interested in checking this mud out, the



address is discworld.imaginary.com, port 23.



My character is Eponine, and I'm more than happy to help any newbies out if



I can. In fact, I'm getting ready to go to a friend's house tomorrow so



that I can try to teach her how to play.



I hope this recommendation helps somebody find a new game to enjoy, and



that everyone is having a wonderful day.



Missy







++



Hi all,







For those of you who are interested in creating gamebooks, this is the 

place. There isn't many people signed up, or maybe they are, just aren't 

online,



but there's lots of new stories coming. It's got a nice rating system, it's 

got a wizard to help you create stories, and you can duel each other online



for some fun.







I would, if you're into modern adventure, recommend you play "Mommy, can I 

go out and kill tonight?" which is a crime-related gamebook. You've also got



Ground Zero, which is a long sci-fi interactive novel.







Keep in mind that you'll also find some stories that simply aren't worth 

your time, people make different quizzes and stuff. I'm there for action and 

adventure.







I'll be making stories soon; join me at



http://www.ChooseYourStory.com







Enjoy!







++



Hi friends!



I don't know if some of you already know this game! I have played it



For some months now and it's really great!



In this game, you control an F1 team from your virtual office and then you



must choose your suppliers, driver, designer and commercial director and set



up the car and race strategies!



It's completely accessible and really addictive!



You follow the practice, warmup and qualifications and obviously watch the



race live!



Check it out because we are in the start of a 29th season!



You can play it at:



www.f1time.com



Have fun,



Jorge







++



Hi.







http://if.illuminion.de/index.html







has most of the infocom games including Hitchhiker's available for download,



all you need to play them is a copy of win frotz. for copywrite issues, just



see their policy.







++



Judgement Day Trophies







Okay this is an email from liam:



game trophys:







tenderfoot



Given to the user after they beat the game for the first time on easy.







Marksman



have at least 65% accuracy and complete the game on easy







marksman plus



complete the game with 55% accuracy or higher on normal or hard







Renegade



have any thing lower than 15% accuracy and complete the game on any 

difficulty







untouchable



complete game with out losing any health on easy.







untouchable plus



complete the game with letting 3 or fewer enemies land on normal or hard 

modes.







average Joe



Beat the normal difficulty level.







Metal Marine



complete hard difficulty level







lead lovers



complete easy with out using any rockets or nukes







lead lovers plus



complete normal or hard with out using any rockets or nukes







close call



complete the game with less than 15 percent health







quick draw



beat commander ather with in 15 seconds on easy







Quick Draw Plus



beat Commander Ather with in 30 seconds on normal or hard.







imposible feat



Manage to complete ultra Mode







Confused Gunner



Play the game, and then lose with out shooting down a single enemy.







ather's lucky day



get destroyed with only one ship left in level 10







ather's really lucky day



get destroyed when commander ather's hover craft has five or less health 

points left.







self-destruct



accidently find the feature of the base that wasn't mentioned to you.







cheater



use cheat codes and beat the game







total loser



use cheat codes, but manage to get destroyed







gamer's paradise



collect all 20 in game trophys







bonus games:







Rocket Blaster



Shoot down at least 330 rockets







Rocket Blaster Plus



Shoot down more than 390 rockets







Super paratrooper



Collect at least 6 bonus bags







Ultra Paratrooper



Collect all 10 bonus bags, and land safely with 320 points or more







sticky fingers:



collect at least 20 weapons, and make it out of the warehouse with in 105 

seconds.







Super Sticky fingers



Collect 30 weapons and make it out of the warehouse before the warehouse 

explodes.







it takes a thief



earned by beating weapon search with out getting any weapons.







great number guesser



guess at least 8 numbers







super guesser. yes sir.



guess at least 12 numbers







beep



get bored enough to play beep







bonus round







collect all 10 bonus trophys







extra trophys:







oh boy a lobster



earned by typing "oh boy a lobster" in the cheat consoll







Jingle Bells



Play the game on Christmas







Independence Day



play the game on July fourth







12 13:



play the game at 12 13 AM or PM







1 20



start the game at 1 20 PM.







bored to death



let the game sit at the main menu for five minutes







number one



place first on any board







extra credit



collect all 7 extra trophys







Hope it helps.







++



Hi guys,



I have at last found Under The Ice, a strategic submarine text adventure, 

together with four other text adventures on this site, including the fantasy 

game



Braminor, and the Quest for this unpronounceable name. These were the first 

TA's I ever played in the typing class, before that I never knew games for 

the



blind ever existed. Torpedo away! here's the link



http://www.nostalgia8.org/disk826.htm







Ari







++



Hi all,







A new online  turn based roleplaying game has just came onto the scene due 

to an inspired KoL player. He made this game where you have to be a hero and



save twilight. It's like KoL superhero style.



Yes, there's quests, just like in KoL. And yes, he attempted to make the 

combat screen look the same, even the frames. But gagetears are cool, they 

can



make computers. What exactly we can do with these computers, I am unsure. I 

play KoL allot, and Jick was talking about this game on the show because 

since



he was a tester he can talk about it now; it's in public beta.



Check it out at:



http://www.twilightheroes.com



Enjoy, still trying to figure out where a mode of transportation is...







++



Hi all, if yu want rts with a save option and avility to creat maps and much 

more its out now.



get it here:



http://jlpo.free.fr/soundrts







++



Hello there,



I belong to a web site that deals with programming code.



it is called



http://www.planet-source-code.com







one of the most interesting files I downloaded frm this site a short time



back was a visual basic 6 version of deal or no deal.



It was more geared to a sighted person in its interface, and the code was



for a british version of deal or no deal.



The money amounts were in british pounds.



but it did work quite nice, and will work better with a blind person



tweaking the code.



It would really shine if we can get some audio bits from the real show to



mix into the game.



Robert







++



Hi all,



There are more text-based mobile phone games through wap. Just go to 

wap.kalador.com and then you click Home, and then on Games. There are about 

12 of them, all playable.







+



Hi all,



Am quite excited about this one. There are three accessible Wap games 

available at the following site



wap.worddial.com



They are: Top Gun, a game where you play against other users at war trying 

to shoot down their planes, a Kungfu game, and another one where you are a 

merchant.



Sorry if this posts sounds vague, have not really looked closely at these, 

but my friend who is also totally blind has been playing them successfully 

without



any problems with Mobilespeak for weeks, and I haven't tried them properly, 

but friend says, and on first looks it seems as if they are absolutely 100%



accessible.



Enjoy!



Ari







++



Hi,







For those of you who still enjoy Interactive Fiction, aka text



adventures, just a quick note to let you know that the Interactive



Fiction Compitition started yesterday.  What better excuse to play and



vote on over 20 free accessible text adventures?  You can find all the



information you'll need at:



http://www.ifcomp.org



Enjoy!







Note: Though you can no longer vote on the entries for this year, the 

results and other information are available.







+++



Contacting Us







All material for inclusion  in upcoming issues of Audyssey should be sent



to me at the following snail or email address:







Ron Schamerhorn



1180 Dorval Dr. #303



Oakville On L6M 3G1



[905]-842-1933



blindwonder@cogeco.ca



or



editor@audyssey.org



and to chat find me at



rschamerhorn@hotmail.com



for Windows/MSN messenger no email to this one please.







+++



Distribution Information and Submission Policies







This magazine is published on a quarterly basis, each issue appearing



no earlier than the fifteenth of the publication month for its quarter.



All submissions to be published in an issue must be in my possession a



minimum of two days before the issue is published. I use MS-Word to



produce Audyssey, and can therefore accept submissions in pretty much



any format. They may be sent either on a 3.5-inch floppy disk, or via



e-mail.



  Please write articles and letters about games or game-related



topics which interest you. They will likely interest me, and your



fellow readers. This magazine should and can be a



highly interesting and qualitative look at accessible gaming. To insure



that high quality is maintained, I'll need your



written contributions. I reserve the right to unilaterally make changes



to submissions if I deem it necessary to improve them grammatically or



enhance their understand ability. I will never make changes which will



alter the spirit of a submission.



All submissions must be in English. However, people need not be great



writers to have their work appear in Audyssey.



Many of our community come from different countries. Others are quite



young. Where possible, I try to preserve their



different styles of expression. The richness that this adds to the



Audyssey experience far outweighs any benefits



gained from having everything in prose so perfect as to be devoid of



life. Audyssey is a community and magazine built



on the need for blind people to have fun. There are no formal



structural requirements for submissions. Within reason,



they may be as long as necessary. Game reviews should all clearly state



who created the game being examined, where it



can be obtained, whether it can be played without sighted assistance,



and any system requirements or other critical



information. Although profanity is by no means banned, it should not be



used gratuitously. Submissions not published



in a current issue will be reserved for possible use in future issues



if appropriate.







* Those who are on the Audyssey  discussion list should be aware that I



often put materials from the list in the "Letters" section if I feel



that they warrant it.   Anything posted to this discussion list that in



some way stands out from the common and often lively ongoing  discourse



will be considered fair game for publishing unless it contains the



author's wish that it not be published. From now on, this is official policy 

of the Audyssey community.



This magazine is free in its electronic form, and will always remain



so. I'm writing this magazine as much



for my own interest as for everyone else's. Your articles, reviews, and



letters, as well as any games you might care to  send me, are what I'm



after. Send any games, articles, letters, or reviews via E-mail, or on



a cd or 3.5-inch disk in a self- addressed mailer if you want your



media returned to you. Please only send shareware or freeware games. It



is illegal to send commercial games unless you are their creator or



have obtained permission to do so. By sending me games, you will do



several things: first, and most obviously, you will earn my gratitude.



You will also insure that the games you send me are made available to



my readership as a whole. If you can, I recommend that you send e-mail.



I can send and receive attachments with ease. This way, no money will



be  wasted sending me a game I already have, and you'll get my reply



more quickly. You are responsible for shipping costs. That means,



either use a disk mailer which has your address on it, and is either



free matter for the blind, or is properly stamped. I can and will



gladly spare time to share  games and my knowledge of them, but cannot



currently spare money above what I spend hunting for new games. I



encourage all my readers to give my magazine to whoever they think will



appreciate it. Up-load it onto web pages and  bulletin board systems.



Copy it on disk for people, or print it out for sighted people who may



find it of value. The larger our community gets, the more



self-sustaining it will become.



Those who want to receive issues of Audyssey as they are published



should go to the following website and follow the available link.



http://www.audyssey.org







The Audyssey discussion list facilitates discussion about games



accessible to the blind between the publication of issues of Audyssey.



All are welcome as long as they respect their fellow community members



and keep in mind that the topic of the list is supposed to be games.



Other topics are allowed within reason as long as they don't begin to



monopolize the list traffic for too long. Newcomers should be advised



that  traffic is frequently fairly heavy.  Anyone participating in the



discussion list will have issues of Audyssey automatically sent to them



via E-mail. Representatives from all major developers of games for the



blind are actively participating on the list.  There are two moderators



keeping things civil and orderly. Be certain to read the Audyssey



Community Charter as all list members are expected to follow its rules.



If you want an active role in shaping the future of accessible games,



this is where you can dive right in. To subscribe to this discussion



list, as said above go to



http://www.audyssey.org



and follow the links on the page.







Stan Bobbitt has made Audyssey Magazine available in HTML format for



easy on-line browsing. To take advantage of this, you are invited to



visit our home-page. People can easily and quickly navigate through the



various articles and reviews, and directly download or visit the sites



of the games that interest them. This will be of especial benefit for



sighted people who wish to make use of Audyssey and/or join the growing



community surrounding it. The Audyssey community thanks Mr. Bobbitt for



his continued efforts on its behalf in this matter.







  Darren Duff also provides a home for Audyssey.







http://www.angelfire.com/music4/duffstuff/audyssey.html







Where the issues can be read, downloaded individually or one zip file



of all the issues.  Thanks Darren!







Another location to find Audyssey current and back issues is







http://www.audiogames.net/page.php?pagefile=audyssey







Thanks to Richard and those at Audio-games!







We extend our gratitude to Kelly Sapergia who has provided a place for all 

the issues of the magazine. .  You can find them at







www.ksapergia.net/audyssey.html









---

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