Topic by A_Armstrong 2015-09-29 18:12:46 (edited by A_Armstrong 2015-09-30 16:43:26)

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Hi there,

To introduce myself, my name is Andrew Armstrong, a final year student in Computer Games Design & Production.

I am writing this post to inform you of my dissertation idea. This is to investigate how the visually impaired engage with interactive media to subsequently design a game that delivers an immersive experience through the use of sound. In other words, I want to build a game without any visuals whatsoever so that when the player starts the game, they use their hearing only to progress. As part of my research, I of course need to commence research on this topic. I was therefore wondering if there are any recommended books / articles, etc that people are aware of?

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I look forward to hearing any responses.

Kind Regards,
A_Armstrong

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Reply by Aprone 2015-09-29 18:31:59

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So you want to make an audiogame?

Hello by the way, and welcome to the forum Andrew.  smile

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

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Reply by A_Armstrong 2015-09-29 18:55:14

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Hi Aprone,

Thank you for the response. Yes, I am wanting to make an audiogame. I will still need to have a good think about what this could be. However, as a starting point, I'm currently focusing on initiating research into the purpose of audio-only games, the impact they have, etc. From this, I am looking to see if there are any articles or books out there, in which this topic has been investigated. This is so I can cite these when discussing my views for academic purposes.

Thanks & Regards,
Andrew.

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Reply by Aprone 2015-09-29 19:34:42

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I do believe the man you'll want to talk to on here is named Dark.  Well, he goes by Dark I mean.

He seems to be our local expert on the history of audio games, and if anyone knows of books and papers written on the subject, I'm sure it's him.  He'll be along soon, since he usually notices new posts within a day or less.

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

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Reply by Ian Reed 2015-09-29 19:59:52 (edited by Ian Reed 2015-09-29 20:01:17)

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I don't know of any books or articles to recommend, but I would suggest playing some of the better made audio games so you can get a first hand experience of what they are like.

You should try:
Papa Sangre 2, Papa Sangre and The NightJar.
All 3 of those are first person action games, made by the same company.
I've also heard BlindSide is quite immersive, though haven't yet tried it myself.
Audio Defence is another people recommend.
All those are for the iPhone.

Swamp, by Aprone, which is an online zombie themed first person shooter.
The single player version is free.  Learn to play it with your eyes closed as blind players do.
It runs on Windows.

The best 2D platformer is called Bokurano Daibouken 3 or BK3 for short.
Unfortunately it is in Japanese.
There is a way to setup the NVDA screen reader with the Google translate service to play Japanese games in English, but I expect it is more effort than you'd like to put in.
I still mention it though, because it is by far the best in its genre.

The best top down (Zelda like) action RPG is ShadowRine, which is also in Japanese and takes a bit more effort than BK3 to get running.
Both of those Japanese games have amazing game mechanics and audio queues, not to mention being very well polished and having many hours of game play.
You could also try Airik the Cleric for a top down action RPG experience, though again, ShadowRine is better in my opinion.

I do remember someone on this forum posted an academic paper they'd written on a similar subject.
I'll have a look for it.

Also, you spelled Dissertation incorrectly in your thread subject.

~ Ian Reed
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Ian Reed's Website

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Reply by Ian Reed 2015-09-29 20:23:53

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I found that academic paper.
It is called "Game Audio in Audio Games: Towards a Theory on the Roles and Functions of Sound in Audio Games".

Here is the forum thread where the paper was posted:
http://forum.audiogames.net/viewtopic.php?id=12332

The first post had a dropbox link which is now broken.
In his second post he references the permanent location:
http://du.diva-portal.org/smash/record. … dswid=7006

HTH

~ Ian Reed
Visit BlindGamers.com to rate blind accessible games and see how others have rated them.
Try my free JGT addon, the easy way to play Japanese games in English.
Or try the free games I've created.

Ian Reed's Website

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Reply by Haramir 2015-09-29 22:19:38

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Hello and welcome Andrew. I'd like to help you with that. I don't have any information regarding the academic side of audiogames, but as a blind gamer and a musician, maybe I can share my own opinions and experiences. Please drop me a PM in case you want to discuss it further.
Best regards, Haramir.

The true blind is the one who refuses to see.

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Reply by CAE_Jones 2015-09-29 23:19:50 (edited by CAE_Jones 2015-09-29 23:22:40)

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There are a few not-so-scholarly articles out there, usually about Swamp or Papa Sangre, or occasionally some story about a blind person who played a fighting game well enough to get media attention.

For citations, you're probably going to need to focus on relevant related topics: gaming in general, audio in general, how blind people interface with mainstream culture (but what a can of worms that topic is...).
Most of the research papers I'm aware of come down to exactly the sort of thing you're doing: someone coming here to work on an audio game-related project and writing a paper on it. Not all of these have been dissertation level, however.
(And if you use the forum search for "dissertation", you'll get a lot of results about Dark's PHD Thesis, which isn't about audio games per se, but is about disability and society more generally, IIRC.)

If you want disorganized information, you can always ask us, but using anecdotes in research felt dirty in high school; I don't see it being much better here.

看過來!
"If you want utopia but reality gives you Lovecraft, you don't give up, you carve your utopia out of the corpses of dead gods."
MaxAngor wrote:
    George... Don't do that.

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Reply by FabiG94 2015-09-29 23:50:12

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Hello.
Here are also some information:
http://www.audiogames.net/resources/
Good luck with the project!
Greetings and thanks.

sorry my english, is not my native language.

FabiG94's Website

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Reply by A_Armstrong 2015-09-30 16:50:31

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Thanks Ian for sharing that article with me.

Haramir - Yes that sounds fantastic. I will definitely PM you in due course to collect some thoughts. Thank you.

CAE_Jones - Hey. Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. Yes I don't want disorganised information of course. I am using this forum as a starting point to my research and to collect thoughts if anyone has any. smile

FABIG94 - Thanks for posting that link.

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