2017-08-08 09:46:00

ok steve thanks for your answer!
Well, my problem was with the editor itself, not  with the concept of building the program xd.

jaja, thanks for all tongue

2017-08-28 20:08:04 (edited by Steve 2017-08-29 01:47:47)

Hello again everyone!

I've completed my second revision of audio maze now and have tried to incorporate some changes that were suggested here before.

Changes from Rev 1.

The maze is now split into four sections; each section has a different ambient sound and different footsteps to match the section you are in which should make it easier to orientate yourself in the maze. The sections are; a city street, a crowded room, a rainy forest, and a windy mountain.

There is a virtual arm available that will reach out and tell you what is in front of you; it extends out over half of a hallway. At the moment it will just say if the path is clear or if there is a wall ahead.

The beacon and walls now have sound occlusion and reverb; this will mean that the sound from the beacon won't travel as far because it is blocked and dampened somewhat by the walls but is easier to locate once you have heard it in the distance. It's now possible to listen out for gaps in the walls because the sound will travel through hallways but not through the wall which should provide a more realistic environment.

You can now either rotate in 90 degree steps or rotate smoothly; it's possible to use a combination of stepped and smooth rotation but at the moment the stepped rotate will rotate you 90 degrees from the position you are already in instead of snapping to a certain direction.

The walls now have a more consistent humming sound instead of the fire effect and the outer walls of the maze have a higher pitched noise. There is also now a contact noise if you have made contact with the wall.

Player movement has been slowed down so that you are now walking around the maze instead of running.

The maze layout has been slightly changed so that there are no dead ends anymore.

The beacon music has changed and will now announce when it has been collected along with a success sound effect.

The screen resolution can now be changed if required; there is a choice of small at 720x480, medium at 1024x768, large at 1280x720, or extra large at 1920x1080. Each selection will announce the size when it is selected. The default is medium.

As before I have uploaded it to google drive so the link page will say that the file is too big to perform a virus check; this is a safety measure from google but I assure you there is still no virus!

EDIT There is now a Dropbox direct download link.

Click here for Dropbox download!

Click here for Google download!

It is now a 385MB download.

It is a zipped file so will need to be extracted first.

There is a read me file in the download zip which explains about the changes in controls; the change log is the same as I have written here so you might want to scroll straight down to the controls.

Also as before I have only tested it on Windows 10 but this time I also used a laptop without a graphics card and it worked fine too.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated; if you find any problems or think things could be better then please let me know!

Thanks!

Steve.

2017-08-28 21:03:01

Google Drive isn't the most blind user friendly cloud storage service I've run across, but after a few minutes of fussing with it, I finally got it downloaded and will be taking a look at it shortly.

2017-08-28 21:32:21

Hi, after extracting the zip file. I run the audio maze 2.exe file and I get a window that comes up as Unreal engine crash reporter. but, NVDA doesn't seem to see anything in that window. so I alt f4 out of it and it just puts me back in the audio maze 2 folder. I'm running windows 10.

2017-08-28 22:48:10

Hi Sean!

That's unfortunate to hear; I've just downloaded the file from the link here to a different computer and it seems to work okay; the only thing that popped up was a Windows defender box to say that the program was from an unknown publisher.

Have all of the files extracted properly? There should be six files in total and they all need to be in the same folder for the game to open.

Are there other programs running in the background? Perhaps there's a conflict somewhere.

I'm going to download it to the computers at work during the week and see if I can replicate the problem.

Hi Orko!

I'm only using Google drive because I already had an account there, is there a file sharing site that is more accessible? I plan to add some more revisions and updates so it's better to have something more suitable in the future.

Thanks!

Steve.

2017-08-29 00:33:17 (edited by Orko 2017-08-29 00:54:41)

Dropbox is very popular, but has the problem that they will block files that are being downloaded by too many people, so it's not very good for sharing files with an audience of any size.

I myself use Sendspace, but it has the problem that, unless you have a paid account, they drastically meter your transfer speeds. On the plus side they won't block a file because a bunch of different people are downloading it.

Six of one, half dozen of the other, pick your poison.

I've had a Sendspace Pro account for about 18 months now and am very satisfied with it. The only part of it I found inaccessible was with their Sendspace Wizard desktop application where you could change the color of some user interface elements. Not something a visually impaired person needs, so I just ignore it.

Actually, now that I know I have to use the touch cursor in JAWS, I can manage Google drive without too much difficulty. NVDA users would call it object navigation.

2017-08-29 01:43:42 (edited by Steve 2017-08-29 01:45:00)

Hi Orko!

Thanks for the info; I've uploaded the game to Dropbox now too and I have it on a direct download so it should now just be a case of clicking the link and then choosing where to save it to which seems a lot better. I'll keep the Google link too in case Dropbox gets blocked.

I've also rearranged the zip folder layout so it just opens straight into the file folder instead of going through another folder.

Click here for Dropbox download!

Thanks!

Steve.

2017-08-29 04:32:44

Hi there. So, I downloaded the newer version of AudioMaze2 and unzipped it. after pressing enter on the game and allowing it to run anyways with windows 10's smart screen window, the "Unreal Engine Crash4 Report" came up and I used NVDA's new screen OCR to read the screen and this is what it gave me. It is quite long. Sorry.

An Unreal process has crashed: UE4-Rev12
Weare very sorry that this crash occurred Our goal is to prevent crashes like this from occurring in the future Please help us track
down and fix this crash by providing detailed information about what you were doing so that we may reproduce the crash and fix it
quickly You can also log a Bug Report with us at AnswerHub and work directly with support staff to report this issue
Thanks for your help in improving the Unreal Engine
Please provide detailed information about what you were doing when the crash occurred.
Crash reports comprise diagnostics files (c/ic# here and the following summary information:
Loginld:f540efe3494407fdOaa3da8880dbd563
EpicAccountId:
Access violation - code cD000005 (first/second chance not available)
VCRUNTlME140
Rev 1 2_Wi n32_Shipping! FCuIture: FICUCuItureImpIementation:
Rev 1 External()
Rev 1 2_Wi n32_S hi ppi mg! FConsoIeManager: RegisterConsoIeVariabIe()
Revl
ucrtbase
wc rtbase
wc rtbase
Rev 1
Include log files with submission I understand that logs contain some personal information such as my system and user name
I agree to be contacted by Epic Games via email if additional information about this crash would help fix it
Close Without Sending
Send and Close
Send and Restan

I hope this might give you a better view of why the game crashes now. Again, I am using windows 10. Thanks.

2017-08-29 06:04:57

Hi Sean!

Thanks for trying again, I've had a look around and the code seems to be related to either a direct x problem or a null pointer exception; I think if it was the null pointer then it shouldn't work on any computer but this is all still quite new to me so I can't say for sure.

If you wanted to have another try at getting it to run you could check which version of direct x you have and see if its up to date; I've copied the Microsoft instructions for Windows 10 here:

From Start, type dxdiag in the Search box, and then press enter.
Tap or click on dxdiag from the results.
Check DirectX Version on the first page of the report in the System Information section.

You should have direct x 12 installed; following this you could check Windows update on the control panel to see if any updates are required.

Unfortunately I can't reproduce the problem myself but I hope to try it out on some different computers later this week and maybe one of those will have the same issue.

You don't have to get involved in trying to debug the program for me though so please don't feel any pressure! smile

Thanks!

Steve.

2017-08-29 23:39:28

Ok steve, game tested. The engine that you debeloped sounds really cool and solid.
I know that currently is only a tech demo, but this idea of the mases and beacons, can be a quest or similar for a more ambisious game in the future. The only thing that I guess that you have to work, is when some object (the beakon in this case) is when it is before you. Currently, you can't know if it is before or in front. You can try to reduce some the pitch or find a other technike to that situation. A, well. Add sidesteps. Walk to a side, without turning. It is useful for adjust the corners, the center of the passage and something similar. More that? ... Well I think not. A, and a key for run instead of walk.

Thanks for all.

Witch library are you using for audio? Directly dx? or other.

2017-08-30 01:33:53

I still get this error about my video drivers

WARNING: Known issues with graphics driver
The installed version of the NVIDIA graphics driver has known issues.
Please update to the latest driver version.
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M
Installed: 327.02
Recommended: 378.92

Although this is the only program that has any issues with my graphics driver, so I'm not inclined to mess with it, I did go to NVidia's site to research the latest version. Apparently NVidia no longer supports 32 bit operating systems because the latest 32 bit version was 340 which is well below the version 378 the warning recommended. Either that or they no longer support the Quadro NVS 140M GPU in more recent versions of their driver.

That's all I've been able to do today, hopefully I'll have more time tomorrow to actually play the game.

2017-08-30 01:43:28

Hi Sanslash!

Thanks for giving it a try, I hope to add a lot more features in the future to make it a complete game. One of the things I would like to add is the option of choosing a control layout so that you could use something you are comfortable with including sidesteps.

The audio is all done through Unreal Engine; all you have to do is import sound files and you can make sound cues from them which gives you lots of options like modulation and looping.

I'm continuing to improve the audio as I go along and I aim to have it sound a bit more directional in the future; using headphones tends to make things a bit more clear but I'm still learning what all the functions do! smile

Thanks!

Steve.

2017-08-30 01:48:46

Hi Orko!

I've only tried it out on 64 bit systems so far; hopefully it will still work okay despite the warnings. I was looking into virtual machines so that I could try games out on lots of different systems with different configurations, that should help things out in the future.

Thanks!

Steve.

2017-08-30 15:11:52

So far, despite the warning, it seems to run without any problems.

After I do a full backup of my system this weekend, I plan to try installing version 340, if all goes well, I'll keep it, but if I don't like it, I'll roll back to the setup I have now.

2017-08-31 00:15:46

Well @orko, why do you have a quadro video card? That model of nvidia cards is for video renderers, 3d dessigners, have more parallel processing throug cuda, and something similar.
Well, or if you are some of that a quadro is great for you tongue. But for gamers the better option are the gtx cards.

@steve pick a layout? hmmm. That isn't my idea. I don't want have to choose between the rotation and the side steps. I want have both methods in a same control layout. Like walk forward with w, backward s, sidestep left and right a and d, and rotate with arrous, or mouse.

Respect the sound, of course, I'm playing with headphones ^ ^

Well, thanks so far! waithing for a new update.

2017-08-31 01:20:17 (edited by Orko 2017-08-31 15:33:05)

I have a Dell Latitude D830 laptop and that's the graphics processor Dell chose to put in it. Considering I can't see the screen, , I didn't think that the graphics processor used in the computer mattered a whole lot. The driver currently installed is the driver that came with Windows, again, because I can't see the screen, I couldn't, and still don't, see where what version of the driver I have installed really matters at all. At the end of the day, this program is the only program that has ever complained about the graphics driver, and even with it's warning, the supposed flaw that it warns about doesn't seem to affect it one bit.

Yes I know that the Quadro series is aimed at business workstations rather than the gaming market, but it was a choice of getting a graphics processor from a well known manufacturer of graphics processors or one from some place I've never heard of. That made choosing easy.

2017-08-31 19:34:55

Yo Steve! I've played the last version of the game and it seems pretty good. I'd recomend adding the possibility to hold down a key for running though. Another thing I noticed too is that when we walk next to a wall, the game still warn about colision..
Best regards, Haramir.

The true blind is the one who refuses to see.

2017-08-31 21:06:45

@orko, a ok, I understand tongue

Well your latitude include nvidia optimus  that option that let you choose between the included intel graphics card, or your nvidia, at the time to play a game tongue

2017-08-31 23:38:22

@sanslash332

The reason Dell chose the Quadro for some of their Latitude laptops is because the Latitudes were targeted at business buyers. It was the brand and model my last employer gave to their employees as their work system, and I remembered that it was a solid, rugged, work horse performer, so when I decided to abandon my home built gaming desktop in favor of a laptop, since I knew I know longer needed a mainstream gaming system because of my vision loss, I decided to get the same model laptop I used at my last job. I did do one better though, my work laptop had a 2 GHz processor, but this one has a 2.5 GHZ one, plus this laptop now has a 300 GB SSD while the work laptop had a 120 GB mechanical hard drive. Other that that, they are virtually identical.

2017-09-01 04:30:37 (edited by Glein 2017-09-01 05:37:44)

Hi Steve!
I'm using Windows 10 X64 but can't play, when I try to open the program I get a fatal error.
If helps, I'm using Anniversary update.

Edit: this happened in the previews version. When I run the revision 2, the OCR show this message:
Fatal error!

Unhandled Exception: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION 0x00000000

0x0000000000000000
Rev12-Win32-Shipping.exe!FD3D11DynamicRHI::SetupAfterDeviceCreation()
Rev12-Win32-Shipping.exe!FD3D11DynamicRHI::InitD3DDevice()
Rev12-Win32-Shipping.exe!RHIInit()
Rev12-Win32-Shipping.exe!FEngineLoop::PreInit()
Rev12-Win32-Shipping.exe!GuardedMain()
Rev12-Win32-Shipping.exe!GuardedMainWrapper()
Rev12-Win32-Shipping.exe!WinMain()
Rev12-Win32-Shipping.exe!__scrt_common_main_seh() [f:\dd\vctools\crt\vcstartup\src\startup\exe_common.inl:253]
KERNEL32.DLL!0x0000000074D262C4
ntdll.dll!0x0000000077BC0F69
ntdll.dll!0x0000000077BC0F34
ntdll.dll!0x0000000077BC0F34

Cristian.

2017-09-01 21:12:40

Hi Chris!

Thanks for giving it a try!

Are you using an AMD processor or graphics card? I've had a look at the reports you provided and they seem to point to an issue with AMD drivers, although I am just using Google and the Unreal Forums and they are mostly talking about a game called ARK which seems to have all the same problems as you have listed.

If so then it might be a case of checking if your graphics drivers are updated; although some players were still having problems after updating depending on the age of their graphics card or CPU. If you don't use AMD then I'm afraid I'm a little bit stumped at the moment but I should have some more time over the weekend to have a better look into things.

Thanks!

Steve.

2017-09-01 21:17:54

Hi Haramir!

I'm glad your liking it so far; the collision noise will keep sounding if you are pressed against a wall, it's possible to sort of slide along the walls as though you are leaning on them so you might have to take a step in the opposite direction to stop the noise. A running button sounds like a good idea; especially when I start adding enemy players! smile

Thanks!

Steve.

2017-09-02 00:08:52 (edited by Glein 2017-09-02 00:09:48)

Hi!
Yep, I'm using an AMD graphics card, but precisely yesterday, before download this game, I updated my drivers.
And well, I recently played some games developed in Unreal engine and don't have problems.

Cristian.

2017-09-02 17:34:51

Hi Steve!

Well,after doing my weekly system maintenance and backup, I installed the latest NVidia drivers for my system and still get this warning.

WARNING: Known issues with graphics driver
The installed version of the NVIDIA graphics driver has known issues.
Please update to the latest driver version.
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M
Installed: 342.00
Recommended: 378.92

Since I apparently can't update to the version it wants, is there a flag I can set somewhere that will silence this annoying message?

2017-09-04 17:37:59

I finally had some time to play with this game and was able to pick up a number of beakons. Mostly it was relatively easy to get to the beakons, but I still found the noisy walls somewhat disorienting, especially when every other maze type game I've played had silent walls.

I also noticed that the sound wasn't smooth, it frequently skipped, like a needle on a phonograph jumping from one groove to another, the sound itself didn't skip, it simply paused for a split second. I'm wondering if the driver warning I get when ever I launch the game has anything to do with this.