2016-10-24 23:52:00

Hey everybody, we just finished our first audio game and we'd love it if you guys would like to check it out! big_smile

Blackspace is a 3D fps audio game set in a sci-fi setting. It plays much like DOOM 1 and 2 for those of you who are familiar with the old Id Software titles of the 90s, however with a greater emphasis on exploration than run and gun style shooting. Players will navigate their way through 10 maze like levels, facing all manner of foul creatures along the way. The game makes use of HRTF to give players the sense of a real 3D environment, all through the use of sound.

So without further ado, here is the official Blackspace website from which you can download the game.

http://2trial.com/

If you play the game and find that you enjoy it please consider making a donation, as all games go directly to the Cape Town Society for the Blind. If you would like to find out more about the Cape Town Society for the Blind please visit their website from the link below

http://ctsb.co.za/

Thanks everybody, hope you enjoy the game! big_smile

2016-10-25 00:05:08

hello, great notice! downloading the game!

Sorry for my english

2016-10-25 00:32:42

awesome, downloading now.

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2016-10-25 01:08:48 (edited by Figment 2016-10-25 02:17:50)

Count me in!

On second thought, according to the install instructions, this game requires Java which I don't have and don't want.

So, count me out.

I hope every one else enjoys the game. Meanwhile, I'll just go back to playing Audio Quake.

2016-10-25 01:31:46

hmm, cant get the game to run. instaled everything that the txt says and nothing.

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2016-10-25 02:32:27

I find it a little bit difficult to navigate through the levels. I would like the 90/180 degrees turn keystrokes at least. Also, the left/right turn is too fast for me. It's very frustrating when aiming at enemies.

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2016-10-25 02:48:51

Haha, what is the problem with getting / installing java?

Yukio, tried it only for a while and must agree. BTW, it sounds exactly like quake, as far as I know many SFX comes from it.

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2016-10-25 02:51:07 (edited by keyIsFull 2016-10-25 02:55:40)

Yeah, I htink almost all the sounds are from quake. The turning is definitely jerky, also the hrtf isn't as obvious as I would have hoped. I couldn't tell the difference between in front and behind just from the acoustics. I'm also not a fan of that speaker voice. But this thing does have promise. Especially since there's 10 levels.
Edit: I think running the .jar file gives you better 3d audio maybe? At least I feel like it was a bit easier to tell. Also the enemies won't leave their rooms, and the surrounding doorways don't mufle their sound at all. So if you try to shoot them from too far, they sound super close, but they aren't.

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2016-10-25 04:02:30

This game is a cool project, however it has some problems.
The audio jumps when turning, so it doesn't feel like a natural turn at all. Also your character seems to turn very, very, very slowly, therefore its frustrating to navigate and orient yourself. This shotgun has the worst range of any game weapon ever.

This game is definitely a cool concept though, if the navigation was smoother it would be much better.

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2016-10-25 05:20:41

Hello folks. I agree with what was said so far. The enemies could be detected related to the distance between you and them. As it is now, they seen to be near you all the time, and sometimes it is not true. A key to know the direction you're facing would be extremely helpful and a way to turn 180 degrees can be vital when in close combat.
Now a personal feature I'd like to see in the game is the possibility to use the mouse. Note that it is not a must, but yet, that can help some players  turn more accurately.
Thanks for the amazing work so far, keep up the good work! big_smile
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2016-10-25 06:35:01

Are both of the exe and jar files needed? The total size of the package can be significantly reduced if not.

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2016-10-25 06:37:23

Great, awesome, will download it now.

Kind regards!

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2016-10-25 07:50:25

Hi, I tried playing this game, but, the turning system could use some work, and It would be good to have a key combo to allow you to turn in any of the 4 directions, North, South, East, and West. such as shift and the left and right arrows, or shift and a and d. Also, the enemies do seem way to loud. they should be much quieter when they are far away from you and get louder the closer they get to you. Also, What about adding something so when an enemy or object is straight in front of you you will hear a sound. Also, It may be good to have some kind of weapon that needs no ammo, such as a long knife or something. One more thing. when I tried playing using the jar file, just after crossing through the first door in the tutorial, and after the bit of instruction was spoken, it crashed on me, so, I had to default to the exe. I sure wish we could use our screen reader for speech output, the voice the game is using is not so good. and some of the speech is very slow, such as in the main menu.

2016-10-25 10:13:56 (edited by CosmicNeanderthal 2016-10-25 10:15:46)

Hi guys, thanks for all your feedback.

I will try my best to respond to all the comments made so far. First of all to those of you who are claiming that the sounds are somewhat jerky, don't seem to be any softer according to distance, or that the HRTF is not immediately obvious, is it possible that some of you may have skipped the installation of the OpenAL distributable if you already had OpenAL installed. It's important that you do install it, because if your previous installation is too long out of date HRTF will not work. Of course I assume most of you did not skip this step and have legitimate complaints.

I will admit that perhaps the turning is a little jerky and maybe that is something I will work on for the next update. A major issue that many of you have commented on is that sounds can be heard through walls, and are not muffled or attenuated accordingly. I admit that this is probably the most significant flaw in the game for me at the moment, I will see if I can do something to rectify this for the next update.

Yes, pretty much all the sounds are from Quake.

As for the jar and the exe file both being packaged together in the download, no it is not necessarily needed. I added the jar file as well because it is possible to make your own maps and place them inside the jar in place of the original maps using 7-zip or any other similar program. I figured I would package both in the download so that people could play around with making their own maps with the jar, without fear of losing any of the original game content or breaking the game. Also it's not possible to open the exe and alter the files within as far as I know, so the jar is necessary for those who are interested in designing their own levels. Instructions on how to design maps are inside the info folder.

The range for the shotgun is equal to the range of your hearing, so if you find you are unable to hit something it could mean one of several things. It may be because the target is in fact behind a wall or door, you're orientation is too far off to land a successful hit, or there may be some internal issue with the game that I am not aware of.

I hope some of you are enjoying the game, despite some of the issues that have been pointed out. I appreciate all your feedback and I hope to hear more from you guys. If anyone is interested in viewing the source code for the game I will be happy to upload it to github for you guys to check out.

Thanks everybody! big_smile

2016-10-25 10:38:20

Things I additionally noticed so far:
Even if I'm bumping into a wall, the footsteps don't stop playing while pressing the movement key. Also, the "hitting a wall" sound stops ocasionally; I misunderstand as if the wall is suddenly disappeared.
Because of the problem above, situations like "I'm walking but am not moving systematically" happen very often.
If I hit a wall near the door and continue moving, the door keeps opening and closing.
The guidance voices for tutorial don't stop when pressing x.

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2016-10-25 10:45:58

You kind of have to run into the wall to know you're doing it. If you just tap the movement keys you will still be hitting the wall but you won't get the feedback that lets you know that it's happening.

When you hit a wall you're character is moved back to the most recent position he was in before he was hitting a wall, which is how you may find yourself repeatedly going through the same door way, because you are entering through the door, hitting the wall on the side of the door way and getting pushed back behind the door again.

The instructions should skip if you press x in the tutorial. In the first sequence there are quite a few instructions to skip, but it should stop the current instruction and move to the next one when pressing x. I cannot explain why this is not working for you, has anyone else experienced this issue?

2016-10-25 11:12:27

Hello CosmicNeanderthal

Why Open ALL?it will be much better if you can Use VR audio possibilities?

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2016-10-25 14:51:53

Hello folks! Well, I can skip the instructions by pressing space, not x.
Best regards, Haramir.

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2016-10-25 15:09:36

Hi.
So, after playing the game a little while, I want to tell you my impressions.
From my standpoint, this game sounds quite like the old quake, which isn't bad at all, I quite like it.
What I am missing is a feature to turn into a cardinal direction, if this game will receive updates, that's something that should be implemented to make navigating a bit better.
Greetings Moritz.

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2016-10-25 18:44:07

Hi, oh nice game. thanks for it.

2016-10-25 21:18:23

Lirin wrote:

Haha, what is the problem with getting / installing java?

You think it's funny? I guess you also think system security is a joke too.

A while ago, Java had security vulnerabilities so severe that security experts were recommending that it be disabled or removed until the vulnerabilities were fixed.

I chose to remove it and have never found not having it to be a problem. So I choose not to install it on my system, the same as some people here choosing to install the NoScript plugin into Firefox.

In my opinion, system security has never been something to laugh at.

2016-10-26 01:20:08

I agree, there is a problem with turning.
It is a bit trouble if i want to position any obiect in the center of my heatphones, this turning system is lustrating when there is alot of monster.
You should fix this turning system and also you should add a beep, when you are ready to shoot, this option should have a possibility to turn it on and off.

2016-10-26 13:41:29

Hi all,

and what I have to say, this voice in the game is the horriblest voice I ever heard. After a few minutes I have enough of it, the voice sounds as it falls asleep soon. I know, it would be more work but it's much more fun if humans speak the parts. I tried the tutorial but often have problems understanding this voice. And if sound effects play very loud it's more difficult to understand it.
And about the enemies, couldn't be a enemy locator which plays a sound when in distance to fire? If I try to locate an enemy it always hurts me before I can do anything about it.

Greetings,
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2016-10-26 14:34:26

Hello cosmic , again.

Well, I've tried your game, and as the rest of people on this thread says,  the concept is simply awesome. But, it doesn't work as so spectated.

First of all, how to i can check (efectively) if the openalsoft and the hrtf configuration was installed correctly?

First I installed the oalinst, and next I executed the bat to copy the correct files to the corresponding location, but when  playing the game, i can't ear anything special when a object is being or front.
Second, the door locator need some remaping. It works fine, but the problem is that you can't focus in one door at the time. Can you change this, implementing first a door selector, with that you can first, select a target door that you want trase, and next with the c, you can ear the sound of that specific door. Next, implement some detector when a enemi is in-range for your fire. Various times, you ear enemies near you, but they are being a door. And of course, you drop some amo trying killing them, but you definitely can't.

For me, these is all. the major issue is the hrtf. You must put in the main menu a kind of speacker check, on that you check front sound, left, right, and being.

That is all. Thanks for work in this great project.

2016-10-26 18:29:31

just recently tried the game out, but like everyone as stated here, the turning in the game is quite jurky.
when I press the left or the right arrow, the character turns very fast, making it harder to locate objects, especially enemies.

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