2006-05-01 01:38:51

Another poll!

For the Game Accessibility project, we are setting up a "Top 10 List of Blind-Accessible Games For Newbies" - this is basically a list of 10 game titles recommended by you, the community, for new gamers to start playing blind-accessible games.

Which ten titles do you recommend for new gamers? You can either use *this thread* or the following thread over at the projects forum:

http://www.accessibility.nl/games/forum … .php?id=27

So... what are your favourite games??? Good luck!

Richard

2006-05-01 13:25:25

In my opinion, as long as you more or less ignore the first mission Lone Wolf is nice and easy to get to grips with. The first mission's something of a nightmare really, supposedly target practice but the targets come thick and fast from all directions. The soundscape function also helps massively in work9ing out where the terrain is, a shame more games don't use this idea.

Ten Pin Alley's a fun little game too that's easy enough to play, and has the advantage of hot seat play.

There's also a lot to be said for muds, with Alter Aeon being a very good starting point. Not quite a title in the same sense, but as has often been said they allow for a more even ground than most games where sighted and blind can play at the same time. Not quite evenly matched, but as close as you can hope to get in my opinion. They have a nice atmosphere too, at least that's what I think.

cx2
-----
To live by honour and to honour life, these are our greatest strengths and our best hopes.

2006-05-02 00:06:00

I wouldn't recommend Lone Wolf or any kind of Mud for a newbie. Learning Godwars was hard enough and Lone Wolf is too strategic for newbies. I'd start with Ten pin Alley, yes. Maybe some simple games like some of the free games from BSC and vipgameszone

Regards,
Mike
Co-Founder, RS Games
www.rsgames.org

2006-05-02 01:19:01

This is just my experience, but then I did come from prior experience of mainstream games.

As for muds, they're not too hard. It's been said that Alter Aeon is a better one to start with rather than Godwars, and whilst I know muds aren't your thing Mike I do know that a rather large number of people do like them so it's well worth pointing out to new players that they exist. Not everyone likes the same thing, and what I might find great fun or very easy you might find dull or very hard... or vice versa. For example I've only been able to play the demo of Lone Wolf so far but I find it quite easy to say the least, especially to work out what's where, but I find the ESP pinball games a little awkward to work out in my head and certainly can't get the hang of the simon sub game in the bar brawl on one table.

My personal opinion that a list for new players should contain some variety so they can see how much diversity exists. I certainly wouldn't suggest Tank Commander or Shades Of doom to a new player, even less so with Audio Quake, but the surrounding environment in Lone Wolf is far less complex. It's the nature of a naval style game, there's far less terrain they can use and it is more spread out. Including nothing but very simple games could easily turn people away, I know it would me. There's a place for them, but not to the exclusion of more in depth games... and in depth doesn't have to mean complicated. I've spent time playing Kitchen's Inc monopoly and found it an adequate distraction, but wouldn't want to play games at that level of simplicity alone since that would feel rather hollow to me.

I guess as a former serious mainstream gamer I crave variety to some extent, or at least some choice. I currently find myself swapping back and forth between muds most of the time these days, mostly two in particular.

cx2
-----
To live by honour and to honour life, these are our greatest strengths and our best hopes.

2006-05-02 08:02:13

yeah definitely the free games from vipgameszone and bsc, perhaps even some of the Jim kitchen's games which get quite bored after a while in my opinion. as for lone wolf i also don't think it is good for newbies - there are too many keystrokes and it is very hard for me. i do like to play muds, especially if you're using a mud client which has got built-in sounds. alter aeon was my first mud and it's also good for newbies yes, but godwars took me some getting used to but now i play it it is very cool. but as for a game that hasn't been said, i'd reccoment dark destroyer. it's easy, little remembering of keystrokes, and it's got nice sounds. perhaps even some of the more advanced space invaders games, troopanum or even version 2 or alien outback (although ao might be a bit too complicated, i don't know), also, drive is a good game to start with. it was the first audiogame i ever played, although i couldn't use a computer myself then. not much keystrokes to remember, and it's pretty good for newbies. these titles might not be the best games out there, but they're easy and good for newbies. sorry for the long post,

2006-05-02 12:26:48

Well, my top 10 is (should i mention num crunch? Lol)
Numcrunch is easy to play, and simple, but since it is our own, i won't say that it should be in.
Here is my top10 list for newbies:
drive,
tempin alley,
dark destroyer,
x-wing patrol (allthough it is a mod),
Deekout,
super shot,
Mud splat,
showdown,
Win casino,
and the great toy robbery.

Happy gaming...

----------
Robjoy, AKA Erion
Visit my site for all the things I do and to contact me.
You can also stop by for a slice of Pi

2006-05-02 22:33:03

It depends what you're looking for. Like I said if you want people to get a taste of what's out there it would be unfortunate to ram in the simplest games you can. Maybe suggest you try a few simplere ones out before proceeding to something like Lone Wolf, but I stand by it. Not necessarily Lone Wolf, it was just one that came to mind... but certainly not filling it with arcade style games. Some people like to think while playing a game to some extent, you have to cater for this as well, and it's a fine representation of what can be done in an audio game without making the level layout complicated. Heck, I never use half the keys. I think Shades of Doom has levels a little too complex for beginners, and whilst Tank Commander less so it can still be awkward... Maybe Tank Commander would be an alternative, I guess my personal tastes and talents are showing through there, just so long as there's something with some depth in there.

cx2
-----
To live by honour and to honour life, these are our greatest strengths and our best hopes.

2006-05-03 01:16:38

Well, I'd had some gaming experience (though only in certain fields and styles of games) before I came to Audio games. My first Audio game (and the first 3D shooter I've ever been able to play), was Shades of doom, but I can see this might be confusing for somebody not familiar with how games work.

I'm afraid I absolutely disagree with you reguarding Lonewolf for Newbies Cx2, it took me quite a while to master the controls, and as for the game play, I find it damn difficult (mission 4 took quite a while to beat, and we won't even talk about number five).

As to recommending games for Newbies, i'd certainly say chilllingham, the games extremely interesting,with lots of plot, puzles and simple action sequences, it only uses the cursers, space bar and escape ---- you wouldn't even need to be computer literate to play it. the only minor problem is the ordering on Cd aspect, which might put Newbies off. sinse you can buy it at a reduced price with Chillingham, Grizly gulch might also be a good idea (though Imho Chillingham is the game that's more likely to grab a newby's attention).

People have been reccommending muds, but to actually get a mud running and play it you have to do a fare amount of tinkering, the online Rpg Sryth on the other hand, is just accessible through the web, has lots of quests and continuous plot, and an item and stats system that's not too complex, but stil fairly interesting (so I found it anyway), ---- not to mention pretty well written text Imho. The subscription might put Newbies off, but sinse there's sooooo many free quests, I don't think this is a big deal. Oh, and sinse Sryth is just based in web brousing, there's no difference betwene visually impared and sited players whatsoever.

I agree on Dark destroyer (another of my first Audio games), partly for the game play, partly for the fact that it's free, and partly for Kelly Sepirgia's  amusing voice acting (that'll give newbies a nice experience!).

I'd also say Light locator might be good for Newbies, quick, simple, but with good sounds and suspense (also Imho much more addictive than any of the free Bsc or Vip games zone's games).

I'd also reccommend Superliam, the games very simple, but the cut scenes, exelent sounds, ongoing plot and (most of all if you ask me), humerous acting make it interesting to play non the less. The only minor hich with this game is that you don't get to here any cut scenes on the demo, so the Newby might not realize the full potential of the game.

finally, some of the Kitchinsink stuff might be good for some people ----- say people who've not used computers or really come across computer games, but know about monopoly, battleship, game of life etc. While i agree the game's aren't really one's you play for hours (not on your own, anyway), they stil have their place.

that's all that occurs to me right now, I'm afraid I didn't really like the sound of ten pin alley from the main menue review, the actual game play seemed to just boil down to a glorified version of the Bsc darts game, but I haven't tried the game out so I could very well be wrong (feel free to correct me if I am ----- though best start a new topic to do it in.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2006-05-03 01:34:28

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your responses! Get 'm coming! My personal list was (in no specific order):

- Troopanum
- Drive
- Shades of Doom
- Chillingham
- All In Play Poker
- Deekout
- Top Speed 2
- GMA Tank Commander
- Super Tennis
- Terraformers

If you look at the bottom of this page...

http://www.game-accessibility.com/index … ile=visual

... you will notice I added some other games as well as Recommendations.

Now: this Top 10 is just to fill the page and not a definate Top 10 List for Newbies! I look forward to more lists and in the end we'll put them together and see which games were named most!

Again, thank you so much for your contributions. I really appreciate them and I suspect many newbies will too!

Greets,

Richard

2006-05-03 14:10:55 (edited by cx2 2006-05-03 14:12:59)

The list you posted looked good to me, although I'm not so sure about Terraformers. I find the time limit imposed by constantly draining health rather awkward. Whilst listening to one of the instruction audio clips I accidentally caught a button and interrupted it mid way, and died whilst listening to it again.

I was only stating earlier that personally I found Lone Wolf the easiest o pick up the controls for, and it was one of my first audio games I played. I'm happy to see that the GMA games were represented in the list, I don't really mind which I just personally find Lone WOlf the easiest... then again I had experience of mainstream sub games and find the AI in lone wolf rather easy to get around compared to the games I used to play. Just so long as there's at least one game on there that you actually need some element of thought in that isn't a puzzle game like Chillingham.

As for setting upn muds, GMud is a piece of cake to set up. Extract from the zip and run, no install. Then just enter the port and address, and you're more or less ready. The scripts from Gutterstar are helpful, but I played without them for some time before I heard about them and it didn't [put me off.

cx2
-----
To live by honour and to honour life, these are our greatest strengths and our best hopes.

2006-05-03 16:04:32

Hmmm, Out of the Gma games, I found both shades of doom and Tank commander rather easy to pick up, where as lone wolf really is taking some getting used to (you must tell me about how to get around the ai some time).

I briefly tried the Demo of Terraformers, but I actually found the audio instructions in it rather imprecise, especially the direction facing command. I'd be told to walk north, walk north and bang into a wall. this rather put me off, and might put some newbies off Imho.

Reguarding muds, I've stil not managed to get the connection working properly (damn university network!), and also, from my brief spell on Lorimud, it does seem that the hole mudding concept does take a bit of getting used to.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2006-05-03 19:07:01

Unfortunately if your university network is preventing you from connecting to a mud there's not much to be done, it's a security thing places like universities usually do. It's no trouble if you have a suitable connection, I think any home connection should be suitable for the purpose.

As for the AI in lone wolf, compared to what I was used to it gives up searching too easily... and running at 40 feet with scope down and torp tube doors shut will mean you can't be detected unless you go over one quarter engines no matter what. I only go deeper if I'm worried about hitting the bottom of a ship's hull. In mainstream games you can safely run faster at deeper depths, but are never entirely guaranteed to be undetected when you're near the surface... It was always the tension I loved, not knowing whether I'd be found or not.

cx2
-----
To live by honour and to honour life, these are our greatest strengths and our best hopes.

2006-05-03 22:20:19

hello

my list of best audio games (not for new gamers) is:
1. GMA tank commander
2. loan wolf
3. monkey business
4. shades of doom
5. alien outback
6. trek 2000
7. terraformers
8. super liam
9. showdown
10. pack man talks
thanks
yakir

2006-05-04 16:28:07

I've not tried showdown, but maybe I should (especially considdering it's free). Monkey business I find slightly irritating, because there's usually one, and only one, precise spot where a certain event happens, like someone talking to you or you picking up an object. quite often I find myself walking towards objects, completely on targit, getting the close object signifal from the locator, then ending up walking past them. I then need to go back and take a couple of steps in each direction to try and find the thing.

Reguarding Lw, it's the tention and atmosphere of the game that actually makes me persevere, despite the difficulty, especially as my sub woofer makes the floor shake every time somebody drops a depth charge! Being as I'm in quite a small room, playing at night with all the lights off and the floor shaking is a bit tooooooo atmospheric, All I need now is a way to connect my computer to the bathroom pipes, so that the room floods occasionally! ;D.

I'll be moving out of University accommodation  later this year, hopefully then I'll try some mudding (and maybe get Net framework working as well).

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2006-05-11 09:39:33

Well I love showdown! It is one of my favorite games. I haven't cursed out loud at games much but that game is great! Anyway here goes: Keep in mind I do train a lot of people and auidogames is one of the best ways to motivate students so here goes:
Any and all Kitchen Games (baseball, golf, concentration, trucker...)Millionaire
Dark Destroyer
Grizzly Gulch (chillingham's puzzles are too much for newbys)
Tank Commander (mostly because if you don't get it you can just blow stuff up and enjoy the explosions)
The great toy robery (another great game)
showdown
drive
Lite Cars
Topspeed
There you go. How was that?
bb

2006-05-20 12:39:56

Maybe the Pirate Memory Game? It's great for newbies, has lots of tutorials and the game itself is rather simple. (http://www.klangogames.com/en/pmg/)

2006-05-28 20:51:48 (edited by tomi 2006-05-28 20:58:50)

ok... ok, so let me join this topic..
here is my opinion on this...

my top ten games: you like it or not!
0. (bonus!) mud splat. yes, the humangous game, but it has good (great) tutorials and easy menu navigation for newbies.

The next 10 is based on the usibility and access.
1. grizzly gulch or chillingham, dosen't matter. Only uses 4 keystrokes and is very easy to master; can give a good time to the users.
2. a bop-it game. Teaches the users to have more reflexes ; again, simple UI.
3. Light locater. Timing is important ; the user makes use of the enter key more frequiently whilst moving through the rooms. 
4. topspeed. Simple ui + a little twist, the user now has to navigate menus, which are present in most games.

5. Deekout (dan z). Menu system more expanded ; now the user has to keep track of score / level / coins remaining. More challanging

and this is the point where the more difficult games come in. the user must have like 4 or 5 months of experience with games and the keyboard.
6. Alien outback. More keys, more action, more fun!
7.  pacman talks.
8. Gma tank commander
9. shades of doom
10. Monkey business. Do the logic needed ; the user will need logic to figure out some of the complicated levels such as wobble's lab.

Well... Hope this helps
again, i based this on how easy a newbie could use the game and not how good and great they are for them. A new gamer should start with an easy game that has no complicated commands and then move up the rank...
regards:
tomi

Regards:

tomi

2006-05-30 12:18:28

i like that top 10 actually, or should i say top 11? smile
mudsplat is a nice game for newbies though i myself had to listen to the sound examples several times to make out what bonus you get from an item from what sound. the user has to be careful and listen for what he gets. still, it's a nice game for top a top 10 games list for newbies.

2008-02-23 13:59:58 (edited by danielrigano 2010-10-03 17:25:30)

I also recommend Lone Wolf and50mw red laser module
green laser pointer

2008-02-23 16:17:52

All of the games here do sound fun. Anyway, the first audio game I tried was shades of dume. Needless to say, at first I didn't know to listen to the scope, but when I did things got alot better in the game. Of corse I didn't read the manual for it, but that proved to be the last time. Tank commander was the second I did and still do enjoy blowing up things. The therd game I tried was lone wolf. You talking about fun. Needless to say, I got a 5.1 surround sound system for my pc, and the floor shakes every time I'm death charged or my tank blows up. I also tried the startrak game that gma offers, but it is the worse game they sale. Let's ee, Munkey Business, and judgement Day are good too. From what I seen of pacman, it would be an easy enough game to start off and the Pinball games are fun, but read the manual. Sorry about the long post.

All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king.
DropBox Referral

2008-02-23 16:28:09

Try USA Games' Star Trek Final Conflict, it's pretty similar to GMA's Star Trek game except it works like the GMA one *should* and is free. Has a few issues and could use some refining, but overall good. Plus it's next gen setting, which is always nice.

cx2
-----
To live by honour and to honour life, these are our greatest strengths and our best hopes.

2008-02-23 17:36:00

I tried it a awhile back, but I just forgot about it. It is a good one. It is better then GMA's startrak. At least you got a ship with cloking and good game sounds.

All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king.
DropBox Referral

2008-02-23 17:52:05

I think the main issue with Trek 2000 is the stars your ship can bump into, if they got rid of them and tidied a few things up it would be a perfectly enjoyable game.

cx2
-----
To live by honour and to honour life, these are our greatest strengths and our best hopes.

2008-02-23 20:41:42

I liked the detail of Terraformers but on the whole I don't think it's a great game for newbies. I agree that details are often imprecise and if you're not careful you'll find yourself dead just inches from a power station or something. Its price is also mildly off-putting.
I don't have a specific top ten, but a few I tend to like and recommend, depending on your taste, ar:
SuperLiam (simple-ish side-scrolling action with a gentle enough learning curve (maybe too gentle?)
Pipe 2 (same type of thing, but not side-scrolling, and it's more arcade-based)
Shades of Doom (the game itself can be rather unforgiving but Practice mode is handy as heck)
Tarzan Jr. (if you can still get hold of it, it's fun at least...does anyone know where to find this one's full version anymore since it was discontinued, BTW?)
Showdown and other games of that type (pinball games count here, quick reaction for points, for fun)
Monkey Business (exploration, though again with some precision that can sometimes get annoying)
Hunter (BSC title which, though ultimately fairly short if you know what you're doing, is an interesting game in its own right with decent sounds)
Troopanum 2 (in particular, though there are lots of shooters of similar type...I'm not a huge fan of these, but Troop2 is a good one because it's fairly hard, but offers a good soundscape and many options to play with)
Chillingham (I still want to play this one but I'm very much into puzzles and the like, and this one is simple enough for those who aren't terribly keyboard-oriented)

I must also say, by the way, that I found Lone Wolf kind of hard, but that might just be because I was sort of awed and frightened off by its depth (ha ha, bad pun) and so I shied from it. it's not precisely up my alley in any case.

Sound RTS is another accessible game, though it's still in development; if that's your thing, it might be a good one.

Heh...this sort of topic isn't really going to help much because I don't think you're going to come up with a solid "top 10" list.

Check out my Manamon text walkthrough at the following link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z8ls3rc3f4mkb … n.txt?dl=1

2008-02-23 21:44:59

Hi all,

For something totally different from the shoot-em-ups, war games and dungeons, and for people who like to solve mysteries, how about

Inspector Cyndi in Newport - Death Nell.

It's at www.7128.com.

John Bannick
7-128 Software