2021-08-07 00:31:15 (edited by GuideDev 2021-10-01 19:35:26)

Hello everyone. Guide Dev here.

After countless hours and tens of thousands of lines of code, I'm happy to announce the first release of Hearthstone Access: a custom Hearthstone mod that enables blind and visually impaired people to enjoy Hearthstone.

If you've never heard about it, Hearthstone is a popular free-to-play online digital card game developed by Blizzard Entertainment with millions of players all around the world.

If you'd like to try it out or know someone who would, I've set up an accessible page to get you started here.

For the time being, players will be able to autonomously go through the tutorial, play practice matches against all AI opponents to unlock all classes, build decks and play online against other players in ranked, casual and friendly matches.

If you prefer single player games, keep in mind the game also features solo adventures with excellent voice acting. You can currently play through various Book of Heroes adventures covering the stories of the Heroes who represent the classes in Hearthstone, based on canonical stories of World of Warcraft.

I've created a Discord server where a lot of players hang out and discuss the game. You can find an invite link here.

Have fun!

2021-08-07 00:41:22

Hi @Guidedev,
First, I want to say a huge "Thank you" to you. Everyone in my environment played this game and I wanted to do it too, but of course I never could as the game was not accessible. My suggestions are as follows:
1. When focusing a minion, make it so that the game reads: "Two attack, three health" instead of "Two three".
2. Make it so that numbers are read as digits. It does not matter for English players, but for players of other languages it is cumbersome to read.
3. The next thing that you should make accessible are the campaigns I believe. Then you can focus on making custom decks and multiplayer.

If you want to contact me, do not use the forum PM. I respond once a year or two, when I need to write a PM myself. I apologize for the inconvenience.
Telegram: Nuno69a
E-Mail: nuno69a (at) gmail (dot) com

2021-08-07 00:42:15

I'd love deck building, pack opening and adventure mode.

Take care, it's a desert out there.

2021-08-07 01:03:19

Hi @guidedev.
Thanks so much for this.
I'd never heard of hearthstone before, so this is really great for me.
I don't care what you work on and when, as long as you keep working on this.
Is there somewhere to donate to the project?
Thanks again very much.

Hopefully, we'll get a fully accessible open world game someday.

2021-08-07 01:21:15

@GuideDev
You are a true legend, I've played the tutorials and it's amazing how you have made such a seamless and smooth experience, This is such a rare moment for our community, thank you so much and congratulations.

@nuno
The position of the attack/health will never change if i'm correct, so the first number is always your attack and the second health, This will help you to play the game faster.

twitter: @hadirezae3
discord: Hadi

2021-08-07 01:33:27

this will be a one huge mark in audiogmes history. well i am gonna try this out. hopefully i can try it with my iphone.

hi. i am a dark matter miner. yeah, i am setting mines that when something steps on it, it will explode and release huge amount of dark matters. oh sorry... i am a slave miner, i am mining dark matters...

2021-08-07 01:53:29

@6 this mod is for the Windows version , not for iOS. I didn't even know they ported it to iOS tbh.

2021-08-07 01:59:14

I'm curious on how the online will work, as with slay the spire if it detects you're using mods it won't let you post to the scoreboard which kind of killed the game for me.  I'm not sure if Blizzard will let us play online either.
The other thing I noticed was that after beating the mage in practice I couldn't click or press enter to continue.

2021-08-07 01:59:45

At Guidedev duuude, you are awesome smile,

regarding the next steps, another vote for the adventure mode, I do like exploring what's available in single player mode first before hopping into the online section, so yeah, adventure mode is my vote.

Greetings Moritz.

Hail the unholy church of Satan, go share it's greatness.

2021-08-07 02:13:25

Thanks for all the feedback so far. I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying the game.

@Nuno
The 2 3 thing as opposed to 2 attack and 3 health thing is simply because that's how sighted players normally read cards as it's faster and they all have an attack and health value or attack and durability in the case of weapons. Heroes are the only ones who can have optional stats such as attack and durability on top of health, so those are read as 2 attack and 3 health. I can certainly see how it could be confusing for new players though and could perhaps look into providing a more verbose option if it helps. Will add all of your feedback to my list, thanks.

@RTT
I'm currently accepting one-time donations on paypal and patrons on Patreon to hopefully be able to dedicate more time to working on this instead of other paid work. Thanks for the support!

@hadi.gsf
Thanks for the kind words. I'm truly happy to see so many people enjoying the game.

2021-08-07 02:19:46

ᄀᆨ7 the game is also on the appstore. also on playstore.

hi. i am a dark matter miner. yeah, i am setting mines that when something steps on it, it will explode and release huge amount of dark matters. oh sorry... i am a slave miner, i am mining dark matters...

2021-08-07 02:24:54

Hi.
I haven't gotten to check this out yet but really looking forward to soon!
I definitely agree that single-player content should be the priority, though obviously it is your project and entirely up to you.  eventual multiplayer support would be amazing, but I've heard a lot of bad things about unbalanced competitive play over the last few years so not really something I'm personally interested in jumping into now.
Thanks for working on this awesome project!

I'm probably gonna get banned for this, but...

2021-08-07 02:46:04

I prefer multiplayer mode, at least to play with some friends. I'm not very interested on ranked maches, but I think to have the possibility to play with some friends this can be quite funny. Any way thank you for this awesome mod, I will donate or be a patreon for shure. keep up this great work

Sorry for my english

2021-08-07 03:32:29

I also have to agree that singleplayer should take priority, but multiplayer isn't something to sleep on either. I personally would just want to play with a few friends, not play ranked although that could change. All in all though, this comes down to what you believe is the right course for this mod. Also, how would you even get multiplayer to work? Would you get banned from Hearthstone if it detects modifications?

2021-08-07 03:39:59

That is what he'll have to figure out.

2021-08-07 04:20:16

Can you add compatibility to Spanish?

2021-08-07 04:28:18

First, this is fantastic work.  I'd personally love to be able to play ranked assuming it can be done. I'm tired of playing the same twenty blind people for like a few months before interest dies. That's not to say I wouldn't like to play friends. I'd just like if this could be expanded if possible. I don't mean my previous comment to come off as a criticism of people who enjoy these types of games. I just think the community's small, and I'd love to have that wider pool of players if it can indeed be done. I'm also a huge fan of adding single player campaigns and deck building, as I love collecting cards as well.

Silly Gohan, animals don't eat people. People eat animals.

2021-08-07 04:35:12

I am wondering how you get past the victory screen, because I can't click continue with object nav.

Who am I? Simply me!

2021-08-07 04:36:48

Yeah I really really love everything so far!
Could you just magically add everything in like 2 hours? HAHA
Seriously though thanks for this amazing work!

I'm probably gonna get banned for this, but...

2021-08-07 04:42:48

Depending on how hard it would be to adapt the mod to different languages of the game, supporting the German version of the game would be awesome to have.

Greetings Moritz.

Hail the unholy church of Satan, go share it's greatness.

2021-08-07 04:51:39

@GuideDev: Hello and welcome on the forums!

This is just AMAZING! I've tested it quickly and finished one tutorial. Everything works just great and I am voting for single player first. I'd love to play online as I have many sighted friends who are playing this game but solo modes first for me.
Also, if possible please considering Polish language, that would be fantastic but it's not really a priority. smile

I'll donate as much as I can and if there's a place where We can chat and where I could help by giving feedback etc (like Discord etc) just let me know!

Damn, it's almost 5 at the morning and I think I'll jump back to the game and play instead of sleeping lol So great today is not a work day haha!

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Discord: lirintheblindguy
BattleTAG: Lirin#21759

2021-08-07 05:46:25

@11, I think the mod only works for the windows version of the game. the anroid and the IOS version is still not accessible, and it will be too much work to make it accessible on that platform anyways.

2021-08-07 05:58:41

I'd love to see support for deck building and single-player content generally, though am not familiar enough with the game to make more specific requests.

I just want to say that I really appreciate both the work on this and the smooth user experience; it doesn't feel like a mod but rather as if it was written to be an audio game from the start.

2021-08-07 06:01:51

I would love to see this for Linux. Unfortunately there's no official Linux support. :-( This sounds like a lot of fun though and I'd love to try it.

"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!]: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out ?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."    — Charles Babbage.
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2021-08-07 07:15:15

hi @GuideDev
wonderful job just don't stop. and of course I will support the project