Hello again. It’s been a while since my last post, but I am back with a few updates. First, I have made a couple of updates to the Projects page of the website. I had the opportunity to do a couple of interviews about VR and Game Accessibility over the pas tcouple of months, and both interviews went really well. One was a video interview on Aaron Spelker’s YouTube channel, and the other was a text interview with Equal Entry. You never know, I may have a couple additional interviews coming up in the future too.
I have still been doing technology and game accessibility gigs whenever I can. I have participated in a couple of these, but am not allowed to talk about them at this time due to NDA’s. I’m glad to see more companies recognize and start supporting accessibility though.
One project I am very happy about though is the Toby Accessibility Mod for DOOM. MrAlanD1 has been working on making this DOOM mod for a couple of years now, and it’s coming along really nicely. Version 5.0 should be coming out soon, and it’s got some major features and improvements. There are more audio cues for health and ammo pickups, narrated menus, and even a ledge detection system with audio cues. I’ve gotten a sneak peak, and it’s working well. Again, I want to give a Huge thanks to MrAlanD1 for making one of my favorite games ever, more accessible to blind players!
Finally, I am still working with XR Access on improving virtual and augmented reality accessibility. There are some potentially cool things happening in some VR and social VR environments, and I will let everyone know when these things become available. XR Access is a great group though, and they are always looking for more people. I’ve met some great people here, and love what they are doing. If you are interested in VR or AR accessibility, definitely give XR Access a look. Their XR Access Symposium is also coming up next month, and is online and free. Visit www.xraccess.org to learn more.
Even though I haven’t updated the IllegallySighted website much, I’ve still been plenty busy with YouTube, Twitch, and even that little thing called a day job. While I won’t be able to live stream or give my immediate thoughts this year, I’m looking forward to hearing about the upcoming game announcements for this summer’s Summer of Gaming, and other non-E3 events happening next month. I’m also looking forward to that next big game that will offer the next level of game accessibility.
Speaking of which, I have to end by giving a shoutout to Deathloop. I was really looking forward to this game last fall, but after trying the PS5 and PC version, I did have some trouble visually playing the game. Well, a few months later, the developers have released a major update with over 30 accessibility features, many of which will really help low vision accessibility and overall playability for many people. I will try and cover this update as soon as I can, especially once I get myu computer upgraded again.
Right… The computer… Last fall, I finally bought a pre-built gaming desktop to keep up with the new games. When it worked, it ran like a dream. The problem is, it didn’t work all the time, and kept randomly restarting. The motherboard even died on it a few months in. Even after sending it into HP, they still didn’t fix the problems I was having. I eventually sent the computer in for a full refund, so I will be looking at a different machine some time this summer. If you want the full story, check out my April 2022 channel update.
That’s about all for this update.