My Problem with Third Person Action Games | Sidcourse
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- Third person action games have become the defining titles in modern game libraries. However, they're a problem for me.
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Video games are incredible and the third-person action game has become one of the most popular genres there is. For me whoever, because of my own blindness, I can't see half the screen and the positioning of the player character always gets in my way. In this essay, I'd like to demonstrate what it's like to play from my perspective.
#videoessay #videogameaccessibility #visualimpairment
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Hi, my name is Sid and I produce video essays, podcasts and dissections of video games, television shows, films and art on my channel; Leonardo Da Sidci. It's my aim to create stylish and substantial content that is both engaging, entertaining and informative in a format that encourages discussion.
I had not considered that people use “shoulder swap” for reasons other that tactical, great vid.
I loved that The Division incorporated that, and mapped it to a button.
this is a valuable perspective to hear from. Great video man
It’s wonderful seeing AveragePixel supporting such a brilliant video and creator, but why haven’t you released more visual/auditory crack for us to consume also!
I’m kidding around, I hope the video making is going well! xx
Thank you ☺️
Warframe has this option, I never thought much of it until now.
And The Division! Which is why it's one my favourite games!
Same yeah, and it's a simple button press to switch even which makes it better in this case
Mass Effect too
@@LeonardoDaSidci I'm pretty sure that MGSV did as well. Great video dude, your voice is very calming.
max payne 3?
Gmtk opened my eyes to a lot of accessibility problems in games with his series about that, but his videos were always about more broad accessibility issues so it's really nice to see you talk about niche problems like these. I hope developers see this video and implement this into their games for you and others that suffer the same problem :)
GMTK's series on designing for disability is one of the best series on RUclips and developers can learn a lot from what he's done there. Niche problems like mine, are very niche and I don't expect it to have any impact. Saying that though, games like The Division have the option to switch shoulder on a single button press, which made all the difference to me
@@LeonardoDaSidci just want to let you know, in case you don't know, that the new Hitman games also have a button to switch from one shoulder to the other anytime.
Side quest unlocked:
Hunt the person who shot Sid [ ]
Sid* quest unlocked
THAT'S THE NAME OF THE PODCAST I'M STARTING
@@LeonardoDaSidci Gather all the troops
@@LeonardoDaSidci Hunt Down the Sid Shooter?
Razbuten sent me here and you didn't disappoint.
I subbed to you an year ago and to finally see another video is worth it.
Thank you, I'm hoping to make this a bit more regular!
ruclips.net/video/24p5x9PZwwY/видео.html
@@LeonardoDaSidci your videos are brilliant. Even if they come once a year I'll be here to see them.
@@LeonardoDaSidci I'm hoping that too, you videos where always one of my favourites videos about Games on RUclips
It really should be a standard for third person games. And not an option in the menu but a key, cuz not only is it an accessibility option, it also has gameplay value, and can be used in a variety of occasions, most notably stealth and shooting. It's just something I've become kind of used to with MGSV and Splinter Cell CT and a myriad other games in that ballpark. Kind of baffled to see it still isn't as common or widespread in TPSs as i was hoping it was.
Stay sexy m8
I'd love for it to be a standard procedure, however I'm a pragmatic person. If a developer can't make room for it in the control scheme etc, then I'm happy with a simple option. There's so many sides to something like and what's more important is that games can be enjoyed by more people whilst giving everyone the best possible experience they can.
No, YOU stay sexy
As well for battlefront 2, sidw switch is a key to be a good player there
working my way through the Razbuten playlist has been great weekend watching so far, and this video was no exception. Thanks for sharing your story and struggles.
I've been doing the same, about to watch your videos
Hi
I'm a game design student, and you opened my eyes to a problem I didn't know existed...
You might have to wait years, but I'll try to make things change for accessibility at my base level in the industry.
Count me as one of your subs now, Sid !
It's interesting to hear about accessibility as a personal problem.
Most of the time I've heard about it in GDC talks that show how to and glance the why.
It's good to see you releasing another video.
Thank you Pigeon! It'd good to see you again!
I've never thought about this and I'm legally blind in my left eye. Was so surprised to see someone show something that looks like my vision. It's like only peripheral vision on one side.
I wonder if it being on the left for me and having slightly more vision has been enough to not quite notice as much. Or just my vision has always been this way so I don't have anything else to compare it to.
Anyhow, love seeing more accessibility things like this discussed!
That could be a possibility! I'm not entirely sure because it's very experiential but if you felt like giving it a try, you could see what it's like by mirroring your screen. Obviously, you don't need to but it'd be an interesting experiment
the fact that this is the second new vid from Sid in a pretty short time makes me really happy, keep up the great work Sid.
Thank you! I have more to come!
Leonardo Da Sidci so glad to hear it
Great video, as usual.
I personally have hemiplegia which basically means that the left side of my body is a bit "messed up". I walk very strange and my left hand isn't that great at doing at doing a lot of things. There are also other things that provide difficulty in everyday life but the walking and my left hand are the main physical ones.
With my left hand it isn't as bad as you might think, a lot of people with hemiplegia have it worse... a lot worse, I am lucky I can play pretty much all games without a problem. I can't be among the best at them 99 & of the time, but I am glad to say, that doesn't bother me anymore.
One thing that did bother me though: Back at the start of 2019 Kingdom Hearts 3 got released. I hold those games, however stupid they might seem to be and sometimes even are, very dearly to my heart and when I got to the cooking mini game, I spent an entire night trying to get the best possible dish. On some occasions it worked, but there was this one mini game in which you have to cut foods with the left thumbstick and shove them to the right with the right thumbstick. That was a nightmare and got me to the verge of crying, cause I am a big pansy. After a while I figured out how to cheat the system and just flipped my controller upside down, which made it possible for me to operate the left stick with my right thumb and the right stick with my left thumb. That seemed to do the trick, but still it would have been nice to have more accessibility options or any at all, cause Kingdom Hearts 3 doesn't have any, I believe.
Another example is the darts mini game from Final Fantasy VII Remake, I struggled with that for a hot minute as well, cause you have to aim with the left thumbstick and that was a nightmare as well.
Also, Sid, thank you for your videos and I am so glad you seem to be in a better place, since your Hellblade video, I haven't gotten around to watch the Final Fantasy VII video just yet, cause I have to finish the game first.
You stay sexy as well.
Thank you Horst! And I'm sorry to hear how Kingdom Hearts basically fucked you over. I've never actually played any of the series, but little things like that shows that there wasn't much consideration put into place for players like yourself. From a completely technical standpoint, I imagine it must've been a cool feature for the devs to build out. However, it's these kinds of decisions (or the lack of an alternative input method) that really gets in the way.
I'm glad you found an alternative mode, but it's not apt. Hopefully in the future better options become available.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the Final Fantasy video!
More devs need to see this! It's amazing how touching this video is. You got so much shit to share and I am glad you are doing it somewhere I can listen to it. I'm just really happy I found you. *Thank you* for creating content like this, I strongly believe that your personal experiences, packed and served in sidcourse episodes, will have a huge impact on people.
Thank you man! Your support means the world to me
Hey Sid,
I was wondering if you value the parts targeted on your other senses in games more, like music or sound design, since your vision is damaged.
Also i think you could maybe lower the volume of the background music a bit.
I think you have a nice and gripping voice , i think it would benefit from being more clearly audible over the music.
Love to see you back man
Features like controller rumble, sound telegraphing etc are very helpful when it comes to visual impairment.
Thank you for the feedback, I'll look into that for future videos!
I honestly think that the background music isn't required at all
@@Turboviikinki thank you for the feedback. For me, the entire project is a creative endeavour where I'm writing, editing and producing music for an intended feeling and mood
@@LeonardoDaSidci You make your own background music for your videos?
@@Turboviikinki I think video essays can become quite boring or hard to follow without the music.
As someone with no vision issues, I also find it hard to see stuff when the character is taking up the screen space. This is especially the case when the character or weapon model takes up a significant portion of the screen. Almost always the character or weapon provides very little in feedback for the player as well (yes, I get it developer, the hair physics are very nice as well as the character's back and butt, but can I see the rest of the game please?). Sometimes it is very important for gameplay to be able to see the character such as in melee combat games like the Witcher 3. In fact, Witcher 3 is one of my favourite games partially because Geralt has a much smaller model. Something else of note in Witcher 3 is that when you are either fighting or riding a horse/sailing the camera zooms out giving you a much better view of your surroundings and the fighting. Cd Project could easily left the zoom level the same, and the game would have been worse for it.
Providing an auto zoom out whenever aiming or running in a third person game I think would help both WITH the aiming and at being able to see more of the world. A different possible fix is giving the option to set transparency for the character or gun model in the options. When I play im usually mentally setting a transparency for the character anyways (really, how often do you look specifically at the character while in gameplay), so why not let me do so in game?
Anyway, just wanted to let you know your video is appreciated even for someone without your specific issues. I think the things that would benefit you in particular, would benefit everyone who plays games.
If you play MGS and aren't constantly staring at pure perfection sculpted man ass you're playing it wrong.
Cause you playing on console where they almost never offer you a FOV slider.
This is really interesting to me. Surgery made my right eye considerably weaker than my left. Nowhere near blind, more like nearsighted.
I've always had a shitty angled gaming posture that favoured my left side, which has caused neck problems. Figured it was some coincidence with my setups, or something to do with handedness, or just bad posture. I never thought my eyes could be the issue, but now you're making me wonder if I'm subconsciously trying to get the clearest view.
Thanks for watching. We naturally are inclined to try and make our view as clear as possible and I know I've done this where I'm contorting my back and neck when I shouldn't. I'd wager that your neck problems are coming from trying to get the clearest view of your screen
I am 37 and my left eye is almost completely gone, I have only 10 % of my right eye functioninig. I would just like to add that font size and font types are a big problem for me and I don't think that is a big request from the developers. Great video.
The original title left me expecting something completely different than what was given to me, and damn was I glad to took the time to watch. Absolutely spectacular video I couldn't get anywhere else, gonna have to check out more!
Thank you man! Your new video is in my Watch Queue, looking forward to it because Mitch shared!
It's really great to see you back since last month, Sid. I missed your videos dearly! =)
Thank you! I'm trying to get a regular output here. It's coming along but slowly
@@LeonardoDaSidci no pressure, man! Just really happy to see you around.
As always, great video, great flow. Thanks for taking us a little bit into what's like to be in your shoes.
Turns out that super gripe I have about 3rd Person Shooters about not allowing me to switch camera position / aiming shoulder had some more than just "I want to peak from THE LEFT SIDE OF THIS COVER instead of everything being conveniently placed for me to do so from the right.
Warframe has always had this (with a single key tap btw, and is really awesome)
Easily one of the best features in the game. It's also part of the reason why I love The Division so much. That shoulder switch made it infinitely more enjoyable for me
I remember playing Ghost Recon Wildlands and being surprised by the simple ability to swap shoulder perspectives and that simple action not being available elsewhere.
Great video!
I mentioned that Wildlands and The Division are some of my favourite games in previous videos and it's that ability for me to see better that makes me see better
Super Eyepatch Wolf brought me here and hoo boy was it worth it! Fantastic video!
I didn't expect to be tearing up when I decided to watch this. Hearing such a personal story about accessibility in games is something I've never experienced. Thank you
Your content is consistently great. We played a couple games of PuBG a while back. Looking forward to seeing what more comes in the future
I remember you! And thank you man, I appreciate it :D
I doubt you'll ever see this but you're easily my favorite RUclipsr. You inspire me and make me happy so much. Seeing your content and just hearing your voice is calming. Especially when the voices I do hear can be overwhelming. Thank you for everything. I go through so much pain constantly, but when I watch one of your videos I feel happy and at peace. Hearing someone else talk about Mental Health and other things is very important to me. So thank you. I also hope this video is seen by many game developers. Everyone deserves to play a game and enjoy it.
I'm so stoked that you came out with a new video. Keep up with your content
That's the plan!
This was beautifully made. Your points may be personal, but they're certainly not entirely unique to you. I *think* I've seen the option to switch camera position in games before. I want to say Resi 6 and possibly Army of Two? This is entirely off the top of my head so could well be absolutely wrong. But implementing that doesn't sound difficult and I'm sure it would help a lot of people. Great video mate 👍
Thank you Matty. In fact one of my favourite games is The Division and it has this option with a single button press. L3 on console and Shift on PC. And I'm pretty sure my enjoyment of the game came because I, without realising at the time, was able to make that switch and enjoy the game "as intended" rather than struggle as I'd normally.
@@LeonardoDaSidci it must be hard to have to deal with that. I bet it's a real rush when you can play a game without so much of a barrier.
@@MattyStoked I much prefer playing games on PC. Smaller screen, better options for controls and windows. Now that I'm married now, I like spending time with my wife and playing these big cinematic games together so we play on the TV. It's harder for sure but she helps out as much as she can in the moment to moment gameplay lol
This is my favorite dopamine shot!... Intelligent dudes talking about games!
There are some incredible people doing incredible work out there
@@LeonardoDaSidci do you know Matthewmatosis?.... He is an elite level like yourself!... Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great gaming channels, but above them are what I call,, the elite"... Listening to you guys is like a joe rogan podcast with highly intelligent people.... But it's about games!!... Best shit on the internet, right now!
Quick note in context of the last video: Sound mixing was pretty solid on this one. Only at the very end did I have any real difficulty catching words.
I'm no sound engineer, so I hesitate to propose solutions, but maybe you could standardize intensity differences between music and voice? If your editing application can estimate intensity of each track, just set music X decibels lower than voice? /End unsolicited advice
Anyway, I'm feeling spoiled getting another video so soon. Thanks for making our lives more interesting.
Thank you for the feedback! I'm still trying out different levels for music and voice. I'm taking lessons to speak clearer too. I've found that I get fatigued when recording because the scripts are quite lengthy to begin with. Hopefully this will improve with future episodes!
The trend is great so far!
Genuinely fantastic video. I never really thought about how much Shoulder Swap helps in third person games outside of just giving another angle to shoot from sometimes.
Well that’s something I never considered. I wonder how difficult it would be to mirror the screen like you’ve been doing. All the best!
In screen, mirroring can be done on a hardware level. Can also be done on a software level within windows. On TV's, I couldn't find an option for mine, but I guess it's a pretty niche thing to want from a tv.
I guess from an actual development perspective, it'd be easier for the end user (me in this case) if the option whether a button press or an option in menu that lets you do that. But then comes the discussion of cinematic intent and artistry and what point is more valid for certain sections/parts, level design etc.
You’ve made it. The final video on the Razbuten quest. Give yourself a pat on the back, not just for your determination, but for keeping an open mind all the way through. I’ll see you on the next one ;)
No idea how I missed this in my subs, but it is a joy to see you uploading again Sir.
As a developer, this feels like the type of option that could be implemented within minutes of work. It's literally just moving the position of the camera. The hardest thing by far would be something like zooming into a weapon. For those kinds of games you could probably consider mirroring the player model as well, but that might require a bit more work. Oh, and lastly, there's always the trivial option of mirroring the entire game world.
Actually, that last one is so trivial you could probably write something like a reshade plugin for it, in a way that also avoids mirroring the HUD.
Omg! This video is just over 8 minutes, huh? How convenient!
Guess you needed *every* second of it to give us an insight into something very few have taken the time to think about while also presenting a simple, easy-to-implement solution.
Its great to see you back. My respect for you grows more and more with each passing video.
As someone who lost my left eye a some 5 years ago, its nice to hear a conversation on this, although 'I' do not need this option as much. I'm acutely aware of why 'you' would.
And on that VR note, I'm somehow managing to run and enjoy VR, even if the whole 'Depth perception' thing escapes me
I think others have already pointed that out, but that thumbnail is spot on, especially after watching the video! Always a pleasure to spot something from you in my subscriptions tab :D
So I've been blind in one eye since birth, and I do not have this same issue. My functional eye processes the whole picture, and there's no blurring on either side of my peripheral vision. I can not perceive depth very well for obvious reasons, but in most computer games that doesn't really matter because the image you're looking at is being broadcast on a flat screen most of the time anyway. This is only an issue in VR where depth is simulated by isolating each eye's view point by a separate screen. All that to say, though, that it's strange to me that I've heard a lot of people talk about being blind in one eye (usually later in life) describe it as if the lens of a camera isn't functioning properly and picking up blurs of light as opposed to simply not seeing anything at all like how it is for me.
I can understand your perspective here. As you've only had single-ocular vision your cone of vision is just only that area and clearly your brain and body has adapted. If there's no light entering that optic nerve, then you're not going to get that signal. For myself, because the eye is still there, it picks up light, it's blinding to me. It's blurred lights from that side and that's the difficulty for me.
Question: would you get that Adam Jensen bionic eye update?
I've seen several games with the shoulder swap option but never thought that it could be actually so important. good video
As someone who's been mostly blind on my right eye for nearly two decades, and had my share of being a pirate at school and having aphantasia, gaming has become heavily focused on stereo and "room" headphones sound (sound telegraphing is extreeeemely nice).
With being unable to properly see (it was too late found out that my eyes had keratoconus, and my doctor decided that blurry mess I could tell lights on was "good enough" on my right eye without breaking it further by more surgeries) and my left eye trying to even out the sight of both (and becoming more and more difficult to see in the distance) I had my share of difficulties with any games aside strategy games, really.
That said, I really hope that some day in the future some sort of solution is found for you, Sid, to make at least that blur go away. It was November 2018 I was for the first time in my life given lenses that actually allowed me to see, even if only in a very, very tight FoV. I know being just half blind doesn't compare to being blind, but I cried. And when I got the glasses made and got them, and then took my glasses off, I couldn't believe what I gotten used to. I really hope that one day, too, at least some sort of similar on/off solution is there for you.
I never understood why some games have the option to change the camera side, so thank you for this enlightening video! I hope more games add this option in the future
I wasn't expecting this video to cover accessibility in gaming, but wow, what a great dialogue on the topic!
Thank you!
While the appeal of having the camera on the opposite position may indeed be limited, it's something I've always thought someone may prefer in the same way as I often thought "Are there those playing first-person shooters who may want their weapons (Viewmodel or otherwise) left-handed rather than right?" (Something I believe the initial Counter-Strike's viewmodels were actually intended for, with some Source games retaining the dev'-console command or auto-exec allowance to do).
But in this case, you clearly illustrate an example of when it is a necessity, and among the many things I often say are just plain good for players in general (Full controller or keyboard remapping/rebinding, thumbstick & mouse sensitivity options, Field-of-View options, subtitles & captions, etc.), I'll make sure that when I make mention of them again, I add this one to my list.
From my personal experience, I've found first person shooters easier for me because the gun models are already on my blindside. It's just the ammo counter that' the issue for me.
However, I think you're right, in that giving the player options as to where the model is on screen, where the UI is, remapping controls, sensitivity, FOV etc, is something that all games should give the player the freedom to control. That freedom of choice and accessible modes of play can help loads of people with so many different issues.
Thank you for your comment btw, it's very insightful and well put
I don't normally think about this stuff but this perspective was really different and intresting to hear. Good work, Sid.
Thank you!
Great video man, my girlfriend is blind on her left, if we play something together she's never mentioned this, I had no idea, thank you for helping me understand what she might be experiencing
Me being blind on the right, I find that sitting on a couch with the Mrs, I like to be sitting on the right side so I can see the most I can on screen and have some view of her too. I guess it'd be the opposite for her for maximum comfort/experience.
Thank you for sharing!
fucking amazing work, as always. seeing through your eyes was eye-opening (no pun), and really puts into perspective how big of an impact that positioning has. hopefully, with accessibility options becoming more and more commonplace, this is something we see more of.
Thank you mac, I love you
@@LeonardoDaSidci love you too homie ❤️
For mext time, can the background music be lower, or the voice higher?
cus with the nice combination of that sick beat and your smooth whispy voice, i'm missing a few words every now and again.
Thank you for the feedback, I'll definitely try to make make the voice a bit more clearer for future videos. I'm not the best speaker as I have a really monotonous and low-frequency voice but I'll try to do better for the next one!
@@LeonardoDaSidci I think the voice and your whispy Ss are not really the problem, the fact that the music is making it unclear is.
I dont know how much of that voice is your main speaking voice, so assumed the voice was unlikely to change, so suggested changing the volume of the music instead.
@@LeonardoDaSidci I don't think that this necessarily has a good right answer in how to make the video sound clearer. However, I do have some suggestions of things to keep in mind while thinking about it. If you don't have one, a pop filter will just make your voice clearer than without one (not by a huge margin, but worth a try?).
A reason why it might indeed be a good reason to lower the volume of your music is because it lets your voice breath (i.e. the music and your voice wont be competing for my attention). For the music I think tinkering with some fading as well as some huge jumps in the volume of the music would be beneficial in the video. Using this video as an example, what I would do is start as you did with the music pumping me up for the video, then after you introducing us to the sidcourse, cut the music volume to 50% and then fade it down to 20%. You could perhaps fade it up to 50% for specific important points, then sharp cut it back down to 20% after finishing the point to extenuate it and give a psychological push that the point was important. Another example is when the big boss music starts playing if that was a sharp cut up to the volume you used (100%) from the 20% I'm recommending it having previously would have really given it a punch how important it is. Let me say here that by god that big boss music paired with that editing was amazing, and even with my recommendation of changing the music elsewhere, that part was perfect and I would keep it as is (As well as the intro and outro music). Anyway, I think you get my point by now that having sharp cuts and fading might be interesting things that have the potential of adding more depth to the video. (As an aside that's some really great music, good job).
Something that compounds upon the competition between voice and music is the speed of your speech. If I need an extra half second to understand what one word was your already several words ahead and I'm playing catch up and miss some of the meaning behind it. (What Im NOT saying is that the speed you talk at is bad, just that your dealing with complex topics at a brisk pace.) You could try talking slower, but I'm not sure that would be best. Instead Id like to recommend playing with pauses and silence. Not much is needed here I think but could help somewhat by giving more space for your words to percolate in my brain. What I'm talking about is perhaps a half second or second more inbetween some words and/or sentences you say. These pauses might be after a particular word or sentence you might feel is important or just be a more general thing. The point im trying to make is two-fold 1-its important to let both your and the audiences' thoughts breath, and 2-sometimes whats NOT there is just as important as what is there. A pause is often more than just dead air and has some meaning there.
Sorry I'm being a bit rambly here, but I thought it was important to give some constructive criticism that was more than just pointing to the music being too loud. Something you could also try is watching the video back in 144p and see which parts are harder to hear with the lowered audio quality and working on those. Whether you change anything or not I hope its helpful to at least think about these elements in your videos. And even with all I said, it really is a good video still. Hope you have a good time making the next one (that's all that's really important anyways :D )
I like games like MGS 5 that allow you to actively swap the side of the character the camera is on during gameplay
It’s interesting that a lot of third person shooters give you the option to swap shoulders while aiming, but not when you’re unaimed
Great video! It was very enlightening because it's not something I've ever thought about or considered, but seeing your perspective it makes total sense and I think it would be great for more games to add this option. I strongly believe that the less barriers there are are for people of varying handicaps and disabilities, the better it is for the medium as a whole.
Glad you enjoyed it! And absolutely, the more people that can enjoy something, the better it is
My first test with writing a third person character controller I added this feature, though not for any particular accessibility desires. I added a toggle for swapping the side of the screen the character was on by clicking the right thumbstick so that it would be easier to peek around corners. While I know the right stick click is often used to vertically center the camera I didn't think this feature was as useful as being able to peek around corners on both sides.
The feature was very simple to implement, at least at my scale; though I know that as games start to get more complex in the AAA world the risk of every little feature causing a cascade of bugs does present slightly more risk there.
Came here from razbuten, glad to find new good youtubers :)
I feel like I can get where you're coming from at least a little Syd. I recently realized in my mid twenties that the reason I've been absolutely terrible at any and all action games I've ever played throughout my life as a gamer is that I have to turn ALL sound coming from the game off in order to play with any measure of competence or spacial awareness. It's like the part of my brain responsible for muscle memory and quick reflexes is somehow overwhelmed or glitches out when all of the audio information in the SFX and music hits my brain. The difference in my performance with sound vs. without it is heaven and earth. I've found it impossible to explain it to anyone in a way that doesn't confuse them.
hey dude I proud of you for coming back, I know you'd been having trouble with motivation and your own world. Happy you back brother
i’m also blind in my right eye and i didn’t think about how it could be the cause for me gravitating away from third person shooters but it makes so much sense.
i did notice i tend to like games with brighter colours and more cartoonish animation since i found it easier to notice the important things in the environment- games like skyrim i can never tell what the heck was going on.
thank you so much for this video. i didn’t realize how much i needed to hear about someone experiencing the same things as me.
I remember Transformers: Fall of Cybertron including this as a deliberate mechanic to help the player see around cover and map geometry, given that it didnt have an actual modern "cover system" like we see today. cant see why every game cant have it this way, asides from a few lines of code.
Hoping it becomes more common in the future!
I’m happy to see you back to making vids sid :)
I'm happy to have you back watching!
My little boy is blind in the same eye as you from coat disease and i never knew this is something he will go through. Very enlightening and i thank you for bringing this up. I hope it gains traction at some point and devs start to take notice.
As always, your video essays are excellent. I don't think I can personally identify with the trauma and struggles caused by losing a majority of/all of such an important (or seemingly important) sense; however, I can fully appreciate how important it is to be able to shift perspectives (literally and figuratively).
Some of the games I praise the most are the ones with the most accessibility features - or the ones that are presented in such a way that all walks of life would be able to experience them in a similar way. I've noticed other people already mention Warframe: it has fully customizable controls and supports dozens of different control schemes, it has (albeit not perfect) colorblind friendly modes for two types of colordblindness, and now I can say it offers partially-sighted people to change perspectives to allow for a more streamlined and enjoyable game experience. I love when games make accessibility not only a goal, but a mechanic or a tool - the Division did this beautifully; it used differentiable shapes, colors, and symbols to signify each of its major mechanics and landmarks; it took accomodations for colorblindness, dyslexia, even dyscalculia, and turned them into the standard for all players (seamlessly). It also allows you - *encourages you* - to change your camera angle, position, and field of view, and it embraces those changes to make gameplay more interesting and exploration more... powerful?
I'm happy to know that you advocate accessibility, and recognize the potential hurdles implementation might present. Physical or mental impairments, disabilities, or handicaps should never be the determining factor for whether a person is able to participate in and enjoy the games available to them.
As someone hard of hearing, I'm really thankful for the subtitles on this video because I generally have issues understanding you. :)
I'm working on improving my speaking so I'm a lot clearer. But in glad the subtitles helped!
I came here courtesy of Writing on Games. After watching this and other videos of yours I'm very keen to stuck around for more.
Congrats on your great work and also for sharing your feelings and situation; which I was previously ignorant of.
However, only through talking and listening do we learn to empathise with others.
P.s. I loved the MGS remix. From reading other comments I presume that is also your own work?
I would love to hear that in full! 😍
I don't have any disabilities that hamper my enjoyment of games, but I do seem to be highly prone to getting mild motion sickness from First-Person Shooters. I didn't even realize for a long time what the problem actually was, but I noticed that I was always made uncomfortable when I played FPS games, and could only play in short bursts. For a long time, I had just sworn them off entirely. I found that playing on a TV from across the room helps a lot, but I play much more poorly on a controller, so I'm constantly battling between having comfortable controls or a comfortable body.
I would just like to say that your editing and writing production is absolutely phenomenal. I'm always so happy to see a new video from you! Best wishes! Hope you're doing well, Sid
Maybe even a transparent character can help... (Something like what happens when the character is too close to a 3rd person camera.)
More accessibility options, specially those that transpires because of counseling from advocacy groups (or open letters like yours) is always welcome. As just anothet consumer I will be sure to email and DM some developers about this tool. Cheers
As a fellow gamer whose fully blind in the left eye, this is an interesting and refreshing perspective, for some reason i can still experience the z axis and 3D effect in vr, but since i cant process anything in the eye since kindergarten, maybe i just adapted. Hopefully these features become more mainstream sid!
Warframe actually does something similar to this, at least on PC, pressing a certain key will have the camera shift to the opposite shoulder, essentially nudging the player character over to the right side instead of the left.
From what Sid described, that really sounds like it could prove to be a useful option. Some people might even just prefer having their character over to the right.
I just wanted to say that this video is really important. I am blind from my right eye too and I also have bad vision in my left eye. I had cataract in both of my eyes when I was very young and that caused my vision to decrease in both of my eyes and eventually my right eye went blind. I have lived with poor vision my whole life so I've worked ways to get around it but I still often struggle with videogames. I mostly game on PC nowadays and bring my consoles to my PC desk when I want to play on console, because I can't enjoy games on a regular TV like most people do. My vision isn't good enough for that even with glasses. Luckily I my near vision is alright so I can at least play games this way.
Accessibility in video games goes under the radar, unnoticed by most people but when a game does accessibility really well, it will make gaming a lot more enjoyable for many people. For the first time ever I could actually enjoy a game from my couch when I played The Last of Us Part 2. The accessibility options in that game were amazing and for example the seemless zoom with the touchpad and the sound assists were game changing to me! I really wish game studios would put the effort into making games more accessible to more people in the future. Thank you for making this video! It will probably open a lot of people's eyes and get people thinking mode widely about accessibility.
Thank you for sharing your story. And yeah, accessibility is usually tacked on and/or overlooked. By making it clear what the issues are, hopefully we can improve that through discussion and sharing our stories like this
Glad to see you posting again, mate.
I'm glad to see you're here! Thank you
Great content. Glad you are back Sid, found your channel 8 months ago and subscribed hoping you'll appear someday. Great job as always!
I've just recently played through the Alan Wake games and not only do they come with a rebindable key that switches side for the character, it even starts with him on the right side of the screen as the default.
(sry for the wall of text. If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter)
I have what people might know as "brain fog" due to a lot of reasons I rather not get into right now. My best reaction time ever on human benchmark was 270ms, with most attempts going well above 300ms. It is not nearly enough to severely impair me, but it does have a lot of downsides with how some games design their challenges.
I keep noticing how many games tend to overvalue reaction time rather than deterministic reaction to attacs. Usually when games expect you to "react" to something like a boss' attack or an enemy shooting a projectile at you, you generally have a reasonable amount of time to see their attack animation and counter accordingly. However, sometimes this devolves into requiring above average reaction time to perform mandatory progression.
One bad example are QTEs like the final boss in Resident Evil 4 on professional difficulty. Krauser has some attacks that can be dodged through a QTE and others where you just need to slowly walk backwards. There is barely any time from seeing the button prompt to getting hit, so even if I know it is coming, I often get hit. And I don't even attempt at distinguishing between the QTE and non-QTE attacks. For all intents and purposes, the non-QTE attack is unavoidable damage. And the QTE has two different buttons it can require, further putting focus on being able to hit a button quickly, rather than strategically planning your reaction. There is not much thinking or interesting challenge in being able to hit a button quickly.
Another bad example are the Emmi from Metroid Dread, althrough they are supposed to be extremely difficult to parry, so putting it behind an extreme challenge (even for players with above average reaction time) makes more sense here.
This does not mean I want Bosses to slow down. Quite the opposite actually. In Hollowknight's final DLC "Godhome", they offer the player a rematch with every boss you encountered in the game; and fighting them on their radiant difficulty even kills you in one hit. You'd think that many of the fast paced bosses are impossible for someone like me to beat, but I have cleared almost all of the lategame bosses with relative ease. Pure Vessel, Absolute Radiance, Nightmare Grimm, even Sisters of battle all have extremely fast attacks, but they are all telegraphed in a way that makes the fights predictable. One example would be one of Pure Vessel's "Soul Pillars" attack, where he spawns damaging pillars with an extremely short telegraph. I almost always got hit by this attack, as I wasnt able to see the telegraph in time, until I realized the pillars always spawn in a set distance from the Boss. The game did not force me to play human benchmark, it instead gave me the opportunity to learn the exact pattern instead. After this I don't think I got hit once across all my radiant clears of this Boss.
im not blind, but my vision on my left eye is pretty bad too, so the aiming part and bad deph preception is pretty relatable, n im glad to see someone else who is also noticing that it effects the way one get to experience video games as well as vr
as someone who's been damn near blind in my right eye since birth, and has also seen big boss as a really rad example of People Like Us in media i like, this video understood things about my gaming experiences i didn't even realize until now. seeing that example of what vision usually looks like for us just kinda nailed home the, "wow, he gets it, it's NOT just me" feeling holy shit. thanks for the video, i might have to mess around with screen mirroring just to see (ha ha) how it feels now
This is my first time watching a video of yours, and I’m about to binge, but I tried watching this with just my left eye and all I could see was the player character too. I’m an inexperienced self taught game dev, I’m gonna try and see what all I can “remove” to see if this is the same elsewhere, audio and the like. I do hope you’re finding ways to keep the mirrored gameplay up, via mods or otherwise! Have a good day/night.
This is a really interesting take and something I hadn't considered. I think more customisation on camera controls e.g. positioned left or right, height, distance etc. Could really benefit some many people with visions impairments and I'd hope it becomes standard soon!
On another note, I found the bass levels in the VO quite full-on as a headphone user. Might be worth running it through a mix to clear out some of the bottom end to make the VO a bit cleaner? Just a personal experience I had with that!
Another reason why I love being able to swap the over the shoulder look in games like warframe. I accidentally swapped once and it made so much more sense personally using the opposite side from the default.
I never thought that such a simple option would have a benefit. Mainly because I never knew this could be a problem.
I also vote this gets implemented immediately for all future games with such a perspective. An option let's people choose to best suit their needs.
Wait, you are back?
Dude, you sound so different, but nevertheless I am super happy to hear you again in a video. Take care man, I deeply hope you found what was missing in those almost last 3 years.
After all this time, sid kept the secret that he was in fact Big-Boss-gaming-pirate? What a plot tiwst.
Big Boss is watching you 👁️
I’ve never been fond of small text. It usually leaves me leaning over my computer or outright giving up on a game because I can’t play with no way to read it. It was a great video and brought a very new and interesting perspective!
I’m so happy to see someone make a video about this. It’s always seemed so strange to me that this hasn’t been an option from the very start. Especially nowadays with all the customization and different options in games. I hope some devs get word of this and really take it to heart. It doesn’t infringe on anything and would be viewed as yet another simple but extremely overlooked and beneficial addition. Great video, good sir. 👍
I never would've even thought of something like this before, which just goes to show how we're taking so many things for granted. Awesome video, and I'm just glad people with accessibility issues in video games (just like yourself) have you and GMTK to advocate for them on public platforms. Really stellar work mate and awesome to see you back!
Mark Brown's videos on accessibility are some of the best there is. It's definitely something that all developers should watch to get them started on making sure games are accessible
There are a lot of games that do offer a left shoulder option, but it's not perfectly implemented. I find they tend to snap back, a lot, to the right side because of the reasons you mentioned. It's something that actually bothers me, too. Not enough that I can't manage, but because I have a slight, left-handed dominance. One of the things I always loved about _Counter-Strike_ was the left-hand shooting option. It just...it works better for me. So, I can assure you, this is not as niche as you might think
I personally am usually on the other side of my room when I play games and thanks to that even if I have an eye closed I can see everything on the screen with no issues, if a game doesn't have the option to switch perspectives sitting farther away can help unless if you can't see that far.
I think some games flip/shift the perspective over to the other side when you click the right stick. I'd like to see that become the standard alongside camera zoom options and the option to "detach" the character from the hard TPS perspective in an action game and just let me roam around freely.
A lot of comments have shared some great examples like Warframe, Hitman, MGSV that have this option and these are some of the games I've enjoyed the most.
Thank you for watching!
@@LeonardoDaSidci I saw someone mentioning Death Stranding handling it similarly to MGSV. That's awesome to hear.
Being pretty much able bodied (asthma doesn't count in this regard imo), it's easy to forget about other people's struggles with accessibility. Thank you for this reminder.
I loved this! Thank you for bringing your experiences and insights to this, it's beautiful.
Thank you Matt 💝
Been too long Sid, good to see you back, and good stuff as always
Hey, thanks! I released another video a couple of months back you may have missed on Final Fantasy
As someone with mild colour blindness I have had a few issues over the years with the colours red and green. A specific example I can think of is with the original Star Wars Battlefront games. Playing the first was great and I had no issues, most would agree that the second is a better game but I always liked the first more, for one simple reason. The cursor would change colour depending on whether you looked at friends or foes and in the second this colour change had gone from Blue/Red to Green/Red, meaning I would consistently think friendlies were enemies.
It's a comparatively mild issue, but I thought it might be interesting for some to read. Luckily for me, many games these days are implementing colour blind modes or the option to change UI colours which really helps for people with colour blindness.
I hope your issue can be resolved too, Naughty Dog games already have the functionality to switch shoulders in their games while shooting, so I doubt it would take much more effort to extend that to other parts of the games too, but I'm not a developer so I don't know.
I am actually developing a third person game with a small team right now. Thank you for putting out this video when considering accessibility the obvious things overshadowed something as small as shoulder swap. I as lead will definitely keep this in the moment as well as first person view swapping.
im so happy you're making videos again. i have watched your earlier content far too many times and i still rewatch it frequently. such great and thoughtful content all around. thank you.
I missed your videos so much man!
Amazing as always! Well done Sid!
I love your work! And really appreciate the effort in making your own music for the videos, having a good pacing in the background makes the video more enjoyable, in spite of being unnoticed for some people
I remember it being pretty normal, especially in military style third person shooters to be able to switch the camera from one shoulder to the other. I don't know if this is still a thing though. It really should be...
Fuuuck I missed the last sidcourse when it came out. Ah well, even if it's belated it's good to see you back.
I pride myself on editing and seeing your refined style, sleek cuts and general expertise just makes me want to flip a table! You’re so excellent! And every aspect of this video is tight. It’s an inspiration, and it’s making me up my game on my next project.
Lots of love, dude! Keep this up. It’s my crack. xx