Event near impossible for deaf players

[cass]

I and a friend of mine both tried (he's also deaf) and was near impossible for both of us.  It was aggravating enough that neither of us bothered to finish the event.  Games are meant to be fun, not make you want to toss the PC out the window!  LOL    I was thinking for next year, maybe add visual cues that indicate direction and distance?  Obviously that is simply impossible for this year, but I'm hoping the suggestion for next year.  Hinterland is ALWAYS awesome at making sure those of us with disabilities can play too and there just aren't enough words to express how grateful I (and my friends in the community) am.   

 

I know this coming across as whiney and annoying, but I am really just trying to be helpful.  I LOVE TLD.  It is one of my favorite games and is a near perfect game in my opinion.  I have put a ridiculous amount of hours into the  game (over 3100) and I honestly just want this game to keep being as awesome as it always has been. 

 

Thanks for reading!

[odizzido]

I am always a fan of making things accessible and enjoyable for people. It doesn't seem whiney at all to me.

[Mgsgta3]

I was playing on mute and can concur, until the darkwalker is right up on you its impossible to tell where hes at.  
I have a question, kinda unrelated....When I play I get blindsided by wolves a lot, how do you avoid that?

[Boneviolin]

2 hours ago, Mgsgta3 said:

I was playing on mute and can concur, until the darkwalker is right up on you its impossible to tell where hes at.  
I have a question, kinda unrelated....When I play I get blindsided by wolves a lot, how do you avoid that?

You keep always an eye out on The enivorement and have a steady triggerfinger

[cass]

22 minutes ago, Boneviolin said:

You keep always an eye out on The enivorement and have a steady triggerfinger

Pretty much.   I also play on a custom game, I make the animals not detect me until they are close.  It's the least 'cheaty'  workaround I've found.    Typically disabled games are just plain locked out of a TON of games, especially survival games. TLD doesn't do that, usually Hinterland is great at making sure everyone who wants to play can play.  There are a few issues that no one could ever plan for, but most of us who can't play the way a typical or non-disabled person would generally find our own work arounds.

[coyohti]

First off I want to assure the OP that their post is absolutely not whiny. There are so many games where audio cues are incredibly important and it's got to be incredibly frustrating for the deaf and hearing-impaired.

Ironically though...I've actually muted the sound in this event. The sound design is very good at creating a tense atmosphere but ultimately I discovered the only time I can take any effective action is when the darkwalker timer is on screen. Otherwise I just focus on getting from one point to the next. Aside from my continuing wolf problem it's been very peaceful.   If there is a way to tell from which direction the darkwalker is approaching I didn't hear it. I have seen tracks being made a couple of times, those being the only times I knew its location.

Really good eye to keep away from the wolves! I didn't realize how much I relied on audio cues for wolves until I muted the game. Now I find myself aiming at every particularly dark spot in any wolf-possible area. Lots of tires. Amazing how much a tire can look like a wolf sometimes. o___o

If Hinterlands were, in the future, to add a visual cue to work with the atmospheric noise in the game (and they should) I'd suggest something like a little heartbeat icon that pulses when the darkwalker is apparently in the area but not actively approaching.

[LTL King]

I didn't pay attention to the sound. I used the distance measurement to tell the direction.
You can go at an angle and tell that it's getting closer or farther and use triangulation to get an estimated direction. Then turn 90 degrees and. Ok it's over there.
Depending on my destination, exit or campfire. If I keep going at 90 degrees to I will eventually get away from it. Even if it does come within 450-500f
The 1 advantage is that when it spawns or maybe it might be when it's around 700-800f you can hear the stomping.

Maybe they could just add a rumble to controlers or a very slight visual shake to border of the screen to tell you it's on the hunt.
As it gets closer they could add the darkwalker effects sooner on 1 side or the other and more definitive to tell direction.

Edited November 8, 2020 by LTL King

[UTC-10]

Understand that the Deathwalker, if not in contact (>200 meters) with the character will likely spawn somewhere in the middle of the region or zone that was being transitioned into.  This is also true when it first enters the game, after the 15 minute grace period. 

If in contact (<200 meters) the DW will spawn on the other side of the transition the same distance away when the character makes a transition.  There is a visual counter in the top center of the screen with a distance counter.

Probably best to just assume that it has spawned and operate accordingly. 

Make use of the lures to make it go where you don't plan to be or remain.  Don't worry about wasting.  There are many cans of glyph paint - one at each green fire and inside many locations - so the likelihood of running out is infinitesimal.  In fact, a fair proportion of your carried weight will likely be cans of paint. 

It is not hard, generally, to avoid the DW though much of a run (up to six pages, to get more requires some doubling back through previously visited regions and zones). Wolves can be a bigger problem as I have found out on a couple runs. 

Hope this helps a bit.  Good luck. 

[Sus-wolf]

Maybe a glow? I haven’t actually played the event yet but just some ideas. I’m not deaf but often have to play with the sound off and it’s annoying even in survival mode because anything can run up behind you and kill you.