Accessibility for the Hearing Impaired - Wolf Attacks

[Lohaan]

Can Hinterland consider adding an accessibility option for the hearing impaired? 

How many hearing impaired players out there?  I'm curious how you handle wolves? Is there a visual cue for wolves that turn up i.e subtitles that read "wolf barking" or something similar? Many years of Djing left me to some hearing loss on the one side so and in the past couple of years, it's gotten progressively harder to figure out which side the wolves are coming from with muffled stereo. I just wonder what will happen should it start affecting my right ear too. So is there a visual cue that pops up on the screen that I don't know about perhaps?

[JMK]

Afaik, there is no such feature, but that would be nice  

Sometimes I don't feel like playing with a headset and it could help also. 

(though TImberwolves are confusing even with sound so I find myslef sometimes spinning around)

[Guest jeffpeng]

Minecraft has such a feature, and I personally think it's amazing, not just for the hearing impaired, also for when you play a game in a setting where you neither want others to hear it, nor want or can wear headphone. I just don't think it's that easy to implement in Unity.

[Lohaan]

On 4/19/2022 at 1:16 AM, JMK said:

Afaik, there is no such feature, but that would be nice  

Sometimes I don't feel like playing with a headset and it could help also. 

(though TImberwolves are confusing even with sound so I find myslef sometimes spinning around)

I used to play with headsets but the last 3 years or so has become impossible because it actually makes my hearing worse. Headphones damage my ears further so I have to avoid them. 

 

[Valuable Hunting Knife]

as there are icons for sprain risk etc., perhaps it could be possible for an optional 'wolf' icon to be created (maybe even appearing at different places on screen to give a cue as to the direction of the threat)?

failing that, maybe a couple of extra dialogue lines could be added for players who rely on subtitles:

Those doggies don't sound friendly...

Not you guys again!

Damn- I always did prefer cats...

What's the opposite of mush?

 

[Admin]

Thank you for the feedback. We strive to make the game as accessible as possible for all Players, and we appreciate the opportunity to investigate opportunities for improvement. 

If anyone has additional suggestions to share, please know that we will be monitoring this thread. Thank you for your patience and support!  

Edit: We can confirm that we are working to integrate these types of changes, though we do not have an ETA at this time. Thank you again! 

[manolitode]

On 4/19/2022 at 9:54 PM, jeffpeng said:

Minecraft has such a feature, and I personally think it's amazing, not just for the hearing impaired, also for when you play a game in a setting where you neither want others to hear it, nor want or can wear headphone.

Agreed, I wish my boss was more tolerant.

[manolitode]

All jokes aside, have to say I wholeheartedly support OP:s suggestion. It's been suggested before. Even though The Long Dark is a great game it is still lagging behind a bit in terms of accessibility. I'm glad to hear a solution is on its way for the hearing impaired.

[Lohaan]

On 4/20/2022 at 11:05 PM, Admin said:

Thank you for the feedback. We strive to make the game as accessible as possible for all Players, and we appreciate the opportunity to investigate opportunities for improvement. 

If anyone has additional suggestions to share, please know that we will be monitoring this thread. Thank you for your patience and support!  

Edit: We can confirm that we are working to integrate these types of changes, though we do not have an ETA at this time. Thank you again! 

Thank you so much. x

[Ghurcb]

I think, if Hinterland are to add full captions, they should not only describe a sound but a direction as well.

Example: <Wolf howling behind you>, <Crows cawing on the left>, <Bear walking in front of you>.

EDIT: Actually, the perfect choice here would be a direction arrow like in The Last of Us 2.

Edited April 29, 2022 by Ghurcb

[thekillergreece]

On 4/21/2022 at 12:05 AM, Admin said:

Thank you for the feedback. We strive to make the game as accessible as possible for all Players, and we appreciate the opportunity to investigate opportunities for improvement. 

If anyone has additional suggestions to share, please know that we will be monitoring this thread. Thank you for your patience and support!  

Edit: We can confirm that we are working to integrate these types of changes, though we do not have an ETA at this time. Thank you again! 

Remember my suggestion? I do... Not sure why 2 years passed and nothing was done about it so far yet hopefully.

[hozz1235]

This only applies to those who play with a controller - but have the controller vibrate?

[UpUpAway95]

3 hours ago, hozz1235 said:

This only applies to those who play with a controller - but have the controller vibrate?

I play on an Xbox One console and have never turned off the controller vibration  (in fact, I see no way to turn this feature on or off in the TLD menu).  AFAIK then, there is no way to set it to vibrate in such a way as to signify an imminent wolf attack, let alone to let the player know which direction the attack is expected to come from.  I haven't played with subtitles on for quite some time, so I turned them on for a quick test.  I never saw any text appear when wolves barked at me.  At any rate, even if a text showed, the game would not tell the player which direction the attack may be coming from.

As a general supporter of as many accessibility options as possible, I think something should indeed be added to help hearing impaired players.

[hozz1235]

3 hours ago, UpUpAway95 said:

I play on an Xbox One console and have never turned off the controller vibration  (in fact, I see no way to turn this feature on or off in the TLD menu).  AFAIK then, there is no way to set it to vibrate in such a way as to signify an imminent wolf attack, let alone to let the player know which direction the attack is expected to come from.  I haven't played with subtitles on for quite some time, so I turned them on for a quick test.  I never saw any text appear when wolves barked at me.  At any rate, even if a text showed, the game would not tell the player which direction the attack may be coming from.

As a general supporter of as many accessibility options as possible, I think something should indeed be added to help hearing impaired players.

I should have been clearer - that was a suggestion.  True, it does not indicate direction, but it's a start.

Another idea is to perhaps have a game option that will put a red haze over a portion of the screen where the wolf is? (e.g. light up the left edge of the screen if the wolf is to the left, upper-right corner if the wolf is there, etc.)

Edited May 13, 2022 by hozz1235

[UpUpAway95]

48 minutes ago, hozz1235 said:

I should have been clearer - that was a suggestion.  True, it does not indicate direction, but it's a start.

Another idea is to perhaps have a game option that will put a red haze over a portion of the screen where the wolf is? (e.g. light up the left edge of the screen if the wolf is to the left, upper-right corner if the wolf is there, etc.)

Yes, that could work... similar to several FPS games I've played.  It would be then applicable to keyboard users and controller users alike and potentially easier to add than controller on/off vibration support (which is apparently totally absent in the current menu).