Accommodations for disabled players?
I love this game and would very much like my husband to play with me, as we play together in several other games (Diablo, WoW, etc.); however, he has a disability called Ataxia from having a Stroke some years ago that continues to persist. Essentially, the time between his brain sending the message to his hand to move and his hand actually moving is disrupted. In 10 tries, he hit 2 skill checks and I don't think practicing (developing muscle memory) will fix this.
He ran through the tutorial and a couple of games yesterday, as both Survivor and Killer, and indicated that he would likely prefer playing Killer because he is unable to hit skill checks, which would normally put off any team members who play with him. Is there some way through or around this that I'm not thinking of because there aren't enough toolbox add-ons (or toolboxes for that matter) for him to use a toolbox/clamps/wrenches config for every game he plays?
I don't think he could write a macro that would trigger when the sound alerts to the upcoming check because the time between hearing the sound and hitting the space bar varies. I also don't think it would be fair (or legal) to mod the game to make it so that he doesn't have skill checks. The only thing I could reasonably think of was to create a toolbox that eliminated skill checks with unlimited charges and then permanently attach it to his account. The downside is he could never carry a health kit, which I think is a fair balance.
Thoughts? Ideas? I think this might be something that could benefit a wider audience as well. Whatever the 'fix' is wouldn't be advertised, and unless its specifically inquired about, you could prevent everyone else from modding their game to use it.
Thanks in advance for your input.
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There is a perk that helps with missed skill checks, but the only way to bypass them altogether is to do something known as "gentapping".
Gentapping is, essentially, repairing the generator only for a few seconds at a time, thereby not triggering any skill checks. However, it considerably increases the total repair time.
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Yes, I talked to him about getting the Technician perk as soon as he sees it but it will be a long time before he gets a Feng to level 30-40 in order to be able to teach it to his base characters and I have no idea when it would show up in the shrine to buy with shards.
We also discussed Gen Tapping and he knows that he can do that to avoid skill checks when Ruin is running but I didn't talk to him about just doing that all the time because it would take him significantly longer to complete a generator if he does this and any other folks on the generator might again get annoyed. Thanks for the input.
Any other thoughts or ideas?
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I don’t know if there’s much anyone can do outside of gen tapping or powering through with technician because the skill checks are always varied.
We could petition the devs to include more accessibility stuff (I’m disabled too - cp, largely affects my right side) like having a controller vibrate before a skill check appears. Or more perks like Technician and Stake out, like maybe the longer you’re NOT in a terror radius you gain 2/3/4 tokens that allow you to autocomplete skill checks.
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I think that idea of a toolbox would be an awesome edition to help your husband. I would suggest slowing down the skill checks for him but I don't think they would be able too for just one person...
As you said he stated he would like to try playing killer going off what he was able to do in tutorial mode has he tried doing a match as killer yet? Also if he has is there any main issues that arise for him doing that?
Also I hope few of the mods so they can talk to someone about it or devs see this an reply to you to see what can or can't be done
Post edited by Maelstrom1313 on0 -
Your idea about the tokens to complete skill checks an for the controller to vibrate before a skill check are really good ideas I think that could actually help
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@Malestrom1313 He's played a couple of private killer games and he didn't do bad (as Hillbilly) and didn't have any complaints about any QTEs that he was unable to complete. I don't play Killer so I was unable to advise him if any of the other killers have QTEs or not. Do you know? I think we're going to try a public game today and see how he does.
I like the token idea @pemberley but am curious, would the player in those cases have tokens applicable to all skill checks (healing, sabotaging, gens, etc.) or just gens? Also, would staying out of the killers terror radius allow you to earn used tokens back?
Thanks for the input, these are great ideas. Do you have any more thoughts before I send the thread to the devs?
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I don't have any ideas but I'll call the mods to see if they can help or give this feedback to the devs. @Peanits @MandyTalk @not_Queen @Patricia perhaps one of you guys could pass this on to the devs? There are some good ideas in this thread and they would really help out disabled players.
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Are you on console or pc as if your on console I'd happily add you if it's ps4 an try an give some advice or tips if needs be? As certain things might be easier to explain after seeing it.. But it's nice to hear he didn't have too much problems in private match
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I personally would not suggest the toolbox. The only reason is (from how I understand it) is that it would remove the skill check from him. Even the best players fail skill checks due to mental state, the doctors power, and huntress lullaby. Giving him that toolbox in a all multiplayer game would be effectively giving him a major advatage. He would never fail a skill check so not only would the gen not have any kickbacks (not including ruin) but also the sound notifications would never go off either (free use of tech perk without using the perk slot). Same though about the macro. (The biggest reason I am aginst this is because this is nothing but a player vs player game) As others said gen tapping would be the best method I can think of. The tech perk helps eliminate the noise but still reduces the gen bar. Personally I have never gotten mad at someone who gen taps.
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Disabilities? Just play Nurse.
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Gentap so he doesn't have to do skill checks.
If he has purple or green toolboxes with at least yellow add ons then gen tapping through a hex ruin will still be super fast and he can then be a gen rusher.
Some people will complain about him gen tapping, but it doesn't matter because they don't know the situation.
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Did you even read the main post? You want someone that wants to try killer an your telling them to use the killer that takes the most practice to master her to be any good
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Accessibility options are always something that are being looked into. This one is a bit of a tricky one since it would essentially make skill checks easier, which would be great for someone like your friend, but would also be abused by people without a disability purely to make the game easier. If you've got suggestions though, we'd love to hear them.
For the time being, your friend may want to try out technician. It won't completely help with his issue, but it will prevent half of the skill checks that he does miss.
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Thanks @Peanits. Do you know if there's a way to get Technician without purchasing the DLC that contains Feng Min? Shrine of Secrets is the only way I could think of and I'm not sure it would present you with perks you don't have access to because you don't have the DLC. Do you know if it would?
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My idea would be that it would work for anything that requires a skill check (minus ds maybe. Maybe ds could work if it took 2 tokens just because it’s so powerful.) And that it would essentially be the counterpart to stake out - perhaps 20 seconds instead of 15 to be more fair. Every 20 seconds you’re not in a terror radius, you gain a token.
Some other ideas could be:
1. Hold x for struggle. It would be good for everyone AND for the longevity of the x button on controllers.
- press and hold L3 or R3 to wiggle. It’s also something I struggle with, and would probably help controllers too.
- Magnify, increase opacity, bolden, and/or change colors of regular and ruined skill checks. Because I know if you’re near auras or a garbage can or corn, it can be very hard to see.
- Another perk idea: Slow and steady wins the race. Your explosions/screams are 30/40/50 percent quieter, and your chance of requiring a skill check are 25/50/75 percent lower. Probably not what you want against Freddy, but Adrenaline helps there.
- Another perk idea: Silence is Golden: On a cooldown of 60/45/30 seconds, any missed skill checks by you or someone within 4 m of you will not alert the killer.
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Such stuff will never happen since if the devs do it once, they have to do if every time. This also rises several problems, you need to prove that you are actually disabled, all kind of IRL verification stuff ya know......
Right now, I suggest he just gentapps, its slower but definitely better then failing the skillcheck
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I meant no disrespect. I do understand that disabilities make it harder and if there was something that could make it equal for your other to play I would be okay with it. The toolbox you proposed has a lot of disadvantages and advantages. As you said it would definitely have to be something that would need direct contact with the creators. Is there a possibility of a model to the controler/keyboard to help? I do hope you are able to find something that works.
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A useful perk would be one that would completely prevent skill checks at a cost to repair speed.
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That phrasing is misleading as that is not how probability works. Technician simply has a 50 % CHANCE to not blow up the Generator. Only over a very large amount of Skill Checks, the number of prevented ones might approximate 50 % of the total, but not in any one Trial.
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Killers do not have QTEs in general, that's just a Survivor thing. However, some Killers require a quick reaction time to a Survivor's behaviour in order to be successful or land a hit consistently.
The Nurses requires the ability to quickly adjust her camera for a chain Blink if the Survivor dodges her first one.
The Huntress requires a quick and accurate aim of her Hatchets unless she only goes for hits during Survivor animation locks (e.g. vaults).
The Cannibal requires precise manoeuvring in tight spaces when using his Power.
The Hag requires a quick reaction time for a teleport so that the Survivor doesn't gain too much distance from her Phantasm Trap by the time she teleported over there.
Those are some Killers your friend might have troubles with, but the others should be fine.
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@Braughless I sent you a DM here on the forums. :)
Thank you everyone on this thread for your help! It is appreciated.
Right now we aren't working actively on accessibility features but they are on our backlog. Thanks for all the suggestions, I will make sure it gets to the right people on the team.
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Just as a general suggestion, perhaps try a different role for him.
If he struggles with skillchecks then you could do the gens, have your husband take small game and cleanse the totems to deactivate NOED. There are no skillchecks on totems.
Taking Borrowed Time and We'll Make It could also make him the unhook guy. Granted he would still get skillchecks while healing but with We'll make it and Botany Knowledge as well the heals will be that fast there is a much lower chance of getting skillchecks.
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Nice post :)
Every game developer should make an effort to make their games more accessible for people with disabilities. The problem is, is that there are thousands of disabilities that all carry different characteristics meaning that hundreds of different accommodations would need to be made, which of course, would be impossible to implement.
I think that slower response times and reduced co-ordination is a pretty common characteristic in many different types of disability. Maybe an unassigned teachable perk could be added to the game that enlarges the size of the skill check indicator and slows it down. It wouldn't necessarily be that much on an advantage to a typical player as hitting skill checks isn't too difficult, but to others who out of no fault of their own find it difficult, it could make a world of difference and open the game up to them.
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I would think it not a big deal if they had a disabled player send something in so a "specific" item could be given to their account or a separate software could be used, perhaps for color blind people who have to hunt like a T-Rex as killer. BTW, I know why no T-Rex bones were ever discovered in the Midwestern U.S., because they can't hunt anything in the freaking corn!
Any ways, the player base is so toxic that no game mode will ever be favorable to account for survivors with disabilities. I know because my wife is legally blind and struggles greatly with skill checks and running from killers, yet she is tunneled to death almost every game because SWF and all.
Therefore, I would love to see exceptions made and created for these players. I think it would say a lot for the community and especially the developers to be willing to go out of their way for those players. I'd rather see that then a new killer this summer.
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That's a little unfair to paint the community as the reason disabled people aren't given free wins or cheat items to play. I mean if I claim that I'm blind and hard of hearing do I get an item that cuts all noise in game sans the survivor footsteps or brightens the screen to where I have no trouble seeing? Would it be right to claim anyone who doesn't go lock step in okaying that as toxic?
Sheesh.
If these items do not exist it's because the need for them is so rare typically and that depending they may be impossible to even remotely balance.
Far fewer people have these disabilities and play games than people that have no disabilities and play games. Like probably 1-100 for something absolutely game affectingly bad. Having poor vision from being a dedicated gamer doesn't qualify you as disabled and in need of special accommodation. With that in mind, expecting a dev team to have solutions for every possible affliction and blaming competitive gaming communities as the reason they do not is ridiculous.
I also take note you stated "survivors with disabilities" and not "players". I can only assume you have an issue with a killer given something that makes ending the survivors game easier and that the thought was untenable.
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