Introduction and Looking for Game Feedback/Ideas

By nmpettus, 15 March, 2014

Forum
iOS and iPadOS Gaming
I am a retired engineer and programmer. My uncle's difficulty with sight and his love of computer games inspired me to write a few IOS audio games. He is now lost almost all of his sight to macular degeneration. I have attempted to learn xcode, purchased an Intel Mac, and studied for almost two years. I have written an app that does not require VoiceOver but is very simple. It is a simple slot machine game. I have added a physical feature to it that allows the player to tilt-to-spin the reels. The game is played with only four large buttons that cover the entire screen. I have also added voice recognition as an additional feature. The machine is based on an actual machine's payoff tables and reels. I have said all this by way of introduction. I would like comments, suggestions, requests, and desires to be expressed by others who also enjoy playing games on their Ipod, Iphone, and Ipad. I will soon finish a blackjack game that will also be audio but will also display the cards and statistics on the screen. If you have an interest in these games or others please let me know. I am considering many others but would like to know what the community desires. Thanks for your feedback. I hope I can help. Norm

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Comments

By Siobhan on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

Hello again, Norm. As a private email was written, I am thrilled you're doing all of this for your uncle. The only thing I suggested, which you've already implimented is to make sure the game works pretty well with voice over. Also button labeling is key. not that it's a big deal if you forget, we have a way by holding two two fingers and when it comes up, the top left button we can write, score. Then once saved, it will always say whatever label we assign. Of course your ucnle may not know how to use that, but I'd suggest he begin to know what voice over is, if his sight is going as rapidly as you've said. I can't help you ont he x code but will always bata test, give feed back and buy your end results. Good luck Siobhan

By Chessie the Ra… on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

Hi Norm, What is the name of the app you have currently available?

By Ekaj on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

Hello Norm and welcome to the site. I just got my first Mac 2 days after Christmas of last year and am still getting used to things on here. That having been said though, it's great that you are taking an interest in making your games accessible. I played audio games pretty much off and on when I was still using Windows, and even back in the DOS days I played a few of them. I also played them on the AppleII that my family and I had. I will welcome anything you come up with, if and when you port your games to the Mac. In addition, I hope to eventually run Windows on here. A great resource for games of this type is http://www.audiogames.net . I have mostly played only the free games that are currently out there due to my financial situation, but hopefully I can also start purchasing some of the commercial offerings. Best of luck to you in your quest to make more accessible games.

By kithri on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

I use both windows-based computer version 7 currently and an ipod and this sounds excellent that you have decided to help out your uncle and in the process decided to let the community know about your developments. I know there are many people on here and other sites that are visually impaired/fully blind that have wanted several slot machine games, accessible blackjack and other card games so I think you are on the right track. There, from what I've seen here and elsewhere, others that would like some sort of accessible sports games like baseball, tennis, soccer and others and some fort of care/bike/running racing games. *Please* let us all know when your apps are available for download or for beta testing. Feel free to message as I tend to do a lot of beta testing for other things. Good luck and I will be watching for any updates.

By Siobhan on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

Hi all. I've talked with this gentleman over email andhe's very receptive, as I talk about him like he won't read this. ;) There's a dollar charge for the game, spoken slots. The buttons aren't labeled, he knows and said he's fixed them. Eeverything works,t he tilt to spin, as well as the voice recognition. Now if I can get three items other then a cherry. :) He's trying to build up some money to get a new computer, so I'd suggest we spend the dollar. :)

By nmpettus on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

I have just uploaded a free version to the appstore for approval. This usually takes a week. I would appreciate testing by one and all. I have corrected the problem with button labeling. The paid version has a few extra features like voice recognition and tilt-to-spin the reels. I will keep in better contact with this forum. Thanks for your interest. The new game is called Spoken Slots Free and I will post and update the website, www.spokengames.com, when it is approved. I am also going to update the original app, Spoken Slots. The Blackjack game called Spoken 21 should be ready in about a month. Thanks for all of your encouragement and ideas.

By Kerby on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

I would also like to see maybe a baseball or football game as well.

By Justin on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

I also agree with the previous poster. Football games, especially the accessible ones, aren't full fledged games with crowd sounds, and everything like the counsel games. I do wish that there was a game like that. Personally I think there needs to be a accessible racing game for the MAC, but that's just my opinion.

By Khalfan Bin Dhaher on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

Few days ago I was thinking of a way to race with others while cycling at home. Some times it's hard to get the right direction. I usually learn these directions by sound to easily drive without hurting myself :) I'd love to play a such game in my iOS device and race with others just by hearing real sounds, listen for signals, cars, roads and traffick lights etc.

By Justin on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

I definitely agree. I wish that they could implement more racing type games over to the Mac side of things. There's a great windows futuristic audio game called rail racer that I definitely loved playing. But badk on track, I'll definitely have to give spoken games a big 10. Mainly that the developer is able and willing to listen to our feedback and implement suggestions. Great job Norm, and welcome to applevis!

By KE7ZUM on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

Now that would be cool. since we cannot drive for real as of yet that would be neat to have an iOS racing game that is blind friendly that all can enjoy.

By Justin on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

I agree. Theres some formal one spirit thingy, but that game got kind of boa pretty fast.First off in a racing game, the sounds need to be all there, everything from car engine startups to road noise to whatever else could be found. Now, we're talking about a real in-car virtual experience.

By Jessica Brown on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

I would also love an accessible racing game. I have no vision. I am going to buy the full version of spoken slots now and will also buy any other accessible games you make to support your work. Thank you so much!

By Khalfan Bin Dhaher on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

Hey all. I'm inviting everyone here to GameCenter. Let's get ready to race :) My name on GameCenter is khalfan_bd. Good luck everyone.

By Justin on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

I will also be buying the spoken slots game, and any others that he will make in the future. Great work, and look forward to your upcoming titles.

By Mustafa Gamal on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

I like also a racing game, but i also like trucking games. transporting goods and making trucking companies etc

By Isaac Hebert (not verified) on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

I will also get this game and give it a test.

By Clare Page on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

Hi! After reading this thread, I bought Spoken Slots, and I really enjoy it: it's nice and uncomplicated to play, I like the sounds, and I often enjoy games like this anyway where we need more luck than skill. You've done a great job with this game, Norm, so I look forward to other audio-based games from you when you're ready to release them.

By Khalfan Bin Dhaher on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

I've successfully purchased Spoken Slots from the AppStore and played this game for about an hour. I loved it so much. My warmest thanks to the developer for this awesome game. It is now available in the iOS app directory.

By nmpettus on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

Your comments are so much of a blessing and encouragement. I am working on the Blackjack app. The most difficult part is allowing all the side bets like surrender, double down, insurance, and splitting pairs. The basic game is working but adding these extras will take a bot of time. I will definitely look into the sports games and the racing ones. I will keep in. touch. Again thanks so much for the comments. Oh those that actually used the app, did you use the tilt-to-spin feature or the voice recognition? Is it necessary? Thanks for your help.

By Clare Page on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

In answer to your question, Norm, I haven't tried voice recognition in Spoken Slots yet, but I've just played it for a while using tilt to spin, and I personally like playing it that way: tilting my iPhone makes a change from tapping the Spin button for every turn. But if you decide to get rid of the tilt-to-spin option, that won't stop me playing the game, it's simply a nice alternative to have, in my opinion.

By nmpettus on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

Does the double tap and triple tap interfere with VoiceOver? Is it still possible to use those in the game if you are using VoiceOver?

By Khalfan Bin Dhaher on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

Hello. Yes, it does affect VoiceOver users. Triple tapping with 2 fingers opens up the item chooser. I usually play this game by disabling VoiceOver.

By nmpettus on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

Does that also apply to double tap? Could I use a three finger single tap? Are there other ways to offer selections? How about swipe gestures? Thanks again for your help. Norm

By Jessica Brown on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

Let me try to explain this better. Yes, you could make it so a 1 finger double tap does something in the game. Then, with VoiceOver off, the 1 finger double tap would do what you set it to, but if VoiceOver was on, the user would have to do a 1 finger triple tap instead. If you wanted a 1 finger triple tap to do something in the game, you could program that and VoiceOver users would then have to do a one finger quadruple tap. So in other words, VoiceOver users always have to do one more tap then non-VoiceOver users. Hope this made sense.

By nmpettus on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

My wife and I will be attending the NFB conference in Orlando in July. Are any of you going to this conference? Would love to meet and even discuss things with you. We are hoping to meet others there and have two more apps out by then, the FREE Spoken Slots and possibly the Spoken 21 (blackjack) game. Thanks for your continued comments and answers to our questions.

By Khalfan Bin Dhaher on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 19:22

Hello. I am about to record a podcast about Spoken Slots. I appreciate how easy and accessible is this game to VO users. I think a podcast is a great way to explain things.

What about sport games or military games if you want to create them for us the blind community. I had not found any American football or baseball. Would love to play football against another person via WIFI.

By Siobhan on Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - 19:22

Aw nuts. Norm you can't fly across to Vegas? I'll be there. ;) seriously, you know i'm in your corner. :) Have a great one.