Chapter 2. What is AudioQuake?

Table of Contents

2.1. More than just an “Accessible Game
2.2. Quake
2.2.1. Not for Under-15s
2.3. Customisable
2.4. Free (as in Freedom)
2.5. Only the Beginning

AudioQuake is essentially a series of modifications to the game Quake by id Software that enable blind and vision-impaired people to play it. Actually, it is (or will be) quite a lot more than just that. This chapter explains the main things you need to know about AudioQuake to understand what it does and why it's here.

So, AudioQuake is...

2.1. More than just an “Accessible Game

AudioQuake is based on earlier software from AGRIP called “AccessibleQuake”. The previous game's ethos was to prove that accessibility barriers can be lowered and it allowed blind gamers to play singleplayer Quake (or offline multiplayer with computer-generated opponents). AudioQuake's philosophy is to take this idea to its logical extreme and allow blind and vision-impaired players not only access to Quake, but equal access to both the game and the community of Internet play and level design and creation of new modified games that surrounds it. AudioQuake provides this via the following three main features:

  • Support for Internet multiplayer games in a variety of game modes such as co-operative, deathmatch, team deathmatch and capture the flag (provided via our use of the ZQuake “QuakeWorld” game engine). The traditional singleplayer gametypes are, of course, supported.

  • Implicit Accessibility” – The use of modern 3D audio and special effects technology to make the game inherently more accessible. This, in turn, means that the difference between the software that the sighted and blind use is dramatically minimised. For all intents and purposes, you'll be playing the same game.

  • Accessible level-editing tools. These will allow you to create your own levels (“maps”) for the game; something that sighted gamers have been able to do for some time. Coupling this with the fact that you can create your own code modifications easily, AudioQuake could be used as a platform for making your own games!

Note

Please remember that at the current stage of development only the first of these three features have been fully implemented. We await community feedback on how we're doing so far and will continue to develop AudioQuake over time to bring you these benefits.

2.2. Quake

At first it may seem obvious that AudioQuake is, well, Quake. This idea, however, has had a profound impact on how the game is designed. At all times, we have tried to maintain the spirit of Quake. You will not find a lot of voice-over information because Quake didn't have it – our accessibility features are designed to use intuitive techniques and sounds so that you are not distracted from playing the game. We have only added the accessibility features necessary to play the game effectively. To keep things fair, we've not allowed AudioQuake players to do anything Quake players can't (within reason).

This design philosophy comes across in the way the accessibility features present themselves in the game. The idea is that an AudioQuake player is no different than a Quake player, but they have in their possession certain “objects” that provide accessibility features such as enemy detection (the EtherScan RADAR), item detection (the Detector 5000) and navigation (the Navigation Helper). Many features can be toggled on or off according to your individual taste and level of sight.

We have tried our best to make it possible for AudioQuake players to use the original Quake maps. Currently there are a number of maps from the game that cam be played by blind players. A series of tutorial maps is provided to help you get used to the game and we hope to provide a range of custom-built accessible maps in the future.

In the end, the main point of AudioQuake is not to prove that video game accessibility is possible, as this has already been established. The main point is that community accessibility is possible – that blind and vision-impaired players can use the exact same software, join Internet games and contribute new maps and modifications, just as the sighted are able to.

2.2.1. Not for Under-15s

Quake has a “15” certificate. For obvious reasons, this also applies to AudioQuake. We do not recommend or condone the use of this software by anyone below 15 years of age.

2.3. Customisable

The game has been built to be customisable. You can change a great many of the game-play aspects described below quite easily so that they suit your taste and style of play. We are here to cater for a large range of people from the blind to the vision-impaired. Everyone is different and we're confident that you'll get a lot more out of AudioQuake if you customise it.

The process of customisation is described later on. It's not difficult and there is help provided along the way. It is probably a good idea to read the next part and learn how to play the game before you delve in to tweaking it, however!

2.4. Free (as in Freedom)

Everything we have created for the project (code, sounds, tools) is available for you to use, modify and redistribute. The licence we have used for the project, the GNU General Public Licence, permits anyone to do these things as long as they keep the source code to their work available for others, just as we have for you.

Our reasons for making AudioQuake Free are that it should make it easier for people to get hold of and play the game. The most important reason, however, is described in the following section...

2.5. Only the Beginning

We're building not just a game, but a framework with which you can create your own games. This framework currently allows you to alter all aspects of the way the game works and sounds, with level editing planned for the future, as we get closer to the 1.0.0 version number.

With a number of commercial game engines now made Open Source, the possibility of making other titles accessible is a reality. Some even use the Quake engine – Half-Life would make a most amazing and immersive accessible game due to its amazing sounds, AI, story line and massively popular online game modes.

It is possible that later engines such as Quake3 and Unreal could be made accessible even without access to the engine code. We wanted to produce a Free game, which is why we didn't choose these titles. We also thought that Quake would be a good starting point as it marked the dawn of modern game engine design.

We would love to see a community spring up around AudioQuake and make other games based on it. You can use any of our code and sounds. The techniques we've used should be applicable to newer engines, too.