dragonquestxi Mod Request: Accessibility for the Blind

[davidsolomon1]

So I know this might sound crazy. But especially if DQ XI definitive can be modded, I think this game could actually be made playable to blind players.

Here's what I was thinking:

 

Primarily, using a speech library to either tie into Microsoft SAPI or one of the existing screen readers (probably NVDA) to have menus and text in the game spoken.

Modding the 2d game mode with some sort of basic sounds that could tell the player where walls, obstacles and such are.

Perhaps a system of pathfinding that might work with the map in the game. This has been done with Pokemon ROM hacks. Basically the mod keeps track of the player's position and of other objects on the map and tells the player how many steps to take to get to these objects.

Issues I see:

I can't think of a way to mod 3d mode, but this really doesn't matter.

I'm not sure how piloting vehicles would work.

 

Really, I think if we could read the menus and have even a basic idea of where we were going, this game would be playable to the blind. I may be oversimplifying it though, it's likely to be a fairly large project.

I am not a coder or modder in any form so I can't really help with anything other than ideas and feedback. However I and a lot of blind RPG enthusiasts would love to be able to sink our teeth into this game and would be happy to help test or even pay for a mod like this.

Thanks for any consideration.

Edit: Actually, I didn't realize 2D mode changes the entire sound scheme of the game and does away with voice acting. Might be fun to play if we could play the whole game, but I'd much rather play the 3D version for the full auditory experience. So if it's not possible to mod the 3D mode with things like pathfinding and perhaps autopiloting to some extent, I wouldn't bother.

Edited January 10, 2021 by davidsolomon1