All of us at Turn 10 Studios can’t wait for gamers to experience the generational leap in fidelity, immersion and realism Forza Motorsport starts this year. Just as the team has been busy creating the most technically advanced and authentic racing game we’ve ever made, we’re proud to have achieved another goal: Forza Motorsport is our most accessible game ever.
While there are several accessibility features to look forward to, and each one is important, on behalf of the team at Turn 10, I am pleased to detail some of our new and innovative features that will enable more people to to play .
Blind driving aids
Blind Driving Assists (BDA) is a feature set designed for blind or visually impaired gamers. After years of research and feedback, we’ve spent the last two years developing the feature with direct feedback from Accessibility Consultant and blind players. Brandon Cole and others from the gaming & disability community. During our development, Brandon and other blind and partially sighted players have provided invaluable real-time feedback to help us develop and refine the various blind driver assistants.
Blind Driving Assists work by providing a series of additional audio cues designed to help visually impaired or visually impaired players navigate Forza Motorsport’s tracks. The feature set was driven by Turn 10’s Audio team and built in close collaboration with our Accessibility team throughout development. Players can listen to detailed descriptions and previews of any audio cues they encounter along the route in the Accessibility menu. Once the player has become familiar with the various audible information, what they represent and how they all interact with each other, they can go on the track to try out the feature.
Blind Driving Assists also provides players with audible information about their position and orientation on the track, approach and progress on corners, and information about the car, e.g. B. how much deceleration is required, when to shift gears (when playing with manual transmission) and more.
It was important to the entire team that the blind driving assistants work as a set of functions and not as a mode. We wanted blind and partially sighted players to have an experience Forza Motorsport as was intended by providing the audible information that would allow them to make their own driving decisions. And for that reason, Brandon will be the first to tell the blind and partially sighted community that this feature is not “pick-up-and-play”! There’s a learning curve as you discover how to drive by relying on the audio cues. Once players get used to it, we think it will be a game changer. We’ll be sharing more for the community shortly before our release.
One touch driving
Another innovation in Forza Motorsport is the ability to race with any amount and combination of inputs you require. To develop this feature, the team worked with Xbox User Research at various stages of development to include gamers with various mobility and endurance disabilities. Designed for gamers who may have trouble pressing multiple buttons at once, grabbing a controller, or maintaining button pressure, these features allow for more customization of vehicle controls than ever before. From the basics like automatic shifting, to enhanced steering and brake assists, to the all-new throttle and pit entry assists, you can create the experience that’s right for you and play your way.
screen narration
We’re excited to offer our players an on-screen commentary solution that can be customized to an individual’s preferences and informational needs to help them navigate and play the game. As the basis of the system, we have volume, pitch and speed controls, as well as the ability to choose your narrator voice.
In the spirit of true customization, there are some brand new settings that allow control over the narration and its verbosity, such as: B. Reading list positions, navigation keywords, button hints and more. This can help avoid information overload and provide an opportunity to adjust as needed as players become more familiar with the game.
Most accessible Forza Motorsportt ever
The accessibility features in Forza Motorsport Do not stop. Here’s a list of some of the many great accessibility features that are coming soon Forza Motorsport.
Feature Descriptions
- Blind driving aids: Blind and partially sighted players can use informative audio content during the game to help them navigate courses, improve their lap times and complete races. Players can activate each set of cues individually, as well as adjust their pitch and volume to suit their needs.
- One touch driving: Players have the option to choose their own combination of activating brake, steering and throttle assist to reduce the number of inputs required at one time. These driving assistants allow users to customize their driving experience and play with as few or as many assistants as they like.
- screen speaker: Players can enable the Narrator to receive information conveyed through the UI and help navigate menus. Additionally, there will be options for players to customize the storytelling system, offering new flexibility in choosing the information conveyed.
- Dynamic Audio Description: Players will have in-game cinematics with custom audio descriptions that change depending on the time of day and weather conditions.
- Text-to-Speech/Speech-to-Text: Players can use these options to participate in multiplayer voice chats, send synthesized speech to other players via text-to-speech, or view incoming communications from other players in text form using speech-to-text.
- UI Color Blind Modes: Players with tritanopia, deuteranopia, or protanopia can change specific colors in the UI theme, allowing UI information and focus states to be easily differentiated as desired.
- Global filters for color blindness: Players with tritanopia, deuteranopia, or protanopia can add a filter to render 3D objects such as tracks, cars, drivers, in-game cinematics, etc. to make color information distinguishable as desired.
- Controller remapping: Gameplay controls can be remapped through settings, providing additional flexibility for a player’s desired control scheme.
- Subtitle: Players can enable subtitles, adjust subtitle font size and subtitle background opacity.
- Audio Adjustment Settings: Players can independently adjust the volume of different groups of sounds to create their preferred audio experience.
- opponent difficulty: Players can adjust opponents’ driving levels when driving with AI.
- Text Scaling: Players can customize their menu text to accommodate various scaling options. The in-game HUD will also have some support for resizing.
- Contrast: Players can increase the contrast for UI and HUD elements from the default setting to various additional levels, each offering higher contrast ratios to improve readability.
- Moving backgrounds: Players can disable moving backgrounds, making it easier to read or navigate menus.
Turn 10’s commitment to accessibility continues. We always listen to gamers and strive to develop features so more gamers can play the games they love. We’re incredibly proud of the work being done to bring the experience to more players than ever before Forza Motorsport.
Forza Motorsport is coming to Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S consoles, Windows PC and Steam, and Cloud Gaming (Beta) this year. Stay tuned for more!
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