Exploring the Command series Totally Blind

[BlindGuyNW]

Hi all,

I wanted to share something unusual that I’ve been working on with Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations. I know this title is no longer under active development and that most players have moved on to the sequel—but I thought this work might still be of interest to the community and possibly to the developers.

I’m totally blind, and over the past couple of days I’ve been experimenting to see whether military sims like this—which are typically considered completely inaccessible due to their heavy reliance on maps and visual UI—might still be playable non-visually with the right approach. To my surprise, I’ve made significant progress.

While I can’t use the map graphically, CMANO does report the real-time distance from the current mouse position to the selected unit. My screen reader (NVDA) can read this value aloud as I move the pointer, allowing me to triangulate a unit’s location by ear—essentially using the mouse like a virtual white cane to “feel” out the map. The game also provides accessible textual readouts of unit status, weather, water depth, and coordinates, all of which are invaluable.

Using these methods, I’ve been able to complete several submarine operations tutorials, launch aircraft, track contacts, and issue movement orders. The simulation’s pause-and-plan nature works in my favor, since I don’t need to rely on twitch reflexes. And while I can’t see terrain or coastlines, I’ve developed some workarounds for that, albeit tedious.

I initially bought CMO on Steam years ago but refunded it at the time because I lacked the skills and strategies I’ve since developed. Recently, I repurchased it via Matrix with the hope that I might now be able to make more progress. Unfortunately, the newer UI changes and more complex rendering seem to break many of the accessibility workarounds that function in the earlier game. For example, the distance-to-cursor readout I rely on isn’t exposed to my screen reader, as it's drawn directly on the map canvas.

That said, I’m still hopeful. I’m especially interested in exploring Lua scripting, which could show me data like unit positions or mission parameters in text form—potentially allowing for more advanced interaction. I sadly don't know of a way to access Lua from a running scenario, but I hope one exists somewhere.

If anyone here has experience working with Lua in either game, or ideas for how to bridge the gap between raw game data and usable UI alternatives, I’d love to talk more. I’m also interested in best practices for building small, custom scenarios—since that might give me a more controlled environment to experiment with and avoid feeling overwhelmed.

Thanks for reading. I know this is a bit off the beaten path, but I’m genuinely excited about what’s possible—even if it’s not how these games were originally designed to be played.

[kahta]

There is or was a text to voice functionality called SeaHag that would give real time readouts of the message log. That might help.

[BlindGuyNW]

I will look into that.

For the moment some of the major areas of frustration revolve around getting range information to contacts. Some of it is shown in the unit info but it's not 100% reliable. My current technique is to select a contact, move the mouse around to find it, and go back to the unit I want to rangefind from. Its tedious but works well enough.

I'd appreciate any other ideas folks might have. I feel like Lua would help a great deal, as all the game engine stuff is right there.

I also discovered that another screen reader reads a bit more of the CMO GUI, though not enough to actually play. So it goes

[BlindGuyNW]

Further experimentation

I've been mucking about with the strike tutorial. As far as I can tell, the main method for manually selecting multiple targets is by holding Shift and dragging with the mouse. That’s a perfectly reasonable mechanism for sighted users, but it’s tricky to do reliably with a screen reader. I don’t use a physical mouse or trackpad, and my screen reader uses Shift as a modifier for its own commands.

Initially, I thought the manual weapon allocation dialog didn’t offer any alternative—but I just noticed the “Add targets from tactical map” button. I'm still experimenting with it, but if it works the way I hope, it might provide a more accessible way to assign multiple targets without shift-dragging. Fingers crossed!

I can do basic drag for the most part, though it’s not ideal since I’m effectively doing it blind (no pun intended). Using modifier keys like Shift or Control while dragging is much more difficult.
Just thought folks might be interested in my current experience. I’m running into a few friction points, but so far they feel more frustrating than insurmountable—and sometimes there’s a workaround hiding in plain sight.

[rvseydlitz]

Just wanted to commend you for your effort. I used to devote all of my Free time to this game. I had an accident which left me blind in one eye and much reduced in the other. I've been trying for 2 years to get back into this. Your story inspires me

[BlindGuyNW]

rvseydlitz,

My best wishes to you. I can only imagine how disorienting that must be. I’m genuinely glad if anything I’ve shared helps even a little.

In terms of game stuff, I’ve been thinking a lot about areas where I don’t yet have a great solution.
Reference points are one of the big ones. I understand the concept, but interacting with them is clunky. There’s no easy way (that I’ve found) to get a list of current RPs, let alone reliably route a ship or aircraft to one without hunting manually or doing a lot of trial and error.

I’ve managed to cheat a bit using Lua, but only in the scenario editor—the console doesn’t seem to be available in live gameplay. If there’s a way to query the live environment mid-scenario, I’d love to hear about it.
One idea I’ve been toying with is using the “Special Actions” system to build helper tools—things like:
•
“List all reference points”
•
“Get range/bearing to RP from selected unit”
•
“Echo current unit location”

The downside, of course, is that it requires editing every scenario manually to add those actions. But if they could be reused or bundled in a modular way, it might still be worth doing.

Just a few thoughts. I’m hoping to record a demo soon—might help clarify what I’ve been doing and how it actually works in practice. I do wish CMO were just a little more accessible, since it’s clearly where all the momentum is these days.

[rvseydlitz]

As a scenario designer myself, nearly all of my gameplay has been in scenario editor. It is actually (to me) a better gaming experience.
My point being that if your workaround only works on the editor, it's still a good one. The editor is fully capable of supporting regular game play...it simply has more tools available.
If you go that route, the ONLY confusing part that I the ave found playing in editor, is being careful with saves. The editor being a scenario creator usually defaults to "save as .." a new scenario...sometimes good if that's what your making but if you are just playing , just make sure it saves as a saved game instead.

[BlindGuyNW]

Wait. I didn't know one could do gameplay in the editor. That will hopefully solve 90% of my problems.

Thanks so much for mentioning it.

[BlindGuyNW]

Hi all,

Just wanted to drop a thank you to rvseydlitz for pointing out the editor gameplay functionality—that’s been a huge help. I've now been able to interact meaningfully with reference points, plot courses, create missions, and more.

The challenge now is figuring out how to balance using Lua with using the GUI. In theory, I can ask the Lua console for just about any information, but a lot of it is already available through the interface, and structuring ad hoc queries can get tedious.

A good next step is probably creating a few reusable Lua snippets—for things like setting a course to a reference point, selecting a group of RPs for a mission, or getting detailed info without manually searching for it. I’ll rely on the GUI where it’s readable and efficient, and use scripting to bridge the gaps where the interface is harder to navigate.

Long-term, I’m interested in trying the same approach in CMO. I initially bounced off it due to the less accessible controls, but I suspect the same general principles could apply.

I’m a bit overwhelmed—but very excited by the possibilities.

[c3k]

I have nothing to add regarding your question, but I just wanted to post this: Amazing!

I am in awe at your ingenuity. And, of course, the skills you must possess to take such a visually reliant medium and create/use tools that make it work for your particular circumstances.

Thanks for showing me that I have no idea how capable humans can really be when the desire pushes us.

[BlindGuyNW]

I'm happy to be here.
Some plans for the weekend, if I can manage them:

I'd like to record a demo soon. I’m still refining the Lua stuff bit by bit—I’ve built a few commands I can run from the console to handle things that are otherwise hard (or flat-out impossible) for me to do via the standard interface.

I can now highlight reference points for missions, or send ships on arbitrary headings—like “Come to course 350.” I also added a small contact list function, since the game doesn’t do a great job of surfacing that info for me otherwise.

I wish I didn’t have to use the Lua console window—it gets pretty annoying over longer sessions—but it’s the only method I know of to input commands mid-scenario. I’m still working on the balance between using the GUI where I can and leaning on scripts where I have to. It’s probably very different from how most people play, but… so it goes.

I tried CMO again just now. I’m slowly getting used to the weird unlabeled buttons. There are a few controls—like a custom tree view—that would probably be a huge help if they could be exposed to my screen reader, even if nothing else changed. Fortunately, the Lua scripting seems to carry over without issues between both titles.

Apologies for the brain dump—I just figured folks might be interested in where things stand and what I’ve been working on.

Quick question to close out:
What are y’all’s thoughts on assigning missions (like strikes, patrols, etc.) versus doing things manually? I get that both approaches are viable, but manual control seems like it could become pretty tedious—especially if you’re working with more than a handful of units. I’m leaning toward smaller, more self-contained scenarios as a way to get comfortable with the tools and strike a good balance.

[thewood1]

I use missions exclusively. I will intercede now and then if things change drastically with losses or change in enemy intentions. But even then I am usually altering missions. I also now lean on the Ops Manager a lot to keep missions and units organized. I spend twice as much time planning as I do executing.