Slitherine, please make more games acessible

[vaalen]

Many people who buy your games, especially grognards, are finding some of the games hard to see.

This is largely due to beige backgrounds on the maps and ledger pages, where the light colors induce eyestrain in many. Another problem is the use multiple colors in tooltips and messages, where it can be hard to distinguish the letters from the background.

Other games are easy to see.

An example of the two types of games would be Pike and Shot Campaigns, where the tooltips and messages show white letters against black, and are easy to read without strain, and the terrain, with largely green backgrounds, makes it easy to see the units.

In contrast, The new Sengoku Jidai, Shadow of the Shogun, which uses the same system, has a beige paper background color in the terrain, messages, and pop ups that makes the letters and the units much harder to see.

There are a number of games you publish that I do not buy because of the inacessible graphics.

I request that you either make all your games easier to see, or include an option in them similar to the old Alpha Centauri, where the user could choose an easier to see color scheme.

I invite comment on my request, as everyone's opinion matters.

[Aurelian]

Good idea.

[IainMcNeil]

Thanks for the feedback. Accessibility is something we are always trying to improve but black text on a beige background is one of the most high contrast differences you can have so I'm not sure why it would be hard to read? Allowing you to customize the colour options is almost impossible unfortunately as the UI is not made from coloured chunks, it is hand crafted artwork and there is no way to re-colour it, so we have to go with something we think is clear. Do you have any trouble reading the forum? What resolution is your monitor and how big is it?

Is anyone else struggling to read the text in Sengoku Jidai, as maybe its a font choice issue rather than a colour issue.

[Mobeer]

Not having the game, I just looked at the screenshots here:
http://www.matrixgames.com/products/603/details/SengokuJidai:ShadowoftheShogun

Screenshot 3 - brown text on brown at top left, same for icon labels on other screenshots. As shown is not too bad but if the background was open land then the text would be hard to see.
Also the facing arrows at the front of each unit are cream on brown for the yellow player

Screenshot 1 - stylised text for province names is difficult to read

Screenshot 9 - river name is blue text on a blue river (though presumably not significant)

Also watch the YouTube video in that page. The video is compressed but it still shows cream text on a brown background. For example at 0:32, note the unit in the bottom centre of the screen has the word "Charge" in cream written above it on light brown background; this happens repeatedly. At 1:02 the Replay text appears in black on a dark background at the top centre of the screen.

[vaalen]

Hi Iain,

Thank you for responding so quickly.

The problem that I and some other people are having is not so much a contrast problem as a light background problem. A number of people have trouble seeing print against a light background on a computer, even if the print is black. It has something to do with glare from the internal lighting of the computer, but there are other factors.

A user who had a similar problem posted a detailed description of the problem on The Sltherine Sengoku Jidai forum. The title of the thread was
"Terrain Colors", and it was posted on May 19.

The white letter on black background text does not have the light background problem and is very easy to read, making it far more accessible.

As for changing the terrain colors in the games to a lighter background, This issue was also discussed on that thread. The designer wrote that someone could do a mod to change the colors.

Surely if a mod could be done to change the colors, Slitherine could do this as an option, at least for this game, and possibly others.

I have no problem reading this forum, but I have used the accessibility features of windows and Firefox to change the print to white and the background color to black. I did have trouble reading the forum before I made this change.

My monitor is set to a high resolution, but I have used another accessibility feature in windows to make letters and fonts larger on the computer, so I have no problem. I have a large monitor, about twenty four inches wide.

Unfortunately these Windows features do not work in games.

I would greatly appreciate anything practical you could do to help. Certainly I think the text backgrounds and colors could be changed. A number of your games, such as Pike and Shot, already use dark background feature.

While you may not be able to change things in many games, a change in the terrain to the colors of Pike and Shot appears possible in Sengoku Jidai, and may be possible in other games.

This is a serious issue to many gamers, and many do not like to admit that light backgrounds are a problem, as it is a bit humiliating, though it should not be.

If you address the problem, you will sell more games. I can think of at least ten that I have not bought because of this issue, and I doubt I am alone in this.

Best wishes,

vaalen

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: vaalen

I invite comment on my request, as everyone's opinion matters.

warspite1

Well my comments are: As I grow older so the ball-ache of reading small font and/or font with insufficient distinction against the background and/or maps that are too busy to enable one to see the actual "counters", just makes things too difficult - and in some cases, just not worth the aggravation.

Could designers of games like this please bear in mind that the target audience will be largely(?) of the elder generation and stop producing games that make your head hurt after a few minutes of trying to read miniscule print and watch graphics that are too "far away" AEGOD take note.

MWIF shows what can be done [&o]. The zoom levels on that game are just what the optician ordered - and DC:B is pretty damn good too [&o]. Bright, clear pictures and sensible sized graphics.

My 2 pence

[vaalen]

Warspite1, your two pence seem worth quite a bit more to me. I agree with you. And Ageod should take note.

Forgive my ignorance, but what is MWIF?

Thanks,

Vaalen.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: vaalen

Warspite1, your two pence seem worth quite a bit more to me. I agree with you. And Ageod should take note.

Forgive my ignorance, but what is MWIF?

Thanks,

Vaalen.

warspite1

Matrix World In Flames aka the greatest wargame ever [;)]

tt.asp?forumid=110

[vaalen]

Thank you, Warspite1.

regards,

vaalen

[vaalen]

Mobeer,thanks for your input, you have really highlighted some of the visual problems of Sengoku Jidai, in a very clear and helpful way.

I appreciate your efforts.

regards,

Vaalen

[Hattori Hanzo]

I have the same eyestrain problem with Sengoku Jidai

[Moltke71]

I have been raising this issue for quite some time to developers and in my reviews. The closest thing I have to a solution is Virtual Magnifying Glass if you run the games windowed(fullscreen).

http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LEViw0c0RXItcA2eUnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTEycGlzdXNuBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDQjIwNDRfMQRzZWMDc3I-/RV=2/RE=1464132533/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fsourceforge.net%2fprojects%2fmagnifier%2f/RK=0/RS=3c8Xzv0hDBOyo7j6EZvIw5mpOWM-

[vaalen]

ORIGINAL: Bismarck

I have been raising this issue for quite some time to developers and in my reviews. The closest thing I have to a solution is Virtual Magnifying Glass if you run the games windowed(fullscreen).

http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LEViw0c0RXItcA2eUnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTEycGlzdXNuBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDQjIwNDRfMQRzZWMDc3I-/RV=2/RE=1464132533/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fsourceforge.net%2fprojects%2fmagnifier%2f/RK=0/RS=3c8Xzv0hDBOyo7j6EZvIw5mpOWM-

Jim, I have tried using virtual magnifying glass on various games. It does not work for me on many games, particularly some Matrix games.

There is also a built in magnifier that comes with Windows, which I find easier to use, as it has a full screen mode that does not require you to move the magnifier around, so more of the screen is magnified at once, though not all of it. You do have to scroll the map more because of this.
The windows magnifier does not work for most Matrix games, such as Order of Battle Pacific or Sengoku Jidai. It does, however, work with Ageod games.

Even if you have a working magnifier, the light background colors still causes eyestrain for those people who have problems with it.This can be easily solved by using white letters and a blsck background for tooltips and text messages, and by designing games with easier to see terrain.

I should point out that there are some Matrix games that are already easy to read, such as Pike and Shot campaigns. Which shows that it can be doe if the developer and the company want to do it.

Jim, I am very aware of your raising this issue many times, and I wish they listened to you and took your good advice. Maybe they will, if we are persistent on this issue.

Thank you for your efforts and your great reviews, I have appreciated them for many years.

All the best,

Vaalen

[Hattori Hanzo]

ORIGINAL: Bismarck

I have been raising this issue for quite some time to developers and in my reviews. The closest thing I have to a solution is Virtual Magnifying Glass if you run the games windowed(fullscreen).

http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LEViw0c0RXItcA2eUnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTEycGlzdXNuBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDQjIwNDRfMQRzZWMDc3I-/RV=2/RE=1464132533/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fsourceforge.net%2fprojects%2fmagnifier%2f/RK=0/RS=3c8Xzv0hDBOyo7j6EZvIw5mpOWM-

an original and valid solution [X(]

[Moltke71]

The VMG does work for Order of Battle Pacific if you run the game in Windowed(Fullscreen) mode. I even got a screen shot using VMG in my review. You're right,though, it doesn't work in Sengoku.

[vaalen]

ORIGINAL: Bismarck

The VMG does work for Order of Battle Pacific if you run the game in Windowed(Fullscreen) mode. I even got a screen shot using VMG in my review. You're right,though, it doesn't work in Sengoku.

Jim,thank you! It did not occur to me to use windowed mode fullscreen. I will try it.

[Hattori Hanzo]

Warspite1:

..and DC:B is pretty damn good too

and I suppose that DC:B is Decisive Campaign: Barbarossa..
right ? [:D]

[Hattori Hanzo]

Bismarck - Jim Cobb:

..I even got a screen shot using VMG in my review

hello Jim, where can I find your reviews ?

[zakblood]

tm.asp?m=4085410

[Moltke71]

ORIGINAL: Hattori Hanzo

Bismarck - Jim Cobb:

..I even got a screen shot using VMG in my review

hello Jim, where can I find your reviews ?

Wargmer.com and Armchairgeneral.com