Improvements in Accessibility

[Grayson Peddie]

Hello everyone. I do want to say that I enjoyed this game so much. However, I do have a visual disability which prevents me from reading the documents in the "hand terminal," along with reading the social media posts and chat room. Getting a bigger screen is not a solution (I saw something like that on Reddit posts where people had trouble reading text in video games, especially on Nintendo Switch or on a TV).

I tried to use a desktop magnifier in Linux; but the GNOME Magnifier has performance issues and I do want an in-game magnifier so that I can participate on reading documents and social media posts. Even in in-game menus. The menu in the first The TALOS Principle is a lot simpler and easier to read.

As for the compass, I would like it if it could be at the bottom of the screen or maybe make the compass larger and put a dark transparent background around the compass. To find the place where the "upside down triangle" is located, I've had to pull down my 42" LG C2 OLED TV that is mounted to my arm attached to my desk and I've had to lean forward and look at the top of the screen to find that particular symbol and then aimlessly wander around until I get there.

In the first version of The TALOS Principle, there is a Custom HID Scale in the advanced options. I was able to make the subtitle size larger by increasing the custom HUD size. This might be a good option for making the compass and symbols a lot bigger for those who have visual disabilities such as myself.

Oh, and I almost forgot. There is no way I can read the objective text at the upper-right hand corner of the screen. I've have to push my desk back (my desk has wheels), get up out of the chair, and then read the text at the upper-right corner of the screen. A 27" monitor or a 55" TV won't make it any easier for me. Not even a 65". I would have to stand up instead and look very closely at the screen, even if the text against the background does not satisfy Web Content Accessibility Guideline's contrast ratio of 4.5:1 (WCAG 2.0/2.1 SC 1.4.3 AA). And yes, I like to apply WCAG standards to games. :)

[Daddy Sparky420]

you can already increase the text size in the settings of the game in the game option

[Grayson Peddie]

Terminal text size does not affect non-terminal text in game.

[King of Wei]

i'm legally blind too so i can relate. gotta nearly headbutt the monitor to read most things. the terminal font size option doesn't effect the social media which kinda seems like an oversight.

if dealing with the compass is too much of a strain i recommend just turning it off. everything important has a path leading to it and the stuff that doesn't, like star puzzle tools, likely won't show on the compass anyway.

[Grayson Peddie]

Thanks. At least I'm not the only one who is legally blind. I'm about 75% done with the main puzzles and that did not stop me from playing The TALOS Principle 2. I am able to solve puzzles without much of a help! :D

To me, The TALOS Principle II felt very much like a AAA puzzle game with a nice space-age-ish city to explore and I am very impressed. New Jerusalem reminded me of EPCOT Center and the movie of Tomorrowland. And I guess there isn't really decent AAA puzzle games that came out in 2023.

[King of Wei]

nice! glad the disability's not preventing you from enjoying the game. the original talos principle is an amazing game if you haven't already played it. superliminal is a short but fun puzzle game too. it focuses on optical illusion puzzles but poor vision means we're mostly immune to that BS so it's worth playing.

[Grayson Peddie]

Oh yes. I've played the original The TALOS Principle and I've gotten all the achievements, including Road to Gehenna. I also played Superliminal as well including Portal, Portal 2, Portal Stories: Mel (all achievements), The Turing Test (all achievements), The Spectrum Retreat (got all achievements as well), Q.U.B.E 1 and 2, and a couple of other games that are too many to list here.

[Grayson Peddie]

I came across a thread about the compass letters being too small.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/835960/discussions/0/3950280599885625937/

Can we have this thread pinned to the top so that we can discuss accessibility issues? It does not have to be only about visual disabilities but any kind of disabilities such as cognitive and hearing disabilities. I do have a hearing disability, so I'm grateful for having subtitles and I'm also happy that I can adjust the background opacity for the subtitles which is lacking in other games such as The Spectrum Retreat.

Or should we let this thread pass away anyway?