MOHAWK: Adjustments in the spaceship puzzle in Myst for the hearing impaired

[AspireONE-zz]

Hello,

it is not possible to do the spaceship puzzle in the Myst for an deaf person since it is sound only. Would it be possible to modify scummvm so that the game is more accommodating for the deaf?

​https://mystjourney.com/img/screenshots/myst-86.jpg

[antoniou79]

Hi,

I don't really know if this could be ScummVM task. I mean, it could, and it's probably doable, but it might need a lot of effort from developer(s) in the team.

And ultimately, since CYAN has collaborated with ScummVM for the recent rerelease of the games, it might be better if they (CYAN) implemented such an addition instead (?). Possibly addressing other accessibility issues too.

Marginally related, but as far as I know, the recent Myst VR title has context subtitles that can be enabled for that puzzle. It also has subtitles for the other videos -- like in the books or the hologram. It is currently released for Oculus 2 but it is coming to PC too with the option for standard (non-VR) controls.

So, if this is to be done, it could be done in a similar way, with context subtitles here.

[AspireONE-zz]

Hello,

I was thinking that in the function void Myst::rocketCheckSolution()

There are five test for the sliders in the form :

if (soundId != 9546)

solved = false;

I thought to change all those five test to following form :

if ( abs(soundId-9546)>5 )

solved = false;

Then everybody should be happy and it should be possible to solve it using photos of the panel from the internet.

[eriktorbjorn]

Aren't there a couple of other puzzles in the game that also rely on sound cues? (Or can they be solved without? I've forgotten...)

[antoniou79]

Sound cues yes. Most puzzles in Selenitic Age are such, including the maze at the "end" of that Age.

[MusicallyInspired]

Replying to eriktorbjorn:

Aren't there a couple of other puzzles in the game that also rely on sound cues? (Or can they be solved without? I've forgotten...)

There are a couple other areas in the game that deal with sound. In the Mechanical Age you can rotate the fortress to 4 different compass positions. There's a hologram interface in one of the brothers' rooms that simulate this function. When the fortress shows as facing a certain compass direction it chimes with a unique sound effect. This is meant to be a hint for the Selenitic Age in the underground tunnel/tram system maze. When you stop at each node it plays a sound effect for the direction you're suppose to go in. You can solve it by trial and error but it's easier if you write down the sound effects for the various compass directions in the Mechanical Age.

I'm not big on changing solutions in a game. One thing one might be able to do would be to add music notes (A-G) to the keyboard somehow (perhaps some for of OSD/subtitle?) each time you hit a note. And then do the same when you're selecting notes on the slider in the interface when solving the puzzle.

[AspireONE-zz]

Hello,

I totally and completely do not understand those comments that it is fixed in new releases of the game. I (and my brother) have bought the original game at the time of the release (~1994?) for the full price and I absolutely see no reason to pay again for the game just because they screwed it up in the original release.

Perhaps in the options menu add Checkeck box :

"Use fuzzy logic on the space ship puzzle".

With my changes I was able to get past the space ship puzzle just using photos of the slides from the internet.

In the Mechanical Age sounds are helpful but NOT required to finish the puzzle as it is enough to simply time how long you press the button to rotate the fortress.

For rest of the Selenitic Age I do not comment for I had not finished it yet.

[AspireONE-zz]

added diff in the attachments section

[AspireONE-zz]

same as before, but this time as function.

[AspireONE-zz]

fuzzy logic settable via options menu

[AspireONE-zz]

same as before, formating.

[bluegr]

Merged PR #3056:
​https://github.com/scummvm/scummvm/commit/fdbfb6160fccde74395499de3733c4c8ce861d2a

Thanks for your work on this one! Closing

[AspireONE-zz]

(I hope this comment does not reopen the ticket, it should stay closed).

Thank you very much for all your help.

PS : Link above at text "#3056" is wrong, it should be

​https://github.com/scummvm/scummvm/pull/3056