Celeste | Motor Accessibility Options

A screenshot of Madeline in a level
A screenshot of the title screen

Celeste [PEGI 7] is a platformer game that’s available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC and Mac. You play as Madeline, a young girl who wishes to make her way up Celeste Mountain. You have to jump, climb and dash your way through several levels to make it to the top of the mountain.

In this article, we will outline the settings found in the game that some players may find helpful, if they are finding the game too difficult to complete. The article will focus on the console version of the game when using a gamepad, however all settings can be found on both the PC and Mac version of the game.

The game features a menu called Assist Options which has a range of motor settings relating to its Assist Mode:

  • Game Speed: You can adjust the speed of the game, ranging from 50%-100%.
  • Infinite Stamina: By default, you’re able to grab onto walls and climb them for a limited time before slipping. Turning this option on allows you to grab and climb on walls for as long as you want.
  • Air Dashes: When you start the game, you can air dash once after a single jump. You can set the number of dashes you can do after jumping, choosing between Default (one air dash), 2, or Infinite.
  • Dash Assist: With this option turned on, you can hold down the Dash button to freeze in the air, and use the Left Stick or D-pad buttons to choose which direction you want to dash in.
  • Invincibility: Turning this on means Madeline cannot be defeated, whether it be by a trap or by falling. If you fall in an area that would result in defeat, you will continuously jump automatically to assist with getting back to safety.

There are also some motor settings found in the Options menu.

  • Grab Mode: You can choose how you interact with the Wall Grab input. You can set it to a Hold, Invert (where you grab the wall without any button input), or Toggle (press once to enter Grab Mode, press again to cancel).
  • Controller Config: You can remap the controller to create a custom control scheme that suits your needs, assigning up to 8 inputs per action. You assign any button to any input, including all joystick directions on both sticks. You are able to create a separate control scheme for both in-game controls and for menu controls. You can also create a control scheme for character movement that is separate to the dash directions, so both actions don’t need to share the same button input. However, you can exit the menu even after assigning a single button input to multiple actions, so the player may be unaware of any input conflicts which could prevent certain actions from happening. You can restore the control scheme to its default layout if you find any input conflicts occurring during gameplay.

We hope you found this post useful. If you have any questions about the motor accessibility of this game, please contact SpecialEffect.

Developer Resource:

SpecialEffect DevKit logo

For video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their games, please visit https://specialeffectdevkit.info/

Celeste appears in the following DevKit modules:

The Last of Us Part I | Motor Accessibility Video

Show Transcript

The Last of Us Part I [PEGI 18] is a third-person action-adventure game that’s available on PlayStation 5. It is a remake of The Last of Us that was released in 2013 on PlayStation 3, that includes accessibility settings that featured in The Last of Us Part II, released in 2020. It is also soon to be released on PC.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world following a fungal infection outbreak, you play as Joel who travels with Ellie across America to find a cure for the outbreak. As with The Last of Us Part II, the game features a mixture of stealth and face-to-face combat against both humans and ‘infected’, using both melee weapons and ranged weapons.

In this video, we will be looking at the settings related to the motor accessibility of the game, such as adjusting difficulty components, controller remapping, slow motion mode and toggle options.

We will be looking at the console version of the game when using a gamepad. Footage has been captured directly off a PS5 console.

 

Accessibility Presets:

When loading the game for the first time, you can choose a motor accessibility preset which turns on all recommended motor accessibility settings that may assist players to access the game more easily. This includes features such as Lock-On Aim, Auto-Target, Camera Assist and various adjustments in the Navigation and Traversal Assistance menu, and the combat accessibility menu. We will go through these and the other settings individually, in the following sections of this video.

 

Options > Difficulty:

Before starting a game, you can choose between various difficulties ranging from Very Light, which is the easiest and Grounded, which is the most difficult.

When pausing the game, you can customise various difficulty components in the Difficulty menu found in Options. The components you can adjust include Player, Enemies, Allies, Stealth, and Resources. Each component, like the game difficulties, also range from Very Light to Grounded.

Player dictates amount of damage received from enemies and frequency of mid-encounter dynamic checkpoints. The lower the difficulty, the more damage the player can take, and checkpoints are more frequent. Whereas the higher difficulties will mean the player receives more damage and will have fewer checkpoints during some encounters.

Enemies relates to the enemy’s shooting accuracy and frequency of throwing projectiles, and how aggressive their AI is when heading towards the player. It also changes how complex their melee combos are, their movement speed, and how they behave in specific encounters. The lower the setting is, the less aggressive enemies will be to the player.

Changing the Allies difficulty adjusts how aggressive allies are, and how frequently they defeat enemies. The lower difficulty means they will attack more and defeat more enemies. The higher difficulties will make the allies more passive meaning the player will have to contribute more to defeating enemies.

Stealth changes how enemies hear and see the player during stealth segments, how long it takes for enemies to alert other enemies after spotting the player, and the conditions for grabbing enemies. Lower difficulties provide many opportunities to sneak past enemies and silently defeat them, whereas higher difficulties have more vigilant enemies, making it harder to sneak past them undetected.

Resources determines how much ammunition and supplies are found in the world and dropped by enemies, as well as how often allies gift items and ammunition to the player. The lower difficulties will yield more ammunition and supplies dropped by enemies, found in the world, and given to the player, and higher difficulties provide fewer items.

Options > Accessibility > Alternate Controls:

Customise Controls allows you to choose between various control schemes, including Default, Right Hand Only, Left Hand Only, and Custom Scheme. You can save up to 3 different custom schemes. You can only customise the control scheme in the Custom Scheme option. You can choose to give each scheme a name.

You can change the Controller Orientation which rotates the D-pad and both sticks to match however the controller is being held. You can choose between Left, Right, and Upside Down.

You can swap the functions of Left and Right Stick. You can have it set to Flipped Always or Flipped While Aiming, which only swaps the stick function when aiming. This can help players who would prefer to aim using the Left Stick.

You can remap most buttons with the exception of D-pad buttons, individual stick directions, Options, and the Create button.

 

You can change how you climb ladders with the Ladder Movement option. When set to Character, moving up and down a ladder is relative to the character orientation. When set to Camera, moving up and down is relative to the camera’s orientation.

You can change how you interact with Hand Wheels. This can be either moving the Left Stick counter-clockwise or holding Triangle.

You can set it so that you use melee attacks whilst aiming. However, turning this option on will disable the shoulder swap action.

There are several options that you can choose between a hold or tap input. These include Repeated Button Presses, Melee Combos, and Bow Firing.

Some options also give you a choice between a hold or a toggle, including Aiming, Sprinting, Crafting, Backpack Weapon Swap, and Listen Mode.

You can turn on Camera Assist which can be useful if the player finds using both the Left and Right Stick simultaneously difficult. You can also limit the assistance to an individual axis, which are the Horizontal and Vertical axes.

Lock-On Aim will allow you to snap your aim to an enemy’s body when aiming. You can still use the Right Stick to aim for particular body parts with this setting turned on. Turning on Auto-Target will make the aiming reticle snap to another target after defeating an enemy, even if the next target is off-screen.

You can adjust the strength of the Lock-On ranging from 1 to 10.

Turning on Arc-Throw Lock-On will automatically aim at an enemy when using a throwable item.

Like Lock-On Aim, you can adjust the strength of the Arc-Throw Lock-On, ranging from 1 to 10.

When Auto-Weapon Swap is turned on, you will swap to your next holstered weapon automatically if your current weapon runs out of ammo.

Auto Pick-Up will pick up nearby ammo and resources automatically.

You can extend the Minigame Time Limit. You can choose between 2x, 4x, or 10x. This minigame is only found in the Left Behind additional content and not in the main game.

The Minigame Input allows you to reduce the number of inputs found in the minigame. This includes Fewer Inputs, which limits the number of inputs per sequence in the minigame, No Chords, which removes inputs that require pressing multiple buttons simultaneously, or Fewer Inputs and No Chords which combines both options. This option is also found only in Left Behind.

 

Options > Accessibility > Navigation and Traversal:

Navigation Assistance points the camera in the direction of story progression and marks the path to follow by pressing R3.

Traversal Assistance enables a simplified way of navigating various obstacles. This involves pressing Cross to automatically perform certain difficult jumps, as well as performing several actions automatically without a button input including climbing ledges, squeezing through gaps, vaulting over small obstacles, vaulting over small obstacles while on the horse, and sprint in specific encounters.

The Ledge Guard option will prevent you from falling off a ledge that would defeat your character.

The Enhanced Listen Mode option enables the ability to scan for items and enemies while in Listen Mode. If Navigation Assistance is also enabled, pressing L3 while in Listen Mode will direct you to the most recently scanned item or enemy.

You can choose the range of the scan, between 10 and 30 metres.

You can adjust how long it takes for the scan to reach its maximum distance, between 1 and 5 seconds.

You can turn on Infinite Breath so you can remain underwater for as long as you want.

Turning on Skip Puzzle Option allows you to skip a puzzle via the Pause menu if you’re having difficulty with it.

 

Options > Accessibility > Combat Accessibility:

There are various combat accessibility options available by turning on Enable Combat Accessibility.

When taking enemies hostage, you can set it so that they cannot escape your grasp.

You can set it so that allies automatically escape if grabbed by an enemy.

Turning on Enemies Don’t Flank will not allow enemies to intentionally get behind your position.

You can reduce the Enemy Perception whilst in stealth. This setting is relative to the chosen difficulty.

You can also reduce the shooting accuracy of enemies. This setting is also relative to the chosen difficulty.

With the Invisibility Toggle, you can hold down Circle to become invisible to enemies whilst not aiming. Whilst Invisible, your movement speed is limited. You can set the invisibility to Limited or Unlimited. If you choose Limited, the time limit will be based on your chosen stealth difficulty settings.

You can turn the Weapon Sway off so that you can aim more accurately.

You can slow down the game with the Slow Motion Option. You can set the slow motion to occur While Aiming or as a Toggle.

 

Options > Controls > Input:

Turning on Remember Shoulder Swap makes the game remember the shoulder the camera was over the last time you aimed rather than defaulting to the right each time.

Options > Controls > Camera Sensitivity:

The sensitivity of the camera movements can be adjusted. You can adjust the Look Sensitivity X and Look Sensitivity Y separately, ranging from 1 to 10.

You can also adjust the aiming sensitivity by adjusting the Aim Sensitivity X and Aim Sensitivity Y, also ranging from 1 to 10.

You can invert the up/down and left/right camera movements. By default, moving the Right Stick up moves it up, and down moves it down. Turning on Look Invert Y swaps these movements around, so that moving the Right Stick up will move the camera down and pushing it down will move it up.

You can also invert the camera movements for the left and right camera movements by turning on Look Mirror X.

Adjusting the Aiming Acceleration Scale will change how much the camera accelerates at high amount of stick deflection. This can be set between 1 to 10.

The Aiming Ramp Power Scale changes the aim speed to stick deflection curve. The higher the value, the less the camera moves at lower amount of stick deflection. This is also set between 1 to 10.

 

Options > DualSense:

In the DualSense menu, you can alter Adaptive Trigger related options, as well as various vibration options.

You can turn off the Adaptive Triggers, which provide resistance when holding down the L2 or R2 triggers. You can also choose Aiming Only to have resistance only when aiming, or Firing Only, to have resistance when firing or reloading weapons, quick throwing, or using an item.

You can also turn off Bow Resistance, to remove the resistance of the adaptive triggers when drawing the bow.

You can then alter the intensity of vibrations in various situations, such as for overall gameplay or individual scenarios. You can also adjust it for the Combat Vibration Cues and Navigation Assistance accessibility options, if these options are enabled.

We hope you found this video useful. If you have any questions relating the motor accessibility of this game, please get in touch with SpecialEffect.

For game developers who are interested in more video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their games for players, please visit the SpecialEffect DevKit at specialeffectdevkit.info.

The Last of Us Part I [PEGI 18] is a third-person action-adventure game that’s available on PlayStation 5. It is a remake of The Last of Us that was released in 2013 on PlayStation 3, that includes accessibility settings that featured in The Last of Us Part II, that was released in 2020. It is also soon to be released on PC.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world following a fungal infection outbreak, you play as Joel who travels with Ellie across America to find a cure for the outbreak. As with The Last of Us Part II, the game features a mixture of stealth and face-to-face combat against both humans and ‘infected’ using both melee weapons and ranged weapons.

In this video we will be looking at the settings related to the motor accessibility of the game, such as adjusting difficulty components, controller remapping, slow motion mode and toggle options.

We will be looking at the console version of the game when using a gamepad. Footage has been captured directly off a PS5 console.

Video Timestamps:

0:00 | Intro

1:30 | Accessibility Presets

2:14 | Difficulty Options

5:34 | Alternate Controls

9:12 | Assistance

12:41 | Navigation and Traversal

15:23 | Combat Accessibility

17:44 | Input Options

18:00 | Camera Sensitivity

20:05 | DualSense Options

21:12 | Outro


Music:

Feeling Lost by Jan Bears, Long Ride by Dan Howell Let Go by Ronnit, The Tree Who Grew on Water by Yoav Ilan, When the Demons Came Knocking by Eleven Tales, Spiral by Alon Peretz and Cloud of Memories by Macifif (all from artlist.io).

Developer Resource:

SpecialEffect DevKit logo

For more video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their games, please visit https://specialeffectdevkit.info/

God of War Ragnarök | Motor Accessibility Video

Show Transcript

God of War Ragnarök is a third-person action-adventure game that’s available on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. You play as Kratos as he and his son, Atreus, make their way through mystical realms based on Nordic mythology. In this video, we will take a look at some of the settings and options that may improve the motor accessibility of the game for some players, such as toggle options, auto pick up items, and controller remapping. Footage has been captured directly off a PS5 console from the PS5 version of the game.

Accessibility Presets: Motor Accessibility 

When you start the game for the first time, you can select a motor accessibility preset which will turn on a variety of motor accessibility settings that may assist players to access the game more easily. You can choose between Some or Full. You can also select the preset from the title screen and in-game by pausing and going into the Accessibility Menu.

Difficulty 

You start the game by selecting your difficulty. Changing the difficulty adjusts how much damage enemies do, and how resistant they are to damage from Kratos. Story is the easiest difficulty and God of War is the most difficult. You can change the difficulty of the game at any point by going into Settings, then Gameplay. However, you can only choose God of War difficulty at the start of a new game, then change to a lower difficulty if you so wish and not change up to this difficulty part way through a game.

Accessibility Menu: Combat

Aim Assist has two options, Classic and Classic+. Classic points the camera to the closest  target already relative to the aim reticle. Classic+ points the camera to the closest target  to the aim reticle from anywhere on-screen.

Lock-On Camera allows you to keep an enemy in the centre of the screen until defeated. By turning on Classic, the camera unlocks when a target is defeated or when aiming. Auto-Target remains locked on to enemies while aiming and switches to a new on-screen target after one is defeated. You can still use the Right Stick to target parts of certain enemies with this option turned on. Auto-Target+ is the same as Auto-Target but includes off-screen enemies. 

You can recentre the camera  when using melee attacks. Classic recentres the camera when hitting an enemy with a melee attack. Priority recentres the camera toward the nearest on-screen enemy when swinging a weapon. The camera also recentres when parrying. Priority+ is the same as Priority but includes off-screen enemies. 

There are several ways you can dodge by changing  the input of the Evade Style. In Default, you press Cross to sidestep, and double tap Cross to follow up the sidestep with a single roll. Default+ is the same as Default, except you can continuously hold down Cross to continue sidestepping and rolling. Releasing Cross will perform a  single roll. With Tap Roll, you press Cross to sidestep then roll automatically. However, this removes the ability to sidestep without rolling. 

Evade Assist provides increased immunity while evading. However, this option is not available in No Mercy or God of War difficulties. 

If you are defeated by a Miniboss, such as a Troll or an Ancient, the Miniboss Checkpoints option allows you to the fight the Miniboss with reduced health when you respawn, but only if it was damaged below a certain  percentage before death. This option is not available in No Mercy or God of War difficulties and not applicable for Main Boss fights.

Accessibility Menu: Navigation & Puzzles

Turning on Navigation Assist lets you press R3 to orient the camera in the direction of your current story or map-selected objective.

By adjusting the Puzzle Timing, you can increase a certain puzzle element depending on the puzzle. This may include slowing down puzzle objects or extending the allotted time window for solving the puzzles. You can choose between Default, Extended or Extended+. 

Puzzle Aim Assist allows you to snap the aim reticle to a nearby puzzle target when aiming.

Accessibility Menu: Playstyle 

You can alter the minigame style and how you complete certain minigames. You can choose between Precision where you use Left Stick, Single button where you press Circle, or Auto where the minigame completes automatically. 

You can choose how to complete sequences which require Repeated Button Presses. You can set this to either a Tap or a Hold. 

Auto Pick Up allows you to pick up items and resources without pressing any buttons. Essentials will automatically pick up health and rage stones when needed. Economy automatically picks up hacksilver, resources and loot drops when out of combat. Full automatically picks up everything that is picked up in both Essentials and Economy. 

You can increase the speed of the Menu Holds so you can perform shop or inventory hold actions faster than the default setting. This means holding down the assigned button for less time. 

Throughout the game, you will have to traverse over many obstacles, including gaps, walls and ledges. Traversal Assist can complete these actions automatically when turned on. Auto will automatically perform vaulting, mantling,  jumping gaps and descending ledges automatically. Auto+ performs the same actions as Auto, but also includes crawls, presses, and climbs.

Accessibility Menu: Controller Settings 

For the Aim L2 Style and Block L1 Style, you can choose between a Hold or a Toggle. 

You can change the way the joystick moves Kratos during Climbing segments. When set to Default, the player will climb in the direction pressed, so pressing down will move Kratos down regardless of the camera position. When set to Camera, the player will move in the direction the camera is pointed. For example, looking at the ground and pressing forwards would move down, looking up and pressing forward would move up. 

You can choose between two inputs of how you perform a Quick Turn. You can either Hold L1 + D-pad Down or hold down on Left Stick + L3. 

For the Skills Tree Menu, you can change how to navigate it via Skills Navigation. You can use a cursor via Left  Stick or the D-pad buttons. 

To Sprint, you have the choice  of pressing L3, holding Cross, or having Kratos sprint automatically. If set to Auto, you can adjust a delay as to when the auto sprint will activate via the Delay Auto Sprint option, ranging from 0-5 seconds. 

Stun Grab Enemies can be performed by either pressing R3, holding Circle, or moving Left Stick up. 

Spartan Rage can be activated by either pressing Cross + Circle or L3 + R3. 

You can adjust how you sheath your weapons. By default, you Press D-pad Down to sheath  whatever weapon you have equipped. Weapon Toggle allows you to press the  weapon buttons to equip and sheath weapons. Pressing D-pad Left will equip your Blades of Chaos and pressing again will sheath them. Pressing D-pad Right will equip your Leviathan Axe and pressing again will sheath it. D-pad Down will still act as sheathing whatever weapon  you have equipped with this option turned on.

Gameplay Menu: Playstyle

By default, Interact is Circle and Evade is Cross. You can choose whether to swap the  Interact and Evade button assignments over, so that Evade is Circle and Interact is Cross. 

You can change the way you interact with the touchpad to bring up the Map and the Weapons Menu. By choosing Left/Right, pressing  the touchpad’s left side opens Map and pressing the right side opens the Weapons Menu. By selecting Press/Hold, pressing the touchpad brings up the Map and holding it down opens the Weapons Menu. You can also assign the touchpad press so it only opens either the Weapons Menu or the Map. 

You can assign certain actions as touchpad shortcuts. They can be activated by swiping Up, Down, Left or Right. The motor actions you can assign to touchpad swipes include Navigation Assist,  Spartan Rage, Quick Turn, and Shield Strike.

Controller Remapping: Controller Layout

Controller Remapping allows you to choose between various control schemes, including a left-handed and right-handed controller scheme, as well as custom schemes. You can save up to three different custom schemes. You can remap most buttons with the exception of individual stick directions, touchpad, Options, and the Create/Share button. 

Controller Remapping: Controller Settings

Turning on Neutral Evade will enable Kratos to  evade backwards without input from the Left Stick. This option is unavailable if Sprint is set to Hold Cross. 

You can swap the Left and Right Stick functions by switching on Inverted, so Right Stick acts as character  movement and Left Stick moves the camera. 

Swapping the stick functions over also swaps the assigned stick function for certain actions, such as Quick Turn, Stun Grab Enemies and certain minigames.

Camera 

You can invert the up/down and left/right camera movements. By default, moving the Right Stick up moves it up, and down moves it down. Turning on Invert Vertical Control swaps these movements around so that moving the Right Stick up will move the camera down and pushing it down will move it up. You can also invert the camera movements for the left and right camera movements by turning on Invert Horizontal Control. 

The sensitivity of the camera movements can be adjusted. You can adjust the Horizontal Rotation Speed and Vertical Rotation Speed separately, ranging from 0-10.

You can also adjust the aiming sensitivity by adjusting  the Aim Horizontal Sensitivity and Aim Vertical Sensitivity, also ranging from 0-10.

We hope you found this video useful. If you have any further questions about the motor accessibility of this game, please get in touch with SpecialEffect.

For game developers who are interested in more video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their games for players, please visit the SpecialEffect  DevKit at specialeffectdevkit.info

God of War Ragnarök [PEGI 18] is a third-person action-adventure game that is available on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. You play as Kratos as he and his son, Atreus, make their way through the mystical realms based on Nordic mythology.

In this video, we will go through some of the settings and options that may improve the motor accessibility of the game for some players, such as toggle options, auto pick up items, and controller remapping.

Footage has been captured directly on a PS5 console from the PS5 version of the game.

Video Timestamps:

0:00 | Intro

0:50 | Motor Accessibility Preset

1:34 | Difficulty

2:12 | Combat

4:56 | Accessibility Menu: Navigation & Puzzles

5:45 | Accessibility Menu: Playstyle

7:54 | Accessibility Menu: Controller Settings

10:52 | Gameplay Menu: Playstyle

12:21 | Controller Remapping: Controller Layout

12:52 | Controller Remapping: Controller Settings

13:31 | Camera

14:46 | Outro


Music: Eye of the Storm by YNKE, Nigun Maayan by Nimrod Not, Eldensvampbildning (Stripped Version) by Blackbard, Cyancerto by Blackbard, New World by Ian Post (all from artlist.io)

Developer Resource:

SpecialEffect DevKit logo

For more video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their games, please visit https://specialeffectdevkit.info/

Deathloop | Motor Accessibility Video

Show Transcript

Deathloop [PEGI 18] is a first-person shooter game that’s available on PlayStation 5 and PC. You play as an assassin who must figure out how to break a time loop as well as defeating several targets, called Visionaries, along the way.

In this video, we will be looking at the settings related to the motor accessibility of the game, such as toggle options, game speed adjustments, and controller remapping.

We will be looking at the console version of the game, however all settings in this video can also be found on the PC version. Footage has been captured directly on a PS5 console from the PS5 version of the game.

Accessibility:

You can choose how many times you can resurrect in a level if your HP reaches 0, by changing the Number of Reprises. You can set this to 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or Infinite.

You can Lock the Aim Assist so the crosshairs lock onto enemies while aiming down sights.

You can choose whether the Hacking and Aiming actions are performed by a hold or a toggle.

One Shot Kills will make all of your attacks defeat an enemy immediately. The attacks include shooting, machete swings and grenades.

For Difficulty you can choose between Default, Lenient or Harsh. Harsh Difficulty makes enemies attack more often and more accurately. With Lenient Difficulty the enemies are the least aggressive and accurate in their attack.

Turning on the Lock Loop Stress prevents Difficulty from increasing each time you defeat a Visionary, therefore keeping the Difficulty consistent throughout the game.

You can adjust the game speed by slowing it down to 50% or 75%. You can choose whether the slowdown is always on or set as a toggle.

Turning on Tag Multiple Enemies allows you to use the Tag action on more than one enemy in your field of view so that they are marked, and you can track them more easily.

You can choose whether bringing up the Weapon Wheel and Gadget Wheel pauses the game so you can select your weapon or gadget without enemies attacking.

You can adjust the Menu Cursor Speed Sensitivity ranging from 50–150.

 

Controls Menu/Options:

You can set whether your sprint action is performed with a hold, a press, or a toggle.

You can invert the up/down and left/right camera movements. By default, moving the Right Stick up moves it up, and down moves it down. Turning on Invert Y Axis swaps these movements around so that moving the Right Stick up will move the camera down and pushing it down will move it up.

You can also invert the camera movements for the X Axis, which does left and right camera movements.

You can also swap the stick functions over so that the Right Stick controls movement and Left Stick controls the camera.

The sensitivity of the Right Stick can be adjusted. You can adjust the X Axis and Y Axis separately, ranging from 0–100.

You can add extra sensitivity on top of the axes adjustments for when aiming down sights, between 0–100.

The Auto Aim Model option allows you to change how much assistance you have whilst aiming. The Friction option will slightly slow down camera movements when near a target. The Ironsight Snap will make the crosshair snap to a close target when aiming down sights. You can choose to have both these options on simultaneously, one of them turned on, or none.

If Friction is turned on, you can adjust the Auto Aim strength, ranging from 0–100.

The intensity of the controller vibration can be adjusted, ranging from 0–100.

You can turn off the adaptive triggers for L2 and R2 so that they don’t provide any tension or resistance.

You can remap the button inputs in the controller mapping section. However, you are unable to remap individual joystick directions, the Options button or the Create button.

We hope you found this video useful. If you have any further questions about the motor accessibility of this game, please get in touch with SpecialEffect.

For game developers who are interested in more video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their games for players, please visit the SpecialEffect DevKit at specialeffectdevkit.info.

Deathloop [PEGI 18] is a first-person shooter game that’s available on PlayStation 5 and PC. You play as an assassin who must figure out how to break a time loop as well as defeating several targets, called Visionaries, along the way.

In this video, we will be looking at the settings related to the motor accessibility of the game, such as toggle options, game speed adjustments, and controller remapping.

Footage has been captured directly on a PS5 console from the PS5 version of the game.

Video Timestamps (clicking on links will take you to view them in YouTube):

0:00 Intro, 0:53 Accessibility Menu, 3:32 Controls Menu, 5:48 Outro


Music: Time Warp by Notize, Those Forgotten Behind by Dan Mayo, Dancing Petals by Mattia Vlad Morleo and Cloud of Memories by Macifif.

Developer Resource:

SpecialEffect DevKit logo

For more video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their games, please visit https://specialeffectdevkit.info/

Warframe | Motor Accessibility

A screenshot of the starting screen for Warframe
A screenshot of the starting screen for Warframe
A screenshot of the starting screen for Warframe

Warframe [PEGI 18] is an action RPG game that’s available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S and X, Nintendo Switch and PC. This post will go through the settings that may affect the motor accessibility of the game and are found in the console version of the Warframe, such as options for controller remapping, trigger thresholds, auto-targeting melees and aim assistance. However, all settings mentioned can also be found in the PC version.

Controller Menu Options:

Customise Controller: allows the remapping of a gamepad to create a custom layout. This includes swapping the stick functions over. Inputs that cannot be remapped include individual joystick directions, Options (PlayStation)/Menu (Xbox)/Plus (Nintendo Switch) button, Touchpad/View/Minus button, and Share/Create/Capture button.

Invert Y and X Axis: swaps the directions for Y and X axis on Right Stick

Look Sensitivity: adjusts the sensitivity of camera movement of the Right Stick

Aim Sensitivity: adjusts the sensitivity of movement of the Right Stick whilst aiming

Aim Sensitivity (Scoped): adjusts the sensitivity of movement of the Right Stick whilst aiming down sight

Controller Gameplay Options

A screenshot of the gameplay settings
A screenshot of the gameplay settings

Invert Tap/Hold abilities: swaps the input methods for abilities

Auto Swap on Empty: if a weapon runs out of ammo, the next available weapon will be drawn

Reload with Context Action Input: maps the reload action to be the same as context action (Square, X, Y)

Melee with Fire Weapon Input: swaps the melee attack to be the same as fire weapon (R2/RT/ZR)

Melee Auto Targeting: melee attacks will aim for the enemy when close to one

Camera Tracks Melee Targets: camera redirects automatically to a melee target

Align Attacks to Camera: melee attacks always occur in the direction of where the camera is facing, even if the character is not facing the same direction as the camera

Crouch Button is Toggle: changes the crouch action from a hold to a toggle

Controller Deadzone Options

A screenshot of the deadzone settings
A screenshot of the deadzone settings

Left Stick Deadzone: sets how much the Left Stick needs to be moved for an input to be registered

Left Stick Axial Deadzone: sets the angle difference below in which the stick direction is snapped to the horizonal and vertical axes

Left Stick Maximum Input Threshold: how far the stick must be moved towards the edge to be considered at the maximum distance

Deadzone settings can also be adjusted for the Right Stick.

Trigger Press Threshold: sets how much downward movement from the released state is required to register a press

Trigger Release Threshold: sets how much upward movement from the pressed state is required to register a press

Accessibility Menu Options

A screenshot of the accessibility settings
A screenshot of the accessibility settings

Hold to Sprint: turning this off will allow sprinting to be toggled

Hold to Aim: turning this off will allow aiming to be toggled

Repeated Button Presses: choose between a tap or a hold

Enable Controller Aim Assist: the aiming reticle will lock on to enemies more easily therefore reducing the need for Right Stick

We hope that this post has been useful. If you have any questions about motor accessibility in video games, please visit the ‘Contact Us’ page.

Developer Resource:

SpecialEffect DevKit logo

For more video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their games, please visit https://specialeffectdevkit.info/

Dead Cells | Motor Accessibility Video

Thumbnail image video. It reads Mootr Accessibility, Dead Cells. A pixel character on a platform holds a bright light above their head.

 
Show Transcript

Dead Cells Video Script

Dead Cells [PEGI 16] is a roguelike-Metroidvania where you make your way through procedurally-generated levels defeating enemies and collecting power-ups and weapons along the way. It is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac, iOS, and Android.

An Assist Mode has been released as an update for the game. The mode has a variety of settings that could help some players when enabled. In this video, we will be looking at the settings related to the motor accessibility of the game found in this Assist Mode, such as an Auto-Hit option, Damage Reduction options, and a Multiple Deaths option. We will also look at options related to motor accessibility that are found in the Gameplay and Controller menus such as remapping options and alternatives to multiple input presses, in some instances.

Footage has been captured directly on a PlayStation 5 console from a PlayStation 4 version of the game.

Assist Mode Menu:

By default, you unlock part of the map as you make your way through each level. You can choose to Reveal the Map of the level you’re currently in to help navigate and reach the end of the level, and to locate power-ups and weapons.

Turning on Auto-Hit allows you to automatically attack enemies with a melee weapon when you’re within close proximity to them. This reduces the need to press the Attack button. This does not apply for bow weapons.

When you turn on the Destroy Doors option, you no longer have to press a button to open them or break them as running towards a door will automatically break them.

Easier Parry provides a larger window to parry attacks with a shield, meaning you can be less accurate in timing a button press to deflect an attack.

You can slow down the activation of mobile traps by turning on the Slower Traps option.

You can set how much damage you take from traps, ranging from 20-100%.

You can also set how much health enemies have, also ranging from 20-100%.

You can adjust how much damage enemies provide, also ranging from 20-100%.

By default, if your character’s health reaches zero, you have to start the game from the very first level. The Multiple Deaths option allows you to be resurrected from your last save point. You can set how many times you can be resurrected per run, choosing between 1, 3, 7, or infinite.

Controller Menu:

You can rebind many controller mappings used in gameplay. You can also alter the Left Stick dead zone below these mappings.

You can choose whether the Secondary Interaction is activated by using a default long press or using a custom input which is unassigned until mapped to an input in the Bindings menu.

You can choose whether a Dive Attack uses a default combination of Jump and Down inputs or whether you hold Down whilst airborne or tap Down twice. You can also rebind this action.

You can also swap the Left Stick and Right Stick functions in the Additional Settings part of the Controller Menu, where you can choose to change the sticks to be a Bound Input and so map their individual directions to actions in the Rebinding menu. If you do this, however, the stick will no longer function for movement or camera movement even in unbound directions. The bound actions will only apply in-game and not in menus.

The D-pad function can also be used for Movement or Camera Movement. You can also set each D-pad direction to be remappable rather than used for movement by default.

You can also turn off Vibration in this menu.

Gameplay Menu:

There are other settings found in the gameplay menu that aren’t part of the Assist Mode but may be useful for reducing multiple button inputs.

You can set the jump action to continuously occur as long as the jump button is held down rather than performing the action with individual button presses. This means that you can double jump by holding the Jump input rather than tapping it twice. You can also do the same for the Attack and Rolling actions.

Rather than holding the shield button to activate, you can set it as a toggle so pressing it once will pull out your shield and pressing it again will put it away. To parry with this option turned on you’d have to press the shield button twice.

Smart Roll interrupts a roll if it would cause you to fall from a high platform.

We hope you found this video useful. If you have any further questions about the motor accessibility of the game, please get in touch with SpecialEffect.

For game developers who are interested in more video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their games for players, please visit the SpecialEffect DevKit at specialeffectdevkit.info.

Dead Cells [PEGI 16] is a rogue-like Metroidvania where you make your way through procedurally-generated levels defeating enemies and collecting power-ups and weapons along the way. It is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac, iOS, and Android. An Assist Mode has been released as an update for the game. The mode has a variety of settings that could help some players when enabled.

In this video, we will be looking at the settings related to the motor accessibility of the game found in this Assist Mode, such as an Auto-Hit option, Damage Reduction options, and a Multiple Deaths option. We will also look at options related to motor accessibility that are found in the Gameplay and Controller menus such as remapping options and alternatives to multiple input presses, in some instances.

Footage has been captured directly on a PlayStation 5 console from a PlayStation 4 version of the game.

Timestamps: 1:19 Assist Mode Menu, 3:24 Controller Menu and 5:20 Gameplay Menu.


Music: My Lord by Yarin Primak, Time Warp by Notice, Priceless (Instrumental Version) by Curtis Cole and Cloud of Memories by Macifif (all from artist.io)

Developer Resource:

SpecialEffect DevKit logo

For more video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their games, please visit https://specialeffectdevkit.info/