How to Set Up a Walk Forward Button | Video

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Transcription…

First- and third-person games often require the use of both of the analog sticks that you find on a controller, with one stick for player movement, and another for controlling the camera for looking or aiming.

In this video we are going to have a look at how a walk forward button can be used, which might be helpful for players who find it difficult to use two analog sticks. This usually may involve some additional hardware, such as an accessibility switch, to create this.

A walk forward button means that you can use a stick for aiming and looking around, and a button to make the character walk forward. In many first-person games, this can work as the character will always walk forward in the direction that you are looking in. For third-person games, this option will only usually work if the camera follows directly behind the character – like here, in Fortnite.

Whilst not having access to the other three directions on the Left Stick for left, right and backward movement may restrict the way you play, for some players it can be a way to have greater control over camera movement, when using two sticks is difficult or impossible.

We will show how to create a walk forward button for console games, and we’ll have a look at some examples of games where this option can work well.

Using Remapping to Create a Walk Forward Button

Occasionally, some games allow you to map joystick directions onto buttons. Therefore, you could have the option to map the walk forward action from the Up direction on the Left Stick to another input on the controller. Here, in Battlefield 6, I am using the Left Bumper to walk forward and the Right Stick for looking and aiming. The Right Stick is also used to control the direction I move in, as I walk forwards in the direction that I am currently looking.

Not every game has this option, however. It is also worth noting that whilst games consoles do offer remapping at system level, they do not currently allow you to remap an individual stick direction to a button input to allow you to set up a walk forward button.

Therefore, for games that do not have this option to swap controls from individual stick directions to buttons to create a set-up that includes a walk forward button, you may need to use additional hardware.

Next, we will have a look at hardware options that we use at SpecialEffect, for each of the current generation of consoles.

Xbox Series Consoles

On Xbox, it is possible to map a walk forward button via the Xbox Adaptive Controller. The Xbox Adaptive Controller is a controller interface that lets you connect joysticks and accessibility switches to create a customised layout. It can also be used paired to a standard Xbox controller.

By default, the X1 port on the back of the Xbox Adaptive Controller is mapped to Up on the Left Stick. Plugging in an accessibility switch will allow players to hold this button down to walk forward, and then use a joystick, or the analog stick on a standard controller, to change the character’s direction and aim. Here we are trying a walk forward button in Halo Infinite. I use the joystick to look around and the switch as a walk forward button to move in the direction that I am facing.

On the Xbox Adaptive Controller, you have the option to make the switch a toggle, so you can press the switch to start walking forward and press it again to stop.

PlayStation 5 Console

On PlayStation 5, there are a few potential ways to set up a walk forward button. By default, the Access controller, which is the PlayStation 5’s official adaptive controller, does not have the option to set up a walk forward button. However, by setting the E1 switch port to Left Stick, you can create a walk forward button by plugging in the Walk Box which is available from OneSwitch.

By then plugging in an accessibility switch into the Walk Box, you can use a single stick to control the camera and direction, and the accessibility switch to walk forward. There is also an optional speed control upgrade, which allows you to choose how fast you want the character to walk.

An alternative option on PS5 would be to use the Catch 22, a third-party device also made and sold via OneSwitch.  You can plug an accessibility switch in to act as Left Stick Up, which would act as walk forward. You do not need the Walk Box for this set-up. Here we are trying the Catch 22 in Call of Duty. I use the joystick to look around, aim and choose a direction which I will walk in when I hold down my switch.

To make any of these options act as a toggle, so you don’t need to hold the button down to walk forward, a latching box could be added to the set-up. This would mean a single press is used to start walking and another press is used to stop.

Nintendo Switch 2 Console

The Hori Flex, which is the officially licensed adaptive controller interface for the Nintendo Switch and the Switch 2, does not have the option for a walk forward button. However, you can get a ‘Switch to Joystick Box’ from  OneSwitch which allows you to use switches for up, down, left and right joystick directions. Connecting this into the joystick port on the Hori Flex, if I then plug a switch into the Up direction, I can use this to walk forward. I change direction using my joystick to walk in the direction I am facing.

A version of the Catch 22 is available for both the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. We plug a switch into the walk port to use as our walk forward button. Here, we are playing Fortnite.

Fortnite does also include a feature which allows you to toggle on sprint forwards by double tapping the Left Stick Click. To stop, either press the Left Stick Click button once more or press Up on the Left Stick ie your walk forward button if you have one set up.

A latching box could be added to the set-up. This would mean a single press is used to start walking and another press is used to stop, rather than holding the switch down.


Considerations

A walk forward button will not work well for all games.

In first-person games, it may be down to personal preference as to whether using a walk forward button suits your style of play in a particular game. For instance, if you want to be able to strafe left and right to move in and out of cover, then another method of play may be more suitable. It may be that a walk forward button is suitable for most of a game, but occasionally you need to access down on the Left Stick to climb backwards down a ladder, for example.

A walk forward button may also not work well in all contexts within first-person games either. When playing Red Dead Redemption 2 in first person, for instance, the walk forward button can work. However, when riding the horse, the player needs to use both sticks to control the horse and aim, as the right analogue stick does not control the direction that the horse is moving in as it is used to look around and aim whilst on horseback.

This can also be true for first-person games where you have to drive vehicles such as tanks or helicopters when not on foot. So, in some games with a first-person camera view, you may still find that a walk forward button is not the best option in all in-game situations.

As before, it is worth looking at in-game options and settings, to see if there are any settings that will aid you when using a walk forward button. For instance, in Red Dead Redemption 2, you could switch to third-person mode whilst on horseback, which allows you to ride with a walk forward button.

In Battlefield 6, which includes various ground and air vehicles, you could remap the vehicle controls. The importance of this may depend on how you choose to play these games and whether you like to use the vehicles or not. Aircraft and helicopters, for instance, are designed to be controlled with simultaneous use of both sticks with movement in all directions, so may not be able to be controlled without two sticks.

Alternatives to a Walk Forward Button

As an alternative to using a walk forward button set-up, some in-game features or additional hardware options, can allow players to play games that require two analog sticks, with one instead. We will go through a few of the features and methods that we use at SpecialEffect.

Single Stick Modes

Alternatives to a walk forward button may include features that let you play with a single stick when two are required by default. Some games like Sea of Thieves, offer a single stick control mode, that allow you to use the same stick for both inputs, using a button to toggle between them.

Swap Sticks Button

When there is not a mode built into the game, setting up a ‘swap sticks button’ allows you to use one joystick for both Left and Right stick inputs. For more on doing this via ‘profile shifting’, please see the link below in the description.

Adding a Second Joystick

We will often work with someone to try and add a second joystick to a controller set-up, when possible. This may involve positioning a joystick to enable someone to access it with another part of their body. For instance, it may be with their chin or with their foot. We will link to more information on the position of joysticks below.

Cooperative Play

Sharing controls is also an option some players we work with use. So, one player may control the Right Stick for looking and the other may do the Left Stick for movement. Or they take care of some of the other controls, freeing up the player to use both sticks. More information on cooperative play can be found in our video on this.

Voice Controls

When someone is unable to use a second joystick, one of the options we may consider is using voice as an input. In these instances, we might use voice as an input for a walk forward command but also add commands to be able to move left, right and backward on the Left Stick, too. To use voice on a console, you need to add a PC into your set-up along with adapters. More information on this can be found in our voice control series linked in the description.

We hope that this video has been helpful in highlighting how a walk forward button could be used as an option for players to use in some games. More information on in-game accessibility features and alternative controllers and set-ups can be found on our GameAccess website.

For developers looking for more video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their games, these can be found on the SpecialEffect DevKit.


For instance, other examples of how games have allowed players to swap controls between analog sticks and digital buttons, can be found in module 2.5, ‘Interchanging Analog with Digital’.

To see how other developers have reduced the use of analog sticks to a single stick, please see module 2.8, ‘Reducing the Total Number of Inputs’.

Walk Forward Button

First- and third-person games often require use of both of the analog sticks that you find on a controller, with one stick for player movement, and another for controlling the camera for looking or aiming.

In this video we are going to have a look at how a walk forward button can be used, which might be helpful for players who find it difficult to use two analog sticks. This usually may involve some additional hardware, such as an accessibility switch, to create this.

A walk forward button means that you can use a stick for aiming and looking around, and a button to make the character walk forward. In many first-person games, this can work as the character will always walk forward in the direction that you are looking in. For third-person games, this option will only usually work if the camera follows directly behind the character – like here, in Fortnite.

Whilst not having access to the other three directions on the Left Stick for left, right and backward movement may restrict the way you play, for some players it can be a way to have greater control over camera movement, when using two sticks is difficult or impossible.

We will show how to create a walk forward button for console games, and we’ll have a look at some examples of games where this option can work well.

Using Remapping to Create a Walk Forward Button

Occasionally, some games allow you to map joystick directions onto buttons. Therefore, you could have the option to map the walk forward action from the Up direction on the Left Stick to another input on the controller. Here, in Battlefield 6, I am using the Left Bumper to walk forward and the Right Stick for looking and aiming. The Right Stick is also used to control the direction I move in, as I walk forwards in the direction that I am currently looking.

Not every game has this option, however. It is also worth noting that, whilst game consoles do offer remapping at system level, they do not currently allow you to remap an individual stick direction to a button input to allow you to set up a walk forward button.

Therefore, for games that do not have this option to swap controls from individual stick directions to buttons to create a set-up that includes a walk forward button, you may need to use additional hardware.

Next, we will have a look at hardware options that we use at SpecialEffect, for each of the current generation of consoles.

Xbox Series Consoles

On Xbox, it is possible to map a walk forward button via the Xbox Adaptive Controller. The Xbox Adaptive Controller is a controller interface that lets you connect joysticks and accessibility switches to create a customised layout. It can also be used paired to a standard Xbox controller.

By default, the X1 port on the back of the Xbox Adaptive Controller is mapped to Up on the Left Stick. Plugging in an accessibility switch will allow players to hold this button down to walk forward, and then use a joystick, or the analogue stick on a standard controller, to change the characters direction and aim. Here we are trying a walk forward button in Halo Infinite. I use the joystick to look around and the switch as a walk forward button to move in the direction that I am facing.

On the Xbox Adaptive Controller, you have the option to make the switch a toggle, so you can press the switch to start walking forward and press it again to stop.

PlayStation 5 Console

On PlayStation 5, there are a few potential ways to set up a walk forward button. By default, the Access controller, which is the PlayStation 5’s official adaptive controller, does not have the option to set up a walk forward button. However, by setting the E1 switch port to Left Stick, you can create a walk forward button by plugging in the Walk Box which is available from OneSwitch.

By then plugging in an accessibility switch into the walk box, you can use a single stick to control the camera and direction, and the accessibility switch to walk forward. There is also an optional speed control upgrade, which allows you to choose how fast you want the character to walk.

An alternative option on PS5 would be to use the Catch 22, a third-party device also made and sold via OneSwitch.  You can plug an accessibility switch in to act as Left Stick up, which would act as walk forward. You do not need the walk box for this set-up. Here we are trying the Catch 22 in Call of Duty. I use the joystick to look around, aim and choose a direction which I will walk in when I hold down my switch.

To make any of these options act as a toggle, so you don’t need to hold the button down to walk forward, a latching box could be added to the set-up. This would mean a single press is used to start walking and another press is used to stop.

Nintendo Switch 2 Console

The Hori Flex, which is the officially licensed adaptive controller interface for the Nintendo Switch and the Switch 2, does not have the option for a walk forward button. However, you can get a ‘Switch to Joystick Box’ from  OneSwitch which allows you to use switches for up, down, left and right joystick directions. Connecting this into the joystick port on the Hori Flex, if I then plug a switch into the Up direction, I can use this to walk forward. I change direction using my joystick to walk in the direction I am facing.

A version of the Catch 22 is available for both the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. We plug a switch into the walk port to use as our walk forward button. Here, we are playing Fortnite.

Fortnite does also include a feature which allows you to toggle on sprint forwards by double tapping the Left Stick Click. To stop, either press the Left Stick Click button once more or press Up on the Left Stick ie your walk forward button if you have set one up.

A latching box could be added to the set-up. This would mean a single press is used to start walking and another press is used to stop, rather than holding the switch down.


Considerations

A walk forward button will not work well for all games.

In first-person games, it may be down to personal preference as to whether using a walk forward button suits your style of play in a particular game. For instance, if you want to be able to strafe left and right to move in and out of cover, then another method of play may be more suitable. It may be that a walk forward button is suitable for most of a game, but occasionally you need to access down on the Left Stick to climb backwards down a ladder, for example.

A walk forward button may also not work well in all contexts within first-person games either. When playing Red Dead Redemption 2 in first person, for instance, the walk forward button can work. However, when riding the horse, the player needs to use both sticks to control the horse and aim, as the right analogue stick does not control the direction that the horse is moving as it is used to look around and aim whilst on horseback.

This can also be true for first-person games where you have to drive vehicles such as tanks or helicopters when not on foot. So, in some games with a first-person camera view, you may still find that a walk forward button is not the best option in all in-game situations.

As before, it is worth looking at in-game options and settings, to see if there are any settings that will aid you when using a walk forward button. For instance, in Red Dead Redemption 2, you could switch to third-person mode whilst on horseback, which allows you to ride with a walk forward button.

In Battlefield 6, which includes various ground and air vehicles, you could remap the vehicle controls. The importance of this may depend on how you choose to play these games and whether you like to use the vehicles or not. Aircraft and helicopters, for instance are designed to be controlled with simultaneous use of both sticks with movement is all directions, so may not be able to be controlled without two sticks.

Alternatives to a Walk Forward Button

As an alternative to using a walk forward button set-up, some in-game features or additional hardware options, can allow players to play games that require two analog sticks, with one instead. We will go through a few of the features and methods that we use at SpecialEffect:

Single Stick Modes

Alternatives to a walk forward button may include features that let you play with a single stick when two are required by default. Some games like, Sea of Thieves, offer a single stick control mode, that allows you to use the same stick for both inputs. Using a button to toggle between them.

Swap Sticks Button

When there is not a mode built into the game, setting up a ‘swap sticks button’ allows you to use one joystick for both the Left and Right stick inputs. For more on doing this via ‘profile shifting’, please see the link below in the description.

Adding a Second Joystick

We will often work with someone to try and add a second joystick to a controller set-up, when possible. This may involve positioning a joystick to enable someone to access it with another part of their body. For instance, it may be with their chin or with their foot. We will link to more information on the position of joysticks below.

Cooperative Play

Sharing controls is also an option some players we work with use. So, one player may control the Right Stick for looking and the other may do the Left Stick for movement. Or they take care of some of the other controls, freeing up the player to use both sticks. More information on cooperative play can be found in our video on this.

Voice Controls

When someone is unable to use a second joystick, one of the options we may consider using is voice as an input. In these instances, we might use voice as an input for a walk forward command but also add commands to be able to move left, right and backward on the Left Stick, too. To use voice on a console, you need to add a PC into your set-up along with adapters. More information on this can be found in our voice control series linked in the description.

We hope that this video has been helpful in highlighting how a walk forward button could be used as an option for players to use in some games. More information on in-game accessibility features and alternative controllers and set-ups can be found on our GameAccess website.

For developers looking for more video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their games, these can be found on the SpecialEffect DevKit.


For instance, other examples of how games have allowed players to swap controls between analog sticks and digital buttons, can be found in module 2.5, ‘Interchanging Analog with Digital’.

To see how other developers have reduced the use of analog sticks to a single stick, please see module 2.8, ‘Reducing the Total Number of Inputs’.

First- and third-person games often use both of the joysticks that you find on a controller. One is for player movement and the other for controlling the camera, to look and aim.

In this video, we look at how a ‘walk forward button’ can be set up for players who find it difficult to use two joysticks. A walk forward button allows you to use a joystick to look and aim and a button to make the character walk forward. We will go through the type of games that this control method may be suitable for, the hardware required and some of the alternative options available.

Timestamps

0:00 | Introduction
1:08 | Using Remapping to Create a Walk Forward Button
1:58 | Hardware
             2:07 Xbox Series Controls
             3:00 PlayStation 5 Console
             4:14 Nintendo Switch 2 Console
5:20 | Considerations
7:23 | Alternatives to a Walk Forward Button
             7:38 Single Stick Modes
             8:00 Swap Sticks Button
             8:34 Cooperative Play
             8:56 Voice Controls
9:24| Outro
9:39 | Game Developer Information

Equipment

Screenshot from the video showing the back of the Xbo x Adaptive Controller with the 3.5mm port from an accessibility switch connected into the X1 switch port.

Please find below a list of the equipment mentioned in the video:

Alternatives to a Walk Forward Button

Screenshot of a horse being ridden in First-person view in Red Dead Redemption 2.

Please find links below to more information on the alternative control methods mentioned in the video:

SpecialEffect’s Developer Resource:

SpecialEffect DevKit logo

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

For developers looking for more video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their games, these can be found on the SpecialEffect DevKit.

For instance, other examples of how games have allowed players to swap controls between analog sticks and digital buttons, can be found in module 2.5, ‘Interchanging Analog with Digital‘.

To see how other developers have reduced the use of analog sticks to a single stick, please see module 2.8, ‘Reducing the Total Number of Inputs‘.

Video by Tom Williams
Music credits: Wav Two – Ocean Hued, Wav Two – Intertwined Fate, WOOLFSON – Dreams and Randy Sharp – Affogato.

Nuclear Blaze | Difficulty Settings & Kid Mode Video

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Transcript…

Nuclear Blaze 

Nuclear Blaze is a 2D action-adventure game developed by Deepnight Games. You play as a firefighter, exploring a secret military facility, rescuing kittens and putting out fires. As you play, you unlock more abilities that you will need to keep making progress and also learn more about the facility.

Nuclear Blaze has several difficulty settings that can help make the game more accessible, and also has a ‘Kid Mode’, which are a set of levels that have been designed to make the game more accessible for younger players, but which can also make the game more accessible for players of all ages.

In this video, we will take a look at the gameplay and controls and also focus on the settings and ‘Kid Mode’. This game is available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series consoles and Windows PC. All footage captured in this video will be on Nintendo Switch, and we will be looking at the Nintendo Switch version of the game, including the controls and settings, but these settings are featured in all versions of the game, regardless of platform.

Controls 

Nuclear Blaze can be played with a single joystick, or the D-pad, to move your character. You use one button for spraying water from the hose, called ‘Watering’, which you often have to hold down for a period of time. Watering is used to put out fires, and also there is some combat in later stages of the game, where you use water to defeat enemies. Another button is used for jumping. You will need to move the joystick at the same time as jumping. You also need a Use button to interact with items, such as switching off the gas pipes. This button needs to be held down when interacting.  

You also unlock extra moves and abilities during gameplay, which you will need to progress further. You unlock these by collecting them during some of the early levels. These are the ability to spray water upwards, downwards, and also to evade. In the Controls menu, you will also notice that the evade ability is called Dodge.

To spray water upwards, you can press up on the D-pad or the left analog stick and then press the Watering button. However, you can alternatively press the Right Bumper button which means you do not need to press up on the analog stick or D-pad to spray up.   

You can also spray down, which also provides your character with a shield which you need at certain points. You can do this by pressing down and the Watering button together, or you can press the Left Bumper button. This move also allows you to put out fires on levels below you.

You will also have a button mapped to Dodge. You can also, and at times may need to, Jump and then Dodge. 

You can check the controls by pausing the game, and going to ‘Controls’ or via the ‘Settings’ in the Main Menu. You can also remap the buttons. If, for example, you wanted to change Jump from B to A, you can do this by pressing the A button to open up the option to remap the controls, and then in this case pressing A again. Note that it un-maps the Dodge button, and to have access to this move you will need to map it to another button; you cannot try to double up buttons. If you forget to map a button, the game will let you play, but you will not be able to activate the particular move that you have left unmapped.  

Although you can remap all buttons, you cannot remap the analog stick or put button presses onto the analog stick directions. Select ‘restore to default’ to revert back to the default controls.  

Settings Menu 

You can access the settings from the main menu and also when you pause the game. If you want to change a setting and then make that change active immediately, you will need to restart the level. If you do not restart the level, a message will come up on-screen.

Difficulty Settings 

When you first pause the game, you will notice that the game difficulty is, by default, set to 65%. Adjusting the various individual settings listed under Difficulty, will adjust this overall difficulty percentage. For instance, you could reduce the difficulty of each of the settings, which could bring the difficulty rating down to 0%, depending on what you choose. These settings are your Armor levels, if you have Extra Water and a Powerful Water Hose and the amount that fire spreads. We will now have a look at each of these: 

Armor – In the game you can collect armour which allows you to take an extra hit in game. You can also set the armour from 0, to 1, 2 or unlimited. With armour on, once you are hit the fire all around your character will be automatically put out by a spray of water.  By default, the armour is set to 0. This means that your character will lose a life the first time he is hit. However, setting it to 1 means you can take one hit without losing a life, and the second hit will result in the loss of a life. Setting it to 2 gives you two hits. You can also set armour to unlimited, which makes your character invincible in most situations. There are some specific moments where you may lose a life, such as if you try to progress in a certain level prior to collecting the evade ability. Collecting the evade ability would then help overcome this section.

Extra Water – During gameplay, to the right of the screen, you can see how much water you have left in your water tank. Spraying water will slowly empty this tank. By default, Extra Water is set to Off. If you feel that you are running out of water too quickly, you can set this to On, which gives you roughly double the amount of water.

Powerful Water Hose – By default, Powerful Water Hose is set to ‘Off.’ You can select this to be ‘On’ instead. When ‘On’, this makes the hose range longer and also more effective at putting out fires. It still uses up water at a similar rate to having this option set to ‘Off’. 

Fire Spreading – By default, fire spreading is set to normal. This means that fire will spread across the map, and after you have put out certain parts, it can spread back into that area of the level. You can change this from ‘Normal’ to ‘Slower’, meaning it spreads at a slower pace, or you can switch fire spreading off completely.

Hold My Beer Mode – Completing the main game unlocks ‘Hold My Beer’ mode, which is described as a reimagining of the game world with new areas, items and threats. In this mode, fire also spreads much faster.  There are also automatic gun turrets which will shoot at you and can be destroyed by spraying them with water. 

In this mode, by default, difficulty is set to 100%. You can adjust all of the same individual (difficulty) settings that are found in the standard game mode and can bring the difficulty down to 50%.

Kid Mode 

‘Kid Mode’ is a set of specially made levels in which the aiming, jumping and platforming is automated. The original game was intended to be a game the developer’s 3-year-old child could play, but as the main game became too complex the ‘Kid Mode’ levels were added by the developer to provide a ‘better experience for very young kids’, by reducing the number of control inputs required. The levels also include specific level design, rules and gameplay to accompany this. 

You can play this entire mode with a single stick for player movement and a single button. Pressing any buttons on the controller will spray the hose, and you only need to move the left analog stick left and right, as the character will automatically jump over obstacles and will automatically climb up ladders when you walk towards them.

The hose will automatically aim, so the player only needs to hold down one of the buttons to fire the hose. The aim of this mode is to put out the fires and rescue all of the kittens on each stage.  

Pausing the game will not give the option to change the difficulty settings that we have previously covered in this video, as they are not required for this mode, and you do not need any of the extra abilities. In this mode, your character is also invincible, so cannot die.

(Outro) 

Thank you for watching this video. We hope that it has been useful in introducing you to some of the settings in Nuclear Blaze. For more information on settings such as the ones featured in this video in other games, or for information on alternative controllers, please visit the SpecialEffect GameAccess site.   

For developers looking for more video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their games, these can be found on the SpecialEffect DevKit.  

For instance, to automate certain digital or analog actions, like Nuclear Blaze’s ‘Kid Mode’ does, please see modules 7.3 and 7.4 in the Simplification topic. 

And to see how other developers have allowed players to customise their difficulty, please see module 6.3 in the Assistance Topic. 


Nuclear Blaze [PEGI 7] is a 2D action-adventure game developed by Deepnight Games. You play as a firefighter, exploring a secret military facility, rescuing kittens and putting out fires. As you play, you unlock more abilities that you will need to keep making progress, and also learn more about the facility.

Nuclear Blaze has several difficulty settings that can help make the game more accessible, and also has a ‘Kid Mode’, which are a set of levels that have been designed to make the game more accessible for younger players, but which can also make the game more accessible for players of all ages.

In this video we will take a look at the gameplay and controls, and also focus on the difficulty settings and ‘Kid Mode’.  The game is available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series consoles and Windows PC. All footage captured in this video will be on Nintendo Switch, and we will be looking at the Nintendo Switch version of the game, including the controls and settings, but these settings are featured in all versions of the game, regardless of platform. 

Timestamps

0:00 | Intro
1:02 | Controls
3:40 | Difficulty Settings
6:34 | Kid Mode
7:47 | Outro
8:04 | Developer Resources

Controls (for Game Controllers)

Use = X or D-pad Down (Nintendo) / Y or D-pad Down (Xbox) / Triangle or D-pad Down (PlayStation)
Watering = Y or ZR (Nintendo) / X or RT (Xbox) / Square or R2 (PlayStation)
Jump = B (Nintendo) / A (Xbox) / Cross (PlayStation)
Restart = – (Nintendo) / View (Xbox) / Share (PlayStation)
Dodge = A (Nintendo) / B (Xbox) / Circle (PlayStation)

SpecialEffect’s Developer Resource:

SpecialEffect DevKit logo

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

For instance, to automate certain digital or analog actions, like Nuclear Blaze’s ‘Kid Mode’ does, please see modules 7.3 (Automatic Digital Actions) and 7.4 (Automatic Analog Actions) in the Simplification topic. 

And to see how other developers have allowed players to customise their difficulty, please see module 6.3 Game Difficulty in the Assistance topic. 

Video by Tom Williams

Music credits:
Yestalgia – August Rains
Yestalgia – Lighter Than Air
Yestalgia – About Last Night

Star Wars Outlaws | Motor Accessibility Video

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Transcript…

Star Wars Outlaws is an action-adventure game developed by Massive Entertainment. It is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series consoles, and PC. You play as Kay Vess, a new character for the Star Wars franchise, and the game features a variety of different gameplay elements, including stealth and shooting when on foot, driving a speeder bike, and also piloting a starship. The game utilises the whole of the controller, but there are a range of different accessibility settings that may improve the motor accessibility of the game for players. In this video, we will be having a look at some of these options and options that affect the gameplay, too.

This will include options such as the ‘Motor Preset’ setting that affects a wide range of controller and gameplay elements. We will also be looking at the individual settings within the menus, that may also improve the motor accessibility for players.

We will be focussing on playing the game using a controller, however, on PC, the game can also be played using mouse and keyboard. All footage captured in this video are on either Xbox Series X or S consoles.  

The settings can be accessed from the main menu, or by pausing the game at any time.

Accessibility Presets

On first loading the game, you are prompted to choose whether to use any of the accessibility presets or not. This turns on a range of settings that aim to make the game more accessible. The group of settings changed using the presets can each be altered in the options and gameplay menus, but the Presets aim to make this easier, by turning on a group of settings together. Here we will have a look at some of the presets that might be helpful for some of the people we work with.

Gameplay Experience – It is possible to pick a Gameplay Experience preset, ranging from Explorer, Adventurer, Outlaw, or Scoundrel –  or you can create a custom preset and adjust the individual settings amended by using the preset. Picking a preset from this selection will adjust a variety of combat and minigame difficulty settings, including player health, enemy difficulty and the difficulty of individual minigames.  

Motor Preset – There is also the Motor Preset. You can choose to have the Motor preset on or off, or you can create a custom preset. Selecting to have the Motor preset ‘On’ will switch on a variety of settings which will reduce the number of actions, and how much precision, timing and effort that they need.

Examples of the settings changed by using the Motor Preset include changing many of the hold actions to a press of the input instead. It also means certain actions will be carried out automatically, such as mantling or vaulting small objects, as well as hopping to the next climbable object.  Like the gameplay experience preset, it will also change the difficulty of individual minigames.

We will look at each of the settings featured within their menus later on in the video.

You can also customise each setting within the preset within the preset menu itself, by using the ‘customize’ shortcut button, displayed at the bottom of the screen. 

If you change any presets, you will get an onscreen ‘Warning’ message, updating you on any settings that will change. If by turning the Motor Preset ‘On’, you change any settings that are also within the Gameplay Experience presets, then the Gameplay Experience preset will automatically become a ‘custom’ preset. The Motor Accessibility preset options will override any individual settings that conflict within the Gameplay Experience preset.

Cognitive Preset – You can also choose to have the cognitive preset on, off, or create a custom preset. This will each switch on or off a range of settings that can help make text clearer, and reduce how much you need to think about and how quickly you need to react. Although these are geared more towards helping to make the game more accessible from a cognitive perspective, some of them may also help players who need more time to physically press buttons, or need to reduce controls due to fatigue. Again some of the settings changed in this preset overlap with the gameplay and motor accessibility presets, so changing the cognitive preset will affect the settings previously set under those .

The accessibility presets can be accessed from the in-game pause menu. The motor accessibility preset is found within in the Gameplay preset menu.  You can also access the individual settings that are changed by using the presets, within individual menus. We will take a look at these menus and the individual settings in more detail.

Settings

Within the settings menu, there are a wide range of settings that can be adjusted individually,The first menu we will look at is the Gameplay menu.

Gameplay Menu

Gameplay Menu > Combat

In the gameplay menu, the first group are settings hereare a range of combat settings, and we will now go through each of these.

Enemy Difficulty – You can change the enemy difficulty from ‘Story’ to ‘Hard’. This will affect how much damage enemies take when you attack them and how they react to your actions.

Player Health – Player health can be adjusted from ‘Story’ to ‘’Hard. This affects overall player health, which adjust how much damage you can take and how frequently you can be damaged.

Wanted Difficulty – During gameplay, Kay can become wanted by the Empire. By setting the Wanted difficulty between Story to Hard, the player can decide how difficult it is to escape the Empire.

Adrenaline Rush Difficulty – When in combat, Kays’s adrenaline rush bar will build up until she is able to use the adrenaline rush ability, which allows her to slow down time and shoot selected opponents.   This setting determines how much adrenaline you need to gain before being able to use adrenaline rush, and the difficulty can range from Story to Hard.

Adrenaline Rush Timer – You can select how long the timer takes to pick targets during adrenaline rush, from default, to double, to triple.

Auto-Perfect Cooling – Kay needs to let her blaster cool down after firing at enemies, before she can fire again. The player can cool the blaster down more quickly by pressing a button at the correct time when prompted. It is possible to have auto perfect cooling switched on, which will automatically cool the blaster instead of the player having to complete the timed minigame. This setting will be set to ‘On’ if using the Motor Preset.

Gameplay Menu > Movement

There are a range of different settings to help with movement, which we will look at now.

Always Sprint – By default, Kay will sprint when the sprint button is pressed. However, it is possible to put the Always Sprint setting on, which means Kay will sprint whenever the movement stick is fully pressed forwards. This setting will be turned ‘On’ if using the Motor Preset

Auto Mantle/Vault – By default, to vault over or climb up onto objects, the player has to press a button. However, with the Auto Mantle/Vault setting on, Kay will automatically jump over certain objects. This setting will be turned ‘On’ if using the Motor Preset. 

Fall Protection – By default, Kay will fall if the player makes her run or walk off of dangerous edges. Having Fall Protection on means that Kay will automatically stop moving and will not fall; it is worth noting that this may not work on all edges. On edges that it does work on, if you keep pushing forwards on the left stick, Kay will eventually fall. Also, if Kay is sprinting or jumping, she will still go over the edge.

Climbing Auto Transfer – The Climbing Auto Transfer setting means that Kay will automatically hop to the next climbable object just by moving towards it, which reduces the need for the player to press a button. You will need to have started the initial climb by jumping to the first climbable object for this setting to start working. The setting can be switched on or off. This setting will be turned ‘On’ if using the Motor Preset.

Gameplay Menu > Minigames

There are several minigames within Star Wars Outlaws. There are some settings in the gameplay menu that may help make these minigames more accessible for players, and in some instances will also allow them to auto complete the minigames.

Kessel Sabacc Cheat Minigame – Kessel Sabacc is a card game that Kay can play in certain areas. She is able to use her companion Nix to help her cheat. Cheating by default will start a minigame which requires button inputs; however, it is possible to set the cheat minigame to autocomplete by changing the setting to ‘Off’.  It is worth noting that in certain high rollers matches, Kay and Nix may not be able to cheat at all.

Lockpicking Minigame – To open certain doors or chests, Kay may need to pick locks. By default, lockpicking starts a rhythm-based challenge; however, this can be simplified. For players who wants to keep the rhythm-based game on, there are separate settings to adjust the difficulty from default to either easy to hard, and visual clues If using the Motor Preset, this will be set to ‘Easy’.

Slicing – Slicing, or hacking, electronics will by default start a minigame. This can be switched on or off .

If players choose to have the slicing mini game on, there are a couple of settings to help with this:

Slicing Attempts – The slicing attempts setting Determines how many tries you get at attempting to slice before failing. The settings to choose from are default, fewer, or more attempts. This setting will be set for ‘More’ attempts if using the Motor Preset.

Slicing numbered buttons – By default, the game uses images in the slicing minigame. These can instead be set to numbers by using the Slicing Numbered buttons setting.

Galactic Street Food Challenge – There are areas in the game where Kay and Nix with eat together, which can prompt a timing based mini game called a ‘Galactic Street Food Challenge’. It is possible to set the minigame to autocomplete. 

Galactic street food difficulty – If you choose to have the minigames set to a timed challenge rather than autocomplete, then you can adjust the difficulty of the ‘Galactic Street Food Challenge’, from ‘default’ to ‘simplified’. This setting will be set to ‘Simplified’ if using the Motor Preset.

Fast Talk – Fast talk is an unlockable ability, that gives Kay some time to react when she has been spotted during stealth gameplay. There is the option to switch this ability off if preferred. This setting will be set to ‘Off’ if using the Motor Preset. 

Fast Talk Timed Challenge – if you choose to have fast talk enabled, you can also decide if you want fast talk to be a timed challenge or for it to auto complete, by setting Fast Talk Timed challenge to off .

Nix Prompts – During the game, you can send Nix to complete certain tasks, such as distract enemies or steal items from them. By default, these Nix prompts require a button to be pressed at the right time – it is also possible to have these actions set up auto complete by changing the setting to ‘Off.  This setting will be set to ‘Off’ if using the Motor Preset

Gameplay Menu > Space Difficulty

Kay is able to pilot a starship during gameplay, either on specific missions or during free roam. There are several settings grouped under ‘Space Difficulty’ that can help, especially when in combat.

Collision Damage Prevention – By default, if Kay crashes into objects, it can cause damage to her ship. It is possible to switch on ‘collision damage prevention’ to help with this.

Ion stun protection – By default, ion damage will cause your starship to be stunned. It is possible to switch this off by using Ion Stun Protection.

Auto Throttle in Pursuit Mode – Also by default, the starship will automatically control the throttle when in pursuit mode. Holding down the aim button will put the starship into pursuit mode, controlling the throttle and the steering whilst also trying to keep at the optimal engagement distance from the target, allowing you to concentrate on shooting. It is possible to switch ‘Auto Throttle In Pursuit Mode’ off if you would prefer manual control.

Controls Menu

In the Controls settings menu, you can remap your controls and also adjust a variety of options. 

Controls Menu > Show Controller Layout

In the ‘Show Controller Layout’ sub-menu, by pressing RB or R1, you can cycle through 5 different control presets. You can also create a custom layout. Within any of the presets, pressing left or right on the d-pad allows you to view the controls for on foot, speeder and starship controls when using each of the layouts.

If you would like to remap any controls, you can do this in the ‘custom’ layout option. Go to the control you would like to remap, and press Y or Triangle to swap. Then, press the button you would like to remap this action to.

You may get a warning saying that this button is already in use. Press A or Cross to confirm, or B or Circle to cancel. By default, the function that you are remapping will swap to the other button.

You can remap button and trigger inputs with an action, but not joystick directions.

Controls Menu > Advanced Controls Sub-Menu

Advanced Controls > Advanced
Within the ‘Advanced controls’ sub-menu, within the ‘Advanced’ group of options, you can change a range of sensitivity settings, such as aiming, looking, and speeder sensitivity.

Here, you can also select to align with the horizon, which is on by default. This means that the camera will automatically face the horizon if you haven’t moved the camera for yourself for a few seconds. You may need to be moving by pushing the movement stick for this to happen, as it will not align with the horizon if you are stationary. You can switch this setting off.

You can also choose to have align with moving direction switched on, which is off by default. This means that the camera will aim to automatically move to look in the direction that Kay is facing if you haven’t moved the camera for a few seconds. This does not work if you run directly towards the camera, by pulling down on the movement stick. Both this setting and align with the horizon may be useful for people who find it difficult to always use both analogue sticks at the same time.

The ‘Change hold actions to press’ option can be turned on, to change actions that ‘require a button to be held down into a single button press, instead’. This applies to most actions, in gameplay, such as when aiming Kay’s blaster,  and also applies to the menus.

The ‘Toggle Nix mode’ option can be turned on or off independently of this. If set to ‘on’, this will disable Nix quick actions. The setting to ‘Change hold actions to a press’ will be changed to ‘On’, if using the Motor Preset.

Advanced Controls > Controller
Grouped under the ‘Controller’ header in Advanced Controls, are inner and outer deadzone settings for each stick. Changing the inner deadzone will ‘adjust the size of an area in the centre of the stick where the value is ignored’.

Changing the outer deadzone will adjust the ‘size of the outer margin of the left stick input’.

There is an option to ‘Swap Ping Objective and Nix Sense’. By default, to ping an objective, there is a press of the Up on the D-Pad and to use Nix sense you hold Up on the D-Pad. If this setting is on it will swap this over so that a hold will ping an objective and a press will use Nix Sense, instead.

Advanced Controls > Vibration – Under ‘Vibration’ are settings for the overall vibration intensity of the controller as well as individual vibration intensity for different contexts, such as when using a weapon or during traversal.

Controls Menu > Starship Controls
Grouped under the Starship Controls header, are a range of options including making certain actions toggleable:

Starship Aim Assist – The ‘Starship Aim Assist’ setting lets you choose between Follow Target or Manual Aim.

Ship Controller Sensitivity – The ‘Ship Controller Sensitivity’ setting can be adjusted between five increments, which will alter the sensitivity of looking and aiming when controlling your ship.

Pursuit Mode – When in a Starship, ‘Pursuit mode’  allows your starship to follow a targeted enemy automatically. It can be turned on or off with either a hold or a single press. This input is Left Trigger by default. Changing from the default ‘hold’ to a toggled ‘press’, is not done under the earlier mentioned ‘Change hold actions to press’ option, so will need to be done individually with this setting here instead.

Speed Boost – The ‘Speed Boost’ setting is set to ‘toggle’ by default, so you press the boost button once to turn speed boost on or off. You can change it to a hold, instead, so it will need to be held down for the duration of using speed boost.

Starship Shooting – The ‘Starship shooting’ setting can be changed from a hold to a toggle. Again, this is not changed automatically when using the ‘Change hold actions to press’ option, so needs to be done here to remove the need for a hold of the input. The Starship Shooting setting will be set to ‘Toggle’ if using the Motor Preset.

Starship Horizon Auto-Align – The ‘Starship Horizon Auto-Align’ setting, is On by default and will align your starship with the horizon automatically. You can choose to turn this off.

Controls Menu

Aim Assist – Back out of the Advanced controls menu into the main Controls menu, is the Aim Assist option. ‘On’ by default, the aim assist option may be helpful in combat situations. You can also choose to have aim assist set to strong, or off. Both of these may be helpful when at close range, but are less effective when further away from enemies.   Aim assist may not help when using long range wepaons such as sniper rifles. Aim Assist will be set to ‘Strong’ if using the Motor Preset.

Toggle Sprint – To sprint in-game, by default, you tap the sprint button when pushing forward on the movement stick. Letting go of the movement stick will stop Kay from sprinting. It is possible to map Sprint to a button hold if you prefer.

There are multiple options for inverting the camera, such as when on foot, or when flying the starship.            

Adaptive Trigger Intensity – On PS5, the strength of the DualSense Triggers can also be adjusted.

Outro

Thank you for watching this video. We hope that it has been useful in introducing you to some of the settings in Star Wars Outlaws. For more information in settings such as the ones featured in this video in other games, or for information on alternative controllers, please visit SpecialEffect’s GameAccess site. 

For developers looking for more video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their games, these can be found on the SpecialEffect DevKit.

For instance, to see more examples of how a player’s strength can be used to customise the level of challenge for a player, please see the ‘Assistance’ topic, which also includes a module on ‘Game Difficulty’. A module on ‘Timing Elements’, includes examples of how other games have implemented optional settings, like those in Outlaw’s minigames options.

Finally, the ‘Assistance’ topic also includes a module on ‘Analog Action Assists’, which includes other features, like the ‘Auto Throttle’ option in Outlaws provides.

To explore the DevKit yourself, please visit specialeffectdevkit.info


Star Wars Outlaws [PEGI 12] is an action-adventure game developed by Massive Entertainment. It is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series consoles, and PC.

You play as Kay Vess, a new character for the Star Wars franchise. The game features a variety of different gameplay elements, including stealth and shooting when on foot, driving a speeder bike, and also piloting a starship.

The game utilises the whole of the controller, but there are a range of different accessibility settings that may improve the motor accessibility of the game for players. In this video, we will be having a look at some of these options and options that affect the gameplay, too.  

This will include options such as the ‘Motor Preset’ setting that affects a wide range of controller and gameplay elements. We will also be looking at the individual settings within the menus, that may also improve the motor accessibility for players. 

We will be focusing on playing the game using a controller. However, on PC, the game can also be played using mouse and keyboard. 

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro

1:15 Accessibility Presets
          1:45 Gameplay Experience
          2:13 Motor Preset
          3:34 Cognitive Preset

3:39 Gameplay Settings Menu
          4:51 Gameplay > Combat
          7:11 Gameplay > Movement
          8:54 Gameplay > Minigames
          12:33 Gameplay > Space Difficulty

13:43 Controls Menu
          13:53 Controller Layout
          14:48 Advanced Controls > Advanced
          16:33 Advanced Controls > Controller
          17:14 Advanced Controls > Vibration
          17:34 Advanced Controls > Starship Controls
          19:33 Return to Main Controls Menu 

20:51 Outro

SpecialEffect’s Developer Resource:

SpecialEffect DevKit logo

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

For instance, to see more examples of how a player’s strength can be used to customise the level of challenge for a player, please see module 6.2 in the ‘Assistance’ topic, which also includes a module on ‘Game Difficulty’. A module on ‘Timing Elements’, includes examples of how other games have implemented optional settings, like those in Outlaw’s options for minigames.

Finally, the Assistance topic also includes a module on ‘Analog Action Assists’, which includes other features, like the ‘Auto Throttle’ option in Outlaws provides.

Video: Tom Williams

Music:
Vicate – Sunchilling
sero – Deja Vu
Aves – Coffee Stop
Benny Bronco – o k t o b u
Couture – Special Delivery

Single-Handed Play | Razer Naga

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Transcript

Intro:

At SpecialEffect, we often work with players to create a gaming set-up to enable them to play using a single hand. On PC, many games require the use of a mouse and multiple keyboard keys or buttons. For some players playing one-handed, accessing both mouse and keyboard together can be difficult.

There are multiple solutions to help with this, but one that many of the people we work with often use is a gaming mouse with additional programmable buttons. This can allow players to use the mouse movement for aiming or moving the camera in-game, and with the same hand, press the additional buttons that have been mapped to keyboard inputs.

At SpecialEffect, we often use the Razer Naga mouse for this purpose.  In this video we will introduce some of the features that can help make this work as a single-handed set-up and show some examples of its use in-game. Whilst designed for MMO games, using the extra buttons can make them suitable for additional genres of games, which we will demonstrate.

There have been several different models of the Naga mouse, and in this video, we will be looking at the Naga V2 Hyperspeed, which is a right-handed mouse, and also the Naga left-handed Edition.

Introduction to Razer Naga:

These versions of the Naga have 12 programmable buttons on the side panel that can be mapped for keyboard or mouse button inputs or for some additional actions, giving scope for them to be used with a variety of games. Players don’t need to map every button, if they don’t wish to use them all.

The Left and Right Click buttons are also reprogrammable if you want to use these buttons for other inputs.

There are two additional buttons on top which increase and decrease the sensitivity of the mouse by default, but these can also be reprogrammed. On the V2 HyperSpeed, these are near the Left Click button and on the left-handed version they are below the scroll wheel.  The scroll wheel can be clicked down or clicked to the left and right. By default, on the left-handed version tilting left on the scroll wheel scrolls down and tilting right scrolls up. On the HyperSpeed, tilting the scroll wheels scrolls left and right. Again, these are reprogrammable. On the HyperSpeed, there is also a button below the scroll wheel that changes it between tactile and free spin for scrolling. This cannot be reprogrammed.

Naga Setup:

The Naga V2 HyperSpeed is a wireless mouse, that comes with a dongle or can connect to your PC via Bluetooth. If you lift off this panel, you will find the dongle and also where to insert the single AA battery required to power the mouse. If you plug the dongle into your PC, and then flick the switch on the bottom of the mouse to 12.4, the mouse should start working straight away. If you would prefer to use Bluetooth, you can set the switch to the Bluetooth icon, and then connect via the Bluetooth settings on your PC. The left-handed Naga mouse is wired and can be plugged into a USB slot on your PC.

Once the mouse is connected, you can download and load up the Razer Synapse software, which lets you program the mouse, such as mapping the buttons. By creating an account, you can save your profiles to the cloud and access them from other computers. Here, we will continue as a guest to remap the mouse.

At the ‘Welcome to Razer Synapse’ page, click on the image of the mouse that you are going to be using. By clicking on the description of the mouse button that you would like to remap, you can set the mouse buttons to act as keyboard keys. Here we are going to map W, which is walk forward in many games, to the number 2 key from the side panel. We can now select Keyboard Function, and then press the required keyboard key. Pressing Save has saved the W key to the number 2 button on the Naga mouse.

You can also double up each button by creating a second profile, and having one button set to “Hypershift”. The Hypershift buttons allow you to change between two different profiles. You have to map one of the buttons on the mouse to become the Hypershift button, so we will use this button for Hypershift. Now we will map another mouse button to have two functions. For instance, here we have button 6 mapped to the Space key, which is Jump in Counter Strike, and we’ve also mapped it to the B key, which is used to open the “buy menu” when Hypershift is held down. So, if I press 6 now I Jump, and by holding Hypershift, when I press it again I activate the secondary function, which is to open the buy menu.   Please note that to utilise the Hypershift function, you will need to map one of the buttons to Hypershift and then you will need to keep the Hypershift button held down when you want to access the second profile. Letting go of the Hypershift button takes you back to the first profile.

Here we will show three games from different genres, to demonstrate how the mouse can work for single-handed play. It is always worth exploring the settings in-game to see if there are any that will assist you with your set-up and how you want to play, such as toggles, in-game remapping and sensitivity settings.

Game Example 1: Counter Strike 2

We have previously set up WASD for player movement, by mapping these key inputs to the 2, 1, 3 and 4 buttons. This can work for movement in-first person games such as Counter Strike 2. The mouse movement is controlling the camera and aiming, with buttons mapped for movements. I have also got button number 5 to act as Reload, and 6 to act as Jump. By default, Left Mouse Click is Shoot, and the Scroll Wheel is to Change Weapons.

Having the controls mapped in this specific layout with the buttons makes it easier for me to access Walk Forwards and Jump together, which can be important for some games in certain situations. For example, here I hold 2 to Walk Forwards and press 5 to Jump to get past an obstacle. For other games, I could choose to have these controls set up differently.

Game Example 2: Mafia

Now we are playing Mafia: Definitive Edition. Mafia is a third-person game, which involves stealth, shooting and driving. There is also a Free Roam Mode where you can explore the open world.  Here we have buttons mapped to act as WASD, for player movement in the same way as Counter Strike 2. Left and Right Mouse Click are mapped to aim and shoot when on foot, and when driving I have used the in-game settings to map these to steer left and right. Games such as Mafia often have a lot of controls, and potentially more controls than the Naga mouse has buttons. One way around this would be to use Hypershift, and map additional actions to the same buttons which would be accessed by holding down the Hypershift button.  Some gamers may be able to have the majority of the controls mapped to the mouse, with some controls that they don’t need too quickly mapped to the keyboard. Alternatively, it can also be possible to have some accessibility switches working alongside the Naga mouse, via a switch interface, or using voice controls alongside the Naga mouse may work for some people.

Game Example 3: EA FC 24              

Here I am playing EA FC. I use the mouse movement to aim my passes and shots and also the directions my players move, with and without the ball. I am using classic controls and have mapped some of the keyboard keys to the buttons on the side for the Tackle, Pass and Shoot actions. Please note, using the mouse cursor is only available in offline game modes.

Outro:

We hope that you found this video helpful. For players who are looking at alternative options such as using a console controller for their single-hand controls, please see our videos using the ‘Single Hand’ tag on GameAccess.info.

For players looking for ways to supplement the use of a mouse to play with alternative additional controls, please see our videos on using voice controls, accessibility switches or onscreen interfaces, by using the appropriate tags and categories on the GameAccess.info website.

If you have any questions about playing video games with a single hand, then please contact SpecialEffect.


In this video we look at how we use the Razer Naga gaming mouse as an option for single-handed gaming on PC.

At SpecialEffect, we often work with players to create a gaming set-up to enable them to play using a single hand. On PC, many games require the use of a mouse and multiple keyboard keys or buttons. For some players playing one-handed, accessing both mouse and keyboard together can be difficult.

There are multiple solutions to help with this, but one that many of the people we work with often use is a gaming mouse with additional programmable buttons. This can allow players to use the mouse movement for aiming or moving the camera in-game and, with the same hand, press the additional buttons that have been mapped to keyboard inputs.

At SpecialEffect, we often use the Razer Naga mouse for this purpose.  In this video we introduce some of the features that can make this work as a single-handed set-up and show some examples of its use in-game. Whilst designed for MMO games, using the extra buttons can make them suitable for additional genres of games, which we will demonstrate.

A left and right hand version of the Razer Naga next to each other on a table. They each have 12 small buttons on their inside edge.

There have been several different models of the Naga mouse. In this video, we look at the Naga V2 HyperSpeed, which is a right-handed mouse, and also the Naga Left-Handed Edition.

Video Timestamps:
0:00 | Video Introduction
1:09 | Introduction to Razer Naga
2:14 | Naga Setup
4:54 | Game Example 1: Counter-Strike 2
5:45 | Game Example 2: Mafia: Definitive Edition
6:46 | Game Example 3: EA FC 24 

For more information on single-handed controllers, please use the ‘Single Hand‘ tag on the website. 

Video by Tom Williams

Music: Mansij: Reverie, Aves: Golden Bells and Saggie: Easy to Love

Forza Motorsport | Braking, Throttle & Steering Assists Video

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Transcript

Forza Motorsport includes a wide range of options for players to customise how they play. These settings may improve the motor accessibility of the game for players. The game is available on Xbox Series X and S consoles and on Windows PC. The driving assists can be used in single player races and also in Featured Multiplayer Events online.

In this video, we are going to have a look at the Braking, Gas and Steering assists found in the Driving Assists menu. These assists can enable the player to use certain inputs less frequently or remove the need to use them altogether. For example, having steering set to Fully Assisted would mean that the player would not need to steer at all when playing.

In this video, we will have a look at each of these settings, share the developer’s descriptions of them and have a look at them in gameplay. We will also cover a few other useful settings which may be helpful alongside these assists.

There are many actions in the game which take up most of the required buttons and joystick directions on a controller. However, the required core inputs to race are Steering, Gas and Brake.

By default, you use Left Stick for Steering, Left Trigger for Braking, and Right Trigger for Gas, but these can be remapped.

We will be focussing on using a controller, such as an Xbox Wireless Controller or an Xbox Adaptive Controller to play the game. However, the game can also be played using a keyboard or a compatible steering wheel.

Pressing X from the main menu will access these settings, and you can also access them before any race or by pausing the game at any time.

It is worth noting that having certain assists on, may mean that players are more likely to make contact with other drivers.

For example, having Fully Assisted steering ‘On’, means that players are more likely to collide with other cars who are also on the racing line. They may also be more likely to experience collisions, when using Fully Assisted Braking and there are other cars directly behind them when braking.

Presets

There are several different driving assist presets and each of these can be customised to fit the player’s needs. The Global Assists Preset option allows you to adjust multiple assists by changing just one setting. The available settings are Maximum Assists, Heavy Assists, Moderate Assists, Balanced Assists, Light Assists and Minimum Assists. You can then customise each of these presets, to tailor the settings to you. The default setting is Heavy Assists, which is recommended when starting the game. This default sets the Braking and Steering assists to Partially Assisted. When changing the Preset to ‘Maximum Assists’, this would change the Braking and Steering Assists to Fully Assisted. We will explain the difference between these when going through Braking and Steering Assists.

Braking Assists

Adjusting the brake assist settings sets the amount of support you will get with braking. This will alter how much you need to use the Brake input yourself. You can still apply the brake manually at any point if using any one of the assists. The following settings are available to choose from:

Fully Assisted Braking

When a driver approaches a corner, this system automatically sets the appropriate level of brakes to get the driver through the turn. In addition, this system applies the brakes in certain circumstances to help drivers avoid rear-ending other cars. However, this can make it more challenging to pass other cars.

*The Fully Assisted Braking will only brake behind other vehicles whilst Gas is not being held.

Partially Assisted Braking

When a driver approaches a corner, this system automatically applies the correct amount of brakes to help the driver get through the turn.

Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) On

When a driver applies the brakes, this system pulses the brakes automatically to make sure that they don’t lock up.

Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) Off

The driver is in full control of the braking force. If the brakes are applied with too much force, they will lock up. As drivers master braking, they will find that this can lead to faster races.

Here I have braking set to set to Partially Assisted, which is helping me get around corners but will not stop me from rear-ending other cars. I could still brake manually by pressing the Brake input, which is Left Trigger by default.

Putting Car-to-Car Collisions to ‘Off’ can help with this as it means the cars will go through each other, rather than crashing into each other. This option is found in the Accessibility Settings under Blind Driving Assists.

Here I am changing the brakes to Fully Assisted which helps avoid crashes, by applying the brakes to stop us from rear ending other vehicles. . However, this does make overtaking more difficult.

I am using Left Stick to steer and Right Trigger for Gas to control throttle, which are the default controls when using a standard controller. Steering is still Partially Assisted.

Throttle Assist

The Throttle Assist option allows you to choose whether you will use the Gas input yourself or allow this to be applied automatically. You can still accelerate manually, to supplement this action. The following settings are available to choose from.

Unassisted Throttle:

The driver has full control of the throttle.

Assisted Throttle:

When not needing to slow down for a corner, this option applies the throttle automatically. This means that the driver doesn’t need to hold the input down, helping to reduce muscle tension and fatigue.

Here I am driving with the Throttle assist set to ‘Assisted’, meaning I am not having to use the Gas input at all.

The inputs I am using are Left Stick for Steering and Left Trigger for brakes. Both of these are still ‘Partially Assisted.’

The car will accelerate even if other cars are in front, so players will need to apply the brakes and use steering to overtake them.

Having the Braking assists ‘On’ or also using Car-to-Car Collisions set to ‘Off’, can also help with this.

You can still apply the gas manually to control the throttle, if, for example, you wanted to overtake in a situation where the assist wouldn’t attempt it.

Steering Assist

The Steering Assist option allows you to choose how much support you will receive with the Steering input. This ranges from steering with full control (using Left Stick by default), to not needing to use an input at all.

Partially Assisted Steering:

This provides some guidance to the driver’s steering, but only when necessary. Note that this has no effect when using a Force Feedback input device.

Normal Steering:

This gives the driver full control over steering but dampens certain physical effects to make driving easier.

Simulation Steering:

This eliminates any damping and steering speed assistance. This creates a more realistic effect, making counter-steering quicker.

Please note, this mode is difficult with a controller and is recommended for more experienced drivers.

Fully Assisted Steering:

This provides strong guidance to help keep the car near the Suggested Line. Note that this has no effect when using a Force Feedback device.

Here, I am driving with Fully Assisted steering. No matter what your car’s starting position, you will notice that the car immediately pulls to the suggested racing line across the track. The car will then stay with the suggested line, and the player will not need to steer. However, you may wish to do so to avoid other cars or to overtake, where you do need to come off the driving line.

I am braking using Left Trigger, which is Partially Assisted and using Right Trigger for Throttle to control the Gas.There may be instances where a certain car on a specific corner of a track, where the assist isn’t applied.

Here, this Aston Martin on this specific corner of the Suzuka Circuit track – the car stops following the racing line and the drifts off the track.

Additional Settings

Players who may benefit from these assists may also find it helpful to keep Traction and Stability Control assists set to ‘On’.

Having gear shifting set to Automatic means that players do not need extra inputs for shifting gears up and down.Going to the advanced controller settings allows you to adjust multiple different deadzones.

‘Inside’ and ‘outside’ deadzone options are available for actions that are analog. These include steering and acceleration.

For instance, when steering using an analog stick, if you decrease the inside deadzone, less movement of the stick is required for the car to start turning. Increasing it means that more movement of the stick is required for the car to start turning.

Decreasing the outside deadzone for steering will mean that less input is needed to reach the full activation, whilst increasing it will mean more movement is required. When starting a race or event, you have the option to set AI difficulty from 1-8, with 8 being the most difficult.

Here you can also adjust the ruleset for that race, using Club Rules, Sport Rules, or Expert Rules.

Adjusting the rules changes whether damage affects the performance of the car or is just cosmetic. This also affects how severe penalties are.

It also determines whether or not you can use the Rewind button in that event.Rewind can be useful as it allows you to attempt to correct mistakes made during a race.

By default, you press Y to rewind.

Controller Remapping

There are 15 different default controller layouts.

Players have the option to choose one of these layouts. They also have the option to customise any of these by pressing A on the input that they would like to swap. Pressing the input they would like to change it to, will then remap this control.

For example, here we are on Layout 1, and we are changing Gas from Right Trigger to Up on the Left Stick.

We will also swap Brake from Left Trigger to Down on the Left Stick.

This means we can now Accelerate, Brake and Steer all on the Left Stick, reducing the number of inputs required to play the game.

There is also the option to go to ‘Copyable Blank Layout’ and map controls onto a blank template.

Thank you for watching this video. If you would like any more information about accessibility settings in games, or would like help with an alternative controller, please contact SpecialEffect.


In this video, we take a look at the Braking, Steering and Throttle driving assists in Forza Motorsport [PEGI 3]. The game is available on Xbox Series X and S consoles and Windows PC.

These assists can allow the player to use certain inputs less frequently or remove the need to use them entirely, which may improve the motor accessibility of the game for players.

An accompanying written post on Forza Motorsport’s Braking, Throttle and Steering Assists, can be found here: https://gameaccess.info/forza-motorsport-braking-throttle-and-steering-assists/

Timestamps:

0:00 | Introduction

1:48 | Global Assist Presets

2:35 | Braking Assists

4:50 | Throttle Assist

5:59 | Steering Assists

7:45 | Additional Settings

9:13 | Controller Remapping 

Video by Tom Williams

SpecialEffect’s Developer Resource:

SpecialEffect DevKit logo

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

More information for developers interested in further examples showing similar features to those demonstrated in the Forza Motorsport video above, can be found in the following modules of the SpecialEffect DevKit:

A Plague Tale: Requiem | Motor Accessibility Video

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A Plague Tale: Requiem [PEGI 18] is a third-person action-adventure game. It is the sequel to 2019’s A Plague Tale: Innocence, and continues the story of Amicia and Hugo. The game is available on Xbox Series consoles, PlayStation 5, PC and also Nintendo Switch via the cloud.

The game features a range of different gameplay elements, including stealth, open combat, puzzles, boss battles, and sections where you have to sprint as the rats chase Amicia and destroy the environment around her. The game requires you to work out ways to use the environment to dispose of enemies and also as a way to navigate around the rats. Ammunition can be scarce and attacking enemies without caution can often result in failure. 

The gameplay controls require the use of the inputs on the whole of the controller, but there are a range of settings that can potentially make the game a more accessible experience for some players. In this video, we will be looking at the available options related to the motor accessibility of the game. All footage is captured on an Xbox Series S.

Settings > General Settings

The settings can be accessed either at the main menu, or by pausing the game and scrolling down to ‘Settings’. First, we will have a look at the ‘General’ settings. There are three difficulty settings, ranging from ‘Narrative’, which focusses on the story and exploration, ‘Normal’ which is the default setting, and aims to create a balance between experiencing the adventure and the in-game challenges, and ‘Hard’, which is the most difficult setting. Changing the difficulty also changes some of the other settings, such as ‘Help frequency’.

‘Help frequency’ adjusts the time it takes for the game to offer a helpful tip if it thinks you might be unsure how to progress from a certain area. The settings range from ‘Short’, ‘Normal’ (which is default) to ‘Long’. You can also switch this setting off entirely.

It is possible to switch controller vibration from ‘Normal’, to ‘Low’ to ‘Off’. It is also possible to reduce camera movement and shaking by switching ‘Steady Camera’ to ‘On’.

There are three HUD presets. ‘Standard’ is the default setting, which displays all of the in-game indicators and interfaces displayed. ‘Immersive’ switches most of these settings off, and the developer suggests that this means that players will need to play with more attention. There is also the option to select ‘Custom’, which means that the player can decide which of the HUD options they wish to have switched on or off.

Settings > Gameplay Settings

Moving across to the ‘Gameplay’ settings, there are a range of options that could be helpful for some players.

The first option is ‘Stick Swap’. The standard controls mean that Left Stick controls player movement and Right Stick controls the camera, and also controls aiming. Switching this option to ‘Yes’ reverses the sticks, meaning that Left Stick is for camera and aiming, and Right Stick is for movement.

It is possible to invert the camera for both the horizontal and vertical axis.

‘Camera Sensitivity’ and ‘Aiming Sensitivity’ can be altered separately. So, it would be possible to have the ‘Aiming Sensitivity’ set to maximum, with the ‘Camera Sensitivity’ set to a lower sensitivity, if that is helpful.

‘Movement Sensitivity’ can be adjusted. On the highest levels of sensitivity, you don’t need to move the analog stick all the way to get Amicia to move at her fastest speed. Higher sensitivity settings might be helpful for those who find moving the stick all the way to the edge difficult, whereas lower sensitivity settings might help those who find they sometimes accidentally move the stick, as it takes the full movement of the stick to get Amicia to move at all.

‘Aim Assist’ is usually set to ‘Normal’. This means that the aiming reticule slows down when near to an enemy, to make it easier to target them. This can be changed to ‘Low’.

‘Automatic Timed Inputs’ removes all quick time events, by completing these parts automatically.  

‘Automatic Quick Interactions’ removes the need to act under time pressure, as the game will complete these sequences automatically.

Switching on ‘Invincible Mode’ means that Amicia can no longer be harmed or killed by human enemies. However, environmental dangers such as fire or the rats can still hurt or kill her. 

There are a range of settings to enable players to toggle certain button holds. So, rather than holding the button down, you can tap the button once to start holding, and tap it again to stop.

‘Special Interactions’ include certain puzzles, such as turning cranks to open up the next area of the game. Usually, you have to hold the button down, but this can be set to a press.

 By default, sprinting requires you to hold a button down, but this can be set to a press. You do still need to keep pushing the movement analog stick forwards to move.

You can set the aim button to be a press, so that you don’t have to keep the button held down.

You generally have to hold a button down to open the radial menu to swap weapons, or swap the ammo being used in that weapon. You can set this to a button press.

 At some points during the game, you have to give commands or orders, to your allies. When looking towards the items that you want your allies to use, for example, then you have to hold down the required button when the item is highlighted, and then give your allies the commands by pressing another button. You can set it so that the button hold changes to a press.  

 With the menu open, you have to hold a button down to craft the specific type of ammunition that you want to use. You can change the crafting button to a press. By setting the weapon menu to a press as well, you wouldn’t need to hold down any buttons to craft.

Settings > Controls Settings

The game also has button remapping options. As with the previous settings, these can be accessed either at the main menu or by pausing the game and going to settings. Scroll across to ‘Controls’, and you can swap around many of the button presses. For example, here on Xbox, we press the A button to open up the option to remap vault and climb. Now, we press the button that we want to map it to. So, Left Stick Click will now act as vault and climb. It is not possible to map button presses to joystick directions, or vice versa.

We hope that you found this video helpful. If you have any questions about the motor accessibility of this game, then please contact SpecialEffect.

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

A Plague Tale: Requiem [PEGI 18] is a third-person action-adventure game. It is the sequel to 2019’s A Plague Tale: Innocence, and continues the story of Amicia and Hugo. The game is available on Xbox Series consoles, PlayStation 5, PC and also Nintendo Switch via the cloud.

In this video, we will be looking at the available options related to the motor accessibility of the game such as the ‘Automatic Quick Interactions’ option, which will automatically counter attack or use a knife in some instances when an enemy is attacking you, as well as looking at which actions can be toggled and showing the ‘Invincible’ mode. All footage is captured on an Xbox Series S.

Timestamps:

0:00 | Introduction

1:25 | General Settings

            1:39 | Difficulty

            2:07 | Help Frequency

            2:46 | HUD

3:10 | Gameplay Settings

              3:19 | Stick Swap

              3:37 | Inverted Camera & Sensitivity options

             4:34 | Aim Assist

             4:50 | Automatic Timed Inputs Execution

             4:57 | Automatic Quick Interactions

             5:19 | Invincible Mode

             5:33 | Toggleable Inputs

7:05 | Controls Settings

              7:19 | Controls Remapping

Music: Some Things Were Said by Alon Peretz, I Did It by Alon Peretz, The Tree Who Grew on Water by Yoav Ilan, The Journey Home by Yoav Ilan and Eminence Landscapes (Pizzicato Version) by Ian Post.

 
 

SpecialEffect’s Developer Resource:

SpecialEffect DevKit logo

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

Sony’s Project Leonardo for PlayStation 5

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A Project Leonardo controller kit with all the parts shown.
Two Project Leonardo controller kits side by side with a DualSense controller above them.

Sony have announced their new PS5 controller, currently codenamed Project Leonardo, which they describe as a “highly customizable accessibility controller kit”. The release date and price are, at the time of writing, yet to be announced.

In a recent blog post, Sony describe Project Leonardo as including several different joystick caps, and different button caps, with different shapes and sizes, that may make it a more accessible control option for some players.  

A Project Leonardo controller kit with all the parts shown.

The base of the Leonardo is flat, so that it should fit onto a table or wheelchair tray, and it can also be attached onto mounts with an AMPS fixing. AMPS is fixing that uses a rectangular pattern of four holes. The analog stick position can be changed, with the distance from the analog stick to the buttons being adjustable. It is also possible to adjust the analog stick orientation, and there are button remapping and profile options, with the possibility of mapping the same action to multiple buttons, or multiple actions to one button. Players will be able to create three different profile options and can switch between them by pressing the profile button.

Four images showing different configuraions of Project Leonardo Cocontroller kits. The first shows on by itself, the second shows one next to a DualSense controller, the third shows two side by side and the fourth shows two side by side with a DualSense controller above them.

Players may connect two Project Leonardo controllers at the same time, and also add in a standard PS5 controller, to have up to three devices connected at the same time, with all controlling the same character. This has the potential to allow players to play cooperatively with others, similar to Xbox’s Copilot option, and also to try positioning the controls in different ways, such as one Leonardo by each hand.

Close up image of two 3.5mm ports on the side of a Project Leonardo controller kit. They are labelled E1 and E2.

Project Leonardo also includes four 3.5mm jack ports; this will enable players to have the option to plug in a variety of compatible accessibility switches and analog sticks.

As more information is made available, please use the ‘Project Leonardo’ tag on the website to find more information.

*Update – on 18/05/23 PlayStation shared more information on the now named ‘Access Controller’. New images and information on the UI that will allow players to customise how they use the Access controller on PlayStation 5, can be found at the links below:

https://blog.playstation.com/2023/05/18/first-look-at-new-images-and-ui-of-the-access-controller-for-ps5-an-all-new-accessibility-controller-kit/?sf266797741=1 

https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/accessories/access-controller/ 

*Update – on 13/07/2023 PlayStation announced that the Access Controller would be available for pre-order 21/07/2023 and release 06/12/2023:

https://blog.playstation.com/2023/07/13/access-controller-for-ps5-launches-globally-on-december-6/

For information on some of the equipment that we use at SpecialEffect, please check here.

If you would like help with accessing video games, please contact us.

Sniper Elite 5 | Motor Accessibility Options

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Sniper Elite 5 is a third person tactical shooter game, developed and published by Rebellion Developments. The game has a range of different settings that can potentially make it a more accessible experience for some players, and we will be looking the motor accessibility settings, such as ‘Auto Run’ and the option to switch off ‘Bullet Drop’. All footage is captured on an Xbox Series S, and we will be focussing on the console version of the game when played with a standard controller.

Controls Menu

You can access the settings via the main menu, or by pausing the game at any time during gameplay. By heading to ‘Options’, and scrolling across to ‘Controls’, you can choose one of six different controller layouts, including three that are specifically aimed at left handed players. It is not possible to remap your controller to create a custom layout.  During this video, we will be using the ‘Classic’ controls, which is the default control scheme. 

It is possible to invert the Y axis. This means that instead of pushing right stick up to look up, you can pull down on the right stick to look up, and then push it up to look down.

You can adjust the sensitivity of the right stick for general gameplay, the sensitivity when aiming down your scope, and also the ironsights sensitivity. For all of these options, you can adjust both the X and Y axis’ separately.

In this menu you can switch controller vibration on or off. By default, this is set to On. 

By default, when you go from crouching to sprinting, you will stay standing once you have stopped sprinting.  There is the option to turn this setting off, so that when you stop sprinting you would automatically go back to crouching, providing you were crouching when you started sprinting.

Accessibility Menu

Now moving across to ‘Accessibility’, we can scroll down to the Sensitivity settings, to find a range of aim assist options. The Aim Assist options decrease or increase the sensitivity of the right stick when you have an enemy in your sights. Here, with Aim Assist off, the aiming reticle is moving quickly over the enemy. However, with Aim Assist set to strong, the aiming reticle is slowing down, even with the same amount of pressure on the stick. This can help some players when trying to accurately aim and shoot at the target. There are separate settings for aiming when using the scope, over the shoulder, and using ironsights. For each of these aiming types you can set Aim Assist to off, weak, moderate and strong.

 For scoped, aim over shoulder and ironsights there is also the option to switch on Snap to Target. This option can be switched on or off for any of the three aiming types, and for all three are off by default. When switched on, holding down the aim button will cause the aiming reticle to snap directly to an enemy, providing they are in range. You can then snap the aiming reticle across to other in-range enemies by moving the right stick in their direction. If you or the enemy moves out of range, Snap to Aim will stop working.

By default, you have to hold down LB or L1 to open the radial menu, and then move the right stick to select different items and weapons. It is possible to set this to toggle, so a press or L1 or LB will open the menu, and then another single press of the button will close it.

Using the default controls, you hold down the LT or L2 button to aim down sights. By setting this to toggle, you can press the button once to begin aiming, and press it again to stop aiming.

The Auto Run option means that, instead of pushing left stick forwards to move forwards, you can just tap A or Cross to begin jogging straight ahead. You can then use the right stick to steer the character, meaning that if using both sticks together is difficult, you may be able to play with a single stick. Tapping A or Cross again will stop you from running. Pressing B or Circle will cause you to crouch, and you can move forwards slowly this way. Holding B or Circle will make you go prone, and you can crawl forwards by tapping the A or Cross button. This setting ay be helpful for those who find it difficult to access two analogue sticks at the same time.  

It is worth noting that when using custom controls, Left Stick Click is still required to sprint. When using both sticks, it is possible to move whilst aiming by moving the left stick. When using auto run without the left stick, you are not able to move around whilst aiming, as pressing A when aiming changes your aiming type.

 

Campaign Difficulty

There are multiple difficulty options with the game, with the potential to customise the difficulty to suit your skills and playstyle. You can access the Difficulty menu via the main menu or by pausing the game at any time. The Overall Difficulty allows you to change the difficulty for the overall game all at once, where there are also individual settings for Combat, Sniping and Tactical. You could, for example, have Combat set to a lower difficulty but Sniping set to a higher difficulty if that is your preference.

Combat Difficulty Settings

To customise the difficulty further, you can go into the Advanced Difficulty settings. From here you can set the difficulty for Combat to be anything from very easy to authentic, or you can adjust individual settings within this overall preset to create a custom difficulty specifically for Combat.

You can set how fast you would like your health to regenerate, and also how much health you would like to have after you have been revived by another player. There are settings to determine how much ammo and equipment you are likely to find when searching, a setting to determine whether or not you will automatically swap to another weapon when you run out of ammo, and the option to throw away remaining ammo in the clip when you reload, for more realistic ammo management. 

There are separate settings to determine how much damage you can take, and how much damage enemies can take. There are separate settings to change how aggressive, accurate, intelligent and skilled at sniping enemies are. There is a setting to change how perceptive enemies are as well, which will change how likely they are to see or hear you and another to change how quickly they spot and respond to you. There are settings that determine if damage will force you out of Empty Lung or Focus modes, and the option to switch Focus mode off entirely if you prefer. 

Sniping Difficulty Settings

Within the Sniping difficulty options, you can switch bullet drop to be on or off, which means that you can decide whether or not long-range shots will be affected by gravity.

Active reloading is when you press the reload buttons for a second time within a specific window to reload faster. There are options to increase or reduce the amount of time allowed for active reloading.

There is the option to switch off whether or not the wind will affect the flight path of the bullet.

Some players may find that having both of these settings switched on at the same time will be helpful, as your bullet will hit whatever the aiming reticle is pointing at, regardless of distance.

When aiming down the sniper scope, the player has the option to ‘empty lung’, which zooms in further, slows down time and displays a marker for where the shot will hit. This can be especially helpful when accounting for bullet drop over a long distance. There is the option have the assist set to standard, reduce the amount of time it is enabled for, or to switch it off entirely. 

Tactical Difficulty Settings

Within the Tactical difficulty options there is the option to change how much information is provided by the HUD, such as how much ammunition you are carrying and your current health level.

There is also the option to change how much information is provided by the radar.

You can change how long tagged enemies remain tagged, which can be helpful when you are trying play stealthily or when in combat.

The Defusal Radius option controls how large the region for defusing an explosive is, so you may not need to be as precise with your controls or get quite as close to defuse it.

As well as the campaign, there are also some other gameplay modes, including the Shooting Range, which could be a good place to practice the controls.

We hope that this video has been helpful. If you have any questions about motor accessibility in video games, then please contact 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.

Sniper Elite 5 [PEGI 16] is a third-person tactical shooter game. The game has a range of different settings that can potentially make it a more accessible experience for some players. In this video we will be looking at the settings related to motor accessibility, such as Auto Run and the option to switch off Bullet Drop.

All footage is captured on an Xbox Series S, and we will be focussing on the console version of the game when played with an Xbox or PlayStation controller.

Timestamps:

0:00 | Intro

0:49 | Controller Layout Options

1:24 | Sensitivity Options

1:52 | Sprint Forces Stand Option

2:10 | Aim Assist Options

3:29 | Toggle Radial Menu & Aiming Options

4:02 | Auto-Run Option

5:01 | Difficulty

5:36 | Combat Difficulty Customisation (e.g. Player / Enemy Resilience options and Enemy Aggression, Accuracy and Skill options)

7:11 | Sniping Difficulty Customisation (e.g. Bullet Drop option, Wind option and Empty Lung Assists)

8:17 | Tactical Difficulty Customisation (e.g. HUD, Radar and Tagging options)

8:54 | Shooting Range

9:03 | Outro

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/

Music: Dancing Petals by Mattia Vlad Morleo, Waterbed by Norvik, When the Sunrise (Instrumental Version) by Yehezkel Raz and New World by Ian Post.

PAW Patrol: Grand Prix’s Autopilot Mode

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PAW Patrol: Grand Prix [PEGI 3] is a racing game which is  available on Xbox One, Xbox Series Consoles, PlayStation 4 and 5, Nintendo Switch and PC. In this video we will be focusing on the Autopilot mode on the console version of the game when playing with a controller, which lets you compete in the races using just one or two buttons.  All footage is captured on an Xbox Series S.

The game has one control scheme, with Left  Stick for steering, a button for throttle, another button to use skills and a button to use character skills. There are several other controls, but these are entirely optional when using Autopilot. For players who may find holding down the throttle button and using the Left Stick to steer difficult, there is the option to use the Autopilot setting. By pausing the game and pressing Y on Xbox, Triangle on PlayStation or Y on Nintendo, you can switch Autopilot on. The first time you want to use Autopilot you have to switch it on once the race has started, but once it is on it will stay on for that user, including the next time you load the game up, until you manually switch it off. Once it is switched on, the player doesn’t need to use accelerate or the Left Stick to steer as the car will drive around the track automatically. 

The player can use the Left Stick to steer if they want to, but as soon as they stop steering the autopilot will quickly take over again. This means that the player can concentrate on using the skill and character skills once they have collected the required items during the race. To use skills, press the X button on Xbox, the Square button on PlayStation or the X Button on Nintendo Switch. You earn skills by collecting the PAW Patrol icon during the race. To use character skills, press B button on Xbox, Circle on PlayStation or B on Nintendo Switch. You earn character skills by collecting pup treats during the race.

If the player crashes when manually steering, they can either press the Respawn button, or wait for a few seconds, where the game will automatically respawn their car back onto the track.

When using Autopilot, the car will not try to avoid any items that other characters have thrown. Players will need to manually steer around them, or they may hit them. 

It may be helpful to set up multiple races, so that the player doesn’t need to navigate menus  as much between races. From the Main Menu, go to Race and then Custom Race. Now select a character. You can now select Multiple Races and choose a difficulty setting. Mayor Humdinger will throw obstacles at the player, so there is the option to switch him off. 

We hope that this video has been helpful. If you have any questions about motor accessibility in video  games, then please contact SpecialEffect.

Paw Patrol: Grand Prix [PEGI 3] is a racing game which is available on Xbox One, Xbox Series Consoles, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch and PC. This post will focus on the Autopilot setting which some players may find useful.

The console version of the game has one control scheme, with Left Stick for steering, a button for throttle, another button to use skills and a button to use character skills. There are several other controls, such as a button to drift around corners, but these are entirely optional.

An image of the Paw Patrol: Grand Prix Xbox control scheme.

For players who may find holding down the throttle button and using the Left Stick to steer difficult, there is the option to use the Autopilot setting.  By pausing the game and pressing Y on Xbox, Triangle on PlayStation or X on Nintendo, you can switch Autopilot on. When you switch Autopilot on, the Autopilot icon in the Pause Menu becomes highlighted, and the icon will also be on the top of the screen during gameplay.

An image of the Paw Patrol: Grand Prix Pause menu, with autopilot switched on.

The first time you want to use Autopilot you have to switch it on once the race has started, but once it is on it will stay on for that user, including the next time you load the game up, until you manually switch it off.

Once it is switched on, the player doesn’t need to use accelerate or the Left Stick to steer as the car will drive around the track automatically. The player can use the Left Stick to steer if they want to, but if they stop steering then the Autopilot will quickly take over again. This means that the player can concentrate on using the skill and character skills once they have collected the required items during the race. To use skills, press the X button on Xbox, the Square button on PlayStation and the X Button on Nintendo Switch. You earn skills by collecting the PAW Patrol icon during the race.

An image of Paw Patrol: Grand Prix gameplay. There are three cars racing, with auto-pilot switched on.

To use character skills, press B button on Xbox, Circle on PlayStation and B on Nintendo Switch. You earn character skills by collecting the required number of pup treats during the race. 

An image of Paw Patrol: Grand Prix gameplay, with the player using a Character Skill.

If the player crashes when manually steering, they can either press the Respawn button, or wait for a few seconds, where the game will automatically respawn their car back onto the track.

When using Autopilot, the car will not try to avoid any items that other characters have thrown. Players will need to manually steer around them, or they may hit them.

It may be helpful to set up multiple races, so that the player doesn’t need to navigate menus as much between races. From the Main Menu, go to Race and then Custom Race. Now select a character. You can now select Multiple Races, and choose a difficulty setting. Mayor Humdinger will throw obstacles at the player, so there is the option to switch him off.

An Image of the Paw Patrol: Grand Prix Main Menu, with Custom race highlighted.

We hope that this post and video have been helpful. If you have any questions about motor accessibility in video games, then please  Contact Us.

Developer Resource:

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



Music: Train Travel by Young Rich Pixies (artist.io).

Far Cry 6 | Motor Accessibility Video

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Show Transcript

Far Cry 6 is a first-person open world adventure game developed and published by Ubisoft. The game’s controls can be complex and do require access to the majority of the controller to be able to play the game fully, but there are a variety of different settings that can potentially help to make the game a more accessible experience, which we will look at in this video. We will look at accessibility, gameplay and control options related to the motor accessibility of the game, including features such as Auto Steering, removing the need for repeated button presses, combining Move and Look control and the Motor Accessibility Preset option.

Set on the fictional island of Yara, players can participate in story missions, side quests or simply explore the large open world. Players can explore on foot, ride horses, drive cars, trucks, quad bikes and motorbikes, fly aeroplanes and helicopters and drive boats and jet skis. The game features a wide range of weapons to use against enemy characters, from more traditional Sniper Rifles to the fictional Resolver Weapons. Far Cry 6 is available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series consoles and PC. In this video we will be focussing on the console version of the game when played with a gamepad, and all footage is captured on an Xbox Series S. Some of the in-game settings appear in several different menus, but we will cover each of them once only.

Motor Accessibility Settings

The Motor Accessibility Settings can be accessed via the main menu, and you can also access it by pausing the game at any point, scrolling across to System, and then down to Accessibility. When you first load up the game there is the option to switch on the Motor Preset, but this can also be accessed at any time from the menu. Switching this on will turn on a variety of settings on that the developer feels might be a helpful combination, but you can also adjust each individual setting. Now we will have a look at these settings in a bit more detail.

By default, when using Sniper Rifles, the game has Reticle Sway switched on. This means that the cross hair will sway when aiming, and you have to line up your shot, taking this sway into account. Pressing Left Stick Click or L3 will make your character hold their breath, which helps for a few seconds, but the cross hair will start moving again. If players find aiming difficult, there is the option to switch Reticle Sway off completely.

At times during gameplay, players might need to press a button repeatedly or take part in quick time events. It is possible to reduce these to a single button press by switching Repeated Presses off.

There are Aim Assist and Lock-on options in this menu, which also appear in the Gameplay menu, and we will look at this more detail a bit later on in the video.

Driving and Shooting Aim Assist is on by default. Having this setting on means that, when driving, if you draw your weapon you will automatically aim your gun at the nearest enemy.

Switching the option Convert Holds to Presses on means that actions which are usually activated by holding the button down, such as Aiming Down Sights and Crouching, will now be activated by a single button press. A second button press stops the action. If you would prefer to have Crouch set to Toggle and Aim Down Sights set to Hold, it is possible to leave this option off, and scroll down to select which actions you would like to be either be Toggle or Hold. The options are for Aiming, Crouching and Opening the Weapon Wheel. Switching on Convert Holds to Presses also means that actions such as Opening Crates, which you usually do by holding a button down, will now be activated by tapping the button twice instead.

There is also the option to change the Sprint Type, which by default is activated by pushing forward on the Left Stick with a single press of the Left Stick Click or L3 button. By setting this to Stick Incline, the more you push the Left Stick forward, the faster your character will move until finally sprinting. This could be helpful for those who find clicking the Left Stick difficult. There is also the No Stick Presses option, which automatically sets the Left Stick to Stick Incline and maps other Stick Click actions such as Holding Breath whilst Aiming to Y or Triangle, and Melee to a double tap of B or Circle.

Gameplay Options

There are also options in the Gameplay settings menu that may help to make the game more accessible for some players.

There is the option to change the game difficulty between Action Mode, which is the default Far Cry difficulty, and Story Mode. When playing in Story Mode, your character can take more damage which can help to reduce the challenge when in combat or playing missions.  You can change the difficulty at any time.

There is also the option to switch Aiming Assists on or off. The assist is on by default and helps during combat situations. There is also the option to switch on Lock-on Aim. Lock-on Aim means that when aiming at an enemy, the Aim Assist is a bit stronger and can help by completely locking onto the target. You can also select how long you want the lock on to be activated for.

By default, the Auto Steer option is set to automatic, but can be switched to manual if you prefer. This setting, when set to automatic, means that your car will automatically steer when you are aiming your gun at an enemy whilst driving. Manual means you would have to manage both aiming and steering at the same time.

Automatic Change Seat is on by default. With this setting on, you can climb into the passenger seat of a vehicle and your character will automatically move over to the driver’s seat. Having this setting off means you have to manually change seats.

Switching Disable Autodrive Whilst Aiming on means that your car will not automatically steer whilst aiming.

Controller options

There are a range of options within the Controller settings that could help to make the game more accessible. Far Cry 6 has multiple different gameplay scenarios, from walking, swimming, driving multiple vehicles, flying planes and helicopters and riding horses. Due to this, there are complex controls. However, the game also provides the option to remap controls based on each different scenario, with remapping options for when on foot, when flying a plane, and when driving a car, etc.

One option is to swap the controller from Default to Lefty, which swaps several buttons around and may be useful for players who like playing first-person games in Southpaw Mode.  

There is also the option to set the controller to a One-Handed Layout, picking either Left or Right Handed, which may make it easier to play the game with a single hand.

There are Sensitivity options for looking and aiming, with the higher the value the faster the camera rotation. There are also Sensitivity options for Left Stick Responsiveness and Right Stick Responsiveness, with the higher the value the lower the incline required to reach the maximum value of the stick. This can help reduce how much effort is required to get the stick to its maximum value.

You can set the Hold to Press and Toggle options from this menu as well. There is the option to set the No Stick Presses option on from this menu, which means that the Stick Clicks are remapped to other parts of the controller. Having this option switched on automatically moves the Left Stick to Stick Incline.

It is possible to Combine Move and Look onto the same stick, so Forwards and Backwards on the Left Stick acts as Forwards and Backwards, and Left and Right on the Left Stick acts as Rotate Left and Right.

The developer recommends having Swap Move and Look While Aiming on at the same time as Combining Move and Look, which means that when you aim down sights, the Left Stick will now control aiming. Some players may find it easier to navigate the game with a single stick with these settings on, or may also use both sticks but prefer having the sticks mapped this way. With the Combine Move and Look setting on, the Right Stick will control looking up and down, and strafing left and right.

There are several options to Invert Stick Movement, such as Invert Vertical Look, Invert Horizontal Look and you can also Invert both Third-Person Vertical Look and Horizontal Look. You play the game in third person when at various bases across the map.

When remapping your controller, first scroll down to the control that you would like to swap. Here, we are clicking on Shoot, to swap it from RT. We are going to map it to a single press of A, by clicking on Shoot and then pressing A. You will get a warning if this creates a conflicting action. Here, we now have both Shoot and Jump mapped to A. You can choose to ignore this and continue, or unassign the action. Here we are going to continue with this remapping. Now, when A is pressed, the character will Shoot and Jump at the same time. To get around this, you can reset the controls back to Default, or map either Shoot or Jump over to a different button.

You will notice that some actions are set to Hold, such as having to hold down Right Stick Click to Move a Body, which can be useful if trying to conceal enemies you have killed when playing stealthily. Here we will demonstrate how you set button presses to Holds, by holding down A to remap this action to Hold A. Press Y and then A again to revert back to Default.

By default, some in-game controls, such as Firing the Supremos, are activated by pressing two buttons at the same time. There is the option to map button presses to a single button press, a single button hold, or a double press of a single button. You can also map it to pressing two buttons together, holding two buttons together, or pressing the two buttons together twice.

It is possible to remap some analogue actions to Toggle. Instead of holding Left Stick Up to walk forwards, we are going to set it to Toggle, so a single press of Left Stick Up will start walking forwards, and a second press of Left Stick Up will stop walking. It is also possible to remap walking to digital actions such as a press or hold of the A or Cross button, for example.

It is also possible to toggle Accelerate, although this does work differently. By default, you will accelerate when R2 or RT are pressed. You can have this set so that a single press of the button will start your vehicle accelerating, and to go faster, press the button again. To slow down, press the brake button.

There are a range of different settings in Far Cry 6, and we hope that this video has helped to highlight some of those which we think might be helpful for people who may benefit from motor accessibility options. If you have any questions about video game accessibility, please contact SpecialEffect.

Far Cry 6 [PEGI 18] is a first-person adventure game developed by Ubisoft, and is available to play on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC. In this video we will take a look at accessibility, gameplay and control options related to the motor accessibility of the game, including features such as Auto Steering, removing the need for repeated button presses, combining Move and Look control and the Motor Accessibility Preset option. All footage is captured on an Xbox Series S.

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

0:00 Intro

1:29 Motor Accessibility Settings (incl. Motor Preset, Reticle Sway, Repeated Presses and Converting Holds to Presses).

4:15 Gameplay Options (incl. Difficulty, Aim Assist, Lock-on Aim and Auto Steer).

6:05 Controller Options (incl. One-Handed Layout, Sensitivity options, Toggle options and Combine Look and Move to the same stick).

11:00 Outro

More posts on accessibility features in games can be found on our site using the Accessibility Feature tag.

If you have any questions, please visit the ‘Contact Us’ page.

Music: Cloud of Memories by Macifif & Tomb by Veshza (artlist.io)

SpecialEffect’s Developer Resource:

SpecialEffect DevKit logo

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