Dead Cells | Motor Accessibility Video

Dead Cells Video Script

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

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

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

Assist Mode Menu:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Controller Menu:

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

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

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

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

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

You can also turn off Vibration in this menu.

Gameplay Menu:

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

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

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

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

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

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