The latest soundStrider beta focuses entirely on accessibility. Its biggest addition is an audio mixer with sliders for every channel. By providing players with more options, they can enjoy its sounds at accessible levels. Other changes include the revised manual, improvements to navigational cues, and exposed player statistics.

Developer update

From the latest shiftBacktick blog post:

Last weekend I overcame my fears and shared soundStrider with a large gaming community for the first time. The feedback I received was invaluable and led to several breakthroughs about managing expectations, game design, and my commitment to accessibility. The latest beta reflects this feedback. Continue reading for a post on continuous improvement, fears slayed, insights gained, and all the patch notes (of course).

Thank you all for your continued support. For this update I’m proud to offer soundStrider in the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. Please don’t hesitate to support this cause.

Beta 4 changes

• Added Miscellaneous screen
  • Added buttons to access the Miscellaneous screen
  • Added button to access the Settings screen
  • Added button to access the Statistics screen
  • Moved button to access the Credits screen
• Added Settings screen
  • Added button to access the Audio Mixer screen
  • Added button to access the Mouse Settings screen
• Added Audio Mixer screen
  • Added master volume slider
  • Added slider for duck amount while paused
  • Added footsteps volume slider
  • Added individual volume sliders for navigational cues
• Added Mouse Settings screen
  • Added mouse sensitivity slider
• Added Statistics screen
  • Exposed overall distance traveled
  • Exposed quests completed by type
  • Added button to reset statistics
• Navigational system improvements
  • Added triad to waypoints
  • Improved notification ducking
  • Synced compass to global tempo
  • Synced waypoints to global tempo
• Revised game manual
  • Converted manual to HTML to improve its accessibility
  • Added System Requirements section
  • Added Auto Move to Controls section
  • Added Tutorial to Adventure Mode section
  • Added Seeds section
  • Added Graphical Description to Accessibility section
  • Added Motion Sickness to Accessibility section
  • Added Demo Limitations section
  • Revised various sections for clarity
• Miscellaneous
  • Fixed artefact caused by trance tremolo modulator
  • Fixed autosave triggering while paused
  • Parse bookmark codes when used as seeds
  • Reduced size of packaged Electron binaries
  • Slightly reduced volume of wind chimes