Space Boat Accessibility Update

The latest Space Boat demo update is now live on Steam! We added several Accessibility features as well as quality of life improvements to this build. Since there seems to be a lot of interest in the details of what was done, I have put together a detailed list:

Quality of life changes:

• The controller navigation in the character creator UI is much improved. The controller highlight box now moves around how many people would expect it to.

• We added a new UI element that distinguishes pre-built suits (like the Pepper-oh-noes suit) from custom designed suits.

• We added a covert level indicator in the character creator that describes more clearly why the mission cannot start. This will also open gameplay possibilities as well as open the door for items that can improve your covert rating.

• The FBC race map now has improved collision and a new wider passthrough gate. It has been used to improve the flow of the track.

Accessibility Features:

• The pause menu is now available throughout the game (except during the chapter select screen which now has a similar menu with all the same features built-in). This change alone opened a number of bugs that have been addressed. I’ll spare you the details, but I think we can all agree that being able to change any settings or jump to any chapter at any moment is a win for everyone.

• We finally added a Sound FX volume slider to our settings tab so that all sounds can now be adjusted by the player.

• We decided to keep the ambient music and game music on the same slider for streamers to easily mute out any song that is not our theme song and could lead to DMA strikes since some of our music might not be valid for streaming due to Premium Beat’s ever changing licensing agreements. Over the next year, we will be replacing all our licensed music to improve this situation.

• There’s been a lot of work done in the game for people with color blindness in the last year. For example, we added button prompts to what were originally just text color indicators. None the less, we have included the infamous color-blind shader option for the small minority of color-blind people that find it helpful. Please note that a lot of work is built into the art direction of the game, so this option is probably not necessary. The game was built to be color-blind friendly without it.

• Mouse and controller sensitivity is now available. This is a win for everyone since not having it was an annoyance for many streamers as well.

• We added a framerate cap option for people who might need some processing power to go to another application other than the game (like OBS for example).

• We added an Auto-Run option to avoid having to hold the run button. Although running in Space Boat is not necessary, as a triple amputee myself, having to hold any button simultaneously in most games while operating other buttons is a quick way to get me to stop playing (although I have completed every Souls-Borne game there is). None the less, it is now an option which will at the very least, help players get through the electrified portion of the second chapter unscathed.

• We added an option for Single-Stick controls! Now you can walk and race without the need for two controller sticks.

• Inverted controls was something that came up several times in the comments