In familiar Bethesda Softworks fashion, they have released an accessibility guide for Quake II for the release of the enhanced version today. Aside from graphical and gameplay enhancements, the new release includes new and expanded options to improve its accessibility. This enhanced version is available on practically every modern platform, and included with GamePass.
Pass on the pixel font
High Contrast enables black backgrounds behind text and the menu. Players can change the old pixelated font of the game to a larger, more modern, font with the Alternate Typeface setting. It does not affect all text in the game, but it does affect the menu and messages. Alternative fonts are a must for remasters and retro inspired games, as pixel fonts are often difficult to read at any size.
The crosshair is adjustable in shape, size, and color. This can help players better distinguish the crosshairs.
Photo sensitivity and motion
One of the standout options that may help players with photo sensitivity is the Screen Flash Amount setting. This slider allows players to adjust the opacity of screen effects. Players can also turn off effects such as Bloom Lighting and Muzzle Flashes, and of course adjust the overall brightness.
Players can adjust their FOV (Field of View) and toggle settings such as View Bob (bobbing effect while moving), depth of field, and motion blur. These can all help prevent some triggers for motion sickness.
Accessible chat
To make multiplayer chat more accessible, Quake II includes several options such as Read Chat Out Loud, which does exactly what you expect. Transcribe Voice Chat on the other hand converts voice chat into text for the player. Enabling Speak For Me in Voice Chat will read out a player’s text messages to other players. Several voice profiles are available for these text to speech options, depending on the platform. Players can also disable voice chat completely.
The remapping settings also reveal a point / ping mechanic for multiplayer, which is usually a great alternative for those struggling to effectively chat in a fast paced game.
Controls
Talking about remapping, players can remap most actions for keyboard, mouse, and controller. For controller and mouse there are the usual settings to adjust sensitivity and dead zones. Controller users can enable aim assist and aim smoothing. Players can also disable controller vibration or adjust the intensity.
Audio
Sound volume is adjustable in a few categories while a reverb effect can be toggled off. Players can enable subtitles as well, but have no further customization options available.
Damage indicators show up in a ring at the center of the screen, indicating the direction of the enemy. The color of this indicator shows if damage was done to health, armor, or power armor. Hitmarkers that appear around the crosshair on hitting an enemy can be turned off.
Cognitive helpers
Additional features are available that can help players learn their way around in Quake. The id Vault has information about weapons and pickups. A tutorial is available at any time and of course a choice of difficulty levels are available as well.
The compass is a neat feature to aid players when lost. It’s an item in the inventory that, when enabled, marks the the path to the next objective with green arrows along the ground.
Players can adjust if and when they automatically switch to a weapon they just picked up. It’s also possible to automatically enable the Power Shield, depending on the player’s preference.
The length of time messages are visible is adjustable for center aligned, corner aligned, and chat messages. A great help for those who have trouble reading these quickly.
It’s great to see remasters and remakes like Quake II include more accessibility features than the original. We can’t overstate how helpful it is to have information like this to explain the different features. A trend Bethesda Softworks started with guides for Redfall and Hi-Fi Rush and we hope to see this continue with future titles such as Starfield.
