Ubisoft have shared an accessibility spotlight about the upcoming addition to their racing franchise The Crew; The Crew Motorfest. Continuing what now seems like tradition, the spotlight combines an interview with a list of options and features aimed at providing a more accessible experience.
For this accessibility spotlight project coordinator Anthony De Rueda shared their experience. De Rueda mentions they had a decent base to build on from The Crew 2, with the features available from that giving them a head start. The team worked with Ubisoft’s accessibility team and other studios, such as the Kyiv and Bucharest teams, to help realize key accessibility features.
De Rueda specifically mentions how they worked to remove unintended gameplay barriers by default. They managed this by including accessibility from the start of development and integrating it into their User Interface style guides as well. Implementing accessibility by design avoids a dependence on options, which can create their own problems through added complexity of the menus and underlying systems.
Accessibility features
Care has been taken to make text readable by default, with an option for high contrast backgrounds behind key HUD (Heads-Up Display) text. This text is also scalable to smaller and larger sizes. By design the game has minimal reliance on color, but some presets to aid with common types of colorblindness are available.
Players are able to disable camera shake and motion blur, to help with motion sickness. To limit distractions players may customize the HUD by toggling different elements.
As we may expect from a Ubisoft game, subtitles are on by default. They include speaker names and are configurable with size and background settings as well. Sound cues for several events are present, and a large amount of volume sliders is available to customize the audio mix.
Keeping players on track
To help players find their way, the in-game personal assistant (CARA) provides voiced assistance and navigation. Players can fast travel to previously visited locations as well. During gameplay objectives are visible on screen, with navigational aids to guide players to them.
Difficulty and AI level is configurable with several presets and levels. An improved racing line shows optimal trajectory and speed. Its possible to change the opacity and turn it always on, off, or only on while braking. A rewind feature is available, with prompts suggesting players when to use it.
Staying in control
Controls are flexible, allowing players to choose between analog (stick) and digital (button) controls for steering. Controls are simple enough to allow one-handed play through remapping. On PC, Windowed mode is available as well as support for mouse control through external software.
Players can change button holds to presses, and there are no QTEs (Quick Time Events). Vibration, deadzones, and other finetuning is available for controllers and steering wheels.
A wide range of assists is available to help players control their vehicles, such as auto braking and steering. Assists we know from the real world include traction control, ABS (anti-lock braking system), ESP (electronic stability program). Additionally there is counter steering assist, drift assist, and airplane handling assist as well.
This is an impressive array of features and it will be interesting to see how these will help players. As always, Ubisoft welcomes any accessibility feedback players may have after The Crew Motorfest releases next week, on September 14.
