If you are blind or partially sighted, then you have probably considered using a Text to Speech Program to make it easier to navigate web pages and to get work done, but have you ever considered using a Text to Speech Program for entertainment purposes?
Text to Voice Reader Software and Gaming
While Text to Speech technology has come a long way in the last few years, you're going to struggle to get a Text to Voice Reader that can do a good job in 3D games, because of the way that the user interfaces are displayed. That doesn't mean that you will never be able to play games if you rely on Text to Voice Software, however. There are lots of browser-based games that a TTS Reader will do a great job with, and there is an entire world of Multi-User Dungeons, or MUDs, that are text-only, and that a Text to Speech Reader would support perfectly well.
Exploring Virtual Words With a Text To Speech Program
MUDs are online role playing games that have dozens, or hundreds of users online at the same time. The users join guilds and interact with each other and with non-player characters, carving out an identity and a life in that world. The world may have a modern, fantasy, historic or science fiction setting, and some MUDs are based purely on role play, while others focus on combat. These games rely heavily on text for the descriptions of the locations, the characters that you encounter, and interactions between players and computer-controlled characters. The worlds can be incredibly rich and well-written, which makes them an ideal environment to explore using Voice Reader Software.
Some people wonder whether they will be at a disadvantage if they try to play using TTS Software, because there are limits to how quickly a Text To Speech Program can read out passages of text as they scroll by on the screen, and in some of the combat-focused games, such as those developed by a major gaming company called Iron Realms, reams and reams of text can scroll by very quickly.
Text to Speech Program for your Windows PC
There are players who take part in these games at a high level, using a TTS Program. They get around the limitations of the Text To Speech Program they are using by setting up their game in the same clients as regular users. They rely on software such as C-Mud to set up 'triggers' and 'macros'. They will use a command to process the text that is coming through, and then 'gag' or hide that content so it isn't shown on the screen, and therefore not read out by the Text to Speech Program.
Imagine, for example, that you are fighting another player, and you punch them. The default text in the game may show:
"You pull back your fist, then launch forward with a powerful punch, twisting your body to accentuate the force of the blow. It connects! Samuel flinches, clearly winded from the impact."
The first time or two you see or hear that text, you may find it entertaining, but if it were to come up every time you threw a punch, it would get annoying. Therefore, why not 'gag' the text, and display: Punch Connected
That is much quicker for the Text to Speech Program to read out, and tells you everything that you need to know.
It will take some time to set up a Text to Speech Program to work effectively, in a text based online game, but it is possible, and it's incredibly satisfying to play on an even footing with other gamers.
