Files
alchemist-accessibility/accessibility
Accessibility ModandClaude Opus 5 6380998376 docs: final handoff pass
Adds accessibility/README.md, the player-facing setup and keymap reference --
the thing to read before playtesting.

Brings the developer docs in line with what was actually built:

- docs/README.md rewritten as an index with current status and a one-paragraph
  architecture summary.
- docs/scratch.md gains a HANDOFF section: state of play, the commands to run
  after any change, the five traps that each cost real debugging time, what is
  NOT verified and why, deliberate omissions, and how to rebase onto a future
  game version.
- docs/03-implementation-plan.md gains a status banner listing where the
  implementation deliberately diverged from the plan (menu narration pulled
  forward as a blocker, levelCursorPopup not patched, tryInteract insufficient
  as a tracker filter, testbed added, no settings UI built).
- docs/04-open-questions.md gains a resolution banner: Q6 and Q8 remain open.

Also records that the testbed check count varies between runs (23-26) because
some blocks are conditional, so what matters is zero failures rather than the
total.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-01 22:25:09 +02:00
..
2026-08-01 22:25:09 +02:00
2026-08-01 21:34:13 +02:00
2026-08-01 22:25:09 +02:00
2026-08-01 21:34:13 +02:00

Accessibility mod — Sulphur Memories: Alchemist

Blind-accessibility mod adding screen-reader speech, an object tracker, tile exploration and directional wall tones.

Speech goes through Tolk, so it uses your running screen reader (NVDA, JAWS, System Access) and falls back to SAPI 5 if none is running.

Running

"C:\Program Files\LOVE\love.exe" "D:\code\Sulphur Memories Alchemist 0.4.2 sanctified"

Use lovec.exe instead of love.exe to get a console window — every spoken line is mirrored there, which is useful for reporting bugs.

The TTS libraries live in accessibility/lib/ and are loaded by absolute path, so nothing needs installing or copying into Program Files.

If speech does not work, check the console for the startup self-test:

[accessibility] TTS: available
[accessibility] speech channel: yes

speech channel: NO means Tolk loaded but found no screen reader and no SAPI.


Keys added by the mod

All of these are in addition to the game's own controls, and none of them replace a key the game uses.

Reading the message log

Key Action
[ Previous message
] Next message
Shift+[ Oldest message
Shift+] Newest message (and resume following new messages)
\ Repeat the current message
Shift+\ Copy the current message to the clipboard

New messages are spoken automatically. Pressing any key that does something in the game cancels whatever is still queued, so you are never stuck listening to a backlog. While you are moving through the history, new messages do not drag the cursor away — press Shift+] to return to the newest.

Looking around

Key Action
/ Scan all eight neighbouring tiles, clockwise from north
; Where am I — area name, in-game date and time, coordinates
Ctrl + numpad 1–9 Describe the tile in that direction without moving
Ctrl + numpad 5 Describe the tile you are standing on

The game's own examine mode (x) is also fully spoken: the arrow keys move a cursor around the map and each tile is described with its distance and direction from you. Press f in examine mode to jump between exits.

Object tracker

Finds everything you have seen, sorted by distance.

Key Action
Ctrl+PageUp / Ctrl+PageDown Previous / next category
PageUp / PageDown Previous / next kind of thing in that category
Shift+PageUp / Shift+PageDown Previous / next instance of that kind
Home Distance, direction, and number of steps by path

Categories: Creatures, Items, Alchemy, Interactables, Exits, Terrain features.

So Ctrl+PageDown to reach "Creatures", PageDown to move between rat / beetle / guard, and Shift+PageDown to step through the individual rats. Home gives you the walking distance, which indoors is often very different from the straight-line distance.

The tracker only ever reports things you have actually seen.

Your character

Key Action
' Health and active effects
, Currently selected action

You are also told automatically when you take damage or are healed.

Wall tones

Each step you take, a tone sounds from the direction of any wall within five tiles, positioned in 3D so you can hear where it is. Further walls are louder.


Reporting problems

Run with lovec.exe and include the console output. Lines beginning [speech] show exactly what was spoken and when:

  • [speech]! — interrupted whatever was being said
  • [speech]* — urgent alert, spoken immediately
  • [speech] — queued normally

If something is silent that should not be, that is the most useful thing to report, together with the screen you were on and the key you pressed.


For developers

See accessibility/docs/ — start with docs/README.md, and read docs/scratch.md first if you are picking the work up mid-stream.