Bungie's massively popular futuristic online first-person shooter Destiny has been developed to make sure that many gamers can enjoy the title as possible, an example of which is the company's focus on animating the first-person camera of the video game to decrease the chances of gamers in experiencing motion sickness while playing.
With update 1.1.2, Bungie looks to make the game a more accessible one to gamers that are suffering from colorblindness.
The update, which was posted on the official blog of Bungie, had several people from the game's developer team discuss their efforts in solving issues that were reported to them by colorblind gamers.
"Adapting the existing user interface to support various colorblind modes turned out to be a fairly complex challenge," said user interface engineering head Brad Fish, adding that the team was able to create a flexible toolkit that allowed the designers to address the issue without requiring a major overhaul of all the work that has been done on Destiny so far.
While most players would see the video game in all of its colors, colorblind gamers see a different world wherein certain colors do not seem different from others, when in fact they are. By adjusting the video game's contrast, the artists of Bungie have figured out how to provide colorblind gamers with in-game signals that do not rely on an item's color.
According to user interface design head David Candland, once the new mode is activated in the settings of the video game, colorblind gamers will gain higher chances of picking up the right loot and switching to the correct weapons while on the go.
In addition to the video game's environment, the same treatment would be applied to the gamer's HUD, which would allow colorblind gamers to "gain a more distinct clarity, [improve] their environmental awareness [and] helping them avoid that unintentional exotic dismantle."
In addition to support for colorblind gamers, update 1.1.2 will also introduce audio sliders into the video game. The sliders will allow gamers to adjust the volume of fireteam chat compared to in-game sounds, along with the option to mute the soundtrack of the game completely.
Bungie, however, is not intent on relegating the acclaimed musical score of Destiny to the sidelines. Bungie audio head Jay Weinland said that the development team has added an audio Easter egg into the title, which gamers can start looking for once the latest update goes live.
