Upheaval Accessibility

last updated 24 June 2024

Overview

A lot of effort has been put into making Upheaval as accessible as possible for as many players as possible.

If you have any trouble accessing Upheaval, for any reason, please let me know at me@alexjleone.com.

Thanks! :)

- Alex

---

General Accessibility

• Upheaval is turn-based and has no timed actions.
• Controls are simple; nothing gets more complicated than pressing a button.
• All text is big and high contrast by default.
• Progress is auto-saved automatically after each choice.
• Text never progresses automatically.
• Upheaval is color-blind friendly and deaf-friendly; no gameplay relies on either color or sound.
• The first adventure typically takes players 30-90 minutes to complete. Players navigating with text-to-speech or screen reader technology can expect to spend 1-3 hours on their first adventure. Adventures after the first one take significantly less time, differing from player to player.
• Inputs supported:
  • Mouse
  • Keyboard
  • Xbox controller
  • PS4 controller
  • Possibly other controllers, download the demo and try yours out!
  • Touchscreen
  Controls will be made configurable before the full game release.
• Button prompts are visible after pressing any button on the input of choice.
• An interactive tutorial is at the start of every adventure until it is disabled in Settings.
• Any encounter can be added to your journal for you to review in the future, meaning you can make a personalized collection of information relevant to you. If you don't want to think about what to add, you can enable a setting to add certain suggested entries automatically.
• Difficulty is adjustable through settings like Relaxed Mode and the Magician's Shrine

Blind Accessibility

Upheaval is blind-playable without sighted assistance.

• For the command line version, navigate with your favorite screen reader.
• For the graphical versions, you can either use built-in text-to-speech (all platforms) or use your own screen reader (Windows only).
  • To turn text-to-speech on and off...
    • ...with a keyboard, press Shift + T.
    • ...with a controller, press Left stick button + Right stick button together.
    • ...with a touchscreen, triple tap with three fingers.
  • If you use text-to-speech on Android, make sure that TalkBack is disabled (the game will prompt you to do this on launch). Also, triple-tap magnification has been known to cause some problems; either use a different magnification shortcut (and turn off the triple-tap magnification shortcut), or else just slow down your double-taps until they are recognized (roughly 1/2 seconds between taps).
  • To use your screen reader with the graphical version of Upheaval (Windows only):
    1. Enable Text-to-Speech using the instructions above.
    2. Select the "Customize Text-to-Speech" button.
    3. In the Text-to-Speech settings, enable the Copy Speech to Clipboard setting.
    4. Turn the Voice Volume setting down to 0%.
    5. Set up your screen reader to read text from the system clipboard whenever it changes. For example, the free NVDA Autoclip add-on will do this.
    6. Back in Upheaval, adjust the Voice Speed setting to match your screen reader's voice speed. If the ends of phrases are getting cut off, make the Voice Speed lower. If there are long pauses between some phrases, make the Voice speed higher.
    7. That's it! You should be all set. If you have any issues, visit Upheaval's AudioGames forum thread for help.
• The overworld map is described in detail (in the command line version or through text-to-speech), both the whole thing and each quadrant individually.

---

The Settings Menu

The settings menu can be accessed from the main menu or from the in-game menu.

Settings Menu for Command Line Version

Volume settings in this menu can be any number from 0 to 100.

• Change Master Volume - controls all volume levels
• Change Music Volume - controls background music
• Change Ambience Volume - controls ambient background sounds for locations
• Change Sound Effects Volume - controls UI sound effects
• Play Music Continuously (ON/OFF) - If off, music plays intermittently.
• Suggest Entries for Journal (ON/OFF) - Adds a note that says "TYPE 'JOURNAL' TO ADD THIS TO YOUR JOURNAL." to the bottom of the description.
• Automatically Add Suggested Journal Entries (ON/OFF) - Adds every suggested journal entry to your journal automatically.
• Skip Main Menu on Startup (ON/OFF) - Auto-loads your latest adventure as soon as you start the game. Like picking "Continue" every time the game loads.
• Disable Tutorials and Intros (ON/OFF) - Skips all tutorial and flavor encounters at the very beginning of the game, skips character introductions and introductions to certain locations (i.e. stumbling out of the tallgrass), takes off warnings when going into the burial mounds at night, and hides base location description for all locations (type "look" to see it again). Recommended for more experienced players who are familiar with what all those things are.
• Share Anonymous Data (ON/OFF) - When ON, sends me secure and anonymous usage data for the game, such as which settings get used the most, which encounters, locations, and items have been used, and which options are favored by players over other options.
• Toggle Relaxed Mode (ON/OFF) - New games have a time limit of 999 days instead of 30 days. End these adventures early by visiting the north road.
• Toggle Magician's Shrine (ON/OFF) - When ON, the Magician's Shrine appears in town, which can be used to conjure items, learn spells, and teleport. You will also have an option at every location outside of town that lets you teleport back to the Magician's Shrine.
• Delete ALL save data - Deletes records, clears Magician's Diary, and deletes current save game. Your settings are preserved as they are.
• Send game logs to developer - Sends a copy of your current game to the developer so he can try to figure out what's going on in it. Pair this with reaching out and explaining what you want me to look at by emailing me or joining the Discord.

Settings Menu for Graphical Version

Visual Settings

• Dark Mode (checkbox) - Makes all text light and all backgrounds dark.
• Disable Background Images (checkbox) - Replaces them with simple color (dark gray when dark mode is on, and parchment color when dark mode is off)
• Force Portrait Mode (checkbox) - Makes text smaller on wide screens by forcing the UI into the skinny portrait layout. Otherwise, the skinny portrait layout is used automatically when the game window is taller than it is wide.
• Customize the Map
  • Show Labels (checkbox) - Regions are labeled with words.
  • Show Node Map Overlay (checkbox) - Locations and paths are marked.
  • Help Navigate to Map Marker (checkbox) - Highlights choices that lead there.
• Display: cycles between Windowed, Borderless Windowed, and Fullscreen

Audio Settings

• Volume Settings - all volume sliders change in increments of 5%
  • Master Volume (slider) - controls all volume except text-to-speech
  • Music Volume (slider) - controls background music
  • Ambience Volume (slider) - controls ambient background sounds for locations
  • Sound Effects Volume (slider) - controls UI sound effects
• Play music continuously (checkbox) - Otherwise, music plays intermittently
• Text-to-Speech Settings
  • Enable Text-to-Speech (checkbox) - Changes control scheme when enabled
  • Voice Speed (slider) - Minimum is 0, maximum is 20. Windows and Mac only. On mobile, change this in your system settings. On Linux, this cannot be changed (email me if you know how to do this).
  • Voice Volume (slider) - Windows and Mac only. On mobile, change this in your system settings. On Linux, this cannot be changed (email me if you know how to do this).
  • Copy Speech to Clipboard (checkbox) - Windows only. Useful with certain software add-ons, especially for the NVDA screen reader.

Gameplay Settings

• Suggest entries for journal (checkbox) - "Add to Journal" button will flash when the game suggests you add an entry to your journal.
• Automatically add journal entries (checkbox) - Adds every suggested journal entry to your journal automatically.
• Disable tutorials and intros (checkbox) - Skips all tutorial and flavor encounters at the very beginning of the game, skips character introductions and introductions to certain locations (i.e. stumbling out of the tallgrass), takes off warnings when going into the burial mounds at night, and hides base location description for all locations (click "Look Around" to see it again). Recommended for more experienced players who are familiar with what all those things are.
• Skip main menu on startup (checkbox) - Auto-loads your latest adventure as soon as you start the game. Like hitting "Continue" every time the game loads.
• Enable Relaxed Mode (checkbox) - New games have a time limit of 999 days instead of 30 days. End these adventures early by visiting the north road.
• Enable Magician's Shrine (checkbox) - When enabled, the Magician's Shrine appears in town, which can be used to conjure items, learn spells, and teleport. You will also have an option at every location outside of town that lets you teleport back to the Magician's Shrine.

Save Data Settings

• Delete ALL save data (button) - Deletes records, clears Magician's Diary, and deletes current save game. Your settings are preserved as they are.
• Send game logs to developer (button) - Sends a copy of your current game to the developer so he can try to figure out what's going on in it. Pair this with reaching out and explaining what you want me to look at by emailing me or joining the Discord.
• Share anonymous data (checkbox) - When checked, sends me secure and anonymous usage data for the game, such as which settings get used the most, which encounters, locations, and items have been used, and which options are favored by players over other options.

---

Controls

Default controls for Upheaval are a mouse or touchpad. You can simply click or tap any button on the screen to perform that action. Other controls are described below in their default configuration. All controls below will be made configurable before release, but are not currently.

Keyboard

• Arrow keys (up, down, left, right) - Highlight buttons (when TTS is off)
• Tab - Cycle to next highlightable button
• Shift+Tab or Ctrl+Tab - Cycle to previous highlightable button
• Enter - Select the highlighted button
• Number buttons 1-9 - Shortcut keys for some buttons (see key shortcut prompts on each button)
• Backspace or Escape - Close current popup menu
• Escape - Open Settings (from main menu) and Open Game Menu (from in-game)
• Left and right arrow keys - Move setting sliders up and down (from in settings menu) or Go to previous and next set of options (from in-game) or Go to previous and next set of records (from in records menu)
• Q - Go to previous encounter (from in-game) or Go to previous journal page (from in journal) or Go to previous inventory page (from in inventory)
• E - Go to next encounter (from in-game) or Go to next journal page (from in journal) or Go to next inventory page (from in inventory)
• R - Open records menu (from main menu), and Read or close journal (from in-game or from in record)
• J - Add encounter to journal (from in-game)
• M - Open or close map (from in-game)
• C or I - Open or close character and inventory screen (from in-game)
• T - Hide UI so you can see the current background image (from in-game) or Delete journal page (from in journal) or Delete record (from in record)
• Shift+T - Enable or disable text-to-speech (aka TTS)
• (TTS only, Windows and Android only) Up and down arrow keys - Read previous and next lines of text or Move setting sliders up and down

Xbox Controller

• D-pad (up, down, left, right) - Highlight buttons (disabled when TTS is on)
• Right trigger - Cycle to next highlightable button
• Left trigger - Cycle to previous highlightable button
• A - Select the highlighted button
• B or Start/Menu - Close current popup menu
• Start/Menu - Open Settings (from main menu) and Open Game Menu (from in-game)
• Left and right D-pad - Move setting sliders up and down (from in settings menu) or Go to previous and next set of options (from in-game) or Go to previous and next set of records (from in records menu)
• Left bumper - Go to previous encounter (from in-game) or Go to previous journal page (from in journal) or Go to previous inventory page (from in inventory)
• Right bumper - Go to next encounter (from in-game) or Go to next journal page (from in journal) or Go to next inventory page (from in inventory)
• Back/View - Open records menu (from main menu), and Read or close journal (from in-game or from in record)
• X - Add encounter to journal (from in-game)
• Y - Open or close map (from in-game)
• B - Open or close character and inventory screen (from in-game)
• Right stick button - Hide UI so you can see the current background image (from in-game) or Delete journal page (from in journal) or Delete record (from in record)
• Left stick button + Right stick button together - Enable or disable text-to-speech (aka TTS)
• (TTS only, Windows and Android only) Up and down D-pad - Read previous and next lines of text or Move setting sliders up and down

Playstation Controller

• D-pad (up, down, left, right) - Highlight buttons (disabled when TTS is on)
• R2 - Cycle to next highlightable button
• L2 - Cycle to previous highlightable button
• X - Select the highlighted button
• Circle or Options - Close current popup menu
• Options - Open Settings (from main menu) and Open Game Menu (from in-game)
• Left and right D-pad - Move setting sliders up and down (from in settings menu) or Go to previous and next set of options (from in-game) or Go to previous and next set of records (from in records menu)
• L1 - Go to previous encounter (from in-game) or Go to previous journal page (from in journal) or Go to previous inventory page (from in inventory)
• R1 - Go to next encounter (from in-game) or Go to next journal page (from in journal) or Go to next inventory page (from in inventory)
• Share - Open records menu (from main menu), and Read or close journal (from in-game or from in record)
• Square - Add encounter to journal (from in-game)
• Triangle - Open or close map (from in-game)
• Circle - Open or close character and inventory screen (from in-game)
• Right stick button - Hide UI so you can see the current background image (from in-game) or Delete journal page (from in journal) or Delete record (from in record)
• Left stick button + Right stick button together - Enable or disable text-to-speech (aka TTS)
• (TTS only, Windows and Android only) Up and down D-pad - Read previous and next lines of text or Move setting sliders up and down

Text-to-Speech - Mobile

• Swipe right - Cycle to next highlightable button
• Swipe left - Cycle to previous highlightable button
• Double-tap - Select the highlighted button
• Swipe up - Read previous line of text or Move setting slider up
• Swipe down - Read next line of text or Move setting slider down
• Triple-tap with three fingers - Enable or disable text-to-speech (aka TTS)