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Colorblindness Correction Modes Coming To Destiny In Update 1.1.2
Those of us who can see the full spectrum of colors might not realize how important that is to our gaming experience. Think about how often you differentiate pickups by their hue and then remember that a portion of the population doesn’t see color like you and I do.
In Destiny, color matters in a couple of ways. Engrams (the items that hold weapons and armor) are color-coded by rarity. More importantly, shielded enemies are colored in light blue, reddish orange, or purple.
This is a crucial clue that signifies the element type to which the enemy is most vulnerable. Those suffering from dueteranopia (the most common kind of colorblindness also known as “green-blind”) will be happy to know that after patch 1.1.2 arrives, the purple void shields will be distinguishable from the light blue arc shields.
The purple shimmer on the shields, heavy ammunition, and precious purple engrams (signifying legendary items) will appear as a deeper blue when dueteranopia mode is engaged. Bungie is also increasing the size of the pyramid-shaped loot baubles to make them as large as common item white engrams, which will make them easier to find.
Standard mode:
Simulated duteranopia:
Duteranopia mode (coming soon):
Those that suffer from protanopia (red-green colorblindness) and tritanopia (blue-yellow colorblindness) aren’t being left out. Modes that adjust the visuals to compensate for those forms will be included.
In addition to the visual changes, Bungie will be adding audio options that allow you to tweak game and chat audio volume and even turn off the music entirely. There’s still no estimated release window for patch 1.1.2, but Bungie suggests it’s still weeks out and will arrive before the House of Wolves expansion.
[Source: Bungie]
Our Take
Color is used so frequently to clue players in that I’m surprised these modes aren’t standard in every game these days, especially with approximately 8 percent of men and .5 percent of women affected by colorblindness. I’m glad that Bungie is implementing it now rather than not at all, though.
For more on accessibility options in games, check out AbleGamers’ Includification project, which details some other ways developers can increase the reach of their titles.
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