#my first game development hurdle and i can't jump

[owlfluffy]

learning how to make sprites so i uh

[dizzygradespells]

Star Sign Accessibility Review

Star Sign is what happens when you combine a cute little round star child with Spiderman and Sonic before yeeting them over an endless void. It's a fast paced 3D platformer that demands skill and quick reflexes as you swing from floating platform to outstretched roots before jumping into a whirlwind that'll send you hurtling across the stage! All the while beautiful chill music sets the scene and perfectly matches the soft visual design and lovely landscape. For a first time developer, Joel came out swinging! I had a lot of fun with my time in Star Sign. While by no means a perfect game, every time I jump into the world I end up smiling. The game has a lot of enjoyable little mechanics and even hidden challenges that let you level up your character's abilities, allowing you to go even faster! Speed really is the name of the game. Along with cheese. While the levels have a clear intended path, the open level design allows master swingers to carve their own way through. This game absolutely screams speedrunner material.

When it comes to accessibility, the biggest hurdle is easily the high skill ceiling and requirement for fast reflexes. It's a lot like Celeste in that regard. Unfortunately, unlike Celeste, there isn't much available to help disabled players. If you can't move the cursor fast enough, you are SOL. That being said, it's not completely bereft of accessibility. The game allows you to fully customize controller or mouse sensitivities on both the x and y axes (as well as offering separate inverted controls for both axes). It also gives you the choice between mouse & keyboard or a controller. Both of which are fully remappable! In addition, Star Sign allows you to hide the HUD, change your resolution, customize your anti aliasing, change your render scale, increase or decrease your field of view, and alter your brightness. Plus it separates master volume and music volume so you can customize the sound to your liking. Visually, the game is a treat. All font text is large and dyslexic friendly. Often times text is white or yellow on a black background. Unfortunately, this is where the accessibility ends. Those that have difficulty with blues will seriously struggle with later levels in this game. There are no options to increase or decrease text size. Nor does the game offer screen readers or closed captions. It doesn't have voice acting, but there are some sound cues. Star Sign uses a checkpoint system for levels, but they can be fairly unforgiving at times. You can easily get stuck in a single portion of the level for a while.

Finally, if you suffer from a lot of stress or anxiety, Star Sign may not be the game for you. Like many games in its genre, you will die a LOT in Star Sign. It's all about trial and error. The payoff at the end of the level is excellent, but the inherent stress of dying over and over again can be hard for those who already struggle with outside sources of stress. Overall, Star Sign is a wonderful little game that is brought down slightly by somewhat finicky controls, only a few accessibility options, and unforgiving checkpoints. That being said, I highly recommend it to speedrunners and those that love tough platforming challenges. The game is currently available on Steam for $9.99 USD. It's well worth the price! Thank you to Joel Obrist for a review copy. I had a lot of fun screaming my way through your game.