This is a bit of a long post, but Pressures deaf mode DESPERATELY needs an overhaul, and is not accessible to the people it's made for at the moment.
I'm Hard of Hearing, and a big issue with Pressure I've ran into over multiple years of playing the game is the lack of good accessibility, despite claiming it has some. Not all games will be accessible to disabled people sadly, but if a game wishes to make an effort to a disabled community to be more easily playable, it should listen TO the complaints of that community, since they know what they need.
The deaf mode does not work, is missing, or is simply broken in many areas of the game. Here are a list of the major areas in which it fits this list.
- The Raveyard, which has ZERO unique deaf mode indicators, even with the mode turned on. There's a section of the Raveyard which relies on sound cues, the Skelepede section, where you're supposed to be listening to the Skelepede lunging to know when it's attacking. This is fully and entirely impossible for Hard of Hearing users unless they walk backwards, playing the game 10x harder than usual and taking much longer. Adding a cue for the monster lunging is possible, they have cues for other entities, but not that one.
- The Good People, another entity reliant on sound. There are three ways to detect a Good Person door in Pressure: the static, the flickering, or the growling. With the recent update to the game, the static no longer always shows up - either as a bug or an intentional feature I don't know. (I have clips of this happening, if examples are needed.). There is zero indicator for the sound cues of the door, which leaves the only way to tell being to wait an unknown period of time for a random RNG flicker. Hearing people can detect a door in less than a minute, while I had to wait almost 10 for a flicker in my last run.
- The Wall Dwellers are disproportionately more difficult for Deaf Mode than normal players, due to the footsteps showing up directly overlayed with yours, in the exact same color. The only way to tell a Wall Dweller is behind you is by either turning or fully stopping, or else it's not constantly possible. I know some people claim it's 'worth the challenge' or supposed to be hard, however, it is much easier to detect Wall Dweller steps whilst hearing. This has been a common complaint of users both deaf and and hearing for ages that the steps are nearly impossible on deaf mode, while much easier hearing.
It should not be "harder" for Deaf People as a feature.
The point of accessibility is to put HOH and hearing people on the SAME level playing field.
Other sections of the game also suffer from the deaf mode, including coagulate lacking deaf mode indicators, but these are all more minor cases or for rare entities. Regardless, still an issue.
No game is at obligation for accessibility, however, if Pressure is a game which is attempting to be and claiming to be accessible, it must actually hold that standard. The deaf mode worked fine when first released, but the new content over the past two years has received zero support, broken previous support, or simply been weakly supported. This game is not as accessible as it used to be, and with the team currently doing an overhaul it is the perfect time to request change. The deaf mode does not meet an acceptable standard at the moment, and HOH people deserve to be listened too as the minority the mode is intended for.
I hope this post encourages other to (POLITELY) request changes to deaf mode when able, or somehow otherwise reaches a mod who may consider it in their time to add deaf mode to the overhaul.
