Pitch Black: A Dusklight Story Accessible Audio Game
Ian C. Langtree - Writer/Editor for Disabled World (DW)
Published: 2019/10/22 - Updated: 2023/10/04
Publication Type: Gaming
Category Topic: Accessible Games and Gaming - Academic Publications
Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main
Synopsis: Pitch Black is a binaural audio game, entirely accessible to blind and partially sighted people, featuring a fully traversable 3D environment with compelling story, created entirely through sonic environments. Pitch Black is set in a fully developed alternate world, and this narrative takes place in and around the densely populated City of Dusklight.
Introduction
Get ready to usher in a new era of audio games.
Main Content
The Game
Pitch Black is a narrative driven, 3D binaural audio game (entirely accessible to the blind and VI community), featuring explorable, immersive sound worlds, a complex dramatic story and multiple innovative audio mechanics based on psycho-acoustic principles.
It's an ambitious project, that has a scope larger than anything of its kind. It's set to release in October 2020, for PC/MacOS/Linux, and for iOS/Android.
The Kickstarter campaign, nearly funded after 5 days, is in full flow right now.
Features
A 5-6 hour, fully voice acted narrative
- A Story told through characterful, wonderful voice acting. From market sellers in the City, to Guards at the gates, to Ghouls in the sewers.
An Expansive and Richly Developed World!
- Pitch Black is set in a fully developed alternate world, and this narrative takes place in and around the densely populated City of Dusklight.
Unique Audio Mechanics Based on Psycho-acoustic and Physical Principles
- Auditory Focus Mechanic (enhanced cocktail party effect)
- Audio Sign-Posts (aiding cognitive mapping)
- Activated Distance Sonar (for use when navigating confined spaces)
- Cognitive Biasing (directing attention through evolutionary importance)
- Audio Occlusion Puzzles (using partial and total occlusion)
and many more...
3D (Binaural) Audio
- Complete 3D Audio featuring state-of-the-art spatialisation.
Dynamic Replayability Model
- Three fully voice-acted versions of each main character in the game!
- Unique, emergent soundscapes at each play due to randomisation.
- Procedural generation of occlusion puzzles in-game.
- Audio-based arcade mini-games, featuring audio versions of classics like pong, and space invaders.
- Dense, and rich, fully explorable sound worlds, with hidden world building to those that venture off the beaten-path.
- Additional Soundscapes within Soundscapes through in-game simulations.
Who is Purple Jam Ltd?
Upon reassessing our omni-directional lives, we decided to gather our intellectual resources and create the game of all games; Pitch Black: A Dusklight Story. Harry Cooper, commonly known as 'The Mastermind' in a flash of inspiration, had the idea of creating a binaural based audio game. Naturally, Connor and Jordan were instantly on board. Using our experience in sound design, composition, game development and narrative construction, we combined forces to create the company that we are today. With an unprecedented desire to excel in creative industries, we set upon our journey to create a diverse, deep and exciting journey through our dark and eccentric world.
Author Credentials: Ian is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Disabled World, a leading resource for news and information on disability issues. With a global perspective shaped by years of travel and lived experience, Ian is a committed proponent of the Social Model of Disability-a transformative framework developed by disabled activists in the 1970s that emphasizes dismantling societal barriers rather than focusing solely on individual impairments. His work reflects a deep commitment to disability rights, accessibility, and social inclusion. To learn more about Ian's background, expertise, and accomplishments, visit his full biography.