Today, Whitethorn Games — publisher of indie games like APICO, Wytchwood, Beasts of Maravilla Island, and Lake — is showcasing the plethora of accessibility options available in developer Brian Wilson’s first-person environmental thriller, The Forest Cathedral.
Accessibility updates to The Forest Cathedral include:
- Gameplay Setting and Saving: The settings and pause menus are accessible at all times during gameplay.
- Gameplay Difficulty Adjustments: 2D difficulty options can be turned on and off at-will through the settings menu. It does not require a new save or restart to implement them.
- Option to Turn Off Spikes, which removes all deadly spikes
- Option to toggle on Float Mode, which reduces the speed at which the 2D character will fall
- Checkpoints during platforming happen at regular intervals, allowing players to restart from a checkpoint if they die
- Input and Button Presses:
- PC has mouse and keyboard and full gamepad controller support
- Rebinding is supported for most actions
- Button map available at any time in the Settings menu for default keybinds
- Player key rebinds will be reflected in button map
- 3D Exploration – Camera sensitivity is adjustable and camera controls can be inverted vertically (y-axis).
- 2D Platforming – The player character is moveable using a thumbstick or the D-pad.
- PC has mouse and keyboard and full gamepad controller support
- Improved Tutorials: Gameplay mechanic onboarding for both 3D exploration and 2D platforming takes place in a separate tutorial zone with checks, button prompts, and text.
- Audio Accessibility Options: Max volume adjustable.
- More Text and Reading Options: Subtitles and journal text are written in high contrast and sans-serif typeface by default, and there is an option to change all in-game text to Open Dyslexic, a sans-serif typeface.
- On-Screen Movement and Visual Effects: Includes an option to replace flashing static screens on terminals with a black screen.
- Heads-Up Display: Key prompts are viewable on the screen when needed for progression. Player key rebinds are reflected in button prompts.
The Forest Cathedral will release on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
