A new update for the venerable FPS game Quake has added some welcome new accessibility features to the user interface, 26 years after the original version launched for MS-DOS. When you fire up the Steam version of Quake after applying today’s patch, you’ll notice that the main menu is displayed in a bright white, sans serif font – and there are other new options available as well.
The latest Quake patch adds additional accessibility options to Quake’s main menu. When you first run the game after applying the patch, that will be the first screen that pops up, giving you the chance to select which of the new features you want enabled. You’ll find new options for high contrast menus, the alternate menu typeface, and text-to-speech and speech-to-text options for chat.
For players with auditory or visual processing difficulties, these options could make playing the granddaddy of deathmatch significantly easier. In-game messages can be prominently displayed in crisp white lettering over black background blocks, making it much easier to see text like “you got 5 shells” or “you found a secret area.”
This is, of course, the remastered version of Quake that launched last year. Published by Bethesda, the remaster was handled by Nightdive Studios, which has also handled modern ports of FPS classics like Blood and Doom 64.
It’s worth noting that the new options are enabled by default. You can disable them when you first open the newly patched game, or by opening the accessibility menu under options.