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v0.9.4 - Light-aware sonars: perception now follows your torch

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@aefren aefren released this 03 Jul 15:49

New in this release:

  • Sonars and A/S now follow the in-game light. Fear & Hunger's darkness is real: the game covers the screen with a black mask, so a sighted player only makes out what a light actually reaches (a fresh torch reaches about 6 tiles, bare hands about 5, and in the Terror & Starvation darkness almost nothing). All eleven always-on sonars — enemies, doors, containers, corpses, altars, notes, fire, cages, sacrifice circles, floor loot and hidden spots — and the A / S quick-select now honour the same rule: beyond a short "hearing" distance, something only registers while it is lit, either by your own light or by a burning map light (a lit candle, a wall torch, or a guard patrolling with his own torch — whose glow now gives him away just as it does on screen).
  • Lighting a torch matters by ear now. A lit torch widens every sonar and the A/S glance; letting it die — or being caught without one in the dark difficulties — pulls your audio perception back to arm's length, exactly the pressure a sighted player feels. Fire and light sources are now worth seeking out for navigation, not just warmth and sanity.
  • Full survey tools are unchanged. The complete interactables menu (I) and the manual trap scan (R) are deliberate, on-demand survey tools, so they keep their full range regardless of light. Only the always-on sonars and the quick A/S glance shrink in the dark.
  • New Hearing Range parameter on every sonar and on the interactables plugin (default 2 tiles) sets what you can still perceive in total darkness; set it to 0 to require light, or higher to soften the effect. In games without the lighting plugin, nothing changes.

Note — navigation can now be harder in the dark, on purpose. Earlier versions let the sonars and A/S reach a fixed distance regardless of lighting, which meant a blind player could sense the whole room even in pitch black — an advantage a sighted player never had. This release ties audio perception to the light you actually carry, so exploring an unlit area now reveals less until you light a torch or reach a lit landmark. This is intended: it makes torches, tinderboxes and fire sources meaningful for a blind player the same way they are for a sighted one, and it restores the game's core tension around darkness. If you prefer the old always-on behaviour, raise each plugin's Max Range and set Hearing Range high (or to your Max Range) in the plugin parameters.

To install or update: download FearAndHungerAccessibility-v0.9.4.zip below, unzip it, and run install.bat. Updating over an existing install is safe — no need to uninstall first.