I've been bringing up examples of movies that might warrant the addition of an epilepsy warning to their publication text for a while now, but I wanted somewhere more formal to post about it. fsvgm777 suggested that I make a forum thread to post further examples, which should hopefully give other people a better place to bring up examples as well. Starting off: I think that it might be worth adding a warning to SMS and GG Sonic 1, specifically in regards to the Sky Base section and GG's final boss.
Thank you. Please tag the epilepsy warning to all ZX Spectrum publications. IMO, loading time should be removed from ZX Spectrum encodes by default because literally nobody wants to watch that noise.
I think it would be useful to come up with some written guidelines for determining when a warning is beneficial. If anyone knows of some reputable sources for learning more about photosensitivity and epilepsy, particularly in regard to videos, possible triggers and risks involved, that would be quite useful.
If anyone here actually has epilepsy or a related disorder, I'd be very curious in hearing their opinions on this subject. Such as what would be most helpful for them when viewing a movie, and what sorts of situations we should look out for. The most common trigger I've heard of is rapidly flashing lights, but it seems there is more to it than that. Does the whole screen have to flash, or just a small part of it? Does the flashing have to be sustained, or would a single flash warrant a warning? Is a notice in the video description or publication text sufficient, or would placing a momentary message at the start of the video be best?
alexheights1 wrote:
loading time should be removed from ZX Spectrum encodes by default because literally nobody wants to watch that noise.
The loading screen is counted in the TAS timing, and so it's part of the movie. Removing it, despite how annoying it may be, isn't something I could agree with. Just because the encode includes something you expect no one would want to watch, doesn't mean it should be removed from the video. For example, [5109] NES Home Alone by ShesChardcore in 00:17.87 contains almost 20 minutes of watching the same screen before the game ends, and that isn't even part of the TAS movie, yet it is still included to show that the game actually finishes.
There is a precedent for removing the loading time here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIgPtV0pxP4
I don't see how the situation is different from removing the loading time from ZX Spectrum runs. Auditory epilepsy is a real thing and can be caused by ZX Spectrum loading noise. Official encodes should remove loading time, but keep the alternate encode with loading time noise for weirdos.
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InputEvelution wrote:
I've been bringing up examples of movies that might warrant the addition of an epilepsy warning to their publication text for a while now, but I wanted somewhere more formal to post about it.
Thank you for doing this! Also, if you want the Editor role so you can add these warnings yourself, let me know and it's yours.
TASvideos Admin and acting Senior Judge 💙 | CohostwarmCabin wrote:
You shouldn't need a degree in computer science to get into this hobby.
I don't know much about the DOOM TASing emulators, but isn't the loading times being removed from this publication have more to do with the way the footage was dumped? because I don't think the loading being removed here was done intentionally, more just that's how DOOM encoding works.
[14:15] <feos> WinDOES what DOSn't
12:33:44 PM <Mothrayas> "I got an oof with my game!"
Mothrayas Today at 12:22: <Colin> thank you for supporting noble causes such as my feet
MemoryTAS Today at 11:55 AM: you wouldn't know beauty if it slapped you in the face with a giant fish
[Today at 4:51 PM] Mothrayas: although if you like your own tweets that's the online equivalent of sniffing your own farts and probably tells a lot about you as a person
MemoryTAS Today at 7:01 PM: But I exert big staff energy honestly lol
Samsara Today at 1:20 PM: wouldn't ACE in a real life TAS just stand for Actually Cease Existing
Thank you for doing this! Also, if you want the Editor role so you can add these warnings yourself, let me know and it's yours.
That would be great, thank you so much for the offer!
alexheights1 wrote:
Auditory epilepsy is a real thing and can be caused by ZX Spectrum loading noise.
This brings up an interesting point - most discussions of epilepsy prior to this have focused on photosensitive epilepsy, but if static noise can also cause seizures that's potentially another issue to consider. Would it be possible for you to link to some more information about the condition in question? The results I get looking up auditory epilepsy mainly seem to focus on noise as a symptom rather than a trigger.
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Bigbass wrote:
I think it would be useful to come up with some written guidelines for determining when a warning is beneficial. If anyone knows of some reputable sources for learning more about photosensitivity and epilepsy, particularly in regard to videos, possible triggers and risks involved, that would be quite useful.
If anyone here actually has epilepsy or a related disorder, I'd be very curious in hearing their opinions on this subject. Such as what would be most helpful for them when viewing a movie, and what sorts of situations we should look out for. The most common trigger I've heard of is rapidly flashing lights, but it seems there is more to it than that. Does the whole screen have to flash, or just a small part of it? Does the flashing have to be sustained, or would a single flash warrant a warning? Is a notice in the video description or publication text sufficient, or would placing a momentary message at the start of the video be best?
I would look generally for the WCAG criteria - flashing of more than a 10 degree viewing angle or roughly 340x256 pixels at normal viewing distance, where flashing is a change of more than 10% of maximum luminance, at a rate between 3 times and 50 times per second. The upshot out of that is it has to be a big chunk of the screen, look like flickering and not changing images or a blur, and it has to be a pretty subsantial change in brightness with each flash. They also clarify that the bright pulse needs to be close to white or a deep red usually to cause the issue.
https://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/seizure-does-not-violate.html
