Maybe '@options combat' could have a color option, and could steal it from the SIC options?
Are you using the webclient? If you log into the client itself there is an options area where you can change the color scheme entirely.
If you are using a MUD client, it should have the ability to overwrite the default colors and change them, so you could change the red of combat to a different color entirely.
In general terms I really recommend thicker fonts (Roboto Mono semi-bold and Fixedsys Excelsior are both really excellent options, and the latter is mega-themely) and a slightly warmer background when it comes to displaying red text. I have a variant of Gruvbox that I named Gruvbox Nostromo that I use for Sindome and find extremely good for high volume reading:
"name": "Gruvbox Nostromo",
"background": "#282828",
"black": "#282828",
"blue": "#458588",
"brightBlack": "#928374",
"brightBlue": "#83A598",
"brightCyan": "#8FBF7F",
"brightGreen": "#B8BA37",
"brightPurple": "#D3869B",
"brightRed": "#F84B3C",
"brightWhite": "#EBDAB4",
"brightYellow": "#F9BC41",
"cursorColor": "#EA6962",
"cyan": "#689D6A",
"foreground": "#D5C4A1",
"green": "#98971A",
"purple": "#B16286",
"red": "#D65D0E",
"selectionBackground": "#3C3836",
"white": "#A89984",
"yellow": "#D79921"
That's in JSON but you can find Gruvbox schemes for just about every client and terminal in existence with a bit of searching around.
It's not related to the text colour which I agree is hard to parse and is easier when modified, but I will just use this as a chance to plug:
@access COMBAT_LABELS is enabled
Which is a considerable help when it comes to quickly getting a read on what that paragraph of text meant.
While not wanting to be biased against those of us with sight challenges, my understanding is that everything is intentionally meant to "bleed" together. The SIC network. The combat text. Even the sector labels. It's visceral. It's evocative.
Keeping in the spirit of making the game accessible as the OP asked for, I'm going to ask / suggest that if a compensation is made that it applies uniformly.
For example, the specific option was to make the combat text BRIGHTER because the OP is having challenges seeing the darker colors.
If the decision is made to make the combat text brighter, via a filter option for example. If combat text is brighter, then make ALL of the text brighter. Keep the spirit / themeliness of everything bleeding together in the visual field.
Which I would personally consider to be true now.
As long as the webclient is trying to enforce a visual experience in a genre that leaves that mostly up to the end user to customize to their preference, people playing the 'intended' way and to their preference are going to end up with different outcomes.
Sindome's default colour selection is just, I'm sorry to say it but, horrible and Source Code Pro is not a good typeface for prose text. I hope we can eventually move away from this policy where one poor visual experience is trying to be enforced across all players because Sindome could look way better and more modern, and play better as a result, with just a little tweaking.
I intentionally tossed my M* client and started using the web client for the same reason that I enjoy 8-bit video games.
It is all part of the developer's intended experience.
IMO - It's yet another flavor of "playing to lose". I'm not going to optimize the heck out of my setup to get advantage over other players. (Disclaimer , I did increase my web browser zoom to 200% so that my old eyes can see the text.)
If someone gains a significant advantage in clarity or legibility or volume text processing with changes to colouring, highlights, text division and formatting, and even just referring to those modifications, let alone sharing them, is prohibited, you just create a bizarre unspoken situation where some players are having a lot easier time than others.
The prohibitions on any text modification should be really lifted and let players share their client settings with one another openly and then everyone, especially players with visual processing issues, can have a great experience overall.
Joking aside, I agree with you in principle. There should be a repository of client configs and step by step guides on how to get them setup. Because, just as people have sight challenges, other people have tech challenges. It wouldn't be fair to disadvantage players who don't have the tech know how to install custom client software and tweak it.
This is not to say the original topic isn't a good idea, I just wish instead of looking for systems changes from developers of the game for this I could just say: "Here's my entire custom client configuration that I found makes this much easier, have fun!"
I feel like the font isn't all that great though but I can never decide which of the options is better. And I wish there was a lighter color option for SIC that wasn't too bright or pink, because I like the dark red theme, though it could be easier to view when I put away my glasses for a bit. I'm not really visually impaired, a bit short sighted, though it does make a difference.
