Vlaka Blindsight Question

[RedWolfofDeath]

One of my players wants to play as a Vlaka but blind.

Per the rules for blind Vlaka, "Blind: A blind vlaka has blindsight (hearing) with a range of 60 feet, blindsight (scent) with a range of 30 feet, and the blinded condition. The vlaka is naturally sightless, so the blinded condition can be removed only by effects that grant sight to creatures with no natural vision."

The blinded condition is as follows "You can’t see. You are flat-footed and take a –4 penalty to Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks and to opposed Perception skill checks. All checks and activities that rely on vision (such as reading and Perception checks based on sight) automatically fail. You can’t observe other creatures, which means (among other things) that you treat all creatures as having total concealment (50% miss chance; see page 253). You must succeed at a DC 10 Acrobatics skill check to move faster than half speed. If you fail this check, you fall prone. Characters who remain blinded for a long time grow accustomed to these drawbacks and can overcome some of them. Creatures that become blinded but that have a precise sense (see page 260) other than vision still automatically fail all checks and activities relying on vision, but they suffer none of the other effects."

From that reading, the Vlaka should be flat-footed at all times. What my player is debating is that it would be flat-footed when his blindsight is not allowed aka in space or does he remain flat-footed per the blind condition and his blindsight is used more to find enemies when vision is not possible. Or is he able to not be caught flat-footed at close range, but screwed at longer ranges?

[Blahness98]

Blindsight: Blindsight is a more precise version of blindsense. This ability operates out to a specified range. A creature with blindsight typically perceives using a specific type of sense, indicated in parentheses.

Precise Senses: Precise senses allow a creature to perceive the world in nuanced detail. For many creatures, the only precise sense they have is vision. Most other precise senses are collectively referred to as “blindsight,” indicating that they are precise like vision but creatures can use them without needing to see.

From what I am seeing, the character would be able to perceive the world around them in precise detail out to 60 feet (30 feet with scent) where they could normally hear (or smell). An in character way to explain this might be as simple as they learned to hum/click their tongue/finger snap and use a form of echolocation to navigate their surroundings (what some blind people do in real life). I would use Daredevil Vision as an example of this type of sight. The character wouldn't be able to read unless it was written in braille or some equivalent adaptive technology and definitely could not see specific details on what someone would look like. I would grant them the ability to give shapes, approximate sizes, or whatnot like what Daredevil would see. In a vacuum, space, space suit or someplace where they cannot do their echolocation trick or smell, I would make them follow the blinded condition.

You just need to remember, this character has lived with the blindness for their entire life. The blinded condition states "Characters who remain blinded for a long time grow accustomed to these drawbacks and can overcome some of them." The blindsight (hearing) and (scent) are the mechanical way the race gets around some of the penalties associated with the blinded condition within specific ranges. Outside those ranges, the character is unaware of precisely what is out there.