Converting old fonts. Any requests?

[Springheel]

The typewriter one struck me as out of place as well, even though typeface would be fine in the setting. I don't know what it is exactly. I have no major problems with the other ones, though personally I care more about whether it's readable than whether it looks realistic. How many different handwriting fonts would that give us, and how many do we really need?

[Fidcal]

You certainly need a choice of handwriting. In Den I have one message from Sam and another from Creep and I think they are the same handwriting! And that's in a tiny mission. Five or ten handwriting fonts would not be too many imo but of course downloads size of the main resource has to be considered. Some of these can be kept in reserve for a future enhancement pack.

 

The typewriter was invented in the mid Victorian era - in fact one early patent goes back to 1714. Whether it has a place in the DM universe I don't know. It's just a matter of acceptance. It is less technological than some of the electrical equipment in Bafford imo but it's a matter of perception. It is very simple technology that could have been developed hundreds of years earlier in theory. When you look at the intricacy of early clocks and watches they are far more advanced. But all that is irrelevant if we associate it with a more modern era.

[Springheel]

I don't think we want typewriters in our setting, as they do tend to be associated with more modern eras. That aside, printing presses could have used a very similar font. I can't really explain my initial reaction that it is too modern, but I wanted to agree with SD.

 

You certainly need a choice of handwriting. In Den I have one message from Sam and another from Creep and I think they are the same handwriting!

 

Didn't the original Thief use only one or two handwriting fonts for the entire game? I think people assume that the font is generic, just like they don't have a problem with every parchment looking the same. I'm not saying we shouldn't have a lot to choose from, but IMO they should offer something unqiue, rather than just being different. I like the idea of a scrawling, poorly educated font, for example.

[phide]

Of those presented so far, I think Upstick, Mac Humaine, Rapscallion, jd_hand, ellianerelle, everett, Old Remington, Shopping List and Tommys are solid. Despite jd_hand's displacement issues, I think it's usable if it could be modified slightly.

[Fidcal]

Agreed I think 2 or 3 handwritings might be enough as a core resource but later a nice libary of choices is better. Perhaps someone with a certain type of mission might want more choices.

 

Agree about the typewriter for the core resource. The same arises there. Someone might do a special inventor/engineer story where he might possibly want such a font as a one off.

 

I didn't find a good old print font. Nor a really good italic (I mean the old gothic italic for special documents, wills certificates etc) Well, I found a lot but they were all copyright.

 

I found some really nice scripts but those slanted scripts seem to be the worse to convert and characters with descenders with negative x kerning seem badly displaced. My convertor had a setting to fix them but made them just as bad in the other direction! It might be possible to repair them manually but painstaking work and I've had enough of fonts for now.

[Crispy]

Keep in mind in-game fonts don't need to be beautiful or even perfectly legible - they need to represent the text on a real game document, eg, somone's handwriting or a badly printed notice.

I quite disagree about legibility - nothing is more frustrating than trying to read the damn fancy font some stupid wannabe graphic designer put on a document because they thought it looked kewl.

 

Legibility is always, always the #1 concern. Yes, even in-game, because a readable is useless if the player can't actually read it. Neatness is something completely different, and of course is not necessary. Messy is fine; illegible is not.

 

ellianerelle, Shopping list and Summertime are my favourites of that batch. Most of the rest are reasonably usable, but may not be necessary.

 

Proclamation is OK; only problem is some of the thinner lines aren't properly visible, but that's not fatal. Lotharus is not a true "handwriting font"; handwriting doesn't naturally look thicker at the tops of letters! Chris's Hand is difficult to read, but would be fine if used sparingly. Everett is visually attractive, but quite illegible.

[Fidcal]

Thanks phide.

 

@Crispy: I agree the most general fonts should be very legible but there is a place for poor legibiity and even in special cases partly illegible text. (try playing T2's Dance with the Dead for an obscure text from a dying man where you can just discern a few clues.) I find Everett readable though not easy but that is part of the atmosphere for me. The mapper has to keep this in mind about where and how to use text. A short message might only need to convey one concept, one impression, to the reader, and need not be a clear list of information. I would definitely use Everett but whether it should be a core font is for others to decide.

 

I don't know if stone font (Proclamation) can be repaired. I think it's the top of the lower case p which is lost. I see it as a printed font anyway in an old book or document and see that as bad printing. I believe the top of that p might be visible if the scale is larger. I just had a go and may have repaired it but need to rename my project folder to see and stupid XP won't let me without a reboot I think because it was used earlier by Doom. I'll check later. I'm hopeful. (repairing kerning displacement is harder and needs more research.)

 

[EDIT] Yes, I can confirm I fixed the top of the p in the stone font.

 

I'm happy with Lotharus as a script written by hand. I agree now you point it out that it would be a strange pen or brush that goes thick at the top of the character but I think it could be done by a drunken monk with a crippled hand being nudged in a dark room. Seriously, I don't think most players would analyse it.

 

And that does underline the need for variety. In real missions mappers do have strange situations where an unsual font adds character and variety. They want to convey the educated, the semi-literate, the child, the pedant, as well as a variety of printed types in books etc.

 

@ Springheel : Once everyone has had a chance to comment can you tell me which, if any , you want me to upload? At that time I'll define some general guis for each font.

[Fidcal]

I made one last push to find an old italic style and an old print type. I couldn't find an old print one but I did find an old italic called Bamberg which is reasonable. It is definitely not perfect but we need an old italic font and this is the best so far. Taken effort over days to find, convert and yes, repair one or two of its letters. Even so it cannot be used too small or the lower a is offset too high. If someone can find a better font in this style then we can replace this....

 

 

One other I came across is an old script, Carolingia that is a bit different...

 

 

Here is my shortlist so far keeping in mind all comments and my own views.

 

X = Not to be used. Will keep in case it can be fixed but unlikely ever to use it.

R = I will keep in reserve for some future time after launch when mappers might be looking for other fonts.

U = I will upload shortly when I have also created guis for them. I've given up on perfection. Especially free perfection. I would use any of these in my own missions and I'm certain some mappers would too. If we can find better then they can be changed.

 

FONTS:

 

U Architect

U Rapscallion

U Ellianerelle

U Everett

U Popsies

U Shopping List

U Stone

U Summertime

U Bamberg

U Carolingia

U Medusa

 

R Lipstick

R Playdough

R Chris's Hand

R Lotharus

R Old Remington

R Tommy's Hand

 

X Gothic Deutsch

X Gothica

X Heidelberg

X Mac Humaine

[Springheel]

I like the second one but I find the first one almost unreadable.