+Karl G Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 I'm wondering if anyone knows of or has made a good, tiny proportional font for their games? I won't be using it dynamically, but rather will build 48 or 96 pixel width images to use as intro text for my WIP. I can use the monospaced font that I use for in-game text, but I want something that looks a little nicer, and has a distinct look from my in-game text. If necessary, I can roll my own, or look to public domain fonts to convert, but I thought I'd check if anyone had already done something like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 2 hours ago, Karl G said: I'm wondering if anyone knows of or has made a good, tiny proportional font for their games? I won't be using it dynamically, but rather will build 48 or 96 pixel width images to use as intro text for my WIP. I can use the monospaced font that I use for in-game text, but I want something that looks a little nicer, and has a distinct look from my in-game text. If necessary, I can roll my own, or look to public domain fonts to convert, but I thought I'd check if anyone had already done something like this. Have you considered the "Glacier Belle" font used in the PlusCart? It can be adapted to proportional with just a few letter changes... I'd be happy to do that for you. Currently 3 pixels x 12 lines. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Karl G Posted October 26, 2020 Author Share Posted October 26, 2020 Thank you, I think this would make a good base. I should be able to do the modification, but I just wanted to see if there was anything that someone had already done. Where can I find the data for this font? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 3 minutes ago, Karl G said: Thank you, I think this would make a good base. I should be able to do the modification, but I just wanted to see if there was anything that someone had already done. Where can I find the data for this font? https://gitlab.com/firmaplus/atari-2600-pluscart/-/blob/dev/source/Atari2600ROM/GlacierBelle.asm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Karl G Posted October 31, 2020 Author Share Posted October 31, 2020 FYI this font worked well for my purposes with only minimal modifications to make it proportional. I saved a lot more space than I added, and was able to fit a good amount of text in a 48-pixel kernel. Reducing the spaces to 2 pixels made it a little cramped, but definitely still readable. So, thanks for the recommendation. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted October 31, 2020 Share Posted October 31, 2020 It's gorgeous. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted October 31, 2020 Share Posted October 31, 2020 1 hour ago, Karl G said: FYI this font worked well for my purposes with only minimal modifications to make it proportional. I saved a lot more space than I added, and was able to fit a good amount of text in a 48-pixel kernel. Reducing the spaces to 2 pixels made it a little cramped, but definitely still readable. So, thanks for the recommendation. 17 minutes ago, Andrew Davie said: It's gorgeous. yes, but I think the word spacing needs one more pixel.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Karl G Posted November 1, 2020 Author Share Posted November 1, 2020 14 hours ago, Al_Nafuur said: yes, but I think the word spacing needs one more pixel.. After trying it, I think you are right. I was afraid that it would mean less words on each "scroll", but I only lost one period at the end of one of them, which is an acceptable loss. I also took the opportunity to tweak the lowercase "m" that I had expanded. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 (edited) 34 minutes ago, Karl G said: After trying it, I think you are right. I was afraid that it would mean less words on each "scroll", but I only lost one period at the end of one of them, which is an acceptable loss. I also took the opportunity to tweak the lowercase "m" that I had expanded. but you should double the scanlines for the pixels you added to the lowercase "m" and "w" so it will not be an issue on newer LCD TVs.. Edited November 1, 2020 by Al_Nafuur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Karl G Posted November 1, 2020 Author Share Posted November 1, 2020 27 minutes ago, Al_Nafuur said: but you should double the scanlines for the pixels you added to the lowercase "m" and "w" so it will not be an issue on newer LCD TVs.. Huh. I was unaware of this rule of thumb. Do I need to aim for an even number of scanlines, or just > 1? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 1 minute ago, Karl G said: Huh. I was unaware of this rule of thumb. Do I need to aim for an even number of scanlines, or just > 1? They only have to be > 1. If you use interlaced flicker, the LCD TV will "swallow" every second scanline and if you only have one scanline for a pixel this might be the scanline not shown.. btw. the pixel scanlines don't have to be "aligned" with the columns to the left and right of it. @Andrew Davie did a great job with all the font's on the PlusCart menu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 @Karl G I would like to suggest another lowercase "w": or: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Karl G Posted November 1, 2020 Author Share Posted November 1, 2020 14 minutes ago, Al_Nafuur said: @Karl G I would like to suggest another lowercase "w": or: Thanks! I think I like that better than the adjustment that I made to my "w". Flicker isn't an issue for the text on the intro screen, since I'm using a 48-pixel kernel, but I like the more solid appearance of the characters that modifying the letters provided. Here is (maybe) a final version: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 My 2c.... Extend the middle bar of "m" down to the bottom. Shift the top part up one scanline, so that the left bar is at the same height as the part to the right. For the "w", lift the left and right bars up by 2 pixels, and the gaps between fill in with 2 black pixels too. I could draw them if you want 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 1 hour ago, Al_Nafuur said: @Andrew Davie did a great job with all the font's on the PlusCart menu And @Thomas Jentzsch with the new text "engine" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Karl G Posted November 1, 2020 Author Share Posted November 1, 2020 @Andrew Davie - I think I follow what you mean with the "m", but I'm not sure with the "w": Edit: maybe I figured it out below, Edit #2: Here are side-by-side comparison screenshots after these changes. Edit #3: Assuming I interpreted the change correctly, I like the newer "m", but prefer the prior "w", I think. Pre-change: post-change: Current m: ..... ..... #.... ##.#. ##### #.#.# #.#.# #...# #...# #...# ..... ..... Suggested m: ..... ..... ##.#. ##.#. #.#.# #.#.# #.#.# #.#.# #.#.# #.#.# ..... ..... Current w: ..... ..... #...# #...# #...# #.#.# #.#.# #.#.# ##### .#.#. ..... ..... Suggested w: ??? ..... ..... #...# #...# #...# #.#.# #.#.# ##### .###. .#.#. ..... ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 My suggested "w" aligns with the other lowercase chars "a,b,c,d,e,o,u,t,..." but @Andrew Davie's suggestion would align it with the "v" which is most probably the right way for "Glacier Belle": Suggested w: ..... ..... #...# #...# #.#.# #.#.# #.#.# ##### .#.#. .#.#. ..... ..... And the "m" should be: Suggested m: ..... ..... ##.#. ##### #.#.# #.#.# #.#.# #.#.# #.#.# #.#.# ..... ..... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NostAlgae37 Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 My 2 cents about what I think looks best (note the m and w): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Karl G Posted November 1, 2020 Author Share Posted November 1, 2020 @Al_Nafuur - Thanks! I think this is the best version yet. I appreciate all of the feedback! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 15 minutes ago, Karl G said: @Al_Nafuur - Thanks! I think this is the best version yet. I appreciate all of the feedback! This is the best version so far, you might give @NostAlgae37's idea a try and short the middle bar of the "m" by one pixel at the bottom. But I think that the current version is better. btw. did I mention that I am a great fan of the PlusCart's "Captain Morgan" font (made by @Andrew Davie) ?: https://gitlab.com/firmaplus/atari-2600-pluscart/-/blob/dev/source/Atari2600ROM/CaptainMorgan.asm 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 56 minutes ago, Karl G said: @Al_Nafuur - Thanks! I think this is the best version yet. I appreciate all of the feedback! As far as I can tell, the above matches what I was trying to describe. Looks great to me! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NostAlgae37 Posted November 2, 2020 Share Posted November 2, 2020 4 hours ago, Al_Nafuur said: This is the best version so far, you might give @NostAlgae37's idea a try and short the middle bar of the "m" by one pixel at the bottom. But I think that the current version is better. I'm kind of fond of the version of the "m" that I posted (with the 1 pixel shorter middle bar and the entire top portion shifted down 1 pixel to accommodate the extra accent pixel at the top left), but I like this version also; it's definitely more visually appealing than some of the earlier iterations. The "w" that you settled on is also different than the one that I posted, but I can't decide which of the 2 that I like better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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