Font for a roguelike
datt...@gmail.com
I am trying to decide on a font for my Roguelike. I want an open
source ttf font that I can distribute with my game and that scales
well to small and large sizes.
I want to distribute it so that the game has a consistent look across
platforms.
I like Courier New the best for roguelikes now but it is not really
open source, it is owned by Microsoft.
I think Serif fonts look better in a roguelike, because it has more
volume.
Can someone suggest some fonts that will be good for roguelikes ?
Mingos
Open source??? I think you meant PUBLIC DOMAIN.
Courier New was introduced with Windows 3.1, but Courier is not owned
by Microsoft. You can use it freely, AFAIK. Alternatively, look for
sites like www.1001freefonts.com which offer free fonts.
http://www.1001freefonts.com/typewriter-fonts.php
http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/freefonts.shtml#monospace
http://www.urbanfonts.com/fonts/monospaced-fonts.htm
http://www.urbanfonts.com/fonts/typewriter-fonts.htm
Guess not everyone discovered Google yet...
Mingos
Matthew Allen
> I like Courier New the best for roguelikes now but it is not really
> open source, it is owned by Microsoft.
I think courier new is a great roguelike font. I've set my RL
terminals to the font for a long time, and its also used by
Legerdemain to great effect. Like Mingos said, its in the public
domain and there is no problem using it. I've also found some of the
Lucida fonts, which ship with Java, have a nice look for RLs too.
Its pretty easy to find TTF files for free these days and just use
them. Also, there are a number of font editors out there which you can
use to compile your own font collections. I use a customized font for
my interface that adds some square aspect ratio characters for
obstacles (it uses a square aspect ratio map, which looks fine for
most stuff but for walls is a little off).
datt...@gmail.com
> http://www.urbanfonts.com/fonts/typewriter-fonts.htm
Seriously ?
I have looked at a lot of these fonts. I was trying out Deja Vu and
Droid.
However, typography and roguelikes usually have different aim in mind.
I was hoping someone else might have experimented with fonts in their
roguelike and might enlighten me.
-Sid
datt...@gmail.com
You can redistribute it but cannot modify the font itself.
http://www.microsoft.com/typography/fontpack/eula.htm
Thanks
-Sid
ben...@gmail.com
Hey,
If you want your game to be somewhat consistent between platforms, you
may be interested in this site:
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/sampler-Monospace.shtml
which ranks the most common monospace fonts on Mac, Windows, and *nix
systems. (Unless you are packaging the font file with your game, of
course)
--Ben
Matthew Allen
> >http://www.urbanfonts.com/fonts/typewriter-fonts.htm
>
> Seriously ?
I would use some of those for a spy, 50s era, or zombie roguelike.
Mostly I think he was just pointing you to monospace fonts (not that
you have to stick to monospace).
perdu...@googlemail.com
<snip>
> Can someone suggest some fonts that will be good for roguelikes ?
How about Video Terminal Screen?
(http://www.abstractfonts.com/font/3941)
Best,
P.
Sherm Pendley
>> Guess not everyone discovered Google yet...
>
> Eh..... the search for "best font for roguelike" did not go well.
Of course not - Google can't make a subjective decision for you. It can't
know what criteria defines "best" in your opinion - and neither do we.
Search for "free fonts" and make up your own mind. What's best in your
opinion might not be the best in mine, and vice versa.
sherm--
--
My blog: http://shermspace.blogspot.com
Cocoa programming in Perl: http://camelbones.sourceforge.net
Mingos
> datta....@gmail.com writes:
> >> Guess not everyone discovered Google yet...
>
> > Eh..... the search for "best font for roguelike" did not go well.
>
> Of course not - Google can't make a subjective decision for you. It can't
> know what criteria defines "best" in your opinion - and neither do we.
>
> Search for "free fonts" and make up your own mind. What's best in your
> opinion might not be the best in mine, and vice versa.
Exactly. I did a search for "download free monospaced font" and got
loads of results, some of which I listed in my previous post. Don't
expect the search engine to make arbitrary decisions for you, as Sherm
says.
Other fonts you might want to try out are sans serif ones. They tend
to be readable in all sizes. In fact, my game uses Arial and for 8x8
pixels, it's really not bad (although some of the guys who have posted
here do complain about it, hehehe). If you need a monospaced font, you
can tweak it in any font editor to make it monospaced. I did that once
to painlessly create a small bitmap font that's shipped now with
libtcod. Just make sure you're allowed to do that. Most free fonts
come with a licence agreement, where it is stated clearly whether the
font can be redistributed and modified and whether the author expects
to get anything in return (usually nothing more than an
acknowledgement).
Mingos
datt...@gmail.com
>
> > Of course not - Google can't make a subjective decision for you. It can't
> > know what criteria defines "best" in your opinion - and neither do we.
>
> > Search for "free fonts" and make up your own mind. What's best in your
> > opinion might not be the best in mine, and vice versa.
>
> Exactly. I did a search for "download free monospaced font" and got
I guess the sarcasm was too subtle :-P.
I have been google searching and looking for right font for months
now. It was pretty hard to find a font that looks good in the game so
I thought of asking the pros.
I feel Sans serif fonts dont look as good as courier in the game. I
guess slab serif or serif monospaced fonts would be good. ( also
called typewriter, though most sites seem to think typewriter means
grungy typewriter )
My latest haul has brought in http://www.fontsquirrel.com/foundry/GUST-e-foundry
, some of whom look good. Havent tried them in the game yet.
Thanks to the people who mentioned what fonts they themselves are
using in the game. That helps a lot.
Thanks
-Sid
Mingos
> I guess the sarcasm was too subtle :-P.
>
> I have been google searching and looking for right font for months
> now. It was pretty hard to find a font that looks good in the game so
> I thought of asking the pros.
"Good looking" is arbitrary and subjective. You favour Courier font
families and think they look good - I've no problem with that. But
personally, I consider it quite horrid. For me, sans serif fonts are
best and it's a subjective choice as well. The only thing we can do to
help is mention the font sites or the fonts we use in our games. The
final decision will be up to you anyway. There is no such thing as a
"universally good looking font".
Mingos
Matthew Allen
> "Good looking" is arbitrary and subjective. You favour Courier font
> families and think they look good - I've no problem with that.
No way. I agree with the OP on Courier New and I'm always right. Thus,
you are objectively wrong ;)
Sir_Lewk
Maybe I'm a bit old fasioned, but I, as a player, like to pick my own
fonts myself anyways. Part of the beauty of roguelikes is that (for
the most part) they don't constrain you in graphical ways. Players
can choose to play with whatever terminal emulator and with whatever
font they choose, be it xterm with a "make your eyes bleed font" (my
personal favorite ;)), the windows terminal with comic sans, or even a
braille reader.
I'd hesitate to make the value of your game reliant in any way on
things like font, of course if we are talking about an SDL based
roguelike then just ignore me. :)
regards
Artur M. Piwko
datt...@gmail.com <datt...@gmail.com> screamed:
> I am trying to decide on a font for my Roguelike. I want an open
> source ttf font that I can distribute with my game and that scales
> well to small and large sizes.
> I want to distribute it so that the game has a consistent look across
> platforms.
>
I prefer Terminus (GPL?) and Consolas.
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Cuboidz
> Can someone suggest some fonts that will be good for roguelikes?
Personally, I like the Windows Terminal Font at 12 x 16 size. It has
nice "graphics" you can use:
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8255/terminalf.png
I use it in my pinnacle of vapourware (click to zoom to proper size):
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8000/roguelike.png
karmarogue
konijn_
> I really like Bitstream Vera Sans Mono
+1. I like it as well. It's hassles free.