Sunday, February 10, 2008
Frayed Knights - Font Wars
Okay, okay, I get the hint. Comic Sans is not well-loved, even as a placeholder font for Frayed Knights. I guess I'm a complete font idiot. So... I've been trying to find more fonts that are playful and readable for the whole game. Probably. Here are two candidates, though I'm not sure one of them is even available for a (reasonable) commercial license. Click on 'em to get the bigger version (or just go immediately to the poll thread to see 'em both in full glory).
Font Candidate #1:
Font Candidate #2:
Even if you don't like either of them, please give me some suggestions on which ones I *SHOULD* check out. Just don't point me in the direction of a font that will cost me hundreds of dollars to license, because I'm on an indie budget.
Here's a poll so I can easily track the responses:
FRAYED KNIGHTS FONT WARS #1 POLL
Thank you kindly in advance for your suggestions!
Labels: Frayed Knights, game art
- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 12:57 AM (Permalink)
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I like the comic font. The two you've suggested-- I dont like them. Too much brainpower is going into decyphering the scrawl rather than thinking about what is being said. Nothing wrong with larger size with less boarder, and my I also suggest that you tint the font's color slightly to reflect who is speaking? I'd make heavy use of bold and itallics etc if possible to add emphasis to the text and to allow someone skimming text to get the main points if they've already seen that script before.
-Herb-
-Herb-
# posted by 
: February 10, 2008 10:57 AM
: February 10, 2008 10:57 AM
I don't particularly like either of them, myself. I don't know enough about fonts to actually help you find one, except to point out that my preference is for easy to read, and I don't really care if the font is whimsical or medieval or anything. Ideally I wouldn't notice the font at all, and would just focus on the dialog and plot and so on.
Blamspot is your friend. They have quite a few free fonts designed for comic book dialog, so it's a pretty good fit for what you're doing. According to their licensing info,
"If you are a self-publisher/creator you may use these fonts for any independently published project, for profit or non profit."
Some I'd recommend are:
Acme Secret Agent (all caps)
Webletterer (all caps)
Mighty Zeo 2.0(mixed caps)
"If you are a self-publisher/creator you may use these fonts for any independently published project, for profit or non profit."
Some I'd recommend are:
Acme Secret Agent (all caps)
Webletterer (all caps)
Mighty Zeo 2.0(mixed caps)
Blambot is definitely very cool. Highly recommended, and I think they do have a number of fonts that would work really well in FK.
Well, font #2 actually IS a Blambot font. And I don't qualify to use them for free because I'm not a cartoonist. Unless you really, really LOOSELY define Frayed Knights as a cartoon due to its presentation.
Unfortunately, the problem is that the comic fonts that work well for dialog don't typically look all that good for regular text. The above was an experiment. I may still use one of these for logos and buttons, but neither will be the primary font used in the game.
Unfortunately, the problem is that the comic fonts that work well for dialog don't typically look all that good for regular text. The above was an experiment. I may still use one of these for logos and buttons, but neither will be the primary font used in the game.
Finding a good font for a game can be really tough. It not only has to be a good looking font, but it also has to be good looking at a relatively small font size, without the benefit (at least in TGE) of strong anti-aliasing.
When searching for a font for the text output screen of Vespers, it took me a while to find one that looked right at that size. Lots of cool fonts had to be trashed because they looked like crap in TGE at a small size.
When searching for a font for the text output screen of Vespers, it took me a while to find one that looked right at that size. Lots of cool fonts had to be trashed because they looked like crap in TGE at a small size.
I think the main issue with the fonts illustrated above is the font weight (how bold the fonts are) in relation to the font size.
Personally, I prefer the original (Comic Sans Serif) font over the new choices because it was easier to read. As a player, I don't want to struggle to read dialog, it detracts from the overall immersion the game is trying to establish.
Personally, I prefer the original (Comic Sans Serif) font over the new choices because it was easier to read. As a player, I don't want to struggle to read dialog, it detracts from the overall immersion the game is trying to establish.
Hmmm I don't like either of them... and the box border is too close to the letters in the second font - it makes it really hard to read...
I like your blog btw. First time poster... been reading for two months or so now. Thanks for the interesting game design insights. I found this site when Shamus Young linked to the Operation Flashpoint post. Great, great game.
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I like your blog btw. First time poster... been reading for two months or so now. Thanks for the interesting game design insights. I found this site when Shamus Young linked to the Operation Flashpoint post. Great, great game.
# posted by : February 14, 2008 12:38 AM
: February 14, 2008 12:38 AMLinks to this post:
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