Custom Font, 4 pixel high

san.daniele · Sun 14/04/2013 22:21:21

Without getting too much into details about the game I'm working on, I present you the font I developed for it. While in the game it's dozens of pixels high (due to the graphic style I'm using), it's basically a pixelfont working with a height of 4 units (and max. 4 units wide).

Would love to get some input and suggestions to improve it.
The characters I'm very unhappy with are '8' and the comma (hard to make a comma without going under the baseline), while I kinda accepted 'M' and 'W' weird look.

I'll post 2 pictures of it (actually 8 pixel high â€¦ I know it's kinda ridiculous to expect anyone to read it without ruining their eyes

)

the 2nd picture shows punctuation and alternatives to some glyphs.

[imgzoom]http://www.debe.at/44pixelfont/show1.gif[/imgzoom]
[imgzoom]http://www.debe.at/44pixelfont/show2.gif[/imgzoom]

Ghost · Sun 14/04/2013 23:29:25

Te problem I see is that you can't maintain a consistent look with just 4 pixels height- several letters appear as lowercase. Try a height of 5 pixels, that is (allegedly) the minimum height for a legible, consistent font.

selmiak · Mon 15/04/2013 00:15:31

try adding an extra pixel to M and W like you did for the E.
for the 8 two alternating zig zag pixels with a width of 4 could do

btw, no matter if it's easy to confuse it with the d or the b, I draw my 6 the other way round

dactylopus · Mon 15/04/2013 04:39:33

I would try to capitalize the B and D. The H and I should be much easier.

I also agree that the M and W could mimic the E and 3. And the 6 does look off.

Other than that, it's a good looking small font!

san.daniele · Mon 15/04/2013 08:39:50

Quote from: selmiak on Mon 15/04/2013 00:15:31
try adding an extra pixel to M and W like you did for the E.
for the 8 two alternating zig zag pixels with a width of 4 could do

btw, no matter if it's easy to confuse it with the d or the b, I draw my 6 the other way round

great idea with the M and W! The letters get a little heavy compared to the rest of the alphabet but I think it's an improvement. I don't get what you mean about the 8.
about the 6: well, I have no excuse.

I redrew the font 2 minutes before posting it here, so I blame it on that. Come to think of it: it's actually a feature! You know, one of those lefthanded fonts.

thanks everyone for the input.
having 5 pixels height would make things a lot easier, unfortunately 4 units are all I have on the grid I'm using in my game. Obviousely it is a mix of upper- and lowercase letters, but as long as it's readable I have absolutely no problem with that.

selmiak · Mon 15/04/2013 11:00:23

what I mean for the 8 is this:
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/m0g8xCR.png[/imgzoom]

but it looks strange...

so maybe this works better:
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/rPekKJ9.png[/imgzoom]

san.daniele · Mon 15/04/2013 13:59:24

Quote from: selmiak on Mon 15/04/2013 11:00:23

so maybe this works better:
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/rPekKJ9.png[/imgzoom]

omg that's awesome!
I'm still playing around with your suggestion about the M and W, as starting to add more pixel all of the sudden opened up like 10 new possibilities

san.daniele · Fri 26/04/2013 12:06:09

in case anyone cares. here's what I go with as the main font (the last greyed out line are alternative letters).

[imgzoom]http://www.debe.at/44pixelfont/show3.png[/imgzoom]

feedback still very welcome

Scavenger · Fri 26/04/2013 16:24:41

Try something like this:

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/Ek7isVu.png[/imgzoom]

I just evened out the upper and lowercase letters and made them a consistent size. The lowercase letters there are just a test, I was bored, they probably won't be useful.

selmiak · Fri 26/04/2013 19:06:00

hehe, this getting even more minimalistic. Next stop 2x2px font pls.

san.daniele · Fri 26/04/2013 19:14:54

@selmiak: i really like what you did there. especiall when it comes to some of the really impossible letters like the lowercase G.

i might take one or the other idea out of there (for now I'll leave the font thing aside as there's bigger problems in my game that need to be taken care of).

selmiak · Fri 26/04/2013 19:21:57

oh thanks, that was the best I could do

EchosofNezhyt · Mon 29/04/2013 21:17:23

Theres tons of free 5px fonts btw. Cool though!

san.daniele · Mon 29/04/2013 22:17:14

5 pixel! phew!
I wish I had the luxury of that abundance of free space in my game

actually, I could do some changes to use a different font but I find it very funny/satisfying to do as much customized things as possible â€¦ and I tend to get caught up in the ridiculous ideas I have.
I was really surprised I couldn't find much when searching for 4 pixel high fonts. They have to exist (there's millions of LED screens out there, some must have a max. height of 4units).

p.s. in case anyone is wondering. I'm NOT gonna force anyone to read a font that's actually 4 pixel high in the game. Everything is built on a grid and the 4px will be 4units of said grid (around 32px).

Adam H · Tue 30/04/2013 00:36:26

3x3 pixels! BECAUSE I CAN.

[imgzoom]http://i40.tinypic.com/igl102.png[/imgzoom]

It actually doesn't look that bad at 1x or 2x. I can't figure out anyway to do punctuation other than period.

Jim Reed · Tue 30/04/2013 07:52:20

NotJimReed · Tue 30/04/2013 08:32:27

You suck Jim Reed, my "s" is clearly superior!

san.daniele · Tue 30/04/2013 09:38:39

you guys are crazy and insanely awesome!

up next: Bold Italic styles.

Jim Reed · Tue 30/04/2013 10:57:17

Hello eye strain.

eye strain · Tue 30/04/2013 11:10:49

Hello Jim Reed.

Might be that that Russian guy with the leg (FSi) has a filter to enlarge small resolutions.