Font talk/reccomendation request

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Scribbles
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Font talk/reccomendation request

#1 Post by Scribbles »

What's a good, free to use font for when someone is speaking through a speaker/intercom?

I want a unique font to differentiate between when the character is speaking in person vs over the intercom system(in the VN I'm working on.) I just want to give it some kind of effect, not 100% sure what.

and to jump off of that, what are your favorite fonts to use for speaking characters?
favorite decorative fonts?

I like Georgia, Poor Richard, and Copperplate Gothic Light personally, but I also like Girls are Weird, and Harrington (these are all fonts btw lol)
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Re: Font talk/reccomendation request

#2 Post by BáiYù »

I'm trying to make my default go-to font the Noto series by Google, since it's designed to be clean and easy to read with a bonus towards multilingual support (unless I want a typeface that imparts a specific feeling). Other general purpose faves include Amaranth, Nunito, and Quicksand.

Personally, I'd use the same font for a character speaking over an intercom except with bold italics to give that 'constantly screaming' vibe while remaining consistent with the rest of the game. Maybe an All-Caps font like Acknowledgement would suit your needs?
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Re: Font talk/reccomendation request

#3 Post by Scribbles »

BáiYù wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2017 11:27 am I'm trying to make my default go-to font the Noto series by Google, since it's designed to be clean and easy to read with a bonus towards multilingual support (unless I want a typeface that imparts a specific feeling). Other general purpose faves include Amaranth, Nunito, and Quicksand.

Personally, I'd use the same font for a character speaking over an intercom except with bold italics to give that 'constantly screaming' vibe while remaining consistent with the rest of the game. Maybe an All-Caps font like Acknowledgement would suit your needs?
ooo those are nice, I'll have to poke around some more. I'm not sure exactly what I want, but when the voice comes over the intercom it's scratchy and somewhat distorted and I wanted to show that with the font, but still make it legible
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Re: Font talk/reccomendation request

#4 Post by PMscenarios »

When I look for fonts I tend to write a sample sentence into Google fonts and scroll through the list looking for what I want, often getting a better idea of what that is while looking.

Thinking about an intercom voice I immediately thought of something sans-serif with heavy spacing to make it feel "slower", while scratchy/distorted made me think of "printing error"-like fonts; these 7 were the ones that jumped out to me on a quick browse through: google fonts (the Amatic one would probably be my pick)


Edit: When it comes to dialogue/in-game fonts my preference is for simple, easy-to-read fonts. I often find more decorative, cursive or heavy serif fonts difficult to keep up with, but a few of the sans-serif fonts are too "round" for me. My game is currently using Quattrocento Sans for normal dialogue - not my fav, but it was the most suitable one that had a good looking italic variant - while using Droid Sans for "electronic" dialogue.

For decoration it really comes down to the feel of it. Currently all my stuff uses different google fonts; I use Aladin for in-game names/menu for its "arabian nights" feel, the game's logo uses Princess Sofia and my logo > uses Macondo Swash Caps.
My 2 absolute favs though, are Bigelow Rules and Six Caps, and I really hope I'll be able to find an excuse to use them some time.
(the fonts mentioned above)
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Re: Font talk/reccomendation request

#5 Post by Scribbles »

PMscenarios wrote: Tue Sep 12, 2017 9:02 pm When I look for fonts I tend to write a sample sentence into Google fonts and scroll through the list looking for what I want, often getting a better idea of what that is while looking.

Thinking about an intercom voice I immediately thought of something sans-serif with heavy spacing to make it feel "slower", while scratchy/distorted made me think of "printing error"-like fonts; these 7 were the ones that jumped out to me on a quick browse through
oh! those are nice. I really want the words to be easy to read, so I'm not sure if it's even worth messing with. I like Amatic sc and Special Elite though - I'll have to test them out in the game. I tend to change fonts several times before deciding on one lol -- though maybe VT323 would suit it well, but I'd have to see how easy it is to read it in the game
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Re: Font talk/reccomendation request

#6 Post by Imperf3kt »

If you want you can use some font I made a couple years back:
https://puu.sh/vKq6Z/025344996d.TTF
(Not sure how much longer this link will stay active before it expires)

Although I don't think it's what you are after, who knows.

There is no license attached, treat it as cc0
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Re: Font talk/reccomendation request

#7 Post by Scribbles »

Imperf3kt wrote: Wed Sep 13, 2017 6:34 am If you want you can use some font I made a couple years back:
https://puu.sh/vKq6Z/025344996d.TTF
(Not sure how much longer this link will stay active before it expires)

Although I don't think it's what you are after, who knows.

There is no license attached, treat it as cc0
Oh I like that font! If I end up using it I'll let you know, it has a nice handwritten feel to it
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Re: Font talk/reccomendation request

#8 Post by puppetbomb »

This is kind of a sticky issue, legally. In order to have a user see special fonts (especially in dialog), you would need to distribute the font through the visual novel program file. That requires a different license than if someone was to use a font for a comic that has the font baked into the graphic itself. So even if the font is free, you may need to pay a separate fee for web distribution.

This is strictly speaking from a legal POV. I have used fonts for the web without purchasing a license for projects that will only be viewed by a few people. For anything else where the goal is to distribute to as many people as possible, I would strongly recommend purchasing proper licenses before shipping.

Here's an article I found about Typeface and Font Laws that might help you navigate the weirdness of fonts and licenses.

If nice fonts around $5-20 are within your budget, I recommend MightyDeals. They come with web licenses for a couple extra dollars, which I find to be much cheaper than paying for a web distribution license for an existing "free" font.

Maybe the Sci-Fi Bundle has something along the lines of what you're looking for?

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Re: Font talk/reccomendation request

#9 Post by Scribbles »

puppetbomb wrote: Wed Sep 13, 2017 5:49 pm This is kind of a sticky issue, legally. In order to have a user see special fonts (especially in dialog), you would need to distribute the font through the visual novel program file. That requires a different license than if someone was to use a font for a comic that has the font baked into the graphic itself. So even if the font is free, you may need to pay a separate fee for web distribution.

This is strictly speaking from a legal POV. I have used fonts for the web without purchasing a license for projects that will only be viewed by a few people. For anything else where the goal is to distribute to as many people as possible, I would strongly recommend purchasing proper licenses before shipping.

Here's an article I found about Typeface and Font Laws that might help you navigate the weirdness of fonts and licenses.

If nice fonts around $5-20 are within your budget, I recommend MightyDeals. They come with web licenses for a couple extra dollars, which I find to be much cheaper than paying for a web distribution license for an existing "free" font.

Maybe the Sci-Fi Bundle has something along the lines of what you're looking for?
oh thanks for letting me know, I'll look into it
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Re: Font talk/reccomendation request

#10 Post by PyTom »

I suggest looking at https://fonts.google.com/ , if only because all the fonts there can be distributed freely.
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Re: Font talk/reccomendation request

#11 Post by Katy133 »

Font Squirrel is a great site because it only lists fonts that are free to use (meaning, "freeware [fonts that are] licensed for commercial work"), it has a ton of searchable tags/categories, and it has an image search program that lets you upload screenshots to identify what font it is (in case you spot a font you like, but don't know what the typeface is called).
(Edit: Be sure to check each individual font's license. You can also search fonts by license categories.)

For a "speaker/intercom" type font voice, I suggest looking through the tags "Programming" and "Industrial" depending on your visual novel's setting and time period.

For me, I like fonts that are easy to read, like DejaVu. I've also started adding an OpenDyslexic font option in the Preferences screen, for readers who find it helpful.

For fancy, decorative fonts, it depends on the game's setting and the type of tone I want to create, but I'm a fan of Roboto and Mathlete. I like Roboto's clean, straight lines, and Mathlete's simple, narrow, organic shapes. Both are very useful for minimalist poster designs. ;)
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Re: Font talk/reccomendation request

#12 Post by Imperf3kt »

Free to use for commericial may still not mean free to distribute
You need to read the license carefully.
You might be allowed to use the font to create graphics for commercial uses, but that does not mean you may embed the font.
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Re: Font talk/reccomendation request

#13 Post by Scribbles »

PyTom wrote: Sun Sep 17, 2017 11:54 am I suggest looking at https://fonts.google.com/ , if only because all the fonts there can be distributed freely.
Thanks I've been looking at that site :)
Imperf3kt wrote: Sun Sep 17, 2017 3:23 pm Free to use for commericial may still not mean free to distribute
You need to read the license carefully.
You might be allowed to use the font to create graphics for commercial uses, but that does not mean you may embed the font.
Does it really count as distributing? technically you can archive the folders (at least I do), so the font's .ttf isn't accessible in the file? Or does that not matter?
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Re: Font talk/reccomendation request

#14 Post by Imperf3kt »

Scribbles wrote: Mon Sep 18, 2017 7:38 am
Imperf3kt wrote: Sun Sep 17, 2017 3:23 pm Free to use for commericial may still not mean free to distribute
You need to read the license carefully.
You might be allowed to use the font to create graphics for commercial uses, but that does not mean you may embed the font.
Does it really count as distributing? technically you can archive the folders (at least I do), so the font's .ttf isn't accessible in the file? Or does that not matter?
Yes, it matters quite a lot.
I like to use 1001fonts for checking license status of some fonts. Often this site has a better explanation than some other places - provided the uploader had the right to upload the font.

Let's take a look at black chancery
http://www.1001fonts.com/blackchancery- ... ml#license
Black Chancery is a calligraphic outline font based on the public domain bitmap font of the same name. It's a good looking and useful display font, lending itself well to many occasions. And a suitable companion to Black Chancery Italic.

Free For Personal Use
Free For Commercial Use
Modification Allowed
Redistribution Allowed
This font is in the public domain, so you can use it on your computer, you can use it commercially (to create graphics that you will sell or advertisements), you may edit the font and you may redistribute the font.

Now let's look at Libel suit
http://www.1001fonts.com/libel-suit-font.html#license
Libel Suit is a narrow, hardworking sans serif typeface. It comes in 6 weights and italics. A conventional g and y can be accessed using your application's stylistic alternates feature. OpenType numerical ordinals and fractions are included as well as Greek, Extended Cyrillic and Pan-Nigerian characters.

This font includes a license that allows free commercial use: sometimes referred to as a desktop license. This allows you to install the font on a computer and use it to create posters, web graphics, game graphics, t-shirts, videos, signs, logos and more. Read the license agreement for details.

If you'd like to embed this font in an app, ebook, on the web or anything that's not covered by the desktop license agreement, visit the link below. You'll find distributors who offer different types of licenses or you can contact me for help.
http://typodermicfonts.com/libel-suit/

Free For Personal Use
Free For Commercial Use
Modification Allowed
Redistribution Not Allowed
So we can use it on our computer
we can make graphics or advertisements
we can edit the font
we may NOT give the font (or derivatives) to others


What this basically means, is you have been granted a license for 1-3, but not been given distribution rights, which are not copyright, but an entirely separate section of law, often overlooked and confused with copyright.

Here is 1001font's FAQ regarding the differences:
2. Copyright
All fonts offered on 1001fonts.com are the intellectual property of their respective authors, unless they are in the public domain and provided they are original.

3. Personal Use
All fonts may be downloaded and used free of charge for personal use, as long as the usage is not racist or illegal. Personal use refers to all usage that does not generate financial income in a business manner, for instance:

- personal scrapbooking for yourself
- recreational websites and blogs for friends and family
- prints such as flyers, posters, t-shirts for churches, charities, and non-profit organizations

4. Commercial Use
For commercial use of a font, please check the font zip-file for a readme.txt, license.pdf or an equivalent file for licensing information. If no information is given, commercial use is not allowed without prior written permission from the respective author. Please contact the author to ask for commercial licensing in such a case. Fonts in the public domain may be used free for commercial use.

Commercial use refers to usage in a business environment, including:

- business cards, logos, advertising, websites for companies
- t-shirts, books, apparel that will be sold for money
- flyers, posters for events that charge admission
- freelance graphic design work
- anything that will generate direct or indirect income

5. Modification
All fonts may not be altered, adapted or built upon, unless otherwise stated in corresponding custom terms by the respective author within the font zip-file in a readme.txt, license.pdf or an equivalent file. This does not apply to fonts in the public domain, which may be modified freely.

6. Distribution
While all fonts may freely be copied and passed along to other individuals for private use, they may not be sold or published, unless otherwise stated in corresponding custom terms by the respective author or if the font is in the public domain.
You may also benefit from reading up on the Berne Convention, specifically on the different types of rights:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Con ... _protected
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Re: Font talk/reccomendation request

#15 Post by Scribbles »

@Imperf3kt ok I'll look into all of that as well o.o I had no idea I'm glad I know this now. I'm guessing it's not a major issue but it's good to be on the safe side anyway
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