Runic Font Question

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Rennik, Apr 11, 2017.

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  1. Rennik

    Rennik Avatar

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    Hail and well met, fellow adventurers! :D

    I've long been a fan of the Runic font used ion the Ultima series... I even went as far as creating a True Type version of the font back in early 1998, and sent it to a buddy of mine that was an artist at Origin. He then used it to create the text for the "Lost Lands" map that was included in the retail box! Got my name in the game credits, too! :p

    Bearing all that in mind, I've been enjoying reading the Runic texts throughout Shroud of the Avatar. For graphics, I downloaded the fonts posted by @Dame Lori (since there were some rune-swapping from the previously used runic).

    My question is this: She stated on the Digital Lycaeum page (http://lycaeum.ultimacodex.com/new-britannia-runic-fonts-6-styles/) that words are to be separated by a dot/bullet (sometimes called an interpunct), and to show text any other way is wrong, even if it's seen in game. That @Lord British said so:

    "While thou mayest certainly find examples in printed and in-game Ultima lore that contradict these rules, please note that the guidelines above were approved and officially endorsed by Richard Garriott himself and should be considered official cannon. Any inconsistencies thou mayest find should be considered mistakes."

    How can this be? How can "canon" be that interpuncts are to be used between words, when not a single piece of Runic text in the game reflects this? Is this something that will be instituted into the game later? Will their in-game runic font be updated to reflect this "canon" change? This might seem very trivial, but for those (like myself) doing various graphics using these fonts, it's important to be proper.

    Mr. Garriott might have said that it was proper to use the interpuncts, but apparently that has not filtered down to the people working on his game. So what is the FINAL word here? Interpuncts between runic words or no?
     
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2017
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  2. Sir Frank

    Sir Frank Master of the Mint

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    It's because they type the signs out in English with spaces between words, then select all and change fonts. They aren't in the habit of putting dots in as they go, and it would be hours of work to go back and add them.

    I bet it's never been reported as a bug.
     
  3. Rustic Dragon

    Rustic Dragon Proprietor of the Hearth

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    It is is exactly as I said, "While thou mayest certainly find examples in printed and in-game Ultima lore that contradict these rules, please note that the guidelines above were approved and officially endorsed by Richard Garriott himself and should be considered official cannon. Any inconsistencies thou mayest find should be considered mistakes."

    So lead by example and do it correctly. ;) ALWAYS dots between words.
     
  4. Dame Lori

    Dame Lori Avatar

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    *pokes head in* I made the SotA font... those quotes about runic were not mine though. ;) *pokes out*
     
  5. Sir Frank

    Sir Frank Master of the Mint

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    For the three fonts I made, you can enclose sentences in brackets or braces, which I replaced with knots, and the period key will make a dot.
     
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  6. Net

    Net Avatar

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    I think that the runic ingame font is missing "dot" for space character... Though maybe something worth reporting so it will get fixed. After all the fix is just one chane in the font and that should fix every single text ingame that is text (and not image and I cannot recall any image with runic that would be wrong, there is nto that many of them anyway).
     
  7. Vaentorian

    Vaentorian Localization Team

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    Should I point out that SotA is not part of the Ultima series and that it has its own lore and canon? Any superficial similarities should probably be considered coincidental (and not legally actionable) ;)
     
  8. Dame Lori

    Dame Lori Avatar

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    I did add dots to my font, though that came later and I don't know what Port is using. I never intended on making *THE* game font - I made it early on for fun, and it got picked up. If I was commissioned to make it, it might have gone differently. :) However, like Frank's it is the period key, not the space key. But anyway, if its no where in SotA, it sounds like dot-free is the accepted SotA way then. *shrug* :3
     
  9. Bowen Bloodgood

    Bowen Bloodgood Avatar

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    In the real world perhaps.. in New Britannia you're free to consider it however you like. ;)
     
  10. Scottie

    Scottie Master Artisan SOTA Developer

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    Hmnnn! Well,...I can't speak for any other content, but every piece of art I've made that contained runic has the appropriate dots between each word (with the exception of words at the beginning and end of a "line" of text)....

    Scottie ^_^
     
  11. Browncoat Jayson

    Browncoat Jayson Legend of the Hearth

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    I think it's just the books, that when written using the runic font option do not include the dots. Should be an easy fix.
     
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  12. Time Lord

    Time Lord Avatar

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    So, how does one go about spell checking something written in stone or through spacetime o_O?

    It would seem that our Cabalists have had a dramatic influence on the Novian's language for some historical unknown reason...
    The original Origins and history of our Cabalists continue to hold many such mysteries...

    ~Time Lord~:rolleyes:
     
    Last edited: Apr 12, 2017
  13. Rennik

    Rennik Avatar

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    Nice job on the fonts, btw. :)

    However, this is my point. You say to "lead by example", but using the interpuncts isn't the example set for us. Mr. Garriott might have said at some point, "it should be like this", but that isn't how it is... at least not yet. He also might have changed his mind since that statement was made, especially since using interpunct symbols might make word wrapping very problematic. Things change in game design constantly... so perhaps the change will take place later.

    But, until the game and supporting examples show the dot separators being used, I don't see a point in using them. Once they show up in game, I'll shift gears then.:p

    Again, the fonts are awesome... they help a lot!
     
  14. Dame Lori

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    Rustic and I are two different people XD Thank you, I'm glad you like them!
     
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  15. Time Lord

    Time Lord Avatar

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    "I for one, Love Them @Dame Lori" :)!
    [​IMG]
    Thank You So Much!
    ~Time Lord~:rolleyes:
     
  16. Dame Lori

    Dame Lori Avatar

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    Haha thank you! :) Rustic is the runic authority, I just made a thing for fun. :3
     
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  17. Rustic Dragon

    Rustic Dragon Proprietor of the Hearth

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    Wait, Lori and I aren't the same person? ^_^

    But indeed, I did not make the fonts. :) However, in my quest to make it easier for the Port devs to use the dots, I was the one who requested that Lori add the dot to the font set (thanks again, btw). If memory serves, it wasn't possible to co-opt the space in a font, which is why she made it the period character. I continually strive for accuracy and consistency and you can help this process by following the guidelines I put together. I can't stress enough that just because you see other people doing it wrong doesn't mean that they're right, even if they're the majority. :)
     
  18. Time Lord

    Time Lord Avatar

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    I wonder if the runic writing system had stricken teachers.
    [​IMG]
    Whoever they were, they were sure short on school supplies.
    @Rustic Dragon :p So Very SOTA Licko'licious :)
    ~:eek: "Now Offered in New Runic Cultish Flavor" :cool:
    ~Time Lord~:D
     
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  19. Net

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    Bit off topic, but I saw that rune stone. I mean I saw it in real life, was the first one I saw in Scandinavia, so I remembered it. I clicked on the link, and it has description "The Kjula runestone". Which felt weird to me. And I was right, I run search by image and it is the Karlevi Runestone, located on Ă–land, not the Kjula, that one is different! The description is correct for Kjula, but the image is for different stone entirely:D
     
  20. Net

    Net Avatar

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    I am sure there are tool that allows to make space a dot character. I used to have runic font from Middle Earth which did that. I am no artist, but if you and @Dame Lori are okay with it, I might try to go over the font and make the space chartacter and the dot character the same one. Should be simple copy and paste if I manage to get the right tools (which might not be as easy as I hope for, though I hope it will be easy).
     
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