SHP Forums

Setting up my Space Quest games - probably the next batch I will go through on my Let's Play channel.

Decided to make some quick wallpapers from the first three.

Impressive. What is the font in the 3rd one called (i.e. the one that says "(C) 1989 Sierra On-Line, Inc.")?

I believe that's the one a fan replicated and called "gloryquest" as the font name.

But I am not sure, as it's a scaled screenshot and that text was there from the game itself.

Tawmis wrote: ↑Mon Aug 02, 2021 12:13 am I believe that's the one a fan replicated and called "gloryquest" as the font name.

But I am not sure, as it's a scaled screenshot and that text was there from the game itself.

It's by far my favorite font in any Sierra game. It's font.300 in the resource files of early SCI games, and as a paired set in later games: the inset version, font.310, and its outline companion, font.311.

font.300 was typically used on a contrasting textbox (dark font color over a light background, or light font color over a dark background) for all manner of text, speech, and exposition.







font.300 continued to be used in VGA SCI game textboxes, such as QFG1 VGA and QFGIV.


The 'slightly-squished' paired set of font.310 and its outline font.311 were used to create a colored interior with a darker/black outline for use with exposition directly over a background (like at the beginning of Space Quest IV). Bulky textboxes were no longer used here, as they would now obscure the lovely new VGA graphics:



Problems with Sierra's digital version(s)? For font.300, the shoulder of the 'h' is below the x-height, the arm of the 'k' is above the x-height, the descender of the 'q' is too short, and the curves on the right side of the '8' are distorted. The modified font.310 and font.311 typefaces have their own problems as well, most notably that the 'i' and 'j' are below the x-height...

========================================

And after YEARS of searching, I recently discovered -- quite by accident -- that it IS NOT an original Sierra design; the font set OBLIQ (Light and Medium) is credited to creator 'Ellipsis' in 1984 for the Letraset Foundry:

http://e-daylight.jp/fonts/type/o/obliq.html

Look familiar?

Yeah - the_doctor from here made a version of the font seen in Quest for Glory called "GloryQuest" - you can download it on LarryLaffer.net.

However, it'd be cool to find a version of the OBLIQ font as well.

Tawmis wrote: ↑Mon Aug 02, 2021 11:30 pm Yeah - the_doctor from here made a version of the font seen in Quest for Glory called "GloryQuest" - you can download it on LarryLaffer.net.

However, it'd be cool to find a version of the OBLIQ font as well.

The only reason I discovered this was that I noticed it Harold's Fonts website. (No link, because for some reason it points to an online pharmacy this morning (?)...)

Anyway, Harold Lohner was displaying his updated version of it, Obligado, for sale at Font Bros:

https://www.fontbros.com/families/obligado

...and mentioned its origins as Obliq. In fact, the digital versions displayed the Daylight Fonts website are actually from Harold's initial versions from 2000.

You can find them by searching for ObliqueTextLight and ObliqueTextBold.

goatmeal wrote: ↑Tue Aug 03, 2021 8:41 am
You can find them by searching for ObliqueTextLight and ObliqueTextBold.

Also search for ObliqueTextMedium to get the third version.

Are these free versions? I love collecting fonts from stuff I have used (Sierra games, D&D - and I know a lot of the "real" fonts cost insane prices - so people make fan versions of the fonts)

Tawmis wrote: ↑Tue Aug 03, 2021 8:35 pm Are these free versions? I love collecting fonts from stuff I have used (Sierra games, D&D - and I know a lot of the "real" fonts cost insane prices - so people make fan versions of the fonts)

The fontsgeek.com website has all three (light, medium, and bold), and are free to download.

Seeing as this is a 'fan-made' version of the 1984 Obliq design by the Letraset foundry, I'm assuming that it was never "sold" when released back in 2000.

I haven't had a chance to open the ZIP files to read any accompanying licensing information, if there are any such files included (sometimes these font aggregator websites strip any licensing files right out, leaving only the TTF or OTF and maybe their own website plug), but I also assume that these 21 year-old fonts are likely to be free for non-commercial use.

You are not correcting aspect ratio?

goatmeal wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 7:23 am The fontsgeek.com website has all three (light, medium, and bold), and are free to download.

Seeing as this is a 'fan-made' version of the 1984 Obliq design by the Letraset foundry, I'm assuming that it was never "sold" when released back in 2000.

I haven't had a chance to open the ZIP files to read any accompanying licensing information, if there are any such files included (sometimes these font aggregator websites strip any licensing files right out, leaving only the TTF or OTF and maybe their own website plug), but I also assume that these 21 year-old fonts are likely to be free for non-commercial use.

I've just scoured fontsgeek.com and I can't find this font set. Is it named something else in the database? Care to share the ZIP? This would be invaluable for the upscale packs I'm currently planning and working on for the "ScummVMext" fork by Myles Johnston which can replace game assets with hi-res ones including fonts.

MusicallyInspired wrote: ↑Sat Aug 07, 2021 2:07 am I've just scoured fontsgeek.com and I can't find this font set. Is it named something else in the database? Care to share the ZIP? This would be invaluable for the upscale packs I'm currently planning and working on for the "ScummVMext" fork by Myles Johnston which can replace game assets with hi-res ones including fonts.

How odd. I just copy-and-pasted "ObliqueTextMedium" in their search bar and it popped right up...

Regardless:
https://fontsgeek.com/oblique-textlight-font
https://fontsgeek.com/oblique-textmedium-font
https://fontsgeek.com/oblique-textbold-font

After discovering these, I was wondering if it could be incorporated into an updated engine for a high-def pack, and it seems you had the same idea, MI!

As I suspected, however, the readme.html accompanying these fonts is only a plug for the fontsgeek.com website; no other licensing information from the creator is present. You may want to contact Harold Lohner about the terms of use for using his old fonts in a fan-made project (his website is back up now):

https://haroldsfonts.com/terms-of-use/

From his website for the recent updated font family, Obligado, at https://haroldsfonts.com/font/obligado/ :

OBLIGADO is a stylish slab-serif font in three weights. The strong diagonals in each letter create a novel effect while remaining very legible for continuous reading.

OBLIGADO was inspired by 2 sheets of 1983 dry-transfer lettering from Esselte/Letraset, designer unknown. My fonts were first released as “Oblique Text.” The new fonts are greatly expanded and improved from the original series.

Doh. Fontsgeek's search doesn't work too well. I just typed "obliq" and it didn't come up. Thanks!!

MusicallyInspired wrote: ↑Sat Aug 07, 2021 11:30 am Doh. Fontsgeek's search doesn't work too well. I just typed "obliq" and it didn't come up. Thanks!!

Happy to help, MI. Look forward to seeing it in action!

MusicallyInspired wrote: ↑Sat Aug 07, 2021 11:30 am Doh. Fontsgeek's search doesn't work too well. I just typed "obliq" and it didn't come up. Thanks!!

I'd done the same thing.