Review your blind font crusade

[rynak]

While the new common font certainly looks more stylish, it is less functional because at small sizes/low resolutions it performs much worse in readability. My estimate is, that this is so, because it is taller/narrower than the old font.

The problem can be best seen with the most heavily used inflight widget of all: The navball. Or more specifically the speed readout. To restore the old readability, the font would have to become taller than the old one - because right now the readout has the same height, but less width compared to the old font.

Other places are affected in the same way, but the navball is where the problem is most obvious (and because of its frequent use, disruptive to gameplay).

In short, the old font was more readable at a given size - to maintain the old readability, fontsizes would have to become 0.5-1.0pt larger in many places. That's the cost of choosing a font based on style, rather than function.

[biohazard15]

This.

1920x1200, VAB:

As you can see, subassembly description is barely readable.

http://imgur.com/py1sNpQ

[BudgetHedgehog]

As you can see, subassembly description is barely readable.

http://imgur.com/py1sNpQ

Nu Jesu iplion?

[biohazard15]

Nu Jesu iplion?

What is this, a font for ants?

[Boomerang]

Agreed. While it looks nicer at larger font sizes, a lot of the (necessarily) smaller print is no longer easily readable. Not to a game-breaking extent, but not pleasant either at 1280x800

Edited July 21, 2014 by Boomerang

[Justin Kerbice]

I would like to add that '8' char especially is really weird among the other digit in new 0.24 fonts, it doesn't use the same size as other and looks like more a ampersand & than eight 8.