The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (Full Version)

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Angry Alien -> The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/16/2012 5:36:24 PM)

I bought "Distant Worlds" some months ago, although hardcore strategy games are usually not my cup of tea. The scifi scenario and the gameplay mechanics just looked too appealing for me.

Unfortunately I soon had to realise that either...

A) I am the most myopic and ametropic gamer ever. Or that B) the devs and most of the folks playing this game have superhuman eye sight.

I made a topic about this (which somehow disappeared by now), but I had to learn that there is nothing that can be done about this. Sure, I could crank down my desktop resolution, but this is a cumbersome and annoying work around for this problem AND I still canīt read anything.

In addition to the tiny font size all menues seem to be caryfully optimised to be as unsharp blurry and unreadable as possible.

I know, I might be unfair and even a bit rude here. It is just... I am so incredibly frustrated right now. I spend money for a game I could not play so far because the devs still seem to live in the age of big CRTs and small resolutions - something that could and should be easy to avoid. And to be honest I really donīt care if most of the folks here are able to play the game as it is. I have to bend close to my monitor and squint my eyes in order to read or do anything in the game, my eyes start to hurt and I get a headache after 10 minutes.

I already had to abandon "Krater", if anyone knows this game, because the fonts here are made too with people with superhuman eyesight in mind and I canīt use most of Steams features, because the client comes with tiny non-scalable and grey-on-grey fonts too. Is it sooo hard to take into consideration that we usually use TFTs and high resolutions these days and that not all gamers are 20 anymore and have perfect eyesight?

Itīs okay, other people can play this game just fine, Matrix Games and "Distant Worlds" still have their dedicated fanbase, so me abandoning this game and never buying anything from Matrix Games again will not hurt anyone or will not even get noticed, so everyone except me is still happy. [:(]



Gareth_Bryne -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/16/2012 6:29:30 PM)

{Sigh...} The fonts strike again...



Darkspire -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/16/2012 6:45:05 PM)

Why not run the game in window mode with the magnifier on? Ive got the magnifier on the right and DW on the left, right hand button on the taskbar and select 'tile windows vertically' I only have a little 17'' monitor but I should imagine on one of those letterbox monitors it would work much better.

Darkspire



lart -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/18/2012 3:22:26 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Angry Alien
...
In addition to the tiny font size all menues seem to be caryfully optimised to be as unsharp blurry and unreadable as possible.

I know, I might be unfair and even a bit rude here. It is just... I am so incredibly frustrated right now. I spend money for a game I could not play so far because the devs still seem to live in the age of big CRTs and small resolutions - something that could and should be easy to avoid. And to be honest I really donīt care if most of the folks here are able to play the game as it is. I have to bend close to my monitor and squint my eyes in order to read or do anything in the game, my eyes start to hurt and I get a headache after 10 minutes.


Rest assured you are not the only one. My information is that the last official post explicitly stating the font issue was over a year ago and that some areas have been fixed but in general this is no easy undertaking. On the other hand the developer stated that he has no problem playing on 1920x1080.
Then again there was also a post that the scaling of the interface is high on their update list for the next expansion.
Overall I would be grateful about an official reply to your questions, as I as you can't play the game.



Bingeling -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/18/2012 11:13:44 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Darkspire

Why not run the game in window mode with the magnifier on? Ive got the magnifier on the right and DW on the left, right hand button on the taskbar and select 'tile windows vertically' I only have a little 17'' monitor but I should imagine on one of those letterbox monitors it would work much better.

Darkspire

This is a brilliant suggestion. Never having seen the magnifier (or needed it), it should work well for distant worlds. For reading, that is. There should be a limited set of areas where you really need it, and for others it could improve reading comforts.

I discovered the pain of high resolutions in general, when I got a media PC for the TV. Zooming the desktop helped a lot, though. I have 2 other computers I rather play DW on, than the one hooked to the TV, though...



Antiscamp -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/18/2012 1:39:57 PM)

I have to squint without my glasses on, but with them, I have no problem with the small fonts at all. I actually think they look kind of sexy and neat really.



springel -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/18/2012 2:08:39 PM)

I was having problems reading small fonts in various games as well.

But I ordered special glasses for monitor use: sharp sight at 80 cm distance without accomodation.

That solved it all, and it makes working on the computer with larger fonts also much easier on the eyes.

That pair of glasses stays with the computer all the time, they are not for reading neither for outside use.



Shark7 -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/19/2012 7:09:22 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Darkspire

Why not run the game in window mode with the magnifier on? Ive got the magnifier on the right and DW on the left, right hand button on the taskbar and select 'tile windows vertically' I only have a little 17'' monitor but I should imagine on one of those letterbox monitors it would work much better.

Darkspire


I might just do that, if I had any clue what you were talking about. Would you mind giving everyone here a quick "how to" to set it up? I'm sure this is one of those windows widgets or built in functions that I didn't even know existed...so much stuff in Win 7 I've yet to discover. [&:]



Shark7 -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/19/2012 7:15:18 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: lart


quote:

ORIGINAL: Angry Alien
...
In addition to the tiny font size all menues seem to be caryfully optimised to be as unsharp blurry and unreadable as possible.

I know, I might be unfair and even a bit rude here. It is just... I am so incredibly frustrated right now. I spend money for a game I could not play so far because the devs still seem to live in the age of big CRTs and small resolutions - something that could and should be easy to avoid. And to be honest I really donīt care if most of the folks here are able to play the game as it is. I have to bend close to my monitor and squint my eyes in order to read or do anything in the game, my eyes start to hurt and I get a headache after 10 minutes.


Rest assured you are not the only one. My information is that the last official post explicitly stating the font issue was over a year ago and that some areas have been fixed but in general this is no easy undertaking. On the other hand the developer stated that he has no problem playing on 1920x1080.
Then again there was also a post that the scaling of the interface is high on their update list for the next expansion.
Overall I would be grateful about an official reply to your questions, as I as you can't play the game.


Well I play on a 23" monitor at 1920 x 1080 resolution and in the last year its started getting hard to read it. The small font is not working out so well with my eyesight (which has obviously changed for the worse). Getting old is real fun. [:@]

I'm still able to play, mostly because I've played enough that I know what most messages say without having to actually read the whole thing. If I was new to the game, it would likely be an issue. For me, the pop-ups and diplomacy messages are not so bad, but the info on the research screens is not very legible. Basically if we could just scale the font size up or down to our needs it would help.



Darkspire -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/19/2012 8:20:06 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Shark7

Well I play on a 23" monitor at 1920 x 1080 resolution and in the last year its started getting hard to read it. The small font is not working out so well with my eyesight (which has obviously changed for the worse). Getting old is real fun. [:@]


That happened to me back in 2004, I worked as a night transport manager. I went in on Friday as usual, sat down done all the picking list lists for my minions, was working on three different computers as the system was forever crashing and had to get the network back up (office, 30 odd salepersons systems, nightmare), had no other problems till I came back to work on Monday night, I get in at 22:00 the minions arrive 00:00, I couldnt see the screen [8|] I had to phone up my second in command and get him in to do all the orders and then have to talk to him over a mobile to sort the network out, ive now got two pairs of glasses, long range and short range.
Wait till the other effects of aging hit, like wanting to grow things in a garden and liking the Rolling Stones [:D]

Darkspire



Bingeling -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/19/2012 8:47:23 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Shark7


quote:

ORIGINAL: Darkspire

Why not run the game in window mode with the magnifier on? Ive got the magnifier on the right and DW on the left, right hand button on the taskbar and select 'tile windows vertically' I only have a little 17'' monitor but I should imagine on one of those letterbox monitors it would work much better.

Darkspire


I might just do that, if I had any clue what you were talking about. Would you mind giving everyone here a quick "how to" to set it up? I'm sure this is one of those windows widgets or built in functions that I didn't even know existed...so much stuff in Win 7 I've yet to discover. [&:]

The Magnifier is a Windows program, one of those included in any install (like notepad).

On the start menu type magnifier in the field at the bottom, and it should locate it for you.

You can put it in a couple of modes. Suggested: Docked. You get a magnifier window you can drag around, and on either side right probably works best in DW. DW, windowed got most screen, a portion is for the magnifier windows. Put it at 200, and anything around the mouse pointer will be shown at double size in the magnifier part.

The alternative is glasses. That works too, but is more expensive.



Darkspire -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/19/2012 2:19:25 PM)

I went one better [:D] I fixed this old guys pushbike I did not ask nor want anything for it, he has bad rheumatism in his hands. Watching Voyager last night and he knocked at the door and gave me a monitor as he knows I have a PC, he didn't want it as he got it thinking it was a TV. So now I've got a 17'' with the magnifier on the left and a 19'' in front with DW on. Works like a charm [:D]

quote:

ORIGINAL: Shark7

I might just do that, if I had any clue what you were talking about. Would you mind giving everyone here a quick "how to" to set it up? I'm sure this is one of those windows widgets or built in functions that I didn't even know existed...so much stuff in Win 7 I've yet to discover.


I'm on XP, the magnifier is located in Start - All Programs - Accessories - Accessibility. you can also increase the level of zoom with it, default is 2 which is quite large and it goes up to 9. Takes little bit of getting used to but its better than not being able to play at all.

Darkspire

Normal size on the right and the magnifier is on the left. As I mentioned, this is a scale of 2, it goes up to 9 so there should be a size that's big enough to see without eye strain.

[image]http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l588/Necrospire/dwmag_zpsd3f08006.jpg[/image]



Shark7 -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/19/2012 6:40:42 PM)

Found the magnifier and got it working, thanks for the help guys.

As far as glasses, already got them. Problem is that I'm near-sighted, so the glasses actually make things worse when working on my computer. They're great for driving though.



Darkspire -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/19/2012 7:28:07 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Shark7

Found the magnifier and got it working, thanks for the help guys.

As far as glasses, already got them. Problem is that I'm near-sighted, so the glasses actually make things worse when working on my computer. They're great for driving though.


You havent got enough pairs then, I have two pairs, long and short range. Bifocals give me neck ache, end up looking like a chicken with all the head bobbing [:D]

Darkspire



Bingeling -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/19/2012 7:37:39 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Shark7

Found the magnifier and got it working, thanks for the help guys.

As far as glasses, already got them. Problem is that I'm near-sighted, so the glasses actually make things worse when working on my computer. They're great for driving though.

I am near sighted as well. No problem, but when I grow a few more years, I will need bi-focal glasses (or whatever it is called). You could consider getting some screen glasses.

Also, there is this cylindrical thing that is neither near or far sighted, which can be a pain at computers (squinting helps when that is wrong the "right" way).



Shark7 -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/19/2012 8:54:02 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Darkspire


quote:

ORIGINAL: Shark7

Found the magnifier and got it working, thanks for the help guys.

As far as glasses, already got them. Problem is that I'm near-sighted, so the glasses actually make things worse when working on my computer. They're great for driving though.


You havent got enough pairs then, I have two pairs, long and short range. Bifocals give me neck ache, end up looking like a chicken with all the head bobbing [:D]

Darkspire


The good news is that for now, I don't have trouble reading regular text on the computer. The forums are absolutely no trouble at all, its just a few of the in game menus for DW that are giving me trouble.

Just had my eyes checked back in July, and was specifically told not to wear glasses when sitting at the computer. No doubt there will come a time when that changes, but for now up close stuff is fine, but get more than 5 feet away and it gets blurry.



lart -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/20/2012 2:18:18 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: springel

I was having problems reading small fonts in various games as well.

But I ordered special glasses for monitor use: sharp sight at 80 cm distance without accomodation.

That solved it all, and it makes working on the computer with larger fonts also much easier on the eyes.

That pair of glasses stays with the computer all the time, they are not for reading neither for outside use.


Went this morning to the "eys doctor" on your comment. Always been far sighted, he came to the conclusion that near sight went from "never cared and checked" to 1.75 *sigh*. So I'm now also in the boat and ordered new glasses. Whatever it takes to make the game run.



Shark7 -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/20/2012 3:17:46 AM)

Since we're all on the subject of eye sight and glasses, for those of you who haven't gotten there yet, you eye sight will change about the time you hit 40. It is a natural change and almost every one experiences it. Another one of the joys of aging...that those that haven't already gotten here have to look forward to. [:D]



Bingeling -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/20/2012 8:39:16 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: lart


quote:

ORIGINAL: springel

I was having problems reading small fonts in various games as well.

But I ordered special glasses for monitor use: sharp sight at 80 cm distance without accomodation.

That solved it all, and it makes working on the computer with larger fonts also much easier on the eyes.

That pair of glasses stays with the computer all the time, they are not for reading neither for outside use.


Went this morning to the "eys doctor" on your comment. Always been far sighted, he came to the conclusion that near sight went from "never cared and checked" to 1.75 *sigh*. So I'm now also in the boat and ordered new glasses. Whatever it takes to make the game run.



1.75 near sighted? That is about what I got, and I don't see much at a distance without my glasses. I was a bit less when I began with glasses, and the ability to see without them (at a distance) dropped a lot very fast. I guess the eyes strain to compensate as much as they can.



Darkspire -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/20/2012 11:27:34 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Bingeling


quote:

ORIGINAL: lart


quote:

ORIGINAL: springel

I was having problems reading small fonts in various games as well.

But I ordered special glasses for monitor use: sharp sight at 80 cm distance without accomodation.

That solved it all, and it makes working on the computer with larger fonts also much easier on the eyes.

That pair of glasses stays with the computer all the time, they are not for reading neither for outside use.


Went this morning to the "eys doctor" on your comment. Always been far sighted, he came to the conclusion that near sight went from "never cared and checked" to 1.75 *sigh*. So I'm now also in the boat and ordered new glasses. Whatever it takes to make the game run.



1.75 near sighted? That is about what I got, and I don't see much at a distance without my glasses. I was a bit less when I began with glasses, and the ability to see without them (at a distance) dropped a lot very fast. I guess the eyes strain to compensate as much as they can.


The optician said that it was something to do with the muscles in your eyes not working as you get older when you have to focus on things, your description of the events after glasses were prescribed was the same for me. One thing I would suggest is that if you get a pair for short range then there is a special coating that can go on the lenses, specially for computer use. Its like having one of those old anti-glare filters they used to put on CRT's. They are good, very good. Not sure how it works but the difference with the coating on is amazing, its almost like 3D, real clarity.

Maybe we should start the old farts who cant see DW club [:D]

Darkspire



Bingeling -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/20/2012 11:45:01 AM)

Just to be clear. I started with glasses when I was 15, so not in the old fart club quite yet. I obviously was quite decent compensating for the increasing near nearsightedness until it got too bad (about -1.5). But once I started using glasses, I could see far less without them at a distance quite fast (like in days/weeks).

Now I am pushing 40, and I am not really looking forward to the point when my "uniform" glasses no longer provides the required service both at close and far distance.

As for the fine print in DW, I have no issues. I can play on a normal small and cheap laptop (13") with the default crap resolution. And I usually play on my desktop with a 24" monitor at 1920x1200. But the desktop screen is close, the way traditional desktops are. If I were to try playing on the television at 3m distance, I would look for the magnifier really fast (the media computer runs on a 150% desktop zoom or something).



lart -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/20/2012 12:18:15 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Bingeling

1.75 near sighted? That is about what I got, and I don't see much at a distance without my glasses. I was a bit less when I began with glasses, and the ability to see without them (at a distance) dropped a lot very fast. I guess the eyes strain to compensate as much as they can.


Sorry, I mixed that up. It's been 2.75 near sighted since a very long time and now the doctor told me yesterday 1.75 far sighted. But your are right, without glasses for near sighted people that are used to them it's really hard/impossible to see without them.

As these varifocal glasses are quite expensive, one has to get used to them and I got my last pair of glasses not that long ago, I will try out the two pair of glasses approach.

Anyway, I still think that at higher resolutions the text is hard to read, comparing it to the text presented by the doctor it felt close to the second smallest on the entire test board (the one we tested with).




Blia -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (12/30/2012 11:52:55 PM)

I totally agree with Angry Alien.

It's a shame that such a great game like Distant Worlds hurts players' eyes.
This should be fixed as soon as possible ! I can't believe it hasn't been fixed before. [X(]

Let's hope the upcoming expansion will resolve this important issue.
I am not sure but it seems developers used BITMAP fonts. I tend to think they should change all that and simply use a True Type Font..



ASHBERY76 -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (1/2/2013 8:48:26 PM)

You guys will have to wait for Distantworlds2 when it has a new 3d engine.



Sarissofoi -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (1/2/2013 9:13:52 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: ASHBERY76

You guys will have to wait for Distantworlds2 when it has a new 3d engine.

Gods no! Save us from this.
No 3d for gods sake!



Darkspire -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (1/2/2013 10:15:33 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Sarissofoi


quote:

ORIGINAL: ASHBERY76

You guys will have to wait for Distantworlds2 when it has a new 3d engine.

Gods no! Save us from this.
No 3d for gods sake!


The way that GalCiv II did its 3D engine would be rather neat. The way boundaries formed through influence were very easy on the eye and the planets with moons, asteroids etc on zoom were very immersive, DW is still stuck in the late 90's regards UI and general layout, if you made that all shiny and easier to use and accrue data from it would be the perfect 4x for me, lets face it the DW UI blows goats [:D]

Darkspire



Sarissofoi -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (1/3/2013 4:11:27 PM)

I agree on UI. Its not only blow goats but sheep too.
Still no for 3d. It will only cause more problems.
Still hope for remake of Ship Design screen ala MoO I or II.



Shark7 -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (1/3/2013 5:45:20 PM)

No vote on 3d from me too. Top down works fine, its less complicated. And it never fails that every game that goes 3d eye candy ends up sacrificing game play to get the pretty graphics.



Buio -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (1/3/2013 7:38:57 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Shark7
No vote on 3d from me too. Top down works fine, its less complicated. And it never fails that every game that goes 3d eye candy ends up sacrificing game play to get the pretty graphics.


I'm very for a 3D engine in a possible Distant Worlds 2. Only problem it will cost more resources to develop (models & graphics, new engine etc). By the way, why wouldn't top down in a 3D engine work?

The engine needs huge performance improvements anyway. I _should_ get locked 60fps from a game like this, but often get 2-5 fps in big battles mid to late game. I can run Crysis or basically any other game at 60 fps. Bad performance is the thing I'm mostly disappointed with in DW.



Blia -> RE: The game defeated me without even really playing. Tiny fonts won. (1/5/2013 10:45:58 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: ASHBERY76

You guys will have to wait for Distantworlds2 when it has a new 3d engine.


Are we sure of that ? Are we sure that Distant Worlds 2 will have a 3D engine ? If it's true then I am really excited, it's good news. Frankly, the current graphics and UI are ugly.

It's a fact : in a store, just suggest 2D games to any player and another ones in 3D.. He will tend to prefer 3D ones. I know that 3D games are not necessary better but you must admit they attract more players. 3D games get sold better nowadays.

I stop this chat about 3D games here because this forum is about the Font issue.

Btw, it has already been discussed many times on this forum and it seems that fans of Distant Worlds prefer developpers to focus on adding more elements to the game mechanics rather than 3D (I disagree with that but anyway). I would really like to know the total number of sales of Distant Worlds...

Some 3D graphics like Stardrive has would be cool (more realistic explosions, ships, smooth zoom).

link :
w ww.kickstarter.com/projects/1319847883/stardrive-a-4x-action-strategy-game-for-the-pc



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