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Playing the FF15 demo: What is it HD Gaming & Size 6 point fonts?

Dice//

Dice//

Banned
Oh man. I respect the need for lean and clean-looking UIs, but I HATE the fact that we have these high resolution games and large-screen TVs and have to squint because some developers don't like taking advantage of the space they're given with HD gaming.

I'm playing The FF15 Demo and the Weapons List as well as the in-game HP meter is terrible for this --- the former is literally a box in a box off to the right hand side that could have really used the extra space to biggen-up the type, and the latter where I'm not really reading number but checking the gauge:
smuITBC.png

QQqme0k.jpg
Click to expand...

And posting for comparisons:
FFVIIbattlexample.jpg

final-fantasy-xii-ss-1.jpg

Ff9_screenshot_bossbattle.png
75-PSOGL2_735.jpg
Click to expand...

Again, I respect a nice clean look, but I respect my eyesight way more. I'm definitely the type who doesn't like sitting so close to the TV, but sometimes it feels like you really have to.

Please tell me I'm not the only "blind one" in the midst? Do you wish games had a font option?
 
W

wmlk

Member
The UI is probably incomplete, and Tabata has said as much.

"The UI you've seen is a temporary UI. The UI in the playable demo will be the beta version."



Also, in combat, I don't need a menu to navigate through. I already know what all the buttons to and how to do everything. That's the idea of realtime combat.

It's not like in ATB gameplay where you need to navigate to Summon > Bahamut.
 
Dice//

Dice//

Banned
wmlk said:
The UI is probably incomplete, and Tabata has said as much.

"The UI you've seen is a temporary UI. The UI in the playable demo will be the beta version."



Also, in combat, I don't need a menu to navigate through. I already know what all the buttons to and how to do everything. That's the idea of realtime combat.

It's not like in ATB gameplay where you need to navigate to Summon > Bahamut.
Click to expand...

I really hope so, but it's still an irritating trend in numerous games:
Controller-copy0jpg-756b2a_800w-610x343.jpg

menu5_10.jpg

gtav_online1.jpg

Assassins-Creed%C2%AE-Unity_20141112152753.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Y

Yakkity

Member
Agree and this isn't the only game with this issue. Subtitles and menu text in GTA V are illegible if you sit more than 3 feet away from your TV (as helpfully posted above!)
 
tensuke

tensuke

Member
I think it's fine, don't really have a problem reading it. Plus, it pauses the game when you're looking at items/weapons in battle, so it's not like you need to try and read it quickly. HP to me is big enough, and you have the bar to gauge it.

I would like some UI-Scale options in more games though, some I agree are way too small, especially if you sit like 10 feet away from the TV, or have a smaller screen.
 
A

AGoodODST

Member
100% agree. It's annoyed as fuck. MP bar is barely readable.

The Order was fucking TERRIBLE for this as well. Need a microscope to read that shit.
 
D

Dunkley

Member
This is the one thing new games can learn from those HD remasters. The font size in Kingdom Hearts HD and the MGS HD collection are a dream to go to coming from those tiny illegible text boxes/sizes in modern games.
 
C

Cess007

Member
Oh man, i remember playing FF14 on my PS4 and having to lean forward to actually be able to read the dialog text! It's damn annoying!

SDCowboy said:
We used to play games on small 27" screens. Now that everyone is on 50-70" screens, the font doesn't need to be massive.
Click to expand...

An option to change the size of the font in-game would be nice, tho
 
Dice//

Dice//

Banned
Falk said:
television-set.jpg


This used to be the norm.
Click to expand...

Yet they still used the space better so your didn't have to squint. :/

Dunkley said:
This is the one thing new games can learn from those HD remasters. The font size in Kingdom Hearts HD and the MGS HD collection were a dream coming from those tiny illegible text boxes/sizes.
Click to expand...

Big yeah on KH doing it right for their HD.
 
SDCowboy

SDCowboy

Member
We used to play games on small 27" screens. Now that almost everyone is on 50-70" screens, the font doesn't need to be massive.
 
Reallink

Reallink

Member
You're not meant to sit 10 or 15 feet from an HDTV, why should people at a proper distance suffer over sized and cluttered UI's? Maybe an option would be nice, but that rarely happens in console games and it'd just be decided one group shall be shit on.
 
Z

zswordsman

Member
Damn straight!! One of my complaints about games that always have small font. The worse is when they give hints or important info with super tiny font
 
P

Perfect Cha0s

Member
I'll always support more options, so I hope you can get a setting or toggle for larger fonts, but I'm going to be the odd man out I guess and say that I can't really see what you're complaining about in the screens you posted. Even on my 24" monitor, those screens are all perfectly legible up to something like 8 or 9 feet.
 
SDCowboy

SDCowboy

Member
Perfect Cha0s said:
I'll always support more options, so I hope you can get a setting or toggle for larger fonts, but I'm going to be the odd man out I guess and say that I can't really see what you're complaining about in the screens you posted. Even on my 24" monitor, those screens are all perfectly legible up to something like 8 or 9 feet.
Click to expand...

Yeah I never got why all games don't have font size options.
 
M

MilesTeg

Banned
I agree. There are many games with this issue. Tons of wasted screen space...just make the letters bigger and fill it up.
 
L

LAA

Member
I was thinking that actually, but I do really like the look of the UI.
Maybe they can just up the font size, and/or maybe make that section bigger to fit bigger text, though perhaps make it more transparent too so the view behind it isnt taken up more because of it.
 
Dice//

Dice//

Banned
SDCowboy said:
Yeah I never got why all games don't have font size options.
Click to expand...

I actually have to add another to this: Colourblind options. Just for small stuff like UIs done in Green (a frequent colourblind issue) or gun crosshairs for 'techy games'.
A friend of mine has trouble with a few games because of this. It's sad (and just a little amusing too). =/
 
O

OatmealMu

Member
Try playing an old PC RTS to really experience dinky interfaces. Actually, Shogun 2 has tiny fonts and it's not particularly old...
 
S

Social

Member
There needs to be a standard. I'm so tired of developers that do this. Just stop it. Make it so we can increase or decrease the subtitles or ui font. Code it properly.
 
P

Perfect Cha0s

Member
SDCowboy said:
Yeah I never got why all games don't have font size options.
Click to expand...
Probably has to do with the art/UI teams not designing for scalability, so it's hard for the UI, once designed, to accommodate larger/more text.

Edit: Or how the engine handles/renders UI elements. Either way, stretching UI elements is a big no-no, so unless an extra set are made for other font sizes, it's easier to find a font size that is good enough and stick with it.
 
Crayon

Crayon

Member
Whenever i see this i picture developers sitting at a desk making the games, and testers sitting at desks playing them.
 
P

PrinceKee

Member
Yea, I've noticed this in a lot of games this gen so far and it's annoying. It's frustrating to be gaming sometimes at night when I can sleep in bed and have to get up just to read the tiny text...
 
S

skLaFarebear

Member
SDCowboy said:
Yeah I never got why all games don't have font size options.
Click to expand...

You'd have to change the borders for every possible font size. And that includes a lot more than UI. Imagine games with text boxes for dialogue and having to change the borders and font sizes for those. You can't just increase the size of the borders because that'd look ugly covering up a chunk of your scene. You would have to move whole lines of dialogue onto the next box and so on. It takes a lot of work for something like customizable font sizes in games because of how much it impacts other design choices. Something most companies don't and still don't care enough to actually implement.
 
F

fester

Banned
Dice// said:
Oh man. I respect the need for lean and clean-looking UIs, but I HATE the fact that we have these high resolution games and large-screen TVs and have to squint because some developers don't like taking advantage of the space they're given with HD gaming.

I'm playing The FF15 Demo and the Weapons List as well as the in-game HP meter is terrible for this --- the former is literally a box in a box off to the right hand side that could have really used the extra space to biggen-up the type, and the latter where I'm not really reading number but checking the gauge:


And posting for comparisons:


Again, I respect a nice clean look, but I respect my eyesight way more. I'm definitely the type who doesn't like sitting so close to the TV, but sometimes it feels like you really have to.

Please tell me I'm not the only "blind one" in the midst? Do you wish games had a font option?
Click to expand...

Man oh man, do I miss those old FF menus and stats.
 
P

paxromana

Banned
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this happens because developers use monitors and sit at a desk when they are "developing" the technical graphics/UI/gameplay/models/geometry ... etc. Even when they test, they probably do it at the same desk and monitor, and since they sit so close to the monitors, the font is perfectly legible.
 
R

Robert at Zeboyd Games

Banned
paxromana said:
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this happens because developers use monitors and sit at a desk when they are "developing" the technical graphics/UI/gameplay/models/geometry ... etc. Even when they test, they probably do it at the same desk and monitor, and since they sit so close to the monitors, the font is perfectly legible.
Click to expand...

Bingo.

I got my start making games for Xbox Live Indie Games where having text that was too small (or too close to the edge) was one of the easiest reasons you'd get failed out of peer review. Because of this, I've always aired on the size of caution when it comes to font size. I think our current game has the equivalent of a 40pt font at 1080p for the default text size. :)
 
D

DarkLordMalik

Member
The Order 1886 had such tiny subtitle fonts that I had to squint my eyes despite sitting closer to the screen.

If any dev is reading this, please don't do this =/
 
C

chadskin

Member
I thought I was just getting old. These small fonts and UIs with no option to adjust them in size are terribly annoying. Always have to move closer to the TV whenever I need to read stuff.

AGoodODST said:
The Order was fucking TERRIBLE for this as well. Need a microscope to read that shit.
Click to expand...

Agreed. The Order really was one of the worst examples in recent memory.
 
I

ike_

Member
Hah, didn't really notice any issues with it during my time with the demo. It didn't seem nearly as bad as Cities: Skylines to me -- that font size is too small. Maybe my fault for playing on a TV.
 
E

EatinOlives

Member
Blame BS "graphics designers" more concerned for form over function developing their UIs on 20" PC monitors they sit 2 feet away from, who forever ignore testers who point out that you need a telescope to read their shit and that they have to fix it.

Every time I see a 6 pt font combined with asstons of unused white space I shake my head. How are people getting paid for this shit?
 
P

paxromana

Banned
EatinOlives said:
Blame BS "graphics designers" more concerned for form over function developing their UIs on 20" PC monitors they sit 4 feet away from, who forever ignore testers who point out that you need a telescope to read their shit and that they have to fix it.
Click to expand...

I think Dell's 27-30" panels are the most common in game development, due to the accuracy of the colors and such. Need dat IPS.
 
S

Steroyd

Member
This pissed me off at the beginning of the HD generation, thankfully it calmed down a little bit since then, but my capability of just laying down and playing a RPG is gone, thank God for standard remote play on the PS4, now my PS4 just needs some RPG's.
 
G

Grewitch

Member
Dear Developers and fellow Gaffers

I too would like to add my voice to the opinion that the fonts in games are too small. It is a tragedy that in their attempt to cut content, developers have seen to reduce the font size too. Surely that is going too far?

As an individual who suffers from poor sight, I feel unnecessarily victimized just for being born with defective eye sight. In a world where those considered weak are bullied and taken advantage of, is it too much to ask our learned developers not to stoop to such low thinking? Must our capability to read clearly be assaulted also?

The most recent game that did this for me was Dragon Age: Inquisition. Every time, and I do mean every time, my fellow gaffers, I went to the War Table, I had to to move closer to the TV just to read the reports. What is going on here? Is there a dearth of font sizes? Do they not possess TVs to judge such a simple design element?

I ask my fellow game developers, ask not that I move closer to the TV, ask that can I implement a bigger font? Take pride that the game you make, that the writing you include, is easily readable. Bigger might not necessarily be better, but in this case it is assuredly so. Be confident in the girth of your font and display it proudly. Be not derided for your tiny fonts, for in this case size does matter, and you can do something about it.

I hope that the argument for a larger font size wins the day, that it seizes the mind and imagination, and we can return to the days where the sight-impaired are treated not as forgotten orphans, but as beloved equals.

Yours Sincerely,

Grewitch.
 
SoulUnison

SoulUnison

Banned
I actually think XV's font and font size are super readable, my issue with the UI is that some of the battle options take up slightly too much of the screen, or are placed with odd spacings.
 
E

Eggbok

Member
I actually like the small font sizes, they should at least give an option to make it bigger or smaller though.

will-smith-620x400.jpg
 
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