A huge limitation of LD is the provision of one basic S-S font, which means that most RR lettering has to be painstakingly constructed, at vast cost in layers. But what if, like most paint and draw programs, LD allowed you to access all the fonts stored in youtr computer, instead? So for Seaboard System I would just have to dial in ITC Eras Std Bold, and type in and color15 letters, not spend hours and 60 layers making it by hand
This would be fabulous. I also want to add how about adding an ampersand into the livery designer? Those are excruciating to make in the LD
I strongly agree! Adding the ability to use a sort of text box with access to your existing system fonts would be most welcome. The textbox itself with multiple letters could exist only on a single layer for each text box needed. Bingo! A lettering & creative bonanza!
I fully agree we need more fonts. And the lack of symbols like ampersands & others is very apparent. I don't think using fonts on your own computer is likely. Especially since you can easily make all sorts of symbols (ie. logos) accessible that way. In fact there are easily downloadable fonts that just are like wingdings full of logos. Also consoles don't have installable fonts. I think it would be fine to just include more premade packs like the one that already exists. These are the types of fonts that would cover all bases: Sans-Serif (already exits in-game) - But with bold weight included. Sans-Serif Rounded - With bold weight included. Serif - With bold weight included. Slab Serif - With bold weight included. Cursive Script Handwritten Script - With bold weight included. And these are more optional but would still prove fundamentally useful to many I believe. LCD LED Stencil Art Deco
It would be nice to see common fonts that railroads use in different countries. That would really help in creating realistic liveries, as it would save a bunch of layers wasted creating your own font
Honestly, the API for linking any app to the system fonts is right there in all versions of Windows and shouldn't be that hard to plug into. That would give us access to the entire universe of fonts, including the specific ones used by actual railways and not just generic "Roman," "Cursive" etc. For instance, in my first post I mentioned that the Seaboard System logo was done in ITC Eras Standard Bold, which wouldn't be in any generic group of letter forms. An additional benefit to using genuine fonts is that they are, well, fonts, and therefore manipulable with regard to spacing, alignment, bold, italics and so on. What we currently have, and what I think you are suggesting, aren't really fonts at all; they're simply shapes which happen to be letter shapes.
I don’t think having a system where you can use any font on your computer would be implemented. There may be licensing issues with that. How? I hear you ask. It’s complicated, don’t ask, but there could be. Not all fonts are free to use anywhere you like. That’s probably irrelevant anyway, as whatever system used to increase the lettering choices would need to be available on consoles too, so all the fonts would likely need to be in the game. Now, licensing is going to be an issue there, so it’s likely to limit the choice quite a lot. Nobody wants Comic Sans do they? Surely not.
