Demo font problems

[Swifty714]

Just downloaded the MoH: Warfighter beta, just to check it out. First thing I notice?

How the font is tiny as hell, making it near-unreadable. It's not just this demo, but inc oountless other demos, where the font for any text is so small, you can't really make out what it says.

Does anyone else have this problem?

 

[Hero in a half shell]

I think this problem has to do with games being designed for hi-definition TV screens, so they are made with the assumption that everyone is using a huge ass monitor to play their game on, although that's mainly a console problem, as computer monitors are more standardised that TV screens.

http://community.us.playstation.com/t5/PlayStation-3/text-too-small/td-p/7021745

I dunno, developers have this annoying trend of making text too small for games. I always think that buttons in menus are always way too small, I mean look at this:

Spoiler

Spoiler

The actual used space there is a stupidly small proportion of the screen, combined with the lag you naturally get in a Skyrim game and it makes clicking the damn button to start the thing a frustrating mini-game in itself.

HD means more detail, it also allows for smaller buttons, and while that does make cleaner menus and less obtrusive HUD interfaces, it also needs to be large enough to be readable and manipulatable, and I think developers haven't got the balance between those two, and always make it more aesthetically pleasing to the point that it looses its practicality./minirant

 

[Lilani]

HD means more detail, it also allows for smaller buttons, and while that does make cleaner menus and less obtrusive HUD interfaces, it also needs to be large enough to be readable and manipulatable, and I think developers haven't got the balance between those two, and always make it more aesthetically pleasing to the point that it looses its practicality./minirant

Yeah, I remember there was a bit of a hubbub over Skyrim's font of choice. Not just because it was small, but also because the font itself is not well-equipped to be easily seen and read in the context of being a part of a menu (whose function is basically the same as a headline font in type--to be bold and stand out above other features around it). On top of that it's a condensed version of the font, so it's even less legible than the font normally is.

As you said, I don't see why it would be so hard to have sliders for the size of menu fonts, or some sort of "standard definition" or "visually impaired" version of the interface. Yes that would cost a bit more money and the people who designed the menu might get a bit miffed, but it would be a vehemently appreciated gesture for those with small screens, or who are legitimately visually impaired.

 

[Tallim]

HD means more detail, it also allows for smaller buttons, and while that does make cleaner menus and less obtrusive HUD interfaces, it also needs to be large enough to be readable and manipulatable, and I think developers haven't got the balance between those two, and always make it more aesthetically pleasing to the point that it looses its practicality./minirant

Yeah, I remember there was a bit of a hubbub over Skyrim's font of choice. Not just because it was small, but also because the font itself is not well-equipped to be easily seen and read in the context of being a part of a menu (whose function is basically the same as a headline font in type--to be bold and stand out above other features around it). On top of that it's a condensed version of the font, so it's even less legible than the font normally is.

As you said, I don't see why it would be so hard to have sliders for the size of menu fonts, or some sort of "standard definition" or "visually impaired" version of the interface. Yes that would cost a bit more money and the people who designed the menu might get a bit miffed, but it would be a vehemently appreciated gesture for those with small screens, or who are legitimately visually impaired.

Actually the Xbox version of Witcher 2 does exactly that, I think it's like the first thing that pops up and asks you if you want to use SD or HD fonts.