Scripts for Wesnoth

[kitty]

Instead of the original first post of this thread I'll collect the finalized versions of the scripts here.

Merfolk:


Drakes:


Elves:


Saurian Numerals:



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Original first post:

This doesn't deal with writing stuff but with the writing itself...

I'm working on serveral script projects for the various species/cultures of Wesnoth atm. Both variants of the human script (Steel hand and Brush hand) have already been posted, I only attatch them for the sake of completeness.

I just started working on an elvish script. Themes are calligraphy, elegance and flow. I had a hard time making it different enough from Tengwar... Startingpoint were a couple of arabic scripts but I has developed a lot since. The ruling system is 1:1:1,5 and the slant is 27°.
The phonetic system is based on esperanto broadly - but that is not my speciality, if you spot serious problems, please voice them!

I'm interested in crits on the general feel and letterforms mostly. For serious getting on with it I'm waiting for esr to get back on monday. And I could use a name or some general fluff for it but the final saying on that will be esr's of course.


Apart from that you can anticipate some drakish logograms and phonetic particles probably tomorrow. And I have plans for a saurian numeral system... Much to do

[thespaceinvader]

It's worth adding, since there's a thread for it now, that Dwarf runes are the Elder Futhark, and human magical scripting is cuneiform/ugaritic.

Don't think there's a day-to-day dwarf alphabet yet, though.

[kitty]

Yep, that's right.
For the ugaritic roots of human magical writing should also be said that for continuity reasons the ugaritic alphabet was the starting point for the other human scripts.

And I do have plans for an additional dwarvish alphabet - drakish and saurian just will come first.

[Simons Mith]

So, has anyone out there used a font design tool in anger? I do have one, and I can produce either Adobe Type I or Type III fonts, sorry can't remember which, and TrueType versions of a typeface. 'Transcribing' a font someone else has designed is easier than creating one from scratch, but it's still a job I view with some trepidation.

[ancestral]

Yes.

Fontlab Studio is the unofficial king, but it's also relatively expensive at $650. FontForge is the popular free choice — I've used it before, nothing I've ever finished, but it works fine. However, the UI and ease of use might not be quite as good as Fontlab's, and might still not have some very advanced features either.

If you're planning on actually creating a font, I suggest frequenting some typographic forums to get sufficient C&C. Typophile is a great place I've looked through before.

[furioso]

Here are two steel hand fonts representing my own quick and dirty attempt. They are made with Fontstruct, which is a free online generator, but licensing may be an issue. (The readmes state that they are copyright of thedukeofnuke, which is another handle I use, and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution license. I wish to release the copyright on these; but I'm no hacker, and I've been unable to edit the .ttf files directly.)
They're a long way from perfect; one of the main issues (apart from that stated above) is that Fontstruct is a modular designer, so the lines are somewhat angular. This is mostly a problem at large sizes, and on the more curved letters.
Anyway, hopefully they will come in useful.
EDIT: added a larger size sample.

A sample of the Steelhand 1 font at size 36.

Steelhand_1_sample-36.png (4.99 KiB) Viewed 3847 times

As for the elvish alphabet, it looks amazing! The only question I have is:
Will the script have a letter for the palatal semivowel (English <y>, German/Esperanto <j>) or the voiced post-alveolar affricate (English <j>)?
I look forward to seeing more of these scripts, beautiful work as always

[kitty]

Wow furioso, thank you for your work!
All the angular glyphs look nice and smooth but the flowy ones (o,u,w,z,s,l,r,etc.) could use some smoothing, they have too many points and the tips aren't pointy.

And while it is generally nice to be able to type the glyphs now, it also reveals the problem that kept me away from producing a quick font myself: the endless work of kerning, spacing, drawing ligatures, that still would be necessary to produce an acceptable result. If any of you, or specifically furioso, has the time and patience to do that, I could provide help and draw additional letter variants but I won't have the time myself - honestly, it is quicker to directly write steel hand for me.

----

And for something completely different: Drakish logograms and phonetic particles.

I already had some talk with Jetrel about them. The basic concept is that the base are triangular forms to which a set of phonetic particels can be added (they cover the main english phonems, but they are rather roughly grouped, one could use a lot more but I wanted to keep it simple for the otherwise rather complex system).
Additionally endless logograms are possible, I only show five examples representing whole words or rather concepts. Basically not an every day writing but pretty ceremonical, used for decoration of palaces or embroided on armour with an cultic meaning and the like.

[Turuk]

This is great kitty, it's nice to see you willing to dive into this with such enthusiasm. I particularly enjoy the logograms, and it would be nice to see these popping up throughout the game.

[thespaceinvader]

The logograms are very cool. But kind of confusing o_O I'll try to incorporate some of them into future drake portraits. I might have to ask you how to use them when the time comes, though...

[kitty]

The logograms are very cool. But kind of confusing o_O I'll try to incorporate some of them into future drake portraits. I might have to ask you how to use them when the time comes, though...

I'm glad if you use them! Add cultural identity and all that stuff. And feel free to ask me, I have no problems drawing those for you.
And if they are confusing it could also be due to my phonetic ignorance - before I call this or the elvish alphabet done I'll await esr's comments and suggestions...

[thespaceinvader]

nah, i think they're confusing simply cos they're so different from normal writing, and I'm too tired to try to properly understand them right now...

[kitty]

Aaand a start for a saurian numerical system, reflecting their astronomical science etc.

It is based on the number 14 (instead of our ten), kind of a tetradecimal system. Two times four fingers and two times three toes has been the natural start for their counting.
It is a system of positional notation - Numbers after 13 are written vertically down in powers of fourteen (apart from the foot-numbers).
Apart from that they use a collection of very simple and rough looking symbols for serveral numerical and astronomical phenomenons. Could even be more than the ones I show on the right hand side of the chart.
The numbers are slightly slanted for ergonomical reasons. Saurian scholars used to write them in the sand with their toes.

[thespaceinvader]

Only one thing: the saurians have 4 toes, one is a dew claw. Or did you know that, and work with the three major ones on purpose.

Also, a symbol for planet (realistically, one for each planet in Wesnoth's solar system would be ideal., but unless we're willing to pull an entire solar system out of our collective behind for the purpose, we might be overshooting there...), and for moon would be good.

[furioso]

Wooo! I continue to be impressed by your work Kitty, especially the drakish writing. That is just great both in its aesthetics and its principles (do I detect a Mayan influence?)

As for improving the font, that is about the best I can do with Fontstruct (it's a fairly simple tool, and it's not much good for the flowing lines). I'll have a go at Fontforge in the next few days, but I suspect that it will take a while to produce the font that way, especially with the kerning, ligatures, etc. that will be needed to make it look good; and to make matters slightly worse my tablet is back in England. On the other hand, I believe that Fontforge can import .ttf fonts, so with luck the current font can provide a basis for the work.
I'll keep everyone posted with my progress (as soon as there is any).

[kitty]

Thespaceinvader:
Yes, I know that Saurians have four toes - but the backwards one seems tiny and not very usefull in your portraits and thus I decided that it was unlikely that they'd actively use it for counting.
And I'll see if I can come up with a couple more of planetary symbols. I have got no ambition to draw up a whole solar system - but if anybody else does, i'll gladly provide fitting graphic representations.

Furioso:
Yep, the drakish script system is heavily mayan influenced - the new drake sprites have a pretty mesoamerican feel to me as well as the new stone-pyramid like houses. But honestly the mayan mixture of logograms and phonems is simply terribly interesting and a welcome break from the more normal alphabets
And I'm glad to hear that you are willing to put more work in Steel Hand! I'm not familiar with Fontsruct, I've only got Fontographer myself. So: Good luck and contact me when you need any kind of support, additional glyphs, alternates or whatever! Thank you again