XWA Font Fixes

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XWA Font Fixes

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Darksaber
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Post by Darksaber » Fri Oct 24, 2014 6:42 pm

Here are 3 font fixes and a Font Fix Guide that I've collected over the years, don't ask me which is better or worse or whether they are an ATI of Nvidia font fix I haven't a clue.

You'll just have to test each and judge for yourself which you prefer

First Font Fix (in no specific order)
XWA_FONT.rar
by Michael "Agetian" Kamensky

From the readme.txt file
Just place the FONTS.DAT file in the RESDATA folder. Currently this fix only works in 800x600 (it MIGHT work in higher resolutions, but I think it won't since I haven't updated the third font file yet).
Maybe I'll release a new version with higher resolution support.
Enjoy!

- Michael "Agetian" Kamensky
Second Font Fix
XWA-AllRFonts.rar
by Ex-TFA_Stranger

From the readme.txt file
*************************
Star Wars X-Wing Alliance
*************************

Title: XWA All-resolution Font Set

Author: Ex-TFA_Stranger

File Name: XWA-AllRFonts.zip
File Size: 12 KByte
Date Released: 09 January 2006

Credits:
Thanks to
Isildur who was kind enough to create and submit the XWA Dat Customizer;
Harrier Brayer - for his great Font Repair Guide;
Jasc Software - creators of the Paint Shop Pro 7.04.

Installation Instructions:
1. Make a backup copy of your original Font.dat file.
2. Copy the file Fonts.dat into the RESDATA subfolder of your XWA main folder
(e.g. C:\Program Files\XWingAlliance\RESDATA).
3. Copy the file Fonttest.skm into the SKIRMISH subfolder of your XWA main
folder (e.g. C:\Program Files\XWingAlliance\SKIRMISH).

Description:
Xwing Alliance Fonts for Nvidia cards for ALL of the screen resolutions with
an additional skirmish file for testing the character displaying quality of
the XWA with the new font set. Place Yourself into Tie Fighter Group Tester
after loading it, then press Fly button and test the new font set.

Comments:
This is my gift for the Nvidia-owner XWA fan society. I have been considering
it my duty to create and submit these fonts since I had downloaded Harrier's
great Font Repair Guide. I think that my font version is more "XWA-like" than
the earlier ones. I have striven to make the characters good-looking and not
just legible.

Have a fun ! X-WING ALLIANCE FOREVER ;-)
Stranger Out.
(Artist name: Frank "Stranger" Rogue; real name: not available)

THIS MODIFICATION IS NOT MADE, DISTRIBUTED, OR SUPPORTED BY ACTIVISION, RAVEN, OR
LUCASARTS ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY LLC. ELEMENTS TM & © LUCASARTS
ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY LLC AND/OR ITS LICENSORS.
Third Font Fix
XWA-HRFonts.rar
by Harrier Brayer

From the readme.txt file
***************************
X-Wing: Alliance
***************************

Title: High Resolution fonts for Nvidia Cards
Author: Harrier Brayer

File Name: XWA-HRFonts.zip
File Size: fonts.dat = 251kb / XWA-HRFonts.zip = 13.6kb
Date Released: 30 November 2004

Credits: Created by Harrier Brayer. Inspired by Agetian's version of the same thing. I just didn't feel like waiting until he got around to fixing the higher resolution fonts.

Installation Instructions: Just copy to your \RESDATA folder. As always, scan scrupulously for virii (hey, I wouldn't trust me, why should you?), and BACKUP THE ORIGINAL.

Description: This fonts.dat file provides legible fonts for the higher resolutions in X-Wing: Alliance.

Comments: I started this with the idea in mind that like Agetian's, it would only work for the resolution it was custom made for. In this case, 1024x768. But in testing it appears to work for all resolutions above 800x600. 1024x768 looks the best, but the rest are all perfectly legible.

THIS MODIFICATION IS NOT MADE, DISTRIBUTED, OR SUPPORTED BY ACTIVISION, RAVEN, OR
LUCASARTS ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY LLC. ELEMENTS TM & © LUCASARTS
ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY LLC AND/OR ITS LICENSORS.
Lastly the Guide to Font Repair
XWA_Font_Repair_Guide.rar
by Harrier Brayer
***************************
X-Wing Alliance
***************************

Title: Harrier Brayer's Guide to Font Repair
Author: Harrier Brayer

File Name: XWA_Font_Repair_Guide.rar
File Size: 545Kb
Date Released: 11 June 2005

Credits: Again, thanks to Agetian for showing us all that it could be done. And of course to Isildur for the Dat Customizer tool.

Installation Instructions: This is a Microsoft Word Document (created in MS Office 2003 Pro). No installation is necessary, though you'll need a compatible word processing program to read it.

Description: This is a step by step guide to repairing the corrupted text seen frequently with modern Nvidia graphics cards when attempting to play X-Wing Alliance. It walks the reader through the steps needed to modify the FONTS.dat file in order to have legible text in-game. By editing your own FONTS.dat file, it should be possible to achieve nearly perfect results for your own unique hardware/software configuration. Assuming of course that you're seeing the same problem.

Comments: This guide is available in multiple locations. I felt that the more places I put it out there, the more people will have an opportunity to find it, and ultimately be able to play the game once again.

THIS MODIFICATION IS NOT MADE, DISTRIBUTED, OR SUPPORTED BY ACTIVISION, RAVEN, OR
LUCASARTS ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY LLC. ELEMENTS TM & © LUCASARTS
ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY LLC AND/OR ITS LICENSORS.
And that's yer lot have fun :D
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“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.”
- John Lydgate

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait....
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Behelith
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Post by Behelith » Sat Mar 25, 2017 9:03 pm

An additional font fix created with Photoshop, based on the Arial Bold font.
This font fix makes everything perfectly readable, the characters are not to bold and look natural.
The PSD-files that were used to create this fix are also included in the zip-file ... for you to enjoy making alternative fixes.

XWA Fonts Behelith Arial Bold
XWA_Fonts_Behelith_Arial_Bold.zip
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
If you're playing X-Wing Alliance with XWA Upgrade and XWAhacker you'll probably notice some cut fonts. To solve the problem reduce the HUD scale to lower than 1.50 (e.g. 1.49 or lower) in XWA hacker.

From the readme.txt file
***************************
X-Wing: Alliance
***************************

Title: High Resolution fonts for Nvidia Cards
Author: Behelith

File Name: XWA_Fonts_Behelith_Arial_Bold.zip
File Size: fonts.dat = 258548b / XWA-HRFonts.zip = 216kb
Date Released: 25 March 2017

Credits: Created by Behelith based on Harrier Brayer's excellent font repair guide. Also this readme was based on his :-p (to retain the same structure on the forum)

Installation Instructions: Just copy the FONT.DAT file to your RESDATA folder. As always, scan scrupulously for virii.

Description: This FONTS.DAT file provides legible fonts for the higher resolutions in X-Wing: Alliance.

Comments:
This font was created with the Arial Bold font in Photoshop CC 2017, saved to 256 bit mode with MS-Paint and encoded with the XWA dat customizer into the FONTS.DAT file. The PSD files are also included for anyone who'd like to create FONTS.DAT files with alternative fonts. In order to do so just select all the fonts in the layer panel and select another font. You'll have to move some characters maybe one or two pixels to allign them with the guides. Save to BMP, open with MS-Paint (or other soft if you wish) and save to 256-bit format. Open XWA dat customizer and replace the font image. Read the (very good) font repair guide made by Harrier Brayer for full explanation.

IMPORTANT NOTICE:
If you're playing X-Wing Alliance with XWA Upgrade and XWAhacker you'll probably notice some cut fonts. To solve the problem reduce the HUD scale to lower than 1.50 (e.g. 1.49 or lower) in XWA hacker. The only resolution where the HUD scale is set higher than 1.49 by default is 1600x1200. I set mine to 1.49 and all the characters are rendered correctly, the HUD is a little bit smaller but you'll be able top read all the characters correctly. Another option is to use 1152x864 resolution which I also find very nice on my 2560x1600 monitor as the HUD will be a bit larger. This trick will probably work all 3rd party font files.

THIS MODIFICATION IS NOT MADE, DISTRIBUTED, OR SUPPORTED BY ACTIVISION, RAVEN, OR
LUCASARTS ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY LLC. ELEMENTS TM & © LUCASARTS
ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY LLC AND/OR ITS LICENSORS.
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The egg is out there!

User avatar
Darksaber
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Post by Darksaber » Sun Mar 26, 2017 7:10 pm

Well done that works really nice :D
“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.”
- John Lydgate

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait....
Darksaber's X-Wing Station

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