pcface VS public-sans

I hold VileR's work on int10h.org in high esteem, given its exceptional quality. As someone whose initial exposure to computers was through IBM PCs, I find VileR's website to be a treasure trove of IBM PC fonts, BIOS fonts, and related resources.

Inspired by IBM PC games from the 1990s, I aspired to create my own invaders-like game. However hindered by limited access to computers and limited computer programming knowledge, the most I could manage to make were a few text-based adventure games. Although 25 years too late, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I revisited this dream and spent a weekend writing my own Invaders game[1] using HTML5 Canvas.

Initially, I used CanvasRenderingContext2D: fillText() to display text (current score, info screen, etc.). However, dissatisfied with the text rendering quality, I began looking for IBM PC OEM fonts online and came across the Oldschool PC Fonts[2] on int10h.org. I downloaded the font packs from the website, used a Python script to convert them to bitmaps[3] (arrays of integers), and then used the bitmaps to draw text on the canvas, one cell at a time, to get pixel-perfect results!

I eventually switched to a different font pack called Modern DOS[4] developed by Jayvee Enaguas. Nevertheless given how extensive VileR's website is and how convenient the font preview tools[5] on the website are, int10h.org remains as my go-to website whenever I am doing any type of retrocomputing work for fun.

[1] https://susam.net/invaders.html

[2] https://int10h.org/oldschool-pc-fonts/

[3] https://github.com/susam/pcface

[4] https://www.dafont.com/modern-dos.font

[5] https://int10h.org/oldschool-pc-fonts/fontlist/font?ibm_vga_...

Although not included in this demo, VileR does provide aspect-correct variants of the fonts at https://int10h.org/oldschool-pc-fonts/fontlist/. One can take the scripts at https://github.com/susam/pcface and generate the bitmap arrays for the aspect-correct variants too.

> It typically uses 256 characters exemplified by the font CP437

I have very fond memories of code page 437 (CP437). ASCII code 1 is a smiley face in CP437. How cool is that!

Shameless plug: I recently wrote a small toolkit to render CP437 characters on HTML5 canvas for a retro-style game project I was working on. Source: https://github.com/susam/pcface Demo: https://susam.github.io/pcface/src/demo.html

It's reminiscent of Public Sans, but maybe slightly less harmonious in its design. I don't hate it, though.

Public sans (F)

Seems like a miss that this is using google fonts instead of the font made by the govt https://public-sans.digital.gov/

I’ve always found government codebases fascinating, since you can directly witness the intersection of code and law!

Also see this issue raised on the Public Sans repo, which claims the typeface (created by the American government) is unconstitutional:

https://github.com/uswds/public-sans/issues/31

I've loved using Inter for a long time, and I'm glad they finally fixed some odd kerning/letter spacing issues between certain letters that always bothered me and prevented me from using it on projects.

I think Inter is getting more popular (since it's free) and replacing other popular ones like Circular that cost an arm and a leg, and pretty "look the same" in the lay-person's eyes.

There's a whole slew of similar, free typefaces now: Public Sans (https://public-sans.digital.gov/), Work Sans (https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Work+Sans), Metropolis (https://fontsarena.com/metropolis-by-chris-simpson/)