Lich Survivors · round 44 · smooth fonts

2026-10-03. Anchor build. Every picture is the whole window at 1280x720, as you see it. Bordered = what the game starts with now (EMBER, FELL).

The game is drawn at 640x360 and scaled up 2x. A smooth font drawn into that frame would come out soft and blocky, so smooth text now has its own layer at the window's full resolution, over the scaled game. The icons and frames stay pixels; only the words are smooth. They keep the warm colours, with a soft dark halo and a drop shadow so they read on the lit floor. The same kinds of letter as round 43 (carved, worn, cut, ancient), now smooth.

Run it

run.batstarts on EMBER with FELL
F3the fonts: after the pixel ones (rounds 42 and 43) come SMOOTH CINZEL, FELL, UNCIAL, SHARP, MARCELLUS, GRENZE
F1, F2, F4as before

Six candidates

CINZEL

Roman capitals as cut in stone; capitals throughout

CINZEL: the first view, the hand hovered
CINZEL: the first view, the hand hovered
CINZEL: the question
CINZEL: the question

FELL

IM Fell English: an old printing type, worn; small capitals for names, its roman for the rest

FELL: the first view, the hand hovered
FELL: the first view, the hand hovered
FELL: the question
FELL: the question

UNCIAL

Uncial Antiqua: the round book-hand of early manuscripts; the most mythic

UNCIAL: the first view, the hand hovered
UNCIAL: the first view, the hand hovered
UNCIAL: the question
UNCIAL: the question

SHARP

MedievalSharp: an angular hand, as cut with a knife

SHARP: the first view, the hand hovered
SHARP: the first view, the hand hovered
SHARP: the question
SHARP: the question

MARCELLUS

Marcellus: a flared, carved serif; small capitals for names; the calmest

MARCELLUS: the first view, the hand hovered
MARCELLUS: the first view, the hand hovered
MARCELLUS: the question
MARCELLUS: the question

GRENZE

Grenze: between a roman and a blackletter; dense, old

GRENZE: the first view, the hand hovered
GRENZE: the first view, the hand hovered
GRENZE: the question
GRENZE: the question

Side by side, at the window's own pixels

CINZEL, FELL, UNCIAL, SHARP, MARCELLUS, GRENZE: the slots with a name, and the question (some names cut off by the crop)
CINZEL, FELL, UNCIAL, SHARP, MARCELLUS, GRENZE: the slots with a name, and the question (some names cut off by the crop)

Unfinished

The warm top-to-bottom fall of round 43 is not on smooth text yet: the engine draws a text in one colour. If you want it, it is a small shader on the text layer. Sizes are first guesses. In a window bigger than 1280x720 the text layer scales up smoothly instead of being redrawn larger; drawing it at the window's real size is the finishing step.