drodin
Uses Trebuchet MS font (probably illegally)
Hello,
While browsing through the app directory on sdcard (/mnt/sdcard/com.drodin.tuxrider) I have noticed the file fonts/trebuchet.tfm. I realized that the name is similar to the Trebuchet MS font.
I have compared the samples found on the web to the glyphs used in the app and found that they are the same. Example glyphs can be found on:
- http://www.microsoft.com/typography/fonts/font.aspx?FMID=1868
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trebuchet_MS
For example, the very distinctive letter g is the same on the Microsoft site and in the app (after pressing "Help" in the main screen look at the first sentence "Your goal is to").
I am using version 1.0.9 of Tux Rider.
The trebuchet.tfm is TeX font metric (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TeX_font_metric) format file, which doesn't contain any glyphs. The other two trebuchet_*.rgb texture files contains some glyphs which resembles "Humanist sans-serif" font family which Trebuchet MS font belongs to. TuxRider is a port of Tux Racer which includes those files for 14 years (http://tuxracer.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/tuxracer/tuxracer-data/fonts/) meaning they are presented in half of Linux distros out there...
W dniu 04.05.2015 o 12:18, drodin pisze:
The other two trebuchet_*.rgb texture files contains some glyphs which resembles "Humanist sans-serif" font family which Trebuchet MS font belongs to. TuxRider is a port of Tux Racer which includes those files for 14 years (http://tuxracer.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/tuxracer/tuxracer-data/fonts/) meaning they are presented in half of Linux distros out there...
Nevertheless, this seems like quite a strange coincidence: a font with the same, non-typical name whose glyphs additionally look the same as Trebuchet MS. I suppose that TuxRacer devs were not font developers and did not make a font for their game themselves.
I will try to report this bug upstream.
Here someone asks on StackExchange for a font similar to Trebuchet MS: http://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/21969/trebuchet-ms-web-font-alternatives
The most upvoted answer contains:
Unfortunately for you, Trebuchet is a really unique font. Off of the top of my head I can't think of something that's really similar in the same way that Proxima Nova and Gotham are, or Times and Times New Roman.
I have tested the Aller font, recommended there. On http://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/Aller on the tab "Test drive" you could see how a particular string would look like when written with this font. It really looks very similar to what is in Tux Racer, but is possible to spot some differences.
Back in 2000 there weren't that many free fonts available on the net.
Tux Racer is AFAIK not developed anymore. At least Ubuntu does not package Tux Racer anymore, it ships Extreme Tux Racer instead (which seems to use quite a different font).