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U+237C ⍼ Is Azimuth

ionathan.ch

91–98 of 98 posts

Re: U+237C ⍼ Is Azimuth

#91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO the biggest omission in Unicode are game controller button and keyboard emojis, as very frequently arise in game tutorials.

Most games aren't shipping with full-fat unicode support or typefaces that could display those icons, though. Plus it'd start to break down with controllers that aren't simple A/B/X/Y.

By "game tutorials", I think they mean modern successors to the role GameFAQs used to play.

There is a combining character that, by its description, sounds like it should be implemented to do the desired thing (U+20DD Combining Enclosing Circle), but my fonts don't render it very well when I stuff geometric characters matching the PlayStation buttons into it.

Without spaces: △⃝□⃝×⃝○⃝

With two spaces between each one so you can see how "enclosing" is getting interpreted: △⃝ □⃝ ×⃝ ○⃝

For the Markdown renderer I'm working on to replace WordPress for my blog, I resorted to shortcodes which resolve to CSS styling the `` tag with `title` attributes to clarify and the occasional bit of inline SVG for things where I didn't want to specify a fixed font to get sufficient consistency, like PlayStation button glyphs.

https://imgur.com/a/1EPm7QV

(In all fairness, it's a nerd-snipe made based on the idea that I'll be more willing to blog about things I have nice tools for. I don't currently typeset button presses in any form.)

Re: U+237C ⍼ Is Azimuth

#92
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seeing stuff like this, but knowing we can not get a unicode symbol for the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flourish_of_approval despite how ubiqitous it is in the Netherlands always frustrates me.

It doesn't seem like anybody ever filed the paperwork for it. (A search for "krul" on site:unicode.org doesn't turn up anything.) Unicode symbols don't just magically appear! Somebody has to do a bit of work to make it happen. If you're frustrated by a missing symbol, that somebody is probably you!

I am quite sure it has been submitted and rejected before although indeed in my short search just now I couldn't find evidence for this statement.

Edit: Seems like the earlier attempt stopped before ever getting to the proposal stage, maybe it is worth pushing through even though some of the requirements for the unicode standards can not be met.

Re: U+237C ⍼ Is Azimuth

#93
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO the biggest omission in Unicode are game controller button and keyboard emojis, as very frequently arise in game tutorials.

U+20E3 COMBINING ENCLOSING KEYCAP

Oh shit I didn't know! Amazing! Is there a COMBINING ENCLOSING BUTTON too? We'd also need SHOULDER, SHOULDER BIG and THUMBSTICK, then we'd have something.

Re: U+237C ⍼ Is Azimuth

#94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most games aren't shipping with full-fat unicode support or typefaces that could display those icons, though. Plus it'd start to break down with controllers that aren't simple A/B/X/Y.

By "game tutorials", I think they mean modern successors to the role GameFAQs used to play. There is a combining character that, by its description, sounds like it should be implemented to do the desired thing (U+20DD Combining Enclosing Circle), but my fonts don't render it very well when I stuff geometric characters matching the PlayStation buttons into it. Without spaces: △⃝□⃝×⃝○⃝ With two spaces between each one…

I was thinking of ingame tutorials, but now that you mention it GameFAQs and forums would be a great usecase.

Re: U+237C ⍼ Is Azimuth

#95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO the biggest omission in Unicode are game controller button and keyboard emojis, as very frequently arise in game tutorials.

Most games aren't shipping with full-fat unicode support or typefaces that could display those icons, though. Plus it'd start to break down with controllers that aren't simple A/B/X/Y.

With more and more players expecting emoji support in text entry boxes, more games are starting to ship with full unicode support. Also I've noticed optional ligatures that OpenType supports have become a big style thing in certain game genres/by certain studios. Harfbuzz's "Old MIT" license shows up more often in the credits of games and game engines.

I don't know if that's a good reason to push to standardize controller glyphs to Unicode, though.

(ETA: Plus the other obvious reason more games and game engines are bringing in full Unicode support is localization, especially for Arabic and CJK. We're a bit past the point where AAA games only feel a need to support EFIGS. The Middle East and Asia are huge markets, especially for mobile games.)

Re: U+237C ⍼ Is Azimuth

#96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By "game tutorials", I think they mean modern successors to the role GameFAQs used to play. There is a combining character that, by its description, sounds like it should be implemented to do the desired thing (U+20DD Combining Enclosing Circle), but my fonts don't render it very well when I stuff geometric characters matching the PlayStation buttons into it. Without spaces: △⃝□⃝×⃝○⃝ With two spaces between each one…

I was thinking of ingame tutorials, but now that you mention it GameFAQs and forums would be a great usecase.

*nod* As-is, we're stuck with hacks like custom shortcodes and emoji.

...though, given the inconsistent naming of consistently laid-out buttons, I think anything that makes its way into Unicode should include something that follows the lead of what Batocera Linux does on their Wiki and with custom emojis in their Discord.

See https://wiki.batocera.org/configure_a_controller for an example of how they look inline but the gist is that it's an outline of the SNES-originated diamond of action buttons that pretty much everyone but Nintendo uses these days and which is embodied in XInput and the SDL Gamepad API, with one of the circles filled in to represent the button in question.

Re: U+237C ⍼ Is Azimuth

#97
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think many prefer poor English over LLM English.

I think many prefer AI writing to whining about AI writing.

Yes, but HN is dominated by the latter aggressively irrational folks. Look at how many of kindkang2024's comments with perfectly reasonable content are dead--the nuttiness has infiltrated mod policy.
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