Spectacular eye-catching billboards

Hello Civrealms,

I've been spending the last week developing an old idea that I once had: using unicode block characters to "draw" on a sign to create custom art or letters, something that I previously thought was impossible/impractical. Improving on my earlier design, we get this:

https://i.imgur.com/ASUpJF2.png

https://i.imgur.com/X3Mxulq.png

https://i.imgur.com/sH4hiRJ.png

https://i.imgur.com/MxXw0X3.png

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That's right, not only have I made three different fonts for the latin script (lowercase, uppercase and uppercase bolded), I've also mapped the ENTIRE Arabic alphabet with all four forms per letter (initial, medial, final, isolated). This means that you can even write fully legible billboards in Arabic.

How does it work?!

Previously, I was only toying around with using the unicode full block ( ▉ ) to write in signs, but this doesn't allow for enough flexibility. Signs only have 4 lines, and with 4 lines it's barely enough to represent letters. However, unicode has other characters that can be used as well: ▉ ▌ ▄ ▀. These allowed me to actually use the 4 lines to the most of my ability to draw out different fonts. Take a look at the numbers "52" on this sign for example, and see how finely they're drawn. Arabic in particular requires a lot of detail to draw a lot of complex characters and I had to cram it into my 4 lines without compromising on readability, which was very difficult. As for latin letters, it was a bit easier.

Unicode on signs? You can't copy paste on signs!

That's right, and that's why I have a unicode keyboard. I originally got it for book creating- you may have seen my unique book series where I use unicode to get perfect spacing that never changes, etc. I simply used my unicode characters directly into my signs. This means that no one can create the signs unless they too go get a unicode keyboard and remap the inputs to the correct characters

Yeah whatever, I've tried something similar and the spacing will fuck up when the server updates/the texture pack changes/etc

Yes, this happens whenever someone uses the space bar to center their text on signs. HOWEVER! The fonts and signs I have developed rely on unicode spacing to achieve their shapes, and unicode characters are the same in every version of minecraft and every texture pack. That means that no matter what, whoever views the sign will 100% see the same shapes that you're seeing.

I'm interested. How do I get a sign for my shop?

Essentially, you can either do it yourself using my tools or pay me some stamina to come out and put down the signs for you.

The link for Excel document with all the characters needed for every font is below:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F6L7c2g7sisWW1wbG3CFw2XpP4uRF2R0/view?usp=sharing

Make sure you look at the Readme tab to understand what's going on. If you need further help you can comment and I'll help you out.

OR as I said, if this is too complicated and you don't want to get a unicode keyboard, pay me some stamina in-game and I will make my way out and put down whatever sign you want. You have the freedom of choosing from latin or arabic script, as well as 3 different fonts in latin script, to customize your sign and make it look impressive.

What else is possible with this technology?

Basically anything you want! You could take the time to painstakingly draw out pictures, images, arrows, logos, other non-latin fonts, and then you just need to copy down the pattern somewhere so you can re-create it. You could even create some kind of map if you really wanted to.

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Enjoy and feel free to ask any questions !