Adjustable fonts in CIV -Thank you Blue Marble

Sherlock

Sherlock

Just one more turn...
Joined
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I just found out the BlueMarble program lets you change the size of the fonts in CIV.

THIS IS FABULOUS.

Even with my reading glasses on and a 22" monitor CIV IV has text that is too small for someone my age to really be comfortable reading.

Thank you, Blue Marble team. Did I mention...FABULOUS?
 
You actually don't need Blue Marble for that, there is a file it modifies, I believe:
\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Resource\Themes\Civ4\Civ4Theme_Common.thm
Click to expand...

By manually editting the file, after comparing it to the changes Blue Marble makes - you can fine tune the fonts even more so thatn BM allows.
 
Balderstrom said:
You actually don't need Blue Marble for that, there is a file it modifies, I believe:


By manually editting the file, after comparing it to the changes Blue Marble makes - you can fine tune the fonts even more so thatn BM allows.
Click to expand...

Can you (or someone else) please PM me with step-by-step directions to find what is needed to be changed in that file. Also, I'm using BtS specifically, so if needed, concentrate on that. Also, do I need to repeat that procedure for any mods that don't use this file but their own?

It would be much appreciated! :D I have low vision and need that fix badly.
 
Starting from Line 371 of Civ4Theme_Common.thm. As you will perhaps notice any line beginning with // is a comment, that was done by Firaxians. You can leave that part alone. What you will want to change is just the numbers, which I have bolded below, but for an example:
GFont("Sylfaen", "Regular", ---> 13, <---
--------^^^ (Real Name)
As far as I recall, you can copy pretty much any Windows TTF font to CIV's fonts directory and use its "Real Name" (which might be different from the Windows File Name).
Code: 
			with SF_CtrlTheme_Civ4_Control_Font
			{
				GFont	.Size0_Normal			=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Regular",		[B]13[/B], GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
//				GFont	.Size0_Bold				=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Bold",			11, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
//				GFont	.Size0_Italic			=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Italic",		11, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));
//				GFont	.Size0_BoldItalic		=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Bold Italic",	11, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));

				GFont	.Size1_Normal			=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Regular",		[B]12[/B], GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
//				GFont	.Size1_Bold				=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Bold",			12, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
//				GFont	.Size1_Italic			=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Italic",		12, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));
//				GFont	.Size1_BoldItalic		=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Bold Italic",	12, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));

				GFont	.Size2_Normal			=	GFont("Arial",		"Regular",		[B]12[/B], GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
				GFont	.Size2_Bold				=	GFont("Arial",		"Bold",			[B]12[/B], GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
				GFont	.Size2_Italic			=	GFont("Arial",		"Italic",		[B]12[/B], GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));
//				GFont	.Size2_BoldItalic		=	GFont("Arial",		"Bold Italic",	12, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));

				GFont	.Size3_Normal			=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Regular",		[B]16[/B], GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
				GFont	.Size3_Bold				=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Bold",			16, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
//				GFont	.Size3_Italic			=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Italic",		16, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));
//				GFont	.Size3_BoldItalic		=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Bold Italic",	16, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));

				GFont	.Size4_Normal			=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Regular",		[B]22[/B], GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
				GFont	.Size4_Bold				=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Bold",			[B]22[/B], GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
//				GFont	.Size4_Italic			=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Italic",		22, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));
//				GFont	.Size4_BoldItalic		=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Bold Italic",	22, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));
			}
I don't recall the CIV directory structure offhand, and it is not installed atm, I have system issues: 16bit color @ 800x600 on a 22" monitor.... beautiful ;)

So just search for "CIV4Theme_Common.thm" - within BTS' PROGRAM FILES install directory. Change the Font's Names as you like, if you like (You may need to copy a font to BTS' Fonts dir, dont recall if it can grab system fonts or not). Change font sizes, primarily the first 3 types, "Size0", "Size1", "Size2" are used the most.
Be careful about making fonts too big, for example the MainScreen menu is Size 22 (the Size4 setting). So you probably want to stay below 19-20 for in game fonts.

CivScale.exe allows you to toggle all fonts between Serif and non-Serif and to scale the fonts in general.

Manually editting allows you to use more than one font for different things, as the game will use Size0 for certain things, Size1 for others, and Size2 for others...
Thus will allow you to do like what I have done, is use Arial for one particular thing (Size2).
Also you will note I made Size0 BIGGER (than Size1) ;-) ... which for where Size0 is used in game, it worked very well (for me).

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

You'll have to use Windows Search or something to find the proper folders. Or someone with the game installed could probably tell you.
 
Balderstrom said:
Starting from Line 371 of Civ4Theme_Common.thm. As you will perhaps notice any line beginning with // is a comment, that was done by Firaxians. You can leave that part alone. What you will want to change is just the numbers, which I have bolded below, but for an example:
GFont("Sylfaen", "Regular", ---> 13, <---
--------^^^ (Real Name)
As far as I recall, you can copy pretty much any Windows TTF font to CIV's fonts directory and use its "Real Name" (which might be different from the Windows File Name).
Code: 
			with SF_CtrlTheme_Civ4_Control_Font
			{
				GFont	.Size0_Normal			=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Regular",		[B]13[/B], GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
//				GFont	.Size0_Bold				=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Bold",			11, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
//				GFont	.Size0_Italic			=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Italic",		11, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));
//				GFont	.Size0_BoldItalic		=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Bold Italic",	11, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));

				GFont	.Size1_Normal			=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Regular",		[B]12[/B], GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
//				GFont	.Size1_Bold				=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Bold",			12, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
//				GFont	.Size1_Italic			=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Italic",		12, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));
//				GFont	.Size1_BoldItalic		=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Bold Italic",	12, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));

				GFont	.Size2_Normal			=	GFont("Arial",		"Regular",		[B]12[/B], GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
				GFont	.Size2_Bold				=	GFont("Arial",		"Bold",			[B]12[/B], GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
				GFont	.Size2_Italic			=	GFont("Arial",		"Italic",		[B]12[/B], GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));
//				GFont	.Size2_BoldItalic		=	GFont("Arial",		"Bold Italic",	12, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));

				GFont	.Size3_Normal			=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Regular",		[B]16[/B], GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
				GFont	.Size3_Bold				=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Bold",			16, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
//				GFont	.Size3_Italic			=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Italic",		16, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));
//				GFont	.Size3_BoldItalic		=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Bold Italic",	16, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));

				GFont	.Size4_Normal			=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Regular",		[B]22[/B], GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
				GFont	.Size4_Bold				=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Bold",			[B]22[/B], GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ALPHA));
//				GFont	.Size4_Italic			=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Italic",		22, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));
//				GFont	.Size4_BoldItalic		=	GFont("Sylfaen",		"Bold Italic",	22, GFlags(GFontFeature, GFC_FONT_BOLD,	GFC_FONT_ITALIC, GFC_FONT_ALPHA), 0, GRectMargin(1));
			}
I don't recall the CIV directory structure offhand, and it is not installed atm, I have system issues: 16bit color @ 800x600 on a 22" monitor.... beautiful ;)

So just search for "CIV4Theme_Common.thm" - within BTS' PROGRAM FILES install directory. Change the Font's Names as you like, if you like (You may need to copy a font to BTS' Fonts dir, dont recall if it can grab system fonts or not). Change font sizes, primarily the first 3 types, "Size0", "Size1", "Size2" are used the most.
Be careful about making fonts too big, for example the MainScreen menu is Size 22 (the Size4 setting). So you probably want to stay below 19-20 for in game fonts.

CivScale.exe allows you to toggle all fonts between Serif and non-Serif and to scale the fonts in general.

Manually editting allows you to use more than one font for different things, as the game will use Size0 for certain things, Size1 for others, and Size2 for others...
Thus will allow you to do like what I have done, is use Arial for one particular thing (Size2).
Also you will note I made Size0 BIGGER (than Size1) ;-) ... which for where Size0 is used in game, it worked very well (for me).

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

You'll have to use Windows Search or something to find the proper folders. Or someone with the game installed could probably tell you.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply :). Actually I just want roll-over words, top left of screen words (all top row of words to keep it simple), and maybe few other inherently tiny text to be bigger than the largest one possible in Blue Marble Gold 4.50's settings (1-5). I went ahead and installed BMG 4.50 since I thought that new terrain look was in order anyway. But to me, that number 5 for Text size is still a bit too small.

Thanks for your explanation above. Hopefullly I can understand it. BTW, I already know where the file is in. It is no problem finding the file. I was asking for editing procedure INSIDE the file itself. You did explain that, now it is my job to decipher what you said *lol*.
 
Try changing :
Code: 
GFont	.Size0_Normal
to the same size (or 1 larger) than
Code: 
GFont	.Size1_Normal
As you can see, my Size1_Normal is 12 pt, and I made the Size0_Normal 13 pt.

That should fix the text that you find too small. Civ uses Size0 in all the places where it displays the smallest text.
 
Question: CivScale also would change the colors of the borders and menus - where can this be changed manually?

I would like to add these color changes to a mod. Thank you.
 
Balderstrom said:
Starting from Line 371 of Civ4Theme_Common.thm. As you will perhaps notice any line beginning with // is a comment, that was done by Firaxians. You can leave that part alone. What you will want to change is just the numbers, which I have bolded below, but for an example:
GFont("Sylfaen", "Regular", ---> 13, <---
--------^^^ (Real Name)
As far as I recall, you can copy pretty much any Windows TTF font to CIV's fonts directory and use its "Real Name" (which might be different from the Windows File Name).
Code: 
			with SF_CtrlTheme_Civ4_Control_Font[/QUOTE]

Hello. I am a new poster here. I just bought a copy of Civilization IV Complete to try out the famous game. I am using Windows 7 64 bit with a 47" widescreen TV with 1920x1080 reslution. Like others have complained, the font size is too small, so I would like to make it bigger without changing the resolution. Using Blue Marble has not helped make the font size bigger.

Therefore I tried to use your suggestion. However, it won't allow me to save the changes I made and therefore to overwrite the "Civ4Theme_Common.thm" file. I had opened this THM extension file using WordPad and then opened it using BlocNotes. 

What do I do? Please help me, thanks.
Click to expand...
 
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