Font - Fleapit

Archive entry by Ste Pickford on Mon, 10 Aug 2009
Subject: Fleapit

This font was for the unreleased coin-op which became the prototype for SNES Plok! The coin-op hardware we were writing for (The Razz Board) used a strange data format for graphics which completely freed us from any constraints based on character, tile, or sprite sizes (its hard to explain, instead of storing square bitmaps, each pixel stored the direction [u / d / l / r] for the next pixel in the sequence). Consequently I designed a font which was free to break out of the restrictive 8x8 or 16x16 pixel grids I was used to, although for practical reasons I limited the maxium size of each character to a completely arbitrary 22 x 29 pixels.

I based the font on the hand drawn lettering style I was using for all my concept sketches at the time, and the idea was that each character's horizontal and vertical position would be randomised slightly, as in the sample.

Tags: font, pixel art, coin-op

Follow up post: Solar Jetman font

Predecessor post: Ironsword / Silverword fonts

View the softography page for Fleapit »

Permalink to this post: http://www.zee-3.com/pickfordbros/archive/view.php?post=285

Imagine if Fleapit was actually released...

But, then again, we most likely wouldn't have the SNES game.

Comment by Goyangi, added Fri, 17 Sep 2021 20:37:26 GMT

Have you ever thought about releasing the unfinished Fleapit code online, if you still have it lying around? The Plok fanbase would certainly love to have a look at Plok's lost precursor.

Comment by Murnjendoof, added Sun, 27 Nov 2022 06:47:43 GMT

We don't have it.

Comment by Ste Pickford, added Sun, 27 Nov 2022 08:55:47 GMT

Wow, I wasn't expecting such a quick response-- thanks. That really sucks, though. Do you think there might be anyone who still has it, or is it lost to time?

Comment by Murnjendoof, added Fri, 02 Dec 2022 07:20:52 GMT

The was a version on a rom in a recently rediscovered version of Rare's prototype handheld machine, the Playboy. The last we heard it had gone to a UK museum who were going to try to read the ROM, but we haven't heard if they've been successful.

https://twitter.com/JPickford/status/1564951197144039431

Comment by Ste Pickford, added Fri, 02 Dec 2022 18:03:43 GMT