Announcement 
The Journey of Crafting Nameplates: More Than Meets the Eye
At Eldritch Foundry, we understand that even the most minute details can involve an immense amount of work and creativity. This brings us to our latest feature—the much-anticipated nameplates!
Ahead of Schedule, Beyond Expectations
Initially slated for a late March release, the team’s enthusiasm and hard work have brought this feature to you earlier than planned. What seemed like a simple addition turned out to be an intricate challenge, one that we tackled head-on in just under two weeks. This may sound extensive, but the complexity behind this seemingly straightforward feature demanded every bit of this time.
From Simple Concepts to Complex Realities
The original concept was straightforward: a flat surface for custom text, limited to three fonts of uniform letter width. Simple, right? However, our CG supervisor envisioned something more dynamic—a curved surface to complement our base designs. This addition marked our first leap from the basic to the complex.
A Typographic Adventure
The journey didn’t stop there. Our studio artists, never ones to settle for ‘ordinary’, challenged the idea of using only standard fonts. They proposed an array of exciting, genre-spanning typefaces. But this brought a new hurdle: varying letter sizes. To maintain aesthetic harmony, we decided to use only capital letters, ensuring consistent height and alignment.
Responsive and Customizable Design
Next, we introduced adaptive sizing. The plate size now changes dynamically based on the length of your text—from concise three-letter names to ambitious fifteen-character titles. And for the freehand artists among you, we added the option to manually increase the plate size. Now, your nameplates can be as unique as your creations!
Font Flexibility and Challenges
The introduction of ten new, carefully selected fonts brought about our next challenge: uniform character limits were not feasible due to varying letter widths. Our development team was initially hesitant about this, as it meant solving complex angular problems for each letter, font, and plate size in real-time. Despite the complexity, they brilliantly found a solution.
However, we faced another conundrum: what if a user switches fonts after typing a lengthy text? Our first solution was simple yet unpopular—changing fonts would delete the existing text. Unwilling to settle for a frustrating user experience, we devised a better approach. Users can now type freely in the text box, and the plate will display as much as it can handle, depending on the chosen font and size.
The Magic and Madness of Software Development
This entire process has been a thrilling, albeit challenging journey. Crafting these nameplates has been, pardon the crassness, like navigating through software development hell, but it’s our passion for delivering exceptional and innovative features that keeps us going.
We hope you enjoy the new nameplates as much as we enjoyed creating them for you.
