[?] Crossplatform and Fonts

1) Do the 3 platforms share (or have installed by default) any similar looking fonts such as Tahoma, Arial, Courier etc ..

2) Which 'font file format' do the platforms share?
I know windows handles *.TTF and *.FON

3) What formats can BlitzMax handle?

4) Do we load by filename or fontname?

5) Where should we place our own custom fonts?
System folder or app/game folder?

It might be worth listing the default fonts for each platform so we can narrow things down to a general list. Then, throw the information into BlitzWiki.

Here's what I have in WinXP by default:

NOTE1: .ttf format unless specified
NOTE2: Most available in bold and italics as well

arial
arial black
comic
century gothic
comic sans MS
copperplate gothic
courier
courier new
edwardian script itc
engravers
eras demi itc
estrangelo edessa
eurostile
franklin gothic
french script
gautami
georgia
gill sans MT
impact
kartika
kristen
latha
lucidia console
lucidia sans
maiandra GD
mangal
matisse
microsoft sans serif
mistral
modern (.fon)
MS sans serif (.fon)
MS serif (.fon)
myriad condensed
nimbus web
nimbus script
nimbusSanTCon
palatino linotype
papyrus
perpetua
raavi
rockwell extra bold
roman (.fon)
script (.fon)
shruti
small fonts (.fon)
sylfaen
symbol
symbol (.fon)
tahoma
tempus sans itc
times roman
times roman special
trebuchet MS
tunga
verdana
vivaldi
webdings
wingdings
wingdings 2
wingdings 3

There are I think a few that are similar on the Mac but also some unique ones. I don't remember seeing even half of those listed above.

Arial, Verdana and Helvetica are all similar looking fonts and at least one of them should exist on each of the three platforms. I don't *think* that the Mac has Arial, but it has Helvetica for instance.

Arial (PC) and Helvetica (Mac) should be avoided for cross platform compatibility due to the same reasons they shouldn't be used on a web page - one looks good and the other looks crap depending on whether you're using a PC or a Mac. As such, it is often recommended that Verdana be the font of choice for website design. I assume this would also be a good course of action in terms of cross platform games/applications.

An alternative action is to take a look at one of the many free font websites, as these tend to offer the same font in both PC and Mac form, so it would simply be a case of making sure you have the right file for the right version of your game.

You could always somehow include the font with your application? Install it at installation time? Or use it as a bitmap font? Or convert it to an openGL program?

I would imagine that a bitmap font would be the best solution for cross-platform compatibility.