There is often a problem with font distortion after the Russification of Skyrim. Letters in the game and console are replaced with squares and other unreadable symbols. Many people have encountered a similar problem, but not everyone knows how to solve it.
Squares in the game
The question of how to remove squares in Skyrim torments many. In order to fully answer it, you need to understand the cause of this problem.
It lies in the fact that the game uses its own fonts, and replacing them is unacceptable. After Russification, the standard Skyrim font FuturaTCYLigCon is replaced with the system font Arial. However, the game does not know such a font and, therefore, cannot use or display it correctly. That's why the text is displayed in squares. This problem can be fixed quite simply.
It should be noted that the Russian version of the game simply replaces the font used, but in no case deletes it; all original game data is stored in the same place as it was after installation. There is no need to panic, all you need to do in order to remove the squares in the game is:
Go to the root folder of the game.
In the interface folder, find the fontconfig.txt file.
Open this file with notepad.
Find the line $ConsoleFont = Arial Normal.
Replace this line with: $ConsoleFont = FuturaTCYLigCon Normal.
After completing these simple steps, the squares in the game will disappear and adequate text will appear.
Console
Let's continue talking about Skyrim. How to remove squares in the game? This question is quite simple and can be completed in a couple of minutes. But there is an equally important question that worries many players: how to remove the squares in the console?
Both of these questions relate to one big family: how to remove squares in Skyrim. With the console, things are a little more complicated. But nevertheless, this problem is also solvable. It occurs, as a rule, in all players. Some after Russification, and some without it. It consists of this: during Russification, not only the original fonts used by the game are replaced, but also the system file that sets the language used by the console (English by default).
If you are interested in the game "Skyrim", you must know how to remove squares in the console. In order to answer this question, you need to carry out a number of simple steps:
Go to C:\Users\
And open the Skyrim.ini file using the Notepad application.
Find the lines sLanguage=RUSSIAN.
And add another line below them sConsole=ENGLISH.
Solving console problems
But after changing the Skyrim.ini file, the squares in the console may remain. This is due to the fact that the program does not work with the Russian language, and the language is not changed by the standard alt+shift combination. And the question “How to remove squares in Skyrim?” again torments the gamer.
There are two ways to solve this problem. Both of them are not at all difficult and do not require any special skills. The first method is to install third-party software Puntoswitcher. This program effectively combats the problem associated with writing Russian words in the English layout. But this does not always help. The most effective way to resolve the console language issue is to change the default language. To change it you need:
In the tray next to the clock, find the RU or EN language icon.
Right click on it.
Select the Options tab.
In the window that opens, in the "Default input language" area, select English.
Click OK.
After this, the question “How to remove squares in Skyrim?” will no longer be relevant to you. Have a good game!
We recommend using the Nexus Mod Manager to install SkyUI.
It will try not to interfere with any pre-installed font mods, and you will be able to select the Icon Theme category you want to use from the installer.
Therefore, before you can begin, you must choose whether you want to do a FOMM installation (recommended) or a manual installation.
Installation with NMM
Start NMM and click on mods.
In the left panel icon, click on add mod from file and select the downloaded archive file.
SkyUI will now appear in the list. Double click to activate it.
In the installer window, select a custom icon theme if you want, and then click install. If you are prompted to overwrite anything, click Yes to All.
Made!
Manual installation
Find the data/folder in your Skyrim installation directory. It is usually located in files/Steam/steamapps/general/skyrim/program data/.
Extract the contents of the downloaded archive file to your data/folder. If you are asked to rewrite anything, acknowledge it.
In case you want to use a custom icon theme:
Find additional data/SkyUI/folder. In there, select the theme subfolder and copy skyui_icons_cat.swf for the data interface.
Made!
Problem: There is a message on my screen telling me that I am missing the Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE). What should be done?
There are two things that can cause this:
1. Not installing the Skyrim script (or you installed it incorrectly). Get it here and follow the instructions here.
2. Everything was fine, and then Skyrim was fixed to a new version and the message began to appear.
This is because every new patch also requires an SKSE update. So simple, you just have to wait until that gets released, then get the new version and everything should be back to normal.
Problem: There are dollar signs ($) in front of all the words in the main menu (and in many other places, too)!
This happens if you accidentally deleted Data/Interface/Translate_ENGLISH.txt.
The downloaded SkyUI archive contains the original version of this file in SkyUI Extra/. So just copy them from there back to the data interface/.
Problem: I changed something in skyui.cfg, now it doesn't work anymore.
If you make a configuration mistake, SkyUI may stop working. In this case, simply return to the original configuration from the downloaded SkyUI archive.
Question: How can there already be FAQs when you have just created an MO?
Good point.
Install the mod manager!
And you need to edit the font name in the config.
Console commands are designed to find bugs and test certain mechanics in the game. In The Elder Scroll: Skyrim, you can enable the console, but entering commands is only available on the PC version.
To enter special commands, you must open the console. To do this, you need to press the [~] (tilde) key right during the game. A field will appear at the top of the screen into which codes are entered to activate certain actions.
IMPORTANT! Before introducing it, you must save it, as some commands may negatively affect the operation of the game.
Using the Console
The commands are absolutely not case sensitive, so you can safely ignore whether “Caps Lock” is enabled/disabled. To navigate in an open window, it is best to use two buttons: PageUp/PageDown. If there are zeros at the beginning of the code, they can be ignored, but this method does not apply to objects from the two later additions. The first digits use a code of order XX, so all characters are required to be entered.
Object Commands
This category includes commands related to objects. To select them, you need to open the console and click on the object or character on the screen. The code of the object selected by the player will immediately appear in the console. It is important that there is good visibility, that is, there is no fog, snow or magic effects.
Prefix commands
Commands that fall into this category require a prefix at the beginning. For example, if you enter SetAV Health<#>- nothing will happen, but if Player.SetAV Health<#>- will increase HP by<#>points.
Problems entering commands
In the classic version of Skyrim, there were unpleasant bugs associated with the console - squares appeared instead of letters. Not only in the command input window, but also in the game itself. The problem of “rectangles” is solved quite simply. In the file at Skyrim\Data\Interface\fontconfig.txt. you need to change map “$ConsoleFont” = “Arial” Normal to map “$ConsoleFont” = “FuturaTCYLigCon” Normal.
IMPORTANT! Some users don't have a file that can be modified. In this case, the problem is not solved for them and, most likely, they will have to completely remove the game and install it again for the required file to appear.
However, there is another way. You need to add the line sConsole=ENGLISH in the Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition folder in the Skyrim.ini file after the line sLanguage=RUSSIAN. Then we manually create the file FontConfig_ru.txt. We insert the contents of fontconfig.txt from the original Skyrim into it.
Pay attention to which layout you have in your operating system by default. This may affect the functionality of this method. It also matters where you copy the text from (from a post on the site or directly from a file). Everything must be done exactly as indicated on the website.
Below is the text of the file that needs to be copied:
fontlib "Interface\fonts_console.swf"
fontlib "Interface\fonts_en.swf"
map "$ConsoleFont" = "FuturaTCYLigCon" Normal
map "$StartMenuFont" = "Futura Condensed test" Normal
map "$DialogueFont" = "FuturaTCYLigCon" Normal
map "$EverywhereFont" = "FuturaTCYLigCon" Normal
map "$EverywhereBoldFont" = "FuturisXCondCTT" Normal
map "$EverywhereMediumFont" = "Futura Condensed test" Normal
map "$DragonFont" = "Dragon_script" Normal
map "$SkyrimBooks" = "SkyrimBooks_Gaelic" Normal
map "$HandwrittenFont" = "SkyrimBooks_Handwritten_Bold" Normal
map "$HandwrittenBold" = "SkyrimBooks_Handwritten_Bold" Normal
map "$FalmerFont" = "Falmer" Normal
map "$DwemerFont" = "Dwemer" Normal
map "$DaedricFont" = "Daedric" Normal
map "$MageScriptFont" = "Mage Script" Normal
map "$SkyrimSymbolsFont" = "SkyrimSymbols" Normal
map "$SkyrimBooks_UnreadableFont" = "SkyrimBooks_Unreadable" Normal
There are not many ways described on the forums to solve the situation with “rectangles” instead of letters, but among those that can be found, this method is the most effective. It helped many users solve their problem. At the moment the game is not updated (except for the huge number of mods that are still being created), so the method of replacing files should work.
Bottom line
Problems with the console occurred after updating the game, but it took a very long time to solve it. The answer was found in the original version. Gamers, through trial and error, finally found a way to make the letters appear normally in the game and the console. But, unfortunately, there are still people who face this problem, as well as those for whom this method does not help.
Most likely, a lot depends on where the game is installed and the distribution of folders and files. If a failure occurs during installation (for example, the antivirus scans the files being installed or another process is running in the background), then an error may occur and then even replacing the files, which was mentioned earlier, will not help the user.