Symbols for Legacy Computing

Symbols for Legacy Computing(SLC) are a set of Unicode symbols that aren't supported on most systems. OWOT added the original "Symbols for Legacy Computing" Unicode block on October 7th, 2022, with the supplemental Unicode block following on November 7th of the same year.

Among other things, SLC can be used to make smoother shapes, or create the illusion of 3D objects when used in conjunction with the ability to change cell background colors. They have also been a valuable asset for scripters trying to make photorealistic image pasters.

Artists such as JRT, AndreiXYZ, Fox, Place_holdrr and Polonez have taken great advantage of SLC ever since its introduction to OWOT.

SLC Test Worlds

Worlds released with each SLC update.

/slc

Symbols included with the first SLC update

See also:  Symbols for Legacy Computing

/slc was created for users to test out the first set of SLC characters, which were implemented on October 7th, 2022.

Symbols introduced in the update allowed artists to create smooth shapes that can be colored to create simplistic drawings.

/slc in 2023

/slc2

Symbols included with the second SLC update

See also:  Symbols for Legacy Computing Supplements

A much larger set of SLC characters were introduced on November 7th, 2022, and along with it a second test world named /slc2. SLC 2 is most notable for introducing Octants, a set of box drawing characters which allows for higher resolution art and image pastes.

A number of interesting but less useful characters were also included, such as six quartets of symbols that each combine to form a chess piece.

/slc2 in 2023

/bcolor

Though not explicitly related to SLC, the ability to customize background colors for individual cells greatly expands the scope of SLC art.

Namely, customizable cell backgrounds allow for two diagonal planes touch within a single text cell, which can now contain two separate colors(the color of the text itself and the color of the background). This means that SLC's pre-existing ability to make smoother and more complex shape can now be leveraged for 3D art.

The test world /bcolor showcases a variety of 3D creations that can be made by combining the two features.

This update also allows for increasingly photorealistic image pasters.

3D art and photorealistic image pastes can both be found at /bcolor(Screenshot taken 2025)

How to Make SLC Art

For a more in depth SLC tutorial, see /SLC-Handbook-Maybe by J.R.T.

SLC art can be incredibly tedious to make, since even the most basic drawings require a wide range of symbols to construct. But the upside is that you can create some of the most surreal art possible in a limited medium like OWOT.

And finally, the key is to experiment with symbols and shapes as much as possible. Try thinking outside the box.

SLC toolboxes

Users have created a variety of toolboxes to keep track of the many symbols used for drawing. Use ctrl/alt+a to copy characters from toolboxes.

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  From /slc_font
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  From /slc_font
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  By Polonez
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  From /SLC-Handbook-Maybe
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  Mashup of various toolboxes from /jtpl
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  From /fp

Making Smoother Shapes Using SLC Slopes

A rough guide on how to draw slopes using SLC.

*Note: Not all of the characters displayed below fall within the "Symbols for Legacy Computing" or "Symbols for Legacy Computing Supplement" Unicode blocks.

*Several symbols are not included in the images below.

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How to Make a SLC Cube

An example of the many 3 dimensional objects that can be drawn using a combination of SLC and custom cell colors.

A standard SLC cube is six characters in width and four in height. The second lowest row(or second highest, if you're making an upside down cube) is consisted entirely of the default block "█," while all other layers are made from SLC slope characters. The row directly above(or below) it makes use of customized cell backgrounds to facilitate the intersection of three different colored planes.

SLC cubes have three faces, each with their own color. Most artists decorate their cubes with different shades of the same color in order to represent lighting.

You can obtain the necessary symbols by copying them from a pre-existing cube using Ctrl + A, and then changing the colors to your liking. There is also a handy SLC toolbox at the top of /slc_font.

SLC cubes can be stacked and combined to create 3D pixel art. The ability to change cell colors allows two colors to exist within any given cell, so use this feature whenever two different colored cubes touch at their diagonal edges.

Anatomy of a SLC cube

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How to Make a Unicode Cube

Anatomy of a unicode cube

The second type of OWOT cubes face the screen at a more direct angle. They actually contain no SLC characters whatsoever, but are still included here due to their resemblance to cubes that do use SLC.

They are created using the default block character "█" along with the triangular unicodes "◢ ◣ ◤ ◥." Critically, the triangles must have the "bold" text decoration, which can be accessed using Ctrl + Q.

Standard unicode cubes are smaller than SLC cubes at five characters wide and three characters tall, but like their SLC counterparts they have three colors for each of their faces.

It is important to note that both unicode and SLC cubes can be expanded to any size you want.

• SLC Cubes(Top) and Unicode Cubes(Bottom)
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More Complex SLC Art

By an unknown artist, possibly Meimei

(Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.) [these are placeholder text, just look at the pretty images] (Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo.) [these drawings are both made by hand] (Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?)

(Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.) [they utilize a variety of techniques: Octants and SLC slopes to create smooth shapes, text colors to create shading and gradients, custom cell colors to create the illusion of 3D objects, and probably a couple of others that i missed] (Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.) [to be honest i can't fully comprehend the process behind them, but it helps to look at the black and white versions of these drawings next to the colored versions] (Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.)

(Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo.) [the 3D owot logo was created by JRT, you can read more about him below or on his page] (Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem.) [the house was created by an unknown user, though Guest-1052 speculated that it could have been Meimei] (Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?)

• By JRT
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SLC Art Gallery

AndreiXYZ

AndreiXYZ has occasionally dabbled in SLC art throughout his long history on the site.

He is a big advocate of OWOT as a medium for art and favors the art-centric world /main over the frontpage.

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  Inspired by Meimei's Christmas 2022 art
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Scar32

Scar32 was one of the site's most controversial users, but also happened to be good at replicating logos using SLC.

He has also created image pasters that render graphics using SLC slopes.

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Lime.owot

Lime.owot

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Polonez

Polonez is a former troll who has recently decorated Lime.owot's radio with a variety of high quality SLC art.

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Place_holdrr

Place_holdrr is a proficient SLC artist who destroyed most of their reputation during the LaserLime incident. Since then they have been working on rebuilding trust within the community.

P_h specializes in making 2D art of guns and other weapons. They have also created a variety of infrastructure for lime.owot's radio, with lime being one of the only people who's still friends with them after all their controversies.

Place_holdrr's drawings are archived on his world.

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Fox

Fox learned how to use SLC on its own from creating various art using SLC, such as an earlier version of a Wheel Of Fortune puzzleboard (not shown here), refining an existing drawing of Mewo from Omori, or from its most commonly recognized drawing, a 3D Minecraft fox. The 3D fox was routinely (and even automatically at one point) maintained at the North of spawn for months on end before eventually losing motivation to continue restoring it.

They have also created a script for creating 3D block drawings.

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JRT

After becoming active in August of 2024, JRT quickly became the most skilled(and most prolific) SLC artist in all of OWOT.

His drawings can be found all over the site, garnering large amounts of praise whenever they are posted at Spawn or onto the OWOT Discord.

He owns several worlds dedicated to SLC art, such as /J.R.T.s_ULTIMATE_SLC_and_UNICODE_COLLECTION and https://ourworldoftext.com/ourworldofgeometry, which specifically archives 3D art.

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  Based off of art by Crazy cat lady
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  Speed of Light City in /main
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/J.R.T.s_ULTIMATE_SLC_and_UNICODE_COLLECTION

The Carrion

An abomination of SLC and unicodes.

Iterations of The Carrion have been a staple at spawn since November 2024, with the creature taking on a variety of grotesque forms over its many appearances.

It is unclear whether there is a single creator behind The Carrion, or if it's a shared idea between many different users.

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Yosicat

Yosicat picked up SLC art in ~July of 2025 and is improving rapidly. So far they have created multiple high quality patterns.

He is also an avid creator of ASCII art, and has cited text art as his inspiration for picking up traditional drawing.

Yosicat's custom SLC keyboard

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  Early experimentation with SLC
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  Carpet pattern from The Shining
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  Inspired by characters from Land of the Lustrous
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67x8

67x8 used many art styles for their art series "36 Days of Type," some of which utilized SLC.

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DominoGuy

DominoGuy is a spammer and SLC artist. They sign their works using "DG_"

• 3D Squaries
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  Delta and 5 Character Calculator
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  Europe2048
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  Calculator

❧

An anonymous artist that appeared in late 2025.

They occasionally sign their art with the fleuron "❧," but often leave their drawings unmarked, so it's unclear if all of the images below were from them.

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  October 8th, 2025
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  Based off of an Autechre album cover(October 11th, 2025)
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  October 13th, 2025
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  October 18th, 2025
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  "A complex fleuron with thistles"(October 22nd, 2025)

Miscellaneous

SLC art by anonymous artists, or artists that are only known for a few creations.

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  Possibly by Scar32
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  Possibly by Scar32
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  From /bigrigs(April 2022)
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  /main center console for December 25th, 2022
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  Christmas '22 art by Meimei, the inspiration for Andrei's Christmas '23 art
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  By Pippin for /OpticalIllusions
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  March 11th, 2025
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  April 22nd, 2025
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  July 4th, 2025
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  August 2025 in JRT's world
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  August 18th, 2025 in JRT's world
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  August 30th, 2025

By e_g. at /menger_sponge(August 19th, 2025)

By Wawa

SLC art trends

/slc_font

Main article: Custom Fonts

/slc_font is a world owned by a guest account, where users are encouraged to make custom fonts out of SLC characters. You are free to paste these fonts anywhere and use them to write whatever you want.

SLC logos

Tutorial for making logos using SLC

Main article: SLC logos

A trend from ~2022. Scar32 was the most prolific creator of SLC logos.

A road showcasing "OWOT sponsors" at X:110 Y:888

SLC art in TextWall

Main article: TextWall

Symbols for Legacy Computing were added to TextWall, another text canvas site, in September 2022. SLC art there has a noticeably different aesthetic due to a lack of customizable cell colors, and because the site renders many symbols in a way that creates visible gaps between characters.

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  Art by Delta
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  Art by DominoGuy
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  Art by DominoGuy

Trivia

• SLC is derived from Teletext 2.5.
  • A number of old Teletext creations have been replicated in OWOT, several of which have been used as custom Center Consoles for the art world /main.
  • You can find some of these internet artifacts at /teletext and /JOBFINDER.