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Author Topic: What Bitmap Font Generators do you use?  (Read 6170 times)

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Darky

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What Bitmap Font Generators do you use?
« on: June 28, 2010, 06:21:55 PM »

Hello everyone, I'd be interested in knowing what other WME Developers use to generate their Bitmap Fonts - if any of you use it at all that is. I'm desperately trying to get a fine bitmap font working but I'm not having much luck with the editors for those reasons:

- One generator from the documentation is dead
- The other one from the documentation has a bad alpha channel making it impossible to edit the export properly in a graphics program
- Many other editors don't have grid options for the 32x32 grid WME seems to require
- On some I really couldn't properly select any character sets, I actually just want the proper Latin range I need for WME to support Umlauts as well, and not just a few wrong letters without option to select more...
- They don't support TGA or PNG exports (a must have for me, I need to edit it and give it fine outlines)
- Some wouldn't support any smoothing like Anti-Alias at all

So, I've been through a great variety of Bitmap Font Generators now without much progress. Thats why I'd like to know what you guys use?? Maybe there is one fine generator after all that saves the hazzle of creating it COMPLETELY manually ...

Thank you so much
Darky
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odnorf

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Re: What Bitmap Font Generators do you use?
« Reply #1 on: June 28, 2010, 07:38:34 PM »

WME doesn't use a fixed 32x32pixels grid for bitmap fonts. Just edit the .font definition file and change TILE_WIDTH & TILE_HEIGHT.

The first result of a search revealed this bitmap font generator which seems to have required features. Note that I haven't tested it, just looked at the features list.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2010, 07:42:34 PM by odnorf »
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Darky

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Re: What Bitmap Font Generators do you use?
« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2010, 07:51:27 PM »

Okay then I was wrong about the grid size. But it has to be a proper grid nevertheless, or not?

I tried the one you found before, but what it gives me after selecting the charset Latin + Latin Supplement is a bitmap like that:



And that doesnt really work in WME, unless I do something wrong.
Perhaps I'm just doing some newbie errors with all those editors, but I really don't know what I do wrong then.
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odnorf

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Re: What Bitmap Font Generators do you use?
« Reply #3 on: June 28, 2010, 09:45:12 PM »

I don't know what you mean by "proper" but all bitmap fonts have to be in a grid (not just a square one).

I tried that bitmap editor I linked and I too didn't manage to make it work. The first editor that is listed in the wme docs is still available. Does this miss any of the features you want?
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Darky

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Re: What Bitmap Font Generators do you use?
« Reply #4 on: June 28, 2010, 10:13:07 PM »

I've tried bitmap font generators where they werent aligned in a grid as I understand a Grid's workings :) On some generators the characters were just stacked one after another in varying sizes. Like on that picture above from the first generator you mentioned.

Yes I've tried first editor from the WME Docs as well. In short: I couldn't work with that result of that generator either... In long: Unfortunately that's the one where the 32-bit TGA export is screwed. I'm not sure whats wrong with it but when you try yourself you'd find the alpha channel really broken. For example you've set blue text and black background, and put the TGA into WME, then in WME it's suddenly just gray text instead of blue. And if you try to open the TGA in Photoshop everything is just plain white. The Alpha channel seems to be still there to some degree but can't be properly edited (I tried to select what the alpha channel contains, filled it with color, and then tried to apply the "Stroke" Blending effect. But all it would do is fill the whole image with the "Stroke" Effects color instead of wrapping around the pixels I created from the alpha channels selection). Hard to explain, when in doubt you can try that one of course too.


If you can confirm that you got a good sense of my desperation to find a proper working generator :)
I'm still hoping some developer here uses a tool for his bitmap fonts as well and got a working recommendation.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2010, 10:15:58 PM by Darky »
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odnorf

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Re: What Bitmap Font Generators do you use?
« Reply #5 on: June 28, 2010, 10:39:10 PM »

Can't help you right now because I don't have time to search & test more editors atm (might do it tomorrow) but I have a suggestion. Use truetype fonts ;) That's the recommended method.
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Darky

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Re: What Bitmap Font Generators do you use?
« Reply #6 on: June 28, 2010, 10:54:30 PM »

Thanks :)

I am using TrueType at the moment. However, I don't really manage to work out smooth outlines by that method. That's why I had hoped Bitmap Fonts would be of advantage ...



The outlines by TTF aren't really "smooth" and it looks weird. Maybe I'm configuring it wrong?

My .font file: http://pastebin.com/WXTXCA8D
« Last Edit: June 28, 2010, 11:02:02 PM by Darky »
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odnorf

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Re: What Bitmap Font Generators do you use?
« Reply #7 on: June 28, 2010, 11:53:10 PM »

It seems to just miss some pixels because you move it 2 pixels (if you use the 1 pixel example of the documents it should look correct). I think you need to add more layers (like X = 0 & Y = -2 etc).
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Darky

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Re: What Bitmap Font Generators do you use?
« Reply #8 on: June 29, 2010, 02:53:37 AM »

I did it now like you said and added some more layers to try even it out. Well, what can I say - it really is better than before! It's not perfect, but compared to the effort the bitmaps seem to require it's only a slim compromise. It's not like I need fancy gradients in my fonts so I can live with it :)

If any other developer got a bitmap font generator he successfully uses, I'd still like to know about it though. Just for future reference for me and other users.

In that spirit my .font file with the modifications as suggested by odnorf: http://pastebin.com/SVQ0rgGp
« Last Edit: June 29, 2010, 03:40:41 AM by Darky »
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