Does anyone want to code text / fonts? (can do on PC)

I have a lib that can render on the wii the same way on PC. So i write code with the lib, debug on pc, test, etc. Compile on wii and everything magically works. Can i get someone to offer help writing a simple text lib for me? i was thinking 4 methods, i dont care which is done as long as it works :)
1) Render the entire ascii table and have per letter lookup when drawn
2) Render only letters that havent been use, have per letter lookup when draw and discard letters rarely used. I have ideas how to implement this
NOTE: both of these should have a width and height field to keep track of how much space is needed so it looks like nice string text instead of grid text as you get with 8x8 or 16x16 letters
3) Copy directly into a texture overwriting each time
4) 3 but with caching and texture management

i would like 1 to start with. It doesnt need to be great. chances are i may want to support the ability to do all 3 at the same time.

Look around at available applications and libraries and see if anything can do your asking for. If yes, start downloading sources and/or contacting developers. This sounds stupid, but there's alot out there already for font stuff.

Also, are you planning on using these fonts you want with libwiisprite or grrlib or another graphical library?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2009 03:16PM by Arikado.

mavakadachi:

I've implemented your suggestion with the FreeTypeGX wrapper class (http://wiibrew.org/wiki/FreeTypeGX). The library buffers the rendered glyph textures and copies the textures for each string when necessary. As of 0.2.3 it also supports TypeType kerning support as well as some other features.

I'm always looking for suggestions or help for further development if you're at all interested.

ArminTamzarian: great :). Your name look familiar are you on irc?
i want to ask you a quick few questions about FT gx, whats the best way to talk? i prefer IM for one chat and email for follow up

I was on IRC for a few weeks when I was first getting into programming for the Wii, but now that I'm finding my way around pretty well and able to decipher most of the cryptic libogc calls I've been kind of a lone wolf.

Chat for me is pretty unreliable, but feel free to e-mail me. If I can grab a decent timeframe before then I'll try and jump on IRC.