EDITOR PLUGIN: WFN-FontEditor

[Rulaman]

Hi,

here is the brand new WFN-FontEditor.

It comes in two versions:
1. A standalone version like Radiants FontEditor
2. As a plugin to AGS

Now it is available the Version 1.2.1.0

Download Version 1.2.0.0
Download Version 1.2.0.0 sources
Download Version 1.2.0.1
Download: Download Version 1.2.1.0

A bugfix release is out.

Additional features:

Since 1.2.0.1:
- save the selection field background color                                (p/s)
- save the state of the grid option                                             (p/s)
- save the render text                                                                (p/s)
- render the font in an example text                                          (p/s)
- change the color of the selection field with right click on it      (p/s)
- extend the font to 256 character                                             (p/s)
- show, if a font is 128 or 256 characters                                   (p/s)

Since 1.2.1.0:
- correct a mistake, that saves a corrupted file

Edit 2018-09-25
https://bitbucket.org/rulaman/wfn-fonteditor
Edit 2021-09-09
https://github.com/Rulaman/WFN-FontEditor


By the way, it was a nice practice to code.
Rulaman


PS: I updated this post to reflect the new changes

[Crimson Wizard]

Very nice.
Does it allow 256 characters? Alan v.Drake's Draconian Edition supports 256-chars WFN, also he added this support into development branch of AGS.
Will a source code be released? Simply being curious.

I'll be trying it out for certain.

E: It works in the new editor version with floating panels, but obviously not really fit for resizable window. I don't know if it will be easy to add size constraints to a floating panel. Currently font editor looks tad ugly on it.

[Rulaman]

At the moment only 128 charachters. I can add the rest. (Didn't know there are more chars to support.)
About the floating-problem: I have to download the newest version and check against ist. (tested it with 3.2.1)

The sourcecode will be released, after the first tests will be made. At the moment i have a mercurial repository on my hard disk. Maybe I uploaded it to bitbucket. (But beware. The revision-comments are all in German. The comment in the program are english, because I plan to release the source.)


Edit: Can you explain me, what is ugly?

[Crimson Wizard]

Edit: Can you explain me, what is ugly?

In the new editor the panes could be docked to any place and also made into floating windows, which means they could be resized.
This does not look good with panes that do not set any contraint on their size (like minimal window size) or do not re-arrange controls to better fit the resized client area.

Well, to illustrate what's going on:
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/2222/0r9r.png

That's a problem of editor rather than your plugin; some other panes behave the same. Or maybe it is not a problem at all, because people may minimize those windows on purpose.
So, on second thought, do not mind this.


Regarding testing, I found two serious problems:
1. When I open font editor in either stand-alone or plugin form, and the font list is empty, interacting with almost any control results in "NullReferenceException".
2. When in the AGS, I can't figure out how to populate font list, or load any font, at all. Therefore, I can't select a font to edit. .

[SpeechCenter]

First, I think it's a good idea to have this and it does the basic functionality it is supposed to do.
The plugin does need work

• The font list should be in the tree view, probably similar to AGS font viewer
• Consequently, each font should have its own editing window
• If a font changed, it should indicate that with an asterisk at the title
• It's better to be consistent and save when the user saves the project, even scripts which are separate files act this way and don't have a save button

As CW wrote, there are other more general improvements that should be done aside from some bugs like the exception thing.
Zoom in and out would be also helpful since the text is extremely small on any reasonable resolution, I think the size displayed now is not that useful, should be similar to AGS own font view.
I would also consider here usability features like copy-paste, undo, create new font, duplicate font and view original compared to the one being edited.

Other minor details, it's not trivial to know that left click draws and right click erases, so at least some text should say this. Also, could be useful to change the mouse cursor to pencil when the cursor is over the edit region. In addition, try to see if placing the editable region on the right would be more aesthetic, at the very least I would place it and the size editing in a group box. You'll need to play around with it, unfortunately, these things take time and trial and error.

[Rulaman]

Hi,

I have modified my plugin. Now with tabs and better integration in AGS.

WFN-FontEditor V1.0.7.0

Features:

- Character overview has zoomfactor 2 (fixed); editable char has now zoomfactor 15 (1 to 40)
- show tabs in stand alone mode when click on the font in the loaded selection
- load font in plugin only when selected
- stand-alone version shows asterisk, when font is modified (plugin-variant how to do)
- Right click option in Menu Fonts added (only for wfn-fonts)
- undo/redo actions per character (right click on character; not on the edit field)
- supports 256-character wfn-fonts (font not yet available, since not all chars are designed)

What's left:

- fill character with white or black
- move character position (one or all)
- copy and paste
- (request a feature)

Edit: Images removed

[Rulaman]

A new version of the WFN-FontEditor is in BETA state.

additional features to 1.0.7.0:
- character move up, down, left, right
- clear or fill the entire character
- copy and paste of characters (over clipboard; so you can invert your char in another picture editing program)
- Show Grid-option for better editing
- swap the colors (left-black, right-white or vice versa)
- swap the character (horizontally or vertically)
- invert the character

If you wanna test, please let me know.

Edit: Image deleted

[Meystari F]

It would be so cool if this has icelandic fonts too. I can then finally make icelandic AGS games in future.

That's why I want to try this out.

[Meystari F]

Is it possible to convert wfn fonts into sci fonts? How can I use wfn fonts into my game? It can only use sci fonts.

[Rulaman]

I had a quick look over an sci-font and the spec. I think it is possible. But there are several tool for editing sci-fonts like SCI Studio.

[Rulaman]

Now it is available the Version 1.1.0.0

Download Version 1.0.9.0
Download Version 1.1.0.0

additional features to 1.0.7.0:
- character move up, down, left, right
- clear or fill the entire character
- copy and paste of characters (over clipboard; so you can invert your char in another picture editing program)
- Show Grid-option for better editing
- swap the colors (left-black, right-white or vice versa)
- swap the character (horizontally or vertically)
- invert the character

[Giocherellone]

Hi Rulaman!

May you re-upload the Version 1.1.0.0, please?

The download does not work...

Ciao

[Rulaman]

Link in the posts corrected.

[Rulaman]

So, it comes to an end.
I have the version 1.2.0.0 at the start and I will include a readme.
Please tell me, if it is ok so and correct my spelling mistakes. (Will you?)

----------------------------------------------

Manual
======


1. Explaination
---------------
This is an editor for wfn fonts, as well ad for sci fonts.
The functions depends on the usage as a plugin for AGS (AdventureGameStudio)
or as a stand alone version.


2. Terms and Definitions
------------------------
p = plugin
s = stand alone


3. Features
-----------
- Edit wfn fonts                                                                (p/s)
- Edit sci fonts                                                                (  s)
- The fonts can outlined [Button 'Outline']                                     (p/s)
- Convert between sci and wfn fonts [Button 'Convert selected']                 (  s)
  the field text height is only for sci fonts interesting.
  It set the space between two text lines and not
  the textheight itself
- Shift the characters to up, down, left, right [Buttons 'U', 'L', 'D', 'R']    (p/s)
- Invert an character [Button 'Invert']                                         (p/s)
- Clear an character (with black) [Button 'Clear']                              (p/s)
- Fill an character (with white) [Button 'Fill']                                (p/s)
- Swap an character horizontally or vertically [Buttons 'Swap H', 'Swap V']     (p/s)
- Outline the complete font [Button 'Outline Font']                             (p/s)
- Show a grid for better font designing                                         (p/s)
- Multiple Redo/Undo [Right click on the character selection field]             (p/s)
- Copy to and paste from the clipboard                                          (p/s)
  [Right click on the character selection field]
- Zoomable edit field (2â€"40)                                                    (p/s)
- Swap the left color and the right color (click on the connected arrows)       (p/s)

4. Start
--------
Start the program, or copy the plugin to your AGS path and start AGS.

4.1 Stand alone
---------------
After you have started the program stand alone, you have to click open and select a path.
In the list on the left side, it shows you all the fonts, you can edit
(wfn and sci [version 1.2.0.0 and higher]).

4.2 Plugin
----------
Start AGS and load a game. On the pane you found an entry named 'FontEditor'. Open it and
it will show all editable fonts. Under 'Fonts' you found all fonts, used by your game.
It is possible, that you find more than just the ones under 'FontEditor', because AGS is able
to handle ttf fonts as well, but not this editor.
Double click on an entry under 'FontEditor' to edit the selected wfn font, or right click under 'Fonts'
and select 'Edit font (with WFN-FontEditor)'.

5. Workflow (usage)
-------------------
After you have selected a font, you have to click on an character on the left side (selection field) to show it
zoomed. You can select the check box 'Show grid' for a better editing feeling. Now yo can click in the (zoomed)
field to edit the selected character. It updates the character in the left selection field. By dragging your mouse
while holding the mouse button down, you can edit more pixel in a row.

6. Tips
-------
If you want to make a font and a outline font too, it yould be good you have a border around your characters. That
means, one pixel on every side of the character is black. After you designed your font (or converted it from ttf
by using the TtfToWfnSci converter), save it and make a copy (with a file manager). Name the copy correct (file convention)
with a number higher and reopen the WFN-FontEditor. Than select the correct font and click 'Outline Font'.
Check the characters an you will be done.


Greetings
Rulaman

[Crimson Wizard]

Explaination => Explanation

[Rulaman]

So it's out, the new version

Download Version 1.2.0.0
Download Version 1.2.0.0 sources

I will no more work on this software, unless a feature is requested for good reason.

Greetings
Rulaman

[Meystari F]

You did a great work. Thanks to you I can do icelandic games with AGS.

[Adeel]

Great Job, Rulaman! Finally, the latest font editing program. Radiant's program has gotten 9 years old !

I can't download it . No matter how many times, I click the download button. Counter increases, new page is loaded saying "Not Allowed" and then it redirects to the link you provided .

I'll be sure to give it a try to create a new font for my game, once you sort out the link's problem. Needless to say, you'll credit too.

I took the time to proofread your manual. I may not not be the best proofread although I've picked and corrected some mistakes. I've highlighted them so that you may compare my version to yours and notice what I did.

----------------------------------------------

Manual
======


1. Explanation (fixed by CW)
---------------
This is an editor for wfn fonts, as well as for sci fonts.
The functions depends on the usage as a plugin for AGS (AdventureGameStudio)
or as a stand alone version.


2. Terms and Definitions
------------------------
p = Plugin
s = Stand Alone


3. Features
-----------
- Edit wfn fonts                                                                (p/s)
- Edit sci fonts                                                                (  s)
- The fonts can be outlined [Button 'Outline']                                     (p/s)
- Convert between sci and wfn fonts [Button 'Convert selected']                 (  s)
  the field text height is only for sci fonts interesting.
  It set the space between two text lines and not
  the textheight itself
- Shift the characters to up, down, left, right [Buttons 'U', 'L', 'D', 'R']    (p/s)
- Invert a character [Button 'Invert']                                         (p/s)
- Clear a character (with black) [Button 'Clear']                              (p/s)
- Fill a character (with white) [Button 'Fill']                                (p/s)
- Swap a character horizontally or vertically [Buttons 'Swap H', 'Swap V']     (p/s)
- Outline the complete font [Button 'Outline Font']                             (p/s)
- Show a grid for better font designing                                         (p/s)
- Multiple Redo/Undo [Right click on the character selection field]             (p/s)
- Copy to and Paste from the clipboard                                          (p/s)
  [Right click on the character selection field]
- Zoomable edit field (2â€"40)                                                    (p/s)
- Swap the left color and the right color (click on the connected arrows)       (p/s)

4. Start
--------
Start the program, or copy the plugin to your AGS path and start AGS.

4.1 Stand alone
---------------
After you have started the program stand alone, you have to click open and select a path.
In the list on the left side, it shows you all the fonts, you can edit
(wfn and sci [version 1.2.0.0 and higher]).

4.2 Plugin
----------
Start AGS and load a game. On the pane you found an entry named 'FontEditor'. Open it and
it will show all editable fonts. Under 'Fonts' you found all fonts, used by your game.
It is possible, that you find more than just the ones under 'FontEditor', because AGS is able
to handle .ttf fonts as well, but not this editor.
Double click on an entry under 'FontEditor' to edit the selected .wfn font, or right click under 'Fonts'
and select 'Edit font (with WFN-FontEditor)'.

5. Workflow (usage)
-------------------
After you have selected a font, you have to click on an character on the left side (selection field) to show it
zoomed. You can select the check box 'Show grid' for a better editing feel. Now you can click in the (zoomed)
field to edit the selected character. It updates the character in the left selection field. By dragging your mouse,
while holding the mouse button down, you can edit more pixels in a row.

6. Tips
-------
If you want to make a font as well as an outline font too, it would be better if you have a border around your characters. That
means, one pixel on every side of the character is black. After you've designed your font (or converted it from ttf
by using the TtfToWfnSci converter), save it and make a copy (with a file manager). Name the copy correct (file convention)
with a number higher and reopen the WFN-FontEditor. Than select the correct font and click 'Outline Font'.
Check the characters and you will be done.


Greetings
Rulaman

[Rulaman]

Curious!
Did you block any Scripts?
It works for me.

Thanks for the corrections.

[Adeel]

Curious!
Did you block any Scripts?
It works for me. [...]

Sorry for the late reply. I had missed it.

No, I didn't block any script. No matter how many times I download it, I'm always redirected to the link you sent to me (without any file) but the counter increases!

[...] Thanks for the corrections.

You're welcome.

EDIT:
Whilst typing, I tried to download the files again. This time I enable Send Referrer Information. To my surprise, the download worked ! I'm curious why this website requires referrer information even though other websites work perfectly fine with it being disabled. :

Thanks for the program once again.