Click to go to the FontPack Project Page on Sourceforge.

NEWS:

Wed, 1/24/2007 - Update
Playing around with pygame, I realized I needed a way to display text in GL without using wglIckyness. So there is now a basic but functional python wrapper for gamefont included in fontpack.
It's in CVS now. Email me if you want a prebuilt module.

Sat, 11/01/2003 - 0.5 Release (Linux)

Finally put the code in CVS on sourceforge, and put together a automake/autoconf script. I really need better examples for this thing. Not much changes in the code itself, but there are several important bugfixes, so if you are using this, make sure to get this version.

Anyways, to commemorate this milestone, here is a screenshot of fontpack in use on a RPG that me and a friend of mine are writing. Although maybe it's not the best example, it's kind of a funky-looking, hard to read font. I also used it on my recent game The Halloween Machine. That game includes source code, so if you're looking for a real example of using fontpack in an openGL game, check it out.

I also decided to switch to the BSD license, so fontpack can be used in any kind of commercial or non-commercial project, pretty much without restriction. The BSD license is one of the most open ones out there.

Thu, 09/29/2003 - 0.3 Release
This release contains an updated "gamefontgl" library. It's still pretty minimal, but it's definately useful now. So now there is an easy way to use fonts from fontpack in your OpenGL game! The example has been updated and there is even a tutorial if you want to get started.

Thu, 08/21/2003 - 0.2 Release
This is the first release using sourceforge. Yay sourceforge! This release fixes most of the problems with the initial release, it's pretty usable now. You can see fontpack in action in my opengl game Hannibal's Cannibals, the game is not completed but it does use fontpack and the results looks nice. The glgamefont library is still in a pretty basic shape, though.

Wed, 04/02/2003 - Initial Release
FontPack is not quite ready to release, there are still some annoying bugs (hence the BUG ALERTs scattered through the tutorial. However, I wanted to release it sooner rather than later, because, 1) release early, release often, and 2) I want to use it for the ludumdare 48 hour game contest this weekend.

It is at the point where it is usable, right now, but don't expect a polished application at this point. Also, right now there is no linux build although that's just a matter of setting up the makefiles.

I'll try to have a release next week^H^H^H^Hyear, after the contest, with a more complete gamefontgl library and the really annoying bugs fixed. And a linux build.

What is Fontpack?

FontPack is a utility to generate texture maps from truetype fonts. It was written by Joel Davis


It uses the Freetype project for font rendering.
It also uses the Fox Toolkit for the gui.
The default font was created by Deiter Shumacher.
The Icons are from the Ximian gnome-icons.

FontPack consists of two parts:

The FontPack GUI
This is a small application that generates texture maps and textual "font info" files from truetype font files. It features several layout algorithms, and can render text antialiased into a border for a clean appearance readable against a cluttered background.

The GL GameFont Library
This will be a very comprehensive library for drawing and formatting text in OpenGL using the texture and fontinfo files generated from FontPack. Currently, it is an very limited state, and can do little more than just draw text strings.
Fontpack and GamefontGL are licensed under a BSD-style license. Thus, FontPack may be used for free in commercial or non-commercial programs. Any changes to the code don't have be made available, but I would appreciate any improvements people submit.

Be aware that fonts themselves are often covered under a variety of licenses, and many are shareware. Make sure that you have permission to use a particular font in your project, just rasterizing with FontPack doesn't get around this.

Obtaining FontPack

Fontpack is hosted on sourceforge.net.

Fontpack/gamefont is not released often. The current releases are a little stale.
Retrieve the most up-to-date fontpack/gamefont via CVS

If you just need the prebuilt exe, the released version is fine.
Project Download area on sourceforge.

Using FontPack

The tutorial provides a tour of FontPack and a good overview of its features.

Using gamefontgl

The gamefontgl tutorial is a simple example of using fonts created with fontpack in opengl.
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FontPack was written by Joel Davis, joeld42@yahoo.com. Feel free to let me know if you have any comments or suggestions.