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AppGameKit Classic Chat / Bit Map Font Creator - improving Text resolution

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LittlePIC
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Posted: 11th Aug 2014 02:55 Edited at: 11th Aug 2014 02:58
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Appologies if this is an obvious question but dont have anyway to secure the answer at present.

Using Hubbles Bitmap Font Creator to create some text however when resizing in code the letters are still 'grainy'.

My question is if I creating the Altas images/Sub image.txt file from a laptop with 1280x800 resolution. Will this matter? Does anyone know if running the .exe on a higher resolution screen improve the images created? Even sizing to the maximum 72 from the program still shows pixelated.

On/Off topic, I've found this to be the best Font Creator program for AppGameKit if anyone else is on the hunt


Best Regards


LittlePIC
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Ancient Lady
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Posted: 11th Aug 2014 05:20
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The size of the characters in your font file has a definite affect on how they appear.

If the resolution of each character is 12x20 and you size it up to be 24x40 in code, it will be grainy because it is making the visible image larger than the source image.

This applies to all images, not just fonts.

The resolution on your PC affects all images (not just AppGameKit stuff) the same way. If you try to show something in a higher resolution than the source, it may not be smooth. It depends on the stuff displaying things.

Cheers,
Ancient Lady
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LittlePIC
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Posted: 11th Aug 2014 08:31
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Thanks Ancient Lady. Understand what you mean.

It might be a question I'll send Hubble directly. He will be able to answer by letting me know if he 'screen captures' to make the .png or another method
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Matty H
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Posted: 11th Aug 2014 11:30
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I find that if the resolution is too high and the image is scaled down too much it can also effect the quality of the image. I try to get the image size as close as possible to the size it will be displayed on screen.

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JimHawkins
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Posted: 11th Aug 2014 12:53
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The only real solution to this is to use vector fonts rather than bitmap fonts. That's what the Castle Game Engine does.

-- Jim - When is there going to be a release?
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Naphier
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Posted: 11th Aug 2014 18:53
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TTF or vector fonts would be ideal. I asked AppGameKit for TTF support many times, but doesn't appear that it will happen
We also had issues with fonts, try tinkering with the mag and min filters, also generate mipmaps helps.

Napland Games - Shape Time - Wordspionage - dFenz Facebook
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Marl
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Posted: 12th Aug 2014 03:32
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I tend to create bitmap fonts at a much higher resolution and then downscale them using an art app (I use Irfanview).

I find that the anti-aliasing introduced by the downscale helps to hide the "bittyness" of the fonts.
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LittlePIC
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Posted: 14th Aug 2014 03:25
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Many thanks for everyone's response.

Seems the solution was simple but my brain overlooked!

There is a check box (seems by default) under the Effects tab called 'Use ClearType?' Unchecking smooths the pixels surrounding the characters. Selecting the drop down box above called 'Drawmode:' doesn't seem to have any real noticeable effects.

Thanks again to everyone
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