DoKtor-K-GBLCW / TExtender

Empower Vice City / reVC Text Engine 🔥🔥

TExtender

Say Hello To TExtender

Your New Powerful Friend, When It Comes to Text Rendering

Question 1. Tired of Managing Everything for a Single Text Render?

CFont::SetAlphaFade(fAlpha);
CFont::SetCentreOff();
CFont::SetPropOn();

if (CGame::germanGame)
    CFont::SetScale(SCREEN_SCALE_X(0.52f * 0.85f), SCREEN_SCALE_Y(1.1f * 0.85f));
#ifdef MORE_LANGUAGES
else if (CFont::IsJapanese())
    CFont::SetScale(SCREEN_SCALE_X(0.52f) * 1.35f, SCREEN_SCALE_Y(1.1f) * 1.25f);
#endif
else
    CFont::SetScale(SCREEN_SCALE_X(0.52f), SCREEN_SCALE_Y(1.1f));

CFont::DrawFonts();
CFont::SetColor(CRGBA(175, 175, 175, 255));
CFont::SetJustifyOff();
#ifdef MORE_LANGUAGES
if (CFont::IsJapanese())
    CFont::SetWrapx(SCREEN_SCALE_X(229.0f + 34.0f - 4.0f));
else
#endif
    CFont::SetWrapx(SCREEN_SCALE_X(200.0f + 34.0f - 4.0f));
CFont::SetFontStyle(FONT_LOCALE(FONT_STANDARD));
CFont::SetBackgroundOn();
CFont::SetBackGroundOnlyTextOff();
CFont::SetDropShadowPosition(0);
CFont::SetBackgroundColor(CRGBA(0, 0, 0, fAlpha * 0.9f));
CFont::SetColor(CRGBA(175, 175, 175, 255));
CFont::PrintString(SCREEN_SCALE_X(34.0f), SCREEN_SCALE_Y(28.0f + (150.0f - PagerXOffset) * 0.6f), m_HelpMessageToPrint);

And Resetting EveryThing After You've Printed?

CFont::SetAlphaFade(255.0f);
CFont::SetWrapx(SCREEN_WIDTH);

And Check Everything Before A New Render?

CFont::SetCentreOff();
CFont::SetRightJustifyOff();
CFont::SetBackGroundOnlyTextOff();
CFont::SetDropShadowPosition(0);

What If We Could Have A Single Instance That Automatically Invalidates After Use

Something Like:

TExtender

{
TExtender::TextPrinter tPrinter;
tPrinter
    .Proportional(true)
    .Scale(isPersian ? CVector2D(SCREEN_SCALE_X(0.72f), SCREEN_SCALE_Y(1.4f)) : CVector2D(SCREEN_SCALE_X(0.52f), SCREEN_SCALE_Y(1.1f)))
    .FontStyle(notIsEnglish ? 7 : 0)
    .Color(CRGBA(175, 175, 175, 255))
    .Alpha(fAlpha)
    .Background(true, CRGBA(64, 0, 128, fAlpha * 0.9f));

if (notIsEnglish)
    tPrinter
        .RightJustify(true, SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_RIGHT(200.0f + 34.0f - 4.0f));
else
    tPrinter
        .JustifyWrap(true, SCREEN_SCALE_X(200.0f + 34.0f - 4.0f));

tPrinter.Print(notIsEnglish ? SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_RIGHT(34.0f) : SCREEN_SCALE_X(34.0f), SCREEN_SCALE_Y(28.0f + (150.0f - PagerXOffset) * 0.6f), m_HelpMessageToPrint, notIsEnglish); // last param is optional isRTL
}

Every Setting You Made Is Valid Until }

And If We Want To Duplicate:

TextPrinter newPrinter;
newPrinter.CopyFrom(tPrinter); // call before tPrinter invalidates

Or:

auto newPrinter = TExtender::TextPrinter(tPrinter);

Or:

Create Re-Usable Templates:

// Define
TextPrinter tPrinter;
tPrinter
    .AlphaFade(fAlpha)
    .Proportional(true)
    .Scale(CVector2D(SCREEN_SCALE_X(0.72f), SCREEN_SCALE_Y(1.4f)))
    .FontStyle(8)
    .Background(true, CRGBA(64, 0, 128, fAlpha * 0.9f))
    .BackGroundOnlyText(false)
    .DropShadowPosition(0)
    .TextColor(CRGBA(175, 175, 175, 255));

if (isPersian) {
    tPrinter
        .RightJustify(true)
        .Alignment(ALIGN_RIGHT)
        .RightJustifyWrap(SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_RIGHT(200.0f + 34.0f - 4.0f));
}
else
    tPrinter.WrapX(SCREEN_SCALE_X(200.0f + 34.0f - 4.0f));

tPrinter.SaveAs("MSG_BOX");

// Use SomeWhere Else
TextPrinter newPrinter;
if (TextPrinter::HasStructure("MSG_BOX")) {
    newPrinter
        .Use("MSG_BOX")
        .Color(CRGBA(255, 0, 0, 255)); // New Color Won't Be Saved On "MSG_BOX" Template

    newPrinter
        .SaveAs("MSG_BOX"); // Now It's Saved
}

Well, As You Guessed We Have It!

Question 2. Tired of Creating Font Textures for every Single New Font? What If You Changed your Mind or Want A New One?

What If We Could Use Any .TTF Font In The World, Without Converting To GTA Format?!

Well, As You Guessed We Have It!

Question 3. Tired of  Searching for “Best GXT Editor” That Supports Every World Language Without Problem?

What If We Could Use "Any", And By “Any” I Mean “Any” Text Editor In The World to Edit Game Texts?

Well, As You Guessed We Have It!

I Had These Problems too, So I Decided To Make

A Revolution In Text Rendering

I Named That:

TExtender

A Combined Abbreviation Of: Text Extender + Text Render 😁

For Understand What TExtender Do, We Should Understand What GTA Does for Showing Texts To Display

It Consists Of 3 Levels:

1. Loading Fonts
2. Loading Texts
3. Rendering Texts In Each Frame

TExtender uses Power of Plugin-SDK To Empower And Enrich reVC Text Engine, By Improving All of These 3 Levels

Actually To Make That Unlimited & Enjoyable

1. Any TTF Font Can Load Into The Game (DK22Pac's)
2. Any Text File With UTF-8 Encoding (Means WorldWide Support) Can Load Into The Game (_AG's)
3. The Whole CFont API Redesigned, Targeting To Be Enjoyable (DoKtor K.'s)

Amusing Fact:

Formerly I Was a Full-Stack Web Developer, And Influenced By The Lovely Syntax Of: jQuery & Laravel

So This API Is Plainly Inspired By Those API :)

So Now I Can Copy This Text From Laravel Website 😎

TExtender values beauty. We love clean code just as much as you do. Simple, elegant syntax puts amazing functionality at your fingertips. Every feature has been thoughtfully considered to provide a wonderful developer experience.

Compare This Codes For Better Understanding

// check and reset every time
CFont::SetJustifyOff();
CFont::SetPropOn();
CFont::SetBackgroundOff();

if (FrontEndMenuManager.m_PrefsLanguage == CMenuManager::LANGUAGE_SPANISH)
    CFont::SetScale(SCREEN_SCALE_X(1.7f * 0.8f), SCREEN_SCALE_Y(1.8f));
else
    CFont::SetScale(SCREEN_SCALE_X(1.7f), SCREEN_SCALE_Y(1.8f));

CFont::SetSlantRefPoint(SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_RIGHT(32.0f), SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_BOTTOM(128.0f));
CFont::SetSlant(0.15f);

CFont::SetRightJustifyOn();
CFont::SetRightJustifyWrap(0.0f);
CFont::SetBackGroundOnlyTextOff();
CFont::SetDropShadowPosition(2);
CFont::SetDropColor(CRGBA(0, 0, 0, fZoneAlpha));
CFont::SetFontStyle(FONT_BANK);
CFont::SetColor(CRGBA(ZONE_COLOR.r, ZONE_COLOR.g, ZONE_COLOR.b, fZoneAlpha));

if (!CTheScripts::bPlayerIsInTheStatium)
    CFont::PrintStringFromBottom(SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_RIGHT(32.0f), SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_BOTTOM(128.0f), m_ZoneToPrint);


// reset everything you changed, including alignment ...
CFont::SetSlant(0.f);

With TExtender

TextPrinter tPrinter;
if (!CTheScripts::bPlayerIsInTheStatium)
    tPrinter
        .Proportional(true)
        .Scale((FrontEndMenuManager.m_PrefsLanguage == CMenuManager::LANGUAGE_SPANISH) ? CVector2D(SCREEN_SCALE_X(1.7f * 0.8f), SCREEN_SCALE_Y(1.8f)) : CVector2D(SCREEN_SCALE_X(1.7f), SCREEN_SCALE_Y(1.8f)))
        .SlantRefPoint(SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_RIGHT(32.0f), SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_BOTTOM(128.0f))
        .Slant(0.15f)
        .RightJustify(true, 0.0f)
        .DropShadowPosition(2)
        .DropColor(CRGBA(0, 0, 0, fZoneAlpha))
        .FontStyle(FONT_BANK)
        .TextColor(CRGBA(ZONE_COLOR.r, ZONE_COLOR.g, ZONE_COLOR.b, fZoneAlpha))
        .PrintFromBottom(SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_RIGHT(32.0f), SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_BOTTOM(128.0f), m_ZoneToPrint);

As You See It's Chainable, Until You Need To Know A Value

Then It Returns That Value:

bool bIsPropOn = tPrinter.Proportional();
bool bIsRightJustify = tPrinter.RightJustify();
float fRightJustifyWrap = tPrinter.RightJustifyWrap();
...

Plus It Suppports Shadow & Outline (Edge in SA) Together

tPrinter
    .ShadowWidth(0.5f)
    .OutlineWidth(1.0f)

Want A Special Color For Each Of Them? (besides of DropColor)

tPrinter
    .ShadowColor(CRGBA(0, 255, 0, 255))
    .OutlineColor(Colors::Orange)

Yes It Supports Colors From Plugin-SDK 

Expect An Easier Way? Right

tPrinter
    .Shadow(0.5f, CRGBA(0, 255, 0, 255))
    .Outline(1.0f, Colors::Orange)

Speaking Of Colors, Any Old Color Tag is Supported In Values, Plus Custom RGB Tags

[GameLogic::WatedText]
Hello ~R~Red ~W~White ~p~Purple ~l~Black ... But Also ~FF0000~ Yes, It's A Good Red ~FFC90E~:D

[GameLogic::BustedText]
Something Missing? Like ~0000FFFF~Alpha? What About ~0000FF0FF~Force Alpha? ~R~put a 0 Before Alpha

# Want To Keep Color And Only Change Alpha?
# There Are Two Ways: Combined & Forced
[GA_23]
Not ~a255~Enough ~A255~Money
# Note: You Have To Zero-Pad This Value To Use This Feature, So 99 Must Be 099, 9 Must Be 009

Want To Convert Your Colors To Hex? Try The Fastest Way:

• Press F12 In Your Browser
• Go To Console
• Write This And Press Enter, Wasn't Hard No? :P

(255).toString(16)

Note! Only TE Renderer Can Understand And Use New Color Tags, So You Must Use TPrinter or CFontNew::PrintString Otherwise You Will See Color Values In Your Message

Want To Set Text Color Globallay?

tPrinter
    .TextColor(Colors::Crimson) // same as CFont::SetColor()
    .Alpha(255) // same as CFont::SetAlphaFade()

// Note: If You Use Color Tags, Color Of That Part will be Overwritten
// If You Use Forced Alpha eg: ~A255~ Or ~0000FF0FF~, Alpha Of That Part will be Overwritten

Orientation

In GTA If We Have Setted SetJustifyOn() Then We Should SetWrapx()

 If We Have Setted SetRightJustifyOn() Then We Should SetRightJustifyWrap()

And  If We Have Setted SetCentreOn() Then We Should SetCentreSize()

As You May Noticed There Is:  

tPrinter.RightJustify(true, 0.0f)

But Also We Can:

tPrinter.Justify(true);
// OR
tPrinter.RightJustify(true);
// OR
tPrinter.Centred(true);
// Then
tPrinter.HorizantalWrap(0.5f); // works for any of them that is active now

So Instead Of

switch (alignment) {
    case AlignCenter:
        CFont::SetRightJustifyOff();
        CFont::SetJustifyOff();
        CFont::SetCentreOn();
        CFont::SetCentreSize(SCREEN_SCALE_X(lineSize));
        break;
    case AlignLeft:
        CFont::SetCentreOff();
        CFont::SetRightJustifyOff();
        CFont::SetJustifyOn();
        CFont::SetWrapx(SCREEN_SCALE_X(lineSize));
        break;
    case AlignRight:
        CFont::SetCentreOff();
        CFont::SetJustifyOff();
        CFont::SetRightJustifyOn();
        CFont::SetRightJustifyWrap(SCREEN_SCALE_X(lineSize));
        break;
}

You Can:

tPrinter
    .Orientation(alignment) // same as SA CFont::SetOrientation()
    .HorizantalWrap(SCREEN_SCALE_X(lineSize));
if(alignment == AlignLeft)
    tPrinter.SetJustifyOn(); // Yes, Old Setters Are Supported

// plus there is:
short tPrinter.Orientation(); // get
float tPrinter.HorizantalWrap(); // get
// and
tPrinter.ClearOrientation();
/*
instead of
SetCentreOff();
SetRightJustifyOff();
*/

You Want To Use Old Sytax And Just Use New Benefits Like NewFontLoader & NewTextLoader ??

Really?!! But Why ?!

However It's Possible:

It's Old Boring Code That R* Did In 2002:

CFont::SetJustifyOff();
CFont::SetPropOn();
CFont::SetBackgroundOff();

if (FrontEndMenuManager.m_PrefsLanguage != CMenuManager::LANGUAGE_ITALIAN && FrontEndMenuManager.m_PrefsLanguage != CMenuManager::LANGUAGE_SPANISH)
    CFont::SetScale(SCREEN_SCALE_X(1.7f), SCREEN_SCALE_Y(1.8f));
else
    CFont::SetScale(SCREEN_SCALE_X(1.7f * 0.85f), SCREEN_SCALE_Y(1.8f));

CFont::SetSlantRefPoint(SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_RIGHT(32.0f), SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_BOTTOM(105.0f));
CFont::SetSlant(0.15f);

CFont::SetRightJustifyOn();
CFont::SetRightJustifyWrap(0.0f);
CFont::SetBackGroundOnlyTextOff();
CFont::SetFontStyle(FONT_BANK);
CFont::SetDropShadowPosition(2);
CFont::SetColor(CRGBA(VEHICLE_COLOR.r, VEHICLE_COLOR.g, VEHICLE_COLOR.b, fVehicleAlpha));
CFont::SetDropColor(CRGBA(0, 0, 0, fVehicleAlpha));

CFont::PrintStringFromBottom(SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_RIGHT(32.0f), SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_BOTTOM(105.0f), m_pVehicleNameToPrint);

CFont::SetSlant(0.f);

And It's Also Old Code, But With TE Renderer

CFont::SetJustifyOff();
CFont::SetPropOn();
CFont::SetBackgroundOff();

if (FrontEndMenuManager.m_PrefsLanguage != CMenuManager::LANGUAGE_ITALIAN && FrontEndMenuManager.m_PrefsLanguage != CMenuManager::LANGUAGE_SPANISH)
    CFont::SetScale(SCREEN_SCALE_X(1.7f), SCREEN_SCALE_Y(1.8f));
else
    CFont::SetScale(SCREEN_SCALE_X(1.7f * 0.85f), SCREEN_SCALE_Y(1.8f));

CFont::SetSlantRefPoint(SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_RIGHT(32.0f), SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_BOTTOM(105.0f));
CFont::SetSlant(0.15f);

CFont::SetRightJustifyOn();
CFont::SetRightJustifyWrap(0.0f);
CFont::SetBackGroundOnlyTextOff();
CFontNew::SetFontStyle(FONT_BANK);
CFont::SetDropShadowPosition(2);
CFont::SetColor(CRGBA(VEHICLE_COLOR.r, VEHICLE_COLOR.g, VEHICLE_COLOR.b, fVehicleAlpha));
CFont::SetDropColor(CRGBA(0, 0, 0, fVehicleAlpha));

CFontNew::PrintStringFromBottom(SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_RIGHT(32.0f), SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_BOTTOM(105.0f), m_pVehicleNameToPrint);

CFont::SetSlant(0.f);

As You See There Is Need Only For Two Lines:

CFontNew::SetFontStyle(FONT_BANK);
CFontNew::PrintStringFromBottom(SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_RIGHT(32.0f), SCREEN_SCALE_FROM_BOTTOM(105.0f), m_pVehicleNameToPrint);

What?!

It Changes CFont Class ??

No, It Just Extends CFont Class

// So Calling
CFont::SetRightJustifyOn();
// Or
CFontNew::SetRightJustifyOn();
// Basically Doesnt Have Any Difference

How To Add New Fonts?

Open directFont.ini

Clean File And Add Your Font Details in That

Notes:

1. I've Said Unlimited, But Actually It Can Have Up to 255 Fonts, Enough For You? 😁
2. Font Index In C++ Starts From 0, So [FONT1] Needs CFontNew::SetFontStyle(0); and Upwards…
3. Make Sure FontName= Matches The Real Font Name, Otherwise It Won't Work. To Know FontName, Simply DoubleClick to Open ttf :)

How To Add New Texts?

Go To text folder

Create A New .xfxt file

The Example Text Will Help You How To Do That

Cons:

• It Limits You To Use D3D9 Version
• It Limits You To Windows Version

FAQ:

Port to re3?

Must Not Be Hard, Cause re3 Also Uses wchar*

ASI Version?

I Believe This Is Possible, But I Dont Have Any Time Or Motivation For That, However You Can Do That

SA Version?

Maybe A Bit Hard Cause SA Uses char*

But Some Years Ago I used directFont for Rendering Persian Texts On SA
And That Was Possible
No Any Guarantee That I Will Port That, But You Can Do That

What About Performance?

It's OK, Any Instance Get Invalid When You Don't Need That

However if you find performance issues, report that here

Credits:

• DoKtor K. - Who Enjoys Coding And Loves Enjoyable Code

• DK22Pac - Who Started With A Great Belief To "Change" And Then Started The Great Project Plugin-SDK

• _AG - Who Learns Me A Lot, Without learning directly :D

• All Of Plugin-SDK Contributors

• And Last, But Not Least, THE GREAT HERO “aap” Who Changed Entire Level of Everything with re3 / reVC

• All of re3 Contributors, The Great People On The World

• All of GTA Modding Community

Links:

Plugin-SDK

directFont (Load TTF Fonts Into D3DX Format)

effects-loader (Search ForAllFiles Method)

And Finally Excuse Me for PascalCasing, I Like This Style :D