The following is a detailed description of each of the entries in a Font File. For a more practical view, see the example below


• Font Art Filename
  
  
  The name of the image file that contains the Font graphics
  
  If the file does not exist in this folder, its path must be included. The path must be "relative", meaning that it must tell how to get to the file from this folder, not from the "Root Directory"
  
  
  
• Font Type
  
  
  This value is the "Type ID" of the Font. It specifies which ASCII characters can be used when this font is drawn.
  
  If the font does not support a certain character, it will show up as the "Space" character.
  
  The number of characters that are listed below this entry are determined by this value. The ASCII character value ranges that are used by each Font Type are listed here (in "decimal" form), and should be set up in the Font File in the given order:
  

  0- Full ASCII + Extended ASCII          0 - 255
  1- Full ASCII                           0 - 127
  2- Numbers/Letters (caps/lower)        32,   48 -  57,   65 -  90,  97 - 122
  3- Numbers/Letters (caps only)         32,   48 -  57,   65 -  90
  4- Numbers Only                        32,   48 -  57
  5- Numbers/Symbol/Letters (caps/lower) 32 - 126
  6- Numbers/Symbol/Letters (caps  only) 32 -  96,  123 - 126
  7- Hex                                 32,   48 -  57,   65 -  70

  Font Type 5 makes available all characters readily-typeable on a standard US keyboard. Extended Characters 128-255 must be entered into script "Texts" using their "alt codes", and special "Escape Code" characters 0-31 can only be entered through the use of special editors, such as a Hex Editor. Characters 0, 10 , and 13 are entirely unusable as visible characters.
  
  
  
• Char
  
  
  Each ASCII character is listed immediately after the Font Type, in the order defined by Type that was given
  
  Using comment labels can help in keeping track of which characters are being defined
  
  The characters are set up in this way:
  
  
  • XOFF in file
    
  • YOFF in file
    
    
    These values specify the X and Y position of the character's art in the given art file
    
    
    
  • Width
    
  • Height
    
    
    These values specify the Width and Height of the art that makes up this character
    
    
  • YOFF from DrawY
    
    
    This is the offset at which the art will be drawn vertically from the given on-screen position, meaning that if this value is equal to 0 minus its height, the Y position given to draw this character will actually be its bottom rather than its top. This is generally how Fonts are dealt for HCGE games.
    
    This can also help to control characters who dip down below the writing line, such as lower-case "p" and "q".

The following is an example setup for a Font File to better demonstrate how to put the above information into practice. Use the same format and fill in the appropriate values given the information contained throughout the various documents to create Fonts for an HCGE Game.

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
; Example Font File ;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

Font Art Filename: font.pcx

Font Type: 4      ;Numbers Only (32, 48 -  57)

;Char 0x20 (SPACE)-
    XOFF in file: 088
    YOFF in file: 087
           Width: 008
          Height: 007
 YOFF from DrawY:-008

;Char 0x30 ('0')-
    XOFF in file: 072
    YOFF in file: 087
           Width: 008
          Height: 007
 YOFF from DrawY:-008
;Char 0x31 ('1')-
    XOFF in file: 064
    YOFF in file: 087
           Width: 008
          Height: 007
 YOFF from DrawY:-008
;Char 0x32 ('2')-
    XOFF in file: 056
    YOFF in file: 087
           Width: 008
          Height: 007
 YOFF from DrawY:-008
;Char 0x33 ('3')-
    XOFF in file: 048
    YOFF in file: 087
           Width: 008
          Height: 007
 YOFF from DrawY:-008
;Char 0x34 ('4')-
    XOFF in file: 040
    YOFF in file: 087
           Width: 008
          Height: 007
 YOFF from DrawY:-008
;Char 0x35 ('5')-
    XOFF in file: 032
    YOFF in file: 087
           Width: 008
          Height: 007
 YOFF from DrawY:-008
;Char 0x36 ('6')-
    XOFF in file: 024
    YOFF in file: 087
           Width: 008
          Height: 007
 YOFF from DrawY:-008
;Char 0x37 ('7')-
    XOFF in file: 016
    YOFF in file: 087
           Width: 008
          Height: 007
 YOFF from DrawY:-008
;Char 0x38 ('8')-
    XOFF in file: 008
    YOFF in file: 087
           Width: 008
          Height: 007
 YOFF from DrawY:-008
;Char 0x39 ('9')-
    XOFF in file: 000
    YOFF in file: 087
           Width: 008
          Height: 007
 YOFF from DrawY:-008

-EOF-

This table was obtained from http://web.cs.mun.ca/~michael/c/ascii-table.html


Char  Dec  Oct  Hex | Char  Dec  Oct  Hex | Char  Dec  Oct  Hex | Char Dec  Oct   Hex
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(nul)   0 0000 0x00 | (sp)   32 0040 0x20 | @      64 0100 0x40 | `      96 0140 0x60
(soh)   1 0001 0x01 | !      33 0041 0x21 | A      65 0101 0x41 | a      97 0141 0x61
(stx)   2 0002 0x02 | "      34 0042 0x22 | B      66 0102 0x42 | b      98 0142 0x62
(etx)   3 0003 0x03 | #      35 0043 0x23 | C      67 0103 0x43 | c      99 0143 0x63
(eot)   4 0004 0x04 | $      36 0044 0x24 | D      68 0104 0x44 | d     100 0144 0x64
(enq)   5 0005 0x05 | %      37 0045 0x25 | E      69 0105 0x45 | e     101 0145 0x65
(ack)   6 0006 0x06 | &      38 0046 0x26 | F      70 0106 0x46 | f     102 0146 0x66
(bel)   7 0007 0x07 | '      39 0047 0x27 | G      71 0107 0x47 | g     103 0147 0x67
(bs)    8 0010 0x08 | (      40 0050 0x28 | H      72 0110 0x48 | h     104 0150 0x68
(ht)    9 0011 0x09 | )      41 0051 0x29 | I      73 0111 0x49 | i     105 0151 0x69
(nl)   10 0012 0x0a | *      42 0052 0x2a | J      74 0112 0x4a | j     106 0152 0x6a
(vt)   11 0013 0x0b | +      43 0053 0x2b | K      75 0113 0x4b | k     107 0153 0x6b
(np)   12 0014 0x0c | ,      44 0054 0x2c | L      76 0114 0x4c | l     108 0154 0x6c
(cr)   13 0015 0x0d | -      45 0055 0x2d | M      77 0115 0x4d | m     109 0155 0x6d
(so)   14 0016 0x0e | .      46 0056 0x2e | N      78 0116 0x4e | n     110 0156 0x6e
(si)   15 0017 0x0f | /      47 0057 0x2f | O      79 0117 0x4f | o     111 0157 0x6f
(dle)  16 0020 0x10 | 0      48 0060 0x30 | P      80 0120 0x50 | p     112 0160 0x70
(dc1)  17 0021 0x11 | 1      49 0061 0x31 | Q      81 0121 0x51 | q     113 0161 0x71
(dc2)  18 0022 0x12 | 2      50 0062 0x32 | R      82 0122 0x52 | r     114 0162 0x72
(dc3)  19 0023 0x13 | 3      51 0063 0x33 | S      83 0123 0x53 | s     115 0163 0x73
(dc4)  20 0024 0x14 | 4      52 0064 0x34 | T      84 0124 0x54 | t     116 0164 0x74
(nak)  21 0025 0x15 | 5      53 0065 0x35 | U      85 0125 0x55 | u     117 0165 0x75
(syn)  22 0026 0x16 | 6      54 0066 0x36 | V      86 0126 0x56 | v     118 0166 0x76
(etb)  23 0027 0x17 | 7      55 0067 0x37 | W      87 0127 0x57 | w     119 0167 0x77
(can)  24 0030 0x18 | 8      56 0070 0x38 | X      88 0130 0x58 | x     120 0170 0x78
(em)   25 0031 0x19 | 9      57 0071 0x39 | Y      89 0131 0x59 | y     121 0171 0x79
(sub)  26 0032 0x1a | :      58 0072 0x3a | Z      90 0132 0x5a | z     122 0172 0x7a
(esc)  27 0033 0x1b | ;      59 0073 0x3b | [      91 0133 0x5b | {     123 0173 0x7b
(fs)   28 0034 0x1c | <      60 0074 0x3c | \      92 0134 0x5c | |     124 0174 0x7c
(gs)   29 0035 0x1d | =      61 0075 0x3d | ]      93 0135 0x5d | }     125 0175 0x7d
(rs)   30 0036 0x1e | >      62 0076 0x3e | ^      94 0136 0x5e | ~     126 0176 0x7e
(us)   31 0037 0x1f | ?      63 0077 0x3f | _      95 0137 0x5f | (del) 127 0177 0x7f

                   ASCII Name     Description     C Escape Sequence
                   nul            null byte              \0
                   bel            bell character         \a
                   bs             backspace              \b
                   ht             horizontal tab         \t
                   np             formfeed               \f
                   nl             newline                \n
                   cr             carriage return        \r
                   vt             vertical tab
                   esc            escape
                   sp             space