Distributing RPG Maker XP games with custom fonts

じ☆ve冰风

Distributing RPG Maker XP games with custom fonts
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Installing fonts is such a bother and requires admin privileges, so let us not do that
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        When developing our games it is very possible we want to use another font. This information is already present elsewhere, but as a quick reminder it can look like this.


Font.default_name = "Roboto"
Font.default_name = ["Roboto", "Arial"] # Fall back to Arial if Roboto does not exist


        What happens if Roboto does not exists?

• No fallback - No text is drawn
  
• Fallback - Text drawn in Arial instead.
  

        Neither case is acceptable if we really want Roboto to be the font used.


        Luckily we can use the AddFontResource function from GDI32.dll to load font resources. Unfortunately, in RMXP we cannot use fonts loaded through that call until the game is started anew. Should we load fonts in one game, and then run another game, that other game can use the fonts resources. I have encapsulated this functionality into a tool.


        Note: AddFontResource requires the font to exist on the file system. I.e. it cannot load fonts from encrypted archives.


Tool


        Download: http://www.mediafire.com/file/6l9s59bef58eadx/Font+Launcher.zip


        Demo: http://www.mediafire.com/file/j6dkhqkpa4yyllr/Demo.zip


        Once you unpack the zip file you will see the following elements:







        Copy those files into your own game directory.







        Copy the fonts you want into the Fonts folder, and use Launcher.exe. That's it.


        Note: I have included the RGSS104E.dll just for good measure, just in case you use another DLL version. Feel free to change the Launcher.ini file if you prefer to another version.



        Have renamed your Game.exe files? Edit the Launcher.ini file:

                Code:        
[Game] Library=RGSS104E.dll Scripts=Data\Scripts.rxdata Title=Launcher  [Launcher] Game=Game


        Say the name is "Hello Steven.exe" then change the Launcher.ini file to be:

                Code:        
[Game] Library=RGSS104E.dll Scripts=Data\Scripts.rxdata Title=Launcher  [Launcher] Game=Hello Steven






Read priority


        As you sure have noticed. We have an encrypted archive called Launcher.rgssad. To explain why this is important because encrypted archives have higher read priority than file system files. I don't mind showing the code: http://pastebin.com/8aw6CFcY


        The name of the executable have functional meaning. Let us look at the sample game directory again:







        Note we have two executables here.

• Game.exe
  
• Launcher.exe
  

        In our example both Game.ini and Launcher.ini has Scripts=Data\Scripts.rxdata, yet they do not load the same Scripts.rxdata


        The RGSS Player executable looks first for a Configuration settings file with the same name as itself and ending with .ini, next it looks for an RGSS Encrypted Archive file with the same name as itself and ending with .rgssad.


        In other words you can say

• Launcher.exe is associated with Launcher.ini and Launcher.rgssad
  
• Game.exe is associated with Game.ini
  

        Next it tries to load the resource located at Data\Scripts.rxdata. If it has an encrypted archive associated it searched that before the file system. So we end up with this loading sequence.







        You can also encrypt the game just fine. Then you'll Game.exe try to load resources from Game.rgssad before the file system.


License

SpoilerCopyright (c) 2016 Zeriab


                        This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied
                        warranty. In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages
                        arising from the use of this software.
                         
                        Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose,
                        including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it
                        freely, subject to the following restrictions:


                        1. The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not
                           claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this software
                           in a product, an acknowledgement in the product documentation would be
                           appreciated but is not required.
                        2. Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not be
                           misrepresented as being the original software.
                        3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.






Final notes


        Wachunga has made a script which tries to actually install the fonts: https://github.com/wachunga/rmxp-auto-font-install


        That script requires administrative privileges, actually install the fonts and cause changes to registration database.


        Using my tool does not install anything and it requires no administrative privileges. On the downside it does runs two executables.


        Let me extend some thanks to Laura Shigihara. She is using a custom font for her upcoming game, Rakuen, and her request for help eventually turned into the tool and this topic.


        Thank you for reading my tutorial.


        Any comments are appreciated.


        Additional data about whether it works for your or not is appreciated.


        *hugs*


         - Zeriab


本贴来自国际rpgmaker官方论坛作者:Zeriab处,因国际论坛即将永久关站,为了存档多年珍贵资料,署名转载到本论坛存档,由于官方帖子为英文原帖，需要中文翻译请点击论坛顶部切换语言为中文就可以将帖子翻译成中文浏览,方便大家随时查看,原文地址：https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/threads/distributing-rpg-maker-xp-games-with-custom-fonts.70656/