font loading update

assets/Shaders/ui/font/bitmapchar/bitmapchar.fs

@@ -14,5 +14,6 @@ void main(){
         textColorModifier.y = 1;
         textColorModifier.z = 1;
     }
-    FragColor = texture(screenTexture, TexCoords) * vec4(textColorModifier.xyz, 1.0);
+    vec4 sample = texture(screenTexture, TexCoords);
+    FragColor = vec4(sample.r) * vec4(textColorModifier.xyz, 1.0);
 }

buildNumber.properties

@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 #maven.buildNumber.plugin properties file
-#Wed Nov 20 13:22:48 EST 2024
-buildNumber=392
+#Wed Nov 20 16:01:40 EST 2024
+buildNumber=398

docs/src/progress/renderertodo.md

@@ -1090,6 +1090,8 @@ Fix invalid normals from transvoxel rasterizer
 Design storm engine icon
 Fix edge-polygon generation for invalid cases
 Add engine logo to title menu
+Use STBttf for font loading/remove dependency on java.awt.fonts
+Fix font height lookups in string carousel, text input, and word
 
 
 # TODO

pom.xml

@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@
     <packaging>jar</packaging>
     <properties>
         <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
-        <maven.compiler.source>21</maven.compiler.source>
-        <maven.compiler.target>21</maven.compiler.target>
+        <maven.compiler.source>17</maven.compiler.source>
+        <maven.compiler.target>17</maven.compiler.target>
         <lwjgl.version>3.3.3</lwjgl.version>
         <joml.version>1.9.19</joml.version>
         <recast.version>1.5.7</recast.version>

src/main/java/electrosphere/client/ui/menu/mainmenu/MenuGeneratorsTitleMenu.java

@@ -43,31 +43,31 @@ public class MenuGeneratorsTitleMenu {
 
 
             //label (title)
-            Label titleLabel = Label.createLabel("ORPG");
+            Label titleLabel = Label.createLabel("ORPG",3.0f);
             optionPanel.addChild(titleLabel);
 
             //button (multiplayer)
-            optionPanel.addChild(Button.createButtonCentered("Singleplayer", () -> {
+            optionPanel.addChild(Button.createButtonCentered("Singleplayer", 2.0f, () -> {
                 WindowUtils.replaceMainMenuContents(MenuGenerators.createWorldSelectMenu());
             }).setOnClickAudio(AssetDataStrings.UI_TONE_BUTTON_TITLE));
 
             //button (multiplayer)
-            optionPanel.addChild(Button.createButtonCentered("Multiplayer", () -> {
+            optionPanel.addChild(Button.createButtonCentered("Multiplayer", 2.0f, () -> {
                 WindowUtils.replaceMainMenuContents(MenuGenerators.createMultiplayerMenu());
             }).setOnClickAudio(AssetDataStrings.UI_TONE_BUTTON_TITLE));
 
             //button (static level)
-            optionPanel.addChild(Button.createButtonCentered("Level Editor", () -> {
+            optionPanel.addChild(Button.createButtonCentered("Level Editor", 2.0f, () -> {
                 WindowUtils.replaceMainMenuContents(MenuGeneratorsLevelEditor.createLevelEditorTopMenu());
             }).setOnClickAudio(AssetDataStrings.UI_TONE_BUTTON_TITLE));
 
             //button (options)
-            optionPanel.addChild(Button.createButtonCentered("Options", () -> {
+            optionPanel.addChild(Button.createButtonCentered("Options", 2.0f, () -> {
                 WindowUtils.replaceMainMenuContents(MenuGenerators.createOptionsMainMenu());
             }).setOnClickAudio(AssetDataStrings.UI_TONE_BUTTON_TITLE));
 
             //button (sp debug)
-            optionPanel.addChild(Button.createButtonCentered("Debug SP Quickstart", () -> {
+            optionPanel.addChild(Button.createButtonCentered("Debug SP Quickstart", 2.0f, () -> {
                 LoadingThread loadingThread = new LoadingThread(LoadingThreadType.DEBUG_RANDOM_SP_WORLD);
                 Globals.RUN_CLIENT = true;
                 Globals.RUN_SERVER = true;
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ public class MenuGeneratorsTitleMenu {
             }).setOnClickAudio(AssetDataStrings.UI_TONE_BUTTON_TITLE));
 
             //button (sp debug)
-            optionPanel.addChild(Button.createButtonCentered("Load Test Generation Realm", () -> {
+            optionPanel.addChild(Button.createButtonCentered("Load Test Generation Realm", 2.0f, () -> {
                 LoadingThread loadingThread = new LoadingThread(LoadingThreadType.CHUNK_GENERATION_REALM);
                 Globals.RUN_CLIENT = true;
                 Globals.RUN_SERVER = true;
@@ -83,12 +83,12 @@ public class MenuGeneratorsTitleMenu {
             }).setOnClickAudio(AssetDataStrings.UI_TONE_BUTTON_TITLE));
 
             //button (ui testing)
-            optionPanel.addChild(Button.createButtonCentered("UI Testing", () -> {
+            optionPanel.addChild(Button.createButtonCentered("UI Testing", 2.0f, () -> {
                 WindowUtils.replaceMainMenuContents(MenuGeneratorsUITesting.createUITestMenu());
             }).setOnClickAudio(AssetDataStrings.UI_TONE_BUTTON_TITLE));
 
             //button (Viewport Test)
-            optionPanel.addChild(Button.createButtonCentered("Viewport Test", () -> {
+            optionPanel.addChild(Button.createButtonCentered("Viewport Test", 2.0f, () -> {
                 Globals.threadManager.start(new LoadingThread(LoadingThreadType.LOAD_VIEWPORT));
             }).setOnClickAudio(AssetDataStrings.UI_TONE_BUTTON_TITLE));
 

src/main/java/electrosphere/renderer/RenderUtils.java

@@ -677,22 +677,22 @@ public class RenderUtils {
         //texture coords
         FloatBuffer textureArrayBufferData = BufferUtils.createFloatBuffer(12);
         textureArrayBufferData.put(0);
-        textureArrayBufferData.put(0);
-        
-        textureArrayBufferData.put(0);
-        textureArrayBufferData.put(1);
-        
-        textureArrayBufferData.put(1);
         textureArrayBufferData.put(1);
         
         textureArrayBufferData.put(0);
         textureArrayBufferData.put(0);
         
         textureArrayBufferData.put(1);
+        textureArrayBufferData.put(0);
+        
+        textureArrayBufferData.put(0);
         textureArrayBufferData.put(1);
         
         textureArrayBufferData.put(1);
         textureArrayBufferData.put(0);
+        
+        textureArrayBufferData.put(1);
+        textureArrayBufferData.put(1);
         textureArrayBufferData.flip();
         
         

src/main/java/electrosphere/renderer/texture/Texture.java

@@ -276,6 +276,44 @@ public class Texture {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Generates a texture based on a buffer (for use passing data to gpu)
+     * @param openGlState The OpenGL state
+     * @param buffer The buffer of data
+     * @param width the 'width' of the 'texture'
+     * @param height the 'height' of the 'texture'
+     */
+    public static Texture createBitmap(OpenGLState openGlState, ByteBuffer buffer, int width, int height){
+        Texture rVal = null;
+        if(!Globals.HEADLESS){
+            rVal = new Texture();
+            //generate the texture object on gpu
+            rVal.texturePointer = GL40.glGenTextures();
+            Globals.renderingEngine.checkError();
+            //bind the new texture
+            openGlState.glBindTexture(GL_TEXTURE_2D, rVal.getTexturePointer());
+            //how are we gonna wrap the texture??
+            rVal.setWrap(openGlState, GL_TEXTURE_WRAP_S, GL_CLAMP_TO_EDGE);
+            rVal.setWrap(openGlState, GL_TEXTURE_WRAP_T, GL_CLAMP_TO_EDGE);
+            //disable mipmap
+            rVal.setMinFilter(openGlState, GL_LINEAR);
+            rVal.setMagFilter(openGlState, GL_LINEAR);
+            //call if width != height so opengl figures out how to unpack it properly
+            glPixelStorei(GL_UNPACK_ALIGNMENT, 4);
+            //GL_RED = 32bit r value
+            //buffer the texture information
+            rVal.pixelFormat = GL_RED;
+            rVal.datatype = GL_FLOAT;
+            rVal.glTexImage2D(openGlState, GL40.GL_RED, width, height, GL40.GL_RED, GL40.GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE, buffer);
+            //check build status
+            String errorMessage = RenderingEngine.getErrorInEnglish(Globals.renderingEngine.getError());
+            if(errorMessage != null){
+                LoggerInterface.loggerRenderer.ERROR(new IllegalStateException("Texture Constructor[from bytebuffer]: " + errorMessage));
+            }
+        }
+        return rVal;
+    }
+    
     /**
      * Binds the texture to unit 0
      * @param openGLState The opengl state

src/main/java/electrosphere/renderer/ui/elements/BitmapCharacter.java

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import electrosphere.renderer.model.Model;
 import electrosphere.renderer.ui.elementtypes.DrawableElement;
 import electrosphere.renderer.ui.events.Event;
 import electrosphere.renderer.ui.font.Font;
+
 import org.joml.Vector3f;
 
 /**
@@ -23,6 +24,8 @@ public class BitmapCharacter extends StandardElement implements DrawableElement
 
     Font font;
 
+    float fontSize = 1.0f;
+    
     
     /**
      * Constructor
@@ -33,12 +36,13 @@ public class BitmapCharacter extends StandardElement implements DrawableElement
      * @param height
      * @param toDraw
      */
-    public BitmapCharacter(Font font, int width, int height, char toDraw){
+    public BitmapCharacter(Font font, int width, int height, float fontSize, char toDraw){
         super();
         setWidth(width);
         setHeight(height);
         this.text = "" + toDraw;
         this.font = font;
+        this.fontSize = fontSize;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -52,7 +56,7 @@ public class BitmapCharacter extends StandardElement implements DrawableElement
         this.font = font;
         Vector3f discreteDims = this.font.getDimensionOfCharacterDiscrete(toDraw);
         setMinWidth((int)discreteDims.x);
-        setMinHeight((int)discreteDims.y);
+        setMinHeight((int)Math.max(discreteDims.y,this.font.getFontHeight()));
     }
     
     
@@ -81,20 +85,14 @@ public class BitmapCharacter extends StandardElement implements DrawableElement
         framebuffer.bind(openGLState);
         openGLState.glViewport(framebuffer.getWidth(), framebuffer.getHeight());
         float ndcX =      (float)this.absoluteToFramebuffer(getAbsoluteX(),framebufferPosX)/framebuffer.getWidth();
-        float ndcY =      (float)this.absoluteToFramebuffer(getAbsoluteY(),framebufferPosY)/framebuffer.getHeight();
+        float ndcY =      (float)this.absoluteToFramebuffer(getAbsoluteYPlacement(),framebufferPosY)/framebuffer.getHeight();
         float ndcWidth =  (float)getWidth()/framebuffer.getWidth();
-        float ndcHeight = (float)getHeight()/framebuffer.getHeight();
-//        float charWidth = ndcWidth/cols;
-//        float charHeight = ndcHeight/rows;
+        float ndcHeight = (float)getHeightPlacement()/framebuffer.getHeight();
         char toDraw = text.charAt(0);
         Vector3f characterPosition = new Vector3f(ndcX,ndcY,0);
         Vector3f characterDimensions = new Vector3f(ndcWidth,ndcHeight,0);
         Vector3f bitMapPosition = this.font.getPositionOfCharacter(toDraw);
         Vector3f bitMapDimension = this.font.getDimensionOfCharacter(toDraw);
-//        bitMapDimension.y = 1;
-//        System.out.println(bitMapPosition);
-//        System.out.println(bitMapDimension);
-//        System.out.println("\n\n");
         //load model and try overwriting with font material
         Model charModel = Globals.assetManager.fetchModel(AssetDataStrings.BITMAP_CHARACTER_MODEL);
         Material mat = this.font.getMaterial();
@@ -109,6 +107,23 @@ public class BitmapCharacter extends StandardElement implements DrawableElement
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Gets the absolute y to use for placement
+     * @return The absolute y to use for placement
+     */
+    public int getAbsoluteYPlacement(){
+        return super.getAbsoluteY() + (int)Math.ceil(this.font.getOffsetY(text.charAt(0)) * this.fontSize);
+    }
+
+    
+    /**
+     * Gets the height to use for placement
+     * @return The height to use for placement
+     */
+    public int getHeightPlacement(){
+        return (int)(Math.ceil(super.getHeight() * this.font.getQuadScalingY(text.charAt(0))));
+    }
+
     public boolean handleEvent(Event event){
         return true;
     }

src/main/java/electrosphere/renderer/ui/elements/Button.java

@@ -119,6 +119,29 @@ public class Button extends StandardContainerElement implements DrawableElement,
         return rVal;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Creates a button that fires a callback when clicked
+     * @param text The text for the button label
+     * @param fontSize The size of the font for the label
+     * @param callback The callback
+     * @return The button
+     */
+    public static Button createButtonCentered(String text, float fontSize, Runnable callback){
+        Button rVal = new Button();
+        Label rValLabel = Label.createLabel(text, fontSize);
+        rValLabel.setText(text);
+        rVal.addChild(rValLabel);
+        rVal.setOnClick(new ClickableElement.ClickEventCallback(){public boolean execute(ClickEvent event){
+            callback.run();
+            if(Globals.virtualAudioSourceManager != null && rVal.audioPathOnClick != null){
+                Globals.virtualAudioSourceManager.createUI(rVal.audioPathOnClick);
+            }
+            return false;
+        }});
+        rVal.setAlignSelf(YogaAlignment.Center);
+        return rVal;
+    }
+
     public boolean getVisible() {
         return visible;
     }

src/main/java/electrosphere/renderer/ui/elements/Label.java

@@ -43,6 +43,18 @@ public class Label extends StandardContainerElement implements DrawableElement {
         return rVal;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Creates a label element
+     * @param text the text for the label
+     * @param fontSize The size of the font
+     * @return the label element
+     */
+    public static Label createLabel(String text, float fontSize){
+        Label rVal = new Label(fontSize);
+        rVal.setText(text);
+        return rVal;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Simplified constructor
      * @param fontSize the size of the font (default is 1.0f)
@@ -65,7 +77,7 @@ public class Label extends StandardContainerElement implements DrawableElement {
         for(int i = 0; i < text.length(); i++){
             char toDraw = text.charAt(i);
             Vector3f bitMapDimension = this.font.getDimensionOfCharacterDiscrete(toDraw);
-            BitmapCharacter newLetter = new BitmapCharacter(this.font,(int)(bitMapDimension.x * fontSize), this.getHeight(), toDraw);
+            BitmapCharacter newLetter = new BitmapCharacter(this.font,(int)(bitMapDimension.x * fontSize), this.getHeight(), fontSize, toDraw);
             accumulatingWidth += bitMapDimension.x * fontSize;
             childList.add(newLetter);
             Yoga.YGNodeInsertChild(yogaNode, newLetter.getYogaNode(), childList.size() - 1);
@@ -73,6 +85,16 @@ public class Label extends StandardContainerElement implements DrawableElement {
         Yoga.YGNodeStyleSetWidth(yogaNode, accumulatingWidth);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Sets the size of the font for this label
+     * @param fontSize The size of the font
+     */
+    public void setFontSize(float fontSize){
+        this.fontSize = fontSize;
+        this.setHeight((int)(font.getFontHeight() * fontSize));
+        this.generateLetters();
+    }
+    
     public void setText(String text){
         this.text = text;
         textPixelWidth = 0;

src/main/java/electrosphere/renderer/ui/elements/StringCarousel.java

@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ public class StringCarousel extends StandardContainerElement implements Drawable
         super();
         this.font = Globals.fontManager.getFont("default");
         this.fontSize = fontSize;
-        Yoga.YGNodeStyleSetMinHeight(this.yogaNode, font.imageHeight * fontSize);
+        Yoga.YGNodeStyleSetMinHeight(this.yogaNode, font.getFontHeight() * fontSize);
         Yoga.YGNodeStyleSetMinWidth(this.yogaNode, 1);
     }
 
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ public class StringCarousel extends StandardContainerElement implements Drawable
     private StringCarousel(){
         super();
         this.font = Globals.fontManager.getFont("default");
-        Yoga.YGNodeStyleSetMinHeight(this.yogaNode, font.imageHeight * fontSize);
+        Yoga.YGNodeStyleSetMinHeight(this.yogaNode, font.getFontHeight() * fontSize);
         Yoga.YGNodeStyleSetMinWidth(this.yogaNode, 1);
     }
 
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ public class StringCarousel extends StandardContainerElement implements Drawable
         for(int i = 0; i < textCurrent.length(); i++){
             char toDraw = textCurrent.charAt(i);
             Vector3f bitMapDimension = this.font.getDimensionOfCharacterDiscrete(toDraw);
-            BitmapCharacter newLetter = new BitmapCharacter(this.font,(int)(bitMapDimension.x * fontSize), this.getHeight(), toDraw);
+            BitmapCharacter newLetter = new BitmapCharacter(this.font,(int)(bitMapDimension.x * fontSize), this.getHeight(), fontSize, toDraw);
             accumulatingWidth += bitMapDimension.x * fontSize;
             addChild(newLetter);
         }

src/main/java/electrosphere/renderer/ui/elements/TextInput.java

@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ public class TextInput extends StandardContainerElement implements DrawableEleme
         this.color = new Vector3f(1,1,1);
         setHeight((int)(font.getFontHeight() * fontSize));
         Yoga.YGNodeStyleSetFlexDirection(this.yogaNode, Yoga.YGFlexDirectionRow);
-        Yoga.YGNodeStyleSetMinHeight(this.yogaNode, font.imageHeight * fontSize);
+        Yoga.YGNodeStyleSetMinHeight(this.yogaNode, font.getFontHeight() * fontSize);
         Yoga.YGNodeStyleSetMinWidth(this.yogaNode, 1);
     }
     
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ public class TextInput extends StandardContainerElement implements DrawableEleme
         for(int i = 0; i < text.length(); i++){
             char toDraw = text.charAt(i);
             Vector3f bitMapDimension = this.font.getDimensionOfCharacterDiscrete(toDraw);
-            BitmapCharacter newLetter = new BitmapCharacter(this.font,(int)(bitMapDimension.x * fontSize), this.getHeight(), toDraw);
+            BitmapCharacter newLetter = new BitmapCharacter(this.font,(int)(bitMapDimension.x * fontSize), this.getHeight(), fontSize, toDraw);
             newLetter.setColor(color);
             this.addChild(newLetter);
         }

src/main/java/electrosphere/renderer/ui/font/Font.java

@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package electrosphere.renderer.ui.font;
 
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+
 import org.joml.Vector3f;
 
 import electrosphere.renderer.model.Material;
@@ -24,6 +26,8 @@ public class Font {
     //the map of character->dimension of the character in pixels
     HashMap<Character,Vector3f> dimensionMap = new HashMap<Character,Vector3f>();
     
+    Map<Character,Glyph> glyphMap = new HashMap<Character,Glyph>();
+
     /**
      * Creates the font object
      * @param fontMaterial
@@ -53,6 +57,8 @@ public class Font {
         public int startY;
         public int width;
         public int height;
+        public int offsetY = 0;
+        public float quadScalingY = 1;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -104,12 +110,44 @@ public class Font {
         return dimension;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Gets the offset y of the character
+     * @param c The character
+     * @return The offset y
+     */
+    public int getOffsetY(Character c){
+        int rVal = 0;
+        if(glyphMap.containsKey(c)){
+            rVal = glyphMap.get(c).offsetY;
+        }
+        return rVal;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Gets the quad y scaling of the character
+     * @param c The character
+     * @return The scaling
+     */
+    public float getQuadScalingY(Character c){
+        float rVal = 1.0f;
+        if(glyphMap.containsKey(c)){
+            rVal = glyphMap.get(c).quadScalingY;
+        }
+        return rVal;
+    }
+    
     /**
      * Gets the height of the font
      * @return the height
      */
     public int getFontHeight(){
-        return imageHeight;
+        int maxHeight = 0;
+        for(Glyph glyph : this.glyphs){
+            if(glyph.height > maxHeight){
+                maxHeight = glyph.height;
+            }
+        }
+        return maxHeight;
     }
 
 
@@ -129,6 +167,10 @@ public class Font {
             Vector3f dimension = new Vector3f(glyph.width,glyph.height,0);
             dimensionMap.put(charVal,dimension);
         }
+        //fill glyph map
+        for(Glyph glyph: glyphs){
+            this.glyphMap.put(glyph.symbol.charAt(0),glyph);
+        }
     }
 
     /**

src/main/java/electrosphere/renderer/ui/font/FontManager.java

@@ -34,22 +34,24 @@ public class FontManager {
      * Loads fonts at engine startup during the init graphics resource phase
      */
     public void loadFonts(){
-        java.awt.Font font = null;
-        try {
-            font = java.awt.Font.createFont(java.awt.Font.TRUETYPE_FONT, FileUtils.getAssetFileAsStream("Fonts/Tuffy_Bold.ttf"));
-            font = font.deriveFont(24f);
-        } catch (FontFormatException e) {
-            LoggerInterface.loggerEngine.ERROR("Failed to load a font!", e);
-        } catch (IOException e) {
-            LoggerInterface.loggerEngine.ERROR("Failed to load a font!", e);
-        }
-        if(font==null){
-            font = new java.awt.Font(java.awt.Font.MONOSPACED, java.awt.Font.PLAIN, 16);
-        }
-        if(font!=null){
-            defaultFont = FontUtils.loadFont(Globals.renderingEngine.getOpenGLState(), font, true);
+        // java.awt.Font font = null;
+        // try {
+        //     font = java.awt.Font.createFont(java.awt.Font.TRUETYPE_FONT, FileUtils.getAssetFileAsStream("Fonts/Tuffy_Bold.ttf"));
+        //     font = font.deriveFont(24f);
+        // } catch (FontFormatException e) {
+        //     LoggerInterface.loggerEngine.ERROR("Failed to load a font!", e);
+        // } catch (IOException e) {
+        //     LoggerInterface.loggerEngine.ERROR("Failed to load a font!", e);
+        // }
+        // if(font==null){
+        //     font = new java.awt.Font(java.awt.Font.MONOSPACED, java.awt.Font.PLAIN, 16);
+        // }
+        // if(font != null){
+        //     defaultFont = FontUtils.loadFont(Globals.renderingEngine.getOpenGLState(), font, true);
+        //     fontMap.put("default",defaultFont);
+        // }
+        defaultFont = FontUtils.loadTTF(Globals.renderingEngine.getOpenGLState(), "Fonts/Tuffy_Bold.ttf");
         fontMap.put("default",defaultFont);
     }
-    }
 
 }

src/main/java/electrosphere/renderer/ui/font/FontUtils.java

@@ -1,10 +1,24 @@
 package electrosphere.renderer.ui.font;
 
+import electrosphere.logger.LoggerInterface;
 import electrosphere.renderer.OpenGLState;
 import electrosphere.renderer.model.Material;
 import electrosphere.renderer.texture.Texture;
+import electrosphere.util.FileUtils;
+
+import org.lwjgl.BufferUtils;
+import org.lwjgl.stb.STBTTAlignedQuad;
+import org.lwjgl.stb.STBTTFontinfo;
+import org.lwjgl.stb.STBTTPackContext;
+import org.lwjgl.stb.STBTTPackedchar;
+import org.lwjgl.stb.STBTruetype;
+import org.lwjgl.system.MemoryStack;
 
 import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.nio.FloatBuffer;
+import java.nio.IntBuffer;
 import java.awt.RenderingHints;
 import java.awt.FontMetrics;
 import java.awt.Graphics2D;
@@ -17,6 +31,29 @@ import java.util.List;
  */
 public class FontUtils {
 
+    public static final int TTF_CHAR_WIDTH = 32;
+    public static final int TTF_CHAR_HEIGHT = 24;
+    static final char FIRST_CHAR_TO_BAKE = 32;
+    static final char LAST_CHAR_TO_BAKE = 127;
+    static final int CHAR_COUNT = LAST_CHAR_TO_BAKE - FIRST_CHAR_TO_BAKE;
+    static final int TTF_BITMAP_WIDTH = 512;
+    static final int TTF_BITMAP_HEIGHT = 512;
+    static final int SPACE_WIDTH = 8;
+
+    /**
+     * Manual offset to align them
+     */
+    static final int MANUAL_OFFSET = -2;
+
+    /**
+     * The factor to adjust the descent by. Just intuiting this from how the data looks, not guaranteed to be correct
+     */
+    static final int DESCENT_DIVISOR = 100;
+
+    static float[] scale = new float[]{
+        TTF_CHAR_HEIGHT,
+    };
+
 
     /**
      * Renders a single character to a buffered image
@@ -157,5 +194,136 @@ public class FontUtils {
         return rVal;
     }
     
+    /**
+     * Loads the TTF font
+     * @param openGLState The opengl state
+     * @param path The path to the ttf font file
+     * @return The font if it loaded successfully, null otherwise
+     */
+    protected static Font loadTTF(OpenGLState openGLState, String path){
+
+        //used for cosntructing the font object to return
+        List<Font.Glyph> glyphs = new LinkedList<Font.Glyph>();
+        Material uiMat = new Material();
+
+        //read the file
+        ByteBuffer fileContent = null;
+        try {
+            fileContent = FileUtils.getAssetFileAsByteBuffer(path);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            LoggerInterface.loggerFileIO.ERROR("Failed to read font file", e);
+        }
+        if(fileContent == null){
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        //load info about the file
+        STBTTFontinfo info = STBTTFontinfo.create();
+        if(!STBTruetype.stbtt_InitFont(info, fileContent)){
+            throw new Error("Failed to init font info!");
+        }
+
+        int descent = 0;
+        try(MemoryStack stack = MemoryStack.stackPush()){
+            IntBuffer ascentBuff = stack.mallocInt(1);
+            IntBuffer descentBuff = stack.mallocInt(1);
+            IntBuffer lineGapBuff = stack.mallocInt(1);
+
+            //get data on the font
+            STBTruetype.stbtt_GetFontVMetrics(info, ascentBuff, descentBuff, lineGapBuff);
+
+            // int ascent = ascentBuff.get(0);
+            descent = descentBuff.get(0);
+            // int lineGap = lineGapBuff.get(0);
+        }
+
+        try(STBTTPackContext packContext = STBTTPackContext.malloc()){
+
+            //get char data
+            STBTTPackedchar.Buffer charData = STBTTPackedchar.malloc(6 * 128);
+            ByteBuffer bakedTextureData = BufferUtils.createByteBuffer(TTF_BITMAP_WIDTH * TTF_BITMAP_HEIGHT);
+            STBTruetype.stbtt_PackBegin(packContext, bakedTextureData, TTF_BITMAP_WIDTH, TTF_BITMAP_HEIGHT, 0, 1);
+
+            //make image
+            for(int i = 0; i < scale.length; i++){
+                int p = (i * 3 + 0) * CHAR_COUNT + FIRST_CHAR_TO_BAKE;
+                charData.limit(p + 95);
+                charData.position(p);
+                STBTruetype.stbtt_PackSetOversampling(packContext, 1, 1);
+                STBTruetype.stbtt_PackFontRange(packContext, fileContent, 0, scale[i], FIRST_CHAR_TO_BAKE, charData);
+
+                p = (i * 3 + 1) * CHAR_COUNT + FIRST_CHAR_TO_BAKE;
+                charData.limit(p + 95);
+                charData.position(p);
+                STBTruetype.stbtt_PackSetOversampling(packContext, 2, 2);
+                STBTruetype.stbtt_PackFontRange(packContext, fileContent, 0, scale[i], FIRST_CHAR_TO_BAKE, charData);
+
+                p = (i * 3 + 2) * CHAR_COUNT + FIRST_CHAR_TO_BAKE;
+                charData.limit(p + 95);
+                charData.position(p);
+                STBTruetype.stbtt_PackSetOversampling(packContext, 3, 1);
+                STBTruetype.stbtt_PackFontRange(packContext, fileContent, 0, scale[i], FIRST_CHAR_TO_BAKE, charData);
+            }
+            charData.clear();
+            STBTruetype.stbtt_PackEnd(packContext);
+
+            //create the bitmap image off of the raw texture data
+            Texture texture = Texture.createBitmap(openGLState, bakedTextureData, TTF_BITMAP_WIDTH, TTF_BITMAP_HEIGHT);
+            uiMat.setTexturePointer(texture.getTexturePointer());
+
+            //parse the glyphs
+            try(MemoryStack stack = MemoryStack.stackPush()){
+                STBTTAlignedQuad quad = STBTTAlignedQuad.malloc(stack);
+                FloatBuffer xPos = stack.floats(0.0f);
+                FloatBuffer yPos = stack.floats(0.0f);
+                for (int i = FIRST_CHAR_TO_BAKE; i < LAST_CHAR_TO_BAKE; i++) {
+                    xPos.put(0,0);
+                    yPos.put(0,0);
+                    if (i == 127) {
+                        //skip del character command
+                        continue;
+                    }
+                    STBTruetype.stbtt_GetPackedQuad(charData, TTF_BITMAP_WIDTH, TTF_BITMAP_HEIGHT, i, xPos, yPos, quad, false);
+                    // float charX = xPos.get(0);
+                    // float charY = yPos.get(0);
+
+                    // float x0 = quad.x0();
+                    // float x1 = quad.x1();
+                    // float y0 = quad.y0();
+                    // float y1 = quad.y1();
+                    // float s0 = quad.s0();
+                    // float s1 = quad.s1();
+                    // float t0 = quad.t0();
+                    // float t1 = quad.t1();
+
+
+                    //create glyph and push it into the array
+                    Font.Glyph glyph = new Font.Glyph();
+                    glyph.width = (int)((quad.s1() - quad.s0()) * TTF_BITMAP_WIDTH);
+                    glyph.height = (int)Math.ceil((quad.t1() - quad.t0()) * TTF_BITMAP_HEIGHT);
+                    glyph.startX = (int)(quad.s0() * TTF_BITMAP_WIDTH);
+                    glyph.startY = (int)Math.ceil((quad.t0() * TTF_BITMAP_HEIGHT));
+                    glyph.offsetY = (int)(TTF_CHAR_HEIGHT + quad.y0()) + (descent / DESCENT_DIVISOR) + MANUAL_OFFSET;
+                    glyph.quadScalingY = (quad.y1() - quad.y0()) / (float)TTF_CHAR_HEIGHT;
+                    glyph.symbol = (char)i + "";
+                    if(i == 32){
+                        glyph.width = SPACE_WIDTH;
+                    }
+                    glyphs.add(glyph);
+
+                    // if(i == 110 || i == 100 || i == 76 || i == 82){
+                    //     System.out.println((char)i + "");
+                    // }
+
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        //construct final font object and return
+        Font rVal = new Font(uiMat,glyphs,TTF_BITMAP_WIDTH,TTF_BITMAP_HEIGHT);
+        rVal.process();
+
+        return rVal;
+    }
     
 }

src/main/java/electrosphere/util/FileUtils.java

@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.io.InputStreamReader;
 import java.io.ObjectOutputStream;
 import java.io.Serializable;
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.nio.channels.SeekableByteChannel;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
@@ -32,6 +34,8 @@ import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
 
+import org.lwjgl.BufferUtils;
+
 /**
  * Utilities for dealing with files
  */
@@ -186,6 +190,25 @@ public class FileUtils {
         return targetFile;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Gets an assets file as a byte buffer
+     * @param pathName The relative path in the assets folder
+     * @return The byte buffer containing the contents of the asset file
+     * @throws IOException Thrown if there are any io issues
+     */
+    public static ByteBuffer getAssetFileAsByteBuffer(String pathName) throws IOException{
+        String sanitizedFilePath = sanitizeFilePath(pathName);
+        File targetFile = new File("./assets" + sanitizedFilePath);
+        ByteBuffer buff = null;
+        try(SeekableByteChannel byteChannel = Files.newByteChannel(targetFile.toPath())){
+            buff = BufferUtils.createByteBuffer((int)(byteChannel.size() + 1));
+            while(byteChannel.read(buff) != -1){
+            }
+            buff.flip();
+        }
+        return buff;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Gets a cache file
      * @param pathName The relative path in the cache folder

src/test/java/electrosphere/renderer/ui/elements/BitmapCharacterTests.java

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ public class BitmapCharacterTests extends UITestTemplate {
     public void test_Create(){
         //setup
         this.setupBlankView();
-        BitmapCharacter el = new BitmapCharacter(Globals.fontManager.getFont("default"), 16, 24, 'A');
+        BitmapCharacter el = new BitmapCharacter(Globals.fontManager.getFont("default"), 16, 24, 1.0f, 'A');
         WindowUtils.replaceMainMenuContents(el);