Call of Duty: Font System - Revision history

CoDEmanX at 14:47, 2 November 2011

2011-11-02T14:47:07Z

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{{Note|Call of Duty 2, 4 and 5 seem to use the same font system with identical file structure specifications. Call of Duty 1 is way different, it uses a combination of .dds images and .dat files and has not been investigated yet. Therefore, this article focuses on the font system from CoD2 on.}}

==Font related files==
A font is made up of 4 files:
# image (*.iwi)
# material
# material_properties
# font mapping

The material and material_properties files belong to the image, like for every other iwi. The font mapping file references itself, the material file and maps the letters in the image to the ascii (respectively unicode) characters, used in the string files (raw\''[LANGUAGE]''\localizedstrings\*.str). The material_properties file is implicitly associated with the material by the engine and doesn't require an explcit reference.

The main font of CoD4 is <code>gamefonts_pc</code>. It is located in <code>main\localized_english_iw00.iwd --> images\gamefonts_pc.iwi</code>. The image contains 7 different fonts (background is actually transparent):

[[Image:CoD4 gamefonts pc.png|120px|left]]
{|
|'''Font name'''
|'''size (hex)'''
|'''size (dec)'''
|'''UI font type constant'''
|'''Value'''
|-
|smallFont
|0x0A
|10
|UI_FONT_SMALL
|3
|-
|normalFont
|0x10
|16
|UI_FONT_NORMAL
|1
|-
|consoleFont
|0x10
|16
|UI_FONT_CONSOLE
|5
|-
|boldFont
|0x10
|16
|UI_FONT_BOLD
|4
|-
|bigFont
|0x18
|24
|UI_FONT_BIG
|2
|-
|objectiveFont
|0x23
|35
|UI_FONT_OBJECTIVE
|6
|-
|extraBigFont
|0x30
|48
| -
| -
|-
| -
| -
| -
|UI_FONT_DEFAULT
|0 (auto-chose betwen big/reg/small)
|-
|}

These are the settings of the font material in Asset Manager:

[[Image:CoD4_gamefonts_pc_AssMan.png|500px]]

==File specifications==
The structure of a font mapping file is like this:

<pre>
Header (16 bytes)
----------------------------
int font_name_offset; // string at the end of the file (self reference?)
int font_size; // in pixels
int number_of_records; // 1 record = 1 character
int font_material_offset; // material name string (matrial references font image)

Entry (24 byte each)
----------------------------
byte char_code[2]; // ascii/unicode mapping of the character
byte char_spacing[3]; // margin left, top, right
byte char_dimension[2]; // pixel width & height
byte empty; // always 0x00 in stock game fonts
float char_rectangle[4]; // image dimension * float = coord, one rectangle per char

Footer
----------------------------
string font_name; // e.g. "fonts/normalFont"
string font_material; // e.g. "fonts/gamefonts_pc"
</pre>

A character record in detail (margin and dimension = pixels):
<pre>
BYTE[0,1] == character code (2 bytes for asian languages such as Chinese Japaniese and Korean,so-called double-byte character set (DBCS) )
BYTE[2] == margin left
BYTE[3] == margin top
BYTE[4] == margin right (actually more like padding, necessary because the game uses non-monospaced fonts)
BYTE[5] == width
BYTE[6] == height
BYTE[7] == unknown (no visible change, always 0x00 in stock font files)
BYTE[8-11] == (float) UV of left side of the bounding rectangle of the char (from top left of image)
BYTE[12-15] == (float) UV of top of the bounding rectangle
BYTE[16-19] == (float) UV of right side of the bounding rectangle
BYTE[20-23] == (float) UV of bottom of the bounding rectangle
</pre>

Structure in FastFile:

<pre>
FF FF FF FF separator
23 00 00 00 font size
B8 00 00 00 number of records
29 CB 00 30 ?
69 CB 00 30 ?
FF FF FF FF separator
66 6F .. 00 font name (e.g. fonts/objectiveFont)
20 00 00 .. character records 24 bytes each
</pre>

You need to calculate font_name_offset and font_material_offset if you want to create a font file from the fastfile data:

<code>font_name_offset = 24 * number_of_records + 16</code>

<code>font_material_offset = font_name_offset + sizeof(font_name_offset)</code>

==Explanation==

===File relations===
In the font file are two strings (character arrays) at the end. One of them is the filename of the material. In the material file is another string to the actual image file (iwi). It references like this:

font file --> material --> iwi

The glyph (character) entries in the font file store the information, which pixels in the iwi are a letter (plus some other data). That's what i call "mapping". It maps common digital letters via their ascii codes to image data. This image data is a portion of the iwi. The so called UV coords tell the game what to "cut out" of the iwi and use as letter ingame. It actually uses small pictures and no computer text.

===UV mapping===
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UV_mapping Wikipedia: UV mapping]

U and V are variables like X and Y for coordinates. In 3D it would be UVW (compare to XYZ). XY is for a point in 2D space, UV is similar, but for texturing.

The special thing about UVs is, that they are floating point numbers relative to the image (iwi) dimension.

See here:

[[Image:UV_mapping.jpg]]

(0,0) is the coord in the top left corner. (1,1) is the bottom right corner. The first number is for the vertical direction (left to right), the second for the horizontal (top to bottom). Thus the generalized UV coord is (u,v).

In case of the CoD fonts, UVs can't be greater than 1 and have to be equal to or be larger than 0. The coord (0.5,0.5) is exactly the center of the image, no matter what height and width the image has. To calculate the UV into pixels, you multiply one image dimension by the appropriate UV value.

'''Example:'''
<pre>
width = 512
height = 1024
U = 0.5
V = 0.5

X = width * U = 512*0.5 = 256
Y = height * V = 1024*0.5 = 512

coord in pixels: (256,512)
</pre>

===Dimension & margin===
The UV coord cuts out the letter of the image only. The height and width in pixels define how large it will actually be ingame. It should usually be 1:1, so no re-scaling.

The margin is sort of similar. It's used to position the letters. Because the game does not use a mono-spaced font, it needs to know how much space it is supposed to leave between the current letter and the following (right padding). A mono-spaced font is if all letters have the same width. But that's not the case here, so the engine needs to know how much padding/margin/spacing is required to stick the letters to a word together without having unregular spaces. They have to be next to each other with a little free space between them to look good. so the margin positions the letters, it refines the spacing for a text (many letters).

==Tools==
{{Download|1=http://www.diegologic.net/CoD/CoD4%20Fonts%20Explorer.zip|2=CoD Font Explorer|3=Download Regolith's}}

--[[User:CoDEmanX|CoDEmanX]] 00:23, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

[[Category:Call of Duty 2]]
[[Category:Call of Duty 4]]
[[Category:Call of Duty 5]]
[[Category:Technical Reference]]
[[Category:File formats]]

CoDEmanX: /* File specifications */

2010-02-02T10:04:20Z

File specifications

@@ Line 117: / Line 117: @@
 BYTE[20-23] == (float) UV of bottom of the bounding rectangle
 </pre>
 ==Explanation==

CoDEmanX at 14:43, 8 November 2009

2009-11-08T14:43:56Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:43, 8 November 2009
Line 18:		Line 18:
	\|'''size (hex)'''		\|'''size (hex)'''
	\|'''size (dec)'''		\|'''size (dec)'''
			\|'''UI font type constant'''
			\|'''Value'''
	\|-		\|-
	\|smallFont		\|smallFont
	\|0x0A		\|0x0A
	\|10		\|10
			\|UI_FONT_SMALL
			\|3
	\|-		\|-
	\|normalFont		\|normalFont
	\|0x10		\|0x10
	\|16		\|16
			\|UI_FONT_NORMAL
			\|1
	\|-		\|-
	\|consoleFont		\|consoleFont
	\|0x10		\|0x10
	\|16		\|16
			\|UI_FONT_CONSOLE
			\|5
	\|-		\|-
	\|boldFont		\|boldFont
	\|0x10		\|0x10
	\|16		\|16
			\|UI_FONT_BOLD
			\|4
	\|-		\|-
	\|bigFont		\|bigFont
	\|0x18		\|0x18
	\|24		\|24
			\|UI_FONT_BIG
			\|2
	\|-		\|-
	\|objectiveFont		\|objectiveFont
	\|0x23		\|0x23
	\|35		\|35
			\|UI_FONT_OBJECTIVE
			\|6
	\|-		\|-
	\|extraBigFont		\|extraBigFont
	\|0x30		\|0x30
	\|48		\|48
			\| -
			\| -
			\|-
			\| -
			\| -
			\| -
			\|UI_FONT_DEFAULT
			\|0 (auto-chose betwen big/reg/small)
	\|-		\|-
	\|}		\|}

CoDEmanX at 13:12, 29 July 2009

2009-07-29T13:12:57Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:12, 29 July 2009
Line 157:		Line 157:
	[[Category:Call of Duty 5]]		[[Category:Call of Duty 5]]
	[[Category:Technical Reference]]		[[Category:Technical Reference]]
			[[Category:File formats]]

CoDEmanX at 20:18, 14 July 2009

2009-07-14T20:18:14Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:18, 14 July 2009
Line 99:		Line 99:

	===File relations===		===File relations===
	In the font file are two strings (character arrays) at the end. ~~one~~ of them is the filename of the material. in the material file is another string to the actual image file (iwi). it references like this:		In the font file are two strings (character arrays) at the end. One of them is the filename of the material. In the material file is another string to the actual image file (iwi). It references like this:

	font file --> material --> iwi		font file --> material --> iwi

	The glyph (character) entries in the font file store the information, which pixels in the iwi are a letter (plus some other data). ~~that~~'s what i call "mapping". it maps common digital letters via their ascii codes to image data. ~~this~~ image data is a portion of the iwi. ~~the~~ so called uv coords tell the game what to "cut out" of the iwi and use as letter ingame. it actually uses small pictures and no computer text.		The glyph (character) entries in the font file store the information, which pixels in the iwi are a letter (plus some other data). That's what i call "mapping". It maps common digital letters via their ascii codes to image data. This image data is a portion of the iwi. The so called UV coords tell the game what to "cut out" of the iwi and use as letter ingame. It actually uses small pictures and no computer text.


Line 117:		Line 117:
	[[Image:UV_mapping.jpg]]		[[Image:UV_mapping.jpg]]

	(0,0) is the coord in the top left corner. (1,1) is the bottom right corner. in case of the ~~cod~~ fonts, UVs can't be greater than 1 and have to be larger than 0. The coord (0.5,0.5) is exactly the center of the image, no matter what height and width the image has. To calculate the UV into pixels, you multiply one image dimension by the appropriate UV value.		(0,0) is the coord in the top left corner. (1,1) is the bottom right corner. The first number is for the vertical direction (left to right), the second for the horizontal (top to bottom). Thus the generalized UV coord is (u,v).

			In case of the CoD fonts, UVs can't be greater than 1 and have to be equal to or be larger than 0. The coord (0.5,0.5) is exactly the center of the image, no matter what height and width the image has. To calculate the UV into pixels, you multiply one image dimension by the appropriate UV value.


Line 127:		Line 129:
	V = 0.5		V = 0.5

	X = width * U = 512*0.5 = 256		X = width * U = 512*0.5 = 256
	Y = height * V = 1024*0.5 = 512		Y = height * V = 1024*0.5 = 512

CoDEmanX at 15:09, 14 July 2009

2009-07-14T15:09:10Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:09, 14 July 2009
Line 55:		Line 55:


	==~~Font file specification~~==		==File specifications==
	The structure of a font mapping file is like this:		The structure of a font mapping file is like this:

Line 96:		Line 96:
	</pre>		</pre>

	==~~Explaination~~==		==Explanation==

	===File relations===		===File relations===
Line 104:		Line 104:

	The glyph (character) entries in the font file store the information, which pixels in the iwi are a letter (plus some other data). that's what i call "mapping". it maps common digital letters via their ascii codes to image data. this image data is a portion of the iwi. the so called uv coords tell the game what to "cut out" of the iwi and use as letter ingame. it actually uses small pictures and no computer text.		The glyph (character) entries in the font file store the information, which pixels in the iwi are a letter (plus some other data). that's what i call "mapping". it maps common digital letters via their ascii codes to image data. this image data is a portion of the iwi. the so called uv coords tell the game what to "cut out" of the iwi and use as letter ingame. it actually uses small pictures and no computer text.


	===UV mapping===		===UV mapping===
Line 117:		Line 118:

	(0,0) is the coord in the top left corner. (1,1) is the bottom right corner. in case of the cod fonts, UVs can't be greater than 1 and have to be larger than 0. The coord (0.5,0.5) is exactly the center of the image, no matter what height and width the image has. To calculate the UV into pixels, you multiply one image dimension by the appropriate UV value.		(0,0) is the coord in the top left corner. (1,1) is the bottom right corner. in case of the cod fonts, UVs can't be greater than 1 and have to be larger than 0. The coord (0.5,0.5) is exactly the center of the image, no matter what height and width the image has. To calculate the UV into pixels, you multiply one image dimension by the appropriate UV value.


	'''Example:'''		'''Example:'''
Line 127:		Line 129:
	X = width * U = 512*0.5 = 256		X = width * U = 512*0.5 = 256
	Y = height * V = 1024*0.5 = 512		Y = height * V = 1024*0.5 = 512

			coord in pixels: (256,512)
	</pre>		</pre>

	~~coord in pixels: 256,512~~

	===Dimension & margin===		===Dimension & margin===

CoDEmanX at 15:04, 14 July 2009

2009-07-14T15:04:51Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:04, 14 July 2009
Line 84:		Line 84:
	<pre>		<pre>
	BYTE[0,1] == character code (unicode supported?)		BYTE[0,1] == character code (unicode supported?)
	BYTE[2] == margin left		BYTE[2] == margin left
	BYTE[3] == margin top		BYTE[3] == margin top
	BYTE[4] == margin right (actually more like padding, necessary because the game uses non-monospaced fonts)		BYTE[4] == margin right (actually more like padding, necessary because the game uses non-monospaced fonts)
	BYTE[5] == width		BYTE[5] == width
	BYTE[6] == height		BYTE[6] == height
	BYTE[7] == unknown (no visible change, always 0x00 in stock font files)		BYTE[7] == unknown (no visible change, always 0x00 in stock font files)
	BYTE[8-11] == (float) UV of left side of the bounding rectangle of the char (from top left of image)		BYTE[8-11] == (float) UV of left side of the bounding rectangle of the char (from top left of image)
	BYTE[12-15] == (float) UV of top of the bounding rectangle		BYTE[12-15] == (float) UV of top of the bounding rectangle
	BYTE[16-19] == (float) UV of right side of the bounding rectangle		BYTE[16-19] == (float) UV of right side of the bounding rectangle
Line 120:		Line 120:
	'''Example:'''		'''Example:'''
	<pre>		<pre>
	width = 512		width = 512
	height = 1024		height = 1024
	U = 0.5		U = 0.5
	V = 0.5		V = 0.5

	X = width * U = 512*0.5 = 256		X = width * U = 512*0.5 = 256
	Y = height * V = 1024*0.5 = 512		Y = height * V = 1024*0.5 = 512
	</pre>		</pre>
Line 141:		Line 141:

	A font editor/creator is currently being developed.		A font editor/creator is currently being developed.


	{{Info\|1=Forum discussion: [http://raidersmerciless.com/showthread.php?t=9151 RGN - Game Fonts]}}		{{Info\|1=Forum discussion: [http://raidersmerciless.com/showthread.php?t=9151 RGN - Game Fonts]}}

CoDEmanX at 15:02, 14 July 2009

2009-07-14T15:02:02Z

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Note|Call of Duty 2, 4 and 5 seem to use the same font system with identical file structure specifications. Call of Duty 1 is way different, it uses a combination of .dds images and .dat files and has not been investigated yet. Therefore, this article focuses on the font system from CoD2 on.}}
 A font is made up of 4 files:
 # image (*.iwi)
@@ Line 54: / Line 55: @@
 The structure of a font mapping file is like this:
@@ Line 94: / Line 96: @@
 </pre>
 {{Download|1=http://www.diegologic.net/CoD/CoD4%20Fonts%20Explorer.zip|2=CoD Font Explorer|3=Download Regolith's}}

Zeroy: New page: {{Note|Call of Duty 2, 4 and 5 seem to use the same font system with identical file structure specifications. Call of Duty 1 is way different, it uses a combination of .dds images and .dat...

2009-07-06T13:16:12Z

New page: {{Note|Call of Duty 2, 4 and 5 seem to use the same font system with identical file structure specifications. Call of Duty 1 is way different, it uses a combination of .dds images and .dat...

New page