WeaveFont

A typographical Submodule for Weaver Game Engine

This project is part of Weaver Game Engine. It implements WeaveFont, a language to desing and control typographical fonts strongly based on Knuth's METAFONT.

Each WeaveFont source file can generate an infinity of different typographical fonts, just changing some parameters. For example, with a single source file, you could set the described font size to 13pt, set 75% of bold, 10% of italics and toggle monospace mode. The typographical font could also define other customized parameters, like randomness or slanting, for example. The font designer can create any number of variables that could be customized on real time. Each WeaveFont source file describes an entire typographical font family, with a set of parameters that could be changed. And each one uses WeaveFont language, a complete interpreted language to describe the font.

Despite similar syntax, WeaveFont has several differences to METAFONT. Some of them are:

• WeaveFont generates fonts on the fly, using hardware acceleration thanks to OpenGL.
• WeaveFont is not a macro language. Functionalities that on Knuth's METAFONT are created using macros, in WeaveFont are built in the language.
• Our variables have scope, not all of them are global. We also use more traditional rules in our lexer. For WeaveFont, x1 and x2 are two unrelated and valid variable names, for example.
• We use floating-point math in the language, instead of the fixed-point math used by METAFONT. This makes our code faster, and usually more precise. However, this means that despite using the same algorithms to interpolate points in curves, our curves can have some differences to curves created by METAFONT (see Issue 1).
• We do not support equations, just regular assignments. a=b+c is equal a:=b+c.
• All variables must be declared on WeaveFont, not just non-numerical ones.
• We support pens with concave formats.
• WeaveFont is not tied with a single interpreter and program. You could use WeaveFont in any other computer program, just inserting a single C file and a single header.