T2dTextObject and lack of support
by Ricardo Vladimiro · in Torque Game Builder · 08/01/2007 (10:54 am) · 10 replies
T2dTextObject has a rendering problem since the day it was implemented. Back in 1.3 it created the utf files but lack video quality. On one hand, having the utf files would ensure that any licensed font I purchased could be used, on the other hand it became somewhat pointless since the poor graphic quality put the whole t2dTextObject out of our plans.
In the meantime we created our own rendering class, all scripted since I only have only the Commercial license. It did the job but is obviously slow, since it has a load of possibilities, from fades, to rotations, you name it, it has it. Basically, given a certain string, it will render it, align it and prepare it to any text effects we created. The quality of the graphics is obviously suberb.
Our game is almost done. We are putting all the "pieces" together and getting ready for beta and the commercial presentation. Meaning, we have to take care of things that need some tune up and polish. While debating the matter of fonts, I did some tests, considering that maybe with 1.5 things would be somewhat different. I was a bit worried to find that not only the utf fonts are not automatically created but also that the graphic quality had the same problems. I read some stuff in TDN and decided to open a support ticket.
I will not quote the answer since it would not be polite, but was in the lines of "post it in the foruns and if you don't get an answer in a suitable time, contact me."
My answer was that I would post in the foruns (this post) and to direct me to the support policy, which I'm waiting the answer.
I'm deeply concerned regarding support offered to the paying customers of TGB. Today I opened a support ticket regarding t2dTextObject. Some days ago I opened another one regarding the exec() and compile() echos to the console. The one regarding the echos is not a big deal, so I'm only worried that I didn't get an answer. This one is a severe problem regarding the production of a game. The suitable time for an answer to a critical request (which is indicated in the support ticket) is obviously ASAP, not to send people to the foruns. If that is not the concern of the support team in GG, I would like to be informed of it, since it would put TGB and GG out of any of our future projects.
I hold no grunge against the product. It has helped me in a lot of ways, but for some reason I bought TGB Commercial. I understand that maybe the Commercial and Indie is just a commercial thing with the logo restrictions and so on, but I would expect that the person that reads a critical support request would understand that maybe there is an issue.
Take a look at the foruns, there are a lot of t2dTextObject issues, why sending me back?
What I am going to do is to re-write the script to try to get some more performance and forget t2dTextObject. I'll be wasting my time (thus my money) and my artist's time (thus my money again) to get a suitable solution for a feature that is part of the engine. I did it already to juice up the loading of the engine regarding script, I'll do it again with the text objects.
The really sad part is that I wouldn't mind doing it if the answer was "We are aware there's an issue, but we cannot solve it in a timely manner." and I would go on with my scripting. But the answer I got really looked like "It's not our problem, go to the foruns."
This is no way of handling customers. I have so many plans for TGB, it is really sad that for something so small I'll have to reconsider our position regarding it.
I'm awaiting from an answer from GG.
In the meantime we created our own rendering class, all scripted since I only have only the Commercial license. It did the job but is obviously slow, since it has a load of possibilities, from fades, to rotations, you name it, it has it. Basically, given a certain string, it will render it, align it and prepare it to any text effects we created. The quality of the graphics is obviously suberb.
Our game is almost done. We are putting all the "pieces" together and getting ready for beta and the commercial presentation. Meaning, we have to take care of things that need some tune up and polish. While debating the matter of fonts, I did some tests, considering that maybe with 1.5 things would be somewhat different. I was a bit worried to find that not only the utf fonts are not automatically created but also that the graphic quality had the same problems. I read some stuff in TDN and decided to open a support ticket.
I will not quote the answer since it would not be polite, but was in the lines of "post it in the foruns and if you don't get an answer in a suitable time, contact me."
My answer was that I would post in the foruns (this post) and to direct me to the support policy, which I'm waiting the answer.
I'm deeply concerned regarding support offered to the paying customers of TGB. Today I opened a support ticket regarding t2dTextObject. Some days ago I opened another one regarding the exec() and compile() echos to the console. The one regarding the echos is not a big deal, so I'm only worried that I didn't get an answer. This one is a severe problem regarding the production of a game. The suitable time for an answer to a critical request (which is indicated in the support ticket) is obviously ASAP, not to send people to the foruns. If that is not the concern of the support team in GG, I would like to be informed of it, since it would put TGB and GG out of any of our future projects.
I hold no grunge against the product. It has helped me in a lot of ways, but for some reason I bought TGB Commercial. I understand that maybe the Commercial and Indie is just a commercial thing with the logo restrictions and so on, but I would expect that the person that reads a critical support request would understand that maybe there is an issue.
Take a look at the foruns, there are a lot of t2dTextObject issues, why sending me back?
What I am going to do is to re-write the script to try to get some more performance and forget t2dTextObject. I'll be wasting my time (thus my money) and my artist's time (thus my money again) to get a suitable solution for a feature that is part of the engine. I did it already to juice up the loading of the engine regarding script, I'll do it again with the text objects.
The really sad part is that I wouldn't mind doing it if the answer was "We are aware there's an issue, but we cannot solve it in a timely manner." and I would go on with my scripting. But the answer I got really looked like "It's not our problem, go to the foruns."
This is no way of handling customers. I have so many plans for TGB, it is really sad that for something so small I'll have to reconsider our position regarding it.
I'm awaiting from an answer from GG.
#2
I can definitely see how you can interpret it in that way... though I don't think it was meant in that way at all. I often browse these forums (have recently began to dedicate more official time to do so) and the person who handles the support ticket often will just direct the questions to me or someone else who can handle it. So basically the forums are one of the best forms of support, not only do I and some other employees read and post, but we have some great community members that really contribute and help eachother out.
08/01/2007 (11:57 am)
Great post and great feedback... maybe I can give you a different perspective:Quote:The really sad part is that I wouldn't mind doing it if the answer was "We are aware there's an issue, but we cannot solve it in a timely manner." and I would go on with my scripting. But the answer I got really looked like "It's not our problem, go to the foruns."
I can definitely see how you can interpret it in that way... though I don't think it was meant in that way at all. I often browse these forums (have recently began to dedicate more official time to do so) and the person who handles the support ticket often will just direct the questions to me or someone else who can handle it. So basically the forums are one of the best forms of support, not only do I and some other employees read and post, but we have some great community members that really contribute and help eachother out.
#3
The answer I got regarding the support policy is (and this is a copy-paste from GG's reply):
What this means is that if I get a severe problem that costs me thousands of dollars in development time and ruins the development done until a given moment that is not GG's problem and that the help I'll get is "the best GG can" that, reading from the first email is: go to the foruns.
Right now, if there is an issue regarding the font system I've developed, it means my game cannot be published, and the work, effort and money that I put in this is lost and I have to start from scratch. Not a promising start for an indie company.
The only thing I can do is to continue my work and hope everything goes to plan. If something fails, I have a severe problem to solve and I have no support at all from the company that developed the 3rd party engine I'm using. I cannot even apply to a support contract because I haven't been in a boot camp. If you consider I rewrote all GG's script, I would say maybe I don't really need it. And even if I could, would I after this answer?
08/01/2007 (12:07 pm)
I got a lot of info from your posts here and at the IndieGamer foruns. I'm trying to undestand what's really happening. I got the answer to my email a few minutes ago and I'm making an effort to relax and evaluate the problem.The answer I got regarding the support policy is (and this is a copy-paste from GG's reply):
Quote:"GarageGames does not have any official support. I try to help as much as I can, but the best way is to post in the forums so all employees have a chance to view the post and help. This usually solves the issues that people may be having. We do have commercial support contracts, information can be found here: http://www.garagegames.com/my/home/support.php"
What this means is that if I get a severe problem that costs me thousands of dollars in development time and ruins the development done until a given moment that is not GG's problem and that the help I'll get is "the best GG can" that, reading from the first email is: go to the foruns.
Right now, if there is an issue regarding the font system I've developed, it means my game cannot be published, and the work, effort and money that I put in this is lost and I have to start from scratch. Not a promising start for an indie company.
The only thing I can do is to continue my work and hope everything goes to plan. If something fails, I have a severe problem to solve and I have no support at all from the company that developed the 3rd party engine I'm using. I cannot even apply to a support contract because I haven't been in a boot camp. If you consider I rewrote all GG's script, I would say maybe I don't really need it. And even if I could, would I after this answer?
#4
@Matthew - To be completely honest, I was told to come to the foruns and I was told there is no official support. Do you want a forward of the email conversation? Will I get an answer? If I have distribution problems that are born from the engine, will I get support?
I respect your intelectual honesty Matthew, I really do, but I'm not getting any answer.
08/01/2007 (12:11 pm)
Sorry, cross-posted with Matthew.@Matthew - To be completely honest, I was told to come to the foruns and I was told there is no official support. Do you want a forward of the email conversation? Will I get an answer? If I have distribution problems that are born from the engine, will I get support?
I respect your intelectual honesty Matthew, I really do, but I'm not getting any answer.
#5
Though I do fully sympathize, in the end if this is an issue that completely blocks you from developing a game as a serious Indie developer then you are setting yourself up to face a lot of real challenges in this industry.
A game engine is not meant to be a tool + engine that = you dropping in a few gameplay specific aspects and everything working perfectly for your situation. Unfortunately this isn't realistic for any engine. Every engine has it's strengths and weaknesses. Font issues are definitely a weakness of TGB, it does have quite a few strengths as well.
As an indie game dev studio ourselves we can relate, though we also know making games is hard. Getting little things like fonts, portal compatibility, performance tweaks, polish, etc, all seem like small issues and scripting gameplay seems like the hardest... it often is the exact opposite though. I'm sure you've heard this anecdote before, the last 10% is just as big or bigger than the first 90%.
As an indie developer you will run into issues, no matter what tech you use. Our goal is to provide you with the best tech we can at and affordable price. Unfortunately this price doesn't warrant a lot of support resources, though it does warrant some support resources that just aren't garanteed (such as me answering questions on forums).
So even though our official statement is we can't promise you full support it doesn't in fact mean we will ignore you. Posting on these forums will usually elicit a response... you can also send an e-mail requesting help. I sometimes miss e-mails but typically if someone sends and e-mail I will respond as quickly as possible and help as much as possible. This is true for just about all GG employees.
This is one of those cases that I agree it's something we need to fix and help address which is why I'd actively participate.
I guess in the end all I can say is we cannot afford to promise support, but that doesn't mean that we don't. I'm responding to you. My posts on these forums are definitely official and definitely is support. So in the end you can choose to see if I can help you (or even drop me an e-mail and we can continue from there, so many people complain about us avoiding them and they haven't even spent the effort to send a single e-mail) or you can complain that we don't promise you any official support (not meant offensively at you).
It also comes down to this, if you expect us to take extra time and respond to issues you have specifically then it isn't too much to expect you to put the effort in posting a forum post and even sending an e-mail.
08/01/2007 (1:25 pm)
You are correct, we don't have any official support. Me browsing our forums and answering questions is conceptually a form of a support and I do have some official (and non-official) time allotted to it, though we cannot afford to 'promise' you we will always give you this support. If we get busy and we don't get a chance to respond to posts then if we had promised it officially we can get in serious trouble. This is why we don't officially promise you any support though we do in fact respond to most posts and e-mails about issues as best as we can.Quote:Right now, if there is an issue regarding the font system I've developed, it means my game cannot be published, and the work, effort and money that I put in this is lost and I have to start from scratch. Not a promising start for an indie company.
Though I do fully sympathize, in the end if this is an issue that completely blocks you from developing a game as a serious Indie developer then you are setting yourself up to face a lot of real challenges in this industry.
A game engine is not meant to be a tool + engine that = you dropping in a few gameplay specific aspects and everything working perfectly for your situation. Unfortunately this isn't realistic for any engine. Every engine has it's strengths and weaknesses. Font issues are definitely a weakness of TGB, it does have quite a few strengths as well.
As an indie game dev studio ourselves we can relate, though we also know making games is hard. Getting little things like fonts, portal compatibility, performance tweaks, polish, etc, all seem like small issues and scripting gameplay seems like the hardest... it often is the exact opposite though. I'm sure you've heard this anecdote before, the last 10% is just as big or bigger than the first 90%.
As an indie developer you will run into issues, no matter what tech you use. Our goal is to provide you with the best tech we can at and affordable price. Unfortunately this price doesn't warrant a lot of support resources, though it does warrant some support resources that just aren't garanteed (such as me answering questions on forums).
So even though our official statement is we can't promise you full support it doesn't in fact mean we will ignore you. Posting on these forums will usually elicit a response... you can also send an e-mail requesting help. I sometimes miss e-mails but typically if someone sends and e-mail I will respond as quickly as possible and help as much as possible. This is true for just about all GG employees.
This is one of those cases that I agree it's something we need to fix and help address which is why I'd actively participate.
I guess in the end all I can say is we cannot afford to promise support, but that doesn't mean that we don't. I'm responding to you. My posts on these forums are definitely official and definitely is support. So in the end you can choose to see if I can help you (or even drop me an e-mail and we can continue from there, so many people complain about us avoiding them and they haven't even spent the effort to send a single e-mail) or you can complain that we don't promise you any official support (not meant offensively at you).
It also comes down to this, if you expect us to take extra time and respond to issues you have specifically then it isn't too much to expect you to put the effort in posting a forum post and even sending an e-mail.
#6
Thank you for your simpathy but I find this sentence almost offensive. It's not a matter of blocking development or me facing a challenge, it's a matter of developing and having a product that does not pass QA of one or all publishers because of a feature of the engine whose problem is well known and not solved. Unfortunatelly GG's answer regarding this issues is usually that the developers need to be strong or ready for the market, or that they have to twink the source code. I bought a commercial license of a commercial product, it is only natural that I expect support.
We are more than willing to pay a higher price for a commercial product. If the licensing issue was the price we would have bought the indie license. Reading from some foruns over the Internet several others concur with this. Maybe GG can use this as a commercial information. In our case, we are willing to even have support contracts. There's a huge gap between the low price engines and the higher price engines. I believe it's fairly simple to notice that there's a market in the middle. GG has the quality to develop to that market. Raise the price of the commercial licenses (or create another license for instance) for those that are producing for markets that need some special support.
Thank you. We have some ideas on how to correct this that we were holding for a possible Pro licensing. If you want, I'd gladly share it with you.
I'll wait for this problem to be addressed. In the meantime I'll try to script the solution. The only thing I would like to ask you is not to assume that all indie studios or people involved in it are inexperienced and need to know from GG how hard it is the world of game development. We all have a lot to learn from each other if we are listening.
Again thank you for your time and attention.
08/01/2007 (4:45 pm)
Matthew, thank you for your post and any support offered. I hope my point of view is well expressed in this thread and in the mail I sent you. GG has my full cooperation to solve any issue. Still I want to address some points you made.Quote:Though I do fully sympathize, in the end if this is an issue that completely blocks you from developing a game as a serious Indie developer then you are setting yourself up to face a lot of real challenges in this industry.
Thank you for your simpathy but I find this sentence almost offensive. It's not a matter of blocking development or me facing a challenge, it's a matter of developing and having a product that does not pass QA of one or all publishers because of a feature of the engine whose problem is well known and not solved. Unfortunatelly GG's answer regarding this issues is usually that the developers need to be strong or ready for the market, or that they have to twink the source code. I bought a commercial license of a commercial product, it is only natural that I expect support.
Quote:As an indie developer you will run into issues, no matter what tech you use. Our goal is to provide you with the best tech we can at and affordable price. Unfortunately this price doesn't warrant a lot of support resources, though it does warrant some support resources that just aren't garanteed (such as me answering questions on forums).
We are more than willing to pay a higher price for a commercial product. If the licensing issue was the price we would have bought the indie license. Reading from some foruns over the Internet several others concur with this. Maybe GG can use this as a commercial information. In our case, we are willing to even have support contracts. There's a huge gap between the low price engines and the higher price engines. I believe it's fairly simple to notice that there's a market in the middle. GG has the quality to develop to that market. Raise the price of the commercial licenses (or create another license for instance) for those that are producing for markets that need some special support.
Quote:This is one of those cases that I agree it's something we need to fix and help address which is why I'd actively participate.
Thank you. We have some ideas on how to correct this that we were holding for a possible Pro licensing. If you want, I'd gladly share it with you.
I'll wait for this problem to be addressed. In the meantime I'll try to script the solution. The only thing I would like to ask you is not to assume that all indie studios or people involved in it are inexperienced and need to know from GG how hard it is the world of game development. We all have a lot to learn from each other if we are listening.
Again thank you for your time and attention.
#7
I definitely did not mean offense. Yesterday I was talking between you and Argiris. Coincidentally both of you brought almost the same issues with support and font issues. His perspective was different in that it was very much a block to his development. Unfortunately you got a bit of cross-over conversation in that :)
"It's not a matter of blocking development or me facing a challenge, it's a matter of developing and having a product that does not pass QA of one or all publishers because of a feature of the engine whose problem is well known and not solved."
A very good point. This is also the reason why I've been actively responding to this issue for you as well as Argiris. It is definitely one I would like to get fixed/handled in a much more graceful manner. Certain issue people bring up are definitely on the other side of the line between whats expected by the game engine and what needs to be done for the game, though I definitely don't think the one you bring up is.
"Unfortunatelly GG's answer regarding this issues is usually that the developers need to be strong or ready for the market, or that they have to twink the source code."
Well in defense of ourself this is the only honest answer we can give in the short term if we don't have a fix already. Beyond continuing to help with an issue (which is what I'm doing) all I can say is hopefully you will address this issue in a way that is fitting for your game. In the longer term of course it will be added to a list of bugs/issues and hopefully fixed for a future release. That's pretty much all I can honestly say. This doesn't come from me holding back info to you or us at GG trying to pin it all on our user developers... but in the end if I said more it would be dishonest and the only way you will have an immediate solution (barring a situation that we can provide a fix for you immediately) is for us to work through it and for you to implement your fix. To me it's more of a reality and I beleive you and all of our users deserve a blunt and honest answer.
"I bought a commercial license of a commercial product, it is only natural that I expect support."
I can relate with this, though unfortunately the way we are currently set up doesn't allow us to promise this support. Though again we do still try to provide it via e-mail contact and forums. Also we have a wondeful community that can quite often provide great support.
Very true and good point. One we've actually considered in a very similar manner to what your saying. Unfortunately acheiving this while maintaining a product for multiple markets is easier said than done. We have tried this in the past to some extent and found we were sacraficing too much overall. Btw inquiring info about support contracts and whether or not with TGB you need to have gone through a boot camp.
Definitely... drop me an e-mail (mattl@garagegames.com) and we can go from there.
I apologize if I gave that impression. Quite honestly I definitely don't think this is the case (though it sometimes ends up being so). TGB reaches out accross more markets than any of our engines so it's a constant balancing game to try and please the right people in the right ways so 'hopefully' everyone is happy. Of course as we both know there is no way to make everyone happy but we do try our best. I'm definitely looking forward to issues/solutions we can learn from your experience with TGB :)
08/02/2007 (10:07 am)
Quote:Thank you for your simpathy but I find this sentence almost offensive. It's not a matter of blocking development or me facing a challenge, it's a matter of developing and having a product that does not pass QA of one or all publishers because of a feature of the engine whose problem is well known and not solved. Unfortunatelly GG's answer regarding this issues is usually that the developers need to be strong or ready for the market, or that they have to twink the source code. I bought a commercial license of a commercial product, it is only natural that I expect support.
I definitely did not mean offense. Yesterday I was talking between you and Argiris. Coincidentally both of you brought almost the same issues with support and font issues. His perspective was different in that it was very much a block to his development. Unfortunately you got a bit of cross-over conversation in that :)
"It's not a matter of blocking development or me facing a challenge, it's a matter of developing and having a product that does not pass QA of one or all publishers because of a feature of the engine whose problem is well known and not solved."
A very good point. This is also the reason why I've been actively responding to this issue for you as well as Argiris. It is definitely one I would like to get fixed/handled in a much more graceful manner. Certain issue people bring up are definitely on the other side of the line between whats expected by the game engine and what needs to be done for the game, though I definitely don't think the one you bring up is.
"Unfortunatelly GG's answer regarding this issues is usually that the developers need to be strong or ready for the market, or that they have to twink the source code."
Well in defense of ourself this is the only honest answer we can give in the short term if we don't have a fix already. Beyond continuing to help with an issue (which is what I'm doing) all I can say is hopefully you will address this issue in a way that is fitting for your game. In the longer term of course it will be added to a list of bugs/issues and hopefully fixed for a future release. That's pretty much all I can honestly say. This doesn't come from me holding back info to you or us at GG trying to pin it all on our user developers... but in the end if I said more it would be dishonest and the only way you will have an immediate solution (barring a situation that we can provide a fix for you immediately) is for us to work through it and for you to implement your fix. To me it's more of a reality and I beleive you and all of our users deserve a blunt and honest answer.
"I bought a commercial license of a commercial product, it is only natural that I expect support."
I can relate with this, though unfortunately the way we are currently set up doesn't allow us to promise this support. Though again we do still try to provide it via e-mail contact and forums. Also we have a wondeful community that can quite often provide great support.
Quote:We are more than willing to pay a higher price for a commercial product. If the licensing issue was the price we would have bought the indie license. Reading from some foruns over the Internet several others concur with this. Maybe GG can use this as a commercial information. In our case, we are willing to even have support contracts. There's a huge gap between the low price engines and the higher price engines. I believe it's fairly simple to notice that there's a market in the middle. GG has the quality to develop to that market. Raise the price of the commercial licenses (or create another license for instance) for those that are producing for markets that need some special support.
Very true and good point. One we've actually considered in a very similar manner to what your saying. Unfortunately acheiving this while maintaining a product for multiple markets is easier said than done. We have tried this in the past to some extent and found we were sacraficing too much overall. Btw inquiring info about support contracts and whether or not with TGB you need to have gone through a boot camp.
Quote:Thank you. We have some ideas on how to correct this that we were holding for a possible Pro licensing. If you want, I'd gladly share it with you.
Definitely... drop me an e-mail (mattl@garagegames.com) and we can go from there.
Quote:I'll wait for this problem to be addressed. In the meantime I'll try to script the solution. The only thing I would like to ask you is not to assume that all indie studios or people involved in it are inexperienced and need to know from GG how hard it is the world of game development. We all have a lot to learn from each other if we are listening.
I apologize if I gave that impression. Quite honestly I definitely don't think this is the case (though it sometimes ends up being so). TGB reaches out accross more markets than any of our engines so it's a constant balancing game to try and please the right people in the right ways so 'hopefully' everyone is happy. Of course as we both know there is no way to make everyone happy but we do try our best. I'm definitely looking forward to issues/solutions we can learn from your experience with TGB :)
#8
I'm personally "wrecking" our textBox class, which is fully scripted, no source changes. At this moment, although not completed, it is highly performant for a script solution.
Our programmer is working on a tiny piece of software that creates the imagemaps for using with it. As soon as it is ready, I'll share everything here.
08/02/2007 (11:00 am)
Thank you very much for you answer. If it suits any purpose, it's exactly the answer I would expect from you and from GG.I'm personally "wrecking" our textBox class, which is fully scripted, no source changes. At this moment, although not completed, it is highly performant for a script solution.
Our programmer is working on a tiny piece of software that creates the imagemaps for using with it. As soon as it is ready, I'll share everything here.
#9
Most work is done. We created a behavior that is assigned to a sceneObject. When added, the behavior checks if it's text field is empty, if it's not it uses the text, else, it uses a class we developed to manage localization files and get the righ string. You need to specify the imageMap to use and the horizontal alignment, currently left, right and center.
All the math regarding size, position is done without rendering any sprite. The size of the sceneObject is used to determine if the text is multi line. If it is, all the calculations to center the several lines vertically are automatically handled. This was done to handle cartoon like text, where we only have to create the text balloon and assign the behavior.
After that it renders all the needed sprites and mounts it on the sceneObject. The result is that you can move, use visibility methods on the sceneObject, rotate, change line spacing and kerning by changing the size of the sceneObject, and all the sprites will behave as expected. If you safeDelete the sceneObject, the text disappears.
Here's a pic: www.vortixgames.com/public_images/textBoxExample.png
The good news, performance is quite acceptable, although more testing is needed. I also need to recomment everything to english. As soon as it's cleaned up, I'll share everything.
08/03/2007 (11:12 am)
Hi againMost work is done. We created a behavior that is assigned to a sceneObject. When added, the behavior checks if it's text field is empty, if it's not it uses the text, else, it uses a class we developed to manage localization files and get the righ string. You need to specify the imageMap to use and the horizontal alignment, currently left, right and center.
All the math regarding size, position is done without rendering any sprite. The size of the sceneObject is used to determine if the text is multi line. If it is, all the calculations to center the several lines vertically are automatically handled. This was done to handle cartoon like text, where we only have to create the text balloon and assign the behavior.
After that it renders all the needed sprites and mounts it on the sceneObject. The result is that you can move, use visibility methods on the sceneObject, rotate, change line spacing and kerning by changing the size of the sceneObject, and all the sprites will behave as expected. If you safeDelete the sceneObject, the text disappears.
Here's a pic: www.vortixgames.com/public_images/textBoxExample.png
The good news, performance is quite acceptable, although more testing is needed. I also need to recomment everything to english. As soon as it's cleaned up, I'll share everything.
#10
08/03/2007 (11:14 am)
Very awesome, great to see you are making good progress. 
Torque Owner Argiris Bendilas
At least we're not the only ones having problems and that should definately mean something to Garage Games.
Here's a quick comparison to the rendering of the Arial font in TGB and Photoshop (anti-aliasing method set to "Sharp").
www.testudios.com\files\temp\t2dTextObject.png.
It's like TGB doesn't really anti-aliases the text, apart for the curvy segments of the font.
Like you, Ricardo, we thought of implementing our own font system based on scene objects but decided against it because the cost in game speed would be too much. Besides, we moved from Flash to TGB to have the benefit of C++, but so far our game performs slower or the same as Flash.
There was a point in Flash's development when Macromedia rebuilt the whole font engine of Flash from scratch and I think something similar has to be done with Torque too.
Good typography is an essential component of usability and accessibility and let's not fool ourselves, a game is still an application that will be used by people (who may even have certain disabilities that keeps them away from enjoying it) and so it has to have legible multilingual text.