Adding a font

For optimization, NGUI uses bitmaps instead of true type fonts. We need to export our .ttf or .otf fonts to a bitmap using a free third-party tool called BMFont , which was created by AngelCode.

Then, we will need a .txt file that will contain information about where each glyph is located in the exported font's bitmap. You can download the BMFont from www.angelcode.com/products/bmfont/. Free-to-use fonts are available at www.openfontlibrary.org/.

For our first font, we will use the Pacaya font created by Daniel Johnson—it is included in the Assets.zip archive. Download, install, and launch BMFont. Install the font now by right-clicking on the Pacaya.otf file and then selecting Install.

Exporting a font using BMFont

Once BMFont is launched and the Pacaya font is installed, go to Options | Font Settings. You can now select the Pacaya font in the Font field. The Size(px) field defines the font's size at export in pixels—set it to 24 and click on OK.

Our .otf file is loaded, and we...