Add FreeType-based font and text rendering support

Integrates FreeType as a submodule and adds Roboto-Regular.ttf as a default font asset. Introduces GfxFont and GfxTextRenderer classes for font loading and text rendering, including glyph texture generation and per-character rendering logic. Updates build scripts and headers to include FreeType, and adds necessary shader/material handling for text rendering.

Author: UntitledOutput

.gitmodules

@@ -13,3 +13,6 @@
 [submodule "ext/FastNoiseLite"]
 	path = ext/FastNoiseLite
 	url = https://github.com/OutputGames/FastNoiseLite.git
+[submodule "ext/freetype"]
+	path = ext/freetype
+	url = https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/freetype/freetype.git

default_assets/Roboto-Regular.ttf

@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ namespace brl
         bool setupAttributesForInstancing = false;
         GfxBuffer* instanceBuffer;
 
-    }; // <-- Add a semicolon here to terminate the struct definition
+    }; 
 
 
 } // namespace brl

include/borealis/gfx/buffer.hpp

@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 #include <memory>
 #include <vector>
 
+#include "ui.hpp"
+
 namespace brl
 {
     struct GfxShaderProgram;
@@ -309,6 +311,18 @@ namespace brl
             setOverride(override);
         }
 
+        void setTexture(std::string name, const GfxTexture* value)
+        {
+            if (!shader->getUniform(name))
+                return;
+
+            auto val = std::make_shared<GfxShaderValue>();
+            //val->txValue = const_cast<GfxTexture*>(value);
+
+            auto override = GfxShaderBinding(shader->getUniform(name), val);
+            setOverride(override);
+        }
+
         GfxShaderValue* getUniform(std::string name)
         {
             if (!shader->getUniform(name))
@@ -334,8 +348,6 @@ namespace brl
         void drawInstanced(std::vector<glm::mat4> transforms, GfxAttribBuffer* gfxBuffer,
                            GfxUniformList runtimeOverrides = {});
 
-
-
     private:
         friend struct GfxMaterialMgr;
         GfxShaderProgram* shader;

include/borealis/gfx/shader.hpp

@@ -15,13 +15,15 @@ namespace brl
         ~GfxTexture();
 
 
-    private:
+    protected:
         friend struct GfxMaterial;
         friend struct GfxShader;
         friend struct GfxSprite;
         friend struct GfxTexture2d;
         friend struct GfxTexture2dArray;
         friend struct GfxFramebuffer;
+        friend struct GfxTextRenderer;
+        friend struct TextMaterialKey;
 
         unsigned id = UINT_MAX;
         int width, height;

include/borealis/gfx/texture.hpp

@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 #define UI_HPP
 
 
+#include "buffer.hpp"
+#include "ui.hpp"
 #include "borealis/ecs/entity.hpp"
 #include "borealis/gfx/camera.hpp"
 #include "borealis/gfx/shader.hpp"
@@ -37,6 +39,7 @@ namespace brl
     private:
         friend struct GfxImage;
         friend struct GfxUIElement;
+        friend struct GfxTextRenderer;
         friend GfxEngine;
 
         static GfxCanvas* mainCanvas;
@@ -122,6 +125,53 @@ namespace brl
         GfxMaterial* material;
     };
 
+    struct GfxFont
+    {
+        struct GfxFontCharacter : GfxTexture
+        {
+            GfxFontCharacter(unsigned int id, glm::ivec2 s, glm::ivec2 b, unsigned int adv);
+            glm::ivec2 size; // Size of glyph
+            glm::ivec2 bearing; // Offset from baseline to left/top of glyph
+            unsigned int advanceOffset; // Offset to advance to next glyph
+        };
+
+        std::map<char, GfxFontCharacter> characters;
+        int fontSize = 48;
+
+        GfxFont(std::string path);
+
+    };
+
+    struct GfxTextRenderer : GfxUIElement
+    {
+        GfxTextRenderer(GfxCanvas* c);
+
+        GfxFont* font = nullptr;
+
+        std::string text;
+
+        void start() override;
+        void lateUpdate() override;
+
+    private:
+        GfxAttribBuffer* charVAO = nullptr;
+        GfxBuffer* charVBO = nullptr;
+
+            // Material pool for text rendering with different colors
+        struct TextMaterialKey
+        {
+            glm::vec3 color;
+            GfxFont::GfxFontCharacter textureID;
+
+            bool operator<(const TextMaterialKey& other) const;
+        };
+        std::map<TextMaterialKey, GfxMaterial*> materialCache;
+        // Helper to get or create text material with specific color and texture
+        GfxMaterial* getMaterial(glm::vec3 color, const GfxFont::GfxFontCharacter& textureID);
+    // Helper to create quad geometry for a single character
+        void createCharacterQuad(const GfxFont::GfxFontCharacter& ch, glm::vec2 position, float scale, float vertices[6][4]);
+    };
+
 } // namespace brl
 
 

include/borealis/gfx/ui.hpp

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ project "borealis"
     cppdialect "C++23"
     targetdir "lib"
     objdir "build"
-    dependson {"glad", "tinygltf", "resource_packer", "glfw"}
+    dependson {"glad", "tinygltf", "resource_packer", "glfw", "freetype"}
 
     files {
         "src/**.cpp",
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ project "borealis"
         "ext/glfw/include",
         "ext/assimp/include",
         "ext/tinygltf",
+        "ext/freetype/include",
         "ext"
     }
 
@@ -95,3 +96,4 @@ include("ext/glad/premake5.lua")
 include("ext/glfw/premake5.lua")
 include("ext/stb/premake5.lua")
 include("ext/glm/premake5.lua")
+include("ext/freetype/premake5.lua")

projects.lua

@@ -264,6 +264,7 @@ void brl::GfxEngine::initialize(int width, int height, std::string windowName)
 
     InputMgr::init(static_cast<GLFWwindow*>(mainWindow->window));
 
+    auto defaultFont = new GfxFont("D:/Roboto-Regular.ttf");
 
     // To start a frame capture, call StartFrameCapture.
     // You can specify NULL, NULL for the device to capture on if you have only one device and