RichTextLabel2

v1.14 Demo

Two Nodes:

• RicherTextLabel: Reduce effort needed to display state data and stylize it.
• RichTextAnimation: For dialogue and cinematics, animates text in and out.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/724558ad-f98e-40bb-8f30-dc413705c166

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/caf703ad-44d3-43b0-b4f9-56f513ac572f

Features

• Multi bbcode tags + easy closing + auto color names: [deep_sky_blue;b]Bold blue[] and [orange;i]Italic orange[].
• Integer tags for absolute font size, float tags are relative font_size: [32]Big text[] and [0.5]half text.[]
• Auto emojis: I'm :smile: with results. You get a :+1:.
• Effects automatically installed when you use them: We on the [sin]sinewave[] vibe.
  • Many premade effects. See Tags section below.
• Context strings: Only $coins coins, $player.name? Travel to $location.get_name("west") for more coins.
  • Can call functions or get nested properties.
  • Niceifys integers with commas. 1234 -> 1,234
  • Niceifys objects by calling to_rich_string() if it can.
  • Niceifys arrays by joining them into a comma seperated list.
• Easy font selection dropdown detects all fonts in the project.
  • Automatically creates Bold, Italic, and Bold Italic font variations if they don't exist.
  • Tweakable boldness and italic slant.
• Automatic opening and closing quotes.
• Customize how Markdown gets converted: _italic_ -> [i]%s[] -> [i]italic[] *cough* -> [i]*%s*[] -> [i]*cough*[].
• Auto color formatting: "My [%s]colored string[] is easy." % [Color.DEEP_SKY_BLUE]
• RichTextAnimation for fading in and out.
  • 7 transition effects. (Some unstable/untested.)
  • Click2Continue node that can display at the last visible character.
  • [hold] [h] Tag to pause animation until user. Wait...[h] Did you hear...[h] *Bang*!
  • [wait] [w] Tag to wait in seconds. (Defaults to 1) Let me thing.[w] Hmm...[w]...[w]...
  • [pace] [p] Set pace of animations. A slow talker [p=.1]talks like this...[p] While fast talkers [p=3]talk like this...
• Many more I can't rememember... there are a lot of features.

[!NOTE] You need to create a FontHelper somewhere in your project. Then press the Update button to update it's font list. You can then select fonts from the RicherTextLabel drop down.

Tags

Tag	Description	Example
@ meta	Executes an expression on the context node when pressed.If it starts with https:// it will load a browser.	[@print("Hey!")]
^ hint	Expression that becomes a hint popup.	[^sword.get_hover_text()]
!	Image id. Doesn't require extension.	My icon: [!icon]
dim	Dims color by 33%.
lit	Lightens color by 33%.
hue	Shifts hue. 0 or 1 = no change. 0.5 = opposite end of spectrum.	[hue 0.25]
beat	Pulses in size and color.
curspull	Pulls towards cursor.	[curspull pull=-1]
cuss	Animation to replace vowels with symbols.	What the [cuss]heck[].
heart	Animated love bounce. Demonstrates changing font and using emojis.
jit
jit2	Jittering nervous animation.
jump
jump2
l33t	Animation to replace letters with numbers.
off	Ignore. Offsets.
rain	Simulates rain. What for? I don't know.
secret	Hidden unless mouse cursor is nearbye.
sin	Might not work as sin is now built in?
sparkle	Animation to sparkle character colors. Meant to be used with color tags.
sway	Just skews back and forth.
uwu	Converts all R's and L's to W's.
wack	Randomly animates rotation and scale for a wacky look.
woo	Animates between upper and lower case, creating a sarcastic tone.
pulse	Built in
wave	Built in
tornado	Built in
shake	Built in
fade	Built in
rainbow	Built in

Colors

There are multiple color tag patterns.

Pattern	Description	Example
[red]	Any name for a builtin color will work as a tag.	[red]Red text.[]
[0xff0000]	Hex Codes will be converted to their color.	[0xff0000]Red text.[]
[(1.0, 0.0, 0.0)]	Bracketed floats. This is meant to be used with string formatting.	"[%s]Red text.[][%s] Blue text.[]" % [Color.RED, Color(0.0, 0.2, 1.0)]"

You can override colors in ProjectSettings at "richer_text_label/colors". Keys are tags to replace and values are what to use instead.

RichTextAnimation

This node is meant for dialogue systems and cinematics.

Animation Tags

Tag	Description	Arguments	Example	Self Closing
wait or w	Waits a second.	Number of seconds.	Wait...[w=2] Did you hear...[w] *bang*	✅
hold or h	Holds until advance() is called.	[h]		✅
pace or p	Sets animation speed.	Scale.	[p=2.0]Fast talker.[p=0.2]Slow talker.[p]Normal speed.	✅
skip	Skips animation across selected items.		They call it [skip]The Neverending Forest[].	❌
$	Runs an expression at this spot in the animation.	Expression.	Did you hear something...[$play_sound("gurgle")]	✅
#	Calls on_bookmark.emit() with the id when reached.	Bookmark id.	He told me [#quote]the haunted forest[#endquote] wasn't so haunted.[#end]	✅

Animations

Tag	Description	Arguments
back	Characters bounce back in.
console	(Broken) Simulates a computer console.
fader	Characters alpha fades in.
fallin	Characters are scaled down from a large size.
focus	Characters slide in from all random directions.
fromcursor	Characters slide in from cursor position.
growin	Characters scale up from tiny.
offin	Characters slide in from a slight offset to the left.
prickle	Character alpha fades in but with a random offset. Requires a low fade_in_speed to look right.
redact	(Broken) Simulates redacted text being exposed.
wfc	Characters start out as random 0's and 1's and eventually "collapse".

If shortcut_expression = true you can use the `` pattern instead of the [!code expression] pattern.

Did you hear something...[wait][$play_sound("gurgle")] Uh oh![$player.fear = 100.0] Ahh...
Did you hear something...[wait] Uh oh! Ahh...

If shortcut_bookmark = true you can use the #bookmark pattern instead of the [#bookmark] pattern.

He told me#quote the haunted forest#endquote wasn't so haunted.#end
He told me[#quote] the haunted forest[#endquote] wasn't so haunted.[#end]

Fonts

When you enable the plugin, it scans your projects file system for fonts, adding them to richer_text_label/fonts which are then accessible in the font drop down.

Emoji Fonts

If a font has "emoji" (any case) in it's name, it will be used for emojis instead of the default font.

Emojis sometimes lag on some computers, which I get around by creating a custom FontVariant that uses the emoji font as a base and ThemeDB.fallback_font as a fallback font. This seems to prevent lag spikes.

If an emoji tag is used :smile: or [:smile:] an emoji_font metadata key will be created with the font.

Pipes

Pipes | post process strings.

There are two ways to use them.

• Inside expressions {$score+2|pipe}
• Or as a tag [|pipe]Text to be passed.[]

# These are all doing the same thing.
"We'll visit {location|capitalize} tomorrow."
"We'll visit {location.capitalize()} tomorrow."
"We'll visit [|capitalize]$location[] tomorrow."

# Arguments can also be passed as a space seperated list:
# These are all the same.
"Day of week: {time.day_of_week|substr 0 3}"
"Day of week: {time.day_of_week.substr(0, 3)}"
"Day of week: [|substr 0 3]$time.day_of_week[]"

The real power is in adding your own. Pipes try to use a method inside the context node.

func cap(x):
	return x.capitalize()

func oooify(x):
	if cow_mode == CowMode.ACTIVATED:
		return x.replace("o", "[sin]ooo[/sin]").replace("O", "[sin]OOO[/sin]")
	else:
		return x

# Pipes can be chained.
# Location name gets capitalized, and all it's O's stretched out.
"We'll visit {location|cap|ooify}."

# Or we may want to change entire the dialogue based on state data.
[|ooify]Wow those cows were mooing.[]

Or maybe you want to stylize content based on the characters mood.

# If returning BBCode, it has to be old fashioned style.
func mood(s: String, npc_id: String):
	match npcs[npc_id].emotion:
		Emotion.HAPPY: return "[color=yellow]%s[/color]" % s
		Emotion.SAD: return "[color=aqua]%s[/color]" % s
		Emotion.ANGRY: return "[color=red]%s[/color]" % s
		_: return s

"Mary: [i;|mood mary]What I'm saying will be colored based on my mood.[]"
"John: [i;|mood john]What I'm saying will be colored based on my mood.[]"

[!NOTE] The BBCode [|pipe] tag function must return old fashioned BBCode. It doesn't support the labels features like Markdown replacement. Eventually I'll fix that.

Changes

• 1.14
  • If using Godot v4.4+ the ProjectSettings color override will be a typed dictionary.
  • Allows using Color in the ProjectSettings color override.
• 1.13
  • Major change to FontHelper, it now adds a font list to ProjectSettings when you enable the plugin.
  • Moved overriding color tags to ProjectSettings instead of a config file.
• 1.12
  • Added hex color tag pattern: [0xff0000]red[].
  • Added ability to override colors and add own with res://richtext_tags.cfg.
  • Updated README.md to explain res://richtext_tags.cfg.
  • Fixed bracket color pattern not using alpha channel.
  • Fixed bracket color pattern erroring when only RGB was given.
• 1.11
  • Removed Godot 4.4 feature export_tool_button in FontHelper.
  • Breaking: Godot 4.4 added an is_finished() function which conflicted with this asset so changed...
    • is_finished() -> is_anim_finished()
    • is_holding() -> is_anim_holding()
    • is_waiting() -> is_anim_waiting()
    • finish() -> finish_anim()
• 1.10
  • Breaking: Changed meta symbol to @ instead of !.
  • Added [!image] tag for adding images.
  • Fixed fonts being reset in exported projects.
  • Made FontHelper a resource you need to create.
  • Updated to 4.4 by removing fit_width reference.
• 1.9
  • Added hack to improve editor instancing speed by disabling _get_property_list() when show_properties = false.
  • Cached Regex patterns.
  • Removed fit_width and fit_width_buffer since fit_content works if autowrap_mode = off.
• 1.8
  • Fixed support for built in effects: pulse wave tornado shake fade rainbow
  • Removed Godot 4.4.dev feature: PROPERTY_HINT_DICTIONARY_TYPE
• 1.7.1
  • Fixed FontHelper erroring on built projects.
• 1.7
  • Changed set_bbcode to queue for the end of the frame.
  • Moved tag state and stack to STACK_STATE object.
  • Moved font_cache and font functions to FontHelper.
  • Removed _random and set as meta property since it's rarely used.
• 1.6.3
  • Fixed color property not being settable from script.
  • Fixed alignment error and used slightly more efficient method.
• 1.6.2
  • Removed Godot 4.4.dev feature: horizontal_alignment property.
• 1.6.1
  • Removed Godot 4.4.dev feature: Explicitly typed dictionary.
• 1.6
  • Added outline_color to set the default outline color.
  • Added outline modes:
    • CUSTOM to apply default outline_color to all text.
    • CUSTOM_DARKEN to apply outline_color to non colored text, but darken outlines otherwise.
    • CUSTOM_LIGHTEN to apply outline_color to non colored text, but lighten outlines otherwise.
  • Renamed OutlineStyle to OutlineMode to match property outline_mode.
  • Fixed OutlineMode.OFF not turning off outlines.
• 1.5
  • Added [!] meta tag which calls an expression when pressed.
  • Added [^] hint tag which calls an expression to display in a popup when hovered.
  • Added custom tooltip for hint tags which now use the RicherTextLabel.
  • Added meta_auto_https which opens urls in a browser.
  • Added fit_width which will set custom_minimum_size.x = get_content_width().
  • Handles \n better now.
  • Removed alignment since original RichTextLabel now has horizontal_alignment.
• 1.4.2
  • Fixed custom RichTextEffects not working on built projects.
• 1.4.1
  • Fixed variables not being resetable to defaults.
• 1.4
  • Changed how bbcode is initialized when not yet inside the tree.
  • Made node selection slightly faster by moving all @export to _get_property_list.
  • Made node selection slightly faster by caching project fonts.
  • Renamed scripts to lowercase to match Godots prefered style.
  • Renamed context_nice_* properties to context_rich_*.
• 1.3 BREAKING CHANGES
  • Change: Class name RicherTextLabel from RichTextLabel2 to prevent future problems.
  • Change: Objects can implement to_rich_string() instead of to_string_nice().
  • advance() only skips to next [wait] [hold] or `[$expression] instead of all triggers.
  • advance() returns true if still playing.
  • Added tiny wait timer when forcing a finish, so the user doesn't accidentally skip text.
  • Fixed scene sizes being massive by preventing auto fonts saving to disk.
  • Fixed fit_content not working. Now override_fitContent really forces custom_minimum_size.
  • Fixed cursor based effects being very laggy.
  • Fixed ctc_position handling on new lines.
  • Fixed animations jumping when nearly finished.
  • Fixed set_bbcode being called many times in a row.
• 1.2
  • Added pipes |. See README.
  • Added auto styling of decimal numbers:
    • autostyle_numbers_pad_decimals Enable?
    • autostyle_numbers_decimals Number of decimals.
  • Added 4 new effects:
    • [curspull] shows how to animate based on cursor position.
    • [wack] randomly scales and rotates characters.
    • [beat] pulses it's scale and color every second.
    • [secret] hides characters unless cursor is nearbye.
  • Animation
    • Added 3 new animations:
      • [fromcursor] which transitions letters to and from cursor position.
      • [growin] scales characters in, overshooting, then scaling to proper size.
      • [offin] moves characters in from an left offset.
  • Tweaked [cuss] [heart] [rain] [sway] [uwu].
  • Fixed regression in effects based on text characters.
  • Fixed Markdown symbols catching when inside [] {} or .
• 1.1
  • Added context_state: Dictionary for passing additional arguments available in expressions.
  • Added {} pattern for including complex expressions. Example: {lerp(score, 2, 0.2) * PI}.
  • Added autostyle_emojis to disable emoji detection.
  • Changed bracket escapes to be [[] pattern instead of \[] pattern.
  • Fixed emoji_font not loading.
  • Fixed emoji_scale not affecting emojis.
  • Fixed effects not animating after an emoji was used.
  • Fixed custom_effects each having text metadata.
  • Fixed Markdown detection not working when around tags.
  • Added many more comments.
  • Animation
    • Added ctc_offset.
    • Added ctc_on_wait to control whether ctc is visible while waiting for timer.
    • Added ctc_on_finish to control whether ctc is visible when animation finishes.
    • Added default_wait_time for the [wait] and [w] tags.
    • Added signals for when waiting starts and stops.
    • Added signals for when hold starts and stops.
    • Added signal_quotes and signals for when a "quote" starts and stops.
    • Added signal_stars and signals for when stars start and stop.
    • Fixed expression triggers.
    • Fixed bookmark triggers.
    • Fixed tags [wait][w][hold][h][pace][p][skip].
    • Fixed ctc showing up properly.
    • Renamed signals so their function is more obvious.