text-and-bitmaptext

Text and BitmapText

Displaying text in Phaser 4 -- the Canvas-based Text game object, TextStyle configuration, word wrap, BitmapText (static and dynamic), retro fonts, text alignment, text bounds, and padding.

Key source paths: src/gameobjects/text/, src/gameobjects/bitmaptext/static/, src/gameobjects/bitmaptext/dynamic/ Related skills: ../loading-assets/SKILL.md, ../sprites-and-images/SKILL.md, ../game-object-components/SKILL.md

Quick Start

// Canvas-based Text (flexible styling, uses browser fonts)
const title = this.add.text(400, 50, 'Hello World', {
    fontFamily: 'Arial',
    fontSize: '32px',
    color: '#ffffff'
});

// BitmapText (pre-rendered font texture, faster rendering)
// Font must be loaded first: this.load.bitmapFont('myFont', 'font.png', 'font.xml')
const score = this.add.bitmapText(400, 100, 'myFont', 'Score: 0', 32);

// DynamicBitmapText (per-character manipulation via callback)
const fancy = this.add.dynamicBitmapText(400, 200, 'myFont', 'Wavy!', 32);
fancy.setDisplayCallback(function (data) {
    data.y += Math.sin(data.index * 0.5 + fancy.scene.time.now * 0.005) * 10;
    return data;
});

Core Concepts

Text vs BitmapText

Rule of thumb: Use Text for UI elements that need flexible styling, web fonts, or infrequent updates. Use BitmapText for scores, timers, and anything that updates frequently or is rendered in large quantities. Use DynamicBitmapText only when you need per-character animation effects.