https://github.com/klarh/garmin_dice_roller

Garmin ConnectIQ app for tabletop game random number generation
https://github.com/klarh/garmin_dice_roller

Last synced: 9 days ago
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Garmin ConnectIQ app for tabletop game random number generation

• Host: GitHub
• URL: https://github.com/klarh/garmin_dice_roller
• Owner: klarh
• License: gpl-3.0
• Created: 2020-05-15T22:47:01.000Z (over 4 years ago)
• Default Branch: master
• Last Pushed: 2020-05-16T00:41:47.000Z (over 4 years ago)
• Last Synced: 2024-11-06T17:57:50.114Z (about 2 months ago)
• Language: Python
• Size: 31.3 KB
• Stars: 0
• Watchers: 3
• Forks: 0
• Open Issues: 0
• Metadata Files:
  • Readme: README.md
  • License: LICENSE.txt
  • Support: support/dice logo SVGs.ipynb

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README

        

# Introduction

This is a very simple app for [Garmin

ConnectIQ](https://developer.garmin.com/connect-iq/overview/) watches

to provide random numbers for tabletop games. It may serve as a useful

example for:

- Building ConnectIQ apps on Linux

- Building ConnectIQ apps without using the Eclipse plugin

- Rendering antialiased graphics using custom fonts

# Linux prerequisites

For the most part, the [Garmin

SDK](https://developer.garmin.com/connect-iq/sdk/) is easy enough to

install and use; it does require `webkitgtk2`, however, which is

available on the AUR on arch linux.

This project also uses:

- inkscape (available from your package repository): for editing and converting font glyphs

- cairosvg (package repository): for rasterizing individual glyphs

- [plato](https://github.com/glotzerlab/plato): for creating the source SVGs for the font

# Building

The project uses a standard makefile.

- `make build` will compile the watchapp for a particular device

- `make run` will run the app in an emulator window

- `make release/app.iq` will compile the app for upload to the ConnectIQ store

# Rendering antialiased images

To improve the graphics, I tried several tricks before settling on the

current approach. I wanted something that would be easy to tweak as a

part of this pipeline, without a lot of manual steps in GUI programs.

The first font-focused strategy I tried was making an SVG font using

inkscape, then converting that font to a .fnt using fontforge. It

turns out that the .fnt format that fontforge supports is not the same

as the one required by the ConnectIQ SDK, however. Furthermore, I had

a hard time automatically getting the glyphs to be placed exactly as I

wanted. Instead, I went for the approach of manually rasterizing the

glyphs myself using the `make_font.py` script provided here.

# Other projects to check out

- [garmin-connect-seed](https://github.com/danielsiwiec/garmin-connect-seed) - Seed for projects using a Makefile in a similar process used here

- [garmin-drawaa](https://github.com/sunpazed/garmin-drawaa) - Sample library to draw antialiased graphics primitives

- [garmin-tilemapper](https://github.com/sunpazed/garmin-tilemapper) - Tool to convert graphics into fonts for antialiased rendering

- [Hiero](https://github.com/libgdx/libgdx/wiki/Hiero) - Cross-platform java application that can convert fonts (like TTFs) to the .fnt format used by the Garmin SDK (an alternative to BMfont)