Runtime Unicode Text

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Version: 0.1.0

Overview

Runtime Unicode Text is an Unreal Engine Code Plugin for rendering runtime Unicode text in world space. It supports two workflows:

• Place a RuntimeUnicodeTextActor directly in the level.
• Add a RuntimeUnicodeTextComponent to an existing Actor.

Slate performs shaping and rasterization, and the plugin uses a shared, plugin-owned GPU glyph atlas. It does not require a Widget Component, UMG, or Text3D. While the application is running, SetText can change the component to text that contains previously unused characters.

Version 0.1.0 has been validated on Unreal Engine 5.8 / Win64. Real-font integration testing covers Japanese text, Latin text, mixed Latin/Japanese/numeric text, 龍鬱鶴, and multiline text. This release does not provide broad script certification.

Requirements

• Unreal Engine 5.8
• Win64
• Recommended: a project-owned, cooked, Runtime Cached UFont
• Offline font pages are not a prerequisite.
• The plugin package does not require glyph pre-enumeration or pre-baking.

UE 5.7 and earlier, and platforms other than Win64, are not certified by this release.

Installation

From Fab

1. Acquire Runtime Unicode Text from Fab.
2. Install it for the supported Engine version.
3. Open the project.
4. Open Edit > Plugins.
5. Enable Runtime Unicode Text.
6. Restart the editor if requested.

Project Plugin / Source Checkout

For development workflows where you already have repository access, the plugin root is:

<Project>/Plugins/RuntimeUnicodeText/

Place the plugin checkout at that path, then use the project’s normal source build workflow.

Quick Start — Actor

1. From Place Actors, place the Runtime Unicode Text Actor.
2. Select its root Runtime Unicode Text Component.
3. Set Font to a Runtime Cached UFont.
4. Set Text, for example, to こんにちは世界.
5. Adjust WorldSize, Color, and alignment.
6. Check the result in PIE.

The Actor owns a RuntimeUnicodeTextComponent as its root component. The component is the source of truth; the Actor has no separate rendering state.

The Aあ Billboard/Class icon shown in the editor is editor-only and does not affect packaged rendering.

Quick Start — Component

Add Runtime Unicode Text Component to an existing custom Actor and configure that component directly. The component is the source of truth for:

• Text
• Font
• WorldSize
• Color
• HorizontalAlignment
• VerticalAlignment

Use the Component workflow when the text should be part of an existing custom Actor rather than a separately placed text Actor.

Properties

Property	Contract
Text	Unicode text. Explicit newline is supported.
Font	Runtime Cached UFont.
WorldSize	Font em height in world units. Default 80.0; minimum 0.01.
Color	Rendered vertex/material color.
HorizontalAlignment	Left / Center / Right.
VerticalAlignment	Top / Center / Bottom.

Blueprint API

The component’s public Blueprint-callable functions are:

SetText
SetFont
SetColor
SetWorldSize

The Actor also provides this BlueprintPure getter:

Get Runtime Unicode Text Component

Example:

Event BeginPlay
  → Get Runtime Unicode Text Component
  → SetText (New Text: こんにちは世界)

Font Behavior

The formal recommendation is to set an explicit project-owned Runtime Cached UFont.

When Font == nullptr, the current Win64 implementation checks %WINDIR%\Fonts\ for an installed font in this order:

NotoSansJP-VF.ttf
YuGothM.ttc
meiryo.ttc

This fallback depends on the PC environment. Do not rely on it for a portable or reproducible packaged result; use an explicit Runtime Cached UFont instead.

The plugin package does not include the Noto Sans JP font itself. The Noto Sans JP font used by the Sample is a Sample-side third-party dependency and is not included in the Plugin product.

Runtime Rendering Behavior

• Shaping and rasterization use Slate.
• Glyphs are copied into a shared plugin-owned BGRA8 atlas.
• A stable destination glyph cache is used.
• Arbitrary Actor and world rotation are supported.
• Text is not billboard text; the scene proxy uses the normal world transform.
• First-use glyphs can be added at runtime.

Packaging

• UE 5.8 Win64 packaged Development and Shipping builds have been validated.
• The material in Plugin Content is normally cooked together with the plugin.
• If you use a project-owned UFont, configure the project so that the font asset is included in the packaged build.
• For portable results, use an explicit Runtime Cached UFont instead of the Windows system-font fallback.

No other platform is implied by this packaging validation.

Performance / Glyph Cache

• Atlas eviction is not implemented.
• Atlas memory increases as unique glyphs are added.
• A stress test reached 16 1024x1024 BGRA8 atlas pages, approximately 64 MiB of atlas memory.
• Large simultaneous SetText updates, such as 100 components, may hitch.
• Speculative size quantization, eviction, raster buckets, and similar changes are not implemented in v0.1.0.

Limitations

• UE 5.8 / Win64 only is certified.
• Atlas eviction is not implemented.
• Rich text is not supported.
• Outline is not supported.
• Shadow is not supported.
• Word wrapping is not supported.
• Vertical writing is not supported.
• Emoji support is not guaranteed.
• Automatic font downloading is not provided.
• Broad script certification is not provided.
• Very large simultaneous SetText workloads may hitch.
• The plugin itself does not bundle a font product.
• Automatic network replication is not provided.

Troubleshooting

Text does not appear

Check the following:

• The plugin is enabled.
• The Component or Actor is registered.
• An explicit Runtime Cached UFont is set.
• The font contains the target glyphs.
• The project is running on Win64 with UE 5.8.
• The project font is cooked into the packaged build.
• The Output Log contains a RUNTIME_UNICODE_TEXT warning that identifies the failure.

If Font is unset and no installed fallback font is found, the implementation logs:

RUNTIME_UNICODE_TEXT no Runtime Cached UFont or installed default font

Packaged output uses a different or missing font

Do not depend on the system fallback. Set an explicit project-owned Runtime Cached UFont and ensure that the font asset is included in the packaged build.

First appearance of new text hitches

The first use of new text may perform Slate shaping and rasterization and populate the glyph atlas. Avoid updating many components with new text at the same time when a hitch is unacceptable.

Missing characters

Confirm that the selected font contains the missing glyphs. The plugin does not provide font downloading or a font fallback package.

Sample / Verification

The companion RuntimeUnicodeTextSample project is used for integration verification. The Sample owns the Noto Sans JP Runtime Cached font asset.

Its real-font test is:

RuntimeUnicodeTextSample.Layout.RealNotoSansJP

The test verifies Japanese text, mixed Latin/Japanese/numeric text, 龍鬱鶴, and multiline text. The Sample font is not included in the Plugin package.

Version History

0.1.0

• Initial Runtime Unicode Text release.
• Runtime world-space Unicode text through Actor and Component workflows.
• Runtime SetText, SetFont, SetColor, and SetWorldSize.
• Runtime Cached UFont support.
• Horizontal and vertical alignment.
• Multiline text.
• Runtime first-use glyph generation through Slate and the shared stable glyph atlas.
• UE 5.8 Win64 validation.