Text "effects" using string clones

[Aprikot]

I'm wondering if anyone has considered or attempted faking text effects by creating multiple replicas of a font string, and layering them over, under, and around the original. A Photoshop mock-up of the idea:



I was thinking of trying an in-game demo/proof of concept mock-up when I have some time. I shouldn't think using this method for a single custom font string would be too difficult.

I'm more interested in programmatically creating, anchoring, positioning, layering, and coloring multiple font string replicas according to specific font objects.

The first examples that come to mind, and probably the best application of the concept, are some of the font objects that overlay the game world (zone & chat text...nameplates & FCT too).

I'm curious if anyone knows of any showstopping obstacles to implementing something like this.