REXPaint

What is REXPaint?

REXPaint [gridsagegames.com/rexpaint/index.html] is an ASCII art editor with color support available for Windows (and compatible with Wine on Linux/OSX).

Does REXPaint Run on Linux?

Through WINE, yes. I tested using Bottles on Linux Mint with the default settings, and it can save, open, and export ASCII art without a problem. Considering REXPaint uses SDL to render its interface, it probably could be compiled for other platforms, but it isn't because there isn't enough demand for, the creator uses Windows, and it's not open source.

Some alternatives:

I won’t claim that REXPaint is the best option for everyone needing a tool like this. Some of the other options might work better for you, so check them out, too!

• ascii-paint (2009): The first modern ASCII editor, by Shafqat Bhuiyan and libTCOD roguelike library creator Jice.
• ASCIIPaint (2010): An ASCII editor written in flash--somewhat slow and not easy to use, but it’s the first and only one I tried out when looking to make some ASCII art, thus it’s the editor that convinced me I needed to make my own ;).
• ascii animator (2011): Ben Porter’s fork of ascii-paint that expands the interface to add support for animations and gif exports. Definitely check this out if you want to make animated ASCII art.
• advASCIIdraw (2013): This one is a little more like raster art programs than your normal ASCII editor. It supports multi-cell brushes, making it a better choice for large pieces of art with varied content. Unfortunately it comes with a serious drawback: there is no undo/redo feature, which is extremely important for any kind of editor--not because people make mistakes, but because it encourages experimentation. Lack of an undo function is a pretty big barrier to “efficient creativity.”
• Playscii (2015): A very new open source option with a rapidly expanding feature set. I haven’t tried this one before so I can’t offer any opinions; check out the website for details.

Roguelike Development with REXPaint, "Published: July 28, 2015" [https://www.gridsagegames.com/blog/2015/07/roguelike-development-rexpaint/] (accessed 2024-10-05)