diff --git a/src/corelib/render.c b/src/corelib/render.c
index 365ba59..4f3be4b 100644
--- a/src/corelib/render.c
+++ b/src/corelib/render.c
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 #include "inttypes.h"
 #include "SDL2/SDL_blendmode.h"
 #include "SDL2/SDL_render.h"
+#include "SDL2/SDL_surface.h"
+#include "string.h"
 
 #define NUM_DRAWCMDS 2048
 
@@ -56,6 +58,22 @@ void get_scaling_factors(float* width, float* height,
 	(*height) = (*width)*aspectr;
 }
 
+SDL_FRect get_dest_with_size(SDL_FRect untransformed, int ui) {
+	float fw, fh, fwm, fhm;
+	get_scaling_factors(&fw, &fh, &fwm, &fhm, ui);
+	SDL_FRect r = (SDL_FRect) {
+		.x=((-g_active_view.x)+(fw*0.5f)+untransformed.x)*fwm,
+		.y=((-g_active_view.y)+(fh*0.5f)+untransformed.y)*fwm,
+		.w=untransformed.w*fwm,
+		.h=untransformed.h*fwm
+	};
+	if(ui) {
+		r.x = untransformed.x * fwm;
+		r.y = untransformed.y * fhm;
+	}
+	return r;
+}
+
 void exec_sprite_cmd(const drawcmd_t* cmd) {
 	const sprite_t* sprite = &cmd->sprite;
 	float fw, fh, fwm, fhm;
@@ -115,11 +133,132 @@ void exec_rect_cmd(const drawcmd_t* cmd) {
 	SDL_RenderFillRectF(g_context.renderer, &r);
 }
 
+void exec_sliced_cmd(const drawcmd_t* cmd) {
+	const nineslice_t* sliced = &cmd->sliced;
+
+	// target rect in world space
+	SDL_FRect rect = sliced->rect;
+	// sliced texture
+	SDL_Texture* t = sliced->texture;
+
+	// width and height of sliced texture
+	int tw, th;
+	SDL_QueryTexture(t, NULL, NULL, &tw, &th);
+
+	// top-left
+	SDL_Rect srcr = {
+		0, 0, sliced->corner_size, sliced->corner_size
+	};
+	SDL_FRect dstr = get_dest_with_size((SDL_FRect){
+		rect.x, rect.y, sliced->radius, sliced->radius
+	}, cmd->ui);
+	SDL_RenderCopyF(g_context.renderer, t, &srcr, &dstr);
+
+	// top - centre
+	srcr = (SDL_Rect) {
+		sliced->corner_size, 0,
+		tw - sliced->corner_size*2, sliced->corner_size
+	};
+	dstr = get_dest_with_size((SDL_FRect){
+		rect.x + sliced->radius, 0.0, sliced->rect.w - sliced->radius * 2, sliced->radius
+	}, cmd->ui);
+	SDL_RenderCopyF(g_context.renderer, t, &srcr, &dstr);
+	
+	// top-right
+	srcr = (SDL_Rect) {
+		tw - sliced->corner_size, 0, sliced->corner_size, sliced->corner_size
+	};
+	dstr = get_dest_with_size((SDL_FRect){
+		rect.w - sliced->radius, 0, sliced->radius, sliced->radius
+	}, cmd->ui);
+	SDL_RenderCopyF(g_context.renderer, t, &srcr, &dstr);
+
+	// centre-left
+	srcr = (SDL_Rect) {
+		0, sliced->corner_size, sliced->corner_size, th - sliced->corner_size * 2
+	};
+	dstr = get_dest_with_size((SDL_FRect) {
+		0, sliced->radius, sliced->radius, rect.h - sliced->radius * 2
+	}, cmd->ui);
+	SDL_RenderCopyF(g_context.renderer, t, &srcr, &dstr);
+
+	// centre-centre
+	srcr = (SDL_Rect) {
+		sliced->corner_size, sliced->corner_size, tw - sliced->corner_size * 2, th - sliced->corner_size * 2
+	};
+	dstr = get_dest_with_size((SDL_FRect) {
+		sliced->radius, sliced->radius, rect.w - sliced->radius * 2, rect.h - sliced->radius * 2
+	}, cmd->ui);
+	SDL_RenderCopyF(g_context.renderer, t, &srcr, &dstr);
+
+	// centre-right
+	srcr = (SDL_Rect) {
+		tw - sliced->corner_size, sliced->corner_size, sliced->corner_size, th - sliced->corner_size * 2
+	};
+	dstr = get_dest_with_size((SDL_FRect) {
+		rect.w - sliced->radius, sliced->radius, sliced->radius, rect.h - sliced->radius * 2
+	}, cmd->ui);
+	SDL_RenderCopyF(g_context.renderer, t, &srcr, &dstr);
+
+	// bottom-left
+	srcr = (SDL_Rect) {
+		0, th - sliced->corner_size,
+		sliced->corner_size, sliced->corner_size
+	};
+	dstr = get_dest_with_size((SDL_FRect){
+		0, rect.h - sliced->radius,
+		sliced->radius, sliced->radius
+	}, cmd->ui);
+	SDL_RenderCopyF(g_context.renderer, t, &srcr, &dstr);
+
+	// bottom-centre
+	srcr = (SDL_Rect) {
+		sliced->corner_size, th - sliced->corner_size, tw - sliced->corner_size * 2, sliced->corner_size
+	};
+	dstr = get_dest_with_size((SDL_FRect) {
+		sliced->radius, rect.h - sliced->radius, rect.w - sliced->radius * 2, sliced->radius
+	}, cmd->ui);
+	SDL_RenderCopyF(g_context.renderer, t, &srcr, &dstr);
+
+	// bottom-right
+	srcr = (SDL_Rect) {
+		tw - sliced->corner_size, th - sliced->corner_size, sliced->corner_size, sliced->corner_size
+	};
+	dstr = get_dest_with_size((SDL_FRect) {
+		rect.w - sliced->radius, rect.h - sliced->radius, sliced->radius, sliced->radius
+	}, cmd->ui);
+	SDL_RenderCopyF(g_context.renderer, t, &srcr, &dstr);
+}
+
+void exec_text_cmd(const drawcmd_t* cmd) {
+	SDL_FRect r = get_dest_with_size(cmd->text.area, cmd->ui);
+	SDL_FRect rt = {r.x*100, r.y*100, r.w*100, r.h*100};
+	SDL_Surface* s = TTF_RenderText_Solid_Wrapped(cmd->text.font, cmd->text.text, cmd->text.fg, floor(cmd->text.area.y * 100));
+	if(s != NULL) {
+		SDL_FreeSurface(s);
+		SDL_Texture* t = SDL_CreateTextureFromSurface(g_context.renderer, s);
+		float ar = r.w / r.h;
+		float ar2 = (float)s->w / (float)s->h;
+		SDL_Rect srcr = {0, 0, s->w, s->h};
+		if(ar > ar2) {
+			srcr.h = srcr.w * ar;
+		} else if(ar < ar2) {
+			r.h = r.w * ar2;
+		}
+		SDL_RenderCopyF(g_context.renderer, t, &srcr, &r);
+		SDL_DestroyTexture(t);
+	}
+	free(cmd->text.text);
+}
+
 typedef void(*drawcmd_delegate)(const drawcmd_t*);
 drawcmd_delegate const drawcmd_funcs[] = {
 	&exec_sprite_cmd,
-	&exec_rect_cmd
+	&exec_rect_cmd,
+	&exec_sliced_cmd,
+	&exec_text_cmd,
 };
+
 void exec_buffer() {
 	if(d_debug_next_frame) printf("debug capture of draw buffer\ncount: %zu\n", (size_t)(g_drawdata_endptr - g_drawdata));
 	for(const drawcmd_t* cmd = g_drawdata; cmd != g_drawdata_endptr; ++cmd) {
@@ -206,6 +345,32 @@ void draw_rect(const rectshape_t* rect) {
 	draw(&d);
 }
 
+void draw_sliced(const nineslice_t *sliced) {
+	drawcmd_t d = {
+		.type=DRAWCMDTYPE_SLICED,
+		.depth=sliced->depth,
+		.sliced=*sliced
+	};
+	draw(&d);
+}
+
+void draw_text(const char *str, SDL_FRect area, TTF_Font *font, SDL_Color font_color, depth_t depth) {
+	int len = strlen(str);
+	textarea_t t = {
+		.text = calloc(len+1, sizeof(char)),
+		.area = area,
+		.fg = font_color,
+		.font = font,
+	};
+	strcpy(t.text, str);
+	drawcmd_t d = {
+		.type=DRAWCMDTYPE_TEXT,
+		.text=t,
+		.depth=depth,
+	};
+	draw(&d);
+}
+
 spritesheet_t make_spritesheet(const char *file, int tile_width, int tile_height) {
 	spritesheet_t sheet=(spritesheet_t){
 		.texture=get_texture(file),
@@ -217,6 +382,17 @@ spritesheet_t make_spritesheet(const char *file, int tile_width, int tile_height
 	return sheet;
 }
 
+nineslice_t make_nineslice(const char *file, int corner_px, float radius) {
+	nineslice_t sliced = {
+		.depth = RLAYER_UI,
+		.corner_size = corner_px,
+		.radius = radius,
+		.rect= {0.0, 0.0, 1.0, 1.0},
+		.texture=get_texture(file)
+	};
+	return sliced;
+}
+
 sprite_t make_sprite(const char* file, float x, float y) {
 	sprite_t sprite=(sprite_t){
 		.texture=get_texture(file),
diff --git a/src/corelib/render.h b/src/corelib/render.h
index 4f5006f..48490a6 100644
--- a/src/corelib/render.h
+++ b/src/corelib/render.h
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ extern "C" {
 #endif
 
 #include "context.h"
+#include "SDL2/SDL_ttf.h"
 
 typedef int depth_t;
 
@@ -15,6 +16,8 @@ typedef enum drawcmdtype_t {
 	DRAWCMDTYPE_MIN = -1,
 	DRAWCMDTYPE_SPRITE = 0,
 	DRAWCMDTYPE_RECT = 1,
+	DRAWCMDTYPE_SLICED = 2,
+	DRAWCMDTYPE_TEXT = 3,
 	DRAWCMDTYPE_MAX
 } drawcmdtype_t;
 
@@ -26,9 +29,19 @@ typedef struct spritesheet_t {
 
 typedef struct nineslice_t {
 	SDL_Texture* texture;
-	float corner_height, corner_width;	// the width and height of the corners
+	SDL_FRect rect;						// the rectangle to fit into
+	depth_t depth;
+	float radius;
+	int corner_size;
 } nineslice_t;							// nine-sliced texture for ui
 
+typedef struct textarea_t {
+	char* text;
+	TTF_Font* font;
+	SDL_Color fg;
+	SDL_FRect area;
+} textarea_t;
+
 typedef struct sprite_t {
 	SDL_Texture* texture;
 	float x, y;				// positions of x,y
@@ -54,6 +67,8 @@ typedef struct drawcmd_t {
 	union {
 		sprite_t sprite;	// if type is sprite, render this
 		rectshape_t rect;	// if type is rect, render this
+		nineslice_t sliced;
+		textarea_t text;
 	};
 } drawcmd_t;				// an orderable command to render, should not be directly used, use draw_* functions instead
 
@@ -73,12 +88,19 @@ extern void draw(const drawcmd_t* cmd);
 
 extern void draw_sprite(const sprite_t* sprite);
 extern void draw_rect(const rectshape_t* rect);
+extern void draw_sliced(const nineslice_t* sliced);
+extern void draw_text(const char* str, SDL_FRect area, TTF_Font* font, SDL_Color font_color, depth_t depth);
 extern spritesheet_t make_spritesheet(const char* file, int tile_width, int tile_height);
+extern nineslice_t make_nineslice(const char* file, int corner_px, float radius);
 extern sprite_t make_sprite(const char* file, float x, float y);
 extern sprite_t sprite_from_spritesheet(spritesheet_t* sheet, int index);
 extern SDL_Rect get_srcrect_from(spritesheet_t* sheet, int index);
 extern void set_active_view(const view_t* view);
 
+inline sprite_t no_sprite() {
+	return (sprite_t){NULL, 0.0, 0.0, {0.0, 0.0}, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0, {0, 0, 0, 0}};
+}
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif