MonoGame explained

MonoGame is a free and open source C# framework used by game developers to make games for multiple platforms and other systems. It is also used to make Windows and Windows Phone games run on other systems. It supports iOS, iPadOS, Android, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch.^{[3] [4]} It implements the Microsoft XNA 4 application programming interface (API).^[5] It has been used for several games, including Bastion, Celeste, Fez and Stardew Valley.

History

MonoGame is a derivative of XNA Touch (September 2009) started by Jose Antonio Farias^[6] and Silver Sprite by Bill Reiss. The first official release of MonoGame was version 2.0 with a downloadable version 0.7 that was available from CodePlex. These early versions only supported 2D sprite-based games. The last official 2D-only version was released as 2.5.1 in June 2012.

Since mid-2013, the framework has begun to be extended beyond XNA4 with the addition of new features like RenderTarget3D,^[7] support for multiple GameWindows,^[8] and a new cross-platform command line content building tool.^[9]

Architecture

MonoGame attempts to fully implement the XNA 4 API.^[10] It accomplishes this across Microsoft platforms using SharpDX and DirectX.^[11] When targeting non-Microsoft platforms, platform specific capabilities are utilized by way of the OpenTK library. When targeting OS X, iOS, and/or Android, the Xamarin platform runtime is necessary. This runtime provides a tuned OpenTK implementation that allows the MonoGame team to focus on the core graphics tuning of the platform.

The graphics capabilities of MonoGame come from either OpenGL, OpenGL ES, or DirectX. Since MonoGame version 3, OpenGL 2 has been the focus for capabilities. The earlier releases of MonoGame (2.5) used OpenGL 1.x for graphics rendering. Utilizing OpenGL 2 allowed for MonoGame to support shaders to make more advanced rendering capabilities in the platform.

Content management and distribution continues to follow the XNA 4 ContentManager model. The MonoGame team has created a new content building capability that can integrate with Microsoft Visual Studio to deliver the same content building capabilities to Windows 8 Desktop that Windows 7 users had used in Microsoft XNA.

Games

Game	Year	Developer	Publisher
Apotheon[12]	2015	Alientrap
Axiom Verge[13] [14]	2015	Thomas Happ Games LLC
Bastion[15]	2011		Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Bury Me, My Love	2017	The Pixel Hunt	Arte France
Carrion	2020	Phobia Game Studio	Devolver Digital
Capsized	2013	Alientrap
Celeste[16]	2018	Maddy Thorson
Chasm	2018	Bit Kid, Inc.
Cobalt Core[17]	2023	Rocket Rat Games	Brace Yourself Games
Duck Game[18]	2014	Landon Podbielski	Adult Swim Games
[19]	2014	Humble Hearts
Escape Goat[20]	2011	MagicalTimeBean
Fez[21]	2013	Polytron Corporation	Trapdoor Microsoft Studios
Flinthook	2017	Tribute Games
Infinite Flight[22]	2011	Flying Development Studio
Jump King[23]	2019	Nexile	Nexile Ukiyo Publishing
Kynseed[24]	2022	PixelCount Studios
Mercenary Kings	2013
Owlboy	2016	D-Pad Studio
Pyre[25]	2017
Salt and Sanctuary	2016	Ska Studios
Score Rush Extended[26]	2016	Xona Games	Reverb Communications
Skulls of the Shogun[27]	2013	17-BIT	Microsoft Studios
Solar 2[28]	2011	Jay Watts	Murudai
Stardew Valley[29]	2016	ConcernedApe
Super Blood Hockey	2017	Loren Lemcke
Tiny Life[30]	2023	Ellpeck Games	Top Hat Studios, Inc.
TowerFall[31]	2013	Maddy Thorson
Transistor[32]	2014
Unrailed!	2020	Indoor Astronaut	Daedalic Entertainment
Wizorb[33]	2011

See also

• .NET Framework
• Mono (software)
• Microsoft XNA

Notes and References

1. Web site: MonoGame release 3.8.2 . 2024-09-18.
2. Web site: FAQ: Licensing – MonoGame . . 2009-09-02.
3. Web site: Documentation . 2017-08-25 . MonoGame.net . en-US.
4. Web site: Main Page. 2023-11-25 . MonoGame.net . en-US.
5. Web site: 2012-08-01 . Windows 8, XNA and MonoGame . https://web.archive.org/web/20120804001200/http://blogs.msdn.com/b/bobfamiliar/archive/2012/08/01/windows-8-xna-and-monogame-part-1-overview.aspx . 2012-08-04 . . . MonoGame is an Open Source implementation of the Microsoft XNA 4 Framework. The goal is to allow XNA developers on Windows & Windows Phone to port their games to the iOS, Android, Mac OS X, Linux with both PlayStation Suite and Windows 8 support currently under development..
6. Web site: José Antonio Leal de Farias . Facebook.
7. Web site: tomspilman . 2013-03-15 . RenderTarget3D for DirectX . GitHub.
8. Web site: jamesford42 . 2013-02-26 . Multiple GameWindow support for Windows/DirectX . GitHub.
9. Web site: MonoGame Content Builder . dead . Github . June 7, 2013 . April 29, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150429225916/https://github.com/mono/MonoGame/wiki/MonoGame-Content-Builder .
10. Book: Vermeir, Nico. Windows 8 App Projects - XAML and C# Edition. 1 April 2013. Apress. 9781430250661. Google Books.
11. Web site: Torre . Charles . Spilman . Tom . 2012-11-02 . Monogame at Build 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130707093557/http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Ch9Live/Channel-9-Live-at-BUILD-2012/Monogame-at-Build-2012 . 2013-07-07 . 2013-05-11 . MSDN Channel 9 . Microsoft.
12. MonoGameTeam . 517309226566164480 . The official Monogame twitter announces that Apotheon will launch on PS4 using the Monogame engine..
13. Web site: Happ . Thomas . 2016-09-14 . Achievement Unlocked! . Axiom Verge Blog.
14. Web site: Culafi . Alex . 2015-03-11 . Dan Adelman Explains Why Axiom Verge is Not Coming to Wii U - News . Nintendo World Report.
15. Web site: Greg . 2012-08-24 . Bastion's Open Source Branch for MonoGame . https://web.archive.org/web/20130602061051/http://supergiantgames.com/index.php/2012/08/bastions-open-source-branch-for-monogame/ . 2013-06-02 . Super Giant Games.
16. https://i.imgur.com/1e0GIOY.png Screenshot of Celeste Credits Showing Frameworks Used
17. Web site: Driscoll . Ben . 2023-05-07 . Setting up FMOD for a C# game . Medium.
18. Web site: An Interview with Duck Game Developer Landon Podbielski – GameCritics.com. 2021-03-26. gamecritics.com.
19. NoogyTweet . 845492736883113985 . According to a twitter response by creator Dean Dodrill, Elysian Tail was originally created in XNA and later ported using MonoGame..
20. Web site: Steam Community :: Group Announcements :: Escape Goat. October 18, 2013 .
21. Web site: Euden . Ben . 2013-05-05 . Ben Euden on Twitter . Twitter.
22. Web site: Hanselman . Scott . 2013-04-26 . MonoGame and Xamarin make shipping Infinite Flight a reality . Hansel Minutes.
23. Web site: Jump King tactics platformer and Linux . Linux Game News.
24. Web site: 2019-03-24 . Kynseed FAQ – PixelCount Studios . 2023-02-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190324014923/https://pixelcountstudios.com/faq/#engine . March 24, 2019 .
25. Web site: Linneman . John . 2017-07-28 . Pyre on PS4/ PS4 Pro! Beautiful Graphics But What's Up With The Bugs? . 28 July 2017 . YouTube . Digital Foundry.
26. Web site: GDC 2017 WRAP UP. 26 March 2017. Xona Games.
27. Web site: Skulls of the Shogun - Developer Interview - MSPoweruser. 22 May 2012. May 19, 2013. December 22, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151222143942/http://wmpoweruser.com/skulls-of-the-shogun-interview/. dead.
28. Web site: Solar 2 Murudai. Watts.
29. News: Chalk. Andy. 2021-12-01. Stardew Valley update 'futureproofs the game' with improved modding support. en. PC Gamer. 2022-02-12.
30. Web site: Ellpeck . 2024-08-16 . Tiny Life by Ellpeck . 2024-08-16 . Itch.io.
31. Web site: Kollar . Phillip . Sony gives indie devs the stage to praise PlayStation 4's developer support . Polygon . March 20, 2014 . Vox Media . 12 September 2023.
32. From game credits.
33. Web site: JF . 2011-12-15 . Wizorb coming to Mac and Linux December 19th! . https://web.archive.org/web/20120903011650/http://tributegames.com/blog/?p=18 . 2012-09-03 . Tribute Games.