MSDN Documentation

using Microsoft.Xna.Framework;
using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics;
using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Input;

public class MyGame : Game
{
    GraphicsDeviceManager graphics;
    SpriteBatch spriteBatch;

    public MyGame()
    {
        graphics = new GraphicsDeviceManager(this);
        Content.RootDirectory = "Content";
    }

    protected override void Initialize()
    {
        // TODO: Add your initialization logic here
        base.Initialize();
    }

    protected override void LoadContent()
    {
        // Create a new SpriteBatch, which can be used to draw textures.
        spriteBatch = new SpriteBatch(GraphicsDevice);

        // TODO: Load your game content here
    }

    protected override void Update(GameTime gameTime)
    {
        if (GamePad.GetState(PlayerIndex.One).Buttons.Back == ButtonState.Pressed || Keyboard.GetState().IsKeyDown(Keys.Escape))
            Exit();

        // TODO: Add your update logic here
        base.Update(gameTime);
    }

    protected override void Draw(GameTime gameTime)
    {
        GraphicsDevice.Clear(Color.CornflowerBlue);

        // TODO: Add your drawing logic here
        spriteBatch.Begin();
        // Example: Draw a texture
        // spriteBatch.Draw(myTexture, new Vector2(100, 100), Color.White);
        spriteBatch.End();

        base.Draw(gameTime);
    }
}

Graphics API

The Graphics API allows you to render 2D and 3D graphics. Key components include:

• GraphicsDevice: Manages the rendering hardware and states.
• SpriteBatch: Efficiently draws 2D textures, sprites, and text.
• Texture2D: Represents image data loaded from files or generated programmatically.
• Effect: Shaders used for advanced rendering techniques (e.g., HLSL).
• Model: Represents 3D models loaded from files (e.g., XNB).
• Camera: Typically implemented using Matrix objects for view and projection transforms.

The rendering process typically involves clearing the screen, beginning a sprite batch or setting up 3D rendering states, drawing your game elements, and ending the batch/rendering process.

Input API

The Input API provides unified access to various input devices:

• Keyboard: Detects key presses and states.
• Mouse: Tracks mouse position, buttons, and scroll wheel.
• GamePad: Reads input from XInput-compatible gamepads.
• TouchCollection: For touch-enabled devices.

Input states are typically read within the Update method to respond to player actions.

// Example: Checking for a key press
KeyboardState keyboardState = Keyboard.GetState();
if (keyboardState.IsKeyDown(Keys.Space))
{
    // Jump action
}

// Example: Getting mouse position
MouseState mouseState = Mouse.GetState();
int mouseX = mouseState.X;
int mouseY = mouseState.Y;

Audio API

The Audio API handles sound effects and music playback:

• MediaPlayer: For streaming background music.
• SoundEffect: For playing short sound effects.
• AudioEngine (XACT): Advanced audio management for complex audio scenarios.

Audio assets are loaded via the Content Pipeline.

Content Pipeline

The MonoGame Content Pipeline is a powerful tool for processing and managing game assets. It allows you to import various file formats (images, audio, models) and convert them into an optimized format (XNB) that MonoGame can load efficiently at runtime.

Key features include:

• Customizable build process.
• Support for various importers and processors.
• Asset serialization and deserialization.

Use the Content Manager (Content property of the Game class) to load assets:

Texture2D playerTexture = Content.Load<Texture2D>("player");
SoundEffect jumpSound = Content.Load<SoundEffect>("jump");

Networking

MonoGame provides support for network communication, enabling multiplayer functionality. This often involves leveraging .NET's networking classes like System.Net.Sockets or higher-level libraries depending on the complexity of the networking requirements.

Game Loop

The heart of any game is its game loop. In MonoGame, this is managed by the Game class, which repeatedly calls the Update and Draw methods. The GameTime object passed to these methods provides information about the elapsed time since the last frame, which is crucial for frame-rate independent logic.

• Update: Handles game logic, physics, AI, input processing, and state changes.
• Draw: Renders the current state of the game to the screen.

Entity Component System (ECS)

While MonoGame itself doesn't enforce an ECS pattern, it's a popular architecture for game development. An ECS separates data (components) from behavior (systems), leading to more organized, flexible, and scalable game code. You can implement ECS patterns using custom classes or by integrating existing ECS libraries.

• Entity: A unique identifier.
• Component: Pure data (e.g., Position, Velocity, SpriteRenderer).
• System: Processes entities that have specific components (e.g., MovementSystem processes entities with Position and Velocity).