Tool For Making Sprite Games Mac

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The MonoGame Pipeline Tool is used to create and manage MonoGame content projects. The files in content projects are processed by the MonoGame Pipeline tool and outputted as .xnb files for use in CocosSharp and MonoGame applications.	CACFBF5F-BBD4-4D46-8DDA-1F46466725FD

The MonoGame Pipeline Tool is used to create and manage MonoGame content projects. The files in content projects are processed by the MonoGame Pipeline tool and outputted as .xnb files for use in CocosSharp and MonoGame applications.

The MonoGame Pipeline Tool provides an easy-to-use environment for converting content files into .xnb files for use in CocosSharp and MonoGame applications. For information on content pipelines and why they are useful in game development, see this introduction on content pipelines

This walkthrough will cover the following:

Installing the MonoGame Pipeline Tool
Creating a CocosSharp project
Creating a content project
Processing files in the MonoGame Pipeline Tool
Using files at runtime

This walkthrough uses a CocosSharp project to demonstrate how .xnb files can be loaded and used in an application. Users of MonoGame will also be able to reference this walkthrough as CocosSharp and MonoGame both use the same .xnb content files.

The finished app will display a single sprite displaying a texture from a .xnb file and a single label displaying a sprite font from an .xnb file:

MonoGame Pipeline Tool discussion

The MonoGame Pipeline Tool is available on Windows, OS X, and Linux. This walkthrough will run the tool on Windows, but it can be followed along on Mac and Linux as well. For information on getting the tool set up on Max or Linux, see this page.

The MonoGame Pipeline Tool is able to create content for iOS applications even when run on Windows, so developers using Xamarin Mac Agent will be able to continue developing on Windows.

Installing the MonoGame Pipeline Tool

We will begin by installing the MonoGame, which includes the MonoGame Content Pipeline. Note that the MonoGame Content Pipeline is a separate download for Mac. All MonoGame installers can be found on the MonoGame Downloads page. We’ll download MonoGame for Visual Studio, but once installed the developer can use MonoGame in Visual Studio for Mac too:

Once downloaded, we’ll run through the installer and accept the defaults options. After the installer finishes, the MonoGame Pipeline Tool is installed, and can be found in the Start menu search:

Launch the MonoGame Pipeline Tool:

Once the MonoGame Pipeline Tool is running, we can start to make our game and content projects.

Creating an empty CocosSharp project

The next step is to create a CocosSharp project. It’s important that we create the CocosSharp project first so that we can save our content project in the folder structure created by the CocosSharp project. To understand the structure of a CocosSharp project, take a look at the BouncingGame, which will be using in this guide. However, if you have an existing CocosSharp project that you’d like to add content to, feel free to use that project instead of BouncingGame.

Once the project has been created, we'll run it to verify that it builds and that we have everything set up properly:

Creating a content project

Now that we have a game project, we can create a MonoGame Pipeline project. To do this, in the MonoGame Pipeline Tool select File>New... and navigate to your project's Content folder. For Android, the folder is located at [project root]BouncingGame.AndroidAssetsContent. For iOS, the folder is located at [project root]BouncingGame.iOSContent.

Change the File name to ContentProject and click the Save button:

Once the project is created, the MonoGame Pipeline Tool will display information about the project when the root ContentProject item is selected:

Let’s look at some of the most important options for the content project.

Output folder

This is the folder (relative to the content project itself) where the output .xnb files will be saved. To keep things simple, we’ll use the same folder to hold our input and output files. In other words we’ll change the Output Folder to be . :

Platform

This defines the target platform for the content. Notice that this is Windows by default, so we’ll want to change this to our target platform which is Android (or iOS if following along with an iOS project).

Processing files in the MonoGame Pipeline Tool

Next, we’ll be adding content to our ContentProject. For this project, we’ll be adding files to the root of the project, but larger projects will typically organize their content in folders.

We’ll add two files to our project:

A .png file which will be used to draw a sprite. This file can downloaded here.
A .spritefont file which will be used to draw text on screen. The Content Pipeline Tool supports creating new .spritefont files, so there is no file to download.

Adding a .png file

To add a .png file to the project, we’ll first copy it to the same directory as the pipeline project, which has the .mgcb extension.

Next, we’ll add the file to the pipeline project. To do this in the MonoGame Pipeline Tool, select Edit>Add Item..., select the ball.png file and click Open. The file will now be part of the content project and, when selected, will display its properties:

We’ll being leaving all the values at their defaults as no changes are required to load the .xnb file in CocosSharp. We can build the file by selecting the Build>Build menu option, which will start a build and display output about the build. We can verify that the build worked correctly by checking the Content folder for a new ball.xnb file:

Adding a .spritefont file

We can create .spritefont file through the MonoGame Pipeline Tool. CocosSharp requires fonts to be in a Fonts folder, and CocosSharp templates automatically create a Fonts folder automatically. We can add this folder to the MonoGame Pipeline Tool by selecting Edit>Add>Existing Folder.... Browse to the Content folder and select the Fonts folder and click OK:

To add a new .sprintefont file, right-click on the Fonts folder and select Add>New Item..., select the SpriteFont Description option, enter the name arial-36, and click Ok. CocosSharp requires very specific naming of font files – they must be in the format of [FontType]-[FontSize]. If a font does not match this naming format it will not be loaded by CocosSharp at runtime.

The .spritefont file is actually an XML file which can be edited in any text editor, including Visual Studio for Mac. The most common variables edited in a .spritefont file are the FontName and Size property:

We’ll open the file in any text editor. As our arial-36.spritefont name suggests, we’ll leave the FontName as Arial but change the Size value to 36:

Using files at runtime

The .xnb files are now built and ready to be used in our project. We’ll be adding the files to Visual Studio for Mac then we’ll add code to our GameScene.cs file to load these files and display them.

Adding .xnb files to Visual Studio for Mac

First we’ll add the files to our project. In Visual Studio for Mac, we’ll expand the BouncingGame.Android project, expand the Assets folder, right-click on the Content folder, and select Add>Add Files.... First, we’ll select the ball.xnb we built earlier and click Open. Then repeat the above steps, but add the arial-36.xnb file. We’ll select the Keep the file in its current subdirectory option if Visual Studio for Mac asks how to add the file. Once finished both files should be part of our project:

Adding GameScene.cs

We’ll create a class called GameScene, which will contain our sprite and text objects. To do this, right-click on the BouncingGame (not BouncingGame.Android) project and select Add>New File.... Select the General category, select the Empty Class option, and then enter the name GameScene.

Once created, we’ll modify the GameScene.cs file to contain the following code:

We won’t be discussing the code above since working with CocosSharp visual objects like CCSprite and CCLabelTtf is covered in the BouncingGame guide.

We also need to add code to load our newly-created GameScene. To do this we’ll open the GameAppDelegate.cs file (which is located in the BouncingGame PCL) and modify the ApplicationDidFinishLaunching method so it looks like:

When running, our game will look like:

Summary

This walkthrough showed how to use the MonoGame Pipeline Tool to create .xnb files from an input .png file as well as how to create a new .xnb file from a newly-created .sprintefont file. It also discussed how to structure CocosSharp projects to use .xnb files and how to load these files at runtime.

Related links

With the recent release of the free version of the Unreal Engine and the announcement of the free Source 2 Engine, you now have even more options for making your own games. But picking out the best engine for you and your skillset is a little tough. Let's take a look at some of the best free software for a variety of skillsets.

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For Beginners: Stencyl or GameMaker

If you're just starting out making games and you don't have any experience with programming, you might want to start with some of the easier to use tools. Two of the most popular and well-received are Stencyl and GameMaker. Both are very easy to use for beginners and have churned out some quality titles.

Stencyl is a tool to create games without code. It's an entirely drag-and-drop interface and you can publish your games to Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and Flash. If you've ever used something like Scratch, you'll be immediately familiar with Stencyl's LEGO-like approach to building code by arranging blocks. Stencyl aims to make creating sprite-based games very easy, so it tends to be most used for puzzle and side-scroller games. It's tough to do anything very complex with Stencyl, so if you're looking to do something like an RPG or strategy game, you'll likely want to look elsewhere. Some popular games built with Stencyl include Impossible Pixel and Zuki's Quest. Stencyl also has a built-in tutorial that'll teach you just about everything you need to know.

GameMaker is another free, easy to use tool made for beginners where you can create games for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Like Stencyl, it's mostly drag-and-drop, but also includes hooks for creating multiplayer games, linking external SDKs, digging directly into the code and more. The free version of GameMaker exports with a watermark, but it's still a decent place to start and comes packed with a tutorial for learning the basics. GameMaker's much more versatile than Stencyl in the style of games it can handle, and they have a bunch of guides for different types of games to teach you the basics. Popular games made with GameMaker include the original version of Spelunky and Hotline Miami.

Of course, there are a lot of other options for similar tools. Buildbox is a newer tool that gives you a trial period and training program to learn how to use it, and GameSalad's a long-running and popular platform as well, though it's often reported as being buggy and unstable. Construct is also worth a look if you want to make HTML5 games. The problem with all of these options is that you end up being pretty restricted in your design. Since they're made for beginners, you end up breaking the tool when you try to do anything particularly complicated. This means they end up producing buggy, unplayable games if you try working too far outside of their system. Still, they're a great place to start and are good for people who don't have a lot of coding experience.

For Mid-Level Users Looking to Make 2D Games: Cocos2D

Cocos2D is an open source tool for creating 2D games. Your finished game can be published on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Windows Phone, or the web.

The bulk of what you'll be doing in Cocos2D is in C++ (and also supports Lua and JavaScript), so you'll need to wrap your head around that programming language before you can start making anything with Cocos2D. However, once you're settled into those languages, Cocos2D is pretty easy to use, comes packed with a full IDE for building games, and is completely free, no strings attached. As the name suggests, Cocos2D is made specifically for 2D games, so it tends to work best with simple, sprite-based games that don't need any 3D. You can also make 2D games with Unity (more on that in a second), but Cocos2D is a bit easier to get into if you're just starting out (and you already know C++, obviously).

Cocos2D has been used to make all kinds of successful games, including the award winning Badland. If you're not sure where to start with Cocos2D, Ray Wenderlich has a fantastic tutorial, as does Udemy.

For Advanced Users Making 3D Games: Unreal Engine or Unity

If you're interested in making more complex, 3D games, Unreal Engine and Unity are two of the most popular free tools available. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, and both have different licensing deals worth looking into to before you decide on which one's best for you.

With Unity, you can make 3D and 2D games for just about everything, including Windows, Mac, Xbox, Playstation, Android, iOS, and more. It also supports assets from the likes of 3ds Max, Maya, Softimage, Cinema 4D, Blender, and more. Unity uses C# alongside its own custom programming language, so you'll want to be pretty well-versed in that before you dive in. That said, between Unity and Unreal, Unity is probably the easier to learn of the two. It has a lot of pre-built behaviours and the built-in asset library makes tracking down assets easy. A few of the developers I talked with while writing this suggest Unity as the best starting tool because it's conceptually easier to understand and learn than Unreal. If you've made a game with something like GameMaker, you'll be able to wrap your head around how Unity works right away. Unity also supports some alternative payment models right in the engine, including a number of free-to-play monetization models.

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The free, personal version has plenty there to get you started. If you make a game with the free version, you don't have to pay licensing fees or royalties, though there are some caveats. Namely, you can't receive more than $100,000 worth of funding/revenue for your games if you're using the free edition. To help you get started with Unity, there are a ton of great tutorials out there. Popular games made with Unity include Alto's Adventure, Gone Home, and the upcoming Firewatch.

You can release games you make with Unreal Engine on PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Xbox One, and Playstation 4. Unreal has pretty much everything you need to build a game is built into the engine, including 3D modeling tools, landscape systems, and more. Because it's packed with so much stuff, Unreal Engine 4 tends to have a higher learning curve than other tools, so even if you're well versed in C++, expect to run into some walls as you're learning. That said, you'll be able to build incredibly professional looking games with Unreal. You can also reverse engineer Unreal's nodes to learn more about how it works, but even still, it's difficult to jump into Unreal Engine 4 without any prior knowledge. Unreal Engine 4 is still relatively new, but a few games have been released that use the engine, including Daylight and Tekken 7.

To use Unreal Engine 4, you'll have to agree to a royalty fee if your game sells. When you ship a game or application, you pay a 5% royalty to Unreal after your first $3,000/quarter. It sounds like a lot of money, but depending on how much revenue your game brings in it's not as much as it sounds. To get started, check all the tutorials available for Unreal Engine 4.

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It's also worth considering Valve's Source 2 Engine, which should be available for free later this year, but we don't know much about it beyond that.

For Writers: Twine/RPG Maker

Not everyone out there is an expert coder, and while tools like Stencyl are great for those types, they're still a little too complicated for many. If you fancy yourself more of a narrative storyteller, you have two excellent options in Twine and RPG Maker.

Twine is a very simple system that allows you to create interactive, nonlinear stories. Basically, you can make your own choose your adventure. It is incredibly easy to use. You connect your stories through various nodes, like you would a mindmap. Each choice the player can make gets a new note. Then, when you're finished, you can easily publish that to a web site. It's pretty straightforward to use, but if you're struggling or want to add some extra elements, Twine's starter guide features everything you need to know. Popular games made with Twine include A Kiss and Cry$tal Warrior Ke$ha.

If Twine's a little too old fashioned for you, RPG Maker might do the trick. The free version's not as powerful as the paid alternatives, but you can do a lot with it regardless. The system's easy to learn too, you can drag and drop graphics, insert dialogue in a click, and more. You'll have to really think outside the box to make more than a simple RPG, but well-received titles like To the Moon and LISA show that it's possible. Plus, you can get started with a pack of free music and art assets so you don't even need to learn how to draw. The built-in tutorials are also useful for making your first game. Popular games made with RPGMaker include Clock of Atonement and One Night.

Additional Free Tools for Assets

Of course, a game's a lot more complex than just an engine. You'll need all kinds of other assets, including artwork, sound, and more. I asked a few indie developers for a rundown of some of their favorites:

TexturePacker: A free, sprite creation tool
Tiled: A simple map editor that hooks into Cocos2D, Unity, and more
OpenGamesArt: a place for free assets and placeholder graphics
Free Music Archive: a resource for free, Creative Commons music
FreeSound: a collection of free, open source sound effects

With that, you should be well on your way to making games on the cheap. Obviously you'll still need to invest time, blood, sweat, and tears, but at least your pocketbook doesn't have to take a hit as well.

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