Getting started with MonoGame

This page sets up IcyUI in a MonoGame game.

1. Create a project from a MonoGame template:

   dotnet new mgdesktopgl -o MyGame
   

   or dotnet new mgwindowsdx for the Direct3D backend. Both work with IcyUI.

2. Retarget it to .NET 10. In MyGame/MyGame.csproj, set <TargetFramework>net10.0</TargetFramework> (or net10.0-windows if the template used a -windows suffix), and make sure the MonoGame packages are 3.8.5.1 or later.

3. Add the package:

   dotnet add MyGame/MyGame.csproj package IcyUI.MonoGame --prerelease
   

4. Set IcyUI up in your Game class. Call UseIcyUI() in Initialize():

   using Icy.MonoGame.Configuration;
   using Icy.UI.Controls;
   using Microsoft.Xna.Framework;
   
   public class Game1 : Game
   {
       private readonly GraphicsDeviceManager graphics;
   
       public Game1()
       {
           graphics = new GraphicsDeviceManager(this);
           IsMouseVisible = true;
       }
   
       protected override void Initialize()
       {
           MonoGameIcyHost ui = this.UseIcyUI();
           ui.MainCanvas.Add(new Button { Content = "Hello, IcyUI" });
   
           base.Initialize();
       }
   
       protected override void Draw(GameTime gameTime)
       {
           GraphicsDevice.Clear(Color.CornflowerBlue);
           base.Draw(gameTime); // IcyUI draws here, on top of what you drew above.
       }
   }
   

   UseIcyUI() adds IcyUI as a game component and returns the host: ui.MainCanvas is the canvas your elements go on, and ui.Configuration holds every setting. The defaults load the built-in theme and use the system font Segoe UI. IcyUI draws during base.Draw(), after your own drawing; anything you draw after base.Draw() covers the UI. A string used as content becomes a TextBlock.

5. Run the game. A "Hello, IcyUI" button appears and reacts to the mouse and keyboard.

Note

IcyUI doesn't ship a font. On Linux and macOS, or to use your own font, import a font file shipped with the game: this.UseIcyUI(ui => ui.ConfigureFonts().ImportFont("Fonts/MyFont.ttf").WithDefaultFontFamily("My Font")). See Fonts on other platforms. IcyUI's warnings appear in the debugger's Output window.

Note

On the DesktopGL backend, touch input isn't available, and on Windows on ARM64 the game can hang when it exits. WindowsDX doesn't use the SDL layer behind both issues, but touch input and a clean exit on ARM64 haven't been verified there yet.

Next

Your first screen adds a menu described in markup.