xna replacement?

[Z62jag]

Hi, new Surface Pro owner, new to these forums and immediately begging for assistance ;-)
Since XNA is going away, does anyone know if an XNA-like development/runtime support tool is available for the Surface Pro?
I would prefer to develop in C# but I suppose I could be dragged (kicking and screaming) into using Java
Thanks in advance for any suggestions you may offer.

 

[LinkRS]

Hi Z62jag,

I'm not sure what you mean by XNA going away??? Are you talking about the Microsoft Game Development XNA (Game Studio) environment? If so, you can still develop in C# using the Visual Studio 2012 Express products. They have products for Windows 8 Development (works with Windows 8, Windows RT), Windows Desktop (for Windows 8 and Windows 7 or earlier programs), both are free. You need to register, but it doesn't cost anything. The XNA Club (if memory serves) was primarily a platform for XBOX 360 and Windows Phone 7 development. It is just an IDE that tailors the interface towards those platforms. You will get the same functionality out of the full Visual Studio Express 2012 products. Good luck!

Visual Studio Express 2012
Download | Microsoft Visual Studio 2012

Rich S.

 

[Codevine]

I suggest MonoGame. It basically is XNA (it is an implementation of the XNA Framework). You can use VS2012 (or any other IDE), also use your old XNA projects (just change the namespaces) and go ahead with your current projects. It is really easy to setup and works like a charm. And another advantage is: MonoGame is cross-plattform, so you could possibly deploy your XNA application to Android, iOS or Mac OS X devices.

@LinkRS
He's probably talking about XNA Game Framework (4.0 is the latest version) not being supported by Microsoft anymore (so no updates).

 

[Z62jag]

thanks for the replies. I was referring to Microsoft's dropping of support statement mentioned at Xbox News: Microsoft email confirms plan to cease XNA support - ComputerAndVideoGames.com
i expressed interest in using XNA only because I am already familiar with it. if there is another development product that is the recommended tool for developing animated applications similar to those produced with XNA but capable of running on the Surface Pro I would be glad to switch. i have no idea what the Blend product does but, if it might work, perhaps you can recommend a good tutorial on its use?

@CodeVine: thanks for the suggestion. i'll take a look at it

 

[LinkRS]

Hi Z62jag,

You will be able to do everything you could do in the XNA Game Studio in Visual Studio Express 2012. XNA Game Studio was really just a skin with pre-packaged SDKs over Visual Studio Express. It seems that XNA is only discontinued for building Metro style apps, and you can continue to use it to write Windows 7, Windows Phone 7, or XBOX Live games. For Windows 8 (for your Surface and Surface Pro) use Visual Studio Express
Windows Store Apps Developer Downloads

Good luck!
Rich S.