Table of Contents

How to install a preview release of MonoGame from NuGet

This topic describes how to use a preview release of MonoGame in a new or existing project.

Overview

MonoGame provides preview deployments for testing releases prior to the full release of a new version. This gives developers early access to new features before they are made officially available.

Warning

While preview releases still undergo the same rigorous testing used for full releases, some features may not work as expected as it is still classed as developmental code.

Preview releases should not be used for production deployments.*

The preview packages are intended for testing and validating fixes/updates and new features in your projects without drastically affecting them.

Updating NuGet package dependencies

To use the preview packages delivered via NuGet you need to update or replace your existing MonoGame references for your project:

  • The Platform NuGet package reference - e.g. MonoGame.Framework.DesktopGL
  • The Builder Task package - MonoGame.Content.Builder.Task (Only required if using the Content Pipeline)

The simplest way is from the command line in the folder where your csproj is located (if you have multiple projects, please repeat for each) using the following syntax:

dotnet add package MonoGame.Framework.DesktopGL -v 3.8.4-preview.1
dotnet add package MonoGame.Content.Builder.Task -v 3.8.4-preview.1

Replacing the preview version with the specific version you wish to install.

Note

For Visual Studio, use Tools -> NuGet Package Manager -> Manage NuGet Packages for Solution/Project, then click on the Updates tab and update each package.

Make sure to select "Include Prerelease" for the preview packages to be detected.

Update dotnet-tools.json for Content Manager

To ensure symmetry between the project version and the Content Pipeline Editor (MGCB) the dotnet-tools.json configuration in your project .config directory will also need updating.

This is simply a matter of updating the tools references, again from the command line in the projects folder, as follows:

dotnet tool install dotnet-mgcb --version 3.8.4-preview.1
dotnet tool install dotnet-mgcb-editor --version 3.8.4-preview.1
dotnet tool install dotnet-mgcb-editor-linux --version 3.8.4-preview.1
dotnet tool install dotnet-mgcb-editor-windows --version 3.8.4-preview.1
dotnet tool install dotnet-mgcb-editor-mac --version 3.8.4-preview.1

Replacing the preview version with the specific version you wish to install.

Note

Alternatively, simply edit the dotnet-tools.json file and replace the "version" value across the file.

Important

Make sure to run dotnet tool restore any time you make changes to the dotnet-tools.json to refresh the installation of the Content Builder and Editor.

Installing the preview templates

This step is optional, if you intend to generate a new project using the latest templates, including any automated or templates setup

  1. Simply run the following from the command line:
dotnet new install MonoGame.Templates.CSharp::3.8.4-preview.1

Replacing the preview version of MonoGame at the end of the command with the specific version you wish to install.

Visual Studio Extensions with Preview releases

At this time, the Visual Studio marketplace does not support preview versions of extensions, if you wish to test a preview version of the Visual Studio Extension, you can install it manually.

The Extension can be downloaded from the latest GitHub Actions build used to generate the preview build.

  1. Go to the MonoGame GitHub repository and select the "Actions" tab.
  2. Find the build with the associated tag, e.g. v3.8.4-preview.1
  3. In the Artifacts for the build, you should see the extensions installer MonoGame.Templates.VSExtension.vsix
  4. Click on the "Download Icon" on the far right-hand side of the row.
  5. Once downloaded, run the vsix which will update your installation of the extensions package.

See Also

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