Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

FNA

FNA is a reimplementation of the Microsoft XNA Game Studio 4.0 Refresh libraries.

FNA

FNA Reviews and Details

This page is designed to help you find out whether FNA is good and if it is the right choice for you.

Screenshots and images

  • FNA Landing page
    Landing page //
    2020-06-06

Features & Specs

  1. Open Source

    FNA is open source, allowing developers to inspect, modify, and improve the code. This can lead to better security and customization options.

  2. Cross-Platform Support

    FNA provides cross-platform support, enabling game developers to deploy their games on Windows, macOS, and Linux without significant additional effort.

  3. XNA Compatibility

    Offers strong compatibility with XNA 4.0, making it easier for developers familiar with XNA to port or continue developing their projects.

  4. Active Community

    The project has an active community of contributors and users who can offer support, guidance, and share resources for development.

  5. Performance

    FNA is designed with a focus on maintaining high performance and efficiency suitable for game development.

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Videos

VAN TOUR REVIEW Luxury Build with Amazing Shower and Bathroom Design | FnA Van Life

FNA Thyroid Biopsy

DoubleTake - best app for filming ANIMATION REFERENCE? (FNA/App Review)

Social recommendations and mentions

We have tracked the following product recommendations or mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you see what people think about FNA and what they use it for.
  • MonoGame: A .NET framework for making cross-platform games
    For a more actively maintained XNA implementation, also worth looking at Ethan Lee's FNA: https://fna-xna.github.io/. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • EU antitrust regulators clear $69B Microsoft, Activision deal
    Emulating "dead" consoles and unchanging APIs is usually sustainable. We'll all be able to play Sega MD/Genesis games and XNA games until the end of time, with whatever hardware, platform, controllers, and video outputs we need. Source: about 3 years ago
  • FNA 22.10 is out
    Https://fna-xna.github.io/ this explains it better. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • MonoGame 3.8.1 is now available for all!
    MonoGame is an open-source framework, a thin layer of abstraction over input, sound, and graphics APIs. MonoGame lets game developers write cross platform code that will run on desktop, mobile, and console devices. Many commercially successful indie games have been shipped using MonoGame, and it's similar frameworks XNA and FNA, since 2007. MonoGame is ideal for developers who don't want an engine to dictate their... Source: almost 4 years ago
  • XNA / AI Programming - AI Development for Beginners
    FWIW while this tutorial series looks very old and XNA has indeed been officially discontinued, FNA is a 100% compatible (or at least as 100% as it can be :-P) XNA reimplementation that can be used instead of XNA and is still under active development (last release 11 days ago) while it has been used by a bunch of games already. Because of that most XNA resources should apply to FNA too. Source: about 4 years ago
  • ContentPipe & ResourceCache - a couple of open-source .NET game content framework I've been working on in my spare time
    So a little bit of context here: I'm a huge fan of the FNA game framework. It's an open source replacement for the discontinued XNA 4.0 framework. I think it's fantastic for small scale indie projects, it's such a nice blank canvas "only the things you need" approach. Source: about 4 years ago
  • What engine/framework would be the best in my case? Pt. 2 or Godot vs Lรถve2D vs MonoGame
    You are absolutely right. Trust your gut feeling. MonoGame and / or FNA. Best of luck! Source: about 4 years ago
  • Does anybody else just not like game engines like Unity or Unreal or Godot?
    Https://fna-xna.github.io (open source version of XNA, which is a game framework for C#). Source: about 4 years ago
  • Why does Unrailed run better on Linux?
    Unrailed uses FNA which has had a lot of native love and care from Ethan Lee. I don't know why it would be any worse on windows though. Source: over 4 years ago
  • Bungie has officially denied Steam Deck owners any way to play Destiny 2 unless Windows is installed
    Despite being intended to farm indies for Xbox, there was a turnabout around the time that Microsoft discontinued XNA: two separate reimplementations became viable for game releases. The first is Monogame, and the second is Ethan Lee's FNA. Monogame has much better dev-tools, but FNA uses SDL directly for the runtime and is more elegant for releases. Source: over 4 years ago
  • Graphics Engine Only ....
    Does something like fna or monogame fit your list (gamedev frameworks in C#)? Looks like MonoGame.Extended adds scenegraphs. Source: over 4 years ago
  • Microsoft XNA?
    You can also check FNA https://fna-xna.github.io/ but I have never used it so I don't know if it's worth it. Source: over 4 years ago
  • Chasm 1.080 Is Now Available on Steam with a Brand New Game Mode
    Not yet! It's a fix in the framework the game runs on (FNA). Source: over 4 years ago
  • Ethan Lee back from retirement to make devs' Steam Games verified.
    Ethan Lee has been an individual contractor who has ported many games to Linux. More notably, he wrote FNA in pursuit of game ports. FNA is a cross-platform implementation of Microsoft's older XNA game-building framework, that they abandoned but which was the basis for many games then and now. Source: almost 5 years ago
  • FNA-XNA Released 21.10
    Ethan Lee is the developer behind it. We have him and it to thank for some excellent Linux game ports, including Celeste and Bastion. More info here: https://fna-xna.github.io/. Source: almost 5 years ago
  • Protondb 'gold' rating is actually a mixed bag....
    FAudio already got integrated into Wine itself. (FAudio is an implementation of 2008 XAudio2 by the developer of the FNA game engine, which is itself a drop-in replacement for Microsoft's discontinued XNA game engine.). Source: almost 5 years ago
  • Is Monogame still the preferred framework if using Csharp? Anything that utilizes Vulkan available yet?
    Fna is another popular XNA implementation. They track vulkan renderer progress here and appear to be past "Release Candidate" and are now working on "Vulkan By Default". Source: about 5 years ago

Summary of the public mentions of FNA

FNA, an open-source reimplementation of Microsoft's XNA Framework, has carved a niche for itself in the game development community, particularly for those looking to preserve and port XNA-compatible games across platforms. Developed by Ethan Lee, FNA is often praised for its reliable performance, particularly in cross-platform implementations, and its role in sustaining numerous classic and indie games.

A key highlight of FNA is its commitment to maintaining compatibility with XNA, which was officially discontinued by Microsoft. This has allowed developers to leverage existing XNA resources and tutorials, ensuring a degree of continuity in game development practices. This compatibility is articulated well by users who appreciate FNAโ€™s ability to seamlessly transition from XNA, making it an attractive option for those familiar with the retired framework.

However, FNA is not without its limitations. It is primarily designed for porting and preserving games rather than creating new ones from the ground up. This is a notable distinction when compared to other game engines like Unity or Unreal, which provide extensive tooling for full-fledged game development. Despite this, FNA has been successfully employed in well-known titles such as Streets of Rage 4 and Rogue Legacy, showcasing its robustness and versatility in game porting.

FNAโ€™s developer community often cites its minimalist design philosophy. This "only what you need" approach resonates well with smaller indie projects, which appreciate the lightweight framework that doesn't impose restrictive development paths. This aligns with the needs of developers who prefer more control over their game architecture, analogous to MonoGame but with a different emphasis on the runtime process using Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL) directly.

In terms of community perception, FNA benefits from being part of the broader discourse surrounding open-source game development frameworks. While MonoGame, a sibling in the lineage of XNA reimplementations, boasts a larger suite of developer tools, FNA is celebrated for its elegance and simplicity in runtime execution, particularly when it comes to optimizing game releases on platforms like Linux.

The engine's applicability extends to projects that transition from Windows-centric environments to more diverse ecosystems, thereby appreciating Ethan Leeโ€™s contributions to multi-platform compatibility. FNA's developments are consistently updated, reflecting an active development trajectory which further emboldens its position as a viable XNA alternative.

In conclusion, FNA serves a specialized but significant role in game development. Its strengths lie in its open-source nature, extensive XNA compatibility, and its effectiveness in porting and preserving games across platforms. While it may not offer the full suite of tools for ambitious new game projects, its continued evolution and community support reinforce FNAโ€™s value, especially for indie developers and porting projects demanding reliability and platform flexibility.

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Is FNA good? This is an informative page that will help you find out. Moreover, you can review and discuss FNA here. The primary details have not been verified within the last quarter, and they might be outdated. If you think we are missing something, please use the means on this page to comment or suggest changes. All reviews and comments are highly encouranged and appreciated as they help everyone in the community to make an informed choice. Please always be kind and objective when evaluating a product and sharing your opinion.