Install XNA 4.0 under Microsoft Visual Studio 2017

xna4_vs2017.md

This guide will provide you with a workaround for using XNA in Visual Studio 2017. This will solve problems with the target files and Microsoft.Build.Framework.dll such as: Error loading pipeline assembly "C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.0\Microsoft.Build.Framework.dll"

1. Download a modified version of the XNA vsix: https://mxa.codeplex.com/
2. Unzip XNA Game Studio 4.0.vsix and replace the <Installation /> tag in extension.vsixmanifest with this:

 <Installation InstalledByMsi="false">
    <InstallationTarget Version="[12.0,16.0)" Id="Microsoft.VisualStudio.VSWinDesktopExpress" />
    <InstallationTarget Version="[12.0,16.0)" Id="Microsoft.VisualStudio.Pro" />
    <InstallationTarget Version="[12.0,16.0)" Id="Microsoft.VisualStudio.Premium" />
    <InstallationTarget Version="[12.0,16.0)" Id="Microsoft.VisualStudio.Ultimate" />
    <InstallationTarget Version="[14.0,16.0)" Id="Microsoft.VisualStudio.Community" />
    <InstallationTarget Version="[14.0,16.0)" Id="Microsoft.VisualStudio.Enterprise" />
  </Installation>

3. Place everything in a zip file again and change the extension to vsix. Now run the the vsix file. It should give a warning message but other than that install for VS2017 without problems.

4. Copy everything from C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\XNA Game Studio to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\MSBuild\Microsoft\XNA Game Studio

5. Open the Visual Studio 2017 developer command prompt by searching for Developer command prompt for VS 2017 as administrator and execute the following code: (this will add the new version of Microsoft.Build.Framework to the Global Assembly Cache).

cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\MSBuild\15.0\Bin
gacutil /i Microsoft.Build.Framework.dll

Note that the bug is tracked here: dotnet/msbuild#1831

After this you should be able to work with XNA in Visual Studio 2017 without problems. Remember that you can upgrade the .Net version XNA uses by manually editing the csproj files in notepad :).

• Roy Triesscheijn @roytries http://roy-t.nl

Many thanks for this guide.

My project can't resolve a few classes from the Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Audio package, particularly Cue, AudioEngine, WaveBank and similar. I've poked around and it looks like they're not in the DLL? I'm not really very experienced in C# or Visual Studio, so I'm probably missing something obvious. I'm utterly confused as to why half the contents of the package would be missing!

Any help would be most gratefully received. I'm trying to resurrect an old XNA 3.0 project. I figured that I should try getting it to compile under XNA 4.0 first, and then think about porting it to Mono/FNA. It's been a bit of an epic journey, as I'm a Mac user and have already spent the day faffing about with Bootcamp so I can install Windows :)

D'oh - I was being a twazzock and not reading things properly. I mistakenly believed that, for example, Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Audio.Cue class would be in the Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Audio assembly, and not Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Xact. Probably a rookie's mistake, but it seems that package names and assembly names do not need to match :)