Converting FS project files to target Xbox 360

Of interest to anyone using F# and XNA to make games targeting the Xbox 360: I'm working on a script to convert fsproj files for the PC platform to the Xbox platform.

https://bitbucket.org/johdex/xnautils/src/a2cc6e8c7455/WinPc/ConvertFsProj.fsx

It's not 100% ready yet, the converted files need some manual editing before they are usable.

The advantage of using a script over using the project template is that no additional and unnecessary directory is created. It also keeps all project content, no need to re-add all dll references and source files.

Here are some known issues:
- Project references are not automatically updated.
- System.Xml and System.Xml.Serialization and possibly other XNA dlls cannot be added from Visual Studio. It complains that those libs are not compatible with the targeted framework despite the fact that they are.
- You need the custom FSharp.Core.dll and accompanying files for Xbox360 somewhere in your solution. You get them as part of the F# + XNA templates, they are also in XNAUtils/FSharpCore.

Project templates for F# games on Windows Phone 7 using XNA

The recent presentation of the Windows Phone 7 platform and its marketplace by Microsoft has attracted a lot of attention. The success of the iPhone and its App store has opened new markets to independent developers.

Both .NET and F# are considered very attractive development platforms, and some have shown interest for a set of project templates allowing the use of F# for developing applications for Windows Phone 7.

Taking advantage of the experience I gained building a project template for F# + XNA for Xbox 360, I have created two new templates for F# + XNA for WP7.

They are now available on the Visual Studio Gallery:

F# + C# Game For Windows Phone (XNA)

F# Library for Windows Phone (XNA)

I must also mention the earlier templates by Dan Mohl, which target WP7 through Silverlight:

F# and C# Win Phone App (Silverlight)

F# and C# Win Phone List App (Silverlight)

F# and C# Win Phone Panorama

I am now considering to work on the following templates:
- PC hosted game
- PC XNA+winforms app
- PC lib (with the script I mentioned in Interactive Game Development with XNA and FSI)
- Xbox360 hosted game

Please let me know which template you think would be most valuable.

How to make a visual studio project template

Here is the simple 14-step procedure to build a template for F# projects targeting exotic platforms.

Mixing F# and XNA's dna:

0. Get a build of the F# core library for the exotic platform.

1. Create a new C# XNA library project

2. Create a new F# library project

3. Create a directory "Dependencies" in the F# library.
Put the custom-built F# core dll files there.
Add these files to the project.

4. Merge the XNA "dna" from the C# XNA library project file (with extension .csproj) into the F# library project (with extension .fsproj)
This includes:
a) Fixing platforms (remove "Any CPU", add the XNA platform)
b) Fixing configurations (the common one, as well as the release and debug ones too)
c) Adding all references to XNA dlls (simple copy-paste from the XNA csproj file)
d) Importing the XNA targets file (after the F# targets file)
c) and d) are easy, a) and b) is mostly text merging, using the csproj file whenever there are conflicts.

5. Fix references in the .fsproj file.
a) Replace or add the reference to FSharp.Core.dll, using a hint path pointing at "Dependencies".
b) Check that any reference to "mscorlib.dll" has no HintPath element.

6. Save your work, commit it if you are using revision control (advised)

7. Try to build the project. If you are lucky it will be successful. Look at the command line in the output window to check that the right version of FSharp.Core.dll was used (the one in Dependencies).

8. Clean the project

9. Choose "Export template" in the file menu. Don't install the template in Visual Studio.
If you mistakenly installed it, you can remove it by deleting the zip file from "My Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Templates\Projects".

10. You will get a zip file under "My Exported Templates"

11. Open the zip file, copy __TemplateIcon and MyTemplate files into the F# library project.

12. Edit MyTemplate to add the following lines under .

     <Folder Name="Dependencies" TargetFolderName="Dependencies">
        <ProjectItem ReplaceParameters="false" TargetFileName="FSharp.Core.dll">FSharp.Core.dll</ProjectItem>
        <ProjectItem ReplaceParameters="false" TargetFileName="FSharp.Core.xml">FSharp.Core.xml</ProjectItem>
        <ProjectItem ReplaceParameters="false" TargetFileName="FSharp.Core.optdata">FSharp.Core.optdata</ProjectItem>
        <ProjectItem ReplaceParameters="false" TargetFileName="FSharp.Core.sigdata">FSharp.Core.sigdata</ProjectItem>
     </Folder>

13. Remove the bin/ and obj/ directories, if any.

14. Zip the content of the F# library project directory (not the directory itself!). You now have a project template file.

XNA GS 4.0 + F# 2.0 + Xbox 360 = love !

Those of you who read the previous entry could notice in the comments that it did not take long for Don Syme, the designer of F#, to offer to help resolve the issue.

Less than a week later I had a new version of the FSharp core library tailored for the Xbox 360 in my mailbox. To the F# OSS team (Don Syme, Laurent Le Brun and Tomas Petricek): big thanks to all of you!

What took a bit more time was to build a Visual Studio 2010 template for projects using the new F# core library. Thanks a lot to Dan Mohl for his help. He is the author of templates for F# + Silverlight + WP7 projects, which are available on the Visual Studio gallery.

It's the first time I make a Visual Studio extension package, I hope I got it right. It's available on the Visual Studio gallery. If you try it out, please let me know if it worked for you (or if it did not).

A small but important note: In the project properties, the build tab has "generate tail calls" unchecked, both in Release and Debug builds. That's the way it is meant to be. If checked, your game will crash with an InvalidProgramException.

Enjoy!