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FNA 20.05 (XNA4 reimplementation) is out with a brand new 3D graphics library 'FNA3D'

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Ethan Lee, porter of many games to Linux (and macOS) and the creator of the XNA4 reimplementation FNA today announced the release of FNA 20.05 and a brand new 3D graphics library FNA3D.

FNA, originally a fork of MonoGame, is actually what's used in a lot of Linux game ports like: Owlboy, TowerFall Ascension, Axiom Verge, Bastion, MidBoss, Cryptark and the list continues on for quite a while. Even the recent Windows release Streets of Rage 4 uses FNA.

The actual FNA release 20.05 is quite small, adding in support for the YUV 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 formats to the video player and an update of FAudio plus a few bug fixes. More exciting is the announcement of FNA3D.

What is FNA3D? FNA3D is a pure C99 library that provides an XNA4-like graphics API, which can be rendered with one of many available graphics backends, including backends for OpenGL (2.1, 4.6, and ES3) and Metal. In addition to providing significant performance improvements to FNA's existing graphics implementation, it is significantly easier to add new backends and is now completely decoupled from FNA itself, meaning all the years of work that have been put into FNA's rendering speed and reliability can now be used by other projects!

Right now, Lee is mentioning that it's in the Beta phase to show that it's usable and they're confident in it but it's still early on. The library already works across Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, tvOS, Xbox, Switch, and Stadia. Their current intention is to have the ABI frozen and complete moving it all over from FNA to FNA3D by FNA 20.09 in September. Additionally, it appears adding Vulkan support is planned.

You can read more about it and the reasoning behind FNA3D here. FNA3D can be found on GitHub under the zlib license.

Also, Ethan Lee is looking to port more games to Linux and their work is always high-quality so do reach out to them if you want your game ported well. You can find Lee on Twitter and see their impressive list of game ports here.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Game Dev, New Release, Open Source
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. You can also follow my personal adventures on Bluesky.
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5 comments

no_information_here May 1, 2020
Ethan Lee is a hero.

For a while I was trying to buy every game he ported, but I couldn't keep up!

His work behind the scenes is also amazing.
TiZ May 1, 2020
I noticed you using they/them to refer to Ethan. Is Ethan non-binary? I don't remember any statements regarding gender being made one way or another, but if that's the case, I would like to know so I can use the correct pronouns moving forward. :)
Liam Dawe May 1, 2020
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I noticed you using they/them to refer to Ethan. Is Ethan non-binary? I don't remember any statements regarding gender being made one way or another, but if that's the case, I would like to know so I can use the correct pronouns moving forward. :)
It's just a habit of mine, it's how I've pretty much always described people, even in natural spoken conversation. I rarely use he/she and it's nothing to do with gender.


Last edited by Liam Dawe on 1 May 2020 at 8:25 pm UTC
legluondunet May 1, 2020
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Happily Linux community has Ethan Lee !
Cyril May 3, 2020
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I can't wait to see the next Linux ports of Ethan Lee! Maybe Streets of Rage 4, who knows...
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