Hi Microsoft team,
  Since Visual Studio 2005 supports the embedding of non-C# languages, will this mean that these other languages will be able to make use of the content-pipeline auto-associating once XNA 2.0 is released?

I can't wait for the release of 2.0! Any official release dates?

xna game studio 2.0 will support visual studio 2005. so you are able to write the code in the language of your choice.

Where did you hear this?

I realize that 2.0 will support the full VS 2005, however, where is it implied that XNA could handle un-managed code, like C++?

I highly doubt the guys at XNA wrote in functionality for C++ and VB over the course of the last year without releasing any betas for it.

I saw the gamefest stream

Well I don't see how it is possible in such a short amount of time since 1.0, however that would be awesome if C++ worked for XNA. Opens up a whole slew of plug-ins like physics engines for example.

when my understanding is right, they will ship xna 2.0 at the end of this year and there will be a version for hobbyists and professional developers. don't know if there won't be an express version anymore. the time will tell.

comm552:

when my understanding is right, they will ship xna 2.0 at the end of this year and there will be a version for hobbyists and professional developers. don't know if there won't be an express version anymore. the time will tell.

I thought one of the big points of the keynote was that it was only one version?  No more Express or Pro, just XNA Game Studio.

I can only speculate here, but I imagine the interface with VS 2005 Pro will mean you can use any *managed* language.  So, Managed C++ would probably work.  Accessing the XNA assemblies from unmanaged C++ would not work, however.

Also, keep in mind that there is no restriction even now on what language to use.  You can use VB, Managed C++, etc. to write XNA games.  The only thing you lose is the automatic content pipeline building from the Visual C# IDE.  And on the 360, you would need a C# stub to launch your program, but its perfectly possible to write a XNA 360 game in Managed C++ as a separate project, then use a GSE C# project to just launch it, as long as you dont write any C++ code that can't be compiled directly to IL.

ShawMishrak:

And on the 360, you would need a C# stub to launch your program

Just to clarify, if your language's .NET compiler compiles native Compact Framework code you do NOT need any C# stub. Package it up as a .ccgame and it will run on the Xbox 360 without any problems. I've done exactly this using Chrome.

Thanks for everyone's input, I hope someone from Microsoft can confirm what everyone here is saying.

Express isn't going anywhere! It is vital that hobbyists and beginners have access to a free set of development tools for Windows. Support for VC# Express isn't going away in 2.0.

C# will still be the only supported language, but you will be able to use Visual Studio Pro or Enterprise or whatever the other SKUs are called.

Brandon Bloom:

Express isn't going anywhere! It is vital that hobbyists and beginners have access to a free set of development tools for Windows. Support for VC# Express isn't going away in 2.0.

Sorry if I was unclear.  I was referring to the statement in the keynote that mentioned that there would be no Express or Pro versions of XNA, just a single XNA Game Studio... I was not referring to the Visual C# product.

ShawMishrak:

Brandon Bloom:

Express isn't going anywhere! It is vital that hobbyists and beginners have access to a free set of development tools for Windows. Support for VC# Express isn't going away in 2.0.

Sorry if I was unclear.  I was referring to the statement in the keynote that mentioned that there would be no Express or Pro versions of XNA, just a single XNA Game Studio... I was not referring to the Visual C# product.

I think what was intended is that they won't bother having two XNA APIs. There will just be one XNA Game Studio which will integrate into either IDE. The primary language will still be C#, but as to whether or not the content pipeline will be supported in other languages... maybe. The only reason it doesn't work with other languages right now is the IDE. So it seems logical that since the MSBuild task that makes the content has no idea what language you are using, that any language that works in one of the supported IDEs that compiles to MSIL should work just fine. But that's just my take on things.

In XNA Game Studio 2.0, the Content Pipeline will not be integrated into other language projects. We are still only supporting C#.

XNA Game Studio 2.0 will install into both Visual Studio 2005, and VC# 2005 Express Edition. However, none of the XNA game templates will be in any language other than C#. In addition, the Content Pipeline integration will continue to be exclusive to the XNA game project types. Although the Content Pipeline doesn't care what project invokes it, the IDE has no idea how to configure the Content Pipeline unless an XNA game project has been loaded.