Hello,
I’m new to MonoGame and wanted to give it a try, but am confused about how to install it properly. Should I be using MonoGame through Xamarin or should I install MonoGame without Xamarin altogether? I don’t understand the difference between these two setups. Will I be missing some features or platforms by picking one over the other?
Visual Studio, Xamarin, MonoDevelop, etc are Integrated Development Environments. This means you can see code text in colors, add assets, sometimes create assets, and finally compile your game to play it.
MonoGame is a code library built on top of the C# programming language.
So, you should probably install an IDE first, then install MonoGame, it will add templates to the IDE, so, when you create a new project, MG will appear. Then you start coding your application.
MonoGame is an updated XNA, so, if you have issues, search for both XNA and MonoGame.
Okay, that makes sense. So are Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android separate from MonoGame or did they just take the place of MonoTouch?
Xamarin provides the tools that make it possible for MonoGame to run on iOS and Android. To get started you don’t have to worry about Xamarin. As @IceIYIaN said, you can use their IDE Xamarin Studio, or if you’re on Windows you can use Visual Studio, for Linux it’s MonoDevelop. Easiest way to get started is to go to the download page and get the installer for either the latest stable version or develop, whichever you prefer. It should also install an addin for the IDE you have installed including templates for a MonoGame game. After creating a template you can try the documentation or tutorials to help you get familiar with MG. The documentation is a WIP, but there are links to some really good tutorials! Note that some are XNA tutorials (kind of the predecessor of MG), but since MonoGame is built for compatibility with XNA projects, most things should just work!
Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android are not a part of MonoGame, but required to build for mobile. They’re free for individuals or small teams 