Workaround to Getting FBX Files To Build Without Crashing

After extensive testing, I have found that FBX and other 3D assets cause a build error on the Windows or Macintosh version of Monogame 3.8 or 3.7. (I wish I knew where to report these bugs).

To get around this, I have found that all the 3D stuff works perfectly on Monogame 3.6. There are a few caveats though. In order for the 3.6 project templates to install into Visual Studio, you must not be using a higher version of Visual Studio than 2017. In addition, your Monogame 3.8 projects will no longer work with version 3.6. Thus, I suggest using one computer for version 3.8 and another for 3.6. I’m doing all my 2D work on a Mac and the 3D stuff on a Windows box.

I hope this helps anyone who has discovered that the 3D tutorials do not work on 3.7 or 3.8

Goto github and report a bug.

Issues · MonoGame/MonoGame · GitHub

Are you saying all FBX files won’t compile? What error messages are you getting?

Yes, that is what I see happening. Two errors are tripped: “Importer FBX Importer had an unexpected failure.” and “/Users/davidlent/.nuget/packages/monogame.content.builder.task/3.8.0.1641/build/MonoGame.Content.Builder.Task.targets(5,5): Error MSB3073: The command “dotnet /Users/davidlent/.nuget/packages/monogame.content.builder.task/3.8.0.1641/build//…/tools/netcoreapp3.1/any/mgcb.dll /quiet /@:”/Users/davidlent/Projects/Whitaker3DTutorial/Whitaker3DTutorial/Content/Content.mgcb” /platform:DesktopGL /outputDir:"/Users/davidlent/Projects/Whitaker3DTutorial/Whitaker3DTutorial/Content/bin/DesktopGL/Content" /intermediateDir:"/Users/davidlent/Projects/Whitaker3DTutorial/Whitaker3DTutorial/Content/obj/DesktopGL/Content" /workingDir:"/Users/davidlent/Projects/Whitaker3DTutorial/Whitaker3DTutorial/Content/"" exited with code 1. (MSB3073) (Whitaker3DTutorial)"

I’m not sure where you got your tutorial from, but I have many projects with fbx files and they compile without issues. If you are using an old xna example, keep in mind that monogame supports a newer fbx file format and don’t support older fbx file format that xna supports. I would suggest you compile your fbx file using the MGCB Editor. You will get a better error message.

Yes, I have compiled it with the MGCB Editor and it compiles without error. It’s when you build your solution that it errors. I’ve tried the newer FBX files with Monogame 3.7 and 3.8 and the importer blows up with them also. On version 3.6 I have no trouble with any FBX files and all the tutorials work perfectly.

As far as the tutorial, it is the Whitaker 3D tutorial one listed in the Monogame documentation. Tutorials | MonoGame Documentation

I downloaded one of the fbx on Whitaker’s website and when I build using the 3.8 MonoGame MGCB Editor I get an error message stating it’s an old unsupported version of fbx. See below. You need to be careful with very old xna examples.

Interesting. I didn’t get a build error inside MGCB for it. It only errored when doing a solution build. However, I finally found an .FBX file that would load. I will have to be careful to make sure the FBX file is one of the supported versions that your error pointed out. Thank you for your help!