How do I draw lines using XNA?

Question

I've read a bunch of tutorials involving XNA (and it's various versions) and I still am a little confused on drawing primitives. Everything seems to be really convoluted.

Can someone show me, using code, the simplest XNA implementation of drawing one or two lines on to the screen? Perhaps with a brief explanation (including the boilerplate)?

I'm not a games programmer and I have little XNA experience. My ultimate goal is to draw some lines onto the screen which I will eventually transform with rotations, etc (by hand). However, for this first step.. I need to simply draw the lines! I remember back in my ancient OpenGL days it was fairly straightforward when drawing a line with a few method calls. Should I simply revert to using unmanaged directx calls?

Answer 1

found a tutorial for that http://www.bit-101.com/blog/?p=2832

its using a BasicEffect (shader) and the built in draw user primitive in XNA 4.0

some code samples i find helpful:

load content method

basicEffect = new BasicEffect(GraphicsDevice);
basicEffect.VertexColorEnabled = true;
basicEffect.Projection = Matrix.CreateOrthographicOffCenter
(0, GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Width,     // left, right
GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Height, 0,    // bottom, top
0, 1);   

draw method

basicEffect.CurrentTechnique.Passes[0].Apply();
var vertices = new VertexPositionColor[4];
vertices[0].Position = new Vector3(100, 100, 0);
vertices[0].Color = Color.Black;
vertices[1].Position = new Vector3(200, 100, 0);
vertices[1].Color = Color.Red;
vertices[2].Position = new Vector3(200, 200, 0);
vertices[2].Color = Color.Black;
vertices[3].Position = new Vector3(100, 200, 0);
vertices[3].Color = Color.Red;

GraphicsDevice.DrawUserPrimitives<VertexPositionColor>(PrimitiveType.LineList, vertices, 0, 2);

Answer 2

I wanted to draw rays so that I could debug rays created by explosions and where they intersect objects. This will draw a single pixel thin line between two points. This is what I did:

Class to store some simple ray data. The XNA default ray class could work, but it doesn't store the length of the ray to intersection.

public class myRay
{
    public Vector3 position, direction;
    public float length;
}   

A list to store the rays that are to be drawn:

List<myRay> DebugRays= new List<myRay>();

Create a BasicEffect and pass it a "Matrix.CreateOrthographicOffCenter" projection with your desired resolution in the LoadContent method.

Then run this in the draw method:

private void DrawRays()
{
    spriteBatch.Begin();

    foreach (myRay ray in DebugRays)
        {
            //An array of 2 vertices - a start and end position
            VertexPositionColor[] Vertices = new VertexPositionColor[2];
            int[] Indices = new int[2];

            //Starting position of the ray
            Vertices[0] = new VertexPositionColor()
            {
                Color = Color.Orange,
                Position = ray.position
            };

            //End point of the ray
            Vertices[1] = new VertexPositionColor()
            {
                Color = Color.Orange,
                Position = ray.position + (ray.direction * ray.length)
            };

            Indices[0] = 0;
            Indices[1] = 1;

            foreach (EffectPass pass in BasicEffect.CurrentTechnique.Passes)
            {
                pass.Apply();
                GraphicsDevice.DrawUserIndexedPrimitives(PrimitiveType.LineStrip, Vertices, 0, 2, Indices, 0, 1, VertexPositionColorTexture.VertexDeclaration);
            }
        }

    spriteBatch.End();
}

So when an explosion happens in my game it does this (Psuedocode):

OnExplosionHappened()
{
    DebugRays.Clear()

    myRay ray = new myRay()
                    {
                        position = explosion.Position,
                        direction = GetDirection(explosion, solid),
                        //Used GetValueOrDefault here to prevent null value errors
                        length = explosionRay.Intersects(solid.BoundingBox).GetValueOrDefault()
                    };

    DebugRays.Add(ray);
}

It's pretty simple (It possibly looks way more complicated than it is) and it'd be easy to put it into a separate class that you never have to think about again. It also lets you draw a whole lot of lines at once.

Answer 3

Just stretch a white pixel.

        point = game.Content.Load<Texture2D>("ui/point");

        public void DrawLine(Vector2 start, Vector2 end, Color color)
        {
            Vector2 edge = end - start;
            float angle = (float)Math.Atan2(edge.Y, edge.X);

            spriteBatch.Begin();
            spriteBatch.Draw(point,
                new Rectangle((int)start.X, (int)start.Y, (int)edge.Length(), 1),
                null, 
                color, 
                angle,
                new Vector2(0, 0),
                SpriteEffects.None,
                0);
            spriteBatch.End();
        }

Answer 4

I encountered this problem my self and decided to make a class called LineBatch. LineBatch will draw lines without needing a spriteBatch or dots. The class is below.

public class LineBatch
{
    bool cares_about_begin_without_end;
    bool began;
    GraphicsDevice GraphicsDevice;
    List<VertexPositionColor> verticies = new List<VertexPositionColor>();
    BasicEffect effect;
    public LineBatch(GraphicsDevice graphics)
    {
        GraphicsDevice = graphics;
        effect = new BasicEffect(GraphicsDevice);
        Matrix world = Matrix.Identity;
        Matrix view = Matrix.CreateTranslation(-GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Width / 2, -GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Height / 2, 0);
        Matrix projection = Matrix.CreateOrthographic(GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Width, -GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Height, -10, 10);
        effect.World = world;
        effect.View = view;
        effect.VertexColorEnabled = true;
        effect.Projection = projection;
        effect.DiffuseColor = Color.White.ToVector3();
        cares_about_begin_without_end = true;
    }
    public LineBatch(GraphicsDevice graphics, bool cares_about_begin_without_end)
    {
        this.cares_about_begin_without_end = cares_about_begin_without_end;
        GraphicsDevice = graphics;
        effect = new BasicEffect(GraphicsDevice);
        Matrix world = Matrix.Identity;
        Matrix view = Matrix.CreateTranslation(-GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Width / 2, -GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Height / 2, 0);
        Matrix projection = Matrix.CreateOrthographic(GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Width, -GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Height, -10, 10);
        effect.World = world;
        effect.View = view;
        effect.VertexColorEnabled = true;
        effect.Projection = projection;
        effect.DiffuseColor = Color.White.ToVector3();
    }
    public void DrawAngledLineWithRadians(Vector2 start, float length, float radians, Color color)
    {
        Vector2 offset = new Vector2(
            (float)Math.Sin(radians) * length, //x
            -(float)Math.Cos(radians) * length //y
            );
        Draw(start, start + offset, color);
    }
    public void DrawOutLineOfRectangle(Rectangle rectangle, Color color)
    {
        Draw(new Vector2(rectangle.X, rectangle.Y), new Vector2(rectangle.X + rectangle.Width, rectangle.Y), color);
        Draw(new Vector2(rectangle.X, rectangle.Y), new Vector2(rectangle.X, rectangle.Y + rectangle.Height), color);
        Draw(new Vector2(rectangle.X + rectangle.Width, rectangle.Y), new Vector2(rectangle.X + rectangle.Width, rectangle.Y + rectangle.Height), color);
        Draw(new Vector2(rectangle.X, rectangle.Y + rectangle.Height), new Vector2(rectangle.X + rectangle.Width, rectangle.Y + rectangle.Height), color);
    }
    public void DrawOutLineOfTriangle(Vector2 point_1, Vector2 point_2, Vector2 point_3, Color color)
    {
        Draw(point_1, point_2, color);
        Draw(point_1, point_3, color);
        Draw(point_2, point_3, color);
    }
    float GetRadians(float angleDegrees)
    {
        return angleDegrees * ((float)Math.PI) / 180.0f;
    }
    public void DrawAngledLine(Vector2 start, float length, float angleDegrees, Color color)
    {
        DrawAngledLineWithRadians(start, length, GetRadians(angleDegrees), color);
    }
    public void Draw(Vector2 start, Vector2 end, Color color)
    {
        verticies.Add(new VertexPositionColor(new Vector3(start, 0f), color));
        verticies.Add(new VertexPositionColor(new Vector3(end, 0f), color));
    }
    public void Draw(Vector3 start, Vector3 end, Color color)
    {
        verticies.Add(new VertexPositionColor(start, color));
        verticies.Add(new VertexPositionColor(end, color));
    }
    public void End()
    {
        if (!began)
            if (cares_about_begin_without_end)
                throw new ArgumentException("Please add begin before end!");
            else
                Begin();
        if (verticies.Count > 0)
        {
            VertexBuffer vb = new VertexBuffer(GraphicsDevice, typeof(VertexPositionColor), verticies.Count, BufferUsage.WriteOnly);
            vb.SetData<VertexPositionColor>(verticies.ToArray());
            GraphicsDevice.SetVertexBuffer(vb);

            foreach (EffectPass pass in effect.CurrentTechnique.Passes)
            {
                pass.Apply();
                GraphicsDevice.DrawPrimitives(PrimitiveType.LineList, 0, verticies.Count / 2);
            }
        }
        began = false;
    }
    public void Begin()
    {
        if (began)
            if (cares_about_begin_without_end)
                throw new ArgumentException("You forgot end.");
            else
                End();
        verticies.Clear();
            began = true;
    }
}

Answer 5

The simplest best way, I think, is to get the image of just a white pixel then stretch that pixel in a rectangle to look like a line

I made a Line class,

class Line
{
    Texture pixel = ((set this to a texture of a white pixel with no border));
    Vector2 p1, p2; //this will be the position in the center of the line
    int length, thickness; //length and thickness of the line, or width and height of rectangle
    Rectangle rect; //where the line will be drawn
    float rotation; // rotation of the line, with axis at the center of the line
    Color color;


    //p1 and p2 are the two end points of the line
    public Line(Vector2 p1, Vector2 p2, int thickness, Color color)
    {
        this.p1 = p1;
        this.p2 = p2;
        this.thickness = thickness;
        this.color = color;
    }

    public void Update(GameTime gameTime)
    {
        length = (int)Vector2.Distance(p1, p2); //gets distance between the points
        rotation = getRotation(p1.X, p1.Y, p2.X, p2.Y); //gets angle between points(method on bottom)
        rect = new Rectangle((int)p1.X, (int)p1.Y, length, thickness)

        //To change the line just change the positions of p1 and p2
    }

    public void Draw(SpriteBatch spriteBatch, GameTime gameTime)
    {
        spriteBatch.Draw(pixel, rect, null, color, rotation, new Vector2.Zero, SpriteEffects.None, 0.0f);
    }

    //this returns the angle between two points in radians 
    private float getRotation(float x, float y, float x2, float y2)
    {
        float adj = x - x2;
        float opp = y - y2;
        float tan = opp / adj;
        float res = MathHelper.ToDegrees((float)Math.Atan2(opp, adj));
        res = (res - 180) % 360;
        if (res < 0) { res += 360; }
        res = MathHelper.ToRadians(res);
        return res;
    }

Hope this helps

Answer 6

Following NoHayProblema's answer (I cannot comment yet).

That answer, although the correct one for this old question, is incomplete. Texture2D constructor returns an uninitialized texture, which is never painted on screen. In order to use that approach, you need to set the texture's data like this:

Texture2D SimpleTexture = new Texture2D(GraphicsDevice, 1, 1, false,
    SurfaceFormat.Color);

Int32[] pixel = {0xFFFFFF}; // White. 0xFF is Red, 0xFF0000 is Blue
SimpleTexture.SetData<Int32> (pixel, 0, SimpleTexture.Width * SimpleTexture.Height);

// Paint a 100x1 line starting at 20, 50
this.spriteBatch.Draw(SimpleTexture, new Rectangle(20, 50, 100, 1), Color.Blue);

Take into account that the way you write the data into pixel must be consistent with the texture's SurfaceFormat. The example works because the texture is being formatted as RGB. Rotations can be applied in spriteBatch.Draw like this:

this.spriteBatch.Draw (SimpleTexture, new Rectangle(0, 0, 100, 1), null,
    Color.Blue, -(float)Math.PI/4, new Vector2 (0f, 0f), SpriteEffects.None, 1f);

Answer 7

Well, you can do it in a very simple way without getting into the 3D horrible vector stuff.

Just create a quick texture, for example:

Texture2D SimpleTexture = new Texture2D(GraphicsDevice, 1, 1, false, SurfaceFormat.Color);

And then just draw a line using that texture:

this.spriteBatch.Draw(SimpleTexture, new Rectangle(100, 100, 100, 1), Color.Blue);

I hope this helps

Answer 8

There is also the "round line" code that "manders" has released on CodePlex:

• http://roundline.codeplex.com/

Here is the blog post about it:

• XNA RoundLine Code Released on CodePlex

Answer 9

When working with XNA, everything (even 2d primitives) have to be expressed in a way that a 3d card can understand, which means that a line is just a set of vertices.

MSDN has a pretty good walkthrough here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb196414.aspx#ID2EEF

You'll find that it takes more code to render a primitive line than it would take to just setup a textured quad and rotate that, since in essence, your doing the same thing when rendering a line.