MonoGame provides the SpriteBatch class to help mitigate the complexity of implementing textured quad sprites. It provides an abstraction around the rendering process that lets us render sprites with a minimum of fuss, with as much control as we might need.

As the name suggests, the SpriteBatch batches sprite draw requests so that they can be drawn in an optimized way. We’ll explore the different modes we can put the SpriteBatch in soon. But for now, this explains why every batch begins with a call to SpriteBatch.Begin(), then an arbitrary number of SpriteBatch.Draw() calls, followed by a SpriteBatch.End() call.

We’ve already used this pattern in our Hello Game example from chapter 1:

    _spriteBatch.Begin();            
    _spriteBatch.Draw(_ballTexture, _ballPosition, Color.White);
    _spriteBatch.End();

In this example, we draw a single sprite, using the _ballTexture, and drawing the graphic it represents with the upper-right corner at _ballPosition, and blend white (Color.White) with the sprite texture’s own colors.

The SpriteBatch.Draw() method actually has a seven available overrides for your use:

• public void Draw(Texture2D texture, Rectangle destinationRectangle, Color color)
• public void Draw(Texture2D texture, Rectangle destinationRectangle, Rectangle? sourceRectangle, Color color)
• public void Draw(Texture2D texture, Rectangle destinationRectangle, Rectangle? sourceRectangle, Color color, float rotation, Vector2 origin, SpriteEffects effects, float layerDepth)
• Draw(Texture2D texture, Vector2 position, Color color)
• Draw(Texture2D texture, Vector2 position, Rectangle? sourceRectangle, Color color)
• Draw(Texture2D texture, Vector2 position, Rectangle? sourceRectangle, Color color, float rotation, Vector2 origin, Vector2 scale, SpriteEffects effects, float layerDepth)
• Draw(Texture2D texture, Vector2 position, Rectangle? sourceRectangle, Color color, float rotation, Vector2 origin, float scale, SpriteEffects effects, float layerDepth)

Rather than explain each one individually, we’ll explore what the various parameters are used for, and you can select the one that matches your needs.

Texture2D texture

The texture parameter is a Texture2D containing the sprite you want to draw. Every override includes this parameter. If the texture has not been loaded (is null), then invoking Draw() will throw an ArgumentNullException.

Rectangle destinationRectangle

The destinationRectangle is a rectangle whose coordinates are where the sprite should be drawn, in screen coordinates. If the rectangle’s dimensions are not the same as those of the source image (or the sub-image specified by sourceRectangle), it will be scaled to match. If the aspect ratios are different, this will result in a stretched or squished sprite. Note that the Rect uses integers for coordinates, so calculated floats used to place the sprite will potentially be truncated.

Color color

The color parameter is a Color that will be blended with the colors in the texture to determine the final color of the sprite. Using Color.White effectively keeps the texture color the same, while using Color.Red will make the sprite’s pixels all redder, Color.Yellow will make them more yellow, etc. This parameter can be utilized to make the sprite flash different colors for damage, invulnerability, etc.

Vector2 position

As an alternative to the destinationRectangle, a sprite’s position on-screen can be specified with position, which is a Vector2. This position specifies the upper-left hand corner of where the sprite will be drawn on-screen (unless the origin parameter is set). Note that when we use the position parameter, the width and height matches that of the texture (or sub-image specified by the sourceRectangle), unless a scale is also provided.

Rectangle? sourceRectangle

The sourceRectangle is a rectangle that defines a subarea of the source texture (texture) to use as the sprite. This is useful for texture atlases, where more than one sprite appear in the same texture, and also for sprite animation where multiple frames of animation appear in the same texture. We’ll discuss both of these approaches soon.

Note that the question mark in Rectangle? indicates it is a nullable type (i.e. it can be null as well as the Rectangle struct). When it is null, the entire texture is used as the sourceRectangle.

float rotation

The rotation is a rotation value measured in radians that should be applied to the sprite. This is one of the big benefits of textured quad sprites, as the graphics hardware makes rotations a very efficient operation (without this hardware, it becomes a much more difficult and computationally expensive operation). This rotation is about the origin of the sprite, which is why all the overrides that specify the rotation also specify the origin.

Vector2 origin

The origin is the spot within the sprite where rotations and scaling are centered. This also affects sprite placement - the position vector indicates where the origin of the sprite will fall on-screen. It is a vector measured relative to the upper-left-hand-corner of the sprite, in texture coordinates (i.e. pixels of the source texture).

Thus, for our 64x64 pixel ball texture, if we wanted the origin to be at the center, we would specify a value of new Vector2(32,32). This would also mean that when our ball was at position $ (0,0) $, it would be centered on the origin and 3/4 of the ball would be off-screen.

float scale

The scale is a scalar value to scale the sprite by. For example, a value of $ 2.0f $ will make the sprite twice as big, while $ 0.5f $ would make it half as big. This scaling is in relation to the origin, so if the origin is at the center of the sprite grows in all directions equally. If instead it is at $ (0,0) $, the sprite will grow to the right and down only.

Vector2 scale

The scale can also be specified as a Vector2, which allows for a different horizontal and vertical scaling factor.

SpriteEffects effects

The effects parameter is one of the SpriteEffects enum’s values. These are:

• SpriteEffects.None - the sprite is drawn normally
• SpriteEffects.FlipHorizontally - the sprite is drawn with the texture flipped in the horizontal direction
• SpriteEffects.FlipVertically - the sprite is drawn with the texture flipped in the vertical direction

Note you can specify both horizontal and vertical flipping with a bitwise or: SpriteEffects.FlipHorizontally | SpriteEffects.FlipVertically

single layerDepth

The layerDepth is an integer that indicates which sprites should be drawn “above” or “below” others (i.e. which ones should obscure the others). Think of it as assembling a collage. Sprites with a higher layerDepth value are closer to the top, and if they share screen space with sprites with a lowerDepth, those sprites are obscured.