FOSS gamedev and creative worlds

Posted: **Thu Aug 06, 2015 08:52**

OldCoder Skyblock is back after 3 years. This copy has been created in collaboration with Cornernote, who has returned. It includes Sokomine's contributions and will track upstream git.

The server is: minetest.org
The port is: 30005

To get interact, first visit the following webpage and read it:

http://minetest.org/skyblock/

Part is provided below, but please visit the webpage. When you understand how it works, you can ask for interact in-game. If you've been an admin elsewhere, feel free to ask for admin privs.

What is Skyblock?

Skyblock is a Minetest puzzle game where the world is mostly empty at first except for a small floating island.

You start out standing on the island. Your rank is Level 1. There are 10 quests to complete. When a quest is achieved, you get a reward. When all 10 quests are achieved, you are promoted to Level 2 and given new quests with new rewards.

Finish the Level 2 quests, and there is a Level 3. Finish Level 3 and you graduate as a Skyblock Master. You are granted Fly and Fast privileges and may build what you wish.

Quests and Feats

Your current quests are listed in your Inventory (press I). Feats (completed quests) are indicated. The Inventory also includes hints in the form of small node icons. If you click those, they will show you how to craft associated items.

On the islands where you start, or where you are respawned, the quest block will appear. It looks like ?. If you or other players punch these (left or right click), your quests and feats are listed there for everybody to view.

Starting Over

If you complete a quest, the reward you get is often an object needed to finish other quests. If you lose the object, there may be no way to proceed. In this case, you will have no choice but to start over.

You can use quest blocks to start over. To do so, dig one of them using long left click. This will send you back to the start. You will lose everything in your inventory, and will have to do levels and feats again. If you built things those will remain, including chests and their contents.

If you die, exactly the same thing happens. You start over and only placed nodes remain.

Bags are special. In some Skyblock worlds, you may get to keep bags and anything in them when you start over. This is a configuration option. I haven't decided this for my Skyblock world yet.

After Finishing

If you finish all levels, you get Fly and Fast as explained before. There are no more tasks and you may build whatever you wish.

Don't interfere with other players' quests or buildings.

Some Skyblock servers, including mine, may reset the worlds periodically as this is primarily a puzzle game and not for long-term building. If you want to keep something that you have built, ask the server admin to make a "schem" for you.

Note: If you are playing in single-player mode, this does not apply. Your Skyblock world will continue indefinitely as it is.

Posted: **Thu Aug 06, 2015 16:45**

I can haz interact plz

Posted: **Thu Aug 06, 2015 18:01**

Thank you for explaining the game in detail and for running a new skyblock server. The old one from years ago was very good as well. It just was outdated in parts (changes to minetest_game, mods added, ...). This will be no problem with the new server :-)

OldCoder wrote:Some Skyblock servers, including mine, may reset the worlds periodically as this is primarily a puzzle game and not for long-term building. If you want to keep something that you have built, ask the server admin to make a "schem" for you.

In a way, such a reset is helpful. The other skyblock servers get clouded with empty platforms and players desperately trying to reach each other. Many platforms are empty as players don't seem to manage the first steps apart from the digging and placing of dirt. To a degree that is to be expected - very few will build something nice. Hopefully, that amount of players can be increased in the future. I wonder if it might be possible to automaticly save that part of the world the player has protected once the player "finishes" the game and reaches the last level - and then to move it to a location where it gets connected to similar buildings. Need to think about that and talk to cornernote about that idea :-)

As for interact: It would be best to grant interact on this server automaticly so that players can start with their quest. After all there's not much else of the world they can take a look at while waiting.

Posted: **Thu Aug 06, 2015 20:44**

May I have interact please?

Posted: **Thu Aug 06, 2015 21:25**

This is a puzzle game and not a regular "building" world. We'd like to be sure that players read the instructions.

I might run some worlds with default interact. But I'm not going to do this in general. I also won't use automated processes where somebody reads the instructions and gets a magic passphrase to prove that they did.

Automated processes don't work and most server owners are aware of this. If you're a server owner, how often has somebody visited and said:

"I red the rulz gimme interact foolz"

even for worlds that have no posted rules? It's just a magic phrase to them. For automated processes, people just skip to the end unless you use tricks that make the processes more trouble than they're worth.

In other words, there's no "captcha" to detect good players. It's best to require people to talk to a human. This leads to smaller but more serious and positive communities.

Last night, I had a visitor to OldCoder Skyblock who finalized this decision. His nick was "supadupa". The conversation went like this:

<OldCoder> Did you read that page?
<supadupa> the page has the same stuff as this welcome page
<OldCoder>The welcome screen just has the overview
<supadupa> this is stupid. Am i gonna operate a nuclear reactor? The goal is simple and self-explanatory... can i get interact already, alright?

We don't need players like this. We'll manage to survive their absence :P

The rule that people talk to a human admin serves more than one purpose. Server owners who require this can vet players in general. Most people who visit my worlds know about my own rules:

1. Sensible nickname, should not be hard to type
2. English speaker (not an absolute rule; I've had entire Hispanic worlds)
3. Must be able to focus well enough to communicate
4. Kids who are too young for complicated worlds get sent to beginner worlds
5. Must be able to answer a question about griefing and do so politely

These rules seem reasonable. They do lead to smaller communities, but the players communicate better and things work out better.

Regarding interact requests in this thread, we'd rather use this thread for discussion of the world and not for interact. If there's enough interest, maybe we'll create a second thread for the purpose.

Posted: **Thu Aug 06, 2015 22:13**

:3 supadupa GOT REKTTTT

Also, a second thread isn't needed. It is related to this server, and you can ask ingame too.

+ My usernames

Posted: **Thu Aug 06, 2015 22:38**

I'd rather not clutter up the main thread with dozens of interact requests, which are a different level of discussion.

However, it's a moot point. Skyblock is running into the fatal error discussed at the following link:

https://github.com/minetest/minetest/issues/3011

Neither Cornernote nor I have a fix, so the world is shutting down until one is available. I like to encourage the development of interesting worlds and unusual games, so I hope to hear that a fix is found and bring the world back.

Note to Cornernote, Amaz, Sokomine, and others: I'll leave the world up temporarily for debugging purposes and simply take it off of the public server list. Please don't grant interact to new players; we can't support the world until the problem is fixed.

Posted: **Mon Aug 10, 2015 02:12**

OldCoder Skyblock is back on the public server list temporarily while we test the _game against Minetest git-current. If you'd like to help debug the current crash issue, try out the world and provide Cornernote or myself with feedback.

Posted: **Sat Aug 15, 2015 13:42**

Two important issues:

1. I think that I've identified some of the crashes in the Skyblock mod. Try OldCoder Skyblock and see if it works for you. If it crashes, I'll see it in the logs and this will be useful. Note: Interact is presently on by default.

The world is located at: server minetest.org port 30005

2. Somebody sent me the following message by IRC a few minutes ago:

"I built some stuff on skyblock that I really like, and would like [it] to be kept. I read on the forum page that you might restart once in a while and I was wondering if my buildings could be kept. Thanks!"

They dropped carrier, so I don't know if they saw the answer. For everybody who's interested, the answer is yes, and you can get schem files for your buildings. This means that you can reuse your buildings in your own worlds.

If I delete a copy of Skyblock, I'll save backups and can go get buildings if I'm asked.

To discuss this issue, PM me in Inchra or Freenode IRC. If you can't reach me immediately, I may respond in a day or two. I do see in-game messages as well, but I often can't respond immediately. I do need to sleep.

Note: I conduct most world business in IRC or in-game as opposed to in forum threads.

3. As a related note:

Life is short. If people spend time creating things, the things should not be lost. I'd like, actually, to receive more email from people listing the coords for their buildings and the stories behind them. Once builders move on, there ought to be catalogs of Minetest buildings to ensure that the best ones are saved and can be shared with others.

My primary email address is: oldcoder@yahoo.com

Posted: **Sun Aug 16, 2015 17:31**

We're continuing to fix bugs in OldCoder Skyblock. It looks like the world will work out.

There's a good chance that I'll need to reset the world. If I do, existing players will be compensated. I can make copies of buildings and move privileges to the new world.

Posted: **Mon Aug 17, 2015 03:48**

I've reset OldCoder Skyblock to make it more vertical. Players start out at different heights now and the cloud floor is further down.

If you built here before, your buildings are safe. Talk to me in IRC or in-game and I'll move them over or put them in one of my other worlds. You also get to keep your feats or receive other compensation.

Posted: **Tue Aug 18, 2015 00:04**

The old Skyblock buildings have been moved to the new Skyblock world. Old Skyblock City is located at these coordinates:

Server: minetest.org
Port: 30005
Coordinates: 16050,262,16150

It's about a mile up from New Skyblock City. See the screenshot below. That's Old Skyblock City in front and New Skyblock city far down on the left.

If you visit Old Skyblock City and can't find your old buildings, contact me in Freenode or Inchra IRC or in-game.

By the way, animals in Old Skyblock City tend to fall off and rain down, so look out below.

It's raining cats and dogs
Cats and dogs instead of biblic frogs
All of these are better than hogs
Raining hogs would be a sight to see
Raining hogs we'd need to flee

Posted: **Tue Aug 18, 2015 01:23**

This is shaping up to be another interesting world. In the screenshot below, that's New Skyblock city on the left, World In A Box on the right, and Old Skyblock city farther up. We'll probably add a satellite and a spaceship to round things out.

Edit: How's this for a spaceship?

Posted: **Tue Aug 18, 2015 08:33**

OldCoder Skyblock now includes three cities: Old Skyblock City, New Skyblock City, and Sky City by jp. Sky City is located at:

Server: minetest.org
Port: 30005
Coordinates: 16120,303,15915

Here are three screenshots of Sky City:

Posted: **Sat Aug 22, 2015 20:27**

Hello.
Seems to me, the quest with signs (level 1) does not work.
I craft signs, place them in the world, but the quest is not completed.
Thank you for attention.

Posted: **Sat Aug 22, 2015 21:51**

narrnika wrote:"Hello. Seems to me, the quest with signs (level 1) does not work. I craft signs, place them in the world, but the quest is not completed.

Thank you for the report. Others have mentioned the issue. I've notified the author of the Skyblock mod, Cornernote, but I haven't heard back. If he doesn't respond within a few days, I'll remove the quest myself.

Posted: **Sat Aug 22, 2015 22:20**

If you mean this mod, I used it today - there is no problem.
May be, the problem in this conflict:
output = 'default:sign_wall' in default and skyblock
VS
output = 'default:sign_wall 4' in your server?

Posted: **Sat Aug 22, 2015 22:38**

narrnika, there may have been a conflict with moreblocks. Try it now.

Posted: **Sat Aug 22, 2015 22:41**

OldCoder wrote:Thank you for the report. Others have mentioned the issue. I've notified the author of the Skyblock mod, Cornernote, but I haven't heard back. If he doesn't respond within a few days, I'll remove the quest myself.

You combined his subgame with other mods - and that does cause conflict sometimes. In this case, homedecor changes the on_place code for default:sign_wall in order to be able to place diffrent signs when using homedecor. That is fine; but it's also something skyblock didn't expect to happen. Thus, skyblock does not notice the placement of the sign. It might be sufficient to remove signs_lib from homedecor for now and ask cornernote to take care of modified signs. After all homedecor is a popular mod and can add a lot to the world.
[Edit] Moreblocks does not cause a conflict here. You can leave that enabled.

Posted: **Sat Aug 22, 2015 22:48**

All right. Does it work now?

Posted: **Sat Aug 22, 2015 22:55**

Hooray! You repaired it!
thank you very much!

Posted: **Sat Aug 22, 2015 22:56**

Good; advise me of further issues.

As a separate matter, does anybody see an inventory reset problem? Specifically, when I restart the world, do inventories disappear? People have reported this issue, but I'm not able to reproduce it.

Posted: **Sat Aug 22, 2015 23:09**

Disappearance of inventories?! No, I didn't notice this...
About "further issues", I remembered: craft "bridges:bridge_basis" - it is in crafting guide, but craft don't work...
Maybe, it should be, I do not know...

Posted: **Sun Aug 23, 2015 04:38**

First, you can use these commands now in OldCoder Skyblock:

Your phone or window isn't wide enough to display the code box. If it's a phone, try rotating it to landscape mode.

Code: Select all: /iskkor Visit the Iskkor neighborhood /oldcity Jump to another Skyblock city above the clouds /newcity Return to the main Skyblock city /plumber Visit the plumber /skycity Travel to Sky City, a third floating city /spaceship Check out the spaceship /spawn Go to a travelnet /worldbox Get a closer view of World in a Box

Second, Sokomine, "bridges" is your mod, right? Is there something that I should add to fix the crafting problem reported above?

Posted: **Sun Aug 23, 2015 10:45**

Some of the buildings from Iskkor, a discontinued world, have been moved to OldCoder Skyblock.

To visit the Iskkor sector, go to OldCoder Skyblock and type: /iskkor

To get back to the main Skyblock city, type: /spawn

The building with the lava pillars is a PVP arena. Players are welcome to use the arena for battles, parties, or knitting as may be desired.

Posted: **Sun Aug 23, 2015 20:22**

the bucket's 'so far from home' limitation is useless. Plz remove.

Posted: **Sun Aug 23, 2015 20:59**

programmingchicken wrote:"the bucket's 'so far from home' limitation is useless. Plz remove."

See the next post.

Posted: **Mon Aug 24, 2015 02:05**

1. The bridges problem reported by narrnika is probably fixed now.

2. Programming Chicken, I've been told to ask you why you need to use the bucket far from home. One issue is that some players might use the bucket to get lava for griefing purposes.

You probably wouldn't do this yourself. However, somebody cut a hole in Skyblock's copy of World in a Box and allowed the little world's lava to drip out, so this sort of thing is a possibility. Note: The damage has been repaired.

3. The screenshots show Gory's small but comfortable three-level house in Skyblock:

Posted: **Mon Aug 24, 2015 02:45**

I needed to go into the cloud base this evening to fix something and flew down further afterward. For those who are curious, here is what the world presently looks like from under the clouds:

Posted: **Mon Aug 24, 2015 03:12**

OldCoder Skyblock is a full-service world :P Accordingly, we're now pleased to offer you butterflies, birds, bats, and bunnies. Butterflies and birds are shown below.

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