FOSS gamedev and creative worlds

1. What's the difference between:
multicraft2, minetest, pixelcraft, freeminer
(all android apps created by freeminer user account).

2. I created a server on my android phone, and connected with my other phone. I notice that the server have fly abilities & creative inventory. Is this normal that the server user has all this power?

3. If I dig some dirt, the dirt above collapse, etc. If I try to build a house out of dirt, then it all collapse. This is good in that it's realistic, but I swore I played another minecraft and this wasn't the case (in other minecraft the dirt do not collapse down). Is this default setting in minetest - and can we change this setting?)


ANOTHER QUERY:
If I download/run the default minetest windows app on my PC... then I use mobile client app (but it's installed more mods) would it only show whatever is configured on the server/PC side right?

What happens if the server has more mods installed, but the client doesn't?

andwan0 wrote:1. What's the difference between:
multicraft2, minetest, pixelcraft, freeminer
(all android apps created by freeminer user account).

minetest is an open-source voxel game engine. by default it comes with minetest_game, which is very minimal.

freeminer is a clone of minetest with extra functions to be less like an engine and more like a game, similar to minecraft.

multicraft, pixelcraft and all other android apps are illegal hacks/copies of minetest.

andwan0 wrote:2. I created a server on my android phone, and connected with my other phone. I notice that the server have fly abilities & creative inventory. Is this normal that the server user has all this power?

that depends on the server settings, but also on the game you used.
some of the illegal hacks can connect to original minetest servers and use all special powers that are granted in their game. (admins will ban you if you for this)

andwan0 wrote:3. If I dig some dirt, the dirt above collapse, etc. If I try to build a house out of dirt, then it all collapse. This is good in that it's realistic, but I swore I played another minecraft and this wasn't the case (in other minecraft the dirt do not collapse down). Is this default setting in minetest - and can we change this setting?)

in minetest, dirt does not collapse.
you probably played another game, for which we are not responsible.

I just quickly checked on Google Play: Pixelcraft looks like a copy of Pixture. Pixture is a beautiful game for Minetest and it can be taken from here:
viewtopic.php?t=13181

I don't know why Pixelcraft and Multicraft/Multicraft2 are considered “illegal”, but my guess is that not full credit is given or source code is not shared or another GPL violation. But I really don't know it so don't take my word for granted.

2. I created a server on my android phone, and connected with my other phone. I notice that the server have fly abilities & creative inventory. Is this normal that the server user has all this power?

OK, more detailed explanation than above:

Flying is a privilege which can be granted by the server on a per-player basis. Check your privileges by typing /privs in chat. :D If “fly” is in the list, you can use fly mode. You can also check the privileges of another player by saying “/privs <playername>”.
Since the server operators have the power to change and grant privileges at will, they can logically grant themselves flying.
See also: http://wiki.minetest.net/Privileges

Creative Mode is a server setting which is either completely enabled or completely disabled. In Minetest, Creative Mode is a really odd thing, technically. Its meaning largely depends on the game, but in practice it means you have the creative inventory, fast dig times, tools don't wear out, etc. Focus is on creativity rather than survival.
But if the server uses Unified Inventory (the fancy gray inventory screen with lots of buttons and a huge crafting guide), then the creative inventory can also be granted on a privilege basis.

3. If I dig some dirt, the dirt above collapse, etc. If I try to build a house out of dirt, then it all collapse. This is good in that it's realistic, but I swore I played another minecraft and this wasn't the case (in other minecraft the dirt do not collapse down). Is this default setting in minetest - and can we change this setting?)

The answer from the previous user is not really correct. Whether dirt collapses or not (or even if there is dirt at all) depends on the game being used. With Minetest, both are possible: Either dirt can collapse or it can't. It depends on the game. In Minetest Game, the default game for Minetest, dirt does NOT collapse. I am not aware of any game for Minetest in which dirt collapses, but it is totally possible.
It is not a configuration setting, however; unless the game chooses to add one (very unlikey as this setting is absurdly specific). You need to change Lua source code.
Note that if you play on servers, the gameplay de facto varies per server. This is because every server can just modify the games and mods at will (including making dirt collapsible), and everything will still work out of the box for online players. I think this is one of the coolest features of Minetest! :-)



PS: Useful reading:
http://wiki.minetest.net/Minetest
http://wiki.minetest.net/Subgames/Minetest_Game
http://wiki.minetest.net/Dirt
http://wiki.minetest.net/Blocks (note that all block pages in the wiki refer to an UNMODIFIED Minetest Game installation)
http://wiki.minetest.net/Server

Thanks for the info!

ANOTHER QUERY:
If I download/run the default minetest windows app on my PC... then I use mobile client app (but it's installed more mods) would it only show whatever is configured on the server/PC side right?

What happens if the server has more mods installed, but the client doesn't?

andwan0 wrote:If I download/run the default minetest windows app on my PC... then I use mobile client app (but it's installed more mods) would it only show whatever is configured on the server/PC side right?

I don't quite understand what you mean.
But I am inclined to say “no”. Do you think that somehow the mods installed on your PC will just magically appear on your Android without manual intervention? Or do you mean that you run the server on the PC and that your smartphone as client? Then you can connect and it will work (see next answer). Your question is very vague, sorry.

Configuration is partially client stuff and partially server stuff. Too see the full list of settings, just go into the advanced settings menu in the main menu, here the settings are clearly seperated between server and client.
Note: “singleplayer” mode counts as both server and client at once.

What happens if the server has more mods installed, but the client doesn't?

The mods remain on the server side but serves all required data to the clients in order to play.
You can connect with your client to any server (as long as the Minetest versions are compatible) and any mods installed on the server will just work out the box. Note that the data files are transferred to your client regardless of your locally installed mods.
Your locally installed mods are only used if you use singleplayer or start a server yourselves.

The program logic is entirely on the server side; no mod code is executed on the client.