two separate Minetest installs?

[TumeniNodes]

Please forgive me for being tech impaired,

Is it possible for me to have two separate installs of Minetest on my machine?
I'd like to have default Minetest, and also Minetest which I have greatly modified (meaning removed/custom nodes, biomes, altered mapgen, and altered default mods, etc.)
This would be really ideal for me as I'd like to be able to switch back n forth between the two, depending on which I'm in the mood for. It would be especially handy if I am working on textures I could share and/or a mod, or something.
Because right now, when I want to switch, I do it by going in and renaming each individual part. I have several instances of this like mapgen, and then mapgen(orig), nodes.lua and then nodes.lua(orig), etc.. It gets tedious
I'm really hopeful this can be done (and without too much techy stuff) :P
So, if anyone knows if it is possible / knows how, please let me know. Thank you

p.s. I'd rather have the capability without having to add another user acct to the machine (not sure if it could even be done that way either) but "if" that is the only possible way I will do that but as I said... not sure if that is an option either...

[ExeterDad]

Sounds like you don't need a additional install. Just make your custom minetest_game into a subgame.

Or am I misunderstanding your needs?

[TumeniNodes]

Sounds like you don't need a additional install. Just make your custom minetest_game into a subgame.

Or am I misunderstanding your needs?

Hmmm, I didn;t even think of that.... I'm not sure :P
is that a good way to go? would it work?
I have altered a lot of the default stuff.... nodes, mapgen, removed and altered some default mods, etc... I never thought about making it a subgame or even how to go about it if that is a way I can do this....
I always overlook the simplest, most practical things sometimes.... (ok... most of the time)

[ExeterDad]

Admittedly I have never created a subgame. But I've looked through the structure and there really isn't any voodoo magic under the hood. http://wiki.minetest.net/Subgames talks about them, and about midway down explains how simple it is to create them. You basically rename your tweaked minetest/games/minetest_game folder to a name of your choice, and edit the game.conf inside to reflect the name of your subgame.
You can have your tweaked mods in there as well, they won't even need to be enabled. They will like the mods that come with minetest_game... enabled by default.

Your new subgame is now portable. You can put copies on all your machines or share with the community. And it will survive a upgrade. But code within may need updated eventually as Minetest continues to mature.

[TumeniNodes]

Admittedly I have never created a subgame. But I've looked through the structure and there really isn't any voodoo magic under the hood. http://wiki.minetest.net/Subgames talks about them, and about midway down explains how simple it is to create them. You basically rename your tweaked minetest/games/minetest_game folder to a name of your choice, and edit the game.conf inside to reflect the name of your subgame.
You can have your tweaked mods in there as well, they won't even need to be enabled. They will like the mods that come with minetest_game... enabled by default.

Your new subgame is now portable. You can put copies on all your machines or share with the community. And it will survive a upgrade. But code within may need updated eventually as Minetest continues to mature.

I will have to take a gander at this info... :P
Than you sir... I'm sitting here still baffled as to how I had not even thought about that in the first place...
this could get interesting....., and a little weird....

[sorcerykid]

It depends on what you've changed. Assuming a standard Linux installation, then

• Anything under /usr/local/share/minetest/games is a subgame and can be specified by changing the "--gameid" parameter.
  
• Anything under /home/<user>/.minetest/worlds is a world and can be specified by changing the "--worldname" parameter
  
• The config file and log file are both special cases, as they ordinarily default to /home/<user>/.minetest/minetest.conf and /home/<user>/.minetest/debug.txt, but they can be specified by changing the "--config" and "--logfile" parameters respectively.

Needless to say, anything under /usr/local/share/minetest/builtin is engine-specific and any changes will affect the entire installation unless you compile with with RUN_IN_PLACE=1

Here is an example of the command line that I use for starting a test server with a unique world, game, config, and log:

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

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sudo -u minetest /usr/local/bin/minetestserver --gameid test_game --worldname test --config /home/minetest/.minetest/server-test.conf --logfile /home/minetest/.minetest/server-test.log

[TumeniNodes]

It depends on what you've changed. Assuming a standard Linux installation, then

• Anything under /usr/local/share/minetest/games is a subgame and can be specified by changing the "--gameid" parameter.
  
• Anything under /home/<user>/.minetest/worlds is a world and can be specified by changing the "--worldname" parameter
  
• The config file and log file are both special cases, as they ordinarily default to /home/<user>/.minetest/minetest.conf and /home/<user>/.minetest/debug.txt, but they can be specified by changing the "--config" and "--logfile" parameters respectively.

Needless to say, anything under /usr/local/share/minetest/builtin is engine-specific and any changes will affect the entire installation unless you compile with with RUN_IN_PLACE=1

Here is an example of the command line that I use for starting a test server with a unique world, game, config, and log:

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

sudo -u minetest /usr/local/bin/minetestserver --gameid test_game --worldname test --config /home/minetest/.minetest/server-test.conf --logfile /home/minetest/.minetest/server-test.log

Stick my hand in the what? and pull out the what, what?.... :P

Thank you for the info.
All the changes I have made are within usr/share/.minetest , and then minetest_game.
I'm looking over other people's subgame folders to see what's what so I can set my set-up in the same manner and then give it a shot.
It will definitely make everything much easier for me (working on texture packs etc) because I prefer a setup with a no crafting, tools, snow, deserts, sahara, etc... I just like my world... boring :D So this way, switching back n forth will be so much easier... I feel really stupid for not even realizing I could have done this from the start...

[TumeniNodes]

ExeterDad, I want to thank you for dope slapping me in the head and pointing this out to me... I'm having some fun setting up my preferences as a subgame, and named it after the TP I just put up... it will definitely be much easier for me and I am actually embarrassed I didn't even think about this...
This is yet another reason I like MT so much..., customizing, customizing, and... customizing.

Not sure if I will ever post the subgame in the future... it's not actually a "game", it's just MT with all the alterations I like, with absolutely no "gaming" aspect to it. So I've been looking at the options for which category it could be placed under. But, who knows, maybe others will like it too.

And who knows... maybe then... a creative server under the same name... and then.... maybe even a line of underwear and vaping liquids...... (good GAHD.... this could be HUUUUUGE!!!!!)

.... sorry.... got a little carried away

[ExeterDad]

Hah! I didn't do anything. I was just a typical back seat driver.
Glad you were able to get it running to your liking, and look forward to trying your kick butt subgame when you release :P