MineTest Is Losing and other problems.

[LolManKuba]

By what I mean, that a lot of people make Minecraft Texture Pack Conversions and Minecraft-based modifications.
Jordach is correct,

IT WAS SUPPOSED to be a clone of Minecraft,

and it still is, and it is still evolving to become more like Minecraft.
MineTest needs more original ideas. Anybody agree with me? (I'm more of a fan of Minecraft but try to help other people using the Minetest Forums)
You're even losing a lot of RAM, (Reported by lkjoel also known as MiJyn), which he is currently trying to fix.
Lot's of people are saying that Minetest is now more like DeadTest(Name by Jordach).

[lkjoel]

I totally agree. Plus, if you look at the engine, you will see how terribly it's coded.
Here is my suggestion: Restart the project from scratch, using pure OpenGL!

[Sturmegeist]

I agree, I may know little or nothing about uploading or creating mods or maps for minetest, but it pains me to see how sloppy the coding is. I believe MineTest could be dead in another years time if something isn't done!

[Calinou]

I agree, I may know little or nothing about uploading or creating mods or maps for minetest, but it pains me to see how sloppy the coding is. I believe MineTest could be dead in another years time if something isn't done!

Explain to me how Minecraft is still alive, then? Go read its code. :P

[Jordach]

I agree, I may know little or nothing about uploading or creating mods or maps for minetest, but it pains me to see how sloppy the coding is. I believe MineTest could be dead in another years time if something isn't done!

Explain to me how Minecraft is still alive, then? Go read its code. :P

the thing is, they have optimised opengl, which minetest falls short of.

[Calinou]

Optimised OpenGL? It barely uses any OpenGL 2.0+ stuff, and no optimised technologies at all - no VBOs as an example.

[kddekadenz]

I totally agree. Plus, if you look at the engine, you will see how terribly it's coded.
Here is my suggestion: Restart the project from scratch, using pure OpenGL!

Nah, that would take too long.

[wokste]

Steps to make the code better:
1. Cleaning the code. I could remove half of the lines in mapgen.c because they were code commented out. I don't know if this file is terribly ugly or if it is the default.
2. Analyse code and fixed when nessesary.
3. Maybe use CPD, the Copy-Paste Detector: http://pmd.sourceforge.net/cpd.html

So refactor and clean a lot, but don't start from scrach. Also see the time in cleaning as an investment.

[mauvebic]

Im not a huge fan of these "someone should do something" threads that always imply someone else should do something.

Not to mention every attempt to patch and improve the client tends to lead to a seperate fork for a few marginal features. :-/

[portals]

I found good alternative

https://github.com/MovingBlocks/Terasology

but it's Java :(.

[kddekadenz]

This is a forum about Minetest, not about alternatives of Minetest.

[Liandri]

Here goes my humble opinion.

Minecraft has resolved one of the big issues in the video game industry, and done fairly well, destructible and constructible terrain, in other words, you can modify completely the terrain and build anything you can think. The system is extremely simple and very powerfull, as all we know, a world made of lots of blocks. (Minecraft is based on Infiniminner, so really Minecraft hasn't resolved anything :p)

This method works fine, aside from aesthetical issues, providing many possibilities of different gameplay.

Many of us have seen that potential, and some with programming skills (and free time) has programmed his own game engine.

The result is that there is multiple "clones" of Minecraft out there.

The problem here is that every clone tries to clone almost exactly every Minecraft feature, (technical and gameplay) aside from the blocky world (obviously unavoidable), they clone the same pixelated themes, the similar cubic aesthetic (mobs made of blocks etc), the same recipe system, the minecarts idea, the redstone circuitry, absolutely everything is cloned.

Minetest has this problem, and it's worse taking in account that it's meant to run in old hardware, so we never will see real 3d mobs (I mean, 3D mobs with more than 300 polys each), or smooth connections of block surfaces http://minetest.net/forum/viewtopic.php?id=38 (great idea btw) or bump mapping, specular lighting, real time shadows, dynamic lighting, some decent dynamics, only because all those features doesn't fit with the main purpose of the engine.

Those are technical features that would make Minetest somewhat less clone, and can attract some people, but they are not easy to implement.

The other problem is that I have the sense that the main developer has released the mod api mainly to please the hungry crowd so he can take a well deserved rest, allowing the community to continue (in part) his work. That's very good, but it makes me think that version 0.5 or at least V0.4 stable will take very long time to be released. Many mods are impossible to do because the mod api needs to be expanded so we can enjoy a boat ride near our beach house or go down to the mine in a super fast minecart. We are stuck at this point I think.

Aside from other issues, maybe that's why people are losing interest.

[cornernote]

This is a forum about Minetest, not about alternatives of Minetest.

yes, i agree... this is a forum about the alternative to minecraft, not an alternative alternative!

=)

[Bas080]

To me minetest is a good 3 dimensional malmuable world in which different concepts can be thought out and tried out. The one plays as architect, the other more of an adventure and the other as a mesecon engineer, etc. To everyone this game is something else.

The only thing that will make this game better is giving the player the possibility to choose who he/she wants to be. This means extending the game with mods, but also making sure the core engine on which the mods run performs wel. I notice that minetest's shadow rendering could give more depth to the visuals. Something that allot of people would appreciate becouse it would immerse the players a little better into the game. The core engine should keep growing with in mind the modders who create content, thus gameplay. Programmers should consider the core engine as the soil on which the game grows on. Improving the core engine by adding new node and item features and enhancements in rendering.

I like to mod. My experience with modding for minetest is weird. I have not read any documentation only other modders code. This means that i'm not fully aware of what all the modding functions are. I'm only aware of the ones that others use.

Making clearly documented examples of the modding api will improve participation and improve modding in every way. it will also make communications between core developers and modders better. I would like to try and improve modding documentation. I think a clearly structured wiki could make a good overview of the modding funcions. Also a steadily growing list of examples on how to's could introduce new people that before would not dare to program. Young people.

I really believe minetest is a great project and I can see allot of potential in making a project like this opensource. Think about the amount of cognitive challanges minetest offers. Somehow you tend to enjoy doing them in a world where it is so easy to manipulate your surroundings. I have learned many things while playing minetest/minecraft while perceiving it as an adventure and not a boring class.

I would really like to challange modders to make mods with learning in mind. There are mods that do so already, for example:
Unifieddyes mod shows how colors work when you combine them.
http://minetest.net/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2178

Mesecons mod gives you the ability to make "binary circuits"
http://minetest.net/forum/viewtopic.php?id=628

Ofcourse fun is just as important. Mods that are inviting, challanging and rewarding.

I don't know one person that doesn't know what lego is. And i see this concept becoming the opensource lego's of the future.

[rubenwardy]

As for game modes,

I am considering a more MMO effect game mode, with two or more spawns where the players take teams and wage war with castles. (hmmm, too much like CastleWars/Fortress Wars).

[CTMN]

1. For me, MT is a free and better programmed copy of MC(and a bit small). But MT should have new ideas implemented. Notch has made the mistake of programming MC in java that takes lots of recourcces for nothing, so he was forced to make 8 bit graphics and such things. MT is made and purposed for old hardware.

2. A fortress fight with pickaxes?

[2cool4me4]

2. A fortress fight with pickaxes?

The thing is, this is already possible. ;)