Mods vs. Code Upgrades

[shaneroach]

I understand you use LUA for mods, and I had read at least where MOBS were concerned you were all running into some performance issues with that. Is there a plan or system in place to transfer popular mods to the hard code? Is that basically what "Games" are, is C++ coded mod changes? Or perhaps I could ask if there is a summary somewhere of how all of the additional code is being organized and implemented?

Thanks for any insights.

[PilzAdam]

There are no plans to move any mods to the core. Minetest is an engine, where content is added via Lua. Adding content to the engine is wrong.
However, it could be possible to offer an API for mobs in the engine, but there are no real plans for that.

[shaneroach]

There are no plans to move any mods to the core. Minetest is an engine, where content is added via Lua. Adding content to the engine is wrong.
However, it could be possible to offer an API for mobs in the engine, but there are no real plans for that.

Thanks.

Did I misunderstand that the Lua was causing performance issues? Would an API help fix that?

Being a code neophyte at best, I have always been somewhat confused at the plethora of languages. Why do you not add content with C++ as well? If it is to do with the complexity of pointers, etc, could one not put together a C++ class for modding?

I am always obsessed with performance issues that I sadly do not truly understand....

[PilzAdam]

Lua (or any other scripting language) is just a lot easier for mods to use. You dont need to compile it, so it runs on every platform. Also Lua has powerful tables to define the content.

[Inocudom]

Once upon I time, I thought it would be neat if Zelda Classic made use of the Minetest engine. This could be a doable feat due to the fact that Zelda Classic relies on combos (tiles with attributes) to build its worlds. It's monsters (most of which are from The Legend Of Zelda) would have to be recreated as mobs, however.

Are you an expert at programming, shaneroach? If you are, then you could be of great assistance when it comes to aiding in the development of mods.

[shaneroach]

Once upon I time, I thought it would be neat if Zelda Classic made use of the Minetest engine. This could be a doable feat due to the fact that Zelda Classic relies on combos (tiles with attributes) to build its worlds. It's monsters (most of which are from The Legend Of Zelda) would have to be recreated as mobs, however.

Are you an expert at programming, shaneroach? If you are, then you could be of great assistance when it comes to aiding in the development of mods.

Am I an expert programmer? Not at all, sadly. I have repeatedly dragged myself back to C++. I took two semesters of it in college and really enjoyed coding, but drifted away unfortunately. One of the things I wondered if I might be able to do with Minetest was use it as a project to motivate me to get proficient at C++.

My interest in Minetest though is basically in its open source model. As of yet I am afraid I have little to offer to the community in terms of actual coding. I do have some interest in mucking around with the mods to get a decent game together and using that to fund raise. I am in the process of trying to figure out how everything works in order to try to do that, and that's how I ended up asking this question.