Difference between revisions of "Games"

Latest revision as of 12:28, 27 December 2023

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Minetest itself is not a game but an engine or platform for other voxel games to be built on top of. Minetest can run and play games, which are complete playable interactive experiences. This is considered to be one of the core features of Minetest; without it, Minetest would fall.

Introduction

Description

The general definition of “game” in Minetest is “what you put into the ‘games directory and launch from the main menu”. As such, what is called a “game” in Minetest can, in practice, be all sorts of things: It could be a game with goals, or a sandbox, a puzzle, a mix of those or something completely different. Games can be selected and launched from the main menu directly and stand on their own. Minetest further allows all such games to be extended and modified by the use of mods.

A game is extremely simple from a technical level: Internally, a game itself a collection of (pre-packaged) mods and a few extra files (mostly for the main menu images), but packaged together to provide a complete interactive experience. which can be used out-of-the-box. When a player starts a game, all the mods packaged with that game will be used.

Screenshots

To give you an impression about the variety of possible games in Minetest, here's a screenshot gallery of many games:

This is not all, though. There are many different games for Minetest, which you can browse between on ContentDB.

User manual

Using a game

If you already have a game installed, here's how to use it:

Start Minetest
On the gamebar at the bottom of the "Start game" tab, click on the game you want to play
Create a new world by clicking on “New”
Enter a world name, select a Map generator and hit “Create”
Click “Play Game”

Finding games

Minetest comes with no games by default, so you have to install some first.

The main place to find and install games is ContentDB, which can be accessed in the main menu by pressing the 'Plus' icon in the main menu gamebar. Installing games from the Content tab is as easy as:

1. Searching for the game on the search bar.
2. Clicking/tapping the install button in front of it.

Another place to find games is in the Minetest forums.

Installing games

Games installed using the Content tab are automatically set up and installed.

However when installing games manually, they usually are distributed in Zip archives (other archive formats such as .tar.gz are of course possible, too). Follow these steps to install a game from an archive:

Get the archive which contains the game
Extract (or unzip) the archive into the the games sub-directory of Minetest. The location of this directory depends on your operating system:
- GNU/Linux: $HOME/.minetest/games, where “$HOME” refers to your home directory.
- Mac OS: $HOME/.minetest/games, where “$HOME” refers to your home directory.
- Windows: into the games directory found in the main program folder in which you have installed Minetest. It is the directory containing the directories like bin (which in turn contains minetest.exe), builtin, client, doc, fonts, games, locale, mods, textures, etc.

The game should now be installed, and will be shown up the next time the main menu gamebar refreshes.

Playing on servers

You can also “find” games by just joining a highly customized server. While many servers host Minetest Game or (most likely) a modded variant of it, some servers host other games as well. Because of the nature of Minetest, every server can be unique. Joining a server is a good way to quickly explore the possibilities of Minetest without needing for a manual game installation.

Making a game

Technically speaking a game is essentially a collection of mods developed to work well with eachother, that is accessible from the main menu. The mods are put in a mods/ folder inside the root of the game's directory. For more information about what can go into a game see the Minetest API documentation.

Technical info

You also can use the environment variable MINETEST_SUBGAME_PATH to define additional search paths for games, if you would like to store games in another directory.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Languages}}
+Minetest itself is not a game but an engine or platform for other voxel games to be built on top of. [[Minetest]] can run and play '''games''', which are complete playable interactive experiences. This is considered to be one of '''the''' core features of Minetest; without it, Minetest would fall.
-With [[Minetest]] you can run and play '''games''' (previously called “subgames”), which are complete playable interactive experiences. This is considered to be one of '''the''' core features of Minetest.
-The default game is [[Minetest Game]], but there are many more.
 === Introduction ===
 ==== Description ====
-What we call a “game” in Minetest can, in practice, be all sorts of things: It could be a game with goals, or a sandbox, a puzzle, a mix of those or something completely different. Games can be selected and launched from the main menu directly and stand on their own. Minetest further allows all such games to be extended and modified by the use of [[mods]]. The general definition of “game” in Minetest is “what you put into the ‘<code>games</code> directory and launch from the main menu”.
+The general definition of “game” in Minetest is “what you put into the ‘<code>games</code> directory and launch from the main menu”. As such, what is called a “game” in Minetest can, in practice, be all sorts of things: It could be a game with goals, or a sandbox, a puzzle, a mix of those or something completely different. Games can be selected and launched from the main menu directly and stand on their own. Minetest further allows all such games to be extended and modified by the use of [[mods]].
-Technically, a game is really simple: Internally, a game itself a collection of (pre-packaged) [[mods]] and a few extra files (mostly for the main menu images), but packaged together to provide a complete interactive experience. which can be used out-of-the-box. When a player starts a game, all the mods packaged with that game will be used.
+A game is extremely simple from a technical level: Internally, a game itself a collection of (pre-packaged) [[mods]] and a few extra files (mostly for the main menu images), but packaged together to provide a complete interactive experience. which can be used out-of-the-box. When a player starts a game, all the mods packaged with that game will be used.
 ==== Screenshots ====
 To give you an impression about the variety of possible games in Minetest, here's a screenshot gallery of many games:
 {{Game gallery}}
-==== Game examples ====
+This is not all, though. There are many different games for Minetest, which you can browse between on [https://content.minetest.net/packages/?type=game ContentDB].
-<!-- NOTE TO EDITORS: This section is intended to give a FEW examples (not more than 10) of games to demonstrate the variety in Minetest games. Please do not list *all* games here, only those which are different enough from the others to demonstrate variety. Unique games are good. -->
-''Main article: [[List of Games]]''
-* '''[[Games/Minetest Game|Minetest Game]]''' (<code>minetest_game</code>)
-This is the default game in Minetest. It's a rather simple sandbox without any goal. It has some [[Biomes|biomes]] to explore, 6 [[ores]] to mine, a simple [[farming]] system with 2 farmable plants, different [[trees]], and more. You can use [[boat]]s and [[cart]]s for faster travel. There are no [[Mobs|computer-controlled enemies or animals]], so the gameplay is very peaceful. It has all the [[blocks]] and [[items]] and most other stuff you find in this wiki.
-* '''[[Games/Lord of the Test|Lord of the Test]]'''
-A mix of the “voxel sandbox” and the role-playing game genres which takes place on Middle Earth from the Lord of the Rings triology by J. R. R. Tolkien.
-* '''[[Games/Minetest Saturn|Minetest Saturn]]'''
-A space simulation near the planet Saturn. You control a small space ship and can fly in all 3 dimensions (just like in space) and mine for ores in asteroids, do package deliveries between space stations, upgrade your ship or combat enemies. It is very different from the other games.
-* '''[[Games/Minetest Hades|Minetest Hades]]'''
-This is another mostly sandbox game, but a bit more challenging than the others. You start on the volcanic planet Hades with large lava seas and a very rough terrain and barren terrain formation. Go mining and use your crafting and building skills for terraforming to turn the land into a beautiful habitable land.
-<!-- Maybe this example should be removed when the list becomes too crowded -->
-See the Minetest Forums for a more complete list of games.
 == User manual ==
 === Using a game ===
-If you already have some game installed, here's how to use them:
+If you already have a game installed, here's how to use it:
 # Start Minetest
-# On the game icon bar (4), click on the game you want to play. (On the first start, Minetest Game is pre-selected)
+# On the gamebar at the bottom of the "Start game" tab, click on the game you want to play
 # Create a new [[Worlds|world]] by clicking on “New”
 # Enter a world name, select a [[Map generator]] and hit “Create”
 # Click “Play Game”
-Here's the annotated singleplayer menu of Minetest, in this example the user has installed tons of games:
-[[File:Minetest_main_menu_annotated.png|Main menu]]
-* 1: '''Game banner''': Usually this shows a text logo for the current game. It's “Minetest Game” in this case
-* 2: '''Icon of Minetest Game''': This is the icon of Minetest Game, the default game
-* 3: '''Game name''': Name of the current active game
-* 4: '''Game icon bar''': Each icon represents a game, click on an icon to select a new game, click on the arrows to scroll
-* 5: '''List of worlds''': Valid for the currently selected game only
-* 6: '''Basic settings'''
 === Finding games ===
-The first game you probably already have is Minetest Game. Finding it is trivial. ;-)
+Minetest comes with no games by default, so you have to install some first.
-The main place to find and install games is the [[ContentDB]] (Content tab of Minetest). Installing games from the Content tab is as easy as :
+The main place to find and install games is [https://content.minetest.net/packages/?type=game ContentDB], which can be accessed in the main menu by pressing the 'Plus' icon in the main menu gamebar. Installing games from the Content tab is as easy as:
-* 1. Searching for the game on the search bar or selecting 'games' in the filter beside the search bar
+* 1. Searching for the game on the search bar.
-* 2. Clicking/tapping the Install button in front of it.
+* 2. Clicking/tapping the install button in front of it.
-Another place to find other games is in the Minetest Forums. Almost everyone who creates games posts it in the forums:
+Another place to find games is in the [https://forum.minetest.net Minetest forums].
-* [https://forum.minetest.net/viewforum.php?f=15 Minetest Forums: Game Releases]
-* [https://forum.minetest.net/viewforum.php?f=50 Minetest Forums: WIP Games]
-On other webpages you can find a different look on games if you find navigating the forums hard. Those pages are usually incomplete.
-* [[List of Games]]
-* [https://lgdb.org/engine/minetest Linux Game Database: Game engine entry for “Minetest”] (very incomplete)
 === Installing games ===
 Games installed using the Content tab are automatically set up and installed.
-Usually games are distributed in Zip archives (other archive formats such as <code>.tar.gz</code> are of course possible, too). Follow these steps to install a game from an archive:
+However when installing games manually, they usually are distributed in Zip archives (other archive formats such as <code>.tar.gz</code> are of course possible, too). Follow these steps to install a game from an archive:
 * Get the archive which contains the game
@@ Line 86: / Line 45: @@
 ** '''Windows''': into the <code>games</code> directory found in the main program folder in which you have installed Minetest. It is the directory containing the directories like <code>bin</code> (which in turn contains <code>minetest.exe</code>), <code>builtin</code>, <code>client</code>, <code>doc</code>, <code>fonts</code>, <code>games</code>, <code>locale</code>, <code>mods</code>, <code>textures</code>, etc.
-The game should now be installed and be found at the next Minetest start.
+The game should now be installed, and will be shown up the next time the main menu gamebar refreshes.
-Now you can start Minetest and the game should have been found by Minetest. You can select the new game in singleplayer mode by clicking one of the icons at the bottom. To start playing, just create a new world and hit “Play Game”.
 === Playing on servers ===
 You can also “find” games by just joining a highly customized [[Server|server]]. While many servers host Minetest Game or (most likely) a modded variant of it, some servers host other games as well. Because of the nature of Minetest, every server can be unique. Joining a server is a good way to quickly explore the possibilities of Minetest without needing for a manual game installation.
+== Making a game ==
+Technically speaking a game is essentially a collection of mods developed to work well with eachother, that is accessible from the main menu. The mods are put in a ''mods/'' folder inside the root of the game's directory. For more information about what can go into a game see the [https://minetest.gitlab.io/minetest/games/ Minetest API documentation].
-== Troubleshooting ==
+== Technical info ==
+You also can use the environment variable <code>MINETEST_SUBGAME_PATH</code> to define additional search paths for games, if you would like to store games in another directory.
-To help you finding the correct location, here is an example directory listing to help you make sure that the game was installed into the correct directory. In this diagram, the game directory is located at “<code><GAME></code>”. After installation, the directory tree should look more or less like this (note that some files or directories are optional, but all directories must be, if present, in the corrent position of the tree):
-<pre>
-minetest/
-├── bin/
-├── builtin/
-├── (other uninteresting directories)
-├── games/
-│   ├── <GAME>
-│   │   ├── mods/
-│   │   │   └── (usually a lot of mod directories)
-│   │   ├── menu/
-│   │   │   └── (some PNG files)
-│   │   └── game.conf
-│   └── <ANOTHER GAME>
-        └── (same directories as for the game above)
-</pre>
-Note that the directory name of the game does not matter; you can even change it after initial installation. But renaming the game directory afterwards is not recommended because Minetest won't find the existing worlds for the game anymore.
-You also can use the environment variable <code>MINETEST_GAME_PATH</code> to define the location of the <code>games</code> directory, but this is usually not required.
-== See also ==
-* [http://dev.minetest.net/Games Creating games] on the [http://dev.minetest.net Minetest-dev wiki].
 [[Category:Games]]