259 lines
8.0 KiB
Markdown
259 lines
8.0 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Releasing a Mod
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layout: default
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root: ../
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---
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## Introduction
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In this chapter we will find out how to publish a mod so that other users can use it.
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* License Choices
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* Packaging
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* Uploading
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* Forum Topic
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### Before you release your mod, there are some things to think about:
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* Is there another mod that does the same thing? If so, how does yours differ or improve on it?
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* Is your mod useful?
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## License Choices
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You need to specify a license for your mod.
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**Public domain is not a valid licence**, as the definition varies in different countries.
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First thing you need to note is that your code and your art need different things from
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the license they use. Creative Commons licenses shouldn't be used with source code,
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but rather with artistic works such as images, text and meshes.
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You are allowed any license, however mods which disallow derivatives are banned from the forum.
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(Other developers must be able to take your mod, modify it, and release it again.)
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### LGPL and CC-BY-SA
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This is a common license combination in the Minetest community, as it is what
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Minetest and minetest_game use.
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You license your code under LGPL 2.1 and your art under CC-BY-SA.
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* Anyone can modify, redistribute and sell modified or unmodified versions.
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* If someone modifies your mod, they must give their version the same license.
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* Your copyright notice must be kept.
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Add this copyright notice to your README.txt, or as a new file called LICENSE.txt
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License for Code
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----------------
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Copyright (C) 2010-2013 Your Name <emailaddress>
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This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
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it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
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the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
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(at your option) any later version.
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This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
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but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
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MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
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GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
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You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License along
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with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
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51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
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License for Textures, Models and Sounds
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---------------------------------------
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CC-BY-SA 3.0 UNPORTED. Created by Your Name
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### WTFPL or CC0
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These licenses allows anyone to do what they want with your mod.
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Modify, redistribute, sell, leave out attribution.
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They can be used for both code and art.
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## Packaging
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There are some files that we recommend you include in your mod
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when you release it.
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### README.txt
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You should provide a readme file. This should state:
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* What the mod does.
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* What the license is.
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* Current version of mod.
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* How to install the mod.
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* What dependencies there are / what the user needs to install.
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* Where to report problems/bugs or get help.
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Example:
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My Super Special Mod
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====================
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Adds magic, rainbows and other special things.
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Version: 1.1
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License: LGPL 2.1 or later
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Dependencies: default mod (found in minetest_game)
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Report bugs or request help on the forum topic.
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Installation
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------------
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Unzip the archive, rename the folder to to modfoldername and
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place it in minetest/mods/minetest/
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( GNU/Linux: If you use a system-wide installation place
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it in ~/.minetest/mods/minetest/. )
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( If you only want this to be used in a single world, place
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the folder in worldmods/ in your worlddirectory. )
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For further information or help see:
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http://wiki.minetest.com/wiki/Installing_Mods
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### description.txt
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Write a sentence or two explaining what your mod does.
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Be concise without being too vague. This is displayed in the mod store.
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For example:
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GOOD: Adds soups, cakes, bakes and juices. The food mod which supports the most ingredients.
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BAD: The food mod for Minetest.
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### screenshot.png
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Screenshots should be 3:2 (3 pixels of width for every 2 pixels of height)
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and a [minimum size of 300 x 200px](https://github.com/minetest/minetest/issues/2874).
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This is displayed in the mod store.
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Uploading
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---------
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In order for a potential user to download your mod, you need to upload it to somewhere
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which is publicly accessible.\\
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I will outline several methods you can use, but really you should use the one that works
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best for you, as long as it mets these requirements:\\
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(and any other requirements which may be added by forum moderators)
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* **Stable** - the hosting website should not just shutdown randomly.
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* **Direct link** - you should be able to click a link on the forum and download the file,
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without having to view another page.
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* **Virus Free** - pretty obvious.
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### Github, or another VCS
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It is recommended that you use a Version Control System for the following reasons:
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* Allows other developers to submit changes (easily).
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* Allows the code to be previewed before downloading.
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* Allows users to submit bug reports.
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However, such systems may be hard to understand when you first start out.
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The majority of Minetest developers use GitHub as a website to host their code,
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however that doesn't matter that much.
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* [Using Git](http://git-scm.com/book/en/v1/Getting-Started) - Basic concepts. Using the command line.
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* [GitHub for Windows](https://help.github.com/articles/getting-started-with-github-for-windows/) - Use a graphical interface on Windows to upload your code.
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### Forum Attachments
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You could use forum attachments instead.
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This is done when creating a mod's topic - covered below.
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First, you need to zip the files into a single file. This varies from operating system to operating system.
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On Windows, go to the mod's folder. Select all the files. Right click, Send To > Compressed (zipped) folder.
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Rename the resulting zip file to the name of your modfolder.
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On the create a topic page, see below, go to the "Upload Attachment" tab at the bottom.
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Click browse and select the zipped file. I suggest that you enter the version of your mod in the comment field.
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<figure>
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<img src="{{ page.root }}/static/releasing_attachments.png" alt="Upload Attachment">
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<figcaption>
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Upload Attachment tab.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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## Forum Topic
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You can now create a forum topic. You should create it in
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the ["WIP Mods"](https://forum.minetest.net/viewforum.php?f=9) (Work In Progress)
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forum.\\
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When you consider your mod no longer a work in progress, you can
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[request that it be moved](https://forum.minetest.net/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=10418)
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to "Mod Releases."
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### Content
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The requirements of a forum topic are mostly the same as what is recommended for a README.txt
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* What the mod does.
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* What the license is.
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* Current version of mod.
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* How to install the mod.
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* What dependencies there are.
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* Where to report problems/bugs or get help.
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* Link to download, or an attachment.
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You should also include screenshots of your mod in action, if relevant.
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Here is an example. The Minetest forum uses bbcode for formating.
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Adds magic, rainbows and other special things.
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See download attached.
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[b]Version:[/b] 1.1
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[b]License:[/b] LGPL 2.1 or later
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Dependencies: default mod (found in minetest_game)
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Report bugs or request help on the forum topic.
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[h]Installation[/h]
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Unzip the archive, rename the folder to to modfoldername and
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place it in minetest/mods/minetest/
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( GNU/Linux: If you use a system-wide installation place
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it in ~/.minetest/mods/minetest/. )
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( If you only want this to be used in a single world, place
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the folder in worldmods/ in your worlddirectory. )
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For further information or help see:
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[url]http://wiki.minetest.com/wiki/Installing_Mods[/url]
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If you modify the above example for your mod topic, remember to
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change "modfldername" to the name of the folder your mod should be
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in.
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### Title
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Subject of topic must be in one of these formats:
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* [Mod] Mod Title [modname]
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* [Mod] Mod Title [version number] [modname]
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* eg: [Mod] More Blox [0.1] [moreblox]
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### Profit
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<figure>
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<img src="{{ page.root }}/static/releasing_profit.png" alt="Profit">
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<figcaption style="display:none;">
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Profit
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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