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| title | layout | root | idx |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creating Games | default | ../.. | 6.1 |
Introduction
The power of Minetest is the ability to easily create games without the need to write your own voxel graphics and algorithms or fancy networking.
What is a Game?
Games are a collection of mods which work together to make a cohesive game. A good game has a consistent underlying theme and a direction, for example maybe it's a classic crafter miner with hard survival elements, or maybe it's a space simulation game with a steam punk automation ascetic.
Game design is a complex topic, and is actually a whole field of expertise. It's beyond the scope of the book to more than briefly touch on it.
Game Directory
The structure and location of a game will seem rather familiar after working
with mods.
Games are found in a game location such as minetest/games/<foo_game>.
foo_game
├── game.conf
├── menu
│ ├── header.png
│ ├── background.png
│ └── icon.png
├── minetest.conf
├── mods
│ └── ... mods
├── README.txt
└── settingtypes.txt
The only thing that is required is a mods folder, but game.conf and menu/icon.png
are recommended.
Inter-game Compatibility
API Compatibility
It's a good idea to try to keep as much API compatibility with Minetest Game as convenient, as it'll make porting mods to another game much easier.
The best way to keep compatibility with another game is to keep API compatibility
with any mods which have the same name.
That is, if a mod uses the same name as another mod even if third party,
then it should have a compatible API.
For example, if a game includes a mod called doors then it should have the
same API as doors in Minetest Game.
API compatibility for a mod is the sum of the following things:
- Lua API table - All documented/advertised functions in the global table which shares the same name.
For example,
mobs.register_mob. - Registered Nodes/Items - The presence of items.
It's probably fine to have partial breakages as long as 90% of dependency
usecases still works. For example, not having a random utility function that was
only actually used internally is ok, but not having mobs.register_mobs is bad.
It's difficult to maintain API compatibility with a disgusting God mega-mod like default in Minetest Game, in which case the game shouldn't include a mod named default.
API compatibility also applies to other third-party mods and games, so try to make sure that any new mods have a unique mod name. To check whether a mod name has been taken, search for it on content.minetest.net.
Groups and Aliases
Groups and Aliases are both massive tools in keeping compatibility between games, as it allows item names to be different between different games. Common nodes like stone and wood should have groups to indicate the material. It's also a good idea to provide aliases from default nodes to any direct replacements.
Your Turn
- Make a game - It can be simple, if you like.