Minetest

Original author(s)	Perttu Ahola
Developer(s)	Minetest team
Initial release	0.0.1 / November 2, 2010; 13 years ago (2010-11-02)
Stable release	5.8.0[1]  / 4 December 2023
Repository	github.com/minetest/minetest
Written in	C++, Lua
Engine	Irrlicht (Irrlicht-MT fork)
Platform	Microsoft Windows, MacOS, Linux, FreeBSD, Android
Type	Sandbox, survival
License	2013: LGPL-2.1-or-later[2][3] 2010: GPL-2.0-or-later[4][5] Original: Proprietary[6]
Website	https://www.minetest.net/

Minetest is a free and open-source game creation system with focus on voxel graphics. It is written primarily in C++ and makes use of the Irrlicht Engine. Minetest provides an API for users to write their own games and mods written in Lua. It is cross-platform, being available for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, some BSD descendants, some GNU variants and Android.^[7]

Since version 5.0.0 the in-game browser lets users download FLOSS software and software which does not qualify as 'free software', as defined by the Free Software Foundation, and provides help in obtaining both types of software.^[8]

As of Minetest 5.8.0 the Minetest Engine no longer ships with a default game.^[9]

Over a decade of active development Minetest has garnered critical acclaim and gained in popularity; since November 2013 Minetest has been downloaded over 1.4 million times from GitHub^{[citation needed]} , and the Android version of Minetest has over 500,000 downloads on the Google Play store^{[citation needed]} .

Gameplay

Minetest Game is a voxel sandbox video game.^[10] Gameplay in this game for the Minetest engine^[11] is in the first-person perspective by default, but players have the option for third-person perspective. The game world is composed of voxels: 3D objects, many of them simple cubes, commonly called "nodes". Different voxels represent various materials, such as dirt, stone, ores, tree trunks, water, and lava. The core gameplay revolves around picking up and placing these objects, one node at a time. Nodes are arranged in a 3D grid, while players can move smoothly around the world. Players can "mine" (or "dig") blocks and then "place" (or "build") them elsewhere, enabling them to modify the game world. Players can also craft a wide variety of hand-held tools to aid them with the world modification. Pick axes allow to dig rocky nodes, shovels speed up the digging of dirt and sand, water buckets allow to pick up water nodes, etc. A player controls a 3D character known as Sam, which is a recursive acronym for "Sam ain't Minecraft".^[12]

As players explore the world, new areas are procedurally generated, using a map seed specified by the player. A new game puts the player in the center of a voxel cube 62 thousand nodes across, so the player can travel 31 thousand nodes in any direction (sideways, up, or down)^[13] before reaching the invisible wall at the end of the world.

The world is divided into biomes ranging from deserts to jungles to snowfields; the terrain includes plains, mountains, forests, caves, and various lava/water bodies. The in-game time system follows a day and night cycle, and one full cycle lasts 20 real-time minutes.

Minetest provides two basic game mode options: Enable Damage and Creative Mode which affect how players interact with the world and use items. Creative Mode is intended to provide players with infinite resources, while toggling the damage setting determines whether the players are able to take damage from environmental hazards and other players.

Multiplayer

Minetest implements a client-server architecture, and can be played solo or multiplayer. A player starting a new game can choose between playing in a single-player mode, or hosting a server to which other Minetest players can connect.

Customizations

The full source code of Minetest, and all of its artistic assets such as textures and sounds, are distributed under a variety of free licenses, making it easier^{[citation needed]} to create modified versions and derivatives. The base version of Minetest provides an interface for games and mods written in Lua. Games define the basic rules of the game world, and are a core feature of Minetest. Most games feature sandbox gameplay focused on construction, mining, and creativity. Mods are used to further customize various aspects of gameplay, and are an inherent part of Minetest. Mods are server-side and work out of the box when playing on Internet servers, with no manual installation required.

Games

Developers refer to Minetest as an engine rather than a "game" because almost every aspect of gameplay is implemented within so-called games written in Lua. Since version 5.0.0, the main menu of the Minetest engine allows users to browse and install games from a curated list.

Minetest is shipped with one game: devtest implementing a more minimal sandbox primarily for debugging.

List of games

Forks of games

Mods

There are almost 2000 free and open-source mods available at Minetest forums, as of March, 2024. Since version 5.0.0, Minetest features a built-in content picker, allowing users to browse a curated list of add-ons and install mods and texture packs with a single click. Content is also available at Minetest's site ContentDB.

Mods can be used to add node types, tools, monsters, player skins, and alter many aspects of the gameplay.

Both the forums and the in-game browser exclude some non-free or closed source software, though it lets users download some non-free or closed source software, as a matter of policy. Some closed sourced licenses are allowed in the ContentDB's repository.^[14]

List of Modifications

List of forks of Modifications

Development

Minetest was originally released in November 2010 under a proprietary license.^[6] Shortly afterwards the license was changed to the GPL-2.0-or-later license.^[5] By agreement among major contributors, in June 2012 the project license was to be changed to LGPL-2.1-or-later, though at the time small parts still remained under the GPL-2.0-or-later license.^[4] In September 2013, the transition was complete.^[3] While LGPL-2.1-or-later remains the main license for the Minetest engine, other free and open-source licenses are used for various other parts of the latest release.^[2]

Perttu Ahola was the only developer working on the project for about six months, until Ciaran Gultnieks started making code contributions in May 2011.^[15] The roster of contributors grew and changed over the years. As of July 2020, there are 9 active core developers and 15 active contributors. Project participants do not have set roles, but rather keep their activity within their respective areas of expertise. Perttu Ahola's role morphed over the years: whereas initially it was engine development, now it is mostly Web-hosting and administration, assigning core developer, moderator, and other roles to people, as well as being the final word in cases where other developers are unable to render a decision.^[15]

Usage in education

Minetest has been used in educational environments to teach subjects such as mathematics, programming, and earth sciences. Such examples are:

• In 2017 in France, Minetest was used to teach calculus and trigonometry.^[16]
• At Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil, Minetest was used to teach programming in a variant called MineScratch.^[17]
• In 2018, for Laboratory Education and Apprenticeships (EDA) at the Paris Descartes University, Minetest was used to teach life and earth sciences to year 6 students who could not observe some phenomena in person but could experience them in the Minetest virtual world.^[18]

Reception

Opensource.com listed Minetest at #1 in its "Best open source games of 2015",^[19] stating that it is maybe "the most complete alternative to Minecraft", and noted its expansibility, stating that it contains a user-friendly API for creating mods in Lua.^[20] PC Magazine listed Minetest among "The best Sandbox Creation Games for Minecraft Fans".^[21]