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Who is this for?
This project, Final Minetest, is for hobbyists, teachers, professors, researchers, and masters degree candidates who are interested in Linux, voxel simulations, and/or gamedev. The project is 100% FOSS (Free and Open Source).
There are no preexisting binaries. You build the software and tailor it to your needs. Teenagers age 15 and up can do this if they're determined and learn Linux CLI . Actually, many of the major original Minetest worlds, such as Lord of the Test and Moontest, were created by teenagers.
The system includes a server that runs simulated worlds on a LAN, a client that can connect to the worlds on the LAN, and a self-contained server-client that can be used offline. The worlds look like Minecaft™.
This isn't a Free Minecraft. The worlds aren't on server lists and there is no mobile app,. The system is for creating your own private world networks for academic, research, or private group use. To use this system, you'll need to set up a Linux VPS or you can use a Linux PC at home or the office or in the classroom.
For now, Windows and Mac OS are only supported by way of a web browser client. It's possible to go to Final Minetest worlds using a web browser. However, that part is still under development.
Most readers will have left the page by this point. If you've made it this far, this is a project that you might have a lot of fun with for years to come.
If you'd like to edit this wiki, send email to: me@minetest.org If you're already a Minetest builder and you'd like to visit some Final MT worlds, read the MT Visitors page.
Tell me more
Minetest was a voxel gamedev and simulation system whose heyday was from 2011 to 2017. The project has split into primarily three pieces:
- There are commercial wall gardens such as Kawaii World and Maksym's MultiCraft. These should be avoided. They aren't FOSS and the goal is to lock you in and monetize you. If you create something in these walled gardens, you may not get to keep it and it may disappear.
- There is a similar project named Luanti. Luanti is FOSS, which is a plus. However, Luanti is limited, unstable, and not backwards compatible with Minetest. The project regularly breaks old worlds and existing mods. Additionally, the major figures, with a few notable exceptions, are anonymous. They aren't accountable and tend to be trolls. Taking everything into account, Luanti is a dead end.
- Final Minetest is the only working, stable, backwards compatible, and actively maintaned true FOSS Minetest remaining. It provides APIs, mods, animals, and other features that no other Minetest system includes. Multiple modsets ranging from super-light to massive are part of the bundle. If the types of use cases listed below are of interest, this is the framework for you.
Teachers have used Minetest, and Final Minetest in particular, to model things like sewer systems for a classroom or to teach computing basics. One professor looked at the use of Final Minetest to model governance. Other applications include model train layouts for hobbyists, a platform that might be useful for people working on a masters degree, and a framework that can be used to learn coding. Hundreds of teenagers and adults have learned to code by doing Minetest mods.
Minetest is a free game engine. Think of Minetest as a collection of different programs similar to Minecraft™. Each program can create or visit blocky game worlds. Both offline worlds and communal worlds on the Internet are supported.
The blocky game worlds have themes such as Old West, post apocalypse, ordinary cities, and many more. The client automatically downloads assets. Gameplay is defined by Lua mods which usually run on the server.
This type of game is referred to as voxel. One well-known part of many voxel games is that you can acquire ores and other materials, often by mining them, and use them to "craft" objects such as tools. However, Minetest offers more than this. And Final Minetest in particular is the FOSS platform of choice for edutech and academic voxel work.
The different Minetest programs include:
- Classic Minetest 4 from the 2010s
- Minetest 5, also known as Trolltest or minetest.net
- A commercial program, MultiCraft (see note below)
- and the most advanced in some respects, Final Minetest
Note: MultiCraft, the Minetest fork, isn't related to Multicraft™, a U.S. manufacturer, or Multicraft, a Swiss Minecraft™ hosting company, or Multicraft, a line of screwdrivers sold by PB Swiss Tools. Maksym should have chosen a more unique name.
Final Minetest includes server and client programs of different types. Its primary server program, finetestserver, works with all major Minetest clients dated through mid-2023. Note: Post-2023 Trolltest and MultiCraft clients may not be supported.
This website focuses on Final Minetest but it includes some Trolltest documentation as it's partly compatible.
Pages for users
These pages include parts for users, for world hosts, and for
developers in general.
To learn how to play on most servers, try
clicking Bucket_Game, which has the most popular mods (integrated
but configurable).
Developers' Center
The Developers' Center is largely for Final Minetest core developers and website admins. However, all visitors are welcome to read content.
Non-Minetest pages
To be added.
About this website
This is a MediaWiki website. For MediaWiki details, click here. Contact information for the website is at this link. Site Notices are at this link.
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