Minetest Blog

“Is this a Minecraft clone? Is it like Minecraft Alpha?” If you’ve been a member of our community for some time, you are probably aware of how often these questions remind us of what people think of when they hear the name “Minetest”: a rip-off of a similar genre-defining game. Truth be told, that was celeron55’s initial plan. But things change, and Minetest evolved. Now, the time has come for Minetest to assume a new identity and prove it has moved beyond its original purpose.

Introduction

Minetest 5.9.0 has been released with performance improvements for rendering and map generation, new graphical effects, and much more.

You can download Minetest from our website. As always, the full changelog can be found here.

Improvements are made to graphics, the Lua API, and the user interface. We present the winners of the 2023 Game Jam along with other cool mods. A new core developer joins the team, and we look forward to FOSDEM 2024!

Introduction

Minetest 5.8.0 has been released with improved onboarding, a new Settings GUI, improved Android controls, and a lot more.

You can download Minetest from our website. Also, check out the full changelog.

The main menu gets more love in preparation for the 5.8.0 release, developers come and go, and new shaders are in the works. CTF celebrates its 10th anniversary, and new API mods make their way to ContentDB.

Work on the 5.8 release continues with some exciting new engine improvements, a classic game makes its way to ContentDB, and the use of Minetest in education was explored.

After the release of Minetest 5.7.0 in April, there were some improvements to the API for craft items. MineClone2 got the “Safe and Sound” update, there were major mod content updates, and Zughy made a promotional poster for Minetest.

Last month, developers worked on the 5.7.0 release. We had lots of mod updates and releases. Also, Repixture got a soundscape rework.

Minetest 5.7.0 has been released with improved graphics, performance improvements, and lots more.

The Minetest 5.7.0 release is dedicated to Jude Melton-Houghton (TurkeyMcMac / jwmhjwmh), a core developer who passed away in February.

You can download Minetest from our website. Also check out the full changelog.

In February, a method for getting clients’ game window information was added and map viewing performance was greatly improved. Repixture added boats, and there is a new artistic server on the serverlist.

In this update, we cover several engine improvements from the last two months, Backrooms Test’s first release, and more.

November was the 2022 Game jam month; there were some great submissions this year! Core devs worked on graphics and gamepad support. In late October, Minetest was used as an urban planning tool to engage students in their community’s planning process.

This month, TurkeyMcMac joined the core dev team, post-processing and bloom were merged, and Android crosshair support was added. Minefall released on ContentDB, BlockExchange got a graphical rework, and more!

While not much happened in August with engine development due to a post-release break, a few mods were released that are worth checking out.

Last month, developers worked on releasing 5.6.0, and x2048 started work on post-processing and god rays for 5.7. MeseCraft has an important update, as well as a few interesting mods. Finally, Minetest was shown off at the exploreandlearn@LMZ edutech conference, with talks and workshops.

Minetest 5.6.0 has been released with dynamic shadows, improvements to mod management, a clearer player registration process, and more!

Last year, we decided on a roadmap of goals to focus on. This release has made good progress on these goals, especially regarding graphics and user interfaces (UIs).

You can download Minetest from our website. Also check out the full changelog.

This month, rubenwardy has been working on a settings redesign, and x2048 has been working on adding post-processing to Minetest. Traitor has received two long-requested features, and Exile was updated with giant rings as well as gameplay features. Additionally, the Minetest Modding Book has a new chapter available on mods/games translation support.

This month, Minetest 5.5.1 was released, we reached less than 90 PRs and 1000 issues, and there’s been big improvements to performance, rendering and stability. We also have a new mapping mod and fully-walkable Airships.

This month, engine development picks up with regular meetings, NodeCore gets a 24/7 livestream, and the Minetest Blog is now official!

This month, there is big news regarding engine-related side projects. Shadows receive an update, and a couple games get major new features. Last but not least, the blog is becoming official!

Minetest 5.5 was released last month, with some significant improvements. Colour Hop has received some major updates. Several mods received updates this month, and they look fun.

A Blog is a great way for a project to share updates and generate excitement for new featues among its community. Thats why we are starting a new blog for minetest! This will be a great way to stay up-to-date with the diverse parts of the community. Blog content will be solicited from community members, for Engine development updates, Mods, Games, Builds, Art, Servers and anything minetest related. Yes, this will include shills for people’s own projects, but they need an excuse such as a major update, great new feature, or event. See Contributing Guidelines

As for the release schedule, that depends on time available for the editors to review content, the number of active editors, and the amount of content submitted. We may aim for a weekly release schedule, though bi-weekly or monthly seems more sustainable. We need you to be an editor; if you have the time and the desire to help us edit this blog, please contact MisterE on the Forums.

Thats all for now; see you soon!