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.
Engine News
Last Month’s Development
June saw 46 commits to master, 38 PRs merged, and 92 issues closed.
Continuing with User Experience improvements, rubenwardy has been working on a settings redesign. The intention is to make settings more discoverable and easier to change. Zughy provided the new icons, and along with Giova, the settings structure.
This is the start of the mainmenu redesign project. The styling matches the current mainmenu style, but it will change when the mainmenu redesign is worked on.
Upcoming Development
rubenwardy plans to continue working on the settings redesign. It needs to go through a review, and then the next step is to only show settings if they are relevant. For example, shader settings should only be visible when shaders are enabled, and Android settings should only be on Android.
Work on the rest of the mainmenu redesign is likely to start at some point in the next few months.
x2048 has been working on adding post-processing to Minetest. This is part of the graphics modernization project and will result in improved performance for tone mapping. It will also allow new effects including depth of field, bloom, and color filters to be implemented.
Minetest 5.6.0 is currently planned for July. Releases are preceded by a feature freeze, a time where only bug fixes and maintenance changes are allowed. Freezes last for at least one week and are extended if there are remaining issues.
Work-in-progress Changes
kilbith has been working on an experimental change that adds camera control. There is currently one camera per player in Minetest. This Camera API allows more (static) cameras in the game at different places. They can be used for cutscenes, screen casting onto an entity (HL² Dr Breen speech-like), security cameras, vehicle’s rear views, and more.
Game News
Traitor
Traitor is a game by NathanS inspired by Among Us. It’s recently received two long-requested features, vents and level sabotage.
The vents have been adapted from Joe7575’s hyperloop mod and allow traitors and ghosts to instantly travel between vents, providing that the level builder chose to include them. This feature has been requested for over a year.
Level sabotage, while a work-in-progress, is now available. Currently, there is only one node that can be sabotaged by the traitor: the switch. Level designers can choose how long the players have to repair the sabotaged node, and whether repairing or failing to repair the node should result in the match ending.
Exile
Exile is a challenging survival game for Minetest.
Exile’s tech tree has been rebalanced to provide for multiple paths. A new mapgen feature has been added that spawns giant rings on the surface, probably left by the Ancients. You can now throw spears for hunting and fighting. Canoes and airboats have been improved for performance. Tree trunks and some other things are more fire-resistant now. Fish farming is now possible with an update to the Gundu fish’s behavior, and finally, the Spanish translation of the game has been completed.
Mod News
Colour Jump
MrFreeman’s first mod is a minigame called Colour Jump. It’s all about jumping on the correct platform before you get eliminated.
pilzmod
Phii has released “pilzmod”, an interesting new biome mod. It adds an unnatural mushroom biome that must be spawned to appear. After that, it grows on its own accord, and can only be contained by defeating the boss that will spawn in it.
Art and Builds
Server News
From In our Midst:
play.nathansalapat.com:30000
Traitor is running on the ‘In Our Midst’ server, where there is currently work being done on an academy that further explains game mechanics for players and builders. The Vents update featured above is already implemented in some arenas; grab a few friends and check it out!
From A.E.S. Minigames
minetest.eticadigitale.org:30010
The winner of the last Blockleague tournament was team Horizon. Congrats to the winners; stay tuned for the next tournament!
In Other News
New Modding Book Chapter
The Minetest Modding Book has a new chapter available about mods/games translation support. The modding book is a great way to learn how to write mods and games for Minetest.
AI Modder
rubenwardy wrote a blog article about an AI that can write Minetest mods. It’s an exploration of GPT-3/Codex/GitHub Copilot's knowledge of Minetest modding, with node registration, formspec manipulation, mod creation, and Minecraft to Minetest mod conversion
Thanks to our post contributors this month: MisterE, rubenwardy, NathanS, ExeVirus, kilbith.