Minetest Forums

So what's the actual difference between this and minecraft?

this is not owned by microsoft :P

Minetest is an open-source engine with simple semi-sandbox/survival-like game included, that is also moddable out of the box, it is not a true clone of minecraft, but shares some similarities.

£17.95 isn't the correct answer?

Hello RandomPlayer and welcome :)

Yeah Minetest is a game that is quite similar to Minecraft, but not identical. In fact, it takes up a similar game principle (voxel sandbox game), but the development is completely independant and both games are more and more diverging. Developers have never wanted a perfect Minecraft clone. (Purists will say it's actually a clone of InfiniMiner, I don't see what it changes, the fact is it's still very close to Minecraft). Sometimes we see new players that expect a perfect clone and ask us to change things "like in Minecraft". This is not the direction the development is taking.

Minetest is made to be more flexible, that's why it's called a game engine. You can redefine all from scratch (except internal things like voxels), all blocks, all entities, etc, with subgames.

The engine is coded in C++ (while Minecraft is in Java), and mods are in Lua, particularly easy language. You can try to code some things with only basic programming skills.

Some details makes a difference too, like vertical size of the world. In Minetest you can go 30.9k nodes up and down.

The community, also, is different. Much smaller. You can see this as a good or a bad thing. Personally I like this small community. I feel very close to other modders, and even developers. I consider some of them as friends.

This comparison between Minetest and Minecraft is a recurring topic on the forum:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18202
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9172
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=17476
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11445
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12838

Minetest is an engine for voxel-style games, while Minecraft is a full game. Minecraft took some of the ideas behind Infiniminer and turned them into a full on sandbox game. Minetest took the graphical style of Minecraft and first made a game, then made an engine to lower the bar for other's looking to make games.

We even answered this in the FAQ (more or less) …
https://wiki.minetest.net/Differences_from_Minecraft

Oh, and obviously, I need to plug MineClone 2 here:
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=16407

Wuzzy wrote:We even answered this in the FAQ (more or less) …
https://wiki.minetest.net/Differences_from_Minecraft

Oh, I didn't even know that exsited. Guess I'll have to show it to my friends next time they say that Minetest is an open source version of Minecr*ft.

Wuzzy wrote:Oh, and obviously, I need to plug MineClone 2 here:
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=16407

Aw man, I think my ad-blocker isn't working today. ;)

BBmine wrote:

Wuzzy wrote:We even answered this in the FAQ (more or less) …
https://wiki.minetest.net/Differences_from_Minecraft

Oh, I didn't even know that exsited. Guess I'll have to show it to my friends next time they say that Minetest is an open source version of Minecr*ft.

No, i don`t quite agree with you. Minetest is not source version of Minecraft and any player can not say it even who is playing Minetest first time.

Andrey01 wrote:

BBmine wrote:

Wuzzy wrote:We even answered this in the FAQ (more or less) …
https://wiki.minetest.net/Differences_from_Minecraft

Oh, I didn't even know that exsited. Guess I'll have to show it to my friends next time they say that Minetest is an open source version of Minecr*ft.

No, i don`t quite agree with you. Minetest is not source version of Minecraft and any player can not say it even who is playing Minetest first time.

That's what I was saying...

BBmine wrote:Guess I'll have to show it to my friends next time they say that Minetest is an open source version of Minecr*ft.

If I understand well he is criticizing people that say that, rather than saying it himself.

BBmine wrote: That's what I was saying...

?

Minetest and Minecraft are like Linux and Windows.
One is to build for yourself and free, the other is completely pre-configured and costs money.

Vapalus wrote:Minetest and Minecraft are like Linux and Windows.
One is to build for yourself and free, the other is completely pre-configured and costs money.

Right, but I think that Windows is better compared with Minecraft. You can run Minetest on Windows without any problems. If you want to modding Minecraft its more difficult. I played Minecraft since 2011 but I changed to Minetest last year. Minetest is great!.

Minecraft ist good for casual players which want to have a good experience without any mods. If you want to change the game completly its better that you play Minetest.


Imagine if Minetest would have the size of a community like Minecraft. It would be better for many people too. They don't have to pay 20€ or dollars. I'm not sure why they want to play Minecraft. I'm sure that the most people don't know about Minetest.

I play minecraft, too, mostly because it's easier in most cases.

I like how people hate MC, because decently made games are evil right? MT is an engine, with a few good games for it. You cannot directly compare an engine to the game it was made to parody, its apples and pears.

benrob0329 wrote:I like how people hate MC, because decently made games are evil right? MT is an engine, with a few good games for it. You cannot directly compare an engine to the game it was made to parody, its apples and pears.

And pears are better.

From player only (not modder/programmer) point of view :

1. One is free, the other cost money
2. Fewer fan base/community vs bigger fan base/community
3. Fewer mods/resource packs vs plenty
4. Non-story vs story

The gameplay basically the same. You dig/mine blocks the you make things with those blocks.

All gameplay in all games are basically the same, since they all involve inputting controls on a device and getting feedback from an output device.

You talk too technical and the most basic definition of games. I talk as a casual player who don't understand that mumbo jumbo talk input output whatsoever.

For me games have may types: RPG, shooter, adventure etc. And every one of those game's type plays differently. And both Minetest and Minecraft are from the same type and both play the same.