trying to get back into the game - where to start?

[firefox]

i haven't had a singleplayer world ever since i started playing on Xanadu, and i haven't touched minetest at all ever since Xanadu went offline.
i attempted to create my own game a few times but never got very far. i still have some vague idea of what i want to do, but currently not the time and motivation to develop it.
so for now i'm simply trying to get back into the game but don't know where to start...

there are a lot more mods than there used to be when i first discovered minetest, and since i haven't played for some time i don't even know what kind of world i want to play with.
Ethereal used to be my favourite back then, but i'm not so sure about that anymore. simply slapping a bunch of TenPlus1's mods together like i used to doesn't seem very appealing right now. (same old mold, guess i want to try something new?)

should i just start with default MTG and add new content as i get bored? how much world-breaking should be expected?

[Blockhead]

I think as an 'adventure' player (my vague description from what I know of you), you should try some new games other than MTG. For a kind of hard challenge you could try Exile, or even harder, Hades Revisited. For a more expanded and fleshed out game, I would try MeseCraft. And for something really out there, XaEnvironment or maybe Loria.

[Komodo]

MeseCraft!

[Festus1965]

beginners I always send to creative server first : learn basic moves and what IS possible (nodes, items)
before next step easy survival without PvP or monster to learn crafting ! and see time needed for grow (food, wood)

go on several other server, with different games and play there
most easy to see what kind of game and maybe additional mods are serving your wishes and needs

the game name is offered at servers.minetest.net,
and the mods you can easy see, when you wanna craft an belonging item = see the full name like farming:seed_ ...
and the rest you will realize also like environment issues

Even I have a server, looking around gives a much better idea about the function and use/win of a mod then read them in Forum, Content or source

[firefox]

since i'm still waiting for Xanadu to come back i'd rather not get too invested in other servers yet. so it's definitely going to be singleplayer.

i wanted to have a singleplayer world again for quite some time, i just didn't get to it.
mostly because i couldn't make it like Xanadu, although identical singleplayer/multiplayer worlds would be quite boring.

creative mode didn't appeal to me back then, but it kinda does now that my abilities improved greatly. guess i'll need 2 worlds, one survival and one creative.

i should try Mineclone since that was what i was searching for when i first found Minetest. i'll also look into the other recommendations, but ultimately i feel like i should start with MTG for research purposes.
recently i've been watching some youtube videos about video game music theory, and i believe that this could somehow be applied to game design theory as well.
(and i just got a new idea while writing this)

thanks a lot for your recommendations.
out of curiosity, how many singleplayer worlds do you maintain and how much do you use them?

[Festus1965]

ah also Xanadu,
some player meet at my server AsiaThailand, where I set up a small area where they can 'wait' together,
look at the Xanadu Thread and contact the both have a small local map saved,
take that, choose some mods (we found out, and many are on my server also now)
and use this small part of world for single-player, and enlarge a bit as you play and wait,

so you keep the feeling as the spawn is there, and maybe lucky your build also

[firefox]

ah also Xanadu,
some player meet at my server AsiaThailand, where I set up a small area where they can 'wait' together,
look at the Xanadu Thread and contact the both have a small local map saved,
take that, choose some mods (we found out, and many are on my server also now)
and use this small part of world for single-player, and enlarge a bit as you play and wait,

so you keep the feeling as the spawn is there, and maybe lucky your build also

yarr~ i read about that on discord, but didn't go for whatever is done there wouldn't carry over to the real xanadu.
also my project is most likely not there because it's on a floating island somewhere far away :P

[Festus1965]

also my project is most likely not there because it's on a floating island somewhere far away :P

I am not sure about the default settings of 'local save map' settings,
but it might be you have your own area saved under minetest client, saved under worlds either,
just as you play on a server, WITH map save all the area of a map would be there on your PC also
check it out ... client mt folder/worlds/ with names like IP or url.sql, and you can just use a copy of this file to open/create a local singleplayer map

[firefox]

I am not sure about the default settings of 'local save map' settings,
but it might be you have your own area saved

it's off by default and i forgot to turn it back on after installing a new system.

although i'm fine with starting over. my taste has changed a bit since i started that project and i would do it differently now.
i have blueprints and screenshots of my more important builds, so i'm not really attached to the map file. actually not even the server, since the two people i liked most both disappeared. i'm just waiting out of obligation because i have been on Xanadu for so long.

anyways, for now i just need that singleplayer world(s) that i should have made a long time ago.

[monkeypox]

I think dmobs is maintained by tenplus1, highly recommended if sick of the same old mobs. Editing the damage,health,drops of hostile mobs doesn't require coder skills.
I became bored just building so I learned basic machines (not tweaked,ruins any challenge) and tubelib machines. Both are non-coder friendly with exception of tubelib addon 2 I guess.
Apearcys various crafts are fun to drive, "ranged weapons" straight out of COD quality. Jukebox a playlist cause youre offline and nobody will be downloading a bunch of songs.
Long story short, I found more to do than building.

[jordan4ibanez]

You could test my game :P

[firefox]

I think as an 'adventure' player (my vague description from what I know of you), you should try some new games other than MTG. For a kind of hard challenge you could try Exile, or even harder, Hades Revisited. For a more expanded and fleshed out game, I would try MeseCraft. And for something really out there, XaEnvironment or maybe Loria.

mhm... my favourite games are jRPGs, and i'm not really a fan of real-time action combat. (although i might have had different preferences 10 years ago.)
i picked out Mesecraft to get back into playing, but didn't have the time or motivation until today. spontaneously i decided to start with plain MTG again, like i did the first time. although this time i'm keeping a diary to keep track of my experience and what i want to do differently for my own game that i still wish to create.

while i was stuck on designing the biome map i discovered that similar games/mods have already been created by others in the mean time. so now i'm attempting to design my game from a gameplay perspective rather than just aesthetics. if i want to stand out i have to do something different, and taking the approach from a player's perspective should also help with designing the biomes.
i still don't know where i'm going but i guess i'm going to find out. (perhaps i should take that as the theme for my game)

not the turnout i expected, but the scientific approach is what brings me the most joy currently. i feel like discovering minetest again for the first time, but being less stupid this time.