description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

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rubenwardy
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description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by rubenwardy » Post

A lot of mods don't seem to have description.txt and/or screenshot.png in their root folder. These files are used by mod managers, both ingame and external, to show concise information to the user.

Where?

Code: Select all

mymod/
 - init.lua
 - description.txt
 - screenshot.png

Code: Select all

mp_mymods/
 - description.txt
 - screenshot.png
 - mymod/
     - init.lua
     - description.txt
     - screenshot.png
Screenshots and descriptions in modpacks aren't as important, but would be nice.
Not all mods need a screenshot, ofc.

Description

The first sentence of description.txt should be less than 100 characters.
It should be enough to describe the mod. Further information can be put into other sentences.

Code: Select all

Adds email style inboxes to Minetest.
Users can send stored messages to each other using /inbox or /mail username message.

Code: Select all

Allows players to report misconduct or bugs using /report.
If you want to put versions or licenses, put them at the end. I don't recommend it though, that info should probably be in the readme.md/txt. Don't include the entire text of a license.

Screenshot

Screenshot should be 3:2 with a minimum size of 300x200px.
Last edited by rubenwardy on Sun May 29, 2016 15:09, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: PSA: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by MineYoshi » Post

Exactly what mod managers?

I don't know about that...
Have a nice day! :D

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rubenwardy
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Re: PSA: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by rubenwardy » Post

I'm posting this mainly because of http://rubenwardy.com/mtmods4android/

But it's also used by minetest-bower, mtpm and the mod tab in the main menu.
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Re: PSA: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by MineYoshi » Post

OK, THX for the explanation!

=D
Have a nice day! :D

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Re: PSA: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by Don » Post

Sounds great. i was also thinking of making a topic about this. Glad to see you have already done it
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Re: PSA: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by Don » Post

There should also be a mod.conf file. This file contains the name of the mod. If the mod has this file the engine reads this instead of the folder name. This means that people do not need to rename folders such as mymod-master --> mymod.

This should be like this

mod.conf

Code: Select all

name = mod_name
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Re: PSA: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by MineYoshi » Post

+10

Great idea Don!
Have a nice day! :D

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Re: PSA: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by addi » Post

About your Article:
Pretty good, and contains everything someone want to know.
But what's the meaning of PSA and OFC?
I tried to search for it, but I was not successful. (PSA OFC = office???)

About the screenshot.png:
The screenshot format 3:2 is very uncommon. Also the screenshot inside Minetest is displayed so small that you are not able to see something useful here. (except you only show a single node there)

About description.txt:
In the description.txt you are only able to select a whole line. Not a single word sentence or link. Also its not possible to copy it to clipboard and paste it in the browser. As long as Minetest does not provide something real there Ill not add a real descriptions to my mods.

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Re: PSA: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by rubenwardy » Post

PSA = public service announcement
Ofc = of course

I did not decide the format, apparently it was to use horizontal space. The description is for a description, not to contain a help file or excessive links in my opinion.
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Re: PSA: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by benrob0329 » Post

The description is similar to that on Linux package managers, it's just meant to be a one liner describing the basic purpose of the mod.

At least, As far as I can tell.

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Re: PSA: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by MineYoshi » Post

Well, the description should be something short, simple and understandable, explaining what does the mode, something like that:

Benrob0329 Mod:
[code = "Description"]
This mod adds benrob mobs to the Minetest Game, they are peaceful and give you a laughing cat avatar if you give him a CC-BY-C0 License document.
Created by: benrob0329[/code]

Maybe something like that?

(Benrob0329s everywhere!)
Have a nice day! :D

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Re: PSA: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by azekill_DIABLO » Post

addi wrote:About your Article:
Pretty good, and contains everything someone want to know.
But what's the meaning of PSA and OFC?
I tried to search for it, but I was not successful. (PSA OFC = office???)
found waht is PSA: Prostate-specific antigen
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Re: PSA: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by rubenwardy » Post

public service announcement
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Re: PSA: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by addi » Post

And what do we learn from this story?
Avoid unclear/uncommon abbreviations in a international community. ;-)

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Re: PSA: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by rubenwardy » Post

It really doesn't matter that much, focus on the content of this article and correcting your mods rather than the title
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Re: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by BBmine » Post

I don't put pics or descriptions in my mods.... I guess I should.

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Re: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by sofar » Post

Can you also include `mod.conf` in the OP? Seems missing in a lot of mods as well.

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Re: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by ChimneySwift » Post

Hmm, I always include description.txt AFAIK, but sometimes screenshot.png doesn't really fit (like if a command is added)
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Re: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by Linuxdirk » Post

sofar wrote:Can you also include `mod.conf` in the OP? Seems missing in a lot of mods as well.
Is there already anything except name (what actually defines the prefix/ID instead of the name that’s displayed in mod selection or advanced configuration) supported?

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Re: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by sofar » Post

Linuxdirk wrote:
sofar wrote:Can you also include `mod.conf` in the OP? Seems missing in a lot of mods as well.
Is there already anything except name (what actually defines the prefix/ID instead of the name that’s displayed in mod selection or advanced configuration) supported?
Not by the engine. There are some other tools that read it, but since no documented standard exists, those might break or conflict.

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Re: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by Linuxdirk » Post

sofar wrote:Not by the engine. There are some other tools that read it, but since no documented standard exists, those might break or conflict.
If this ever changes (there are multiple good reasons to do this and show the information in the client) I’ll consider mod.conf as relevant. Right now I just use it to set the ID of the mod using the name key.

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Re: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by sorcerykid » Post

It seems peculiar that the description wouldn't also be contained in mod.conf, but is instead read from a separate description.txt file O_o

I think it would be sensible if dependencies were included too, so everything needed to install the mod is consolidated in one master file.

Here is just one idea of how an expanded mod.conf might look:

mod.conf
name = My Farming Mod
description = a great mod for useful farming tools
version = 1.0 beta
author = supermodder
copyright = Copyright (c) 2017, supermodder
depends = default, farming

Of course, all of the fields are optional except name and description.
Last edited by sorcerykid on Tue Dec 26, 2017 13:52, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by Linuxdirk » Post

sorcerykid wrote:It seems peculiar that the description wouldn't also be contained in mod.conf, but is instead read from a separate description.txt file O_o
Which is okay, because the description can be very long. But there should be something like tagline in the mod.conf file that can be used to provide a very short description (8-10 words) that is shown in the mod overview list.

Or author, version, website, name (actual name of the mod instead of the id which should go under the id key), dependencies (depends, conflicts, optional) ... This file has a lot of potential. It’s apity that it is not used at all except for the ID.

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Re: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by rubenwardy » Post

Mod.conf was added after depends.txt, and in the future depends.txt will be deprecated in favour of depends in mod.conf. Same for description

I have a WIP PR on Github for this
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Re: description.txt and screenshot.png in mod/modpack.

by sorcerykid » Post

This is very good to know, thanks for the heads up! :D

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