Does the current Minetest seem too easy?

[L22]

In my opinion, Minetest seems too easy. I'm able to get diamond tools withing five minutes if I wanted to. Is this a result of a mod? Or v7 map generation?

[wziard]

Or luck.

In my server it took the players about 2 weeks of exploring before they even found 1 diamond ore. (Which is extrene, because in previous servers it was much quicker).

[davidthecreator]

Or luck.

In my server it took the players about 2 weeks of exploring before they even found 1 diamond ore. (Which is extrene, because in previous servers it was much quicker).

Caves exist for a reason

[TillCoyote]

Yes it's too easy. But I develop a hardcpre server with valleys generator, which generates ores very deep and i write special mods. Health does not regenerate by eating and being sat, you need to use drugs (bandage, aid kit and pills). You need to eat 2-3 times a day to be sat and etc. Some mods will be published.

[Wuzzy]

First, it's called “Minetest Game”.

But yes, it's very easy. Ironically, the “mining” aspect of Minetest Game is shallow. It really is Minetest Game being so easy, it is neither the fault of a mod or the v7 mapgen. It's Minetest Game's fault. By the way, diamond ore is not the final ore. Mese blocks will appear much deeper and are much rarer, but you can just craft them from mese crystals anyway. And after you reached “mese block layer”, there will be nothing new. The underground gets repetitive fast. I think the reason why mining is so easy is that the better ores are just deeper, but not neccessarily any more difficult as the “danger level” stays the same all the way. In this sandbox you can only die due to your own stupidity.

I consider Minetest Game to be mostly a creative sandbox. It's not a challenge or anything. You basically just go around and build stuff. xD Yeah, that's really all there is to Minetest Game. If you expect anything more from it, expect to be very disappointed. Minetest Game is a very shallow excuse for a game, and it's not a very good one. It should really be called “Minetest Sandbox”, as it's a sandbox, not a game. I think the word “Game” is very misleading here. xD
In v5.0.0, there will be a couple of more blocks and stuff to build with, but no new mechanics will be added.

There are lots of mods for Minetest Game, but it will take a long time to find the “right” ones. You could also try out some of the other games that this community made. I like Lord of the Test.

[Linuxdirk]

I consider Minetest Game to be mostly a creative sandbox.

Minetest Game is nothing more than a base for modding since it provides some relevant APIs.

In v5.0.0, there will be a couple of more blocks and stuff to build with, but no new mechanics will be added.

But it still is a sandbox without real dangers and it still lacks being a game by not even fulfilling the most basic part of being a game: having a goal to achieve due to playing it.

Fortunately there are some mods that make it more fun but unmodded Minetest Game feels like the early Minecraft alpha versions but without mobs.

[wziard]

it still lacks being a game by not even fulfilling the most basic part of being a game: having a goal to achieve due to playing it.

I disagree rather strongly with this statement. (I know LinuxDirk won't mind, he said himself he prefers the 'direct' style of communication :-) )

Something doesn't need to have a goal to be a game. Children playing with dolls don't have a goal. They're still playing a game. A sandbox game is still a game.

I agree that it would be nice to have an *additional* game with a goal. More games is better :-). But don't dismiss the endless amount of fun that can be had with the current MTG, just building and exploring.

[firefox]

actually, minetest game has a goal :P
dig up the entire underground and use the resources to fill up the empty sky world.
once all the ores have been mined and all tools are consumed, you can only use wood and stone tools.
more stones can only be generated by mixing lava with water, unless you already turned all lava sources into obsidian.
obsidian can only be mined with steel or higher tools, but when there are no more ores, you are unable to continue. the game is finished.
that's the ultimate goal that no player could achieve yet.

[Linuxdirk]

Something doesn't need to have a goal to be a game.

Depends on definition of "game". A sandbox or child's play does not quality as game to me. I stick with the definition of game designers Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman which concludes the general idea of what a game is very well ("A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome.").

But don't dismiss the endless amount of fun that can be had with the current MTG, just building and exploring.

Absolutely. While Minetest Game itself is very barren it is a good base for modding resulting in hour and hours of amusement and joy.

[Astrobe]

Something doesn't need to have a goal to be a game.

Depends on definition of "game". A sandbox or child's play does not quality as game to me.

"No true Scotsman", huh? ;-)

The difference between a pure sandbox game and a "directed" game is in who sets the goals. In sandbox games, it is the players who define the goal ; for instance, make a big and nice house. In directed games, the designer sets the goals usually together with a whole story to support it.

I think of MTG as a neutral, demo game. We cannot add hostile mobs and say "fight for your life or die trying" or "grind for hours to get what you want" because it will drive away a lot of newcomers, I think. So it has to be a sandbox game with minor goals like growing stuff, building stuff and crafting stuff. Once the player is bored with that, they can take a look at the "network games" tab or at CDB.

[Mantar]

"No true Scotsman", huh? ;-)

He didn't make that sort of argument at all, he gave a specific definition of what a game is, one which is well-known and which excludes that sort of play. That's very different from "yeah that's not a real game tho."
A No True Scotsman is a kind of special pleading normally used to exclude any counterexamples that would damage one's argument. It's a very different tack from what he's doing.

[L22]

I guess when I found Minetest, I was expecting a Minecraft clone. But It's different. And I like it. I'll try modifying it to my liking.

[paramat]

Minetest Game 5.0.0-dev has ores moved deeper in non-mgv6 mapgens, they're roughly twice as deep now. We could have made them much deeper but the change can't be extreme as so much depends on MTG being the way it is.
Also, in survival mode, you need to craft certain items to use the minimap or zoom (mapping kit and binoculars).
So yes we're intentionally making it a little more challenging.

MTG is limited by it's history and by what depends on it being the way it is. It's important to not focus on it too much or expect excellent gameplay from it. What is really needed is new games.

[Hume2]

If you want more mining depth, try my underch mod. Maybe there should be some mobs. I think, there could be also a way to get quickly down to the point (or near the point) where you ended.

[843jdc]

Easy?
Yes it is easy.
Easy to get disconnected from the server due to bad connection, log back in and discover you died and EASILY lost EVERYTHING BEING CARRIED because there are NO BONES !!! Died on ladder or something. IDK but I gave up on MT. Sick of that crap. I die in World of Warcraft more often than I want to think about and I've NEVER lost what I'm carrying. True, not free but well worth the price for not wasting hours of my game time

[Linuxdirk]

ok bye