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1 doc.new_category("basics",
3 name="Basics",
4 build_formspec = doc.entry_builders.text,
5 sorting = "custom",
6 sorting_data = {"minetest", "controls", "sneak", "cam", "minimap", "players", "inventory", "tools", "blocks", "liquids", "craft", "groups", "online"},
7 })
9 doc.new_category("online",
11 name="Online multiplayer",
12 build_formspec = doc.entry_builders.text,
13 sorting = "custom",
14 sorting_data = {"intro", "commands", "privs"},
20 doc.new_entry("basics", "minetest", {
21 name="Minetest",
22 data =
23 [=[Minetest is a free software game engine to create various games based on voxel gameplay, inspired by InfiniMiner, Minecraft, and the like. Minetest was originally created by Perttu Ahola (alias “celeron55”).
25 The basic idea of each game is always the same: The player is thrown into a huge world made out of cubes/blocks. Most of the time, these cubes make the landscape and these blocks can be removed and placed almost entirely freely. Using the collected items, new tools and other items can be crafted. Games (“subgames” in Minetest terms) in Minetest can, however, be much more complex than this.
27 A core concept of Minetest is a built-in modding capability, based on the Lua programming language. Mods allow one or more certain aspects of an existing game to be modified. Minetest mods can be as simple as adding a few decorational blocks or very complex by (for example) introducing complex new gameplay concepts or generating a completely different kind of world, and many other things. For the player, using a new mod requires to copy or extract some files into a certain location and pressing some buttons in Minetest's interface.
29 Minetest can be played alone or online together with multiple players. When playing online, from the player perspective all mods will work out of the box with no need for additional tools as they are entirely provided by the server.
31 Minetest is usually bundled with a simple default game, named “Minetest Game”. You probably already have it. Other games for Minetest can be downloaded from the official Minetest forums <https://forum.minetest.net/viewforum.php?f=48>.
33 Minetest as well as Minetest Game are both unfinished at the moment, so please forgive us when not everything works out perfectly.]=]
36 doc.new_entry("basics", "sneak", {
37 name="Sneaking",
38 data=
39 [=[Sneaking is a special move. As long as you sneak, you walk slower, but you are guaranteed to not accidentally fall off the edge of a block. This also allows you to “lean over” in a sense.
40 To sneak, keep the sneak key pressed. As soon as you release the sneak key, you walk at normal speed again. Be careful not releasing the sneak key when you are at a ledge, you might fall!
42 • Sneak: [Shift]
44 Keep in mind that the [Shift] key is used for a large number of other things in Minetest. Sneaking only works when you are not in a liquid, stand on solid ground and are not at a ladder.
46 If you jump while holding the sneak key, you also jump slightly higher than usual.
48 Note that in some subgames, sneaking might be disabled. If this is the case, you still walk slower by sneaking, but you will no longer be prevented from falling off ledges.]=]
51 doc.new_entry("basics", "controls", {
52 name="Controls",
53 data = [=[Controls in Minetest are somewhat tricky and not everything can be configured. This entry lists all default controls in Minetest:
55 Basic movement:
56 • Moving the mouse around: Look around
57 • W: Move forwards
58 • A: Move to the left
59 • D: Move to the right
60 • S: Move backwards
62 While standing on solid ground:
63 • Space: Jump
64 • Shift: Sneak (You walk slower and can't fall over the edge of a block)
66 While on a ladder, swimming in a liquid or fly mode is active
67 • Space: Move up
68 • Shift: Move down
70 Extended movement (requires privileges):
71 • J: Toggle fast mode, makes you run or fly fast (requires “fast” privilege)
72 • K: Toggle fly mode, makes you move freely in all directions (requires “fly” privilege)
73 • H: Toggle noclip mode, makes you go through walls in fly mode (requires “noclip” privilege)
74 • E: Walk fast in fast mode
76 World interaction:
77 • Left mouse button: Punch, mine blocks or collect dropped items
78 • Right mouse button: Use pointed block if applicable (e.g. open chest); build blocks otherwise
79 • Shift+Right mouse button: Build blocks without using pointed block
80 • Roll mouse wheel: Select next/previous item in hotbar
81 • 0-9: Select item in hotbar directly
82 • Q: Drop entire wielded itemstack
83 • Shift+Q: Drop single item of wielded itemstack
84 • I: Show/hide inventory menu
86 Inventory interaction:
87 See the entry “Inventory”.
89 Interface:
90 • Esc: In the game: Opens menu window (pauses in singleplayer) or close current window. In the main menu: Quit Minetest.
91 • F1: Show/hide HUD
92 • F2: Show/hide chat and the “Minetest” text at the top left
93 • F7: Toggle camera mode
94 • F8: Toggle cinematic mode
95 • F9: Toggle minimap, minimap mode and zoom
96 • Shift+F9: Toggle minimap shape (square or circle)
97 • F10: open/close console/chat log
98 • F12: Take a screenshot (as a PNG image)
100 Server interaction:
101 • T: Open chat window (You require the “shout” privilege to chat.)
102 • /: Start issuing a server command
104 Technical:
105 • R: Toggle far view (disables all fog and allows viewing far away, may cause massive FPS drop)
106 • + (numpad)**: Increase minimal viewing distance
107 • - (numpad)**: Decrease minimal viewing distance
108 • F3: Enable/disable fog
109 • F5: Enable/disable debug screen which also shows your coordinates
110 • F6: Only useful for developers. Enables/disables profiler
111 • P: Only useful for developers. Writes current stack traces]=]
114 doc.new_entry("basics", "players", {
115 name="Players",
116 data=
117 [=[Players (actually: “player characters”) are the characters which user control.
119 Players are living beings which occupy a space of roughly 1×2×1 cubes and start with 20 health points and 10 breath points.
120 Players are capable of walking, sneaking, jumping, climbing ladders, swimming, diving, mining, building, fighting and using tools and blocks.
122 Players can take damage for a variety of reasons, here are some:
123 • Taking fall damage
124 • Touching a block which causes direct damage
125 • Drowning
126 • Being attacked by another player
127 • Being attacked by a computer enemy
129 At a health of 0, the player dies after which the player can just respawn in the world, usually somewhere else.
130 Other consequences of death vary wildly between subgame. The player could lose all items, or lose the round in a competitive game.
132 Breath is reduced for being with the head inside some block which causes drowning. Such blocks reduce the breath by 1 for every 2 seconds and start to cause damage every 2 seconds when the player has lost all breath. When being inside any other block, the breath is quickly restored.
134 Damage can be disabled on any world. Without damage, players are basically immortal. Health and breath don't play a role anymore and are hidden.
136 In online multiplayer, the name of other players is written above their head.]=]})
138 doc.new_entry("basics", "tools", {
139 name="Tools and weapons",
140 data=
141 [=[Some items may serve as a tool, melee weapon or both when wielded.
143 Any item which has some special use which can be directly used by its wielder is considered a tool.
145 A common tool in Minetest are, of course, mining tools. These are important to break all kinds of blocks.
147 Other tools with special uses (usually accessed by punching or rightclick) may also be introduced.
149 Melee weapons deal damage by punching players and possibly other animate objects.
151 For melee weapons, another attribute is important: The full punch interval. This is basically the time it takes for completely recovering from a punch with this weapon.
152 A melee weapon only deals its full damage when it has completely recovered. This can be seen by the animation of the wielded item. As long it is still moving, the full punch interval is not over yet. The full punch interval does not limit how fast one can deal punches, it rather limits the damage: Any hit done before the end of a full punch interval will deal reduced damage.
154 When nothing is wielded, players use their hand which may or may not act as mining tool and melee weapon (depending on the subgame). The hand is always capable of collecting dropped items simply by punching them.]=]
159 doc.new_entry("basics", "cam", {
160 name="Camera",
161 data =
162 [=[Minetest has 3 different views which determine the way you see the world. The modes are:
164 • First-person view (default)
165 • Third-person view from behind
166 • Third-person view from the front
168 You can change the camera mode by pressing [F7] (but you have to close this window first).
170 There is also Cinematic Mode which can be toggled with [F8]. Normally, the camera moves instantly as you move your mouse around. With Cinematic Mode enabled, the camera movements become more smooth. Some players don't like it, it is a matter of taste.
172 • Switch camera mode: [F7]
173 • Toggle Cinematic Mode: [F8]]=]
176 doc.new_entry("basics", "blocks", {
177 name="Blocks",
178 data=
179 [=[The world of Minetest is made entirely out of blocks, or voxels, to be precise. Blocks can be added or removed with the correct tools.
181 Blocks can have a wide range of different properties which determine mining times, behaviour, looks, shape, and much more. These are the most important attributes:
183 • Collidability: With collidable blocks block the way for players and other things, they cannot be passed through and they are walked upon by players. Non-collidable blocks can be passed through freely.
184 • Pointability: Pointable blocks will show a wireframe or a halo box when you point at them. But you will just point through non-pointable blocks as if they were not there. Liquids are usually non-pointable but they can be pointed at by some special tools.
185 • Mining properties: Mining properties determine by which tool a block can be mined (if at all).
186 • Climbability: While you are at a climbable block, you won't fall and you can climb and decent on it with the jump and sneak keys. Ladders are one example.
187 • Group memberships: Blocks may be a member of any number of groups. Groups are used to group similar items and blocks together. Most importantly, group memberships are used for mining. They are also used for many other purposes like crafting or interactions between blocks.
188 • Liquids: See the entry “Basics > Liquids”.]=]
191 -- TODO
192 doc.new_entry("basics", "liquids", {
193 name = "Liquids",
194 data =
195 [=[TO BE WRITTEN.]=]
198 -- TODO
199 doc.new_entry("basics", "craft", {
200 name = "Crafting",
201 data =
202 [=[Crafting is the task of taking several items and combining them to form a new item. Crafting is another important task in Minetest.
204 To craft something, you need a few items and a so-called crafting grid.
206 TO BE WRITTEN.]=]
209 doc.new_entry("basics", "minimap", {
210 name="Minimap",
211 data =
212 [=[Press the [F9] key to make a minimap appear on the top right. The minimap helps you to find your way around the world. Press it again to toggle through different minimap modes and zoom levels.
214 There are 2 minimap modes and 3 zoom levels.
216 Surface mode is a top-down view of the world, roughly resembling the colors of the blocks this world is made on. It only shows the topmost blocks, everything below is hidden, like a satellite photo. Surface mode is useful if you got lost.
218 Radar mode is more complicated. It displays the “denseness” of the area around you and changes with your height. Roughly, the more green an area is, the less "dense" it is. Black areas have many blocks. Use the radar to find caverns, hidden areas, walls and more.
220 There are also two different direction modes. Normally, “up” on the minimap is always pointing to the North. But if you press [Shift]+[F9], the minimap will instead rotate with your looking direction, so “up” is always your looking direction.
222 In some subgames, the minimap may be disabled.
224 • Toggle minimap mode: [F9]
225 • Toggle minimap rotating: [Shift]+[F9]]=]
228 doc.new_entry("basics", "inventory", {
229 name="Inventory",
230 data =
231 [=[An inventory is primarily used to store item stacks. There are other uses, such as crafting. An inventory consists of a rectangular grid of item slots. Each item slot can be either empty or hold one item stack. Item stacks can be moved freely between slot and slot, given that the destination slot is either empty or of the same item type.
232 You have your own inventory which is called your “player inventory”, you can open it with the inventory key (default: [I]). The first inventory slots are also used as slots in your hotbar.
233 Blocks can also have their own inventory, for example, things like chests and furnaces.
235 Inventory controls:
237 Taking: You can take items from an occupied slot if the cursor holds nothing.
238 • Left click: take entire item stack
239 • Right click: take half from the item stack (rounding up if uneven)
240 • Middle click: take 10 items from the item stack
242 Dropping: You can drop items onto a slot if the cursor holds 1 or more items and the slot is either empty or contains an item stack of the same item type.
243 • Left click: drop entire item stack
244 • Right click: drop 1 item of the item stack
245 • Middle click: drop 10 items of the item stack
247 Exchanging: You can exchange items if the cursor holds 1 or more items and the destination slot is occupied by a different item type.
248 • Left, middle and right click: exchange item stacks from cursor and from selected item slot
250 Throwing away: If you hold an item stack and click with it somewhere outside the menu, the item stack gets thrown away into the environment.
252 Quick transfer: You can quickly transfer an item stack to/from the player inventory to/from another item's inventory slot like a furnace, chest, or any other item with an inventory slot when that item's inventory is accessed. The inventories chosen for quick transfer are context-dependent, usually those are the inventories which are considered to be most useful in this context.
253 • Sneak+Left click: Automatically transfer item stack.]=]
256 doc.new_entry("basics", "online", {
257 name="Online help",
258 data =
259 [=[You may want to check out these online resources related to Minetest:
261 Official homepage of Minetest: <http://minetest.net/>
262 The main place to find the most recent version of Minetest.
264 Community wiki: <http://wiki.minetest.net/>
265 A community-based documentation website for Minetest. Anyone with an account can edit it! It also features a documentation of Minetest Game.
267 Webforums: <http://forums.minetest.net/>
268 A web-based discussion platform where you can discuss everything related to Minetest. This is also a place where player-made mods and subgames are published and discussed. The discussions are mainly in English, but there is also space for discussion in other languages.
270 Chat: <irc://irc.freenode.net#minetest>
271 A generic Internet Relay Chat channel for everything related to Minetest where people can meet to discuss in real-time. If you do not understad IRC, see the Community Wiki for help.]=]
274 -- TODO
275 doc.new_entry("basics", "groups", {
276 name="Groups",
277 data = "TODO"
280 -- TODO
281 doc.new_entry("online", "intro", {
282 name="Introduction to online multiplayer",
283 data="TODO"})
285 -- TODO
286 doc.new_entry("online", "commands", {
287 name="Server commands",
288 data=
290 Server commands are special commands to the server that can be entered by any player via the chat to cause the server to do something. There are a few commands which can be issued by everyone, but some commands only work if you have certain privileges granted on the server.
292 To issue a command, simply type it like a chat message or use the console. All commands have to begin with “/”, for example “/mods”.
294 Try it for yourselves: Close this window and say “/mods” in chat. This server will show you a list of mods installed on this server.
296 In Minetest, there is a small set of basic commands which are always available. Additional commands may be added by mods. This means, on other servers you might have new commands.
298 To help you get started, here are some basic commands:
300 * /help all: Lists and describes all server commands
301 * /privs: Lists your privileges
302 * /help privs: Shows description about all privileges
306 -- TODO
307 doc.new_entry("online", "privs", {
308 name="Privileges",
309 data="TODO"})