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Contributing to MineClone2

So you want to contribute to MineClone2? Wow, thank you! :-)

But first, some things to note:

MineClone2's development target is to...

  • Crucially, create a stable, moddable, free/libre clone of Minecraft based on the Minetest engine with polished features, usable in both singleplayer and multiplayer. Currently, most of Minecraft Java Edition 1.12.2 features are already implemented and polishing existing features are prioritised over new feature requests.
  • With lessened priority yet strictly, implement features targetting Minecraft version 1.17 + Optifine (Optifine only as far as supported by the Minetest Engine). This means features in parity with the listed Minecraft experiences are prioritised over those that don't fulfill this scope.
  • Optionally, create a performant experience that will run relatively well on really low spec computers. Unfortunately, due to Minecraft's mechanisms and Minetest engine's limitations along with a very small playerbase on low spec computers, optimizations are hard to investigate.

MineClone2 is maintained by Nicu and Fleckenstein. If you have any problems or questions, contact us (See Links section below).

You can help with MineClone2's development in many different ways, whether you're a programmer or not.

Links

Using git

MineClone2 is developed using the version control system git. If you want to contribute code to the project, it is highly recommended that you learn the git basics. For non-programmers and people who do not plan to contribute code to Mineclone2, git is not required. However, git is a tool that will be referenced frequently because of its usefulness. As such, it is valuable in learning how git works and its terminology. It can also help you in keeping your game updated, and easily testing pull requests.

How you can help as a non-programmer

As someone who does not know how to write programs in Lua or does not know how to use the Minetest API, you can still help us out a lot. For example, by opening an issue in the Issue tracker, you can report a bug or request a feature.

Rules about both bugs and feature requests

  • Stay polite towards the developers and anyone else involved in the discussion.
  • Choose a descriptive title.
  • Please write in plain, understandable English. It will be easier to communicate.
  • Please start the issue title with a capital letter.
  • Always check the currently opened issues before creating a new one. Don't report bugs that have already been reported or request features that already have been requested.
  • If you know about Minetest's inner workings, please think about whether the bug / the feature that you are reporting / requesting is actually an issue with Minetest itself, and if it is, head to the Minetest issue tracker instead.
  • If you need any help regarding creating a Mesehub account or opening an issue, feel free to ask on the Discord / Matrix server or the IRC channel.

Reporting bugs

  • A bug is an unintended behavior or, in the worst case, a crash. However, it is not a bug if you believe something is missing in the game. In this case, please read "Requesting features"
  • If you report a crash, always include the error message. If you play in singleplayer, post a screenshot of the message that minetest showed when the crash happened (or copy the message into your issue). If you are a server admin, you can find error messages in the log file of the server.
  • Tell us which MineClone2 and minetest versions you are using.
  • Tell us how to reproduce the problem: What you were doing to trigger the bug, e.g. before the crash happened or what causes the faulty behavior.

Requesting features

  • Make sure the feature you request is Minecraft 1.17 Java Edition or Optifine behavior.
  • Begging or excessive attention seeking does not help us in the slightest, and may very well disrupt Mineclone2 development. It's better to put that energy into helping or researching the feature in question. After all, we're just volunteers working on our spare time.
  • Check whether the feature has been implemented in a newer version of MineClone2, in case you are not using the latest one.

Testing code

If you want to help us with speeding up MineClone2 development and making the game more stable, a great way to do that is by testing out new features from contributors. For most new things that get into the game, a pull request is created. A pull request is essentially a programmer saying "Look, I modified the game, please apply my changes to the upstream version of the game". However, every programmer makes mistakes sometimes, some of which are hard to spot. You can help by downloading this modified version of the game and trying it out - then you tell us whether the code works and does what it claims to do or whether you have encountered any issues. You can find currently open pull requests here: https://git.minetest.land/MineClone2/MineClone2/pulls. Note that pull requests that start with a WIP: are not done yet, and therefore might not work, so it's not very useful to try them out yet.

Profiling

If you own a server, a great way to help us improve MineClone2's code is by giving us profiler results. Profiler results give us detailed information about the game's performance and let us know where the real troublespots are. This way we can make the game faster. Minetest has a built in profiler. Simply set profiler.load = true in your configuration file and restart the server. After running the server for some time, just run /profiler save in chat - then you will find a file in the world directory containing the results. Open a new issue and upload the file. You can name the issue " profiler results".

Let us know your opinion

It is always encouraged to actively contribute to issue discussions on MeseHub, let us know what you think about a topic and help us make decisions. Also, note that a lot of discussion takes place on the Discord server, so it's definitely worth checking it out.

Crediting

If you opened or have contributed to an issue, you receive the Community role on our Discord (after asking for it).

How you can help as a programmer

(Almost) all the MineClone2 development is done using pull requests. If you feel like a problem needs to fixed or you want to make a new feature, you could start writing the code right away and notifying us when you're done, but it never hurts to discuss things first. If there is no issue on the topic, open one. If there is an issue, tell us that you'd like to take care of it, to avoid duplicate work. We appreciate any contributing effort to Mineclone2. If you are a relatively new programmer, you can reach us on Discord, Matrix or IRC for questions about git, Lua, Minetest API, Mineclone2 codebase or anything related to MineClone2. We can help you avoid writing code that would be deemed inadequeate, or help you become familiar with Mineclone2 better, or even help using development tools. By asking us to include your changes in this game, you agree that they fall under the terms of the GPLv3, which basically means they will become part of a free software. Sometimes, your code may cause crashes or bugs - we try to avoid such scenarios by testing everytime before merging it, but if your merged work causes problems, we ask you fix the issues as soon as possible.

The recommended workflow

  • Fork the repository (in case you have not already)
  • Do your change in a new branch
  • Create a pull request to get your changes merged into master
  • Keep your pull request up to date by regulary merging upstream. It is imperative that conflicts are resolved prior to merging the pull request.
  • After the pull request got merged, you can delete the branch

Git Guidelines

  • We use merge rather than rebase or squash merge
  • We don't use git submodules.
  • Your commit names should be relatively descriptive, e.g. when saying "Fix #issueid", the commit message should also contain the title of the issue.
  • Try to keep your commits as atomic as possible (advise, but completely optional)

Code Guidelines

  • Each mod must provide mod.conf.
  • Mod names are snake case, and newly added mods start with mcl_, e.g. mcl_core, mcl_farming, mcl_monster_eggs. Keep in mind Minetest does not support capital letters in mod names.
  • To export functions, store them inside a global table named like the mod, e.g.
mcl_example = {}

function mcl_example.do_something()
	-- ...
end
  • Public functions should not use self references but rather just access the table directly, e.g.
-- bad
function mcl_example:do_something()
end

-- good
function mcl_example.do_something()
end
  • Use modern Minetest API, e.g. no usage of minetest.env
  • Tabs should be used for indent, spaces for alignment, e.g.

-- use tabs for indent

for i = 1, 10 do
	if i % 3 == 0 then
		print(i)
	end
end

-- use tabs for indent and spaces to align things

some_table = {
	{"a string",                   5},
	{"a very much longer string", 10},
}
  • Use double quotes for strings, e.g. "asdf" rather than 'asdf'
  • Use snake_case rather than CamelCase, e.g. my_function rather than MyFunction
  • Dont declare functions as an assignment, e.g.
-- bad
local some_local_func = function()
	-- ...
end

my_mod.some_func = function()
	-- ...
end

-- good
local function some_local_func()
	-- ...
end

function my_mod.some_func()
	-- ...
end

Changes to Gameplay

Pull Requests that change gameplay have to be properly researched and need to state their sources. These PRs also need Fleckenstein's approval before they are merged. You can use these sources:

  • Minecraft code (Name the source file and line, however DONT post any proprietary code). You can use MCP to decompile Minecraft or look at Minestorm code.
  • Testing things inside of Minecraft (Attach screenshots / video footage of the results)
  • Official Minecraft Wiki (Include a link to the specific page you used)

Developer status

Active and trusted contributors are often granted write access to the MineClone2 repository. However you should not push things directly to MineClone2 master - rather, do your work on a branch on your private repo, then create a pull request. This way other people can review your changes and make sure they work before they get merged. You are allowed to merge PRs if they have recieved the necessary feedback and have been tested to not lead to any crashes and do what they claim to do by at least two different people. You may also be assigned to issues or pull requests as a developer. In this case it is your responsibility to fix the issue / review and merge the pull request when it is ready. You can also unassign yourself from the issue / PR if you have no time or don't want to take care of it for some other reason (after all, everyone is a volunteer and we can't expect you to do work that you are not intrested in) - the important thing is really that you make sure to inform us if you won't take care of something that has been assigned to you. Also, please assign yourself to something that you want to work on to avoid duplicate work. As a developer, it should be easy to reach you about your code. You should be on the Discord (or, if you really don't like Discord, Matrix or IRC).

Maintainer status

Maintainers are responsible for making sure issues are addressed and pull requests are reviewed and merged, by assigning either themselves or Developers to issues / PRs. Maintainers are responsible for making releases, making sure guidelines are kept and making project decisions based on what the community wants. Maintainers grant/revoke developer access. Currently there are two maintainers with different responsibility fields:

  • Fleckenstein - responsible for gameplay review, publishing releases, technical guidelines and issue/PR delegation
  • Nicu - responsible for community related issues

Creating releases

Crediting

Contributors, Developers and Maintainers will be credited in CREDITS.md. If you make your first time contribution, please add yourself to this file. There are also Discord roles for Contributors, Developers and Maintainers.