FOSS gamedev and creative worlds

Is it possible by any chance to build Minetest for the Xbox or IOS? From my research the Xbox is not compatible with OpenGL, but I would wonder if somebody has written a compiler / library to get around this.

IOS would be great too, and I believe OpenGL is supported so I wonder why Minetest is not available.

I have a couple of friends who would really like to use Minetest, but cannot until now because they only have an Xbox or IOS device.

Thanks. If there is anything I can do to help this happen, I would be more that happy to contribute.

Minetest cannot be placed on the App Store due to the license we use (search Gpl and the App Store)

Minetest, or rather irrlicht does support directx. The harder issue would be actually getting approved by Microsoft.

rubenwardy wrote:Minetest cannot be placed on the App Store due to the license we use (search Gpl and the App Store)

Minetest, or rather irrlicht does support directx. The harder issue would be actually getting approved by Microsoft.

I see. Surely there is a way to release the game for IOS as some sort of sideload since the App Store isn't the best place. Developers do this all the time with game engines such as Unity and Unreal Engine.

Then why hasn't someone written a library allowing irrlicht to support directx?

Irrlicht DOES support Directx. Minetest DOES support DirectX. See video_driver setting. However, shaders won't be available.

Releasing Minetest for jailbroken iOS devices may be possible (Irrlicht does have iOS ports), but do we want to spend a considerable amount of manpower on this task?

The XBox One may get support for Windows Universal Platform (UWP, previously called Metro apps) apps, which already can run on windows phone and PC using the same codebase. Once the UWP is stable on the XBox One, converting the actual minetest app to UWP may be quite easy. However, two things:

1. I don't know what MS will do about video games being distributed as UWP on XBox. We already have Gears of War, and the new Tomb Raider being distributed as a UWP package via the Windows Store on Windows 10

2. I don't know how soon will UWP be stable on the XBox One.

For examples of true UWP apps, check out Groove Music on Windows 10 and Windows phone (they use the same codebase for both desktop and mobile builds)

OK sorry, so irrlicht does support DirectX, but there would be no shaders. To me, that isn't too big of a problem to either live with, or bypass. Why is it a problem to get Microsoft to accept it though? I would rather not wait until their "universal" thing is released on the Xbox 1, and besides, its the Xbox 360 that I would like Minetest for anyway.

When it comes to IOS, I would think that since some have made it a while it wouldn't hurt to try. Since Apple does a lot of open source things, I personally don't see why they have a problem with it in the first place. But, I guess they do...

Like I said, anything I could do to help this happen, I would be more than willing to do.

Hello. I just read this topic. I think that Xbox One is probably an easier target than iOS. I'm not sure what the "third-party approval policy" is for MS, but Apple's is almost certainly worse (when it comes to GPL compliance). Additionally, there are several illegal Minetest ports to iOS (they are rebranded). They give no credit to Minetest. And there are at least 3 with no difference except texture pack. I am afraid that putting Minetest on the App Store would give it a bad reputation and bad reviews as a "rip-off" game, which Minetest is NOT(it's a game engine, not a game). Further, iOS has no Finder, so there would be no easy way to mod the game, which could anger those who use Minetest on desktop or Android. On the other side, Xbox One is basically Windows. If Irrlicht would run a fullscreen device on it under DirectX, Xbox just might be a viable option. I am not sure about mods there either, though : / . However, Xbox One users are probably more willing to try and play new games than someone who is just "surfing" the iOS App Store and downloading and deleting apps on Saturday morning.

TL;DR: Xbox One is a better target than iOS for legal and use-case reasons.

trev wrote:Hello. I just read this topic. I think that Xbox One is probably an easier target than iOS. I'm not sure what the "third-party approval policy" is for MS, but Apple's is almost certainly worse (when it comes to GPL compliance). Additionally, there are several illegal Minetest ports to iOS (they are rebranded). They give no credit to Minetest. And there are at least 3 with no difference except texture pack. I am afraid that putting Minetest on the App Store would give it a bad reputation and bad reviews as a "rip-off" game, which Minetest is NOT(it's a game engine, not a game). Further, iOS has no Finder, so there would be no easy way to mod the game, which could anger those who use Minetest on desktop or Android. On the other side, Xbox One is basically Windows. If Irrlicht would run a fullscreen device on it under DirectX, Xbox just might be a viable option. I am not sure about mods there either, though : / . However, Xbox One users are probably more willing to try and play new games than someone who is just "surfing" the iOS App Store and downloading and deleting apps on Saturday morning.

TL;DR: Xbox One is a better target than iOS for legal and use-case reasons.

Is it actually illegal to put software licensed under the GPL on the Appstore? What about under the MIT License?

Yes, the Xbox is an overall easier system to port Minetest to, however, I would like to see the Xbox 360 too. Either way, we still can't ignore IOS.

If software under the GPL can legally be put on the Appstore, then we could build the game for IOS relatively easy with the credits too. As long as the previous is legal, mods won't be a problem. Some type of file browser or mod browser could be implemented with the help of other open source projects. It is unlikely that a file browser would do as I would guess that IOS DIRs are weird in general. However, a small web browser allowing users to browse the Minetest Forum could solve the problem of an all out file browser. Some type of mod DB like what had previously been attempted could be used too.

endev15 wrote:

trev wrote:Is it actually illegal to put software licensed under the GPL on the Appstore?

It is against their Terms of Service. Article on the matter.

lightonflux wrote:

endev15 wrote:

trev wrote:Is it actually illegal to put software licensed under the GPL on the Appstore?

It is against their Terms of Service. Article on the matter.

More specifically, they wrote them that way because they would themselves be liable to comply with the requirements of the GPL, even if they are not the people who wrote the GPL software.

The GPL requires everyone who *distributes* a binary to provide the source code. Apple doesn't want to distribute GPL source code, so they wrote their ToS to match this.

Anyone who downloads an (even illicit) GPL application that made it to the IOS store can force Apple to provide them source code. So you can bet your money that Apple really hates GPL IOS apps.

Might be far easier, and less frustrating for your friends to get themselves a decent laptop or desktop (even from a second hand shop or craigslist, etc., DL Minetest, and enjoy.

i found a very similar version for ios, its called freeworld. also check the apstore, there is tons of clones.

The devs are still currently working on this game, so the game has some bugs in it. When they fixed some things in this game, they will maybe think about adding minetest for XBOX and mobile versions (I know that there may be minetest for mobile versions, but those are other people's copies of the real game, and it is hard to tell which one of those copies are the best copies).

hampa16 wrote:(I know that there may be minetest for mobile versions, but those are other people's copies of the real game, and it is hard to tell which one of those copies are the best copies).

Um..., there is Android version already. (I know it is outdated)