FOSS gamedev and creative worlds

By the way, why the game was named Minetest? What do we test?

rubenwardy wrote:That's a separate issue. It's a really crappy name - unfortunately no-one can agree on a new one, so it hasn't been changed (yet)

I think game's name should be short, easy to remember, not a composite of words.
My suggestions:
Miner, Digger, Prospector, Builder, Сonstructor, Artisan.

What are your suggestions?

Are there some kind of poll about that?

Relevant:

https://github.com/minetest/minetest_game/issues/437
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2169
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5800

Sergey wrote:By the way, why the game was named Minetest? What do we test?

rubenwardy wrote:That's a separate issue. It's a really crappy name - unfortunately no-one can agree on a new one, so it hasn't been changed (yet)

I think game's name should be short, easy to remember, not a composite of words.
My suggestions:
Miner, Digger, Prospector, Builder, Сonstructor, Artisan.

What are your suggestions?

Are there some kind of poll about that?

I think minetestia sounds nice

Cookietest - just add cookies.

toby109tt wrote:I think minetestia sounds nice

the_raven_262 wrote:Cookietest - just add cookies.

Again *test*! What do people testing all the time?

Ideas for changing the name? Well, if you insist...

Hmmm... MineTinker? "Tinker" has overlapping meaning and sound with "test", but has better connotations.

To "tinker" is to play, to inspect, to change, to build...
It's much less corporate, vague, and overused than, say "libre" or "open," but it still suggests that the code is open source and is meant to be inspected, changed, and built upon. It emphasizes fun, whether said fun is building complex creations within the game, playing around in a sandbox world, or coding whatever you want.

A "tinkerer" is a creator, an inventor, an innovator...
Innovation is the key to distinguish the game from being "just another Minecraft game." The innovative-sounding word helps offset the less original sounding word "mine."

The word "mine" helps continue to attract people of like-minded interests and gives a general idea of what to expect. "Mine" is also more original-sounding than "craft." "Craft" is already used by countless Minecraft clone Android apps and Minecraft mods, and is also used by the relatively well-known Minecraft-inspired game Fortresscraft. Not to mention other games such as World of Warcraft and Starcraft.

I've already given way too much thought into this idea, that I even thought of a logo idea: a mese crystal, with a crack in it, out of which stream Infinite Voxel Possibilities (probably just cubes at lower image resolution).

Super Mine Tale Deluxe
~ Freedom Source ~

This topic is almost pointless.
They will probably never change the name. It is fine the way it is.
Even if they wanted to, do you even comprehend how much would break? Every function would have to be changed, including every mod. The MT website and forums would have to change.

GreenDimond wrote:This topic is almost pointless.
They will probably never change the name. It is fine the way it is.
Even if they wanted to, do you even comprehend how much would break? Every function would have to be changed, including every mod. The MT website and forums would have to change.

The website and forums wouldn't be too hard, and the "minetest" table could be left in the API for legacy compatibility.

The Minetest name has already acquired fairly substantial mind-share over the course of several years, so changing it now would probably do more harm than good at least in the short term. As someone with familiarity in branding, I personally have not heard any good proposals for a new name either.

Ironically, the best name by far from a branding perspective was IMHO taken by one of Minetest's very own "clones": Freeminer.

GreenDimond wrote:This topic is almost pointless.
They will probably never change the name. It is fine the way it is.
Even if they wanted to, do you even comprehend how much would break? Every function would have to be changed, including every mod. The MT website and forums would have to change.

Site/wiki/forum? Take new domain name and redirect from old one.

API? Let new functions duplicate old ones. Temporarily.
Generally, it is something like this:
It's important to warn that old API is deprecated and will be abandoned in some time, during which two API versions will be available.

So, I don't think it is so hard to do.

I say we call it.... Bob

see here for pronunciation... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOdfNwD9cEA

we test ourselves for butthurtness. and we always come up positive.

sorcerykid wrote:Ironically, the best name by far from a branding perspective was IMHO taken by one of Minetest's very own "clones": Freeminer.

As I said, I am against composite names, but even FreeMiner (as a name) sounds and looks better than MineTest.

Why Minetest? What do we test?

We test your ability to have a strong opinion on names. :D


Now for real: I don't know why it is called “Minetest”.
The very first name was “Minetest-c55” but it was later changed to “Minetest” (good idea). Fun fact: I played Minetest when it was still called “Minetest-c55”. I'm old … xD
I'm pretty sure the name was taken by celeron55 himself. The “-c55” is obviously from the nickname but that doesn't explain the “Minetest”.

So you probably should ask celeron55 directly why he chose this name.

But I strongly think (like sorcerykid) changing the name at this stage would be a very bad idea because this name is already pretty well known and a change will only create senseless confusion.
The name is slightly strange but short and pretty memorable. The name is so silly, you won't forget it for a while. :D

Also, I don't think we shouldn't really bother about the name of Minetest because Minetest is just an engine. Subgame names should be more of a concern.

I'm thinking c55 set up a "test" version of his "mining" game... and, well.... that was that. :D

I see no problem with the name Minetest... and by now, it is extremely well established... to change it would be more work than it is actually worth, when one really thinks on it.

Although... I still say Bob is my vote if it ever comes to that...

TumeniNodes wrote:I still say Bob is my vote

What? You can't name a game Bob!

Linuxdirk wrote:What? You can't name a game Bob!

well, I guess if you can name a game.... "game", you can name a game anything... (magical wind-chime sound)

And... Bob... is just awesome. I call everything... Bob

B.eyond O.uter B.orders
B.eaten O.ut B.rains
B.itchen O.ver B.arriers
B.ob O.f B.elarius

Sergey wrote:why the game was named Minetest? What do we test?

We are testing on how long can we stand under this name... Seems a legit goal.

Maybe... well MAYBE... they will change the name when they get to Minetest 1.0.0... it is currently Minetest 0.4.15, you know?? It's still in testing phase...

To moderator, remove this post if it's too offensive... ;_;

Then it will be called....um....Mine?

muhdnurhidayat wrote:Maybe... well MAYBE... they will change the name when they get to Minetest 1.0.0... it is currently Minetest 0.4.15, you know?? It's still in testing phase...

Software version may have zero in front for decades.

Wuzzy wrote:Now for real: I don't know why it is called “Minetest”.

I was always under the impression that the Minetest moniker was chosen because Celeron55 created the engine as a proof of concept initially (i.e. Is it possible to develop an open-source clone of Minecraft?), never intending it to actually evolve into a full-fledged gaming platform like we see today.

The former "just test" server is another example of this phenomenon in action. According to Andrey, "As name suggest, originally this server was created not to stay there. But eventually i was dragged in improving it's performance, gameplay, fighting griefers, writing mods and python scripts..." Even its successor, the Just Test Tribute server, was only supposed to be a temporary side-project of maikerumine, yet it has persisted for six months with a continuous track-record of maintenance and development.

Sometimes software projects begin as an experiment with a very simple goal, to "test" one's ideas, only to take on a life of their own when embraced by an active community of contributors.

this thinking of yours has me thinking now....

I went for some blood_tests two days ago.....

my mind is filled with very creepy thoughts now. What if there is an active community developing projects with my blood??? o_0

I think your theory on where minetest originated from is probably accurate.
I honestly do not see the big deal regarding the naming... in either minetest or mintest_game. They have both grown into themselves.. and are simply established.

If it's not broken... don't break it :P

If anything... a change which might make sense, "if" it were to be done... may be something such as minetest_engine, and minetest_game?
Or even following Apples naming convention... Mi_engine and Mi_game :D (pronounced as "My")

You can mine, and you can test your skills at modding or surviving (I guess as the game continues to progress)
who knows, maybe one day someone will come along and create a subgame titled, Test_test

I think the simple fact that neither project is something which will ever be targeted for the competitive, commercial market, makes it not really that big of a deal... and even if it were, probably would still not be that big of a deal.
The name is actually, and obviously catchy anyway so....

We test mines!

Our purpose is testing!
We test in the name of science (or some similar goal).
And testing, testing and testing, we are just missing the portal guns but we are ok.
Wait, isn't there a mod for that too?

We test...., mining

well, since there is no official in-game guide (in default minetest)...
... we mine. and then we test what we can do with the stuff we mined.
:P

Oh! I know! We mine our math tests! You kinda need to know math to know the best way to blast TNT mines XD

Um no, that's just JT2
AFAIK anyway

Also, by the way, what do we mine?