You can sign up to get a daily email of our articles, see the Mailing List page.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Minetest, a free and open source voxel game engine styled like Minecraft has a new release up with some graphical updates, UI improvements and more.

While Minetest does come with a basic Minecraft-like game, really the power of Minetest is the plugin system. Out of the box, there's not much in it. However, with a few button clicks in the built-in downloader, you can access a ton of extra content and entire game packs to add into it.

Minetest 5.2.0 was released a few days ago and while it does include the usual assortment of fixes, there's also some fun sounding improvements too. Waves are now generated with Perlin-type noise, arm inertia animations were improved, there's now basic model shading possible, better natural light, visual feedback for button states in the UI, modding is a little easier as it should automatically enable a mod's dependencies in the world config menu, tools/weapons can wear out on hits, lots of modding enhancements and so on.

For the built-in Minetest game (the basic thing it comes with), this also saw a bunch of updates. Weather will vary the clouds, boat physics are more realistic, better creative mode inventory and search, improved player model animation, water opacity was increased.

I do love the update a while ago that added in their vast content database into the game, which has made modding it for players much easier. Although you can also browse it online too.

Want to try it? See more on the official site. There's various distribution packages available, as well as a Snap and Flatpak for cross-distro support. Not all packages are up to date but the Snap is and tested working myself.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
15 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
12 comments
Page: 1/2»
  Go to:

Nezchan Apr 8, 2020
I've never played Minecraft itself, aside from a short time puttering around in Pocket Edition to see what all the fuss was about.

On the other hand, I've played a bunch of Minetest on my own and friends' servers, and it's fantastic. Even at its most basic I enjoy what it's got to offer, and the plugin/modding systems allow for huge variations in style of play. And all community driven, too.
amatai Apr 8, 2020
This game is becoming what was promised at the Minecraft v1 during the beta.
Minecraft didn't need tons of news vanilla mobs and feature but decent performances and seamless mod support. Minetest is bringing this nicely.
Ehvis Apr 8, 2020
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
They should really do something about the default game though. You start a game, default world generator, and a very quick start. Where did I end up, some sort of needle like mountain sticking out of the water. Had to make a boat to actually get anywhere at some pace. Thing I noticed is that the world was dead. No animals, no enemies, nothing happening. Also, almost everything was steep slopes and weird geometry. Took me a good while to find anything remotely resembling flat land. Since there is no danger, just go dig some for some iron. And dig. And dig. Gave up after 70 blocks down because there was nothing and this was supposed to be a quick look. Also noticed that there was no off hand to hold a torch in. But it turns out that doesn't matter because holding a torch doesn't actually provide light.

If any new person would have tried it as a random thing, they would have given up by now. It might be a good platform for mods, but the default experience is not good and not helpful in attracting new players.
RickAndTired Apr 8, 2020
The MineClone 2 gamemode is really quite good. I highly suggest it to anyone looking to play Minetest.
Tchey Apr 8, 2020
I’m still having a blast with Vintage Story, best "minecraf-like" in my opinion.
Playing it a lot lately, with Immersion mod.
Drakker Apr 8, 2020
Quoting: TcheyI’m still having a blast with Vintage Story, best "minecraft-like" in my opinion.
Playing it a lot lately, with Immersion mod.

Same here, after having played Vintage Story, I can't see myself ever going back to Minecraft or its clones.
Spirimint Apr 8, 2020
Quoting: TcheyI’m still having a blast with Vintage Story, best "minecraf-like" in my opinion.
Playing it a lot lately, with Immersion mod.

Same! Love the Game!
FifteenthPen Apr 8, 2020
Quoting: TcheyI’m still having a blast with Vintage Story, best "minecraf-like" in my opinion.
Playing it a lot lately, with Immersion mod.

I thought Minecraft was crack, and one of my favorite games ever.

Then I found Vintage Story. The survival and crafting aspects of it are a lot better than Minecraft, and the terrain and biome generation is so much better than Minecraft that even after having poured hundreds of hours into VS, I still keep finding places that make me just stop and enjoy the view/atmosphere for a while!


Last edited by FifteenthPen on 8 April 2020 at 11:54 pm UTC
MayeulC Apr 9, 2020
Quoting: EhvisThey should really do something about the default game though. [...] Thing I noticed is that the world was dead. No animals, no enemies, nothing happening.

Yeah, I agree, though this can also be said about Garry's mod, for instance. I was also interested in contributing, but I must say that I find some members of the community maybe a bit... childish? (I had the same issue with SuperTuxKart, though I think it's better with minetest)

Quoting: EhvisAlso noticed that there was no off hand to hold a torch in. But it turns out that doesn't matter because holding a torch doesn't actually provide light.

Is that a thing now in Minecraft? That was a bit annoying, but not a dealbreaker, and leaving with enough to build stacks of torches, as well as putting some everywhere, quickly becomes second-nature :)
Kristian Apr 9, 2020
Do people here have any recommendations as to game modes and/or mods for someone that detests survival play styles and is just interested in building cool things, in particular big structures. I am interested in anything that increases flexibility and/or options and/or speed when it comes to building. Certainly including digging/carving and blowing things up to make ready for building.
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.