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title layout root idx redirect_from
Releasing a Mod default ../../ 6.5 /en/chapters/releasing.html

Introduction

Releasing, or publishing, a mod allows other people to make use of it. Once a mod has been released it might be used in singleplayer games or on servers, including public servers.

  • License Choices
  • Packaging
  • Uploading
  • Forum Topic

Before you release your mod, there are some things to think about:

  • Is there another mod that does the same thing? If so, how does yours differ or improve on it?
  • Is your mod useful?

License Choices

You need to specify a license for your mod. Public domain is not a valid licence, as the definition varies in different countries.

Your code and your art need different things from the licenses they use. For example, Creative Commons licenses shouldn't be used with source code, but can be suitable choices for artistic works such as images, text and meshes.

You are allowed any license; however, mods which disallow derivatives are banned from the official Minetest forum. (Other developers must be able to take your mod, modify it, and release it again.)

LGPL and CC-BY-SA

This is a common license combination in the Minetest community, and is what Minetest and minetest_game use. You license your code under LGPL 2.1 and your art under CC-BY-SA. This means:

  • Anyone can modify, redistribute and sell modified or unmodified versions.
  • If someone modifies your mod, they must give their version the same license.
  • Your copyright notice must be kept.

Add this copyright notice to your README.txt, or as a new file called LICENSE.txt:

License for Code
----------------

Copyright (C) 2010-2013 Your Name <emailaddress>

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License along
with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.

License for Textures, Models and Sounds
---------------------------------------

CC-BY-SA 3.0 UNPORTED. Created by Your Name

WTFPL or CC0

These licenses allows anyone to do what they want with your mod. This means they can modify, redistribute, sell, or leave out attribution. These licenses can be used for both code and art.

It is important to note that WTFPL is strongly discouraged and people may choose not to use your mod if it has this license.

MIT

This is a common license for mod code. The only restriction it places on users of your mod is that they must include the same copyright notice and license in any copies of the mod or of substantial parts of the mod.

To use this license, include the following in your readme or license file:

Copyright (c) <year> <your name> <emailaddress>

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
THE SOFTWARE.

Packaging

There are some files that we recommend you include in your mod when you release it.

README.txt

You should provide a readme file. This should state:

  • What the mod does.
  • What the license is.
  • Current version of mod.
  • How to install the mod.
  • What dependencies there are / what the user needs to install.
  • Where to report problems/bugs or get help.

See appendix for an example and a generator.

description.txt

This should explain what your mod does. Be concise without being vague. It should be short in length because it will be displayed in the mod store.

For example:

GOOD: Adds soups, cakes, bakes and juices. The food mod which supports the most ingredients.
BAD:  The food mod for Minetest.

screenshot.png

Screenshots should be 3:2 (3 pixels of width for every 2 pixels of height) and a minimum size of 300 x 200px. This is displayed in the mod store.

Uploading

So that a potential user can download your mod, you need to upload it to somewhere publicly accessible.\ There are several methods you can use, but you should use the one that works best for you, as long as it meets these requirements:\ (and any other requirements which may be added by forum moderators)

  • Stable - The hosting website should be unlikely to shutdown without warning.
  • Direct link - You should be able to click a link on the forum and download the file without having to view another page.
  • Virus Free - Mods with malicious content are not wanted.

Github, or another VCS

It is recommended that you use a Version Control System because this:

  • Allows other developers to easily submit changes.
  • Allows the code to be previewed before downloading.
  • Allows users to submit bug reports.

However, such systems may be hard to understand when you first use them.

The majority of Minetest developers use GitHub as a website to host their code, but other alternatives are possible. For information on how to use GitHub, please see:

Forum Attachments

You can use forum attachments instead. This is done when creating a mod's forum topic (covered below).

First, you need to zip the files into a single file. How to do this varies from operating system to operating system.

On Windows, go to the mod's folder. Select all the files. Right click, Send To > Compressed (zipped) folder. Rename the resulting zip file to the name of your mod's folder.

On the Create a Topic page (see below), go to the "Upload Attachment" tab at the bottom. Click browse and select the zipped file. It is recommended that you enter the version of your mod in the comment field.

Upload Attachment
Upload Attachment tab.

Forum Topic

You can now create a forum topic. You should create it in the "WIP Mods" (Work In Progress) forum.\ When you consider your mod no longer a work in progress, you can request that it be moved to "Mod Releases."

Content

The requirements of a forum topic are mostly the same as the recommendations for a README.txt file:

  • What the mod does.
  • What the license is.
  • Current version of mod.
  • How to install the mod.
  • What dependencies there are.
  • Where to report problems/bugs or get help.
  • Link to download, or an attachment.

You should also include screenshots of your mod in action, if relevant.

Here is an example. The Minetest forum uses bbcode for formating.

Adds magic, rainbows and other special things.

See download attached.

[b]Version:[/b] 1.1
[b]License:[/b] LGPL 2.1 or later

Dependencies: default mod (found in minetest_game)

Report bugs or request help on the forum topic.

[h]Installation[/h]

Unzip the archive, rename the folder to to modfoldername and
place it in minetest/mods/minetest/

(  GNU/Linux: If you use a system-wide installation place
    it in ~/.minetest/mods/minetest/.  )

(  If you only want this to be used in a single world, place
    the folder in worldmods/ in your worlddirectory.  )

For further information or help see:
[url]http://wiki.minetest.com/wiki/Installing_Mods[/url]

If you modify the above example for your mod topic, remember to change "modfoldername" to the name of the folder your mod should be in.

Title

The subject of topic must be in one of these formats:

  • [Mod] Mod Title [modname]
  • [Mod] Mod Title [version number] [modname]
  • eg: [Mod] More Blox [0.1] [moreblox]

Profit

Profit
Profit

Appendix: Readme and Forum Generator

Title:
Modname:
Description:
Version:
License:
Dependencies:
Download:
Additional:

Report bugs or request help on the forum topic.
My Super Special Mod
====================

Adds magic, rainbows and other special things.

Version: 1.1
License: LGPL 2.1 or later
Dependencies: default mod (found in minetest_game)

Report bugs or request help on the forum topic.

Installation
------------

Unzip the archive, rename the folder to mysuperspecial and
place it in minetest/mods/

(  GNU/Linux: If you use a system-wide installation place
    it in ~/.minetest/mods/.  )

(  If you only want this to be used in a single world, place
    the folder in worldmods/ in your worlddirectory.  )

For further information or help see:
http://wiki.minetest.com/wiki/Installing_Mods
Adds magic, rainbows and other special things.

[b]Version:[/b] 1.1
[b]License:[/b] LGPL 2.1 or later
[b]Dependencies:[/b] default mod (found in minetest_game)
[b]Download:[/b] http://example.com/download.zip

Report bugs or request help on the forum topic.

[h]Installation[/h]

Unzip the archive, rename the folder to mysuperspecial and
place it in minetest/mods/

(  GNU/Linux: If you use a system-wide installation place
    it in ~/.minetest/mods/.  )

(  If you only want this to be used in a single world, place
    the folder in worldmods/ in your worlddirectory.  )

For further information or help see:
http://wiki.minetest.com/wiki/Installing_Mods