Development Test (or DevTest in short) is a basic testing environment that contains a bunch of things to test the engine, but it could also be used as a minimal testbed for testing out mods. This is for developers, not for players.
Features
- Basic nodes for mapgen
- Basic, minimal map generator
- Lots of example nodes for testing drawtypes, param2, light level, and many other node properties
- Example entities
- Other example items
- Formspec test (via
/test_formspeccommand) - Automated unit tests (disabled by default)
- Tools for manipulating nodes and entities, like the "Param2 Tool"
Getting started
Basically, just create a world and start. A few important things to note:
- Items are gotten from the “Chest of Everything” (
chest_of_everything:chest) or “Bag of Everything” (chest_of_everything:bag) - When you lost your initial items, type in
/stuffcommand to get them back - By default, Creative Mode activates infinite node placement. This behavior can be changed with the
devtest_infplacesetting - Use the
/infplacecommand to toggle infinite node placement in-game - Use the Param2 Tool to change the param2 of nodes; it's useful to experiment with the various drawtype test nodes
- Check out the game settings and server commands for additional tests and features
Confused by a certain node or item? Check out for inline code comments. The usages of most tools are explained in their tooltips.
Example tests
- You can use this to test what happens if a player is simultaneously in 2 nodes with
damage_per_secondbut with a different value. - Or use the Falling Node Tool on various test nodes to see how they behave when falling.
- You could also use this as a testbed for dependency-free mods, e.g. to test out how your formspecs behave without theming.
Source code
The source code of DevTest is included in the Minetest repository and can be found here.
More information
See the Wiki page or the README.md file for more.
Designed primarily for engine development
I do not recommend using this game as it is designed for engine development, assisting with mod development is only a secondary goal and one it does poorly. I recommend testing in a closer environment to how your mod is designed to be used
If you require a minimum testing environment, void/zero may be a better base
Good engine and mod testbed; not for players
Usually the best testbed for engine development or if you want to quickly play around with an engine feature.
Also very useful in mod development due to its minimalism, which allows for a very fast loading time and also helps ensure that your mod works even in a minimalist environment without bloaty mods such as
default.Devtest also provides a few introspective facilities (e.g. node editing tools etc.) and example content (nodes, entities etc.) that aid in engine and mod testing.
That said, when you're developing a new game for players, you should under no circumstances base it on
devtest(except if your game is intended to serve as a replacement testbed or perhaps a more specific mod testbed).An excellent resource for testing and developing mods
It has barebones functionality, so will never be for actual gameplay. It also lacks default which can help for making universal mods. And, it has example nodes of most types you could want to make. It has example liquids, and examples of all pre-existing drawtypes. It really is a great modding tool overall.
Very helpful for testing mods
This "game" includes a lot of tools that exercise all kinds of Minetest features. Very useful during mod development to test how your mod interacts with various types of nodes, items, entities...
Every item has a purpose, there are no decorative nodes (in fact the textures are quite ugly). There is one grass, one wood, one stone... on the other hand there are many variations of item/nodes with different properties, such as liquids with many different ranges and viscosities that you won't find in a regular game.
As others already wrote, this is not for playing. Well, except if you enjoy messing with the engine.
The real base for modding
Development Test is perfect for anyone who has the intention of not playing. It is extremely useful in alot of circumstances, really flexible and, most importanly, minimal on resource usage and features; Perfect for things that need to be tested without inteference with other APIs. The only thing I would like to be changed is add a setting for 'default' mods, to allow for modders to test things for performance simultaneously with gameplay. Otherwise 10/10 for performance and functionality.