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Minetest, a voxel game engine created to be something like a Minecraft clone, is finally smashing apart the chains to become more its own unique thing.

Announced in a blog post the team explained why it was originally created and how it's grown with a huge community. Minetest itself of course, is just a voxel game engine, a platform for various games. And so with that in mind, it needed its own identity to finally throw off the "Minecraft clone" comments and so the era of Minetest is now over with the introduction of Luanti.

The name is a play on the Finnish word luonti (“creation”) and the programming language used for games and mods, Lua. Combined together, that's Luanti. They're still in the process of getting all bits of it renamed, so it may take a while.

Seems quite a fitting name and I like the idea behind it, although it's not particularly memorable, but then again for most people it will be the games made with it that create the memories. If you missed it we also had MineClone2, a game for Minetest Luanti, recently change its name to VoxeLibre as well.


Pictured - VoxeLibre

What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

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13 comments

pb Oct 14
Bad name, bad decision, IMO.
dpanter Oct 14
Clever name in some regards, terrible in others. It's... fine?
Should avoid lawsuits at least, but I pretty much feel the same way about this as I did with MineClone2 -> VoxeLibre change. Meh.
Tchey Oct 14
I see no interest about this game/project, beside being "open". I see no interest in clones in general. So much more can be done from the same prime idea.

Vintage Story, Colony Survival, Elsewhere... Yes !
Maybe they could have called it "TORILLE!"
hm11 Oct 14
I don't vibe with the name.. usually because the name has to be about the game. I get the french and code mixture, maybe is because i don't know french Lol but the name is just not good in my humble opinion, doesn't give me anything about the game.
Salvatos Oct 14
I always felt like "Minetest" sounded like a debugging tool for Minecraft servers or something, so I’d say good change as far as that goes. I don’t see how that will help "throw off the 'Minecraft clone' comments" though, since that’s exactly what it is regardless of the name.

I get the french and code mixture, maybe is because i don't know french
What French?
WYW Oct 14
Good to change away from the MineTEST name. Suggesting the game/engine and people would always ask, "Test. is it like a demo?". At least now it has a name that isn't a misnomer and elicits a little curiosity.

LUA + Creation = Luanti isn't a bad notion but of course people don't like change in general.
whizse Oct 14
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maybe is because i don't know french Lol
Configuration error. Set your language parser to Finnish!
Ehvis Oct 14
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This was always a project that was due for a name change. The "test" always made it seem like some tech demo code that's not meant to have a future. You can argue about the new name, but at least it now sounds more like a game engine.
Well, reasonable that they changed the name. As names go, it's a nice enough name for some sorts of things . . . it would be a fine name for a random open source infrastructure project, or a Linux distro or something. It has a pleasant sound and a clever derivation. For games though I do tend to prefer that names be sort of descriptive, I find these abstract names are unmemorable, don't give me anything to hang onto to remind me that this name belongs with that thing.
hardpenguin Oct 15
The names are bad, the games are good.
I think it's a good name. I had mixed feelings at first, but seeing as it is more of a game engine than a game unto itself, I think Luanti fits really nicely.
kneekoo Oct 18
I see no interest about this game/project, beside being "open". I see no interest in clones in general.

It's not a game, but an engine, and it's not even designed to replicate everything that Minecraft does, which is why VoxeLibre doesn't have everything a Minecraft player would expect. What they give you is a user interface with access to their Content database (games, mods, textures) and the means to manage your installed content, along with the settings related to the engine and installed games and mods.

When you look at the list of games for this engine, of course most of them offer something similar to Minecraft because it's a voxel game engine and people love making that kind of games. But different kinds of games are possible, and there are a few small games that have been made during their game jams - see 2023.

Here are two interesting Minetest/Luanti games:
- Exile (pretty brutal survival game)
- Hades Revisited (tough survival game on a hellish planet; incomplete, but it offers content for a lot of hours of gameplay)

P.S. The 2024 Luanti Game Jam is now live.


Last edited by kneekoo on 19 October 2024 at 6:48 am UTC
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