[b800h]

I like this. Obviously, internally, the original Minecraft runs Java, but that's quite a difficult sell to an 8-year-old.

This is potentially a nice way to get them into programming for the game - the only thing I worry about is maintaining compatibility with a product which Microsoft seem intent on wresting away from modders, perhaps only indirectly. Even making logins work is fraught with peril thanks to Microsoft's appalling IAM solution.

[n2d4]

> Microsoft seem intent on wresting away from modders, perhaps only indirectly

What is Microsoft doing in that regard? Last I was working on Minecraft mods they did a lot to support them, such as sharing the obfuscation map or making Brigadier open-source. Have there been other developments since then?

The IAM logins seem more like a security decision to me (assumably Microsoft has requirements on how their products need to do authentication), not one to keep away modders.

[DefineOutside]

Microsoft also published DataFixerUpper and added some packets specifically for servers such as the "Ping" packet and the "Bundle" packet and the 1.19.4 display entities.

Ping being to synchronously measure latency of the client - unused by vanilla

Bundle being to force packets to be processed together - very useful for sending clients display animations all at once

And then all the display entities to display text and itemstacks in the air, with custom interpolation and stretching - so advanced animations can easily be made.

The most hostile thing is Microsoft pushing the locked down Bedrock edition.

[noirscape]

Mostly passively by trying to push stuff like Realms more instead of letting the community run their own servers (which could also be modded).

Bedrock Edition is also iirc insanely locked down in terms of modding and it's the version Microsoft pushes the sales of the most. There's some amount of it possible, but forget about any of the ludicrous automation/engineering mods like you had back in Java edition.

[lfkdev]

Really? My last info was that in Minecraft Bedrock, you even need to buy "coins" with real money to change simple things like Skin Packs. What a shame

[agentwiggles]

That's just not the case at all. You can certainly buy mods from the Minecraft store (or whatever it's called). But you can also write behavior packs and make skins and textures without paying for anything (besides the base game).

My son and I spent some time making custom weapons and the like using a tool called Bridge (https://bridge-core.app/). It's definitely not as powerful as modding once was in the Java version of the game, but you can do lots of pretty wild stuff with Bedrock if you're willing to jump through the hoops.

One "mod" that recently caught my eye was this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUWRK0Jy9d0

Yeah, you have to buy it with "Minecoins", but I can't get too upset that Microsoft has allowed devs to monetize their efforts on the platform. There's still plenty of free stuff available and nothing to prevent kids (or adults) from taking a crack at their own mods.

My son was just recently playing with a site called Tynker, and without any help from me managed to get a custom item into the game, so if an 8 year old can do it, it's about as accessible as you could hope for.

[gilesknap]

This sounds quite interesting. I've really only spent much time with Java and although it has a great modding scene it is unofficial and nothing ever works with updated versions (My Python approach is immune to this issue as it uses official RCON interface).

I have always been put off by how commercial Bedrock seems as soon as you open it. But at the same time it sounds like interesting and official modding is available there.

[bjord]

afaik they're still developing the java version as well, though

[drummojg]

Most definitely! https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Java_Edition_version_histo...

[gilesknap]

So we should be good for a while. The RCON interface this uses is always forward compatible with new Java editions.

Bedrock also uses RCON but there are subtle differences with the commands available.

If Microsoft ever does drop Java Edition I'd likely rework this to support Bedrock. I'm hoping this won't happen - they are keeping Java up to date with Bedrock presently but the new editor mode for Bedrock is a worrying development (maybe).