DrWho_Tardis (v1.0.0) has been released!

Contents | Introduction | Features | Dependencies | v1.0.0 Changelog | Contribute | Useful Links | License

An introduction

DrWho_Tardis is a Doctor Who themed Luanti (Minetest) mod that adds various items, nodes, a working TARDIS and basic Daleks to the game. It was forked from tardis_new. It currently supports Minetest Game, and may work with other games based on that.

Download it from the in-game content manager, ContentDB, or Codeberg.

I only started playing Minetest about two and a half months ago, and am always experimenting with new mods. tardis_new was particularly interesting because I love Doctor Who and it was fun to play around with. So, three weeks ago, I opened an issue on the GitHub repository of tardis_new, asking if it was still being developed. It wasn’t, but I felt I needed to make it visible that yes, this mod is being forked if someone looked at it’s repo. It would be the first time I had created a Minetest mod.

I did get a response, but not from the original developer. It was from Irevol, the creator of the game Citadel which won the Minetest Game Jam for 2023. They said they’d love to contribute to the fork once I’ve started it. Another person (ShadowOfHassen), was re-watching Doctor Who episodes and remembered playing tardis_new, leading him to find my fork via the issue I posted and start helping out.

I decided to host the code on Codeberg instead of GitHub for these reasons, created a Matrix space #drwho_tardis:mtrx.nz, and I started working on some of the things I wanted to change and add for v1.0.0, recorded in the changelog entry below.

And now, I have released Version 1.0.0!

Features (v1.0.0)

Everything included in the mod, conveniently explained here. Make sure you have a crafting guide!

TARDISes

The main feature in this mod is the TARDIS. You will first have to craft a Gallifreyan Lab - a special workstation that allows you to create craftitems such as Arton Crystals and Compressed Spacetime. You can use those to craft a TARDIS, then place it on the ground and walk through the door. The inside will be an empty cube (better interiors are planned), in which you place the Console Units and a Time Rotor to get your TARDIS to work.

Console Units

To be able to fly your TARDIS, you have to craft 8 Console Units. Their functions should make sense if you underdstand Minetest XYZ coordinates. Most of them are made from steel ingots, a Tardis Circuitry Board and one unique item for each (grasses, cactus etc).

• XYZ Axis Console Units: Clicking on the lever with decrease/increase your the XYZ coordinate of your destination. The amount that the lever decrease/increase that coordinate can be controlled by the Travel Factor console unit. 3 separate nodes, but will be merged in the future.
• Travel Factor Console Unit: Controls by how much the levers on the X/Y/Z Axis Console Units decrease/increase the coordinates of your destination.
• Exterior Control Console Unit (Chameleon Circuitry): Changes how the outside of your Tardis looks.
• Warp Lever Console Unit: The go button. Teleports your Tardis to your set destination.
• Waypoint Console Unit: Used to set up to three waypoints. Using a waypoint will automatically set your destination to the position the Tardis was in when the waypoint was set. Useful for travelling back to home base or deep underground for mining.
• Functions Console Unit: Can locate a player, create diamond tools, mysterious biscuits, sonic screwdrivers, and heal you.
• Tardis Monitor Screen: Displays your current position, destination, power, etc. RIght click to view.

Time Rotor

The Time Rotor is the center of the console area, and provides the power for all TARDIS functions. It slowly generates power -1 per 15 seconds- to a maximum of 10. And no, having multiple Time Rotors will not speed that up, nor increase maximum storage.

There is a bug where sometimes it will stop generating power - to fix this, just break it and place it again.

TARDIS Customization

There are 3 themes for all the console nodes, one is the default, and the others are crafted by adding either Wood or Silver Sand to a default one on the crafting grid. You can also use the Exterior Console Unit to change what the outside of your TARDIS looks like.

Sonic Screwdriver(s)

It wouldn’t be a Doctor Who mod without a Sonic Screwdriver, which can be created from the Functions Console Unit for 5 power. Thanks to Irevol, the Sonic’s texture is randomized - for each third of the screwdriver there are 4 textures, and they are all randomised together to create the possibility for 64 (4^3) unique Sonic looks.

Here are all the sonic screwdrivers’ functions:

• Lockpick: Click on a steel door/trap door to unlock it (even if it isn’t yours!)
• Summoning: Sneak and click a block to summon your tardis (requires three power)
• Sonic Knock Back: Sneak and click to an entity to knock the entity backwards (works better the farther away you are from the entity)
• Sand Conversion: Click (and not sneak) on sand to convert it to silver sand.
• Glass Conversion: Click on glass to turn it into obsidian glass.
• Obsidian Reversal: Click on obsidian to turn it into lava.
• Mesecon Hacking: Click on mesecon wires to turn them on/off.
• Digiline Hacking: Click on digiline wires to send messages through them. (only works if no message currently is being sent to the channel)
• Scan: Click (and not sneak) on an entity to scan it.
• Locking: Click on your Tardis to lock/unlock it.
• Accelerated Growth: Click on dirt to grow grass on it (in a later update growing crops with be supported).

Gallifreyan Lab

A Gallifreyan Lab is essential if you want to create Gallifreyan technologies like a TARDIS. It does not require fuel, but is notably bad for your health! To craft it, you need various ores and minerals in block form, Tardis Circuitry, and Mese Crystals. It has several recipes:

Daleks

Added in this version (v1.0.0), Daleks are a very strong monster. They have high health, shield, and deal a lot of damage. Disable ‘Mob Griefing’ in Mobs Redo API settings to stop them from settings things on fire and blowing things up. Daleks drop Dalekanium Ingots.

There are 2 variants: A Brown one (Modern Who) that can fly, and a Gray one (Classic Who) that can’t fly and is slightly weaker.

Dalekanium

Dalekanium is used to create Tools and Armor, the latter of which was added in this version (v1.0.0). They are stronger than Diamond, and are crafted just like their normal variants. You can craft Dalekaium Ingots from azbantium, gold, steel, and obsidian, or get some from defeating Daleks.

Other, smaller features

Achievements

Using the awards API, DrWho_Tardis has several achievements you can collect for various things, such as walking inside a TARDIS, eating a Tardis biscuit, and getting a Sonic Screwdriver.

Vortex Manipulator

Easy time & space travel - but it’s notably bad for your health. Right click when holding it to open a formspec where you can input the coordinates for your destination.

Gauntlet of Rassilon

A powerful weapon, once held by Rassilon himself. It one-shots almost anything, but has a very small amount of durability.

Gallifreyan Chest

Very large, and very expensive. This can make it easy to store lots of items in the small space of your TARDIS. WIll eventually be replaced by a TARDIS storage room.

/summon_tardis Chat Command

If you have the priveledge bring, the chat command will teleport your TARDIS to you. This can be useful if you have lost it and don’t have a sonic, or when testing the mod in Creative.

If your TARDIS gets blown up and drops the Tardis item, you will realise that the game doesn’t let you place it back down again. To fix that, you must either summon it using the sonic or this command.

Migrate from tardis_new to drwho_tardis

A full step-by-step guide for migrating can be found on the Wiki on Codeberg.

Known Bugs

• Some mobs die when they enter the Tardis.
• Gallifreyan Chests sometimes have to be double clicked to open.
• Cave generation occasionally breaks through the Tardis.
  • Will be fixed when the TARDIS interiors are in a separate dimension.
• Sometimes the TIme Rotors are not able to generate power.
  • To fix this, just break it and re-place it.
• The Sonic Screwdriver’s custom texture cannot be viewed in third person.
  • This is being worked on now and should be fixed in the next update.

Dependencies

Required:

• default for crafting recipes and basic functionality. This mod is made for MTG and ones based on it, none others. MineClone support may be added in the future.

• mobs (Mobs Redo API) is used to make the Daleks.

Optional:

• awards to get achievements in game.

• 3d_armor for the Dalekanium Armor set.

• doors so that the Sonic Screwdriver can interact with, lock and unlock doors and trapdoors. Included in MTG by default.

• pick_axe_tweaks support for Dalekanium Pickaxe

• toolranks support for Dalekanium tools.

• mesecons to allow for Mesecon Hacking with the Sonic.

• digilines to be able to use the Sonic to send messages through them.

Changelog for v1.0.0 (2024-02-18)

You can view the full changelog document on the Codeberg repo.

Thanks to ShadowOfHassen for playtesting, running through ideas, and adding Scifi_Mobs textures. Thanks to Irevol for making the Sonic texture randomiser, running through ideas and helping to add migration support.

Added

• A full Dalekanium armor set based on 3d_armor, including a shield. Textures are CC-BY-SA 4.0.

• pick_axe_tweaks support for the Dalekanium Pickaxe

• toolranks support for all four tools

• Daleks, forked from Scifi Mobs’ Daleks using their models and textures. There are two variants - a Brown one (can fly) and a Gray one (can’t fly, slightly weaker).

  • Cybermen textures have also been added, but are not in the mod yet. Probably next version if the models and animations work.

• A texture randomiser for the Sonic Screwdriver. Currently there are 4 textures for each third of the screwdriver, and they are all randomised together to create the possibility for 64 (4^3) unique combinations.

• Several achievements using the awards API.

• Aliases to help people convert items & nodes in their world from tardis_new to drwho_tardis.

  • I made a step-by-step migration guide on the wiki here.

Changed

• A lot of asset names. See asset-info.md for more information.

• A lot of item + node names. See [item-info.md](DrWho_Tardis/asset-info.md at main - Skivling/DrWho_Tardis - Codeberg.org) for more information.

• The whole structure of the code. It is now separated into several files and most files have a CONTENTS part up the top explaining what is in it.

• The Gallifreyan Lab crafting recipe. it is now easier to make because two of the Mese Crystals have been replaced with Bronze and Gold blocks.

Removed

• The Vending Machine texture for the TARDIS, because it is a non-free asset that wasn’t marked with a CC license, only “credit”.

Contribute + Follow Development

• Star and follow the repository.

• Join the Matrix space: #drwho_tardis:mtrx.nz

  • General: For general discussions about the mod, Doctor Who in Minetest, and anything else that makes sense.

  • Dev: For developer discussions about the mod.

  • Announcements: Any announcements I feel need to be shared.

  • All the rooms are end-to-end encrypted, so it might take a bit of time to synchronise messages when you join. Don’t message in the first 20+ minutes to aid this and avoid sending messages incorrectly.

• Submit bug reports - either on Codeberg or on Matrix. The more detail the better, it would be best to have the full error message. Make sure you are running the latest version of MInetest first though.

• Help write the wiki / documentation. Ask in the matrix dev channel and we’ll give you some pages to work on. This will be barely written by the core devs as we focus on the mod itself.

• Help translate - translation will be set up for the wiki when it’s written, and translation for the mod itself will be set up once v1.0 has been released.

• Help design textures - If you can put them under a non-restrictive CC license we would appreciate your contributions! These could be more Sonic textures, another console unit set (although wait until v1.1 or 1.2 when some of them are changed).

Thank you so much for reading this far! You are a great person. Future release blog posts won’t include this long feature explanation, just a changelog.

Useful Links

• The repo on Codeberg: https://codeberg.org/Skivling/DrWho_Tardis

• The listing on ContentDB: https://content.minetest.net/packages/skivling/DrWho_Tardis

• An invite to the Matrix space: #drwho_tardis:mtrx.nz

• tardis_new on GitHub: GitHub - PiDemon/Taridis_New

• Me (Skivling) on Mastodon: https://mastodon.nz/@skivling

• LICENSE.txt: DrWho_Tardis/LICENSE.txt

• Planned features in TODO.md: DrWho_Tardis/TODO.md

License Details

This mod is fan-made Doctor Who content. It is the work of Skivling and other individual contributors, working from the previous work of PiDemon. It is not endorsed by, associated with, or approved by the BBC. Doctor Who and all related Trademarks are property of the BBC and no infringement is being attempted.

DrWho_Tardis Minetest Mod Copyright (C) 2024 Skivling

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 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 General Public License for more details in the LICENCE.txt.

It was forked from Tardis_New, under the MIT License.

All textures, models and logos included in the DrWho_Tardis Minetest Mod are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, unless otherwise noted. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. Individual asset license details are avaliable on asset-info.md, which includes who created it, the original name and the source of the asset.

More license details and a copy of the license can be found in LICENSE.txt on Codeberg.