Foster Stephen - Minecraft modding for kids for dummies

Minecraft Modding For Kids For Dummies

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com

Copyright 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2015940558

ISBN: 978-1-119-05004-9; ISBN: 978-1-119-05765-9 (ePDF); ISBN: 978-1-119-05767-3 (ePub)

1. Table of Contents

So you want to mod Minecraft thats a great idea! Youre about to be transformed from a Minecraft player into a Minecraft maker, and in order to get there, you have to learn how to code. The task is quite simple, because youll use many of the skills you already have logic, creativity, math, gaming, and problem solving to design, build, test, and share Minecraft mods. This book tells you everything, from building a large house to making a multiplayer game that you can play inside Minecraft with your friends.

Minecraft modding used to be a task that only expert coders could take on. And becoming an expert coder was no easy task, because that topic is rarely taught in school. Luckily, the information in this book shows you how to be a coder and how to be a Minecraft modder. Like content across the entire For Dummies series, this book is clearly written, fun to read, and organized in an easy-access format. By using your new skills, you can be well on your way to coding successfully in other applications and transforming the way you and your friends play Minecraft.

Modding Minecraft For Kids For Dummies is assembled as a series of mods that feature steps for designing, building, and testing each mod, from start to finish. As you work through each project, keep a couple of conventions in mind:

Programming code and web addresses appear in monofont . If youre reading a digital version of this book on a device connected to the Internet, note that you can click web addresses to visit that website, like this: www.dummies.com .

Working with LearnToMod is super simple: I generally just give you instructions such as Drag a function into the programming environment or Click on the Minecraft category and then Players. Or I may simply tell you to click on a link or a tab.

In this book, I make a few assumptions about you in regard to getting started:

• Youre reasonably comfortable typing on a computer and using a mouse. Your experience can be on a Windows system or a Mac system; either one will do. All coding takes place in a web browser and on any browser on either platform. The figures in this book show LearnToMod operating on a Mac using the Chrome browser.
• Youre capable of navigating a standard website, because LearnToMod takes place only in your web browser.

Furthermore, Ive made some assumptions with regard to your entrance into the world of Minecraft modding:

• You have played Minecraft, and you understand the basic mechanics of playing. Regardless of whether you play Minecraft on Windows or the Mac, you must use the desktop version. The Pocket Edition, which is played on mobile devices, doesnt work with LearnToMod.
• Youre comfortable with basic math principles, math operations such as adding whole numbers, and logical operations such as comparing two whole numbers.

The Tip icon marks advice and shortcuts that you can use to make modding easier.

The Remember icon marks concepts you should keep in mind to make modding easier.

The Coding Connections icon describes how the modding youre doing relates to the bigger picture of coding.

The Math Connections icon describes math that is being used in your modding.