My problems with the forge installer for Minecraft.

Owning a successful coding server for Minecraft I use to get a lot of questions and complaints from students or parents not being able to install the forge.jar file. I use to instruct them to go and install java to remedy their problem or even set the javaw application as the opening process if they already had java installed. When The parents would tell me that this has been tried, I'd think, "Well you obviously did something wrong. "  I am now eating my words.

Last week my computer went into a boot loop and wouldn't start. I reset it back to factory settings and was going to start all over like a new computer. After all, aren't the good scripts already on the PyCraft server?

So obviously none of the programs that I have installed are still on my computer. So installing them one by one was fun. Luckily I do not install most the programs I use on my pc. I use what is called portable apps. Meaning I can throw most every software I'll ever need on a thumbdrive. With that, I am able to plug it into any computer I choose. Linux as well providing I use wine for my win programs. Including portable python and friends :)

But this post is about forge. I had problems re installing it on my laptop. Couldn't for the life of me get the .jar installer to run no matter what I did including uninstalling and re installing the java program.

What worked for me was opening a cmd prompt and launching the installer with a java flag.
Hope it also works for you.


Run some CMD Commands:
-Rename the forge installer to fml and move it to your desktop.
-Open a command prompt by hitting the windows button plus r, or hit the start button and type in command.
- Type CD Desktop then Enter. You should now see C:\Users\YourName\Desktop>
- Type java -jar fml.jar then Enter
-The FML Installer now pops up
-Run the installer as usual
-You should get an output like the forge install window.

Where Python and Minecraft meet!

On Sunday October 30th we will have an open PyCraft server. This is our PyCraft coding server where students "play" Minecraft while they learn to code (program).

We will run some fun scripts, let our guests have a look around, ask our mods/instructors questions and hang out with us for a while...maybe even get to run a few scripts.

This is a come and go 2 hour event. There is no "structure" to it. It is not a class or lesson, just a look around and see some of our students work in action.

You will need the FULL Minecraft Edition and your profile set to 1.9.4 to be able to acces the server. Remember FULL version is needed, no Pocket Edition, trial, Beta or Windows version will work.

The IP address for the PyCraft coding server: 192.99.21.123:27312 You will only have access between 5-7pm CST on 10/30. Remember your profile has to be set to 1.9.4 to access our server.

Here is information about our PyCraft course. http://www.homeschoolhackers.org/about-pycraft

If you enroll before 10/31 you will receive lesson 1 AND lesson 2 as a bonus lesson.

Hope to "see" you Sunday!

Texas Home School Coalition Association mention

Coding Classes Disguised as a Game

Homeschool Hackers

We've heard this many times: "My kid spends so much time playing Minecraft. How can I make this more productive?" How about learning to write computer code while "playing" Minecraft?

We offer an online (self-paced) coding class combined with the game Minecraft.

PyCraft = Education disguised in Minecraft!

$9.95 a month; includes monthly (self-paced) video lesson, instructor support and access to a private, monitored, customized coding server.

I want to thank the magazine for the mention.

Welcome Letter

Here's our welcome letter drafted by our office assistant Kate. She deals with our day to day administration and you will likely interact with Kate should you need assistance or have questions.

Thank you for joining PyCraft!

We hope you have a lot of fun here and learn a lot too!


Things To Remember:

This class is designed for beginners. You may hear words that you aren't familiar with, this is because they are specific to programming. You may feel a little intimidated at first with everything being so new. That is fine too. You will get use to working with code and in the server. It will just take a little time and a few lessons and practice to get comfortable.

Eventually everything will come together and fall into place. We are always here to help you.

You may have some coding experience and so the first lesson may be very easy for you...that is fine too.

The Server:

You have been added to the PyCraft server.

Remember the server is open 24/7.

Please use the PyCraft server to work on your scripts. You upload scripts via our website and they are reviewed and once approved placed on the server, this may take up to 24 hours but is normally much quicker. You are welcome to upload scripts throughout the month. How to upload scripts is covered in lesson 1. It will take a couple lessons before you are writing scripts regularly.

We also have another server that you are welcome to use if you'd like. This is a creative server and can be used when you want a break from the concentration of coding but still want to interact in Minecraft safely. There's no coding enabled on the creative server.

Both servers are whitelisted (private) and monitored.

Remember to use the PyCraft server to code and use the creative server when you want downtime and just play Minecraft. Coding won't work in the creative server and creative mode won't work in the PyCraft server.


IP address for the PyCraft coding server: ******************

IP address for the creative server: *********************

Lesson 1:

How to access the server is covered in lesson 1.


Here is the link for your first video lesson. "How to Get Started in PyCraft - Lesson 1."


(removed)

The password for video lesson 1 is: *************


You can watch this video as many times as you like and pause the video when you need to do so, it is self-paced. This video will be accessible for a year.

This video lesson is just over 10 minutes in length.

Once you've watched this lesson you will be ready to start work on your first script!

The first video is very basic and we start off slow. The curriculum is designed that way for a reason. We don't want to overwhelm you. Each lesson becomes more detailed and there will be more work for you to do.

The first script you will write is a positional script (shows your location in Minecraft). It is very simple and is to introduce you to coding. It may not seem simple to you now but it will a few lessons in.
Remember you can watch the video lesson as many times as you need/want.

Scripts To Get You Started:

To get you use to the server and executing scripts we list below some scripts that are available to you on the server. Students have written and shared these scripts. You are welcome to run and use them while you build up your own batch of scripts (this may take a few lessons to do).

To execute a script already written you would type in the chat/text bar:

/py wood (for wood)
/py melon (for melon)
/py wool (for wool)

/py horse (for a horse)

/py stone (for stone)

There are many more and so once you are on the server and you want to run scripts that have already been written please ask a mod or an instructor for more scripts.


Color Level Ranking:

As students become more knowledgeable and build their script folders we recognize their effort and achievement with a color ranking system:-

white - new students

yellow - level 1

orange - level 2

pink - level 2.5

purple - level 3

black - prefect

light red - moderator

blue - senior moderator

dark red - super moderator

green - instructor

Just For Fun:

We know students do like to battle it out and show off their abilities and so every Sunday we host PvP (player vs player) on the server. This is the only time PvP is allowed.

Future Lessons:

If you decide to stay for lesson 2 your next payment of $9.95 is due one month from today to receive lesson 2 and to have access to the server for the following month. If you want to buy lesson 2 before the month is up you're able to do so. Please contact us if you wish to do this.

Just an FYI; lesson 2 is over 20 minutes and lesson 3 is over 30 minutes... each lesson becomes more involved and challenging as the student's knowledge grows.

Contacting Us:

Parents and students: should you have any questions/queries/concerns PLEASE email us so we can help!
Our email is: support@homeschoolhackers.org
If you have questions arising from a lesson or if you have a curriculum question please email us at: support@homeschoolhackers.org and in the subject line write" instructor" that way we can filter your message to an instructor quickly.

We will try our best to get back to you within a few hours.

Let us know if you have any questions. :-)

Kate

Support Team

www.homeschoolhackers.org

Leave us a review on FB - We welcome feedback!
https://www.facebook.com/thecodingkids/

Set up your local MineCraft to code in Python!!!

I get a lot of questions about setting up my Minecraft to be able to script python code with it.
There are many PyCraft starters out there i.e. bukkit etc. The one I like and we use on the server is from Alex Pruss RaspberryJam Mod. I like it the best for the main reason Alex hasn't dropped the project and he updates it almost instantly when a request is made or when the game update is made.  Most of the instruction here was taken from Instructables.
We are currently using 1.9.4 on the server here is the link to the installs I have available. It includes the Forge install for 1.9.4 and RaspberryJamMod for 1.9.4


First thing first, you need to set a profile dedicated to 1.9.4 So open your Minecraft Launcher and click new profile in the bottom left hand corner.

After clicking new profile a window pops up called the Profile Editor.
May want to name it 1.9.4 test because when this is done you will be using a forge profile not this one. Find the use version  portion about 3/4 the way down.

Save the profile. Before you hit play, make sure the Profile says 1.9.4 test.

The point of this is to make sure you have no issues with running a 1.9.4 world prior to installing the forge.

After making the world is playable (can break blocks etc). Close out of Minecraft and the launcher. Go to the link I provided. Install the forge-1.9.4-12.17.0.2051-installer.jar Leave everything as is and just click Okay to install.

When done it should say forge profile installed.
Now, go back to to Minecraft launcher. Change the profile from 1.9.4 test to the new forge profile.

Almost there.

Now one more time to the link to get the RaspberryJamMod-Installer.exe.
Install the RJM then go back into your 1.9.4 world.

In the world hit 't' like your going to chat and type /py helloworld. It should print to the chat window 'Hello World' and you should have a diamond oar block directly under you.

You can type /py tab to see all the scripts available to you.

It is possible to run those scripts on the PyCraft server. When your on the server, instead of typing /py you type /lpy to run your local script. Remember though in order to get marked you need to send in your better scripts you have written to move up.

I hope this makes playing on the PyCraft server more fun as you don't need to wait for me to check your work and upload it.

If you do not have java installed, you will need to install the latest version.
If your not a student you can sign up at homeschoolhackers.org

A Cool house for the village

I wanted to throw up a sample of one of the student houses in the PyCraft neighborhood.
This will work on the raspberry pi but you may need to change some of the block id's around.


Now this is a work in progress. But you get the idea with this script.

# Import Minecraft libraries
import mcpi.minecraft as minecraft
#import building
import mcpi.block as block   
from mc import *
import time
import random
mc = minecraft.Minecraft.create()
x,y,z = mc.player.getPos()
mc.setBlocks(x-19,y,z-19,x+19,y+10,z+19,0)#wipe
mc.setBlocks(x-19,y-1,z-19,x+19,y-1,z+19,2)#yard

mc.setBlocks(x-8,y-1,z-8,x+8,y-1,z+8,43)#floor


mc.setBlocks(x-4,y,z-4,x+4,y+4,z-4,95,12)#glass wall
mc.setBlocks(x-4,y,z+4,x+4,y+4,z+4,95,12)#glass wall
mc.setBlocks(x-4,y,z+4,x-4,y+4,z-4,95,12)#glass wall
mc.setBlocks(x+4,y,z+4,x+4,y+4,z-4,95,12)#glass wall

mc.setBlocks(x-4,y-1,z-4,x-4,y+4,z-4,5,5)#pillar
mc.setBlocks(x+4,y-1,z+4,x+4,y+4,z+4,5,5)#pillar
mc.setBlocks(x+4,y-1,z-4,x+4,y+4,z-4,5,5)#pillar
mc.setBlocks(x-4,y-1,z+4,x-4,y+4,z+4,5,5)#pillar
mc.setBlocks(x-8,y+5,z-8,x+8,y+5,z+8,159,7)#ceiling


mc.setBlocks(x-8,y+6,z-8,x+8,y+6,z-8,159,8)#secondFloorClayBottom
mc.setBlocks(x-8,y+6,z+8,x+8,y+6,z+8,159,8)#secondFloorClayBottom
mc.setBlocks(x+8,y+6,z-8,x+8,y+6,z+8,159,8)#secondFloorClayBottom
mc.setBlocks(x-8,y+6,z+8,x-8,y+6,z-8,159,8)#secondFloorClayBottom


mc.setBlocks(x-8,y+7,z-8,x+8,y+10,z-8,5)#secondFloor wall
mc.setBlocks(x-8,y+7,z+8,x+8,y+10,z+8,5)#secondFloor wall
mc.setBlocks(x+8,y+7,z-8,x+8,y+10,z+8,5)#secondFloor wall
mc.setBlocks(x-8,y+7,z+8,x-8,y+10,z-8,5)#secondFloor wall

mc.setBlocks(x-8,y+7,z-8,x+8,y+9,z-8,20)#secondFloor window
mc.setBlocks(x-8,y+7,z+8,x+8,y+9,z+8,20)#secondFloor window
mc.setBlocks(x+8,y+7,z-8,x+8,y+9,z+8,20)#secondFloor window
mc.setBlocks(x-8,y+7,z+8,x-8,y+9,z-8,20)#secondFloor window

mc.setBlocks(x-10,y+10,z-10,x+10,y+10,z+10,159,7)#ceiling/roof 1
mc.setBlocks(x-8,y+11,z-8,x+8,y+11,z+8,159,7)#ceiling/roof 2
mc.setBlocks(x-7,y+12,z-7,x+7,y+12,z+7,159,7)#ceiling/roof 3

#########Lower Level Light Fixtures########
mc.setBlock(x+8,y+4,z+8,188,)#light post
mc.setBlock(x+8,y+3,z+8,169,)#light
mc.setBlock(x-8,y+4,z-8,188,)#light post
mc.setBlock(x-8,y+3,z-8,169,)#light
mc.setBlock(x+8,y+4,z-8,188,)#light post
mc.setBlock(x+8,y+3,z-8,169,)#light
mc.setBlock(x-8,y+4,z+8,188,)#light post
mc.setBlock(x-8,y+3,z+8,169,)#light

#########Upper Level Light Fixtures########
mc.setBlock(x+10,y+9,z+10,188,)#light post
mc.setBlock(x+10,y+8,z+10,169,)#light
mc.setBlock(x-10,y+9,z-10,188,)#light post
mc.setBlock(x-10,y+8,z-10,169,)#light
mc.setBlock(x+10,y+9,z-10,188,)#light post
mc.setBlock(x+10,y+8,z-10,169,)#light
mc.setBlock(x-10,y+9,z+10,188,)#light post
mc.setBlock(x-10,y+8,z+10,169,)#light
#MOVEDmc.setBlock(x+1,y,z+19,198)#endRod
#MOVEDmc.setBlock(x-1,y,z+19,198)#endRod


###Chorus Plant and end stone#####
#mc.setBlock(x+1,y-1,z+18,121)#end stone
mc.setBlocks(x+1,y,z+9,x+1,y,z+18,18)#fenceWalkway
mc.setBlocks(x-1,y,z+9,x-1,y,z+18,18)#fenceWalkway
mc.setBlocks(x-19,y,z-19,x-19,y,z+19,85)#leftFenceYard
mc.setBlocks(x+19,y,z-19,x+19,y,z+19,85)#rightFenceYard
mc.setBlocks(x+19,y,z-19,x-19,y,z-19,85)#backFenceYard
mc.setBlocks(x+19,y,z+19,x-19,y,z+19,85)#frontFenceYard
mc.setBlock(x+2,y,z+18,85)
mc.setBlock(x-2,y,z+18,85)
#chorus plant = 199
mc.setBlock(x+1,y,z+19,198)#endRod
mc.setBlock(x-1,y,z+19,198)#endRod

mc.setBlocks(x,y,z,x,y+1,z+20,0)#door

mc.setBlocks(x,y-1,z,x,y-2,z+20,43)#walkway

mc.setBlock(x,y-1,z,1,4)#Center Pointt


####STAIRS######
mc.setBlock(x-2,y,z-2,44,7)
mc.setBlock(x-2,y,z-3,44,7)
mc.setBlock(x-3,y,z-3,44,7)
mc.setBlock(x-3,y+1,z-2,44,7)
mc.setBlock(x-3,y+2,z-1,44,7)
mc.setBlock(x-3,y+3,z,44,7)
mc.setBlock(x-3,y+4,z+1,44,7)
mc.setBlock(x-3,y+5,z+2,44,7)
mc.setBlock(x-3,y+5,z+1,0)
mc.setBlock(x-3,y+5,z,0)
mc.setBlock(x-3,y+5,z-1,0)

Turtle with whileLoop

 Not being a turtle expert myself I wanted to use turtle to show most of the examples I can come up with. Remember that if you can do it in turtle then you can do it in PyCraft. Just with a specific block type. For instance here I can loop through block types instead of colors.

import turtle
t = turtle.Pen()
turtle.bgcolor('black')
colors = ["red", "yellow", "blue", "green"]

for x in range(10):
    x = 0
    while x <100:
        t.pencolor(colors[x%4])
        t.forward(x)
        t.left(91)
        x = x+1
        print(x)
           
    x = 0
    while x <100:
        t.pencolor(colors[x%4])
        t.forward(x)
        t.left(91)
        x = x+1
        print(x)