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Comment by tails4e | Hacker News Reader

Does anyone know of a good guide to the Minecraft versions? My daughter wants to get mods and maybe venture into scripting, but it seems confusing as to what each version is capable of. We have it on Xbox and android but it seems none of this works on those. It seemd java edition is best; except this has now been replaced by win10 edition, but that does not support most mods or so it seems. It's quite confusing so if anyone has a magic decoder ring for versions/platforms/compatability I'd really appreciate the info!

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The Java edition is the only one that supports mods. Development is parallel between it and the bedrock edition. The windows 10, android, iOS, Xbox one, PS4 and switch versions all use the bedrock edition.

I would recommend starting with a premade mod pack and a YouTube series that's currently using it. Direwolf20 authors his own packs and creates videos using those packs. The twitch client allows you to install various modpacks for Minecraft, including Direwolf20's

A hearty second on Twitch. It’s very easy to go down the rabbit hole in getting a mod working on your kid’s computer (what 3rd party API are they using, what version, what mods do they build on, what version of Minecraft does it work with, etc.).

The Java version is the most moddable and featureful among the versions. The console/mobile/Win10 versions are collectively called Bedrock Edition. The Bedrock versions allow for (limited) crossplay between one another. The Java and Bedrock versions are incompatible. Bedrock versions have had essentially no moddability, though this announcement seems to be hinting that official Bedrock modding support may be in the works.

In short, Windows 10 Edition has not replaced the Java Edition, and IMO the Java version on PC remains the best way to play, especially if modding or server communities are desired.

Java is the original and I don't think it's fair to say that is has been "replaced" yet. Mods basically only exist for this one.

The Windows 10 one (which as here announced just got scripting beta), the XBox one and Android/iOS versions are all based on the same code base and labeled "Bedrock Edition". There's a bunch of other variants for other consoles etc, but less relevant. The Raspberry Pi one also had a (I think Python?) scripting interface, not sure if they still maintain it.

I was about to comment to say this is the source of the confusion. The Java based one is the original. Microsoft doesn't have the best history with Java, so my best guess is that eventually Bedrock may indeed replace the original in constant development, but it doesn't appear to be too soon. It doesn't hurt to just invest some time into the Java edition of Minecraft until the Windows 10 catches up with the new mod system.

The Raspberry Pi has a minimalist rendition of Minecraft that let's you script it with Python. Just downloading (or getting n00bs) the official Rapsberry Pi distro Raspbian includes Minecraft with it.

As other commenters have stated, java is best for modability both because of it's extensive community support and inertia (already written mods are on java).

However, (this may not be true any more, but I think it is) you get a free version of the win10 store version of minecraft with a java edition purchase. So just buy the java version, and you get both (and the prices are pretty close last I checked)

This promotion stopped in November.

Check out this topic: https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/164341/how-exactl...

Look into Minecraft Forge.

Not sure how relevant all of this is now but we got it up and running on an older iMac pretty easily.

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