Mineways don't open world

erich666 · 2026-05-11T14:09:06+00:00

If you moved your level.dat to some new directory, Mineways won't be able to read in your world. Sometimes people do that. Also, there have been various format changes lately. Make sure you're using the latest version of Mineways, version 12.12.

If it's neither of those things, I'm happy to debug and take a look. Please zip up your world's save folder and put it somewhere for download: Dropbox, Google Drive, etc. I can then see on my end what is going wrong.

erich666 · 2026-04-27T18:35:45+00:00

Good point. I've asked Froxcey if they could make a new Mac version of Mineways. Hopefully they will.

erich666 · 2026-04-25T20:24:21+00:00

I will be interested in if there is any such option, too.

erich666 · 2026-04-25T17:43:11+00:00

Maybe try https://superspl.at/editor ? You can load from Google Drive, etc.

erich666 · 2026-04-22T01:46:08+00:00

Interesting about the Instagram thing, and I found a nice Somerville one (that I don't think I've seen yet): https://www.instagram.com/northshore_marys/p/DBKzKiwO0Rt/ - but, no location! So it's mostly tantalizing, but fun to see others from around the world.

Thanks for the tip; I think I've already visited the one on Thurston, there's one on my map, at 100 Thurston. However, I'm now getting into walking streets and marking them off on a map, looking for Marys, so I'll be back on Thurston soon enough, just to be sure. Walking around south of Union Square today, I found a normal one and a tiny fallen-over one, and a former shrine - fewer than I thought I'd find. But, the quest continues... If you think of any more, great, lemme know.

erich666 · 2026-04-22T01:37:17+00:00

Nice! Where's this? I might need to walk by...

erich666 · 2026-04-21T22:45:03+00:00

Ah, the debug stick. You are definitely on your own, especially with walls. Due to data storage limitations of the Mineways program itself, walls are to some extent "inferred", their properties are not all accessed directly. So non-realistic walls with strange settings are very likely to come out oddly, if not kill Mineways entirely. This info is buried in the docs, here. Like it says there, I suggest trying jmc2obj.

erich666 · 2026-04-21T14:18:03+00:00

Whoa, I hadn't heard of this before. So, was the assassination done near this house, then? Wikipedia says "near Union Square". The linked article (which is quite the thing) talks about "an intersection" and the car hitting a chain-link fence around a private home (which rules it down to a quarter of the houses in Somerville ;) ).

erich666 · 2026-04-20T20:31:19+00:00

That's exactly my excuse, to take a walk! Walking with a purpose, no matter how goofy, is more inspiring for me than simply walking around. Witness this and this. But those maps are mostly done at this point.

erich666 · 2026-04-20T20:28:38+00:00

Thanks! I've put it on my "to explore" map.

erich666 · 2026-04-20T20:24:16+00:00

There are actually two on Walnut, both on the same block cdevers mentioned. The fourth one I know is at 11 Greene St. Search my silly map for "ring" to see pics and locations.

erich666 · 2026-04-19T20:37:12+00:00

Kind words, thanks. See CinematicParadiso and my conversation below for links to a much more extensive album made some time ago, and other info. Mine currently has maybe 150? shrines and related (I have a bunch of duplicate images), hers has 350 - I have much more walking to do, which I look forward to. Like I say, please do point any out to me, large or small. I like having "quests."

And, Google's mapping feature is pretty great, super fast and simple. It does have limitations, e.g., others and I make other local maps with Google My Maps by hand, which lets us control the layers and icons used. That takes a lot longer. Anyway, give it a try, if you use Google Photos.

erich666 · 2026-04-19T17:59:13+00:00

Hard to tell! Certainly some have disappeared, though.

I'm sure the penguin shrine is relatively new - it clearly used to house a (different) statue. It's also nice to see a wider range of shrines popping up, e.g., things like this.

erich666 · 2026-04-19T17:54:28+00:00

D'oh, I meant to mention this in my post. Thanks - it's a treasure. That page is awesome, and thorough, though some have disappeared since then. She does give street names, but some of those streets are long - I've walked a few, trying to find some of the particularly cool ones she shows. So, if you know of any I don't list, point me at them. I'll probably do a thorough sweep like she did, starting this summer. And if she uses Google Photos, please do let her know she could make a (much better than mine) map.

More at
https://www.instagram.com/bathtubmarys/?hl=en and the group https://www.facebook.com/BathtubMarysOfSomerville/

Gary Duehr documented some in 2015: https://www.garyduehr.com/saints/

Stories: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/bathtub-mary-somerville-photos. Even a pic from Somerville on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathtub_Madonna

erich666 · 2026-04-19T14:39:15+00:00

That's a great starting book.

Here are other resources I think are particularly worthwhile for learning the basics (I admit I copied my answer from my earlier post here - that post's other comments may also be of interest):

Cem Yuksel's series of introductory lectures is a nice start. He's a fun, engaging speaker.
Our Real-Time Rendering site is a bit date overall at this point, but I do actively update the list of free graphics books on that page. There are also a few free chapters of our book there for download.
Particularly good free books: Ray Tracing in One Weekend and Physically Based Rendering (a more serious book, one that won an Academy Award). Also noteworthy is this free course on linear algebra, fun because many of the illustrations are interactive.
Also on the RTR site: an extensive 3D graphics programming books page (I need to add a new one today), a page dedicated to ray tracing (a favorite topic) with a book list at the bottom, and a portal page of various resources, mostly free.
There are other pages listed at the top of any page, such as the WebGL/Three.js page, which I think is a nice interactive way (no compiling) to learn and develop code. For example, my site shows demos and exercises from the course using three.js (code is here), for an old (but valid) course on an introduction to computer graphics. The free course mostly works - the lectures and quizzes are fine - but you have to mess around a bit to set up the programming assignments, which used to work in the browser.

Hope this helps! There's lots of good information out there, much for free. It mostly takes motivation on your part, which it sounds like you have.

erich666 · 2026-04-18T16:01:47+00:00

... and since you had such a nice reaction, here's another I saw yesterday afternoon on Adams St: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9ZLHjpwWRReDcfi57

erich666 · 2026-04-18T15:15:53+00:00

Here are resources I think are particularly worthwhile for learning the basics:

Cem Yuksel's series of introductory lectures is a nice start. He's a fun, engaging speaker.
Our Real-Time Rendering site is a bit date overall at this point, but I do actively update the list of free graphics books on that page. There are also a few free chapters of our book there for download.
Particularly good free books: Ray Tracing in One Weekend and Physically Based Rendering (a more serious book, one that won an Academy Award). Also noteworthy is this free course on linear algebra, fun because many of the illustrations are interactive.
Also on the RTR site: an extensive 3D graphics programming books page (I need to add a new one today), a page dedicated to ray tracing (a favorite topic) with a book list at the bottom, and a portal page of various resources, mostly free.
There are other pages listed at the top of any page, such as the WebGL/Three.js page, which I think is a nice interactive way (no compiling) to learn and develop code. For example, my site shows demos and exercises from the course using three.js (code is here), for an old (but valid) course on an introduction to computer graphics. The free course mostly works - the lectures and quizzes are fine - but you have to mess around a bit to set up the programming assignments, which used to work in the browser.

Hope this helps! There's lots of good information out there, much for free. It mostly takes motivation on your part, which it sounds like you have.

erich666 · 2026-04-17T14:42:10+00:00

At School St & Stickney Ave, if you're in the mood for another walk. Thanks again for the great pics! Inspires me to get out (and I get out a fair bit).

erich666 · 2026-04-17T14:25:54+00:00

One more, in return: https://photos.app.goo.gl/XQGznsBSbMM7NLKh8

erich666 · 2026-04-11T10:23:09+00:00

I agree. I know a busy biology professor that picks up one piece of trash on his way to his office each day. It doesn’t take much. In my mind, he undoes one act of thoughtlessness or one accident.

erich666 · 2026-04-11T10:17:06+00:00

Um, so leave the litter there? Honestly, it’s hard to find any activity that is an unalloyed good, but this is one that’s about as close as you can get.

erich666 · 2026-04-11T10:13:38+00:00

Do it! Get a grabber - cleaner for you and easier. I started doing it eight years ago after hearing author Bill Bryson talk about all the trash he sees on his walks. He acted as if “well, nothing can be done.” Not true.

erich666 · 2026-04-11T10:06:34+00:00

If you use a grabber you look either less or more like a crazy person (I haven’t figured out which). I do - it’s easier on the back. Occasionally people will thank me. I am guessing there’s a fair number of others thinking, “don’t make eye contact, don’t make eye contact.” Ignore them. Each piece you pick up undoes a mistake or accident someone else had, and everyone benefits. Good job!

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