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It's been a while since I played, so I don't know what the status are for mods with the new re-write by Microsoft ... but there's ComputerCraft, which adds turtles to the game.

You can program them to do tasks like digging tunnels, building roads, etc.

If not that, I'd have to second the argument to learn Logo. (25-30 years ago, that's what schools would use to control robotic arms and such, so it's not just for turtle graphics)

It's been a while since I played, so I don't know what the status are for mods with the new re-write by Microsoft ... but there's ComputerCraft, which adds turtles to the game.

You can program them to do tasks like digging tunnels, building roads, etc.

If not that, I'd have to second the argument to learn Logo. (25-30 years ago, that's what schools would use to control robotic arms and such, so it's not just for turtle graphics)

It's a mod where you get little consoles, you craft them

then you can program them with the simple scripting language Lua to automate actions in Minecraft: mine, fight, farm, etc

it's good because they are programming *in* the Minecraft world: you're piggybacking on their love of the Minecraft universe to get them into programming

http://www.computercraft.info/...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Or better yet, use Minecraft to teach them the basics of logic and programming.

A modpack with ComputerCraft, RedLogic, and possibly a couple of "just for fun" mods like Thermal Expansion or RailCraft would be a solid starting point...if you want to put together something more complex, contact me on IRC (esper.net, #minechem channel) or via Twitter and I'd be more than happy to help you out.

Disclosure: I develop the Minechem mod, and help maintain a couple of different modpacks.

...In Cholo everything is a waldo(manually piloted bot), but imagine porting this to Minecraft with scripted bots....AI for the bots could be stuff you start with, stuff you wrote, or code found in game in vaults. The bots would...::snip long list of stuff::

This actually sounds much like what Computercraft does with Turtles. Turtles can be run manually, or can be scripted with Lua to (depending on the type of turtle) mine ores, fight mobs, harvest crops, build structures, transfer liquids, and even wirelessly network with a "master computer".

I'd highly recommend that you look into some of the modpacks out there that combine mods like Computercraft with industrial type manufacturing and processing. If you want one with very little setup required, take a look at one of the Feed the Beast modpacks (I'd recommend the "Unleashed" version, it's the latest and most up to date).

Disclaimer: I run a FTB Unleashed server cluster, so I'm biased. But Computercraft is really amazing, even on its own.

...In Cholo everything is a waldo(manually piloted bot), but imagine porting this to Minecraft with scripted bots....AI for the bots could be stuff you start with, stuff you wrote, or code found in game in vaults. The bots would...::snip long list of stuff::

This actually sounds much like what Computercraft does with Turtles. Turtles can be run manually, or can be scripted with Lua to (depending on the type of turtle) mine ores, fight mobs, harvest crops, build structures, transfer liquids, and even wirelessly network with a "master computer".

I'd highly recommend that you look into some of the modpacks out there that combine mods like Computercraft with industrial type manufacturing and processing. If you want one with very little setup required, take a look at one of the Feed the Beast modpacks (I'd recommend the "Unleashed" version, it's the latest and most up to date).

Disclaimer: I run a FTB Unleashed server cluster, so I'm biased. But Computercraft is really amazing, even on its own.

Not sure how this is a groundbreaking achievement. ComputerCraft already provides a LUA interpreter and turtles, and has a lot more documentation. There's also RedPower's Control module, that gives you an emulated 6502-based 8 bit computer. A FORTH boot disk can be crafted in-game, or you can edit your save files to bring in either an BASIC boot disk or your own assembler code. (Previous /.coverage of the 6502 emulator blocks)

With minecraft try out the Computer Craft mod. Gives you programmable computers and 'turtle' robots.

Since the only mod I know of that uses LUA and has programming, it very likely _is_ the same mod. RedPower2. This is just the newest version with a bigger "computer"

Its not RedPower2.

http://computercraft.info/

He also runs a minecraft server on our VPS.