Custom NPC mod - granting student permission?

[Cloudy Edu]

Hi there

As I can't find anything about granting student permissions for this mod, I feel a little embarrassed in asking it.

Anyway, I have my students in a world where they are building in creative mode. As a teacher in the world, I am able to create custom NPCs using the wand. But the students cannot and simply get a message when they try: "You don't have permission to do this".

I have enabled everything I can think of on the server but to no avail. I have logged into the student computers as myself and I can create custom NPCs. So the mod it is definitely available on the computers.

Any ideas?

Cheers

[Robijn Vogel]

Dear mister Cloudy,

The first idea that comes to mind:
-You are the teacher, so this probably means that you are an OP on the server, meaning that you have full access to everything in the world, including all commands, placing command blocks and destroying/placing blocks under spawn protection.
-It does not matter where you log in to the server. If it is your teacher account, you are still an OP.
-In the CustomNPCs config file there is an option to only allow OPs or creative players to create custom NPCs. I think this is set to true.

NB: You very probably do not want your students to be an OP (though you can make them one)

How to fix this:
-Open the server/config/customnpcs.cfg file with notepad(++)
-Change this "true" value to "false"
-See if this has solved your problem.

Regards,
Mathew

Op woensdag 11 november 2015 04:45:31 UTC+1 schreef Cloudy Edu:

[Cloudy Edu]

That did the trick! Thank you very much, Mathew!

I wonder if this was set to true just for me or maybe other teachers just don't have their students creating NPCs.

On Monday, November 16, 2015 at 12:30:26 AM UTC+8, Robijn Vogel wrote:

-In the CustomNPCs config file there is an option to only allow OPs or creative players to create custom NPCs. I think this is set to true.

[Robijn Vogel]

Dear Mister Cloudy

Keep in mind that the CustomNPCs mod was/is made for the whole of modded Minecraft and not specifically for MinecraftEdu.
The main use of modded Minecraft is for survival worlds, in which you gradually explore the world, collect materials, go through tiered stages of development and build with the materials you collect and generate over time. Giving the main survival player access to magically create an unlimited number of "free" possibly beneficial NPCs out of thin air, would in this case be considered as "cheaty" and game-breaking.
This is why by default only the server OPs or creative players can create NPCs. They would mostly do so to bring a bit more depth to the experience of the server or world in a balanced way.

Oh and, yes, most other teachers create the NPCs to fit into the setting and then let their student communicate with those. You are the first teacher I have heard of that lets his students create NPCs. I actually wonder why.

NB. You should not underestimate what power over the world/server you give to the students by letting them create their own custom NPCs. Especially the scripting engine is really powerful and can be used to generate a virtually limitless number of NPCs in a very short time, which would (and probably isn't the only way it could) break your world/server.

Regards,
Mathew

[Sarai Gmail]

I actually do an unit where I have my students create custom NPCs. First we take about a week exploring the world of humanities specifically looking at architecture and how the NPCs interact with the players. Then my students research a world religion, write about it (English) pick a sacred to that religion site to recreate in MinecraftEdu (math), and then finally create an ingame quest to teach other players about the religion. The NPCs are part of that last piece. We have lots of conversations about size and quality because those are the two variables that crash the server. They only create NPCs for a specific purpose, not just for fun. The more advanced students really get into the minutia of programming advanced quests, the beginners have very basic uses. 

I have also had a class do a "book report" and recreate the important scenes from a book they were reading in English class, and they used NPCs as characters from the book to help narrate the action and explain the various scenes. 

Sarai

Sent from my iPad

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[Cloudy Edu]

Hi Mathew

Thanks for the explanation. Heh, I don't think I'm the first to let students create custom NPCs though (as Sarai indicates). I have a project where my students recreate a setting from their creative writing story they made in class. They were encouraged to include one or two characters from their story in their MinecraftEdu world. Giving them the ability to create custom NPCs allowed them to express their ideas further.

I also have another project where my students studied a particular aspect of ancient times. They have then presented their findings of their research in their own area of MinecraftEdu by building ancient structures, explaining their ideas with signs and books and also by adding in historical figures from the time via Custom NPCs.

Both have been very successful (and stressful!!) and driven by the students themselves. I haven't had a problem with server shut down but then again, they are constantky monitored and kept on task (I love the "spectator" mode!). However this is the first year I have used MC in class and have many ideas on what works and what needs improvement.

Cheers