The Simulator is a LearnToMod tool that will test your mod right in the browser window.
How to Use Vox-L?
The simulator we now use on LearnToMod is the Vox-L engine! It should load automatically without any need for plugins. After the Vox-L world loads, double click the screen. A popup may ask permission to take control of your screen - say yes. Move around using the arrow keys or wasd. The hotbar at the bottom of the screen is for inventory-related badges only. Press the purple play button or press esc to pause it - pausing will make your Blockly code reappear. Pressing the blue square button will load the badge mod into your mod chest, so you can test it in Minecraft. When you're ready to run the mod in Vox-L, press m and click.
The yellow js button is for when you want to see what the badge mod looks like in pure Javascript. Pressing it again will return the code to Blockly. The blue button with the green dot shows your connection status.
On scramble and missing badges, click the buttons on the badge instructions (on the right side of the screen) in order to load the mystery mod into the simulator or your mod chest. Then, replicate what the mystery mod does with Blockly code blocks.
Note: the only thing the Vox-L engine will do is run mods; you can't type commands into it, set the time of day, fly, etc. BUT if you win enough diamonds by completing Quests, you can buy a multiplayer room from the Artifacts shop! This will allow you to let 4 other players visit your Vox-L world, so you can play games together! You can also buy pets and fun objects to put in your Vox-L world.
If the Vox-L engine fails to load or other problems occur: try these tips.
The Simulator is still in development and there are certain blocks it can't render yet. It can render most of the blocks that are featured in in the Skills and Drills badges. It can't render some of the advanced level badges such as Star Wars; if a block isn't featured in a badge lesson it may not work in the Simulator, even if that block appears under the Blockly menu. So the particle heart block won't work, but the obisidan material block will! If this becomes a problem, try running your mod in Minecraft.
Currently, Vox-L is the default simulator for the "Skills and Drills: Vox-L" badges only. We recommend testing advanced level badges in Minecraft, but it's possible to run any mod in mod.learntomod.com/programs in the Vox-L simulator -- just add '&new_simulator=true to the end of the url. Note: many advanced level badges won't work in Vox-L, as some blocks are too advanced for it to handle yet.
Why Is The Simulator So Important?
Many of the scramble and missing badges have alternative answers -- ie right answers that aren't the answer the badge expects. This way, the software can detect if your code is right even if it's not the answer the badge expects. This can save you a lot of frustration with some of the badges.
The Skip Simulator Option:
On badges that don't use the Vox-L engine, you can choose to 'skip' the simulator testing (a yellow button found at the bottom the of the instructions) then test the mod in Minecraft. We don't recommend using the old simulator.