4 ms·

Excuse the ignorance, but what is the big deal about DCPU-16?

by RDeckard 15y ago

jensnockert 15y ago
It is the basis of http://0x10c.com/ http://0x10c.com/, an upcoming game from Notch/Mojang of Minecraft fame.
- jsprinkles 15y ago
  I'm not sure that answers the specific question being asked here, which I read to be about HN, not the impetus.
  - stephengillie 15y ago
    For some people, it's "another CPU I can write a compiler for". For others, we love playing Minecraft and are excited for Notch's next game. Still other people are intrigued by the complex gameplay Notch has described and have confidence from the success of Minecraft. And others will find it evidence of the further sub-redditing of HN.
greggman 15y ago
Yes, I don't get it either. As far as I can tell it's just that people love Notch (he's pretty cool) so anything he does is automatically cool as well. It's not like there haven't been games with instruction sets before. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RobotWar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RobotWar
- Deestan 15y ago
  > It's not like there haven't been games with instruction sets before. So what if it's not conceptually new? Why would people not be excited about a very good-looking entry to a fantastic genre?
zoul 15y ago
A lot of us intially entered the computer field to do something like program our spaceships' guns and shields, so this rings an important string inside us. Also, the CPU is so simple that everything around it (the spec, various emulators, assemblers and compilers) is quite accessible even to people who have little experience with this low-level stuff. In short, if the DCPU-16 and related technology do not fit the "fun hacking" label, then I don't know what does.
Natsu 15y ago
It's a toy CPU that's perfect for learning. It's about to be part of Notch's new game (he created Minecraft). So it's a great combination of fun + educational. Honestly, I'm surprised no one has made one of these CPUs in Minecraft yet. I can guarantee that it's possible. In other words, this has a lot of people excited about a game that doesn't even exist yet. Oh, and given the popularity of Notch's games and the buzz for this one, I'm sure that a few people will manage to turn a tidy profit based on their fun. There are more than a few highly popular Minecraft websites, YouTube channels, etc. So there are a lot of things that appeal to hackers. It's a great toy system to play with, it's going to be an important part of an interesting game, etc. Note that some people have already learned about electronics by building redstone circuits in Minecraft. It abstracts away everything but the logic, so it's a fun way to play with logic gates and whatnot to build something interesting. For example, I have a giant circuit hooked to a redstone clock to periodically flood the spawning pads of the gigantic mob grinder that covers my base camp and increase the number of items I get. It's enormous, but not particularly exceptional by Minecraft standards. It does help me produce a lot of TNT, though. I put a record player in the item collection room to pass the time.
- i386 15y ago
  Post a video please :-)
  - Natsu 15y ago
    I'll do you one better and give you the whole world: http://www.mediafire.com/?6ywsyy18qhening http://www.mediafire.com/?6ywsyy18qhening Note that it's in the new format. I deleted the parts in the old format to make it smaller. The mob grinder is the huge thing in the sky. The items fall into a room in the upper level of the house.
    - i386 15y ago
      Awesome! Can't wait to give it a go :)
      - 15y ago
swalsh 15y ago
Right now it's a toy, but there's a whole new group of programmers who have never touched any kind of low level programming before. People are taking new world ideas, and applying them to what one might call old world problems. Look at this: http://dwilliamson.github.com/ http://dwilliamson.github.com/ its a real time asm editor... there's going to be a lot of really cool toys that come out of this, and potentially those toys might inspire someone to make something that's more than a toy.
kylemaxwell 15y ago
It's a reasonable question. When you combine the concept of a very simple CPU + instruction set (which reminds many of us of the systems we used when first learning to hack) with a system based on a much-loved and much-imitated older game, you have a recipe for success among a certain class of geek. I think it tickles some of the same interest points as Corewars[1], but a little less abstract and with a newly-galvanized and potentially larger community. [1]: http://corewars.org http://corewars.org

Excuse the ignorance, but what is the big deal about DCPU-16?

jensnockert 15y ago

It is the basis of http://0x10c.com/ http://0x10c.com/, an upcoming game from Notch/Mojang of Minecraft fame.

jsprinkles 15y ago
I'm not sure that answers the specific question being asked here, which I read to be about HN, not the impetus.
- stephengillie 15y ago
  For some people, it's "another CPU I can write a compiler for". For others, we love playing Minecraft and are excited for Notch's next game. Still other people are intrigued by the complex gameplay Notch has described and have confidence from the success of Minecraft. And others will find it evidence of the further sub-redditing of HN.

greggman 15y ago

Yes, I don't get it either. As far as I can tell it's just that people love Notch (he's pretty cool) so anything he does is automatically cool as well. It's not like there haven't been games with instruction sets before. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RobotWar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RobotWar

Deestan 15y ago
> It's not like there haven't been games with instruction sets before. So what if it's not conceptually new? Why would people not be excited about a very good-looking entry to a fantastic genre?

zoul 15y ago

A lot of us intially entered the computer field to do something like program our spaceships' guns and shields, so this rings an important string inside us. Also, the CPU is so simple that everything around it (the spec, various emulators, assemblers and compilers) is quite accessible even to people who have little experience with this low-level stuff. In short, if the DCPU-16 and related technology do not fit the "fun hacking" label, then I don't know what does.

Natsu 15y ago

It's a toy CPU that's perfect for learning. It's about to be part of Notch's new game (he created Minecraft). So it's a great combination of fun + educational. Honestly, I'm surprised no one has made one of these CPUs in Minecraft yet. I can guarantee that it's possible. In other words, this has a lot of people excited about a game that doesn't even exist yet. Oh, and given the popularity of Notch's games and the buzz for this one, I'm sure that a few people will manage to turn a tidy profit based on their fun. There are more than a few highly popular Minecraft websites, YouTube channels, etc. So there are a lot of things that appeal to hackers. It's a great toy system to play with, it's going to be an important part of an interesting game, etc. Note that some people have already learned about electronics by building redstone circuits in Minecraft. It abstracts away everything but the logic, so it's a fun way to play with logic gates and whatnot to build something interesting. For example, I have a giant circuit hooked to a redstone clock to periodically flood the spawning pads of the gigantic mob grinder that covers my base camp and increase the number of items I get. It's enormous, but not particularly exceptional by Minecraft standards. It does help me produce a lot of TNT, though. I put a record player in the item collection room to pass the time.

i386 15y ago
Post a video please :-)
- Natsu 15y ago
  I'll do you one better and give you the whole world: http://www.mediafire.com/?6ywsyy18qhening http://www.mediafire.com/?6ywsyy18qhening Note that it's in the new format. I deleted the parts in the old format to make it smaller. The mob grinder is the huge thing in the sky. The items fall into a room in the upper level of the house.
  - i386 15y ago
    Awesome! Can't wait to give it a go :)
    - 15y ago

swalsh 15y ago

Right now it's a toy, but there's a whole new group of programmers who have never touched any kind of low level programming before. People are taking new world ideas, and applying them to what one might call old world problems. Look at this: http://dwilliamson.github.com/ http://dwilliamson.github.com/ its a real time asm editor... there's going to be a lot of really cool toys that come out of this, and potentially those toys might inspire someone to make something that's more than a toy.

kylemaxwell 15y ago

It's a reasonable question. When you combine the concept of a very simple CPU + instruction set (which reminds many of us of the systems we used when first learning to hack) with a system based on a much-loved and much-imitated older game, you have a recipe for success among a certain class of geek. I think it tickles some of the same interest points as Corewars[1], but a little less abstract and with a newly-galvanized and potentially larger community. [1]: http://corewars.org http://corewars.org