6 ms·

Redstone Word Processor in Minecraft [video]

166 points by ivank 12y ago

alyandon 12y ago
These types of creations always make me feel embarrassed about the things I've built in Minecraft. Then again, I don't really have the free time outside of family and work to dedicated to building things on that scale.
barisser 12y ago
This is spectacular. Redstone circuitry is an excellent exercise in the operation of digital circuits. I learned a ton about digital logic by trying to recreate stuff like this (albeit much more modest incarnations). Building sophistication yourself out of base elements is the ultimate educational experience.
IvyMike 12y ago
"Your minecrafters were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should." P.S. Really, I'm just wowed beyond belief. This is amazing.
arjn 12y ago
Wow! ... very impressed. By the effort, ingenuity and by minecraft too.
jhgg 12y ago
Was something like this built by hand, or was the map programmatically generated by some kind of tool? Or a mix of both?
- guipsp 12y ago
  A mix. MCEdit was used to copy-paste segments around.
Kiro 12y ago
How does redstone work in Minecraft? Is this the kind of stuff you're "supposed" to use it for?
- jameshart 12y ago
  Redstone is basically a cellular automaton. Every 'tick', the state of redstone cells changes based on their previous state, and their neighbors. Some redstone cells just forward 'activeness'; others invert it, or delay it. Obviously by connecting these elements together you can create simple logic circuits. redstone is "supposed" to be used for simple things like traps, automatic doors, and machinery to move things around. Obviously by connecting simple logic circuits together, you can create complex logic circuits. Minecraft's block grid places interesting constraints on how redstone circuits can be constructed (areas need to be separated to prevent their state leaking, messages take time to travel long distances). Making a truly complex, sophisticated system which operates rapidly and correctly takes considerable logic and minecraft engineering. This, for example, is hugely impressive. Redstone was not built with this sort of thing in mind, but was made sophisticated enough that this is possible. I guess that's turing-completeness for you.
  - netcraft 12y ago
    A lot of people take advantage of other "emergent behavior" of the minecraft world to do interesting tricks as well - things like instant wire and Block Update Detectors (BUD switches) that update redstone when a block is placed or changes state.
  - jacquesm 12y ago
    > Obviously by connecting simple logic circuits together, you can create complex logic circuits. Minecraft's block grid places interesting constraints on how redstone circuits can be constructed (areas need to be separated to prevent their state leaking, messages take time to travel long distances). The exact same thing happens in the real world, hence isolation and things like the speed of light.
    - jameshart 12y ago
tlrobinson 12y ago
People use some sort of automation to do these kind of things, right? It reminds me of the Game of Life image generator I made awhile back: https://vimeo.com/3124876 https://vimeo.com/3124876 That was just a matter of writing a script to place a bunch of "guns" with the right patterns in the right places.
- iancarroll 12y ago
  Sometimes WorldEdit is used to duplicate strips (create the first one manually and copy twenty times). Almost certainly used for the screen.
  - Joona 12y ago
    Yep, that's as far as you can go. Obviously you can fly around the world and place things from any distance, but it's a bit of work still. Would love to see someone build a program that automates this, though!
- jccalhoun 12y ago
  Well in the description he says that it is the result of 2 years of work so I don't think that if there is any automation that it wasn't a significant amount.
  - mentat 12y ago
    Debugging the circuits and general design takes a lot of time. I doubt it's 2 years of placement.
- Rapzid 12y ago
  Sadly, no. Spending 2 years building something that you can do in a fraction of the time with a designer never quite sat right with me. To each their own though.
- rasz_pl 12y ago
  Probably not, most people threat it like gardening, crocheting, or knitting. Road is more important than the destination.
bduerst 12y ago
I'm wondering when someone will build a python interpreter and allow you to run simple scripts within minecraft.
aidos 12y ago
What about unicode support?! This is absolutely amazing. When people build things like this in minecraft (I've never played), do they have to place each individual block or are there scripts and things to let you repeat patterns etc?
- ferrari8608 12y ago
  There are many mods and tools available to assist with building large projects. However, there are many players that build things like this completely by hand. It's a pride thing I think.
Jupe 12y ago
Reminds me of this: http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/21/3032765/minecraft-emulated-6502-cpu-redpower-2 http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/21/3032765/minecraft-emulated...

166 points by ivank 12y ago

These types of creations always make me feel embarrassed about the things I've built in Minecraft. Then again, I don't really have the free time outside of family and work to dedicated to building things on that scale.

barisser 12y ago

This is spectacular. Redstone circuitry is an excellent exercise in the operation of digital circuits. I learned a ton about digital logic by trying to recreate stuff like this (albeit much more modest incarnations). Building sophistication yourself out of base elements is the ultimate educational experience.

IvyMike 12y ago

"Your minecrafters were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should." P.S. Really, I'm just wowed beyond belief. This is amazing.

arjn 12y ago

Wow! ... very impressed. By the effort, ingenuity and by minecraft too.

jhgg 12y ago

Was something like this built by hand, or was the map programmatically generated by some kind of tool? Or a mix of both?

guipsp 12y ago
A mix. MCEdit was used to copy-paste segments around.

Kiro 12y ago

How does redstone work in Minecraft? Is this the kind of stuff you're "supposed" to use it for?

jameshart 12y ago
Redstone is basically a cellular automaton. Every 'tick', the state of redstone cells changes based on their previous state, and their neighbors. Some redstone cells just forward 'activeness'; others invert it, or delay it. Obviously by connecting these elements together you can create simple logic circuits. redstone is "supposed" to be used for simple things like traps, automatic doors, and machinery to move things around. Obviously by connecting simple logic circuits together, you can create complex logic circuits. Minecraft's block grid places interesting constraints on how redstone circuits can be constructed (areas need to be separated to prevent their state leaking, messages take time to travel long distances). Making a truly complex, sophisticated system which operates rapidly and correctly takes considerable logic and minecraft engineering. This, for example, is hugely impressive. Redstone was not built with this sort of thing in mind, but was made sophisticated enough that this is possible. I guess that's turing-completeness for you.
- netcraft 12y ago
  A lot of people take advantage of other "emergent behavior" of the minecraft world to do interesting tricks as well - things like instant wire and Block Update Detectors (BUD switches) that update redstone when a block is placed or changes state.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  > Obviously by connecting simple logic circuits together, you can create complex logic circuits. Minecraft's block grid places interesting constraints on how redstone circuits can be constructed (areas need to be separated to prevent their state leaking, messages take time to travel long distances). The exact same thing happens in the real world, hence isolation and things like the speed of light.
  - jameshart 12y ago

tlrobinson 12y ago

People use some sort of automation to do these kind of things, right? It reminds me of the Game of Life image generator I made awhile back: https://vimeo.com/3124876 https://vimeo.com/3124876 That was just a matter of writing a script to place a bunch of "guns" with the right patterns in the right places.

iancarroll 12y ago
Sometimes WorldEdit is used to duplicate strips (create the first one manually and copy twenty times). Almost certainly used for the screen.
- Joona 12y ago
  Yep, that's as far as you can go. Obviously you can fly around the world and place things from any distance, but it's a bit of work still. Would love to see someone build a program that automates this, though!
jccalhoun 12y ago
Well in the description he says that it is the result of 2 years of work so I don't think that if there is any automation that it wasn't a significant amount.
- mentat 12y ago
  Debugging the circuits and general design takes a lot of time. I doubt it's 2 years of placement.
Rapzid 12y ago
Sadly, no. Spending 2 years building something that you can do in a fraction of the time with a designer never quite sat right with me. To each their own though.
rasz_pl 12y ago
Probably not, most people threat it like gardening, crocheting, or knitting. Road is more important than the destination.

bduerst 12y ago

I'm wondering when someone will build a python interpreter and allow you to run simple scripts within minecraft.

aidos 12y ago

What about unicode support?! This is absolutely amazing. When people build things like this in minecraft (I've never played), do they have to place each individual block or are there scripts and things to let you repeat patterns etc?

ferrari8608 12y ago
There are many mods and tools available to assist with building large projects. However, there are many players that build things like this completely by hand. It's a pride thing I think.

Jupe 12y ago

Reminds me of this: http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/21/3032765/minecraft-emulated-6502-cpu-redpower-2 http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/21/3032765/minecraft-emulated...