Well, I'm back, and I've completed my largest (by far) project to date. That's right, it's a computer made out of redstone. This thing is far too big to take screenshots of each component like I usually do, that would expand this post far too much. So, I'll just post a couple aerial shots of the whole thing and give you the rundown.
Legend:
Gold - Memory
Iron - Program instructions
Diamond - ALU
Lapis Lazuli - General data
It has an 8-bit ALU with two functions, addition and subtraction. I only added two since this is my first computer and I won't really be doing that much with it. It has 4 bytes (32 bits) of RAM, as well as 4 bytes of ROM. The ROM is located at the bottom of the first picture, in gold, with many levers attached to easily alter and keep track of the values held within. The RAM is in the middle of the two blue serial buses, also gold. You may be wondering what the other gold lines are, going across the various memory cells. These are muxers, controlling which byte of RAM or ROM is allowed onto the reading bus. The location is selected through use of a 2-bit decoder. There is also a writing muxer for the RAM, you can see a tiny portion of the decoder for it in the pictures, but the muxers themselves are underground. The reason why all of these things are gold is because they relate to the memory.
The lapis blocks at the front of the ALU in the second picture are registers. They control whether a piece of data is put into input A or B. Everything made of iron blocks relates to programming. There are 2 bytes (16 bits) of program memory, which is the large portion at the bottom. The slightly larger part on the right side of it is a program counter, which uses a decoder instead of a shift register made out of D flip flops. This would allow for conditional branching if I ever wanted to use it. Which I don't, but the option is there. This program counter runs on an 18-tick clock, which is pretty average for a computer this simple. It could probably go faster, but 18 is a safe speed, and I'm sure there's a more labor-intensive operation I forgot to test. Anyway, the program memory itself controls 18 different commands, 4 of them being "go-to" commands. These go-to commands are basically just 4-bit binary, telling the program counter what line to read next.
Also, there is only one expansion slot on the reading bus, but it's infinitely expandable, as is the program memory. With only one expansion currently, the UI (control room) is pretty barren, minus the 34 levers. The only other item in the UI room is a binary display, whose sole purpose in life is to monitor anything being read from the RAM. I may add another expansion and attach a decimal display. Probably not, but who knows!
Very cool. That must have been a huge effort. How is it behaving? Is the redstone cooperating? I've been holding out on the last update, but if you can get something that intricate to work reliably, I may just go ahead and let it happen.
I know i will never be smart enough to do that. Or have the patience. Sorry to sound like a dumb noob, but is tis like a replica of a what a computer would be like, or does it somehow pop out addition and subtraction. sorry, IK nothing about coding and such.
As a computer technician all I can say is HOLY CRAP! Nice job and a whole lot more patience than I have. Here I was impressed with my swimming pool, lol!
Very cool. That must have been a huge effort. How is it behaving? Is the redstone cooperating? I've been holding out on the last update, but if you can get something that intricate to work reliably, I may just go ahead and let it happen.
It... sort of works. I just finished building it last night, so I'm FAR from done testing this thing. I'm fairly certain I have fixed most, if not all, of my own errors I made when building it. (There were quite a few.) Right now I'm just trying to get a demo program in working order, a basic counter more or less. I've been going through the program line-by-line (out of 15 lines used for the specific program) and there is so much glitchy redstone it is ridiculous.
Nice, do you have a video demonstrating that it works?
Not yet, like I hinted at in the reply above, it may take a week or so to fix all of the redstone bugs. But, there will be a video eventually, I have a couple people willing to record.
You don't need it, you could just watch the buses. But, I do have a binary display, which shows anything being read from RAM 0, which is what I have been using to test. So yes, I do have a monitor.
I know i will never be smart enough to do that. Or have the patience. Sorry to sound like a dumb noob, but is tis like a replica of a what a computer would be like, or does it somehow pop out addition and subtraction. sorry, IK nothing about coding and such.
It's nothing like the computer you're probably using right now. To build a modern day computer in Minecraft is literally impossible, simple as that. But, basically all it does is add and subtract values, you can use these abilities in order to do interesting things though. For example, the counter I mentioned earlier in this post. Or, I could even attach a GPU or printer to an expansion slot and make pretty pictures. Or even a word processor to write messages, the possibilities are only limited by your creativity and the effort you're willing to put in.
Ah, I see. Thanks man for sharing this on the forums! Im really excited to see something as intricate and high-tech as a computer possible to make on this game. I can also completely understand what IBM needed half a house to make their first computers. lol
Ah, I see. Thanks man for sharing this on the forums! Im really excited to see something as intricate and high-tech as a computer possible to make on this game. I can also completely understand what IBM needed half a house to make their first computers. lol
This was no cakewalk, but it's pretty low-tech, even for a redstone computer. You should see the ones people make on the PC version! Just look up Redgame 3, or the computers built by TheWoodyMan, redstonewarrior, bennyscube, or TheRedstoneCrafter. They make me look like a chump. I'm mainly proud of building a computer by hand, without using World Edit or MCEdit, or some other form of copy/paste.
I'm new to Minecraft on the 360 and Minecraft in general. I bought it because I saw these sorts of examples of computer chips built in game and it intrigued me. I am curious though how you got the ground you built it on so flat without all the randomly generated mountains. Or did you flatten the whole area block by block? Is there a specific seed for a flat world? Also, great job. Your work is inspirational.
Can you post stats of how much stuff you used? Like redstone, repeaters, torches and so forth. Also I could record in 1080p
I don't have a clue, really, if I had to guess I would say:
~3,200 - 3,700 redstone
~500 - 600 repeaters
~700 - 800 torches
and only 8 pistons. I was going to use pistons for all of the muxxers, but I didn't plan ahead very well and had to use torches in most areas. What is your username on YouTube and your gamertag?
I'm new to Minecraft on the 360 and Minecraft in general. I bought it because I saw these sorts of examples of computer chips built in game and it intrigued me. I am curious though how you got the ground you built it on so flat without all the randomly generated mountains. Or did you flatten the whole area block by block? Is there a specific seed for a flat world? Also, great job. Your work is inspirational.
The entire area was flattened, and not by me. I won't go into any further detail.
Also, quick update, the demo program is working for the most part, which is all I really need to make a video. So, there should be one coming fairly soon.
I don't have a clue, really, if I had to guess I would say:
~3,200 - 3,700 redstone
~500 - 600 repeaters
~700 - 800 torches
and only 8 pistons. I was going to use pistons for all of the muxxers, but I didn't plan ahead very well and had to use torches in most areas. What is your username on YouTube and your gamertag?
My GT: Rushing Fox
Youtube: TheRushingFox I only have 13 subs and a couple thousand total video views so I understand if you don't choose me but, I could just send you the video via here or youtube.
Well I'd like to attempt this sort of project in the future, but the flattening bit would be quite time consuming. Could you point me in the right direction at least? my xbl gamertag is "qor." you could just pm me there with a hint if you don't mind. I'd really like to try this as I am about to embark on a foolhardy quest to get a computer engineering degree and I know absolutely squat about computers at this point.
Well I'd like to attempt this sort of project in the future, but the flattening bit would be quite time consuming. Could you point me in the right direction at least? my xbl gamertag is "qor." you could just pm me there with a hint if you don't mind. I'd really like to try this as I am about to embark on a foolhardy quest to get a computer engineering degree and I know absolutely squat about computers at this point.
I'll just send you the link in a pm here. If you have any troubles you can add me on live and I'll talk you through it.
A piece of advice though, before you even think about attempting to build a computer on Minecraft, you should learn about how they work in real life. This should help you get started. After that, figure out for yourself how to build the components out of redstone. Once you can do this, it's fine to go check the Wiki and YouTube to see if there may be a faster or more compact design, and use that.
I read information and played with redstone for a good 3 months before I even started this build. And I already had a history with very basic circuitry.
Thank you. That PDF is a great introduction. That's the sort of thing I've been looking for. I've read that redstone has some glitches in it. How does that affect your project where you have such a complex network of it?
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Retired StaffLegend:
Gold - Memory
Iron - Program instructions
Diamond - ALU
Lapis Lazuli - General data
It has an 8-bit ALU with two functions, addition and subtraction. I only added two since this is my first computer and I won't really be doing that much with it. It has 4 bytes (32 bits) of RAM, as well as 4 bytes of ROM. The ROM is located at the bottom of the first picture, in gold, with many levers attached to easily alter and keep track of the values held within. The RAM is in the middle of the two blue serial buses, also gold. You may be wondering what the other gold lines are, going across the various memory cells. These are muxers, controlling which byte of RAM or ROM is allowed onto the reading bus. The location is selected through use of a 2-bit decoder. There is also a writing muxer for the RAM, you can see a tiny portion of the decoder for it in the pictures, but the muxers themselves are underground. The reason why all of these things are gold is because they relate to the memory.
The lapis blocks at the front of the ALU in the second picture are registers. They control whether a piece of data is put into input A or B. Everything made of iron blocks relates to programming. There are 2 bytes (16 bits) of program memory, which is the large portion at the bottom. The slightly larger part on the right side of it is a program counter, which uses a decoder instead of a shift register made out of D flip flops. This would allow for conditional branching if I ever wanted to use it. Which I don't, but the option is there. This program counter runs on an 18-tick clock, which is pretty average for a computer this simple. It could probably go faster, but 18 is a safe speed, and I'm sure there's a more labor-intensive operation I forgot to test. Anyway, the program memory itself controls 18 different commands, 4 of them being "go-to" commands. These go-to commands are basically just 4-bit binary, telling the program counter what line to read next.
Also, there is only one expansion slot on the reading bus, but it's infinitely expandable, as is the program memory. With only one expansion currently, the UI (control room) is pretty barren, minus the 34 levers. The only other item in the UI room is a binary display, whose sole purpose in life is to monitor anything being read from the RAM. I may add another expansion and attach a decimal display. Probably not, but who knows!
I would say it looks ****ing awesome, but I don't really know much about computers, nor do I know what this things even capable of doing.
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Retired StaffIt... sort of works. I just finished building it last night, so I'm FAR from done testing this thing. I'm fairly certain I have fixed most, if not all, of my own errors I made when building it. (There were quite a few.) Right now I'm just trying to get a demo program in working order, a basic counter more or less. I've been going through the program line-by-line (out of 15 lines used for the specific program) and there is so much glitchy redstone it is ridiculous.
Not yet, like I hinted at in the reply above, it may take a week or so to fix all of the redstone bugs. But, there will be a video eventually, I have a couple people willing to record.
You don't need it, you could just watch the buses. But, I do have a binary display, which shows anything being read from RAM 0, which is what I have been using to test. So yes, I do have a monitor.
It's nothing like the computer you're probably using right now. To build a modern day computer in Minecraft is literally impossible, simple as that. But, basically all it does is add and subtract values, you can use these abilities in order to do interesting things though. For example, the counter I mentioned earlier in this post. Or, I could even attach a GPU or printer to an expansion slot and make pretty pictures. Or even a word processor to write messages, the possibilities are only limited by your creativity and the effort you're willing to put in.
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Retired StaffThis was no cakewalk, but it's pretty low-tech, even for a redstone computer. You should see the ones people make on the PC version! Just look up Redgame 3, or the computers built by TheWoodyMan, redstonewarrior, bennyscube, or TheRedstoneCrafter. They make me look like a chump.
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Retired StaffI don't have a clue, really, if I had to guess I would say:
~3,200 - 3,700 redstone
~500 - 600 repeaters
~700 - 800 torches
and only 8 pistons.
The entire area was flattened, and not by me. I won't go into any further detail.
Also, quick update, the demo program is working for the most part, which is all I really need to make a video. So, there should be one coming fairly soon.
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Retired StaffI fixed that, anyways I'll be good to record tomorrow from 3:00PM CST to around 7:00PM CST
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Retired StaffI'll just send you the link in a pm here. If you have any troubles you can add me on live and I'll talk you through it.
A piece of advice though, before you even think about attempting to build a computer on Minecraft, you should learn about how they work in real life. This should help you get started. After that, figure out for yourself how to build the components out of redstone. Once you can do this, it's fine to go check the Wiki and YouTube to see if there may be a faster or more compact design, and use that.
I read information and played with redstone for a good 3 months before I even started this build. And I already had a history with very basic circuitry.