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This is a very nice enchantment:

Previously, we took interest in this hill across from the Starlight Treehouse:

Today is the day that we capitalize on that interest and achieve stage two of the Tetraquin Project. What is that stage, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you that it involves the villagers we successfully created with the purifier.

See, sustainability means something to me. Without sustainable resources, that means I will suck the world dry of that which is limited, leaving nothing behind for the generations to come. The villagers who raided Starlight HQ back in Session 200 taught me one thing, and that one thing was that I need to inspire more sustainable means of construction.

As such, I created the Tetraquin Project. So now you know how that came about.

A platform, yes, but what does the platform mean? What is it for? You probably already know by this point. But I’ve just run out of quartz, which means I need to embark on another quartz quest.

Oh, Zephyrus, you beautiful hunchback of Notre Dame.

Open wide!

Ah, so with this quartz, we’ll not only complete the platform, but we’ll also make a second platform.

In an effort to preserve Quintropolis’s resources, I have taken it upon myself to make good on the villagers by establishing the first of several resource farms that will inhabit Starlight HQ’s outback faction – the iron farm. Call it stubborn that I’ve purposefully put off building one of these. Maybe I just like caving.

This farm will not necessarily negate the need for finding iron underground, but it will significantly decrease the value of that. After all, the purpose of the Tetraquin Project, as was outlined in Session 200, is to propagate a network of systems necessary towards constructing the world’s first city. This network started with the villager purifier, stage one, and builds now towards the iron farm, stage two. As you might imagine, this iron farm becomes necessary to move up to stage three (which is yet unrevealed).

Above, you can see two pods that will hold the villagers we created. A nice view, these pods must remain open to the sky, so that the doors will count as houses.

In order for iron golems to spawn on the platform (or above them), we’ll need at least ten villagers.

Four and a half blocks higher, we begin the second platform. This may not necessarily double the spawning rate, but it will provide double the potential spawning spaces (increasing the rate of spawn).

And there the second platform sits, just asking to be struck by lightning.

I provide a closer look at the villager pods, but now we need to get our two villagers up there somehow. I think of only one way to do so.

Thanks to the multi-purpose mob farm, I now have a new music disc. It will be donated to Starlight Treehouse.

Herein lies the drop for the iron golems. The location of this farm is, as you can see, quite purposeful. They can fall through the hill, where the iron will be collected at the hill’s base (which will be accessible from the ground).

Okay buster, time to get going then!

One down, one to go.

A white robe, I see… I wonder what your children will look like.

Love at first sight… because it is their first sight.

Above is a view from inside. You’ll notice that, in accordance with my new approach towards sustainability, I’ve neglected to use quartz anywhere it isn’t visible. Quartz is not renewable, which makes it a pain in the ass to use (but it looks so good!).

Give us Lord our daily bread… and we will mate for life.

It will take some time to populate the iron village. And through that time, I will need to transport villagers to the other three holding pods (one on each side). The reason for this is because the center of the village must be defined. As it currently stands, this pod is the center. By filling the other three pods, we’ll move the village center to the farm’s center.

As we wait to populate the village/farm, there are some other tasks we must accomplish in order to complete it. These concern the Power Museum.

Now you see it.

Now you don’t.

Cleaning it up a bit. The twin towers needed to go, and I think they looked ugly.

Now that I have four villagers, I can move two of them to the next pod and continue village growth.

This process only continues until all four pods are populated. Then we can remove the tracks.

I didn’t expect an overpopulation problem so early! Behold, then, shall we see our first iron man?

Aha! How ‘bout that, Zephyrus?

What you’re looking at above is the chamber where I will kill them, located at the base of the mountain. Let us complete this segment.

A little close for comfort, are we? The rates on this farm are absolutely incredible considering how short a time it has been active at this point. Thank you, vegetative villagers, for your service in making Starlight HQ a more sustainable habitat for all creatures. Is there irony in that statement?

Kill chamber is easy. I’ll use signs to hold lava up three blocks high. This will burn all golems to death, and their drops shall collect in the hoppers below.

Now, I can check up on the golems whenever I like by popping in here at the base of the mountain. But you might be asking about how I’ll get to the storage. Well, that’s where the next part of this session comes into play…

Do you know where the above gaping hole is located? It’s in the horse stables we just created! The reason I chose to build them under the hill was because we needed a way to connect Starlight Outback with the Power Museum… from underground. Otherwise, the only way to get here from there is by going outside, which means the potential for danger exists (because the outback is currently still a relatively hostile environment at night). Having an underground connection point to the Power Museum will also aid in communication between the two factions. Until now, there has been no such connection.

Take a look above at where we are – above the Farmlands. I am standing on the balcony where the twin towers of the Power Museum used to stand. The storage unit for the new iron farm and the Power Museum powerhouse floor will mark the two ends of a new underground unit, the development of which will continue indefinitely.

Protruding out from the staircase that connects the Power Museum’s powerhouse floor and the Starlight Resources Facility, I initiate the first end of this underground unit.

Some llamas travel with me to Rogusta, where I must collect dozens of stacks of diorite to build the underground tunnel.

And bad luck happens to choose today to greet me.

I did save Red here in just the nick of time. How ‘bout that, Zephyrus?

Can you yet visualize how this new floor will look? Notice that it just wedges from the staircase; there isn’t a typical entrance like you would think there should be.

To get onto this floor, I’ll just exit the staircase – simple as that. The floor itself runs tangent to the staircase entrance to the SRF, and it is located just underneath the powerhouse floor of the Power Museum.

My building block of choice for the floor of this floor is a new one for Quintropolis: concrete.

Above, the iron farm storage unit rests on the left while the entrance I dug earlier from the horse stables exists on the right. It is this tunnel that will stretch underneath the Farmlands and connect to the Power Museum tangent floor.

Notice how I work on both sides almost concurrently. This will make them easier to link up as I develop a foundational space for both.

Using concrete to make floors is quite easy. It’s making walls and ceilings that I foresee being quite a time-consuming task.

Behold, the water slide of the wanderer, down into the Starlight Resources Facility.

Above is the completed first part of the Power Museum’s new tangent floor. I use concrete for the floor, diorite for the walls, and black clay for the ceiling, to give the floor a more industrial, robust sort of look, which is appropriate since the floor is designed as an underground tunnel.

And it is from this point that the tunnel begins.

Notice how I broke into the potion storage chamber. That’s quite alright; this storage unit is terrible and needs to be completely abolished. I will come back to that later, though, and probably use this as a room on the tangent floor.

The tunnel off to the right does not go towards the iron farm. “Tangent” is actually a fitting name for this floor, because I intend to utilize its development potential by constructing a number of additional tunnels that will perform other functions. Indeed, it is through this floor that underground development of Starlight HQ will continue.

Ahead, there to the right – that’s the iron farm storage chamber. Directly above us rests the Farmlands.

Now for the decorating.

Because poppies drop considerably less than iron from the golems, I choose to sort them out while just allowing the iron to travel through the system.

The end result requires only one sorter – iron goes off to the right while poppies are pulled to the left side.

Above, is our completed iron storage unit. It may expand over time, but for now this is perfect for what we need.

With this, and the construction of a brand new underground system, development potential ripens as we complete the second stage of the Tetraquin Project! This is a big feat, because it means that, with the production of iron now automated, stage three will come to fruition in a reasonable time frame.

Though the tangent floor was built to connect the Power Museum to the outback, this was actually just a disguise. Its true purpose is to become the birthplace for Starlight HQ.

Consider the following schematic:

Let’s replace these labels. How about we make “Input A” the iron farm. And let’s make “Input B” the multi-purpose mob farm. And we’ll make the Night Lights system our output. Now let us configure this setup so that, in order for the Night Lights to become active, only the iron farm must collect drops. In other words, every time a golem dies, and drops are collected, we will know because the display will light up. Likewise, we can also reconfigure this setup so that every time a mob dies, and drops are detected in the hoppers, the display will light up. Even better, we’ll make it so that each light represents a different drop; then, we’ll know exactly when we get gunpowder, or flesh, or bones, etc.

We could very simply install such a system to work for a defined set of parameters as I’ve discussed above. But that is not our goal with the system. No, we want a system that allows us to customize such links with anything in Starlight HQ. So maybe we want to change the system so that the output is the fireworks display, but only for a few seconds. Or we want to add the archery alley as an input. Or we want to turn on some lights from the other side of the base as a result of completing “Chambers,” because we want some chain reaction to occur.

The only way to conceptualize such a system is to think about each component of a survival base as a module inside a larger modular system. Each “module” can communicate with the system as a whole, which can then process that data and output it to another module. But via a control unit, we can define the data to behave however we so choose.

Friends, only one type of machine can accomplish this.

It has been almost four years now since I first thought about what this type of approach could mean for a survival base. In fact, three years ago, when I started this journal, I posted this photo as part of releasing Session 175:

Most of you forgot about that, I reckon. But I didn’t. And it only took three years to lay the foundations for a prospective modular system that would transform how you (and I) think about Starlight HQ and survival in general. Today is going to be a very different kind of session, because after so many years of putting these ideas together, I am now prepared to spill the beans most explicitly about what is really happening behind the scenes.

Redstone allows us to compute data via a binary system. That is to say that just as binary uses only two digits (0 and 1), redstone has only two states (off and on). So, this means that we can essentially perform basic calculations and assign information using binary, that maybe we can store and fetch later. Although I didn’t want this session to be a lesson on binary and logic, I want to give everyone (redstone-savvy or not) the opportunity to understand and appreciate what we are doing. So, I’ve concocted a visual explanation of how binary counting works that I think is quite easy to understand.

The big difference between binary and decimal systems is that while we are used to counting with base 10 (that is, tens place, hundreds place, and so on), binary counts with base 2 because there are only two digits that can occupy a single place value (0 and 1). Consider the following diagram:

Each place value represents a power of two. Fundamentally, binary addition is not so different from decimal addition. To count 1, we simply place a 1 in the 1’s place pictured above.

But if we want to add 1 to make 2, well, we have to represent the number ‘2’ in terms of 0 and 1. So we add 1 to the 1’s place, carrying it over to the 2s place, like so:

2 is represented as 10.

To make 3, we just add 1 to the 1s place:

3 is represented as 11.

For 4, we have to carry over again, and so we now occupy the 4s place to make 100:

5 is 101, that is 4+1.

6 is 110, that is 4+2.

7 is 111, or 4+2+1.

And for 8, we have a new place for that to make 1000:

Not too bad, is it? Quite intuitive actually, because the logic behind it is fundamentally the same as the decimal system. But in order to effectively use binary to create a complex system like we want, we have to start thinking with binary.

In the context of Starlight HQ, it means that we can create a set of instructions in the form of binary numbers that are assigned to a specific operation we want to achieve (such as the I/O example we started with involving the Night Lights), process it, store it, and then make a new one. Then, we can select between those instructions, giving us an exponential number of possible ways in which we can decide how Starlight HQ can function. The only limitations, therefore, would have to consider how much of Starlight HQ is attached to the modular system, and how much of it remains independent.

That brings us to the principal issue with the proposed system. For the first two or three years of the base’s life, I had never thought about it as more than just a survival base. As such, there was no reason for me to build it in a premeditated manner – I just built it. But now that I want to take existing parts of the base and transform them into modules, I will be forced to rethink and possibly recreate many of the base’s features. Our multi-purpose mob farm in the Power Museum is one huge example of a feature wherein attaching it to the proposed modular system would be damn near impossible due to space constraints.

Word size is another concern. In a 1-bit system, well, we could only process 2¹ or two numbers. In a 2-bit system, we could process 2² or 4 numbers. And in a 4-bit system, we could process 2⁴ or 16 numbers (which would actually be represented as 15 plus a carry, because the 16^th number requires a fifth bit to display and therefore would be considered overflow). Although ideally, we would want Starlight HQ to run on an 8-bit system that could process up to 255 numbers, the issue comes down to two things: size and space. Resources are not the issue; space is. Not to mention that an incredible new source of lag would spawn with an 8-bit system.

You may be wondering: what the hell? If you are not familiar with computing, this may all seem like technical jargon. And it is. Thankfully, we can visualize everything we want to accomplish. The first piece of this puzzle is the Arithmetical Logic Unit (ALU), which takes an input, selects a specific logic function, performs it, and then sends that information to a register. So, let me show you what a 1-bit ALU looks like in Minecraft:

So, you have two inputs (A and and a selection of logic gates that control how the inputs and outputs behave (or, in computing terms, how the inputs are processed). Now, these inputs do not necessarily, in our case, denote two separate sources (i.e. iron farm or mob farm). Rather, they allow us to control how that a single input determines the output (in other words, a 4-bit ALU might have 16 inputs, but these are actually just outputs from a set of dual-read registers that allow logic to be possible. In the end, there are only four inputs and four outputs, but sixteen possible combinations).

If you are wondering how this has anything to do with Starlight HQ, then that’s good. It means that I’ve gone off on such a tangent that you’ve engaged meaningfully with the text and ergo have forgotten how this discussion on binary logic relates to where we are in the world. My response is simply: redstone allows you to do cool things, but when you understand binary logic, it also allows you to do extraordinary things. Building an ALU underneath Starlight HQ will not connect the base together as I’ve previously noted was the goal. It instead is the first piece of creating a system that turns all of that information into 1s and 0s for us to process and save.

The first thing we have to do when we begin to craft an ALU is to build a redstone mechanism called an “adder,” which will perform binary addition. We do this by creating a combination of XOR and AND gates. If you don’t know what those are, not to worry. Basically, a XOR gate says that between two inputs, only one can be active for there to be an output. An AND gate, like it sounds, requires both inputs to be active.

Above is a great demonstration of binary addition in practice. Think about the diagram I showed you earlier. Now, treat each “bit” adder as a place value. In this photo, I’ve constructed a 2-bit adder. If I turn the two right-most levers on, then I’ll perform the action 1+1. If I turn the two left-most levers on, I’ll perform 2+2.

Above, I have only the right-most lever chosen. That’s 1. The glowstone lamps here perform the same function as the redstone blocks earlier. ON = 1, OFF = 0.

When I perform 1+1, we get 2, because recall that 2 in binary is represented as 10, which is what the glowstone lamps display. That redstone line in the middle, running horizontally into a third redstone lamp, is the carry line that (much like regular addition) takes the number we have to carry and moves it over to the next place (or adder). Here, the carry input is active because both inputs from the first bit are active (AND gate), which disables the output for that adder (XOR gate) and sends it to the next adder.

Above, I’ve done 1+2, which equals 3. In binary, that’s 01 + 10 = 11.

Because this is a 2-bit adder, anything above 3 results in a carry. So, think of the carry here as the third-place value – the 4s place, because above we have 2+1+1 which equals 4.

Okay, so now I’ve doubled the size and made a 4-bit adder. It functions the exact same, but now you see how space will be a concern. This is just an adder; we haven’t even considered the rest of the architecture which will also have to be 4-bit (or 8-bit if that’s the route we choose to go). But right now, this is just a demonstration. Our 4-bit adder can display up to 15 plus a carry output.

Above, I’ve performed 2+1+1 which equals 4.

Alright, time to see if you know binary addition! I’ll show you some calculations I’ve done. Can you guess what they are? I’ll provide the answers underneath each photo.

That’s 8.

4+4+2=10.

4.

2+1=3.

4+2+2+1=9.

Congratulations! You now understand binary. Let’s return to HQ.

…and by HQ, I mean underneath HQ.

Using stacks on stacks of TNT, I have blown out a massive underground cavern next to the Power Museum’s tangent floor, which you’ll recall we dug out in the last session. Now you know why.

I had to very keenly choose the location for this system, because as you may know, Starlight HQ is already very densely packed especially in the Starlight Faction (the heart of the base). The space I chose, therefore, is located just next to the tree farm.

Literally, we’re right on the other side of it.

My fear with blowing everything up was that I would accidentally destroy something important, like Landing Pad (the closest build). Thankfully, pictured above, I found Landing Pad without actually destroying anything. So now I know where it is.

They fight each other so that I don’t have to.

The gaping hole continues to expand downward. You may not yet realize how much space we need. But you will.

Pictured above is what will be the birthplace of Starlight HQ.

^ And that’s the stairwell that descends into it.

Finally, I’ll end this session by starting four tangent lines that serve to describe the first four components of HQ that will integrate with the new modular system. You are currently familiar with three of them.

This all looks like a big mess now, and certainly some of it comes as a surprise, but know that every move I have made since Season 3 started was calculated. What does all of this mean for Starlight HQ?

It means that we’ve started the process of turning the entire base into a computer.

Real-world CPU architecture is quite fascinating. It’s also not at all different from how we would create one in Minecraft. Take a look:

So, yeah, a lot of elements, and the ALU is just one part, and the CPU is just one part of the computer. And the adder is just one part of the ALU. But let’s breathe; I never planned to build this thing across a session or two. It will most definitely be an incremental process of construction.

Now that you understand how binary counting works, let’s elevate this understanding to the ALU. In order to turn an adder into such a processing device, we need to add logic gates and functions.

We’ll start by creating an array of one-wide XOR gates on each redstone wire, which we will use to invert the signals.

I have here two lines above each set – Invert A inverts all A inputs, while Invert B inverts all B inputs.

Next, we need a flood carry line which will activate all the carry lines. If you don’t know why, then think about it in terms of logic gates. A carry line represents an input to the subsequent half-adder. If we activate all carry lines, then we activate one of two inputs to every adder. Such is how we can toggle between logic gates.

Let’s think about the inputs. Where do they come from? How do they process data? Well, everything that happens inside a CPU is done via a read/write system, which we are all somewhat familiar with. First you write some data, say ‘5,’ and then you can choose when to read that data. This data is stored in registers. We will use registers to transfer data across all parts of the modular system.

The first and most important register is the accumulator, which will assemble the data based on whatever I/O devices are hooked up to the CPU. In the context of Starlight HQ, these would come from the tangent lines we initiated last session.

We will be starting with four primary mechanisms to serve as inputs: (1) the iron farm, (2) multi-purpose mob farm, (3) Starlight Arcade, and (4) a subway system to be built called STAS (Starlight Transit Authority System).

We will then install two principal outputs: (1) the to-be-completed Night Lights system, and (2) the Starlight HQ lockdown mechanism.

These six machines will be our focus of the day, because before we can begin creating a CPU, we must know exactly how these machines will communicate with one another. My goal with the modular system is to nurture the ability to compose and save customizable links between one input and one output. In other words, I imagine a system that will let me link the Starlight Arcade to the lockdown, so that the castle will go on lockdown whenever I am immersed in Starlight Arcade. Or, I’ll create a link between the iron farm and Night Lights, so that the iron farm will toggle the lights whenever drops are received.

The possibilities for how Starlight HQ is used will dramatically increase and continue to do so as we add more inputs and outputs throughout the system’s development. But I’m not just telling you this in wishful thinking. This universal system starts today.

The modular interface will consist of a grid that features eight inputs and four outputs. Above, I have crafted a model of the design in my testing world.

Each button acts as a lever, connected to a one-wide flip-flop. These buttons represent the individual machines which we are linking.

Since there are two layers, I must keenly separate the two levels of pistons so that the layers don’t react with each other. I switch to redstone blocks instead of torches after seeing them to be more convenient.

In order to create a proper system, I need a locking mechanism that will prevent any links from being created. On the top layer, I’ll stow a row of pistons that will block the flip flop. The bottom layer is a little trickier, but I can just keep the row of pistons acting as pulse generators active.

Let’s take it all back to HQ.

Back inside Starlight HQ, we’ll have to build this machine directly above all the chunks we blew out last session.

How it works: The glowstone lamp indicates that the machine is locked, and so no changes can be made. To start the linking process, first press the button (which acts as a lever) to unlock the inputs. Select one of eight possible inputs, at which point they will lock, and the outputs will be unlocked. You will then select one of four outputs to which you want to link your selected input. Once done, the system will automatically lock, and the link will be saved.

Practical example: I want the multi-purpose mob farm (input) to automatically activate the Night Lights (output) every time a piece of gunpowder is received. If the mob farm is Input 1, and the Night Lights is Output A, then all I must do is select 1-A. The AND gate receives one input from the link editor, and a second input from the mob farm itself. When both are active, at that point is an output created. But, the output will only go to Output A, and not the other three. However, let's say I want to change this later, and instead link the mob farm to something else (say, a glowstone lamp in Starlight Castle, linked to Output B). To reset, I'll just select 1-A again. Then, I'll create a new link: 1-B.

The process, in theory, is quite simplistic. But the redstone is admittedly a headache because there is going to be a lot of memory involved. This is all done via registers that I showed you earlier. The design will be slightly different, but the concepts are the same. When we create links, we write the data. When we activate the links throughout HQ, we read the data.

The redstone wizardry required in building the closed circuit that starts/ends the linking process is quite interesting, because I heavily utilize observers to create pulses since we are dealing with very tight spaces.

Observers are indeed the only option, because we are not looking to toggle redstone on/off. We just need a pulse to be sent that tells the machine, “Oh, look, an input was received! Time to lock them and unlock the outputs.” And similarly, when an output is detected, observers will tell the machine, via a pulse, “Guess that’s that,” and then lock it up.

The above-pictured mechanism is what will “hold” the pulse that is sent from the observers on the input side. The pulse is held by a locked repeater, which only unlocks for just enough time so that the pulse can get through. This is possible by creating a specific delay between the two sides, as you can see above.

Voila, you select one input, and it locks.

But, simultaneously, this mechanism also needs to unlock the outputs so that you can select one.

We install two sources to the outputs here (red clay) – one coming from this torch, and one coming directly from the on/off switch (glowstone lamp). Both must be unlocked. The reason we need two sources is because, as you can see above, when the inputs are locked, the outputs are unlocked (inverted torch). When you select an output, though, they also have to lock, which they can only do if a secondary source gives them power. At this point will the glowstone lamp turn back on, indicating the link has been created.

The top layer isn’t much different, but the wiring is a little more cumbersome.

The inverted signals between the I/O is easy, and we just bring up that second power source via a slab ladder.

Everything on the top layer is connected between the repeaters down below, so that everything that affects the bottom layer also affects the top, and vice versa.

The only way to get a signal down to the same redstone wire that sends a pulse to lock/unlock stuff is via observers.

A chain of observers sends pulses down to the ground.

We must install failsafe repeater locks to prevent pulses from being sent while the machine is locked. This could cause strange behaviors.

It’s done. A process has been started!

But now, we have to actually breathe some life into the links. This first means separating those eight input lines into, well, sixteen.

Above, you notice eight AND gates. As explained earlier, the input you select “activates” the source you want to send input into the modular system.

Now, the real question is: how do we use the same redstone wiring to make independent links? As in, I want 1-B to be separate from, say, 5-A, or 4-C, or 2-A, or 8-D, etc. We need a decent memory pool that holds all this information.

The link editor here will use registers to hold inputs and determine the output.

All inputs are connected to a single line that flows into the output chain, but they are also separated via a trick using comparators.

The signal strength from these torches to the comparators is 3. So, all we must do to disable the comparator output is have a side signal strength of 4.

This way, when the torch is disabled (which will happen when that link is selected), the comparator output is disabled.

See?

We’ll use this mechanic to diverge all eight lines, which will then converge once more in the output chain.

However, before we can start creating and saving links, we need a memory system. And that will need to be saved for another day.

Hmm, I guess we can install some piston doors throughout the tangent floor. How do we think of this glass?

What we must consider is that, the tangent lines we created in the last session are those secondary inputs to the AND gates which will need to extent throughout HQ to their respective sources. So, we must create a wire from the iron farm down to this link editor, and a wire from the mob farm, and the Night Lights, and so on. Performing this process will transform these individual builds into “modules,” which will send communications to other modules via the link editor we have built here. Such architecture is the principal guiding mechanic to how the base’s communications will be setup from this point forward.