16-year-old Makes Working Scientific Calculator in Minecraft

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Minecraft-Calculator-Graphing-MaxSGB-Scientific,15109.html

by onemoreact • 14 years ago

266 76 14 years ago

exch• 14 years ago

Having tried my hand at building computing systems in Minecraft myself, I must say this is very impressive work.

tmh88j• 14 years ago

I think this would be one of the few cases to list video games on a college/job application. I'll be honest that I didn't watch all 10 minutes, but it seems like he's using some complex methods, especially for a 16 year old. Props to him, one hell of a hacker!

bryanh• 14 years ago

Could Minecraft be that little thing that teaches kids about logic? Maybe Jeb and co. should consider adding even simpler logic based building blocks, more akin to Lego's Mindstorm as an alternative to relays and switches.

I find it fascinating to think in 10-20 years many will be looking back fondly on how they learned to hack with an unassuming little game: Minecraft.

cookiecaper3• 14 years ago

There is an unbelievable amount of potential in Minecraft that is completely untapped. It's really an amazing environment and I'm surprised it hasn't spawned "sandbox games" as a completely separate and significant genre, especially since a big reason Minecraft remains "untapped" is Notch's reticence to open the platform up and push the game forward.

withad• 14 years ago

It is steadily becoming a lot more open - Jeb's the lead developer now and a big focus has been put on adding mod support. They've hired the guys behind Bukkit (a popular third-party mod manager for servers) to help with that, I believe.

Clones have also started to appear but it's still small indie companies making them, meaning it'll take time before many are at the same level as Minecraft.

However, the bigger companies do seem to be paying attention (an EA bigwig spoke about Minecraft in a Gamasutra piece the other day [1], though he was saying fairly obvious things), so it'll be interesting to see what the genre's like in 5-10 years' time.

[1] http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/167137/Minecrafts_future_...

elisee• 14 years ago

Just thought I'd mention CraftStudio (http://craftstud.io/), the multiplayer game-making platform I'm working on. You could say it's a Minecraft-style engine but you get to make your own models, paint your own map blocks and (soon) write your own game rules (so you'll be able to make any kind of games, not just first person stuff).

Video of CraftStudio in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1QbJO3y_O0

Hacker News thread from yesterday: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3751455

mbell• 14 years ago

Have a look at Spout[0]. Its an open source server that generalizes the minecraft concept. They are actually supporting 'minecraft' as a plugin called vanilla which communicates with the stock minecraft client. They also have an improved client which is currently a modded minecraft client but I believe the eventual plan it rewrite the client from scratch also.

[0]http://www.spout.org and https://github.com/SpoutDev

ido• 14 years ago

    I'm surprised it hasn't spawned "sandbox games" 
    as a completely separate and significant genre

Maybe you haven't noticed, but "minecraft-like" is a a burgeoning young genre - every week I see a new one on the /r/gamedev subreddit or tigsource forums.

And there are already a dozen or so commercially successful ones on steam and XBLIG.

iwwr• 14 years ago

That's where mods like Redpower comes in.

http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/365357-123-eloraams-mods...

The mods are really what set Minecraft apart.

JrodS• 14 years ago

Redpower is fantastic! I built an 8 bit ALU with it and its so much more pleasant (and faster) to work with than the standard redstone

saulrh• 14 years ago

Buildcraft[1] and Industrialcraft[2] are also good for teaching automation, logistics, and resource management. For example, buildcraft+redpower will let you build a machine that digs a giant hole in the ground, smelts the ores, incinerates the useless cobble, and sorts everything into the proper chests for easy access.

[1] http://www.mod-buildcraft.com/ [2]: http://wiki.industrial-craft.net/index.php?title=Main_Page

ThomPete• 14 years ago

Have you read Seymour Papert's book Mindstorm? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Papert

You might be on to something there.

shantanubala6• 14 years ago

I honestly love seeing stuff like this -- it's really cool.

But part of me always wonders, "I wonder what this kid could've built if he had a more meaningful project in mind?"

I understand that you need to have a certain amount of "fun" before you can do "serious" things, but I can't help but feel a little disappointed that he didn't "dream bigger."

It's not really a criticism. This kid is probably really smart, but I wish it was easy to create environments for such people to really flourish to their full potential.

cookiecaper3• 14 years ago

As I said elsewhere, I think Minecraft provides a great environment for prototyping for someone who doesn't have a background in electronics. I don't see anything wrong with this at all. I reckon the builder probably does "dream bigger", and uses Minecraft as an exercise and/or sandbox. Is there a reason he shouldn't do that?

I am curious why so many people interpret this as a sign of an addiction and wasted time instead of a purely awesome accomplishment in self-education. Few people keep "build something cool in Minecraft" as their only aspiration in life.

jacquesm4• 14 years ago

What do you mean by 'more meaningful'? I think it is fantastic that he managed to be so creative that he managed to turn a game into a calculator, something it clearly wasn't intended to be.

That shows a lot of skill and resourcefulness, it also shows quite a bit of dedication and stamina. All of those are great traits and I'm sure the experience improved on these.

This impresses me very much.

Can you give an example of what you would consider to be a more meaningful project? Something that you would consider to be approaching full potential?

shantanubala6• 14 years ago

I only now realized that my comment was a bit unnecessarily patronizing! I meant it as a wish that programming could be as fun as Minecraft, but also remain as efficient as something like Python.

Imagine what that kid could build if a tool existed that was as interesting as Minecraft, but tailored toward making iPhone apps (or another very specific type of application). In the same amount of time, he could've probably made something even more impressive.

I was trying to express a slight disappointment that the tools were a limiting factor to the ability of people (like this kid) to build amazing things.

Instead of building a calculator, would he be able to do more in the same amount of time?

In that case, could he build a game? An app? Really, it doesn't matter what the end product (or the project) is. I was only trying to express a little disappointment that there wasn't a more efficient way to channel his energy into a final product that would allow him to accomplish an even more ambitious goal.

geden• 14 years ago

How would one decide what their full potential was? Or perhaps, deeper, who would decide what their full potential was?

Seems like a massive achievement to me, and that such effort and focus will translate well into the real world and if it doesn't for him personally, it could well spur others on.

shantanubala6• 14 years ago

I mean it this way (and the way I worded my comment was really poor, and the miscommunication is completely my fault!): Minecraft allows for very creative outcomes, but it isn't a very efficient tool for developing something complicated. Is it possible to create a more efficient tool that is equally engaging?

angdis• 14 years ago

He is sixteen. "Meaningful" has a different definition for someone that age. I am in awe of the achievement not only because of the stupendous scope and complexity, but the sheer willpower and colossal amount of time it must have taken.

I hope the kid gets a lot of mileage out of it and goes onto great things. At the very least, he has earned his geek union card for life.

shantanubala6• 14 years ago

My mistake -- my wording was a little poor. Minecraft is an environment that allows people to be very creative, but it isn't efficient in that process. When I say "meaningful" I meant it more as a comment that I wish a development environment would exist that was as engaging as Minecraft (like a game!) but as efficient as a programming language like Python.

Because Minecraft is purely a game, it limits what a kid can accomplish from the start. A kid can only interact with their creations through the game itself, which is fine, but could it be better?

Tsagadai• 14 years ago

Almost 500,000 people have watched a video of his creation. What is not meaningful about attracting the sort of crowd many artists dream of attracting? Technical aspects aside, what is not meaningful about entertaining 500,000 people?

HardyLeung2• 14 years ago

This is very very impressive, though I hope the kid's next project is some creative and useful applications rather than another Minecraft undertaking.

cookiecaper3• 14 years ago

Minecraft is awesome because it provides a convenient and ready simulator for this kind of work. It gets people interested and involved. It just seems much more accessible than downloading a "real" simulator somewhere online. I think MC provides a great mechanism for exploration in electronics/circuitry and something like this proves it. What do you want this person to do instead?

joe422• 14 years ago

> What do you want this person to do instead?

I get that Minecraft is fun, but wouldn't it have been more practical, in the long run, to have built something equally cool in a real CAD/HDL/etc. software?

It'd be really cool if someone could build a CAD/HDL/programming "IDE" that was as "fun" to "play" as Minecraft, but still as "useful" as something used in "the real world." But I suppose this is the same desire that drives all of those "programming language for kids" projects that never really seem to catch on.

tibbon2• 14 years ago

This is today's version of building your own computer on wire wrap in your garage. I don't think you'd go back in time and tell Woz/Jobs that the Home Computing Club or the Apple 1 weren't useful. If a 16 year old understands in detail how a graphing calculator works from a raw bit-logic level, then I think it speaks that they'll have a much more interesting career in store for them than 99.99% of 16 year olds.

irishcoffee• 14 years ago

This. This is what people who critique the kid fail to understand. He built a processor, from scratch, with a solid understanding of binary math, at age 16.

I'd knock him too.. if I were intimidated as opposed to impressed.

richardlblair• 14 years ago

I don't think HardyLeung understand that this kid had to handle every bit. Had to build his own integrated memory. This young man obviously has an incredible understanding of binary math. Beyond all this He had to deal with the weird physics, and rules of circuits in Minecraft.

If I was this kids parents, I would let him play Minecraft all he wants. In fact, don't stop playing Minecraft.

fruchtose• 14 years ago

Somebody get this kid a job!

jacquesm4• 14 years ago

I watched the video all the way to the end, this is nothing short of amazing. Now I get why they call it 'creative mode'.

tibbon2• 14 years ago

If they pulled it off in survival mode, I would be absolutely floored. Well, I still am anyway, but still- Damn creepers.

BHSPitMonkey• 14 years ago

> creepers

So THAT'S what was causing the memory corruption.

PhrosTT• 14 years ago

Can a 'minecrafter' explain a little more please?

I know you get 1x1 blocks of wood/stone/etc. How do the pieces move? Are there simple on/off switches? Gunpowder + fire for wires?

dyselon• 14 years ago

There are a variety of switches and buttons, wire, NOR gates, and a small handful of mechanical devices, the most important of which are pistons that allow you to move blocks around.

pixelcort2• 14 years ago

In the game there is a resource known as redstone. It can be acquired underground when mining in the game or made available in the game's creative mode. With it you can build various kinds of circuits. The game also includes various input and output blocks, such as buttons, switches, lights, and pistons. Put together, the player can do anything from as simple as a button opening a door to as complex as the article describes.

lisper• 14 years ago

So... did this kid assemble the whole thing manually brick-by-brick, or did he use some kind of compiler? Does minecraft have macros? Stored procedures? Hard to believe every individual brick was placed by hand.

sjmulder• 14 years ago

There’s a redstone resource, which you can lay down as wires. These behave like electronic circuits. There are some special blocks like redstone torches and repeaters.

Some other blocks can be powered or triggered by redstone, for example pistons that push blocks, doors and item dispensers.

Natsu2• 14 years ago

Minecraft has redstone. It might not make much sense if you haven't played the game, but you can at least read about the parts here:

http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Redstone_Circuits

You can build any logic gate you want, with layout being the hard part (just like IRL...). You can build a computer in Minecraft if you want to. I believe that several people have [1].

To be honest, I think it's a great way to learn about electronics. I know what all the gates do from having taken EE classes, but Minecraft has made some of them a bit more intuitive. Maybe it's just because you can see the things being energized/de-energized, but it does help me think about the different gates/latches/etc. and their interactions.

[1] This is but a small sample of things that might be called computers that have been built in Minecraft:

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/30/working-16-bit-computer-bu...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB684ym3QY4

http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/02/15/10-incredible-minecraft-cr...

arithma• 14 years ago

I am really afraid that although this 16-year old (I don't like the patronizing kid word) has made something of immense creativity and of intrinsic value, he'll face such a drastic world that limits a lot of creative potential by the idiosyncrasies of mature reality.

I really hope talented people like this guy be given full-throttle. They are the real capital, not the tools.

Melyan• 14 years ago

Why is it necessary to include the age in the title?

artursapek• 14 years ago

Are you serious?

DanBC3• 14 years ago

It's not necessary. But it does make a difference to the story. Some one who'd had years of education and gone through a good college and has worked in the industry could have made this, and everyone would have been impressed. The fact that this young person created this without all that is impressive.

And, depending what media you have access to, there's not often good news about young people.

psycho• 14 years ago

Well, the kid doesn't have to worry what to answer on a question about the most impressive thing he did if he decides to apply to YC someday.

arethuza2• 14 years ago

I'm hoping his next step is to create a full computer and port Linux to it... :-)

Zaak2• 14 years ago

My mind boggles at the sheer size of 8M RAM in minecraft...

prophetjohn2• 14 years ago

It would be neat, but honestly the complexity of a modern CPU is not something that any individual would be able to recreate in a life time if they were building it piece-by-piece. I imagine that's true for any CPU capable of running recent Ubuntu releases or even something light like, I dunno, Puppy.

simonbrown• 14 years ago

See also: Working 8-bit CPU in Minecraft

http://boingboing.net/2010/11/12/working-8-bit-cpu-in.html

jebblue3• 14 years ago

Amazing kid, wonderful invention.

10dpd• 14 years ago

Has anyone verified that this is in fact real? It seems like it would be rather easy to fake this.

16-year-old Makes Working Scientific Calculator in Minecraft

Related Stories