Notes

This 8-bit Processor Built in Minecraft can Run its Own Games

Computer chips have become so tiny and complex that it's hard to remember that there are real physical principles behind them. They aren’t just a collection of ever-growing numbers. For a practical (well virtual) example, check out the most recent version of a computer processor built exclusively within the Minecraft game engine.



Minecraft builder "Sammyuri" spent seven months creating what they call the Chungus 2, an enormously complex computer processor that exists virtually inside the Minecraft game engine. This project isn't the first time that a computer processor has been virtually rebuilt inside Minecraft but the Chungus 2 (Computation Humongous Unconventional Number and Graphics Unit) could be the largest and most complex, as it simulates an 8-bit processor with a one hertz clock speed and the capacity of 256 bytes of RAM.



Minecraft processors utilize the physics engine used in the game to recreate the design of real processors on a macro level, with materials including redstone dust, torches, pistons, repeaters, levers, and other simple machines. To provide a sense of the size of the game, each block in Minecraft is one virtual meter in diameter. This means that it's roughly the same size as a cruise ship or skyscraper if the build were to be recreated in the real world.



When connected to an in-game 32x32 "screen" and "controller" (manipulated by the Minecraft player avatar jumping on buttons that are block-sized) Chungus 2 Chungus 2 can play interchangeable 2D games such as Tetris, Snake, or even a graphing calculator. Some programs need the Minecraft server to be artificially accelerated in order to make the processor fast enough to use. Every program is developed virtually in Minecraft connecting to the computer as an arcade game cartridge that is the size of an entire freight train.
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The project is an incredible application of computer science, created in an approach that makes its principles immediate and visible. The video that demonstrates the Chungus 2 is impressive enough. If you'd like to experience it in action, you can download it and run it on your server at mc.openredstone.org. If we put off a few years, we could obtain a Minecraft CPU that is capable enough to run Minecraft and at that point the universe will probably implode.


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