A Terraria Player's Impressive RISC-V Computer
A Terraria player named Xander Naumenko has achieved something remarkable within the sandbox game. Using a mod called WireHead, Naumenko built a fully compliant RISC-V computer, dedicating five months and 600 hours to this project. The player's ingenuity is demonstrated by successfully running a 'Pong clone' on the computer. What makes this achievement even more interesting is the process Naumenko followed to design logic gates in-game and adapt traditional circuits to fit the game's circuit system.
If you're curious about Naumenko's process, you can watch their 15-minute video or explore the project on GitHub.
The philosophy behind most of the project is summarized in Naumenko's 'Pitch.' This philosophy reflects the tension between Moore's law and software bloat. Naumenko strives to prioritize the programmer and revert to the computing speeds of the early 70s. This approach allows a programmer to write and run a program on the same computer without the concern of it being too slow.
'Pitch' cleverly references Apple's iconic '1984' ad, which warned about the consequences of relinquishing computing power to the masses. This project is not the future of programming, but it pays homage to the empowering philosophy of prioritizing programmers over processors.
Additionally, this project raises the possibility of using sandbox games like Terraria and Minecraft for computer-related endeavors. Although it may not be cost-effective to utilize these games for actual programming, the idea is intriguing.
Interestingly, Naumenko's project appears to be more captivating than the mundane act of signing into OneDrive. Who would have thought?
If you'd like to see the full Terraria PC image, you can easily scroll through it on the project's GitHub page.
While this endeavor may not represent the future of programming, it certainly sparks curiosity and excitement.
