8-bit Turing complete computer that I made in Factorio (2019)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0x10c

https://archive.org/details/0x10c

https://www.planetminecraft.com/blog/introducing-notchs-new-...

Too bad it got cancelled, it would've been interesting.

It's even been done with Conway's Life.

https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Turing_machine

It's too bad Notch never finished that space-themed game he was once planning. I remember when HN went crazy with implementations of his spec for a simple, memory-mapped 8-bit computer that was going to be central to that game.

I'm planning to introduce scripting into my procedurally generated space game with over 2^100 locations. All entity AIs will be s-expressions, which implement a blackboard architecture. This can readily be mapped to both finite state machines and behavior trees. What's more, a variety of scripting language subsets could compile to the same s-expressions. I want to let players license their scripts to other players for in-game money. Players can also perhaps use "hacking" powers, where they can modify scripts of other entities or ships using regexes. (With the caveat that if they cause a syntax error, they get "feedback damage.") Also, these s-expressions can be subject to genetic algorithms, and will also "breed" in the wild. (As described by Koza in his book Genetic Programming)

That said, I've been feeling similarly - playing on Steam and seeing folks w/ massive play times thinking, I should go do something productive.

Where did you start off for learning DAPPs? Do you have any goals in mind?

One could argue that spending 1,000 hours in Factorio building cool stuff is still doing something IRL. It's just a different kind of something IRL.

To be clear, I am not assuming that you were making a value judgement about the Factorio player :-) But I feel the need to share this point of view nonetheless.

The Buddhist monk finds enlightenment by simply being still. This is constructive living - in the sense that it is not destructive to nature / one's surroundings.

Along similar lines, immersing one's self in Factorio is an actively entertaining form of being constructively still in the context of one's surroundings.

So is reading. Listening to music. Etc.

Not everybody needs to build stuff or achieve things IRL. And that's perfectly fine.

I just don't see the point, probably because I lack creativity. But what benefit to learning DAPPs do you see?

On the other hand, what does the non-tinkerer majority of humanity do to deserve the tinkerers inventing things for them instead of spending their time upon personal happiness? ;)

Is it the usage of inventions to exploit, rob and kill each other which makes humanity worthy of getting more science? Certainly not :)

To be more specific:

I've seen the Internet before the tinkerers developed sufficient usability so the "normies" could use it. What it has become now that they're here is an abomination. HN is like a nuclear shelter, except outside its not radioactive but a giant, never-ending shitstorm.

So I often wonder: Should I really try to make my software accessible to the average person? So that they can go there and use it to propagate racism and other garbage? Or rather keep it difficult to use and play Factorio or whatever instead?

Tough decision to make for sure.

Most people like this have jobs that they dedicate 30-60 hours a week to building things. Presumably, that's what Newton would also be doing today: working in the day and finding time to build sundials in Valheim at night.

Of course, it's possible he'd end up being a Twitch streamer or something.

I also don't buy into the idea that if these games didn't exist, those types of people would instead be naturally spending all their time tinkering on things that would drive scientific and engineering progress.

My favorite unrealistic and whimsical solution to the pandemic is for the government to buy everyone a copy of Factorio (maybe a laptop too if they don't have one) and have vaccine eligibility order determined by how fast you launch a rocket. The entire country has a momentary national obsession with non-deadlocking rail systems, and in a couple weeks the pandemic is over because no one has left their house in that time.

I do think Factorio is a good tool for understanding and appreciating supply chains and logistics. It's amazing to me that there are real-world factories producing real-world complex products like cars, and the whole process is far more complex than some optimized rocket control module production setup in Factorio. It's something most people just don't interact with, except as a consumer of the final product or maybe they have a job contributing to some tiny part of the entire production system.

https://youtu.be/mgfwwqwxdxY

You reminded me of the Half Life 2 Tech Demo at E3 2003.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ddJ1OKV63Q

The legendary moment starting at 3:14 :-)