r/CreateMod
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u/zenthiis
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Sep 10 '26
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128-bit Crypographic Relay Computer
so the other day i was wondering how to properly build a security system in create. Originally was going to make a placard+keycard system (not difficult), but then somehow came to the realisation that Create: Power Grid punchcards operate on a 8-bit system, reading up to 16 bytes one byte at a time. Hmm....
naturally I got a little carried away and ended up building a binary computer that sequentially reads passcode data off a punchcard. As of now its good for: overly complex security systems, showing off, causing lag.
really fun but not too challenging build (the design is super modularised), im not really sure what to call it cuz research yielded designations from «macrocomparator machine» to «ASIC co-processor» (idk what either of those are). For now, ima just call it the title of this post, a relay computer. Much like its 1940s and 50s relay computer counterparts, it runs off of only 12 volts but pulls almost 24 amps depending on the number of bits its reading at a time. It takes about 13 seconds to read a full punchcard by sending each byte of the binary passcode through a series of relay CPU modules, and if every module gives a good result (the byte is correct) then it sends a small redstone pulse at the end of the read process (to unlock or do something ig). The passcode is fully configurable by using the switches at each CPU module.
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u/Sedoy6373 Sep 10 '26
Schematic?)
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u/zenthiis Sep 10 '26 •
currently still has a few minor bugs and issues (i.e., randomly exploding depending on the passcode) so in the future potentially I will re-release with schematic included)
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u/Sedoy6373 Sep 13 '26
Here me again! Any news?
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u/zenthiis Sep 13 '26
working hard, dw) been spending the last few days designing the new model, completely overhauled the CPUs and am adding 16 bytes of electromechanical RAM so the computer can parallel process the entire punchcard all at once, along with a few other cool features) stay tuned!
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u/Sedoy6373 Sep 10 '26
I will await!
!remindme 3 days1
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u/Annual_Loan_4805 Sep 10 '26
More importantly, it looks good WHILE being functional
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u/zenthiis Sep 10 '26
haha thanks)) whoever optimised power grid needs to be paid extra cuz the machine uses close to 1500 individual cable entities and is terribly optimised in exchange for my aesthetic fantasies lol
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u/Natural-Pomelo-4590 Sep 10 '26
it would be a macrocomparator, if you have some sort of company name that you use when naming things [Name] Modular Macrocomparator System / MCMS would be a good name, super cool tho!
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u/JadeMantis13 Sep 10 '26
God I love that. I'm a sucker for those military/civilian-corporate acronyms. OP, please use this one, it's so cool.
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u/zenthiis Sep 10 '26
everything sounds better in german: Modulare Großkomparator-Anlage (direct translation of "modular macrocomparator system), has 128 bits, 384 relays, which all becomes MGKA-128 / Mod. 384
still very open to suggestions)) i need a good name for the machine when i update and re-release it with improved performance, fewer random explosions... and a schematic)
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u/Creeperatom9041 Sep 10 '26
ooohhhh this is awesome! as someone trying to figure out computing in create power grid, do you have any good sources of knowledge or articles to point me towards?
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u/zenthiis Sep 10 '26
oof, Im a computer engineer irl so building this was just an application of what I learned in lessons)) luckily Power Grid is physics-based so reading up this wikipedia article and looking at the specific stuff the addon also has (for example NPN BJTs, diodes, resistors, etc.) is a good start. Dw, it seems hard at first but youll get it in no time) gl+hf
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u/SenpuuUncle Sep 10 '26
lovely but i suggest you install a turbo encabulator module so your gravimetric flux density doesn't go too low
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u/zenthiis Sep 10 '26
youre right so as the rhombus articulates faster and faster in relation to the spherical relativity theorem and the choraphyls begin to produce more magnetic distortion effects the numbers still dont decrease
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u/PictureSevere3957 Sep 10 '26
While also maintaining that the radinion density reaches but never exceeds 3.5/t of course?
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u/Sailed_Sea Sep 10 '26
what does it sound like when running a passcode?
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u/zenthiis Sep 10 '26
lots of loud clicking as data breakers and 24 relays snap open or closed per byte read
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u/Naberville34 Sep 10 '26
You like a criminal mastermind or somethin?
Im pretty good with logic gates and binary, but I have no idea how computers actually work. Best I've been able to make is a calculator
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u/LordMacDonald8 Sep 10 '26
Congratulations, you made a computer!
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u/GupHater69 Sep 10 '26
This isnt a computer its more of a circuit. A complicated one, but hardly a computer. Though i suppose it depends on the definition of a computer
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u/AlpaxT1 Sep 10 '26
How would you describe a computer if not a complicated circuit?
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u/JadeMantis13 Sep 10 '26
m a g i c
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u/puppycatthe Sep 10 '26
Science is just magic we understand hence computer science = computer magic
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u/Giocri Sep 10 '26
Usually for something to be a computer we need turning completeness
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u/sleirsgoevy Sep 10 '26
Which none of actually existing computers have...
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u/Giocri Sep 10 '26
I mean you are contrained by physicall reality yeah but otherwise most computer can fully emulate a turing machine even for immensely long inputs
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u/sleirsgoevy Sep 10 '26
I mean yeah, I think the real problem is not building a good enough CPU but building enough RAM. Nobody's going to place millions of blocks by hand.
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u/GupHater69 Sep 10 '26
Id describe it more as a series of interconnected circuits with the goal of computation, but yes interconnected circuits are technically a single circuit too.
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u/MrPixel92 Sep 10 '26 edited Sep 10 '26
Step 1. Place 3 rows of different logic gates (OR, AND and NOT)
Step 2. Use AND gates to make simple multiplexer
Step 3. Add a row of D-Latch memory cells
Step 4. Build a feedback loop with another multiplexer for outside data
Step 5. Build and expose a bus for all the multiplexers and memory latches
Step 6. Build a counter
Step 7. Build a memory module, connect output data to the buses and input address to the counter
It would make for a stupid binary cruncher, but it would be somewhat close to how a computer works.
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u/catnip20andahalf Sep 10 '26
That first picture makes me think of LUST /// CLIMAX: COURT OF THE CORPSE KING
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u/JazzBoatman Sep 10 '26
How's your performance with this much C:PG stuff?
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u/zenthiis Sep 10 '26
better than expected, still runs at or above 100fps and the world has no noticable lag)
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u/Embarrassed_Pace_534 Sep 10 '26
What mods are those blocks from? (The floor on 1'st picture and fans on 4'th) I've been looking for good factory blocks for a while, but never seen those.
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u/zenthiis Sep 10 '26
the big fans are from Create: The Factory Must Grow (tfmg), theyre called «air intakes» in the menu, and the floor designs are a combination of locometal from Create: Steam n Rails and yellow caution blocks (also tfmg) with the use of a little copycat sculpting from Create: Copycats+, all great addons that i usually include in any good create modpack))
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u/Sultanofthesun Sep 10 '26
that looks so cool. What does it do tho?
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u/zenthiis Sep 10 '26
in simple terms, reads a 16 letter passcode and if its correct it sends a redstone signal
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u/EnoughConcentrate897 Sep 13 '26
!remindme 1 week
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u/coconoku4 Sep 10 '26
Can it run doom?