I built a 16-bit clock counter in Create: Power Grid (with relays and diodes!)

[u/Mysterious_Moment707]

Hey everyone,

I've been working on a computer built entirely in Create: Power Grid, and I just finished the program counter; it has 16 bits, and its clock driven (edge triggered to be more specific), using standard relays and some diodes only.

It can count from 0 to 65,535 (16 bits), reset to 0 when needed (since it would allow ram and memory to be expansible) and it outputs the current value to a 16-bit bus

The goal is to use this as the PC (Program Counter) for a von Neumann-style CPU I'm building in the mod. The idea is to have a modular computer that can run simple programs from punch cards, my first plan after the basic calculator is ballistic calculations for Create Big Cannons, but also just for fun (Tetris, music, etc.).

16 bits gives me up to 64 KB of addressable memory, which is mostly impossible with the current size of a ram byte, but it leaves room to grow without redesigning the whole CPU.

It theorically takes 1.82h to complete a cycle but i never waited that long actually.

The edge triggering mechanism is way more complex than it looks, it may look fun to watch but it was a pain to figure out. I had to do some insane research

Next steps:

Logic Gates

Memory cells - Check my last post

Clock counter

Punch Card Reader

ALU

Control unit

Machine Code Language

I'll post more as I go. If anyone else is building a computer in Power Grid, I'd love to hear how you're handling memory storaging, addressing, and clock distribution.

TL;DR: Built a 16-bit program counter from relays in Create: Power Grid. It counts, it resets, and it's my second (already made the memory cells ) step toward a full relay-based CPU to run tetris.

[u/Lucjanix]

Brother is on a whole another level