I Wrote Minecraft for a Calculator

Ever since high school, I've wished I could play Minecraft on my calculator. Now it's time to make that dream a reality.
Check out the code here:
github.com/TheScienceElf/Bloc...
Music Used:
Church of 8 Wheels - Otis McDonald (0:01, 12:09)
Take it Slow - SefChol (2:33)
Weekend in Tattoine - Unicorn Heads (6:06)
Tiptoe out the Back - Dan Lebowitz (9:25)
Clips in Order of Appearance:
Arcade Longplay [519] Marble Madness - • Arcade Longplay [519] ... (3:10)
Mega Drive Longplay [020] Sonic 3D Blast - • Mega Drive Longplay [0... (3:11)
SimCity 2000 - Gameplay (PC/HD)
- • SimCity 2000 - Gamepla... (3:12)
Other Minecraft Ports Featured:
Minecraft 2D CE - www.ticalc.org/archives/files... (0:24)
Minecraft 2D - www.ticalc.org/archives/files... (0:29)
Crafti - www.ticalc.org/archives/files... (0:49)
Isometric Minecraft CE - www.cemetech.net/forum/viewto... (13:59)
NOT AN OFFICIAL MINECRAFT PRODUCT. NOT APPROVED BY OR ASSOCIATED WITH MOJANG OR MICROSOFT.

[@mino2123]

it's amazing how the shadows INSTANTLY made it look like 10x better

[@Robstrap]

The power of lighting

[@TheHutchIsOn]

Reminded me of Minecraft alpha

[@AdiTya_Gamer502]

Even java doesn't it

[@dinoilmo5752]

@@Robstrap😊😊😊😊

[@NoscoperSans]

yeah. with shaders you get the same effect, even just shadows makes everything better

[@idkbruh173]

man, the shadows are amazing, this is absolutely awesome

[@Simigema]

I fart

[@Xanthodion]

​@@Simigemasame

[@Jhakaas_Jai]

​@@SimigemaI shit

[@guncolony]

Honestly this way of doing shadows is ingenious, I might consider implementing it in my 3D minecraft-like shooter game, as long as the sun is in a fixed position (which it is in my game, unlike Minecraft) and the intensity of the shadow effect is toned down, it could look pretty believable in a 3D setting while being completely friendly to low end hardware and allow an infinite shadow view distance

[@farlso1837]

​@@Jhakaas_JaiWhy.

[@WeegeepieYT]

the shadows look so good… holy crap

[@actin6901]

It's like when Sonic Ether started the first ever GLSL shader (SEUS) for Minecraft! It was sooo mindblowing that Minecraft could have proper shadows (and frustratingly young me didn't have a good PC to run it). I totally get similar vibes with this one.

[@user-pz9rd9wv7n]

Luigi what are you doing here??

[@thegamerfe8751]

​@@user-pz9rd9wv7nEnjoying a fanmade port of good game

[@ask343]

​@@user-pz9rd9wv7nhe's strokin mah shit 🤤

[@ask343]

same..@@bluecheese

[@hallwaerd]

This is so charming, and I personally think that even without things like a player character, mobs, or chunk loading, this port does an amazing job capturing the spirit of classic Minecraft. The isometric graphics, simplistic shadows, and poppy colors also feel really nostalgic. Thanks for making this, I’m always fascinated by demakes and interpretative ports!

[@Patzilla1999]

It seems like the early 2D calculator Minecraft projects were closer to Terraria with a Minecraft coat of paint

[@ireadysucks3026]

I mean Terraria is essentially Mincecraft 2D edit: i get that terraria is it’s own game, it’s just that in its most basic form it is extremely similar to minecraft. keyword: “essentially”. not shitting on terraria i think it’s an awesome game it’s just that in its most basic form it is indeed mine and craft and survive

[@SpectreNoodle]

@@ireadysucks3026 lmao you have never played terraria

[@aniketyadav8237]

@@SpectreNoodle within the years, terraria has crafted out its own identity no doubt, but it still was a minecraft 2d experience for its first release.

[@SpectreNoodle]

@@aniketyadav8237 are you seriously arguing about how the game was back when like 30 people played it????? LMAOOO???? Minecraft was literally a game without a survival mode on its release. Your claim is like, INSANELY redundant bro 😭

[@OctagonalSquare]

@@SpectreNoodle”umm aKsHuLlY” No one cares. Yes they are different but the concept is exactly the same. You know what they mean when saying a 2D version of Minecraft is just Terraria with different sprites. What would 3D Terraria look like? Like weird Minecraft. They are both blocky survival games.

[@kirto9310]

I love how “can it run minecraft?” Has become the new “can it run doom?”

[@prest01]

the evolution of "can it run crysis?"

[@NintendoSunnyDee]

I disagree, as this isn't minecraft, it's a minecraft remake with the spirit of the game intact. Doom, however, is a 1 for 1 port every time.

[@whynotanyting]

​@@NintendoSunnyDee Doom also has the benefit of being a fully released game. Minecraft is still getting updates. I think Minecraft classic is a fine benchmark point.

[@jakeklic]

147 likes manra

[@reecerox2]

Not sure why this comment has so many likes when the calculator actually can't run Minecraft

[@dannymartial7997]

The shadows took it to the next level, which was already very high. This is insane.

[@awakenedcrowl]

The final graphics look genuinely gorgous! Like, not just for the technology they're on - something about them looks so incredibly clean, vivid, and really just beautiful! I absolutely love it!

[@sethreign8103]

It's the pixel art aesthetic

[@iknowdawae893]

he literally made minecraft with shaders run on a calculator with the processing power of a flip phone. mad respect

[@grabble7605]

Yeah, no shit. He can't _metaphorically_ do that.

[@CloakedRhombus]

@@grabble7605 yes he can

[@judahhossain5101]

Now time to port it to a flip phone

[@shardator]

Flip phones had WAY higher performance.

[@AlCatSplat]

@@grabble7605 ☝🤓

[@dennismunsie2161]

Nice work! Even more impressive is that there is no assembly code in the repo, just C++. Getting this kind of performance out of the TI-84+ CE without dipping down to assembly is really amazing.

[@MrMediator24]

Needs oxidation

[@abra238]

wonder how much more could have been done

[@arthurpenndragon6434]

@@abra238 modern compilers are exceedingly good at finding optimizations. While of course a human going down into the assembly will always find better shortcuts, it's diminishing returns in "smaller" projects like this.

[@circuit10]

@@arthurpenndragon6434 Remember this is a CPU based on the Z80, a CPU from 1976. There are a few modern-ish compilers for it but they're community efforts and not always very good. Also, the Z80 wasn't designed with C in mind, unlike modern CPUs. Some of the new eZ80 features might help a bit though

[@bearfm]

@@MrMediator24 GET OUT OF MY HEAD RUSTACEANS

[@mintyglitches]

this seems like a game i would have LOVED to have on my phone as a kid the fact that its on a calculator is incredible

[@Larry]

IT really looks like the old game, Populous.

[@SuperAceCrusher]

THE RETURN OF THE KING

[@enzi.]

!!!

[@lasriabdallah7142]

Who

[@csgoplayer1]

YEEEEEESSSS

[@onlypuppy7]

0:33 this is a cool addition to see. I was to my knowledge the only person who tried maintaining and updating minecraft 2d, but I didn't know much back then so it was quite buggy :) On the ti nspire I then made the mario maker port

[@shlokbhakta2893]

Legend

[@dawierdkid]

IVE BEEN PLAYING THAT

[@onlypuppy7]

@@dawierdkid minecraft 2d?

[@1ndiebird]

Mario maker port is absolutely epic sauce

[@yufijustinholloway]

Dude. You're so awesome. So supportive and genuine anytime you mentioned any other programmer's work. That light hearted ending was really enjoyable. Great work and great video

[@curhob]

THAT is just insane. It reminds me of Super Mario RPG, which I've yet to see explained. The palette trick was quite fascinating, although it does eat up most of the color options you can use.

[@greenknight9000]

I really, _really_ appreciate how you designed the game to look like Minecraft Classic - it fits perfectly around the era of calculators, and it's nice, vibrant and cheerful, as well as having that endearing limitations that make you take more creative liberties. It's the perfect nostalgic throwback! Also, the low-res appearance of the sprites _really_ makes me want someone to port this Isometric Minecraft to MS-DOS computers, because MY GOD they've got the perfect amount of "crunch" to them that I adore

[@accelerationquanta5816]

...Era of calculators? They've existed for a long time and will keep existing.

[@greenknight9000]

I meant the era of these specific models@@accelerationquanta5816

[@ironmatic1]

@@accelerationquanta5816 Well, era of TI-84 tech that they still sell for $100

[@shadesoftime]

​@@ironmatic1yeah, seeing those prices makes me mad. That's probably something like 10000% profit from each one sold and people can't buy anything else because there's barely any competition

[@thomasmacdonough288]

​@@accelerationquanta5816 Especially this one, the Ti84CE came out in 2015... 4 years after the game left beta 😅

[@KurtisBlack]

"Perfect is the enemy of Good Enough" I've never heard that phrase before, but I think I needed to. A great return, you never disappoint.

[@edithpiaf7846]

Good enough a french meme lol

[@IsaacWalkercox]

Same

[@rokamayono8590]

Same

[@plk173]

not sure where i heard it but I heard "the greatest enemy of good is better" and im so glad its getting more popular

[@Diamondsigmaspaceb]

I read this for the first time while he said this

[@codypallin]

Complete props for sticking through with it even after Michaels's release. Certainly paid off, beautiful build!

[@ZedEdge]

This bro is way too humble. All those tricks and flourishes and SHADOWS are so impressive and I only understood half of them. Amazing work 👏👏

[@joshxkerrigan]

"perfect" is the enemy of good enough! That brings me right back to the Blackberry movie. Hope you got a chance to see it, definitely worth watching for nerds like us!

[@Mr_Lesbian]

The moment the shadows were added this port went from impressive technical achievement to something that actually looks incredible in my eyes, honestly it made it look amazing

[@AlphaMC]

Man, I just installed 2d minecraft on my Ti-84 recently and now we have this, absolute legend

[@thatonekid220]

this is perfect. I love it so much thank you so much for the effort u put in to make this so polished! :D

[@somerandomdude5380]

Yours still looks better than the other guys's one. His plus is on the redstone and gravity! Amazing project!

[@youlooklikeagoodjoeyoulooklone]

They look equally as good. The other guy's is more like a texture pack.

[@shableep]

100% agree with this. The shadows he pulled off look SO GOOD. and the textures are clearly a lot better as well. there’s that fancy lighting the other guy did but was that even functional at scale? it does seem like they had different priorities. but aesthetically, the one on this video looks really great. and the implementation of those color pallets is ingenious.

[@simondemeule3934]

It’s impressive you managed to run this smoothly on a calculator. The attention to detail is very apparent. This is a lovely little project!

[@TheHobbyExpert]

The visuals and world is beautiful. Great job I subbed!

[@bjzaba]

This brings back great memories of Minecraft Classic (a period which is sadly often forgotten these days). Love all the creative problem solving! And the aesthetics of the shadows are so lovely.

[@CaptainMarvelsSon]

And to think, I was proud to have created Tic-Tac-Toe and Snake back in my high school days. These creations blow m mind!

[@josephwodarczyk977]

Those are absolutely worth being proud of. Well done dude.

[@EeveeEuphoria]

damn dude, if this was made when i was in school i would've killed to have this nice work, and good to see you back again!

[@EthanMHardie]

2:00 "Kinda 8-bit, kinda 24-bit eZ80" Calculator can't make up it's mind! Loved the video.

[@mostlyghostey]

This turned out so cool and your explanations were really easy to follow!

[@PXAbstraction]

He's back! Missed your stuff my dude. And as usual, impressive project. :)

[@spineappletea]

This is the fourth time now that I've said "I wonder if The Science Elf will post soon" followed by a video being posted just HOURS after the thought. You can all thank me for this one.

[@korebeast973]

Absolutely amazing, loving these vids!

[@JLucas-bl1vz]

You absolutely need to do more of this for powerful calculators! Certainly it would be “better” and ofc, it’s so good to watch the whole process.

[@immanuelsuleiman7550]

It's always a pleasure to see you. But I definitely wish you uploaded more often. Either way great content

[@JohnWhatshisdoe]

God, I love your content so much. You are always an immediate watch whenever you make a new video. Thanks for gracing us once again with one of your sick-ass projects.

[@ErikRoberts1981]

This is incredible! Great job on this!!

[@philosophiabme]

This is absolutely perfect! You implemented this so well, holy

[@emrysgaming6015]

Now we need you to build a calculator in Minecraft on a calculator

[@RAGING_BONER]

I just got a TI-84+ CE python yesterday. This upload couldn’t be more pleasing

[@jackcartersmith]

Very impressive! I love it! Nostalgia with my old school TI-83 :P

[@serphorus]

PLEASE CONTINUE THIS, i've been sorta jumping ahead with an nspire in high school, and i've enjoyed the minecraft ports for it. I would love to have a port for the nspire for this, and i guess i might pull out the nspire gcc and have a go at translating your code. This was an entertain and well-structured video, and i would love to see more of it.

[@v2d2]

This is a really neat project although i wouldn't really call it a port, Demake is the better term for it, but it's nice to see you again after a long year!

[@michael23b]

Great video, Science Elf! Was not aware you were even making an isometric minecraft game until now. Unfortunately I never got around to finishing my own isometric minecraft version, as I ran into memory errors and some other bugs… I love the shadows you did in your version, and I think it would also be really easy if you implemented an option to render your world from any of the 4 corners, so kind of a form of rotation. Anyway, really great work, and thanks for the feature! At least your version actually runs lol

[@michael23b]

@TheScienceElf The Cemetech thread you linked should now have a working download for the program. If it still doesn't work, make sure you have enough RAM space by moving important files to archive and then doing a RAM clear. Also, do note that the latest working version does not contain redstone. Also when sending the program to your calculator, make sure you are sending it to the archive, not RAM.

[@williamtcastro]

I love this project so much, congratulations on making it

[@joshuasims5421]

This looks great, I love the effect of the shadows! I started coding on a TI-86, far too long ago.

[@KonstantinosSakellaropoulos]

I don't know how to explain it but your upload schedule feels like 2019-2021 Vsauce

[@hellofend4734]

well clearly you knew how to explain it

[@MedAnimations]

exactly 😂

[@stanleybochenek1862]

Hey Vsauce Michael here is your home security great? or is it.. [insert Michael from Vsauce staring at camera meme here]

[@stanleybochenek1862]

But yea lol

[@nostalgiaguy3902]

​@@stanleybochenek1862*Snazzy jazzish-classical suspenseful music*

[@Metrocysh]

Damn, the lightning really made it pop! Love the utilization of palettes for the shadows and water too! Very impressive stuff honestly, the depth map and everything just does it job very nice and overall, cool video :)

[@luwado]

Phenomenal. Watching this was like teleporting back to the golden age of KZbin. Keep it up, man.

[@Alex_dlc]

Just found this channel and I’m hooked! Sometimes KZbin recommendations are on point!

[@willian2848]

Damn! I'm lucky that this video got recommend for me, it was one of the most impressive and cool videos I've seen in a long time. Hope this videos blows up and get millions of views. This kind of project deserve to be seen by people and I'm glad it's all recorded and public on KZbin

[@mjziborich4491]

This looks amazing! Makes me want to get that kind of calculator…

[@NotAHueman]

Same lmao

[@DFX2KX]

I have the older black and white T!-84, and honestly they're fun to mess around with along with being occassionaly useful.

[@prest01]

ti-nspire all the way you can put super nintendo games on it

[@VaultTechnitian]

this is very impressive. Great video!

[@carltonleboss]

This is amazing. I'd forgotten about your channel until now.

[@fghsgh]

Oh, you did the same thing I brought to Michael2_3b's attention at the time: your blocks don't look cubical. For that, the grid at 5:27 should consist of equilateral triangles. Yes, that means your sprites can't be square. Compare to Michael2_3b's screenshots I guess? Also, minor addition, Crafti's graphical glitches stem not just from affine texture mapping, but also because it uses integer arithmetic. I find those graphical glitches much worse while actually building things, because you just can't tell where block boundaries are.

[@SonicmanChannel]

Man, have I missed you, your videos always fascinated me. Glad to have you back!

[@methodgrab5764]

theres something that i enjoy about your version vs the crafti. it is a game for a calculator, and yours is more suited for the experience you would have playing on a calculator. wonderful job and tastefully executed.

[@amandawiggins225]

This is absolutely INSANE I’m now subbed, and it was a worthy one. I love ur vids now! I want this SO bad

[@Ruben-ij9ux]

This is one of the most inspiring programming video's i've seen. You do a really good job at making this stuff easy to understand. Thank you for this!

[@souIburger]

THE TIMING ON THIS IS CRAZY i just got a graphing calculator for calculus lmfao THANKS A MILLION edit: also funny too how this video comes out just when i’m thinking of learning how to make games for the calculator, obviously nothing like this though LMFAO

[@amandawiggins225]

This is insane!! The amount of dedication 2 tho…. I luv ur vids :)

[@sonix7119]

Quality !!! :) Well done man - Cheers for sharing !!! :)

[@Discoh]

Glad to have you back! Really nice project, I really like how it turned out. The video is very well-edited, too. Great stuff all around :)

[@fluxie31]

Coming off of Inkbox's Commander X16 port the other day, this is really cool to see. Thank you for this.

[@mr_jamon_von_torres]

Very impressive work! I wouldn’t worry about being the 2nd port, they’re different styles, and yours holds up just as strong. It’s giving me those isometric vibes from a mobile phone from back in the day… also had impossible stairs and stuff.

[@redsteph]

You've done an amazing job and I'd like to see more of this. Keep it up.

[@RiverReeves23]

Well done man! I really love the function you used to render shadows. Looks to me like your palette choice was incredibly well played. I personally think your solution to lighting is better and looks nicer.

[@jesusc0der]

Absolutely amazing. Great work!

[@andyshipman4384]

I love this!!! And it looks so good!!!! I know graphics aren't everything and you spent a looot of time just getting it to function correctly but I love isometric stuff and I also love minecraft and with the shadows it's PERFECT

[@Bombzyz]

this rocks. the look of everything gives off such a comfy vibe! major props.

[@Vhisper]

Stumbled upon this video just now, I can't believe it was published 6 hours ago and the previous video was a year or more ago, damn. Dude this is really impressive, we really appreciate your effort, bringing another Minecraft port to the world!

[@TweetzTM]

You underrated genius, very impressive project!

[@noahhall5777]

I really appreciate how you used the old textures for this clone. Made it feel so nostalgic in a way

[@Smoth48]

*Digs my old TI-Nspire out of a box* Okay, this is absolutely incredible. I can't even begin to comprehend (as someone who has done a fair amount of both programming and game design) how one would begin to develop a Minecraft clone for a calculator. The sheer skill and dedication (and omg the amount of bugfixing, I can't imagine) is so ridiculously impressive in its own right. Very very well done.

[@Arcaxon]

Wow this is absolutely amazing! Glad to see you back! :D

[@plantcraftie4141]

I love videos like these! And I learned quite a bunch of problem solving

[@kylebowles9820]

Beautiful! Nice work

[@singletona082]

Given how much these things cost? Having a few fun things on them isn't bad. Thank you for making students lives more fun.

[@Lemonscop]

OVER A YEAR OF WAITING, THE TECH GOD HIMSELF HAS RETURNED

[@superjackzy]

Really cool idea and video, I really enjoyed it!

[@Anthestudios]

Fantastic project and video. Thank you so much!

[@TheLastMillennial]

Fantastic work as always! It's good to see a video from you again!

[@onlypuppy7]

Nice to see you around :)

[@michael23b]

Hi there TLM

[@papeleradereciclaje4375]

YES FINALLY!!! I missed your videos

[@PhobsPr]

I am just stunned, how cool it looks and feels. Really awesome work

[@nathanong]

God I love nerds

[@galekeoma7276]

Same. I love them so much that I married one.

[@garwert]

Much as you say the wide-screen version looks too small, I'm greatly enjoying the zoom-outs you've shown. I'd be extremely curious to test out a slightly zoomed out PC version. In any case, great work! o/

[@maddy3852]

this is insanely cool... All this computer coding stuff is like magic to me. I took Java in high school and I felt like a wizard back then.

[@insomniac639]

Absolutely insane for the hardware, well done!

[@kangarht]

brilliant idea with the depth map and shadows

[@Keanine]

There's something I can't quite put my finger on about the graphics that I just adore? Either way, awesome project!

[@stuff31]

Great work, love this. Maybe we'll get a sequel someday? :) Good to see you back.

[@lenti9813]

i hope this video blows tf up, you deserve it bro

[@aeway_]

reminds me of those dynamic maps servers used to use back in the day, so beautiful

[@Stahl_und_Eisen]

Very epic! This would be an AAA game a few years back hahaha

[@icarorodrigues8501]

holy shit man, you could change the world with such talent

[@SleepyChoco]

That’s so cool. Makes gotta to find that TI-84 now!

[@PanoptesDreams]

This is awesome. Great job!

[@archie_4078]

That is such a cool idea. I honestly love isometric games so much and this hits the spot. Is there a way to play this on a regular computer instead of a TI 84?

[@pikachuchujelly7628]

There are a few TI-84 emulators, like Wabbitemu or the official TI SmartView.

[@C4Oc.]

According to some people here, the game is written in C++, so if somebody were to port the input system and tweak it a little bit, it would theoretically be possible to play it on a modern-day computer Edit: they'd have to use a different graphics library though

[@C4Oc.]

Scrap my previous reply, there is an emulator you can use on your PC, it's called "CEmu". I'm not sure if I can lik to it here on KZbin