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+---- Thread: Longest running project? (/thread-7249.html)
Longest running project? - ddthj - 08-03-2015
So about 3 or 4 years ago (yes this is a long post) I passed my RDF trial by making a couple sets of 4 D-Flip-Flops and linking them to a 4 pixel display (which was budded)... the times have changed quite a bit.
I joined PCC (Prestigious Computing Company - a mini 'company' that lived on the server) because they seemed like people who knew what they were doing, and they wanted to do some big stuff. The group had just recently formed (ChucksMoth (now named dcentrics) Nickster258, Greymouth, Alexapplebaum and some other peeps) and had begun to develop CPU's. This was back when people still had hour long flame wars about instructions set sizes and design. I don't really remember how I got the idea, but it probably had to do with MCTP (minecraft transfer protocol, the thing that never really worked). I decided that I was going to make cpu's connect to each other over serial and be able to share programs and workloads. Now, this was a ton of nothing coming from someone who only knew how to make a D-flip-Flop, but I stuck with it and learned about parallel to serial devices.
It took about 3 or 4 days for Connect 1 to be finished, it was a 4 wire dual way serial system that would transfer data by 4 packets of 4 bits each. I made a post on the RDF about it and two days later it was griefed and never functioned again. In the meantime this attracted the attention of Greymouth, who assisted in the construction of Connect 2, which looked a lot better but also never functioned.
I began construction of Connect 3 right around the 'war' between PCC and HCI (Hawk Cut(lass) Industries). They had begun a '1 year' battle to see who could make a better CPU. This is where things got hazy because I never really followed it. Supposedly PCC made a pipelined CPU that pretty much won, but it was finished after the last server backup and the RDF collapsed under its unstable structure, taking the processor from us.
It is unfortunate that I no longer have connect 1 or 2, however I still have connect 3 and further:
![[Image: lDJnPtv.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/lDJnPtv.jpg)
Connect 3 was a functional success, but I decided to rewire it and ended up breaking it for a long time. I decided to get into CPU's since I knew that I would eventually need one to link my modems to.
With the help of PCC, I created my first CPU:
![[Image: QojoCJX.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/QojoCJX.jpg)
I then built another 2 by myself for practice, the first of which has been on YouTube for a long time but none of you have probably ever seen it:
![[Image: UhIZvTz.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/UhIZvTz.jpg)
At this time, since I did have a functional modem, PCC got excited about my ideas and built me a 'server' that I could use to deliver programs to clients. I never used it, and the IS got some hate, but it was pretty neat to have sitting there:
![[Image: SMlwKfg.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/SMlwKfg.jpg)
Since I had messed up Connect 3, I went on to make Connect 3.1, which was more functional. I also started Connect 4 (not the game!) which would be for 8 bit CPU's instead of 4 bit.
I still had no way to connect a traditional CPU to my modems, so I finally set out to make one myself. I created MCPU, a buss-oriented CPU that allowed the operation of multiple hardware extensions off of the bus, which included Connect 3.1
In my initial testing I realized that Connect 3.1 did not work as intended with the CPU, and it's protocol was a bit underthought. The color scheme was also painful to stare at for long periods of time, so all of that got changed in connect 3.2. The first program MCPU ran was a counting program, which was tradition to me at that point. The second program counted, and sent the current number out through serial, where another MCPU listened for inbound data and displayed the number. It was pretty cool. I then went on to construct a router that would allow up to 3 modems connect without corruption.
I began construction of MCPU 2 which would hold more ROM for program storage, but then I realized that if it was ROM then I would have no way of saving programs.
Thus begins my work on MCPU 3, a Von Neuman architecture that still contains concepts of MCPU but will have everything I need to accomplish my project... It's been a while.
TL:DR - ddthj is slow at finishing projects.
RE: Longest running project? - newomaster - 08-03-2015
Thanks for this story, from the way you've told it it feels like our community has it's own lore to it. You've brought back some nostalgia for me, so thanks.
You're not the only one who's slow at finishing projects. Shade and I have been working on Sudoku in one form or another for almost 3-4 years as well (I guess you could say it's technically still being built, just not actively). Sudoku went through several renditions and modifications (There's pieces of it all over my old RDF plot (where the first board generator prototype lies), shade's old RDF plot (where the main 1.0 structure lies), shade's ORE plot (where the main 2.0 structure lies), and on my ORE plot) as well.
RE: Longest running project? - fluffy406 - 08-03-2015
I like the idea of connecting minecraft cpu's to the real word.
RE: Longest running project? - ddthj - 08-03-2015
(08-03-2015, 06:59 AM)newomaster Wrote: Thanks for this story, from the way you've told it it feels like our community has it's own lore to it. You've brought back some nostalgia for me, so thanks.
You're not the only one who's slow at finishing projects. Shade and I have been working on Sudoku in one form or another for almost 3-4 years as well (I guess you could say it's technically still being built, just not actively). Sudoku went through several renditions and modifications (There's pieces of it all over my old RDF plot (where the first board generator prototype lies), shade's old RDF plot (where the main 1.0 structure lies), shade's ORE plot (where the main 2.0 structure lies), and on my ORE plot) as well.
You're Welcome
I remember a while back I wanted to write a history of the RDF and ORE, but the document disappeared and Idk if it is still worth it.
I actually remember the Sudoku stuff, It looked cool, back when I knew nothing I figured it already worked
RE: Longest running project? - Magic :^) - 08-03-2015
Quote:I remember a while back I wanted to write a history of the RDF and ORE, but the document disappeared and Idk if it is still worth it.
Please do! I'm relatively new to the community (just nearing my first anniversary) and I've been interested for a long while in the past of ORE and the RDF. It all still seems so mysterious xD
RE: Longest running project? - ddthj - 08-03-2015
(08-03-2015, 04:51 PM)MagicalGentleman Wrote:Quote:I remember a while back I wanted to write a history of the RDF and ORE, but the document disappeared and Idk if it is still worth it.
Please do! I'm relatively new to the community (just nearing my first anniversary) and I've been interested for a long while in the past of ORE and the RDF. It all still seems so mysterious xD
I'll do it, but I'm going to need a LOT of interviews, especially from those who were there when the RDF first started. I also need some good stories that I might have missed out on. Like the whole PCC vs. HCI, that was big, to me, but not many other people knew about it. I must assume that there are a lot of such stories that would need to be included... i guess I should make a thread in the build discussion?
RE: Longest running project? - LordDecapo - 08-03-2015
I am almost on 2 years of IizR, I so feel the pain dd xD
RE: Longest running project? - Magic :^) - 08-05-2015
(08-03-2015, 06:31 PM)ddthj Wrote: I'll do it, but I'm going to need a LOT of interviews, especially from those who were there when the RDF first started. I also need some good stories that I might have missed out on. Like the whole PCC vs. HCI, that was big, to me, but not many other people knew about it. I must assume that there are a lot of such stories that would need to be included... i guess I should make a thread in the build discussion?
sounds like a good idea, perhaps the history could even live on in thread form, consisting of members posting their memories of events that happened, etc.
RE: Longest running project? - slugdude - 08-05-2015
(08-03-2015, 06:31 PM)ddthj Wrote:(08-03-2015, 04:51 PM)MagicalGentleman Wrote:Quote:I remember a while back I wanted to write a history of the RDF and ORE, but the document disappeared and Idk if it is still worth it.
Please do! I'm relatively new to the community (just nearing my first anniversary) and I've been interested for a long while in the past of ORE and the RDF. It all still seems so mysterious xD
I'll do it, but I'm going to need a LOT of interviews, especially from those who were there when the RDF first started. I also need some good stories that I might have missed out on. Like the whole PCC vs. HCI, that was big, to me, but not many other people knew about it. I must assume that there are a lot of such stories that would need to be included... i guess I should make a thread in the build discussion?
See if you can track down jessassin xD
RE: Longest running project? - Chibill - 08-05-2015
Fun fact I am yet to actually finish my first cpu....
RE: Longest running project? - ddthj - 08-06-2015
(08-05-2015, 01:45 AM)slugdude Wrote: See if you can track down jessassin xD
Haha, maybe I can ask him if he will finally give me my donor badge on the server :3
RE: Longest running project? - Back_and_Black1 - 08-06-2015
I watched that video
RE: Longest running project? - Spidermy9 - 09-16-2015
Really awesome to read. I remember the whole flaming wars, and how it inevitably ended with cut leaving the community. I also remember that the HCI(HawkCutlassIndustry) used A LOT of time developing, though never finishing, what you just made; a router. Amazing dude, really props for putting so much work in it, keep it up!