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+--- Thread: NandGame (/showthread.php?tid=2641)
NandGame - Lain - November 5th, 2019
I found a cool game a while ago in some /g/ thread about building a CPU straight from scratch called NandGame.
Link: http://nandgame.com/
You might have learned about some of this stuff in a uni-level computer architecture course, and probably know about lots of the actual gates from either programming or high-school level logic/engineering classes. In any case, the game's pretty fun, I'm currently on the memory section trying to figure out the flip flop (even though I'm familiar with the concept already).
It focuses a lot on NAND (not-and, or inv-and) because, realistically, NAND gates are the cheapest (and sometimes the smallest) to make in fact, that in modern CPU architectures primarily just use NAND gates to build other logic systems. As such, it's theoretically possible to build everything in-game with just NAND gates.
But that would just clutter your screen, so you can use parts that you've already made to build other parts, until you start working your way up to more complex parts where you might be only given your primitive logic gates to complete a level, and in those cases, I've found myself just building those solutions with NAND/NOT gates.
Give it a shot, it's pretty fun and you'll learn lots about how computers work at a hardware level.
RE: NandGame - Guardian - November 5th, 2019
Good share! That's pretty cool!
RE: NandGame - SpookyZalost - November 6th, 2019
@lain: Looks like somebody tried NandGame IRL.
![[Image: 1518201026901-cpu-main.jpeg?crop=1xw:0.8...size=700:*]](https://video-images.vice.com/articles/5a7de8579ad9e243cae76d24/lede/1518201026901-cpu-main.jpeg?crop=1xw:0.8442776735459663xh;center,center&resize=700:*)
RE: NandGame - Lain - November 7th, 2019
(November 6th, 2019 at 6:58 PM)SpookyZalost Wrote: @lain: Looks like somebody tried NandGame IRL.
R8 my solution for first level:
![[Image: d037bd4e58d7fdd9ea160db20c143155.png]](https://i.gyazo.com/d037bd4e58d7fdd9ea160db20c143155.png)
Jokes aside, I just finished instruction decoder. Control unit seems hard AF. Might need to take a day break or something lol
RE: NandGame - SpookyZalost - November 7th, 2019
Welcome to the 1960's and 70's in computing lol.
can you imagine building a cpu using only vacuum tubes, capacitors, and resistors?
apparently there are and/or circuits and other such oddities using that technology.
also known as Vacuum logic.
www.piercefuller.com/library/700circ.html
vacuum logic circuits using crystal diodes, capacitors, resistors, and vacuum tubes
http://www.righto.com/2018/01/ibm-mainframe-tube-module-part-ii.html
dedicated mainframe tubesto understand the present you must understand the past, only then can you move toward the future
and back on topic.
yeah that seems really really complicated.
like some kind of logic puzzle... literally a "logic" puzzle.
I'd have to wait until my weekend before I begin to tackle it.
RE: NandGame - Lain - November 7th, 2019
Jesus. Every time I see circuitry like that, I always wonder how they can have that much patience to put something together that large and complex.
Like, I'd work on it one night, and the next time I pick it up again (probably the next night,) I'd forget where I was and spend the rest of the night reverse-engineering the f*** I put together. Rinse and repeat until I get tired with my own stupidity.
But nah, you can do lvl1 with just one NAND gate. Realistically you can do the first few levels in a few minutes if you're all brushed up on your boolean logic. Getting the most optional solutions is a whole other issue.
It's cool that the game also tells you if you have the most 'correct'/optimal solution, based on the number of logic components you use or how many nand gates are used total. Optimizing the last few levels I've found was waaaaay easier than the early levels though.
RE: NandGame - SpookyZalost - November 7th, 2019
heh, you know I figured out what this reminds me of.
Ever play Shenzen IO?
it's similar in that you're building logic circuits but instead of CPU's you're building hardware to solve problems.
RE: NandGame - Lain - November 7th, 2019
(November 7th, 2019 at 8:33 PM)SpookyZalost Wrote: heh, you know I figured out what this reminds me of.
Ever play Shenzen IO?
it's similar in that you're building logic circuits but instead of CPU's you're building hardware to solve problems.
No, actually I haven't. Looking at it now and it's cool AF.
Dunno if I want to drop 15$ on it, might try to find a torrent tho. Either way I'll probably pick it up.
I did play TIS100 a while ago, which was also a lot of fun. Don't think I ever beat it but I still loved like every second of that game, basically you're reverse-engineering a black-box IO machine, and the manual tells you what the outputs should be based on inputs, and you essentially need to write your own assembly to get the right outputs based on the inputs of the machine.
RE: NandGame - SpookyZalost - November 8th, 2019
I have all 3 of their games, they're a great way to pass time ^_^
and they work in linux too