In Minecraft, Redstone is the electricity replacement, letting players generate powered devices. While traps are an obvious use for Redstone, with a little lateral thought and a lot of dedication, some players have found that they can take Redstone contraptions to a higher level. A MUCH higher level, even. In fact, it's rather incredible as to what can be built using the games' simple block system and some Redstone power. Below, I've put together my list of my favourite Redstone contraptions: from a working hard disk to a walking attack robot, you'll be stunned by what you can build.
The video phone
This project, sponsored by the US mobile network Verizon, recreated a working smartphone within Minecraft, capable of making and receiving video calls. Each of the screen ‘pixels’ is a regular Minecraft block, although it’s fair to say the screen isn’t exactly Retina resolution. The phone was built using a web app called Boxel to translate web pages and streaming video into Minecraft blocks that that can be rendered in real time. The source code is available for you to download and play with .
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The hard disk
It might only have enough storage space to store a text message, but don’t underestimate the technical achievement of building a working 1KB hard disk using nothing but Redstone circuits. Just one look at the screenshot reveals the technical complexity of what’s going on in the background. The creators used thousands of moving Redstone pistons to create the storage, where a solid block represented a 1 and a clear glass block a 0. Other have since built higher capacity drives.
The playable guitar
You won’t be picking the solo from Layla on this working Redstone guitar, but you can nonetheless change the chords by simply moving your character. This hugely complex build uses Redstone pressure plates – normally used to open doors when your character steps on them – to create the guitar version of the massive piano Tom Hanks plays in Big. The link to download the guitar is found in the description of the YouTube video.
Spaghetti rollercoaster
Rollercoasters are a common use for Redstone – the Minecraft ‘electricity’ is used to power a minecart around the tracks. Yet, few rollercoasters are as long, intricate and varied as this monster, which won second prize in a competition on the Planet Minecraft website, where many people share their builds. This is a winner for us because it doesn’t only use Redstone to power the carts, but for mini-games and fireworks that appear as you shuttle around the track.
Pac-man
Like the game itself, this Pac-man build is getting on a bit now – but it’s still one of the most amazing uses of Redstone we’ve seen. There are no ghosts or Pac-man himself, despite the visuals. Instead, the game sends your character running around a maze, collecting gold nuggets (instead of pellets) and trying to avoid zombies, skeletons and other Minecraft foes. A vast number of Redstone pistons and droppers control the action and there are even selectable difficulty levels, chosen by flicking Redstone levers.
Colossus Walking Attack Robot
Making things that move in Minecraft isn’t easy. Making massive robots that stomp across the landscape dropping TNT bombs on your enemies is something else. The makers of this massive, controllable beast claim it took more than 50 hours to build Colossus and you can see why: it’s a mass of moving pistons that must have required an incredible amount of engineering skill. They even had to build a Redstone elevator to get the player into the beast. Download using the link in the video description.
