It seems that every week from now until the end of time we are going to see something be built in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom that will blow our Hylian socks off.
This started with Korok torture devices, swanky vehicles, and working Mechs, but all of that looks like child's play compared to what we have seen today from one player, who has managed to use the game's Zonai devices to build a fully-functional calculator —albeit a very basic one (thanks, Kotaku).
Shared on the YouTube channel c7fab, we can see the device working as a one-bit adder (a system that, you guessed it, adds things), calculating sums of up to 1+1+1. Now, yes, this might not be the expert-level computing that we have seen in the past from the likes of Minecraft's Redstone builds, but given what is currently possible with TOTK's Zonai devices, this is pretty darn impressive.
The below video is a little confusing to get your head around to start with, so let us attempt to explain. At a basic level, a calculator takes binary digits of 1 or 0 and puts them through various logic gates to work out a sum. In this instance, the digits are represented by the lights, which bounce off mirrors to navigate a series of physical gates that decide how many ones will appear in the sum.
The answer can then be found by looking at the light in the final two mirrors (on the left in the video), which gives the sum answer in binary with the mirror lit up representing 1 and no light representing 0.
Due to the drop limit in place in TOTK, the adder can only take in three one-bit numbers to give a two-bit answer — either zero (00), one (01), two (10) or three (11).
Answering questions in the comments, the designer stated that they cannot currently chain other adders into the sequence as this build has already hit the game's drop limit and there are currently no Zonai devices that are light-activated. That being said, we do seem to be learning more about what is possible in the game by the day, so it's surely only a matter of time before an answer is found to make these computer builds even more powerful.
Now, if you'll excuse us, we have to get back to pushing our Ultrahand builds to the limit by sticking four wheels and a steering stick on a plank of wood and calling it a car...
What do you make of this mathematic model? Add up your thoughts in the comments.
[source youtube.com, via kotaku.com]
Comments 42
I read this without my glasses and misread it as build-A-Bear, now I’m disappointed ): a Build-A-Bear link would be so cute.
Where are they getting the numbers from other than the text on the screen which I assume they added? I've not played the game.
i knew this game was gonna turn into a gimmick headline filler for the next 2 years or so. i mean it was fun playing with ultrahand for a bit, but it pretty quickly becomes apparent that it is essentially a gimmick. Hours easily get buried messing around with this stuff (fuse feels kinds pointless most the time), but idk, obviously you have to use these new 'runes' to clear shrines and 'temples' (BotW cut and paste), but the novelty quickly wears off, unless your the type that likes to be 'creative' and build all these pointless things. BotW is a far superior game. Also, no one seems to be talking about how next level bad the voice acting is in TotK. BotW had its issues, but ugh.
That's not Adder from Advance Wars...
I misunderstood Adder and was expecting a snake......oops
Impressive. One step closer to a full-on FPGA Gameboy implementation that can run Link's Awakening inside TOTK 😁
Was watching looking for the snake… I thought the article meant Adder as in a snake
@Patendo @ozwally Oh thank goodness. In am very glad to know I was not the only one! 🤣
@Gitface @ozwally @Patendo I saw it and mistook it for "atter," as in "attercop," so I was expecting a spider.
I read it as an Adder (snake) not a calulator
And here i came expecting to see a snake, or at least Rowan Atkinson.
@Patendo Someone essentially did make a mechanical snake, it looked like it was a long string of cooking pots with a zonai head.
Me, a non native English speaker: whaT IS an Adder??
@Bobb A calculator
"Adder?" lol
I figured it wouldn't be long before people started building computers.
@Potato-man thanks 😁
That was my initial reaction to the headline. The article itself explained it well enough
@Sam_TSM I was also expecting a wild wiggly adder snake
@smithyo Fuse feels pointless?! BotW cut and paste? lol what?
Change adder to calculator in the headline, so it doesn't confuse people.
That's a logic gate, not an adding machine or calculator.
Still impressive!
@abbyhitter this. Who the hell calls a calculator an adder?
@Snatcher I laughed way too hard at this!!
@smithyo I share a similar sentiment. Its not as ground breaking as BotW was, bit I am enjoying TotK. 10/10 game it is not, but 9-9.5/10 most certainly.
I try to do as little as possible with the builds, but sometimes you are at the mercy. I just love figuring out ways to do things not using the intended methods.
Mario Maker, Labo, Game Builder Garage, Tears of the Kingdom - Nintendo has construction on the brain.
@OldManHermit that sounds awesome!!!
"Adder" sounds like what a little kid would call a calculator. It's like calling an oven a warmer-upper.
@smithyo calling fuse "pointless" is a bit of a stretch. As I see it, it's the single most important mechanic change in the game that transformed the nuisance of weapons breaking into a fun progression (with higher level enemy parts) and experimentation part of the game.
@Stnkygrngo well if it made you laugh, I guess my mistake isn’t so bad eh?
I came in looking to see a giant snake this is a disappointment LOL
I'm going to have to take your word for it that that thing is doing addition. I have no idea what's going on in that video.
Can it play DOOM?
This is where the term "Adder" comes from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adder_(electronics) .
@smithyo Nintendo adding gimmicks to everything they do. Nah you don't say. What gave you that idea?
@Patendo same😂
@smithyo Even without the fuse system, there are caves, underground, sky islands ! Exploration is far better than BOTW. For me, who doesn't mess very much with the fuse system, I love discovering every pieces of land in this game which is far rewarding than BOTW.
@smithyo I would slightly disagree. Weapon fusing massively evolves even the most basic of weapons. Fuse and ultrahand mix things up considerably. I stormed a Bokoblin camp the other day. Instantly flipped a cage upside down over the white Bokoblin to keep him quite whilst dispelling the blue minions. The big boss Bokoblin got a face full of rewind of their throwing attacks and me ultrahanding anything I could drop on his head. It mixes up the possibilities of how you approach things massively in and out of combat
@gurtifus Over 100 hours in. All dungeons done but I am certainly not. Sorry Zelda, you are going to have to wait. I'm too busy finding every cave, secret over every square of the 3 layer map and it is pure joy. I lost two evenings walking the entire coast last week. I spent some time cooking and then set out and walked. It was a great adventure on its own
@Duncanballs yeah, but non of this is necessary. i mean you could have just killed them using the standard mechanics that existed in BotW - it is juts a 'creative' approach to fighting, but ultimately a gimmick where the novelty wears off.
@smithyo I think gimmick is subjective and it comes down to individuals and what they want to get from the game. Gimmick or call it otherwise, for me personally it hasn't worn off.
@smithyo
Feels pointless to be able to build what you want and have control mixing items and weapons?
You do realize that it all has a purpose right? Put ice on a shield and it glides and so on and so on. Maybe you just don't get the level of detail, the amount of thought that went into this game is pure magic.
TOTK is a true next gen game, You have true freedom, amazing physics and building.
There is layers and layers of possibilities in this game, the world feels real, the story, the challenges.
Even if you don't care to make things, TOTK is BOTW but better, much better.
A gimmick it is not, this is gaming at its finest. A masterpiece.
Link, an old man many years later, to his grandkids: "Calculators??? Why, back in my day..."
@Duncanballs That's exactly what I love to do in this game !
@smithyo I don't know why people are upvoting you for silly hot takes like "fuse is pointless". You can use it to augment the attack power of weapons, or give them new functional or elemental buffs. So demonstrably not pointless then.
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