Terraria player builds in-game binary-to-decimal calculator

There have been some incredible computers built in Minecraft using redstone circuitry, but comparatively fewer in its 2D counterpart Terraria.That’s probably because although Terraria includes wiring mechanics it doesn’t have a built-in creative mode, which makes this sort of work a pretty hardcore pursuit. But not impossible, as YouTuber Joe Price has proved. Price has built a working binary calculator in the game, which can automatically convert binary into decimals and display the results on screen.

Creating the contraption required using a glitch called ‘hoiking’. Introduced in Terraria’s 1.2 patch, a ‘hoik’ is a series of sloped blocks which pushes players, NPCs, and items through solid areas almost instantaneously. If a game object is on or inside a sloped block it gets forced towards the top of the slant. So, by lining up multiple slopes, you can force a player from one block into the next, shoving them along at an incredibly fast pace.

Using hoiks, Price is able to push NPCs down pre-built paths and place buttons for them to hit along the way. The button inputs are interpreted as binary, which he can then convert to decimals, and… Well, it’s about here that I stop grasping how any of it works, but the results are undeniably impressive. Hoiks! Maths! Burn the witch!

Check the calculator out in the video above. (Special thanks to ZeroGravitas on the Terraria forums for his detailed guide on the history of hoiks.)

Tom is PC Gamer’s Associate Editor. He enjoys platformers, puzzles and puzzle-platformers. He also enjoys talking about PC games, which he now no longer does alone. Tune in every Wednesday at 1pm Pacific on Twitch.tv/pcgamer to see Tom host The PC Gamer Show.