Minecraft redstone enthusiast creates in-game computer to play Bad Apple

One of the most impressive genres of redstone builds in the entirety of Minecraft are those centered around recreating real-world computer hardware using nothing but vanilla redstone. And, as crazy as it sounds, the community has gotten amazing at doing so. One of the best examples of these builds is the IRIS CPU designed by user ModPunchtree.

Bad Apple on REDSTONE COMPUTER in MINECRAFT byu/ModPunchtree inMinecraft

This user recently made a post to the game's subreddit, showcasing their custom IRIS CPU playing a 16-bit version of the "Bad Apple" music video. This might seem like a strange choice at first, but the song is something of a meme for the greater internet. It's similar to how running Doom on random devices is all the rage but for a song.

The specs for both the video and the CPU (Images via Reddit)

ModPunchtree gives a bit of insight into the CPU in the comments, showing off impressive specs for a video and CPU that have been both hand-designed and built. The video itself is 12 FPS throughout 2588 total frames. The CPU is a custom 16-bit CPU with a custom 16-color, 64x48-pixel screen. This CPU runs at a million ticks per second, thanks to an advanced custom server.

The music video isn't actually running in real time due to the limitations of redstone speed. The music video ran at roughly one frame every 21 seconds, sped up after the fact to match the original.

There were plenty of comments referencing the song's meme status (Images via Reddit)

Many of the comments touch on the fact that playing "Bad Apple" on a device is a bit of a meme. There is a bunch of comments, ranging from the more general, such as those left by users like Namor05, stating that this is "... another episode of "can it play bad apple", while other users like santas_delibird reference the internet rule itself, being rule 86.

Many of the comments were supportive of such an impressive project (Images via Reddit)

Outside of references to the "Bad Apple" meme, however, most of the comments were simply dumbfounded by the spectacle of having running video in-game. Which is fair. Normally, images and animation like this can only be found in-game through photography mods or Minecraft camera mods, so seeing it in the vanilla game is quite a shock.

This also isn't the first time players have translated this iconic music video into Minecraft. Players have also taken advantage of the ability to add custom patterns to banners to play "Bad Apple" on Minecraft Banners, and there's even a nearly one-to-one version of the "Bad Apple" music video made using command blocks.

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Other Minecraft IRIS Projects

This isn't the only impressive feat that ModPunchtree and their custom redstone computer have shown off, however. ModPunchtree actually made a similar post to their personal YouTube channel, showcasing the same IRIS redstone CPU actually running a 16-bit version of the original Doom.

It was running at a pace of 23 seconds per frame. Not 23 frames per second. However, the fact that any version of Doom could be played, or a custom music video shown off, with nothing more than vanilla redstone is a true testament to just how advanced some redstone can get.

And if that wasn't impressive enough, ModPunchtree has been able to use IRIS to also replicate ray traced images onto the included display. Due to the resolution of the included screen, the image isn't particularly HD, but the very idea is impressive enough.

The scope, scale, and power of these builds seem like they would be more at home in any of Minecraft's best technical mods, rather than the vanilla game. Ultimately, this amazing machine serves as a great example of the limitless potential that has made Minecraft the single best selling game of all time.