p></p><h1>Purdue inside Minecraft</h1><strong>07-20-2021</strong>
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p>Anyone Boilermaker alumni could claim that Purdue's campus is characterized by its stunning brick buildings famous fountains, iconic fountains and bell tower. Now there's a Purdue student is creating his own Purdue campus for the gamers in the world of Minecraft and Minecraft, making this the no. 10 Best Public Universities in the U.S.
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p>Purdue Computer Science senior, Esteban Vicente-Paulino Richey has constructed Purdue's campus within of the popular video game Minecraft. Richey began his project of passion in the year 2019, and completed it 300 hours later, he had 3 million blocks placed. Richey now has 52 percent of the campus constructed within Minecraft. He has finished many campus buildings to the north of State Street alongside Andrew Klotz, who helped build 30 percent of the campus. The completed buildings include the Wilmeth Active Learning Center, the Class of 1950 Lecture Hall, Elliott Hall of Music Residence halls on campus, Ross-Ade Stadium and even Purdue Mall, complete with the Class of 1939 Water Sculpture.
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p>Minecraft was first made available to the public in the year 2011. https://p2psys.com/ Minecraft is a "sandbox" game, which means there are no goals or goals. This allows the player to be creative and free of constraints. The world of Minecraft is made up of different blocks, or cubes, of material which players can arrange and rearrange them to build scenes and structures. With more than 200 million copies sold and 126 million active monthly users as of 2020, Minecraft is known as the top-selling video game ever.
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p>Richey's fascination with Minecraft began when he in middle school in Carmel, Indiana, and the game was released for the first time. His family had a computer that was unable to run the game, however, Richey was able to watch other players play it on YouTube. In 2013, the family bought a brand new computer that was able to play Minecraft, and he has been playing ever since.
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p>"I believe that Minecraft is now a millennial type of game, and that people around the college age have played or were a part of growing up with this game. It's a sport that a lot of people can get into quickly, be creative, and collaborate with other players," Richey says.
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p>Richey began at Purdue in 2018 as a freshman in computer science. Because he was a fan of taking advanced computer science classes at the high school he attended Richey was certain he wanted to study computer science at Purdue.
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p>He says, "I had never been to Purdue prior to my first semester. But in the season, I began to become familiar with the campus and my classes," he said. He joined Launch Campus Ministry as a freshman and spent time in the Waldron Street clubhouse. That is when he got the idea to build the house in Minecraft.
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p>"Because it was the first building I spent long hours in, I built it with great care in Minecraft. My friends all enjoyed it. So, after I made the front yard, I thought, why not create the front yard and then the backyard, and finally the buildings across the street? Then I continued to build and expand to what I've created today," Richey says. "I also took a lot of inspiration from <strong>Purdue's virtual tour</strong> topographic maps and maps to help me create and create the campus within the game to be recognized as the whole."
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p>The most difficult aspect of creating campus has been the creation of new structures and buildings as Purdue continues to expand. It's difficult to keep pace with the constant changes taking place on campus. If (Purdue President) Mitch Daniels could let me know when new buildings are going up or being renovated prior to when they are due, that would be great," Richey says as he laughs.
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p>Richey who is a rising senior, is planning to make his big leap to become a computer science student in May. He'll also remain at RSA Security, where he is currently a part-time intern. He plans to continue building Purdue University in Minecraft.
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p>"I love how campus looks and I love the people who reside there. I am also enthralled by the fact that I have so many fond memories from all the buildings I've built here. It's really fun and makes me want to continue. Richey stated that, although I was apprehensive about having to stop once I graduate, it's likely that I'll build West Lafayette.
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p>If you play Minecraft you can download the Purdue map file below to play. <strong>https://github.com/estebanrichey/PurdueInMinecraft/</strong>
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p><strong><strong>About the Department of Computer Science at Purdue University</strong></strong>
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p>Founded in 1962 in 1962, the Department of Computer Science was created to serve as an innovative base of knowledge in the rapidly growing field of computing as the first degree-awarding program in the United States. The department continues to improve the field of computer science by conducting research. US News & Reports ranks Purdue CS #20 in graduate programs and #18 for undergraduate programs and #18 in undergraduate programs. It is ranked ninth in cybersecurity and software engineering, 14th for programming languages 13th for computing systems, 24th for artificial intelligence, and 24th overall by US News & Reports. The graduates of the program are able solve complex and challenging problems in many areas. The record number of undergraduates enrolled and the increase in faculty recruitment and innovative research projects and the creation of new academic programs are all proof of our continued success in an ever-changing landscape. The growing importance of computer science within social sciences and academic disciplines and the new research initiatives that focus on artificial intelligence, data science, programming languages and theoretical computer science, machine learning, and cybersecurity - are the future focus of the department.
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