Minecraft players are recreating China’s rapidly built Wuhan hospitals

Minecraft gamers are using online blueprints to digitally rebuild two medical centers used to help fight the coronavirus

Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

Josh Ye

Published: 5:00am, 20 Feb 2020

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This article originally appeared on ABACUS

Many people in China have turned to video games to pass time as the coronavirus outbreak keeps cities locked down. And some gamers are finding creative uses for their time. Multiple Minecraft players have taken to digitally recreating the construction of the new medical centres in Wuhan that were rapidly erected to help fight the spread of the deadly Covid-19 disease.

Earlier this month, two temporary medical centres were built in just over a week in the central city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak. As many as 40 million people reportedly tuned in to a live stream of thousands of workers toiling day and night to build the structures from the ground up.

To pay tribute to these projects, Chinese Minecraft players recreated the medical centres in the game using blueprints of the two buildings that the government made available online.

One Minecraft art group named the Ancient Stone was among the first to have recreated the Huoshenshan and Leishenshan medical centers. In reality, the two facilities together span over 113,000 square meters (1.2 million square feet) and can provide more than 2,500 beds. The group didn’t say how many blocks it took to recreate the buildings in Minecraft.

You can tell that the creator has paid attention to even the smallest of details. (Picture: The Ancient Stone/Bilibili)

Still, a video the Ancient Stone released on Bilibili shows a detailed (albeit blocky) digital structure that appears to be surprisingly faithful to the actual buildings. The virtual recreations include intensive-care units, patient wards and hundreds of medical professionals.

By following the blueprints made available online, the Ancient Stone also tried to replicate what goes on inside those two new medical centers. (Picture: The Ancient Stone/Bilibili)

The project also appears to have followed the same sequence of events used in building the real medical centres. The Minecraft copies started with dozens of bulldozers clearing out a barren field, which was followed by a fleet of cranes coming in and laying down prefabricated materials at the site.

Solo creator June-Fu recreated the process of erecting two massive medical centers in just over a week. (Picture: June-Fu/Bilibili)

Two other Minecraft players have also taken on this challenge. A member of the group Minehero was said to have completed recreating the hospitals in just a few days. And Minecraft player June-Fu put together digital replicas, too.

China has long had a vibrant and active Minecraft community. The game, published by NetEase in China, reportedly had nearly 300 million registered users by last November. In recent years, works from Chinese Minecraft enthusiasts have caught the attention of Minecraft fans worldwide. One of these includes a massive Blade Runner-style cyberpunk city made with more than 370 million blocks.

While the efforts to recreate Wuhan’s new medical centres was started by gamers themselves, Minecraft’s development team in China also introduced replicas of two of China’s leading respiratory medical centres. Players can visit these centres and get free information about infectious viruses.

Minecraft’s team in China quickly put together two respiratory medical centers for players to visit… not for treatment, but for knowledge and awareness. (Picture: Minecraft)

The development team said that players who visit these medical centres will be quizzed on their knowledge about respiratory diseases and where to seek help in a hospital for anyone exhibiting symptoms.

The respiratory medical centers have been recreated inside and out. (Picture: Minecraft)

Minecraft said that the aim of the project is to educate teenage gamers about infectious diseases and offer tips and tricks about how to properly wear a mask in real life.

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