PETALING JAYA, May 28 — University student Yusri Haneef has created a stunning replica of the iconic Petronas Twin Towers in the world of Minecraft.

The youth from Kuching, Sarawak told Malay Mail that he spent four days constructing the landmark in the sandbox video game, in which players can mine raw materials and build custom structures or earthworks.

He did so with the help of fellow Minecraft gamer Yu Yi Hao and another player known by the username Ivine123.

Yusri explained that the virtual version of the Petronas Twin Towers is part of their contribution towards the Build The Earth (BTE) project, a worldwide effort by players to recreate a scale replica of our planet in Minecraft.

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The most challenging part of the building process was ensuring that the replica was true to scale and resembled the landmark in terms of visuals, decorations, lighting, and more.

“The BTE project focuses on a perfect recreation of the Earth in Minecraft on a one-to-one scale (one metre equals one block in-game) so we needed to take into account every measurement including height, length, decoration, number of floors, and lighting.

“Google Maps alone was not enough to be a reference when recreating the buildings, so we would look for aerial pictures on Google, drone footage, and even vlogs that were uploaded on YouTube,” said Yusri.

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The 21-year-old and his fellow gamers are still working on building the Suria KLCC shopping mall at the base of the towers after completing the nearby KLCC Tower 3 and the Maxis Tower.

In a post on the Facebook page MineCraft Malaysia Group, Yusri confessed that recreating Suria KLCC’s dome-shaped roof was taking up a lot of time as it had a complex design that was not easy to replicate in the game.

Once that’s been tackled, Yusri said he plans on building a Minecraft version of other recognisable landmarks in the capital city including the KLCC Park, the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur, the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, and the Felda Tower.

Yusri said he was first introduced to Minecraft by his older brothers in 2011 and connected with a close-knit community of Malaysian players which has grown over the years.

“In that community, we would gather together and start building random stuff including rockets, snow globes, and even a small Eiffel Tower.

“What I love the most in the game is the building block aspects that allow us to build amazing creations from our imaginations, ranging from a small wooden house to a large sculpture.”

Yusri decided to hop onboard the BTE project after being inspired by the work of his fellow Minecraft builders and is excited to be part of a global community working with a common goal to recreate a virtual replica of Earth.