Logic devices without a chip

Not every control needs a chip. The game has a whole family of small logic devices that you set up with the screwdriver. They read a value, compare, calculate and write, without a single line of code.

The four most important#

Compare and math work with the Setting of their input devices. A chain looks something like this: a reader reads the room temperature, a logic memory holds the setpoint, a compare checks “less”, a writer switches the heater. Which device and which value a reader reads is set with the screwdriver. According to the game data each of these four devices draws 10 W.

When a chip is better#

Logic devices are good for one single, simple rule that everyone in the room should see and understand. As soon as more comes along, the chip wins:

A detail from the game code: Equals and NotEquals in the logic compare compare with a small tolerance, not exactly like seq.

Three traps from the game code#

• Reader without a target: if the device a logic reader reads is removed, it reports Error 1 – but its Setting keeps the last value. A chip that only reads Setting notices nothing and keeps calculating with an old value. So read Error as well.
• Writer only writes on change: a logic writer only writes again when its input or its target changes. If someone has changed the target by hand in the meantime, it stays that way. With ForceWrite 1 you force it to write again on the next tick.
• Batch reader needs an output: the logic batch reader only works when a data cable hangs on its output as well. Otherwise it reports Error 1.

Combining both#

The chip can read any logic device like any other device. The Setting of a compare is then 0 or 1, that of a math device a calculation result:

lbn night COMPARE HASH("Nacht") Setting Average
lbn total MATH HASH("Summe") Setting Average

That way a chain that already exists feeds a chip. Or a chip puts a setpoint into a logic memory, and a simple chain at the other end of the base evaluates it.