Technology · Item
Logic
Delays, logic gates, transistors, op-amps and memories: five bricks to build any circuit, even a computer.
In the game
How to get it
Each one at the grid from silicon in epoxy on plastic (gates, op-amps, memories), a spring escapement (delay) or silicon between power cables (transistor); wire them with signal cables and set their mode on their sheet.
What it is for
Clocks, counters, thresholds, sorters, door codes, battery percentages: any rule a factory should follow.
Why it exists
A minimum of bricks so that a player can do everything, even build a processor for the art of it.
The same text the game shows in its progress tree and on the item's sheet (I).
The three rules
1. A signal is a number from 0 to 255; it is on from 128; logic outputs are 255 or 0. 2. Every component adds one turn of 50 ms; cables, junctions and repeaters add none. Times are shown in seconds ("0.5 s (10 turns)"). 3. An unplugged input is 0.
Logic boxes have no power cable: the signal cable feeds them. Each box's setting is engraved on its brass plate ("AND", "A+B", "0.5s") and its glass lamp lights when its output is on.
The bricks
| Brick | Does |
|---|---|
| Delay | gives back its input 0.05 to 30 s later |
| Logic gate | AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, XOR, on all 8 bits |
| Transistor | lets through as much power as its signal says |
| Op-amp | adds, subtracts, A x B / C, compares |
| Memory | keeps a number until the next write |
Classic circuits
- Clock: a delay and a NOT in a loop.
- Counter: a button on a memory's Write, the memory through an op-amp +1 into its Value.
- Threshold: a switch set to a value and an op-amp ">".
- Battery %: charge x 100 / 255 on an op-amp, shown on a Wall panel.
The system is complete: anything computable can be built. For long programs, one OWL-8 microcontroller replaces dozens of boxes.
On the progress path
EA1Advanced electronicsSide quest
- This stepEA1 · Logic
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