Circuits
Wires that carry information rather than sparks.
Circuit networks carry information. They are deliberately separate from the physical spark system:
- Copper/iron/graphene carry sparks, generate heat, melt, and can fail.
- Purple circuit wires connect whole devices and carry named integer signals.
- Circuit wires have no cell footprint and cost no material. They are a visible wiring overlay, not an alternative kind of copper.
Using a wire
Turn on Circuit Wire in the left panel (or press X), then left-click one device and left-click another. The purple line is the connection. Repeating the same two clicks removes that wire. Clicking empty space cancels a half-finished link.
Circuit Wire mode uses a violet cable-end cursor. After the first endpoint is selected, a dotted preview cable follows the cursor until the second endpoint is chosen or the link is cancelled. The preview is only guidance: it does not place a physical wire or cost an item.
Arithmetic and Decider Combinators have two terminals: violet on the left is input; gold on the right is output. Click the matching half of the device when wiring. Their sides are separate networks, so output only feeds input when you deliberately wire it back; that is how counters and clocks become possible.
All linked devices form one network. Signals from every producer on that network are added by name. Circuit evaluation has a one-frame boundary: devices read the previous frame's network and publish this frame's values. That makes feedback loops predictable instead of depending on device-list order.
Signals
Every material is its own signal. A chest holding 40 Copper publishes Copper = 40; pipes, drains, and spouts do the same with their buffer. A Block Watcher publishes the material it currently sees as material = 1.
The generic channels 1 through 9 are for values that are not items:
- A Thermocouple publishes its temperature in Celsius on
1by default. Its right-click panel's signal button opens the searchable signal picker. - Clock and Pulse Button publish
1 = 1for their firing frame. - A Constant Combinator continuously publishes a configured value on one of the numbered channels.
Combinators
Three circuit devices appear in the catalog and creative inventory:
- Constant Combinator — select output channel and tune its value.
- Arithmetic Combinator —
A op B -> output, with+,-,*,/, and%(division/modulo by zero output 0). - Decider Combinator — outputs A when a comparison is true:
>,<,=,>=,<=, or!=.
Their right-click panel provides buttons for A, B, output, and operator. Clicking any signal button opens the searchable signal picker, shared with filters: virtual 1 through 9 appear as violet numbered chips and every material appears with its regular item sprite. The panel also shows up to three live signals on its input and output networks, so you can tell whether the problem is the reader, the condition, or the cable on the wrong side. They start on generic channels 1, 2, and 3; material signals are automatically available from connected inventory readers and are already used directly by the drain filter.
Circuit-controlled drain filter
A Drain still supports its manual material filter. If its circuit network has a positive material signal, the strongest material signal temporarily overrides that manual filter. For example, connecting a chest holding Copper makes a drain collect Copper; disconnecting it returns to the manual choice. This keeps physical spark toggles responsible for enable/disable while circuit signals carry the richer filtering information.