I've uploaded a new update to Blooprent, the past few updates were pretty substantial. Anyone who has donated or received free versions should be able to update their versions through the auto-updater.
The biggest changes would probably be the addition of multiple entity selection. You can now select as many entities as you'd like by holding shift and dragging an area. Holding alt, on the other hand, will deselect anything within the area.
Another new feature is the ability to duplicate anything that is selected. The duplication process will even inspect what you have selected and ensure that everything is connected properly when it is duplicated. This gives players the ability to create complex levels without any difficulty.
The logicbox system in previous versions has been totally reworked. The 'logicbox' no longer exists as it used to, instead I split it up so that each logic component has its own slot. This means that user-created levels can challenge people with wire and logic puzzles.
I got pretty carried away with all of the new changes to the logicboxes and wires, and decided to see what I could create. These wires have very little effect on the game at large, but they are fun to play with.
I started off relatively small, by creating a circuit that is able to add two 8bit numbers together. ( A + B = S ).
After I had the 8bit adder working, I wanted to create a way to store numbers and input them into the adder. So I created some registers (circuits to store numbers) and attached some circuitry that enables me to input the register into the adder.
By loading a register into A, and loading another register into B, I can add those two values and output them into S. I then figured out a way to connect S back up into the registers. This means that I can execute commands such as A = A + B. I believe this forms the basics that make up an ALU.
Once I had all that madness working, I created some more commands. I modified the adder to be able to subtract as well. I made a command to load one register with the value of another, a command to input a number directly into a register, and commands to AND / OR / XOR two registers together.
The buttons you see in the picture above contain the command, and commands are issued out like this: CCCCAABB, where C is the command you're issuing, A is the register you select for A, and B is used in the same way as A. So in order to add A and B together and put the value into A, you would issue the following add command: 10001001. The command values are listed on the level, and I've included all of the versions leading up to the 'final' version of the ALU.
I messed around some more and created a circuit version of Conway's Game of Life as well. Unfortunately it is only a 4 x 4 grid, but it actually works so I'm impressed. Both the ALU and my circuit version of life are in the new version of Blooprent.
I know that the circuits have almost nothing to do with the rest of the game, but I had to test out all of the changes that I had made and optimize things. So I might as well go all out, right?
Blooprent is almost finished. I'm excited. Stay tuned.
Blooprent.djoslin.info
