Skip to content
HARD-HOOF

Circuits & gates

Alpha

Status: Gate discovery, saved gate boards, and Electronics Frame execution are implemented in source for Hard-Hoof 0.4.0-alpha.1. In-game behavior has not yet been reported.

Hard-Hoof circuits begin as physical component drawings in the Small Electronics Lab. A circuit that behaves as clean logic under every input case can be saved as a personal reusable gate. Saved gates are then placed on a PCB and etched for an Electronics Frame.

This keeps individual machines understandable: draw and measure a simple raw circuit once, then use its discovered behavior as a chip in larger boards. Electrical supply arrives through the frame; see Electricity and Wiring.

Parts and raw-circuit pads

Raw circuits use crafted resistors, transistors, and capacitors. Resistors limit current, capacitors store charge, and transistors are simplified ground-referenced electrical switches. Normal crafting recipes are available in JEI:

Item Pattern Yield
Resistor .C. / RCR / .C. (C = copper ingot, R = redstone) 4
Transistor redstone above; copper-quartz-copper; iron nugget below 2
Capacitor copper-paper-copper / paper-quartz-paper / copper-paper-copper 2
Blank circuit board three paper / three copper / three paper 2

In a raw Gates drawing, connect each component pin and the labeled pads:

Pad Job
POWER 24 V supply
GROUND Return path
INPUT A First tested input
INPUT B Optional second tested input
OUTPUT Measured circuit result

Choose one or two inputs. The lab tests each declared combination at 0 V and 24 V. A circuit must settle to a clean LOW or HIGH for every row, and every declared input must affect the output. A disconnected input, a constant result, a short, an unsettled circuit, or a middle voltage fails verification. A raw circuit cannot include reusable gates.

Discoveries are personal

Test & save measures the real raw-circuit result and records the schematic, input count, truth table, and component bill in the player's personal library. The library survives death, works from every lab, and holds up to 16 distinct designs. Test parts must be in inventory, but testing keeps them. Re-saving the same design does not take another library entry.

The lab recognizes the following familiar truth tables. 0 is LOW and 1 is HIGH.

A NOT BUFFER
0 1 0
1 0 1
A B AND NAND OR NOR XOR XNOR
0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1
0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0
1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0
1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1

Any other valid two-input truth table saves as CUSTOM. The label describes the measured behavior, not a required drawing.

Build a gate PCB

In the lab's PCB workspace, place saved chips and join them with copper. The PCB has A and B pads on the left and OUT on the right. Each chip's A input is upper-left, B input is lower-left when present, and output is on the right. The Electronics Frame supplies the chips' power and ground internally.

Copper is drawn as pin-snapped paths. A bridge mark at a bare crossing means the paths remain separate. A crossing at a component or gate pin is a junction. Inputs left floating, two drivers on one net, and feedback that cannot reach a stable result fail closed, producing no usable output.

Etching needs one blank board and one etchant in the lab, plus the exact total component bill in inventory. Every placed gate instance contributes its saved components to that bill: two copies of a one-resistor, one-transistor NOT need two resistors and two transistors. Components, board, and etchant are consumed once the 100-tick powered etching job completes. The produced PCB contains snapshots of its gates, so it does not depend on the creator retaining those library entries.

Etchant is made in the lab from salt, an iron ingot, and a water bucket; the bucket returns. Salt comes from smelting dried kelp. The lab uses 6 W and can bridge brief interruptions with its 30 J reserve.

First gate: NOT

  1. Craft a resistor and transistor.
  2. Open the Small Electronics Lab's Gates workspace, keep one input selected, and load Example into an empty drawing.
  3. Test and save it. The two measured rows are NOT: A=0 gives 1, and A=1 gives 0.
  4. In PCB, load Example, which connects A through that saved NOT gate to OUT.
  5. Etch it with a blank board and etchant, then install it in an Electronics Frame. With master power enabled, change A between LOW and HIGH to see the inverted front output.