Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 9.9
Comparators report inventory contents by emitting signal strength equal to
the number of slots available in that item divided by the number of full slots available,
converted to a percentage out of 15. The hopper and the chest each have 5 full slots. Be-
cause the hopper also only has 5 slots available in total, the comparator issues a
15-strength signal, or 100%. The chest has 27 slots in all and is approximately 18% full,
which rounds to the emitted signal strength of 3.
Comparators always output the same strength signal as their input unless they also receive
a side signal, which can be delivered by any input source. In this case, they operate in two
modes:
Compare mode
—If the side signal is greater than the input, the output is zero. In
all other cases, the input equals the output.
Subtract mode
—If the side signal is lower than the input, the output is the input
minus the side signal. In all other cases, output is zero.
This is a lot to take in, understandably. Some examples later will help.
Output Devices
All those power sources, wiring, and modifiers are a bit useless without the circuit actually
doing something. Minecraft provides a large number of devices, activators, gadgets, and
more.
Figure 9.10
shows the full set, described in the following list.
