Tronix

Purpose

The idea behind Tronix is to create a visually appealing digital circuit simulator that is as fun as Minecraft redstone and Factorio. Users can create their own and save them for future use in larger circuits. When using premade circuits, only its speed and truth tables are used to determine outputs, given a set of inputs. Users can continue optimizing their circuits to be more efficient, either in size or speed.

The foundation for this project could be used to create an incremental game involving circuits, in a style similar to Shenzhen I/O.

Spin-off idea: Photonix - circuit simulation using light. You can follow the light’s path along the wires for a more mesmerizing view. It isn’t that much different from Tronix, unless some real-life physics simulation is incorporated. Will revisit this idea later on in development.

Planning & Design

MVP Ideas:

• Logic Gates - AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, XOR, XNOR
  • Can start off with just NAND and build other gates using it
  • Display their truth tables
• Wires and Connections - connect gates and wires via pins
  • For future circuit validation, ensure no feedback loops
• Input and Output Components - switches/buttons for inputs, signal or LED for output
• Circuit Simulation - yield expected output given a set of inputs
  • Step-by-step simulation engine for users to manually step through the circuit’s behavior each tick

Inspirations

• Flux.ai - PCB design software
• Factorio - factory building automation game
• Minecraft Redstone Circuits
• SHENZHEN I/O - circuit building & assembly coding game
• Digital Logic Design (The Game) - incremental game where you create logic gates starting from NAND and program chips to sell
• Sebastian Lague - Exploring How Computers Work - digital logic simulator in Unity C#