Align device identifiers with game

[glektarssza]

The current language of the game allows the following types for devices in instructions:

• Devices (d#)
• Registers (r#)
• Device IDs (???)

The current code base does not understand the concept of a device ID at all so I've added a minimal concept of it. It also does not accept a register as a valid input for a device-related instruction despite the in-game documentation saying it's allowed (as a pointer to which device to access).

Screenshot of the in-game documentation showing registers as an acceptable input for devices:

Screenshot of the LSP in action inside of the amazing awilliamson/ic10-language-support VSCode extension:

[Xandaros]

So, let me make sure I understand this. Whenever a device is given, you can now, in addition to d# and dr#, also give it a register containing a device ID, or a device ID directly?
What makes a device ID different from a normal value? Can you give a literal device ID, or is it some kind of opaque type you need to acquire with other instructions?

I haven't really been keeping up with changes to IC10, so if you could point me at an announcement where this was introduced, that would be greatly appreciated.

[glektarssza]

The "direct device ID" capability was part of the last major update (the "Biggest Update Ever" update). See: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/544550/view/533235259603419415.

To quote the update itself for brevity:

Streamlined Code with Direct Addressing

We've fundamentally streamlined how you reference devices. Previously, to read a variable from a specific device, you often had to load that device's ID into a register and then use a dedicated instruction like ld.

Now, core instructions like l (load), s (store), and all device branching instructions have been upgraded to support Direct Addressing. This means the instruction itself is smart enough to know if you're giving it a register, a device screw (like d0), or a raw Device ID. In short, you can skip the middleman, which makes your code cleaner and more intuitive.

Here's a practical example:

# THE OLD WAY
# You had to use 'ld' after moving the ID into a register.
move r0 123456789  # Move the Reference ID of a switch into r0
ld r1 r0 Open      # Load the 'Open' state

# THE NEW, SIMPLER WAY
# The 'l' instruction now does it all.
# You can use the ID directly, or an alias.
alias myswitch 123456789
l r1 myswitch Open # Load the 'Open' state directly

The device ID needs to be retrieved via a tablet with the configuration cartridge installed is my understanding at this time.