Save/Load Persistence

What's Automatic

The game automatically persists:

• The chip's source code
• IC10-style state: registers, stack, memory (the 512-address memory)

So mem_read/mem_write values survive save/load with no extra work.

What's NOT Automatic

Lua local/global variables are NOT persisted. After a load, your script re-initializes from scratch (module-level code runs again).

Opt-In Persistence

Define serialize() and deserialize(blob) to save/restore custom state:

local mode = "auto"
local setpoint = 22.0

function serialize()
    -- Return a string blob to persist
    return util.json.encode({ mode = mode, setpoint = setpoint })
end

function deserialize(blob)
    -- Restore state from the blob
    if type(blob) ~= "string" then return end
    local ok, data = pcall(util.json.decode, blob)
    if ok and type(data) == "table" then
        mode = data.mode or "auto"
        setpoint = data.setpoint or 22.0
    end
end

function tick(dt)
    -- mode and setpoint survive save/load
    print("Mode: " .. mode .. " Setpoint: " .. setpoint)
end

Rules

Rule	Detail
serialize() must return a string	Or nil to skip
deserialize(blob) receives the string	Called after init on load
Source-hash match required	Blob is only applied if the script hasn't changed
Best-effort	Errors are swallowed; persistence never crashes the game
Synchronous only	No yield or sleep inside these functions

Quick Persistence via Chip Memory

For simple values, use chip memory instead of serialize/deserialize — it persists automatically:

local ADDR_COUNT = 0

-- Read persisted counter on startup
local count = mem_read(ADDR_COUNT) or 0

function tick(dt)
    count = count + 1
    mem_write(ADDR_COUNT, count)
    ic.write(ic.const.BASE_UNIT_INDEX, ic.enums.LogicType.Setting, count)
end