Awesome
chip8-emu
CHIP-8 emulator written in C, using OpenGL.
Brief description
From Wikipedia: CHIP-8 is an interpreted programming language developed by Joseph Weisbecker, initially used in the mid 1970s to allow easier programming of games. There are a number of classic video games ported to CHIP-8 such as Pong, Space Invaders and Tetris.
It is considered one of the easiest emulation projects to undertake, given its simplicity.
Input
CHIP-8 uses a hexadecimal keyboard:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | C |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 5 | 6 | D |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | E |
| A | 0 | B | F |
Which this emulator maps to:
QWERTY
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q | W | E | R |
| A | S | D | F |
| Z | X | C | V |
or
AZERTY
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Z | E | R |
| Q | S | D | F |
| W | X | C | V |
Default combination on startup is QWERTY. Press TAB to change between QWERTY and AZERTY, if needed.
Current state
Right now the emulator can boot some ROMs successfully, like Pong (1 player), Tetris, Tic-tac-toe and Breakout. Some demos and programs don't execute correctly (like the clock by Bill Fisher).
TODO:
Fix freezes on some ROMs;Done. This was due to a wrong implementation of the 0xFX0A opcode.- Clear and organize code; (Partially done)
- Implement sound effect (beep) and delay timer;
Optimize code to run better on higher resolutions.Done. While maximized some games reach 290 FPS.Make an FPS cap to slow down the programs.Program runs at 60 FPS with updated graphics driver.
Used references
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHIP-8
- http://www.multigesture.net/articles/how-to-write-an-emulator-chip-8-interpreter/
- http://devernay.free.fr/hacks/chip8/C8TECH10.HTM
Acknowledgements
- Tiago Toledo Junior, a good friend, he gave the original idea of this project;
- David Jowett: The OpenGL implementation is based on his CHIP-8 emulator (https://github.com/DavidJowett/chip8-emulator).