CHIP-8 Emulator

This is a CHIP-8 emulator designed in C++.

Build

The project requires the following prerequisites for a successful build.

• SDL2
• CMake

NOTE- The project is designed to be built for Linux/Unix systems. It can be built for Windows as well using the WSL environment. Please ensure that you install the Linux version of these dependencies when working with WSL.

From the project directory, use the following commands to build the executable

cmake -S . -B build
cd build
make

Run

Use the following command to run the executable

./chip8 path/to/rom

The emulator comes with a verbose mode that will print the relevant details of each instruction that is executed. Use the --v flag to enable verbose mode.

./chip8 path/to/rom --v

Controls

The emulator uses a hexadecimal keypad to enter inputs for programs that allow for it. The mapping is shown below.

 1 | 2 | 3 | C          1 | 2 | 3 | 4  
---+---+---+---        ---+---+---+---
 4 | 5 | 6 | D          Q | W | E | R
---+---+---+---   =>   ---+---+---+---
 7 | 8 | 9 | E          A | S | D | F 
---+---+---+---        ---+---+---+---
 A | 0 | B | F          Z | X | C | V

The Esc key can be pressed at anytime to immediately close the application.

Credits

• Cowgod's Chip-8 Technical Reference v1.0
• How to write an emulator (CHIP-8 interpreter)
• Timendus' Chip-8 test suite
• dmatlack's repository of Chip-8 compatible programs