geaz/emu-chip-8

A CHIP-8 emulator written in C++

A CHIP-8 emulator written in C++

This project was done to learn how to write a simple emulator, get a bettter understanding of CPUs and to learn a bit of C++.

Because I wanted to display some debug information, I was forced to learn a bit of OpenGL (core mode), too. I wrote a small "screen" framework for OpenGL. The CHIP-8 output, memory debugger and register debugger are all seperate "screens", added to the OpenGL window by defining a simple grid layout. The grid layout is very naive, but enough to be used by this application. It also includes a simple resource manager to load shaders and fonts. The font class contains a method to render text and uses stb_truetype to create a bitmap of the font file.

This emulator should run cross platform. Use CMAKE to compile it and run it with the roms in the roms folder.

Usage example (Windows):

emu-chip-8.exe roms/BRIX

The emulator is in pause state on start.
Use p to pause/play.
Use n to step to next operation.

Ressources

• http://learnopengl.com
• http://devernay.free.fr/hacks/chip8/C8TECH10.HTM