CHIP-8 Interpreter

This project is a CHIP-8 emulator written in Go. The CHIP-8 is an interpreted programming language, developed by Joseph Weisbecker, used on some early computers. This emulator can load and run CHIP-8 ROMs, providing a graphical and audio interface for the games.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Installation
• Usage
• Project Structure

Features

• Emulates the CHIP-8 CPU and its instructions.
• Loads and runs CHIP-8 ROMs.
• Provides graphical output using SDL2.
• Handles input from the keyboard.
• Plays sound using SDL2.

Installation

Prerequisites

• Go (version 1.13 or higher)
• SDL2 library

Steps

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/rinald/chip8.git
cd chip8

2. Install SDL2:

• macOS: brew install sdl2
• Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install libsdl2-dev
• Windows: Download and install from the SDL2 website.

3. Build the project:

go build -o chip8 main.go

Usage

1. Run the emulator with a CHIP-8 ROM:

./chip8 -rom roms/pong.ch8 -delay 2

2. Use the following keys to interact with the emulator:

1 2 3 4
Q W E R
A S D F
Z X C V

3. Press ESC to quit the emulator.

Project Structure

chip8/
├── cpu/
│   ├── cpu.go
│   ├── decode.go
│   └── instructions.go
├── graphics/
│   ├── audio.go
│   ├── graphics.go
│   └── render.go
├── rom/
│   └── rom.go
├── main.go
└── README.md

• cpu/: Contains the CPU implementation and instruction decoding.
• graphics/: Handles graphics rendering and audio playback using SDL2.
• rom/: Manages loading of CHIP-8 ROM files.
• main.go: The entry point of the emulator.

Screenshots