mcountryman / chip8

A rust, terminal ui chip8 emulator with debug information.

chip8

A rust, terminal ui chip8 emulator with debug information.

Usage

git clone [e-mail]:mcountryman/chip8.git
cd chip8

# To start the emulator
cargo run --release -- /path/to/game.ch8

# To start the emulator in a paused state
cargo run --release -- /path/to/game.ch8 --is-paused=true

Shortcuts

While running the following keyboard shortcuts will be available:

• space - Pause/unpause the virtual machine.
• enter - Steps virtual machine to the next instruction.
• esc - Exit the virtual machine.
• ctrl + c - Exit the virtual machine.
• q - Sends 0xa key to the virtual machine.
• w - Sends 0xb key to the virtual machine.
• e - Sends 0xc key to the virtual machine.
• a - Sends 0xd key to the virtual machine.
• s - Sends 0xe key to the virtual machine.
• d - Sends 0xf key to the virtual machine.
• 0 - Sends 0x0 key to the virtual machine.
• 1 - Sends 0x1 key to the virtual machine.
• 2 - Sends 0x2 key to the virtual machine.
• 3 - Sends 0x3 key to the virtual machine.
• 4 - Sends 0x4 key to the virtual machine.
• 5 - Sends 0x5 key to the virtual machine.
• 6 - Sends 0x6 key to the virtual machine.
• 7 - Sends 0x7 key to the virtual machine.
• 8 - Sends 0x8 key to the virtual machine.
• 9 - Sends 0x9 key to the virtual machine.

Features

• Small video memory

  Utilizes a stack allocated array of u64 where each bit in u64 represents a pixel.

• Debug interface.

  Displays the virtual machine register values, stack values, and disassembly.

• Responsive interface.

  Game window can be displayed in three different resolutions using three character sets: braille, quarter block and full block characters.

Credits

• cowgod Provided documentation of chip8 instructions and architecture.
• starrhorne Provided references for instruction execution, and ideas for parsing instructions.