CHIP-8 Emulator in Go

Welcome to the CHIP-8 Emulator! This project is an implementation of the CHIP-8 virtual machine written in Go. It aims to accurately emulate the CHIP-8 architecture, supporting its instruction set, input handling, graphics, and timers. This emulator is designed with modularity and performance in mind, featuring SDL for graphics and input, and includes a step mode for debugging.

🚀 Features

1. CHIP-8 Instruction Set Support

   • Full support for the CHIP-8 opcode set.
   • Handles arithmetic, logical, control, and memory instructions.
   • Implements sprite drawing and collision detection.

2. Graphical Display

   • Utilizes SDL2 for rendering.
   • Renders at a resolution of 64x32 pixels, scaled for modern displays.
   • Efficient handling of drawing sprites with XOR-based pixel toggling.

3. Input Handling

   • Maps CHIP-8 hexadecimal keys (0x0-0xF) to a standard keyboard layout.
   • Real-time handling of key presses and releases using SDL events.

4. Timers

   • Emulates the CHIP-8 Delay and Sound timers.
   • Timers decrease at 60 Hz, synchronized with the emulator’s frame rate.

5. Debugger Mode

   • Step-by-step execution for debugging.
   • Displays CPU state, memory, and current opcode for each step.

6. ROM Support

   • Load and play classic CHIP-8 ROMs such as Pong, Tetris, and Space Invaders.
   • Built-in support for .ch8 files.

🖥 How to Use

Requirements

• Go 1.20+
• SDL2 library
  • Install SDL2 via your package manager or follow SDL2 installation guide.

Setup

🎮 Controls

CHIP-8 Key	Keyboard Key
1	1
2	2
3	3
C	4
4	Q
5	W
6	E
D	R
7	A
8	S
9	D
E	F
A	Z
0	X
B	C
F	V

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please fork the repository, create a new branch, and submit a pull request.

License

This emulator is open-sourced under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more information.