Building a CHIP-8 emulator in C with SDL2

Jan 1, 2024
ProjectsCSDL2Emulation

A complete CHIP-8 emulator implementation in C with SDL2, demonstrating low-level systems programming expertise.

Features

  • Accurate CPU emulation with all 35 original opcodes
  • Memory management system (4KB RAM)
  • Graphics rendering with SDL2 (64x32 monochrome display)
  • Input handling for 16-key hexadecimal keypad
  • Sound system implementation
  • Comprehensive game/program compatibility

CHIP-8 Pong Screenshot

Technical Implementation

This emulator showcases deep understanding of:

  • CPU architecture and instruction decoding
  • Memory-mapped I/O
  • Graphics rendering pipeline
  • Real-time input processing
  • Binary file parsing and ROM loading

The emulator can run classic CHIP-8 games including Pong, Space Invaders, Tetris, and many others from the 1970s-80s era.

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