Chippy-8

Chippy-8: A Chip 8 Emulator in C

Chippy-8 is a lightweight Chip 8 emulator built with C and SDL2, designed to run classic Chip 8 games on modern systems. This project showcases my skills in C programming, SDL2, and system-level development.

Overview

Chip 8 is an interpreted programming language used on early home computers in the 1970s. This emulator allows you to run games originally designed for Chip 8-compatible systems on modern devices.

The goal of this project was to create an efficient and portable emulator in C, leveraging SDL2 for rendering and input handling. It highlights my ability to work with low-level programming and graphics libraries.

Technical Details

• Programming Language: C
• Graphics Library: SDL2 for rendering and user input
• CPU Emulation: Implements the Chip 8 instruction set, including timers and sound support.
• ROM Loading: Supports loading and running ROM files that contain Chip 8 programs (e.g., games).
• Optimizations: Implemented efficient rendering loops and memory management to ensure smooth performance.

This project was a great way to deepen my knowledge of low-level programming, system architecture, and graphics handling.

Features

• Full Chip 8 Support: Capable of running classic Chip 8 games.
• Cross-Platform: Built with SDL2 for compatibility across multiple platforms (Windows, macOS, Linux).
• Optimized Performance: Efficient and lightweight design suitable for low-resource environments.
• Keyboard Input: Emulates keyboard interaction for Chip 8 games.

How to Run

To get Chippy-8 up and running, please refer to the full instructions on the GitHub repository. There, you’ll find the steps to install, build, and run the emulator on different platforms (Windows, macOS, and Linux).

In Action

Here’s a glimpse of the emulator running:

Some more screenshots of Chippy8 in action: