chip8java

A simple CHIP-8 emulator

INTRODUCTION

This is my first emulator and my first public programming project as well. It is probably not the best CHIP-8 emulator around the Internet but somebody might find this interesting for educational purposes. It is able to successfully load all the CHIP-8 ROMs (some might need a little quirk detailed here: Diesel-Net/kiwi-8#9).

COMPILATION

In order to compile the emulator execute the next command:

javac src/chip8/*.java

(Make sure you have Java JRE 8 installed in your system before trying to compile).

The .jar file will appear under dist/ directory. To launch the emulator use:

java -jar dist/chip8.jar rompath shift_quirk load_store_quirk magnify_factor wave_type

where:

• rompath: ROM gamepath you want to play
• shift_quirk: should be true or false
• load_store_quirk: should be true or false
• magnify_factor: should be a natural number. It multiplies the original screen size by this number (WARNING: a too high number might result in poor performance). -wave_type:
  • 0: square
  • 1: saw-tooth
  • 2: triangle
  • 3: sine (WARNING: due to the low frequency chosen [200 Hz] some speakers might not be able to play the sound accurately. In my case, my laptop's speakers are unable to play it, but my headset is)

KEYBOARD

The CHIP-8 original keyboard is:

-----------------
| 1 | 2 | 3 | C |
-----------------
| 4 | 5 | 6 | D |
-----------------
| 7 | 8 | 9 | E |
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| A | 0 | B | F |
-----------------

And it has been mapped to:

-----------------
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
-----------------
| q | w | e | r |
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| a | s | d | f |
-----------------
| z | x | c | v |
-----------------

Final note on quirks: Make sure they are enabled or disabled properly according to this guide: Diesel-Net/kiwi-8#9