CHIP-8 Emulator with ImGui Debugger

This project is a CHIP-8 emulator with a comprehensive debugging interface built using ImGui. The debugger provides real-time visualization of the CPU state, memory, registers, and allows interactive debugging similar to professional development tools.

Features

Core Emulator

• Complete CHIP-8 CPU implementation
• 4KB memory with font data
• 64x32 monochrome display
• 16-key hexadecimal keypad
• Sound and delay timers
• Stack for subroutines

Debug Interface

• ROM Selector: Interactive file browser for loading ROMs from the roms/ directory
• CPU State Window: Shows program counter, stack pointer, index register, current instruction, and decoded instruction with instruction history
• Register Window: Displays all 16 V registers in a convenient grid layout with real-time updates
• Memory Window: Hex editor-style memory viewer with PC highlighting and navigation controls
• Stack Window: Real-time stack visualization showing actual values and stack pointer position
• Controls Window: Functional reset, pause/resume, single-step execution, and ROM loading controls
• Keyboard Window: Interactive CHIP-8 keypad with press/release visual feedback and proper key mapping
• Display Window: Pixel-perfect CHIP-8 display rendering with proper black and white output
• Organized Layout: Professional window arrangement that fits perfectly on screen

Building

Prerequisites

• CMake 3.15+
• SDL2 development libraries
• SDL2_image development libraries
• C++17 compatible compiler
• Git (for automatic ImGui dependency fetching)

Build Instructions

# Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>cd Chip8
# Create build directory and build
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make

Note: ImGui is automatically downloaded and built as part of the CMake configuration using FetchContent.

Running

# Start with ROM selector (recommended)
./chip8
# Or load a specific ROM directly
./chip8 <ROM_file># With custom settings
./chip8 [ROM_file] [cycleDelay]

Parameters:

• ROM_file: Path to CHIP-8 ROM (optional - ROM selector will appear if not provided)
• scale: Display scale factor (default: 10)
• cycleDelay: Milliseconds per CPU cycle for emulation speed (default: 1.4, ~700 instructions/s)

Controls

Debug Controls

• Reset: Completely resets the CHIP-8 system and reloads the current ROM
• Pause/Resume: Toggle emulation execution (shows current state)
• Step: Execute exactly one instruction when paused (for precise debugging)
• Load ROM: Opens ROM selector to browse and load ROMs from the roms/ directory

ROM Selection

• Startup: ROM selector appears automatically when starting without specifying a ROM
• File Menu: Access "Load ROM..." from the File menu at any time
• Browse ROMs: Visual list of all available ROMs in the roms/ directory
• Quick Loading: Double-click or select and click "Load ROM" to start playing

CHIP-8 Keypad Mapping

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

Debug Interface Navigation

• All windows are automatically positioned for optimal layout
• Click and drag window titles to reposition if needed
• Memory window supports scrolling and PC following
• Register values update in real-time during execution

Architecture

The project is organized into several components:

• src/chip8.cpp - Core CHIP-8 CPU implementation
• src/instructions.cpp - CHIP-8 instruction set implementation
• src/main.cpp - Main emulation loop with debugger integration
• UI/graphics.cpp - SDL2 graphics handling and ImGui rendering
• include/chip8.h - CHIP-8 system header with core definitions
• include/const.h - System constants and configuration
• roms/ - Collection of CHIP-8 ROM files for testing

Implementation Details

ImGui Integration

• ImGui 1.91.5 with SDL2 renderer backend
• Automatic dependency management via CMake FetchContent
• Professional window layout system with perfect positioning
• Real-time rendering alongside emulation

Graphics System

• Pixel-perfect CHIP-8 display rendering
• Proper black and white output (no color artifacts)
• SDL2 texture handling with ABGR format
• Smooth integration with ImGui rendering pipeline

Control System

• State-based execution control (running/paused/stepping/reset)
• Integrated main loop that respects all debug states
• Proper ROM reloading on reset
• Thread-safe state management

Technical Details

• Display: 64x32 pixels, black and white
• Memory: 4KB (4096 bytes)
• Registers: 16 general-purpose 8-bit registers (V0-VF)
• Stack: 16 levels of 16-bit values with visual stack viewer
• Timers: 60Hz delay and sound timers
• Instruction Set: Complete CHIP-8 instruction set implementation
• Debug Features: Real-time instruction disassembly, memory visualization, register monitoring
• UI Framework: ImGui with SDL2 backend for cross-platform compatibility

The debugger uses ImGui for the interface, providing a modern, responsive debugging experience that runs alongside the emulator in real-time. The interface is designed to mimic professional debugging tools with organized windows and comprehensive system state visualization.