CHIP-8 emulation in Python
This interpreter aims to be compatible with the original CHIP-8 instruction set for the COSMAC VIP with no extensions, with the exception of the 0nnn instruction to execute a machine language subroutine.
In total, 34 opcodes are supported.
It was tested on Python 3.8 using pygame 2.0.0.dev10.
$ python3 main.py -h
usage: main.py [-h] [--scaling-factor n] [--cycles-per-frame n] [--starting-address n] rom
CHIP-8 interpreter
positional arguments:
rom ROM file
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
--scaling-factor n Screen scaling factor (default: 8)
--cycles-per-frame n CPU cycles per frame (at 60 fps) (default: 10)
--starting-address n Starting address (default: 512)
The following keyboard mapping is used:
Keyboard: CHIP-8:
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 C
Q W E R 4 5 6 D
A S D F 7 8 9 E
Z X C V A 0 B F
$ python3 main.py "roms/games/Pong (alt).ch8"
$ python3 main.py "roms/games/Tetris [Fran Dachille, 1991].ch8"
test_opcode.ch8 results:
Opcode descriptions for method names are based on Cowgod's technical reference.
Since this includes a few errors (for example with the description of opcodes 8xy6, 8xyE, Fx55 and Fx65), Matthew Mikolay's instruction set table and chip-8.github.io were used as the primary sources for the technical implementation.