Building a Chip-8 Emulator in C

Why Chip-8?

Chip-8 is often recommended as a first emulator project because it's simple enough to complete in a weekend, yet complex enough to teach you the fundamentals of emulation.

The Architecture

Chip-8 has 35 opcodes, 16 8-bit registers, and a simple memory model. The display is 64x32 pixels, and programs start at address 0x200.

Key Challenges

• Implementing the DXYN draw instruction (sprites, XOR rendering)
• Handling keyboard input and the waiting-for-key opcode
• Getting the timing right (Chip-8 runs at ~540Hz)

The Result

The finished emulator includes a built-in debugger with memory inspection, register viewing, and step-by-step execution. Check it out on GitHub!