CHIP-8 was created by developed by Joseph Weisbecker for the COSMAC VIP microcomputer.
Playable games in the browser using this emulator:
dependencies: pygame
pip install pygameusage
python3 chip8.py <rom path>My Key Mapping (QWERTY)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| q | w | e | r |
| a | s | d | f |
| z | x | c | v |
RESTART Game: ENTER
Decrease Volume: o
Increase Volume: p
Virtual Machine Spec
Memory
CHIP-8 can address up to 4KB(4096 bytes) of RAM from location 0x000 to 0xFFF.
The first 512 bytes, 0x000-0x1FF, should not be used by programs.
Registers
| Register | Size | Description |
|---|---|---|
| V[16] | byte | |
| I | short | General purpose |
| PC | short | Program counter |
| SP | byte | Stack pointer |
| DT | byte | Delay timer |
| ST | byte | Sound timer |
CHIP-8 Key Mapping
| 1 | 2 | 3 | C |
| 4 | 5 | 6 | D |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | E |
| A | 0 | B | F |
Screen
64x32-pixel monochrome display. Programs can also refer to sprites representing the hexadecimal digits 0-F. The sprites are 5 bytes, or 8x5 pixels, which should be stored in the memory area of 0x000-0x1FF.
Instructions
CHIP-8 instructions are always 2 bytes long in big-endian order. The original CHIP-8 includes 35 opcodes. See Opcode Table.