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Wiki > Main > PluginIndex > PluginChip8

Chip8

A chip8 emulator.

Chip8 is a kind of assembly language for a long-gone architecture. This plugin runs games written using the chip8 instructions. The plugin works as a ViewerPlugin for the ".ch8" file extension. It quickly became the easiest system to write an emulator for, due to its low graphic resolution (64x32) and reduced I/O (a 16-key keyboard).

The HP48 community quickly wrote an emulator, and then enhanced the system capabilities to get higher resolution (128x64), scrolling, bigger sprites and fonts, etc. That new "virtual" system was named SChip (for Super-Chip).

The chip8 spec: http://members.aol.com/autismuk/chip8/chip8def.htm [link broken]

The rockbox Chip8 plugin shares its code with the SVision-8 standalone emulator. You can find more information on Chip-8 and SChip on the SVision-8 page.

Programs

The Chip8 programs are available from various places [Note: links broken] and none of them seems to have distribution restrictions. The SChip programs were mainly made by the HP48 community and were posted on various HP48 newsgroups and archives.

The archives GAMES.zip and SGAMES.zip contain these programs, together with any source files or documentation that came with them, and with the key mappings that make most of them playable on RockBox.

Search http://www.google.com/search?q=HP48+games Google for more wink

Keys

The original Chip8 key layout looks like:
1 2 3 C
4 5 6 D
7 8 9 E
A 0 B F

The default key mapping between Chip8 keys and RockBox keys is as follows:

Chip8 key 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
Recorder   F1 Up F3 Left Play Right F2 Down On            
Ondio     Up   Left Mode Right   Down              
iRiver     Up   Left Select Right   Down              
MR-100   Menu Up Play Left Select Right Display Down              
e200/Fuze     Scroll Back   Left Select Right   Scroll Forward              

Unfortunately, some games use keys that are not accessible through the default key mapping. To solve this, one may put a ".c8k" file with the same name as the original program which contains new key mappings (for BLINKY.ch8, one writes a BLINKY.c8k file). That c8k file contains 16 characters describing the mapping from the Chip8 keyboard to the default key mapping (that way, several Chip8 keys can be pressed using only one RockBox key). For example, a file containing the single line:

0122458469ABCDE5

would correspond to the following non-default mappings: 3->2 (up) 6->8 (down) 7->4 (left) 8->6 (right)

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CategoryPlugin: Chip8 game emulator [RecorderDONE, OndioDONE, H100DONE, H300DONE, H10DONE, iPod 1G2GDONE, iPod 4GDONE, iPod ColorDONE, iPod MiniDONE, iPod NanoDONE, iPod VideoDONE, iAudio M5DONE, iAudio X5DONE, GigabeatDONE, Sansa e200DONE, Sansa c200DONE, Sansa FuzeDONE, MR-100DONE]

I Attachment Action Size Date Who Comment
GAMES.zipzip GAMES.zip manage 57.0 K 11 Jul 2006 - 21:07 FredericDevernay Chip-8 games from various places
Games.zipzip Games.zip manage 54.1 K 11 Jul 2006 - 21:07 UnknownUser  
SGAMES.zipzip SGAMES.zip manage 82.4 K 11 Jul 2006 - 21:07 FredericDevernay Super-Chip games from various places
r20 - 02 Apr 2021 - 20:46:07 - UnknownUser


Parents: PluginIndex
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