I finally found some time to work on the ZX Spectrum Next version of CHIP-OTTO, my CHIP-8 virtual machine.
Even if it is still a development version which needs some polishing, I decided to release it, since the core functionalities are fully operational.
You can download it from the project page on itch.io.
The package includes:
- some demos, like a Sierpinski Triangle fractal generator in only 45 bytes;
- YAS – Yet Another Snake, a Snake/Nibbles game,
- Joystick configurations for almost all known CHIP-8 and SuperChip games.
In addition, you can download Chip-8 Pack (thanks, Revival Studios!), an archive with tons of CHIP-8 games and programs ready to use with CHIP-OTTO.
Yes but… what is CHIP-8?
For those who do not know what I am talking about, CHIP-8 is an interpreted programming language, developed in the mid 1970s by Joseph Weisbecker and initially used on home computers based on RCA’s CDP1802 processor, such as the COSMAC VIP. It’s a small pseudomachine language, designed for writing simple video games.
CHIP-8 had a second youth in the nineties, when the interpreter was ported, with some extensions, to the HP48SX calculator. The CHIP-8 virtual machine specification is quite simple, but I find it very amusing!
CHIP-OTTO is my implementation of the CHIP-8 virtual machine, originally developed for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. After that, I implemented a web browser version and then started porting it to other Z80 based microcomputers, such as the Cambridge Z88 and Amstrad CPC, but these ports were never released. I also started working on a CHIP-8 handheld console based on the Arduino board.
