termin-8 0.1.4

CHIP-8 emulator that runs in your terminal
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Termin-8
========
[![crates.io](https://img.shields.io/crates/v/termin-8.svg)](https://crates.io/crates/termin-8)

Octo-compliant CHIP-8 emulator frontend that runs in your terminal.

It uses [`deca`](https://crates.io/crates/deca) as the emulator backend, which supports CHIP-8, SUPER-CHIP (SCHIP) and XO-CHIP programs.

## Installation

First, [install Rust](https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install). Then, in your terminal:

```sh
cargo install termin-8
```

## Usage

Termin-8 should work on Windows, Linux, and macOS. If it doesn't, please [file an issue](https://github.com/tobiasvl/termin-8/issues/new/choose).

Download CHIP-8 ROMs from the internet, like the [Chip8 Community Archive](https://github.com/JohnEarnest/chip8Archive/), or make your own in [Octo](https://github.com/JohnEarnest/Octo).

Then run Termin-8 in your terminal:

```sh
termin-8 ROM
```

There are some command line options:

```sh
termin-8 --help
```

The hexadecimal CHIP-8 keypad is customarily mapped to the following keyboard keys:

|   |   |   |   |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| q | w | e | r |
| a | s | d | f |
| z | x | c | v |

In addition, the arrow keys are bound to WASD.

You can also use some other keys:

* <kbd>i</kbd>: interrupt execution, or continue execution after interrupt
* <kbd>o</kbd>: single-step (while interrupted)
* <kbd>Esc</kbd>: exit

## Terminal requirements

Note that the terminal requirements vary depending on what kind of program you attempt to run.

Here's a table with the required terminal size and Unicode support needed to get features such as XO-CHIP color support, depending on the resolution of the CHIP-8 program you're running and the [Unicode Block Elements](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_Elements) support of your font:

<table>
<tr>
<th>CHIP-8 resolution</td>
<th>Unicode version</td>
<th>Minimum terminal size</td>
<th>Pixel size</td>
<th>XO-CHIP colors</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td rowspan="4">64x32 (lores)<br>CHIP-8, SCHIP, XO-CHIP</td>
<td rowspan="3">1.0.0</td>
<td>128x32</td>
<td>██</td>
<td>✔</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>64x32</td>
<td>█</td>
<td>✔</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>64x16</td>
<td>▀</td>
<td>✔</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>3.2</td>
<td>32x16</td>
<td>▘</td>
<td>❌</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td rowspan="4">128x64 (hires)<br>SCHIP, XO-CHIP</td>
<td rowspan="3">1.0.0</td>
<td>256x64</td>
<td>██</td>
<td>✔</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>128x64</td>
<td>█</td>
<td>✔</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>128x32</td>
<td>▀</td>
<td>✔</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>3.2</td>
<td>64x32</td>
<td>▘</td>
<td>❌</td>
</tr>

</table>

Notes:
* In your browser, the smallest pixel block (▘) probably looks square, but this might not be the case with your monospace terminal font.
* Pretty much all fonts support the basic [Unicode Block Elements](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_Elements) in Unicode 1.0.0 which are used for the larger pixel blocks (█, ▀ and ▄), but support for the smallest blocks (like ▘) from Unicode 3.2 is much less common. Font families like _DejaVu_ and _Fira Code_ support them.

## Limitations

* Some games might not detect keypresses correctly. This is because [detecting when a key is released is very hard in a terminal](https://blog.robertelder.org/detect-keyup-event-linux-terminal/). Termin-8 does an approximation of keypress duration, but your OS's "key repeat" settings will influence how often it can poll for key presses.
* Your terminal's bell will sound when there's sound, but XO-CHIP music is not supported (as a terminal can't play sound on its own).