I’ve found this amazing Chip-8 database that contains a huge set of rom info; this info includes common button mappings, color mappings and supported platforms. I am planning to use this database to provide pre-build button configs for all original Chip-8 roms in the database.

If I am being honest, I am a little bit tired of this project. Chip-8 doesn’t interest me at all, the only part I enjoy is the emulation and N64 part. Still, I’m determined to push through and wrap something up this year.

Oh man, it’s starting to become a bad habit that I post something at the end of the month. I need to step up my game; otherwise, I won’t accomplish those New Year’s resolutions.

Anyway, I’ve spent some time improving my Chip-8 emulator. It now has basic program selection, and the input mapping is fully working, even if not very intuitive yet.

I am lucky this month has an extra day, I almost forgot to post something in February!

Things have been a bit slow this month due to a nice skiing trip and life in general. Work kept me busy!

But I did have a bit of time to work on a project. This time it wasn’t OASE but a Chip-8 Emulator for the N64. I’ve already written a Chip-8 emulator in Kotlin Multiplatform, but for the N64 I had to write it in C. Even though my C isn’t great it was a much nicer experience then the Kotlin version. Kotlin just isn’t nice to work with when dealing with unsigned types or binary operators, which are used a lot when dealing with file formats or emulation.

Anyway the emulator is not fully done yet, currently working on input mapping support once I’ve got a fully working version I’ll put the emulator on my GitHub.

In my previous post I mentioned OASE and the things I would like to improve. One of the big things that was missing is audio, radio stations to be specific. Vice City just doesn’t feel the same without those 80’s songs blasting from the radio.

So I decided to start the new year with some good vibes by adding MP3 playback to my engine. I am using NAudio to create PCM streams together with NLayer to parse MP3 data.

Boom we have sound!

But there was a little bump on the road, Vice City doesn’t use MP3s for the radio stations instead it’s using ADF, which isn’t a known file format. Luckily the smart folks at GTAForums.com already figured out that the files are just ordinary MP3’s but “encoded” by XORing all bytes with 0x22. So after 3 lines of code to XOR the data.

Billie jean is not my lover.

Last week, we looked back at 2023. Now, let’s turn our gaze toward 2024!

As always, I have many projects swirling around in my head simultaneously. I aim to set a goal for the upcoming year: to finish or release at least one of my projects.

So, what projects do I have in mind for this year?

Game using OASE

I would like to create a small game using my own engine. I’ve been contemplating some concepts and am eager to bring those ideas to life.

Elevating OASE VC to the Next Level

The engine can currently run a basic and very buggy version of the game, and there is still much room for improvement. The aspects I would like to enhance the most are player/vehicle movement, map streaming, and audio.

Wake-Up Light

For my son, I’ve developed an Arduino-based wake-up light. You can use your phone to set different times to turn the light on and choose the color that should be used. The various colors indicate different states.

For example:

• Dark blue: Go back to sleep; it’s the middle of the night.
• Orange: It’s almost time to get out of bed.
• Green: You are allowed to get out of bed.

III Era Modding YouTube Channel

As someone who began their programming career in the III era modding scene (thanks to Mission Builder!), I’ve always had a soft spot for III era modding. I’ve been contemplating a return to it and creating YouTube tutorials about III era modding.

That’s it for this year; see you in 2024!

Some exciting projects to anticipate. I hope to successfully tackle at least one of them.

I wish you all the best for 2024!