emulator

A simple emulator built in C++17 using SDL2 for video/audio. It loads a ROM file from disk, maps it into memory, and runs a fetch/decode/execute loop rendered to an SDL window.

Prerequisites

C++17 compiler — MSVC (Visual Studio 2019 or 2022 Build Tools) on Windows. The project is currently configured for the MSVC toolchain.
CMake 3.21 or newer (required for the CMake Presets feature).
Ninja — used as the build generator.
vcpkg — dependencies are declared in vcpkg.json (manifest mode), so vcpkg fetches them automatically on first configure. A working vcpkg installation must be available on the system.
Git — for cloning and for vcpkg to fetch package sources.

Project layout

.
├── CMakeLists.txt        # build definition
├── CMakePresets.json     # configure/build presets (vcpkg + MSVC + Ninja)
├── vcpkg.json            # dependency manifest (sdl2, sdl2-image)
├── .vscode/              # editor / IntelliSense config
├── src/
│   ├── main.cpp          # entry point: parses argv, runs the emulator
│   ├── emulator.hpp      # Emulator class declaration
│   └── emulator.cpp      # Emulator class implementation
└── build/                # generated after configure (gitignored)

Installation

Clone the repository

git clone <repo-url> emulator
cd emulator

Ensure vcpkg is installed

If you do not already have vcpkg, clone and bootstrap it:
```
git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git
cd vcpkg
.\bootstrap-vcpkg.bat
```
Note its root path — you will reference it in the next step.
Point CMake at the vcpkg toolchain

CMakePresets.json sets CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE to:
```
C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/18/BuildTools/VC/vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake
```
If your vcpkg lives elsewhere, edit the default configure preset (or create a CMakeUserPresets.json next to CMakePresets.json) so the CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE value matches your vcpkg install.

Setup & build

Configure and build with the bundled preset (uses vcpkg manifest mode, so sdl2 and sdl2-image are installed automatically on first configure):

cmake --preset default
cmake --build --preset default

The resulting executable is placed in build/ (e.g. build/emulator.exe).

Running

Pass a ROM file as the only argument:

.\build\emulator.exe <rom-file>

Press Esc or close the window to quit.

Editor / IntelliSense

VS Code IntelliSense is configured in .vscode/c_cpp_properties.json to read build/compile_commands.json (generated by the default preset). Configure the project once with cmake --preset default so the compile database exists; IntelliSense will then resolve SDL.h and the project headers correctly.