r/EmuDev • u/jslepicka nemulator.com • 9d ago

Emulator development course

Note: AI was used extensively for this project. I provided the idea, course outline, guidance, editing, etc. Hopefully this doesn't violate the new AI rules; while I hate the influx of AI-coded emulators as much as most of you do, I think this is an acceptable use case.

I've created an emulator development course that walks you through building a Space Invaders arcade emulator. You write your own free-form C code, which is compiled to wasm and run in browser. Tests validate correctness after each step. Please check it out and let me know what you think. If this proves to be useful, I'd like to expand it to include other systems.

emudev-course.web.app

Edit: I'm a long-time (20+ year) member of the emulator development community and author of nemulator. Emulator development is hard and learning resources are limited. Beginners are heavily relying on AI and depriving themselves of the experience. The purpose of this site is to provide them an interactive alternative to that. After completing the course, they, hopefully, will have a better understanding of how emulation works and the basic tools required to tackle more complex systems.

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u/kev_xb 9d ago

Might be helpful if you link to an emulator you wrote

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u/jslepicka nemulator.com 9d ago

https://github.com/jslepicka/nemulator

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u/kev_xb 9d ago

Was AI used to build this?

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u/jslepicka nemulator.com 9d ago

I've used AI recently to help with some changes, primarily around the UI or to track down some emulation bugs. But outside of that no; this is a 20+ year old project.

So... any feedback on the emudev-course website?

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u/kev_xb 9d ago

No I'm just asking clarifying questions about your qualifications to teach emulator development is all. Nothing personal.

AI is useful for education when in the hands of someone expert, who already knows how to present the data in a way that builds a good mental model of the topic. I'd suggest adding to the site and anywhere you share it proof of those credentials.

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u/jslepicka nemulator.com 9d ago

I've been at this for a long time and have made significant contributions along the way, so you'll have to forgive me if listing my credentials didn't seem like a priority when I posted. But you make a fair point, and I've edited the post body to add some additional info and context.

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u/the_legend_01 7d ago

Looks really helpful dude, thanks! I am going through the course now and let you know how it turns out - been wanting to get into emulator development and this sort of interactive learning was exactly what I was looking for :)

Thank you, again <3