Developer Creates Working NES Emulator Using AI-Generated Code, But Performance Lags 40X Behind Traditional Emulators
Summary
Developer Rodrigo Delduca successfully creates a functional NES emulator using AI-generated Lua scripts that runs Donkey Kong in web browsers, though the groundbreaking AI-coded system performs 40 times slower than traditional emulators.
Key Points
- Developer Rodrigo Delduca successfully uses Claude AI to generate Lua scripts that create a functional NES emulator running on his Carimbo 2D game engine
- The AI-generated emulator allows users to play Donkey Kong directly in web browsers, with separate scripts handling NES CPU, PPU, input, and bus functions
- Performance testing reveals the AI-coded emulator runs significantly slower than traditional emulators, with some users reporting a 40X performance drop compared to existing online NES emulators