DRAGON'S LAIR / SPACE ACE COMBO - April 9, 2002
Developed by Dave Hallock, Jeff Kinder, and Jeff Kulczycki - April 9, 2002

INTRODUCTION

The Dragon's Lair / Space Ace Combo is another innovative game enhancement brought to you by the D-L-P.  Now you can easily change from Dragon's Lair to Space Ace (or vice versa) with the flip of a switch.  This document will show you the steps necessary to make your own Dragon's Lair / Space Ace Combo game.

PARTS NEEDED

- Toggle switch (Radio Shack cat #275-625A)
- Wrapping wire (Radio Shack cat #278-503)
- Five blank 27128 EPROMS
- Special Combo ROM images - See download section.
- Dragon's Lair disc
- Space Ace disc

ADDITIONAL FEATURES

The existing Space Ace DIP switch settings have been remapped to match more closely with Dragon's Lair.  This allows a person to easily change from Dragon's Lair to Space Ace (or vice versa) while retaining all their favorite settings, like free play, amount of lives, attract mode audio, etc.  Also, all three skill level selections (CADET, CAPTAIN, SPACE ACE) have been added.  Now you can set your skill level for Space Ace via DIP switch!!  This comes in extremely handy if you are playing Space Ace in your Dragon's Lair machine which does not have the skill level buttons.

NEW DIP SWITCH SETTINGS

As stated above, all of the existing Space Ace DIP switch settings have been remapped.  Please refer to this new Dragon's Lair / Space Ace DIP switch settings chart for use with the Dragon's Lair / Space Ace Combo ROM images.

DOWNLOAD

VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!  If you create the new Dragon's Lair / Space Ace Combo EPROMs for another person to use, you must provide that person with a printout of the new Combo DIP switch settings.  Thank you!!

DOWNLOAD DRAGON'S LAIR / SPACE ACE COMBO.ZIP NOW! (51KB)

THEORY OF OPERATION

Dragon's Lair and Space Ace use type 2764 EPROMs which hold 8,192 bytes each.  A 27128 EPROM holds 16,384 bytes.  By using a 27128 chip, we can fit both sets of data on one chip.  We then use a switch to toggle A13 (address 13 line) to force the chip into two halves (upper and lower).  2^ 13 equals 8,192, so with A13 "On", the chip read address starts at 8192.  With A13 "Off" the chip read address starts at 0.  To put this in a game perspective, putting the switch in the "OFF" position would give you Dragon's Lair and the "ON" position would give you Space Ace.

CONSTRUCTION

Take your wrapping wire and measure it out to fit from pin 26 (address A13) on U5 to the other side of the ROM board at Pin 26 on U1.  On the solder side of the ROM board, carefully solder the wrapping wire at each pin 26 location.  Next solder a small piece of wire to pin 14 (ground) on U1, and solder another small piece of wire to the right leg of capacitor C1.  NOTE:  Be very careful when soldering this wire across each pin 26.  You can cause damage to your ROM board or Main Logic Board if solder gets on any of the neighboring pins.

Choose a location for the switch.  Solder the wire coming from Pin 14 (ground) to the left leg of the switch.  Next, solder the wire coming from the right leg of capacitor C1 to the right leg of the switch.  Lastly, solder the wire coming from the pin 26's to the center leg of the switch.

Take five blank 27128 EPROMs and program them with the Combo ROM images (U1 thru U5) found in the Download section.

Click on the pictures for a larger view.

OPERATION

Insert your disc, set your new switch for the proper game, set your DIP switches, and start up your game.  When you decide to change games, just change your disc and flip the switch.  It may be a good idea to label the switch in case you forget which way is Dragon's Lair and which way is Space Ace.  If you have the switch in the wrong position, the game will not function properly.

If you are unable to perform the hardware modifications listed above or you can not burn your own EPROMs, please email Jeff Kinder and I will try to be of assistance!  

SPECIAL THANKS

Robert DiNapoli
Mitch Schleis
Corey Richter

DISCLAIMER

The user is solely responsible for any and all adverse effects resulting from the use or misuse of the information described above, the ROM data, or the EPROM it is stored on. The ONLY intended application for this modification is to be installed into a Dragon's Lair or Space Ace arcade game and used privately by the game's owner. You are instructed not to use this modification in any other capacity.

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