DAPHNE v0.90beta
An emulator for Dragon's Lair and Space Ace
http://daphne.rulecity.com
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OVERVIEW:
---------

DAPHNE is a program which allows you to play the arcade versions
of Dragon's Lair or Space Ace on your home computer.

DAPHNE emulates the hardware used in Dragon's Lair and Space Ace
arcade games, including the Z80 CPU, the Dragon's Lair
motherboard, the dip switches, the joystick, the buttons, the
LED's, the sound chip, and the LD-V1000 laserdisc player.

To use DAPHNE, you will need the following:

- A decently fast computer with a serial port capable of
supporting 9600 baud (probably any Pentium or better will work).
- Windows 95/98/NT or x86 Linux.  (Source code is available to
easily port to other platforms!)
- The Dragon's Lair or Space Ace ROM images
- A Dragon's Lair or Space Ace Laserdisc
- A Laserdisc player that is compatible with the Sony LDP-1450
instruction set.
- A null-modem serial cable.  (To interface with an LDP-1450 your
serial cable will need a male 25-pin RS-232 connector on one
end.)



INSTRUCTIONS:
-------------

1. Make sure your computer is connected to your LDP via the null-
modem serial cable.  Make sure your LDP is set for 9600 baud.

2. Insert the Dragon's Lair or Space Ace laserdisc into the LDP.

3. Start DAPHNE.

4. A menu will appear.  From this menu you can edit a few
settings that DAPHNE uses.
     One setting is the stickiness of the keys.  To ensure that
the game catches your keyboard movements, it is necessary to make
the keys stick for a certain time period after they are pressed. 
If you find that your rapid moves aren't being recognized, try
decreasing the key stickiness.  Beware that decreasing it too
much will mean keystrokes may be missed by the game.
     Another setting you can modify is search latency.  Dragon's
Lair was coded to work smoothly with only one player, the PR-
7820, which would play 5-6 extra frames when a new frame was
sought.  Thus the LD-V1000 (and also the LDP-1450) tend to snip
off the last 5-6 frames of each scene, which is rather annoying. 
Adding intentional search latency can make the scenes run longer
(although there is no difference to the gameplay).
     When you are done modifying settings, select the option to
boot the ROM.

5. DAPHNE will attempt to load the ROM images from the current
directory.  It will indicate its status on the screen.  As of the
time this document was written, DAPHNE will attempt to load
DL1000.U1, DL1000.U2, Dl1000.U3, and DL1000.U4 which are the
Dragon's Lair ROM's, revision F.  If the ROM fails to load, you
should quit the program and attempt to resolve the error before
continuing.

6. DAPHNE will begin program execution of the ROM that was
loaded.

7. If all goes well, the ROM will boot up and DAPHNE will turn
control over to the ROM.  You should hear some beeps, which
indicate the ROM is booting up properly.  Check the screen for
any error messages.  You'll know you're in business when the
attract sequence starts playing!

8. If you get this far, then you're all set!  Be sure to read the
"CONTROLS" section below.  When finished, please properly quit
DAPHNE by using 'Q'!  Failure to do this may force you to reboot
in order to use your sound or serial port.  Enjoy the game!



CONTROLS
--------

               Q              - Quit the game
               C              - Insert Coin
               1              - Player 1 Start
               2              - Player 2 Start
               Arrow Keys     - Joystick
               Spacebar       - Sword button



MEETING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
----------------------------

You may wonder where to get all the stuff listed under the system
requirements section.  You may be also wondering why the ROM
images aren't included with the emulator.

To get a Sony LDP-1450 compatible player, go to
http://www.ebay.com and keep your eyes open.  There are other
Sony players which will also work, including the Sony LDP-2000.
You can get these from commercial vendors as well, but they
are horribly expensive.  I got mine for under $100 off Ebay.

To get a Dragon's Lair or Space Ace Laserdisc, go to
http://www.ebay.com or else visit http://www.dragons-lair-
project.com and ask if anyone wants to sell.  You can also go to
usenet under rec.games.video.arcade.collectors and ask around on
there.

To get a null modem cable, visit Radio Shack, CompUSA, or any
computer store.  Note, a null modem cable is different than a
regular modem cable!  A null modem cable is used to hook two
computers together via serial port, a regular modem cable is used
to hook a computer to a modem.  You can also use a regular modem
cable and get a null modem adapter.

To get Linux, go to www.linux.org and prepare to go through the
pain and suffering required before enjoying the fruits of a
_real_ Operating System (it's worth it though, believe me).

To get Windows... well if you don't have it, count yourself
fortunate, and get Linux instead.

And the final note, why the ROM's aren't included with this
emulator: Emulators are only legal if they are not distributed
with ROMs.  And we want to be legal, now don't we?



TO DO LIST:
-----------

DAPHNE is in a beta stage which means some non-vital features may
be missing.  Here is a list of what is planned to be completed in
the future on the project:

- Add faster sound response.  Right now sound is lagged when it
plays.  (NOTE: DAPHNE uses .WAV file samples to play the sound
effects, and this is the only area in which it technically is not
emulating original hardware.  There is a decent emulator for the
AY-3-8910 sound chip, but using .WAV files proved to be a much
more efficient method, both as far as development time and CPU
time were concerned).

- Add some kind of a scoreboard

- Add some kind of indication for # of lives remaining

- Add joystick support

- Tweak timing so it is ultra-accurate




CREDITS:
--------

Coding:
Matt Ownby (Lead Coder)
Robert DiNapoli (LDP-1450 interface, keyboard interface)
Marat Fayzullin (Z80 emulator, no affiliation with DAPHNE)
Petteri Kangaslampi and Jarno Paananen
  (MIDAS Digital Audio System, no affiliation with DAPHNE)

ROM Program Disassembly:
Matt Ownby
Robert DiNapoli
Colin Kraft (not affiliated with DAPHNE)

ROM Data Hacking:
Dave Hallock
Robert DiNapoli

Sound sampling:
Robert DiNapoli