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Cave 1st generation converts (68000)

The Cave 68000 hardware (the DoDonPachi, ESP Ra.De., Guwange…) is a 68000 + Cave customs (038 tilemaps, 013 sprites). No battery suicide — but proprietary customs and sprite layouts that differ from game to game, which complicates conversions and multis. (For modern Cave, see CV1000.)

Field Value
Platform Cave 1st generation (68000, 1994-2001)
Type ROM reprog + 038/013 customs + settings EEPROM
Difficulty 🟠 (sprite layouts + customs)
Suicide? No (settings EEPROM, no key)

Architecture

Block Chip
CPU MC68000 @ 16 MHz
Sound CPU Z80
Sound YMZ280B or OKIM6295 (1-2) + YM2203/YM2151 (option)
Video customs 038 (tilemaps) + 013 (SPATTR, sprites)
Settings EEPROM 93C46
Output 15 kHz, JAMMA

Games: DonPachi (1995), DoDonPachi (1997), ESP Ra.De. (1998), Puzzle Uo Poko (1998), Dangun Feveron (1998), Guwange (1999)… The hardware was also used by Atlus and Namco (it wasn't exclusive to Cave).

The crux: sprite layouts (013)

This is the thing that makes conversions/multis tricky:

  • The sprite attributes are arranged differently in VRAM per game: DoDonPachi uses a different layout from ESP Ra.De., Dangun Feveron, Guwange and Uo Poko → incompatible sprite definitions between these groups.
  • ESP Ra.De. uses a 013 SPATTR revision 2 (the big QFP) that adds scaling/shrinking but changes the word order of the sprite attributes.

→ Converting one game to another therefore requires respecting the expected 013 layout/revision — it's not a simple ROM swap.

Converting / multi (summary)

  1. Gather the target game's ROMs (68000, graphics, sound).
  2. Burn the EPROMs onto a compatible donor board (038/013 customs of the right revision for the target game).
  3. Handle the 93C46 EEPROM (settings) — reset it as needed.
  4. Test sprites (layout/013), tilemaps (038), sound (YMZ280B/OKI).

A 'Cave Multi' is considered feasible

The community considers a Cave 68000 multi achievable — the main obstacle being precisely to handle the different sprite layouts and custom revisions across games.

Program EPROM, game by game

Cave's 68000 program almost always fits in 27C040 (512 KB), as a pair (even/odd, 16-bit). (Source: MAME atlus/cave.cpp. Board view: Cave 68000 PCB.)

Game Program EPROM
DonPachi 1× 27C040
DoDonPachi 2× 27C040
Dangun Feveron 2× 27C040
Dangun Feveron (Fever SOS) 2× 27C040
ESP Ra.De. 2× 27C040
Uo Poko 2× 27C040
Guwange 2× 27C040
Gaia Crusaders 2× 27C040
Hotdog Storm 2× 27C040
Metamoqester 3× 27C040
Power Instinct 2 4× 27C040

Cave repair = simple on the program side

Program almost universally in 27C040 → a blown chip is easy to reburn. The real Cave trap is the 013 custom sprite layouts (see above) and the settings 93C46 EEPROM, not the program.

Settings (service / EEPROM)

The Cave 68000 is set mostly through a software service menu (soft-dips) stored in the 93C46 EEPROM, plus a physical service switch (no big game DIP bank). Difficulty, lives, coinage, region are set in the menu. After a conversion, reset the EEPROM then configure the target game in its menu — see general convention.

Before / after

  • Conversion to a game in the same layout group: simpler.
  • Cross-group conversion (e.g. DoDonPachi ↔ ESP Ra.De.): requires handling the different 013 layout (and revision).

Modern Cave (reminder)

The next generation, CV1000 (DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu, Mushihimesama Futari, Ketsui…), is a single-board NAND-flash system and is treated differently (no multi-custom layout, battery for scores/settings) → see CV1000.

Where to read more

Sources & attribution

Review & corrections

How this space is used

Spotted a wrong value, an outdated procedure, a chip reference that does not match your board? Say so here, with what you observed (model, board revision, serial number, measurement). Every report is cross-checked against a source before anything changes — an unverifiable correction is published as “reported by …, not cross-checked” rather than silently applied.

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