Sinden Lightgun

[Draco1962]

Since I am on "Christmas Lockdown" I have asked Santa for a Sinden Lightgun with Recoil for $159.99.

They have recoliess option for $104.99.

Sinden also has multiple gun and pedal (think Time Crisis) bundles. 

There are  4 different colors - red, blue, black, and grey. I am opting for the grey one.

Below is the Indiegogo campaign video.

 

What attracts me to this is no need for monitor-attached sensors to be installed.

Overall the reviews are pretty good. I will provide my thoughts on it after Santa delivers it and I have a chance to install & configure it for play.

In the meantime: 

- Do you own one or have something similar to recommend?

- What are your thoughts or experiences with it?

 

[hansolo77]

Good choice.  I have two black ones.  No pedals.  I know it's not becoming of me to be supporting other frontends, but I use Batocera on my Atari VCS and the last version released included direct support for the Sinden guns.  It's literally plug and play.  I haven't tried connecting both guns simultaneously, I read there are possible issues with it because of the power draw.  I don't know if the Atari VCS would be capable of it.  But so far, everything I tried playing with it works great.  Playing on my 70-inch 4K about 5 feet away, no discernable range issues.  I guess my only limitation is that the VCS doesn't really have much "under the hood", so games like Carnevil or House of the Dead might not run very well.  But that's not an issue related to the gun.  I like it!  Really awesome to play Duck Hunt, Area 51, and Time Crisis again.

[Draco1962]

Running Batocera on the VCS is probably the best way to go. I was going to try to stick with Windows 10 for running GameEx on mine but may pivot on that device.

For now, the gun will be on my newest Win 11 Pro game rig with GameEx/GameEx Arcade Edition.

Hopefully similar optimizations for Sinden Lightgun support found in Touchplay are in GameEx/AE.

I don't think that the white border should be needed if the Sinden Lightgun is not the primary control device and, if I understand correctly, should only show up in-game for MAME or other games specifically configured for using the lightgun. 

[hansolo77]

On 12/2/2023 at 10:24 PM, Draco1962 said:

I don't think that the white border should be needed if the Sinden Lightgun is not the primary control device and, if I understand correctly, should only show up in-game for MAME or other games specifically configured for using the lightgun. 

That's exactly how it works... it draws the white boarder when you run the game, it's not visible any other way.  But, I suppose that could change depending on the software.  As far as Batocera is concerned, they have it rendering when games are running.  You can probably enable it for other things in Windows, through some configuration or something.  But I suspect you're wanting it just in games and not all the time, which is exactly how it's done.

[Draco1962]

On 12/6/2023 at 8:10 PM, hansolo77 said:

But I suspect you're wanting it just in games and not all the time, which is exactly how it's done.

Exactly. Touchplay is optimized to use Sinden Lightgun as the control so would require the border in an "always on state" if I am interpreting the example in the video is correctly.

[Draco1962]

My daughter ordered the Lightgun on 12/9 but given 2-3 weeks lead time. Will need to have her follow-up.

[Draco1962]

Per the Christmas Update it appears that the dispatch will be delayed until at least the 2nd week of January for my order. 

[hansolo77]

Yeah my original order was lost in customs and had to be re-issued out.  Still waiting for that original package. 

[Draco1962]

IF the dispatch goes out as planned, I fully expect the package to be held up at customs in NY for a week or two, so maybe early February-ish?

[hansolo77]

Hope not. 

[ClassicGMR]

So I bought one of these way back in August - base model no recoil - and I am still having so many problems calibrating it. I'm sure it's all on my end and I mean that. I can't get further than 3 feet away from my arcade cabinet due to the living room furnishings etc AND my cabinet only supports a 22" display. My cabinet's old and can't take a bigger display.

 

I get stutters and jitters all over the place. Most of the time it isn't even recognized on screen. I haven't done it yet but the gun is slated for a massive round of testing on the 42" tv in the basement when I can find the time/energy. It's not what I wanted to use the gun on but it's probably my only option.

 

I had horrible results with my Ultimarc gun initially, gave up very quickly (maybe too quickly?) and put it in storage. It's probably time to dig it out and make that puppy work right. It's only been.... a few years? 🤣

[Draco1962]

Arriving Saturday. Should be fun testing it out! YAY!

[Draco1962]

The lightgun is sitting at the UPS Store .5 miles away waiting for my daughter to get back in town to go there and sign for it. She originally had it going to her address where she mostly works from home before Christmas, but due to the delays, she was scheduled to be out of town this week so she had to have UPS redirect it to one of their authorized drop off points. I cannot sign for it so.... 🤮

[Draco1962]

It's now in my sweaty ham hands! Now to figure out how to use it in GameEx Arcade Edition and MAME!

[hansolo77]

Sorry my computer took a nose dive and needed replacement ram.  I'm back up and running now, going through checking my sites out.  How is the gun?  Did you get it working?

[Draco1962]

Not yet. Had some stuff come up and haven't configured it yet. Hopefully things will slow down over the next few weeks so I can play a little!