Light Guns

[lingpanda]

I need a few answers if possible. Will a light gun work on a television when the game was made to be played on a computer monitor? This really shouldn't be an issue right? Both are CRT's. Are light guns supported in chankast? Any other questions I may need to answer before purchasing a set? Thanks.

[Quixote Quest]

I can speak only for familiarity with MAME, but light guns made for CRTs (like the Act-Labs light gun) work fine going out to CRT monitor or TV, as both work off the same principle of interacting with the electron gun retrace signal. However, once you get into LCDs or Plasmas you have to get a different kind of gun that uses an LED matrix to register the hit. (LCD TopGun)

I need a few answers if possible. Will a light gun work on a television when the game was made to be played on a computer monitor? This really shouldn't be an issue right? Both are CRT's. Are light guns supported in chankast? Any other questions I may need to answer before purchasing a set? Thanks.

[lingpanda]

I can speak only for familiarity with MAME, but light guns made for CRTs (like the Act-Labs light gun) work fine going out to CRT monitor or TV, as both work off the same principle of interacting with the electron gun retrace signal. However, once you get into LCDs or Plasmas you have to get a different kind of gun that uses an LED matrix to register the hit. (LCD TopGun)

Thanks. I'm using a standard tube style Tv in my cabinet. How much better if at all is a Act labs gun over a Guncon 2 or similiar hack? My goal is to use a gun with Mame games, Pc games and Playstation 2 games.

[Quixote Quest]

Thanks. I'm using a standard tube style Tv in my cabinet. How much better if at all is a Act labs gun over a Guncon 2 or similiar hack? My goal is to use a gun with Mame games, Pc games and Playstation 2 games.

A couple commercial arcade cab manufacturers I know use Act-Labs guns for customers who order light guns with their arcade. (They both use WG monitors as standard.) They think the A-L guns are very reliable and well made. (The little experience I've had with them they appear to be a good product.) Nonetheless I have read some reviews where there is the occasional game where calibration for a precise targetting match is a touch off. Also some complain about having to recalibrate before playing every game. Though in reality it's a pretty quick calibration process, it truly MAY be a pain if you are playing lots of different light gun games. One has to remember, though, that in commercial set ups you have cabs dedicated for a certain game and the gun hardware is calibrated just for that game. Therefore, just my opinion, but I consider it a non-issue to complain about calibration--as long as the calibration process itself isn't poorly designed.

I'm sorry I have no experience with GunCon 2.

In my cab (arriving for Christmas) I went with an LCD HDTV so that I can use the beautiful hi-res bezel art MAME now supports. Therefore I'm planning on using the LCD TopGun. Hopefully that turns out to be good hardware.

[Dav1d]

I ordered this badboy and man-o-man is it sweet.

It will work with any type of monitor and if you get the extra blaze stand, you can use it on a projector screen 60" and larger...

Shipping was less than 7 days ordering through Paypal...

Highly recommend this...

LCD TopGun

[lingpanda]

I ordered this badboy and man-o-man is it sweet.

It will work with any type of monitor and if you get the extra blaze stand, you can use it on a projector screen 60" and larger...

Shipping was less than 7 days ordering through Paypal...

Highly recommend this...

LCD TopGun

Can a Top Gun be used with a Playstaion 2?

[Dav1d]

Can a Top Gun be used with a Playstaion 2?

It came with hookups for a PC, an xbox and playstaion 2.

follow the link in the last post to check it out.

[Michael]

Just wondering if you can get light guns that work on TFT screens? if so any good places to buy them?

thanks Michael

[hansolo77]

I just bought my LCD Top Gun (FINALLY!!!!!) yesterday. It's a Christmas gift for me from my brother. Of course, I had to buy it, he'll pay me back. Hope it's as great as everybody says it is!

[Michael]

I just bought my LCD Top Gun (FINALLY!!!!!) yesterday. It's a Christmas gift for me from my brother. Of course, I had to buy it, he'll pay me back. Hope it's as great as everybody says it is!

hansolo where did you get it from and could you give me some feed back eg if its good etc

thank Michael

[mrserv0n]

Hey Dave I noticed you said you love your topgun. I bought one a few days ago.

It works flawless in windows and In mame it recognizes it and I set my X and Y axis as if it was a mouse, But the thing is super fast and erratic and sticks to the edges of the screen. I re calibrate with the AB button once I am in mame, doesnt matter, also cant even come close to calibrating in a F2 way because the thing is just crazy fast.

I even got virtua cop for PC to see if its a mame thing, and while I could center the gun it was still WAY off and the games cursor couldn't come near catching up with it.

Any suggesstions that you have for me? I am dying to play with this thing i have tried everything

[headkaze]

Hey Dave I noticed you said you love your topgun. I bought one a few days ago.

It works flawless in windows and In mame it recognizes it and I set my X and Y axis as if it was a mouse, But the thing is super fast and erratic and sticks to the edges of the screen. I re calibrate with the AB button once I am in mame, doesnt matter, also cant even come close to calibrating in a F2 way because the thing is just crazy fast.

I even got virtua cop for PC to see if its a mame thing, and while I could center the gun it was still WAY off and the games cursor couldn't come near catching up with it.

Any suggesstions that you have for me? I am dying to play with this thing i have tried everything

I don't know anything about Light Guns so forgive me if this is way off. But do the mouse settings in Windows effect the lightgun? Perhaps the lightgun is treated like a normal mouse device, so maybe you have to adjust the settings? To find out if they do, select Start->Settings->Control Panel->Mouse->Pointer Options.

[hansolo77]

hansolo where did you get it from and could you give me some feed back eg if its good etc

thank Michael

I just used the link in this thread and ordered it online from Play-Asia...

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-1i-49-...un-70-16s7.html

[mrserv0n]

I don't know anything about Light Guns so forgive me if this is way off. But do the mouse settings in Windows effect the lightgun? Perhaps the lightgun is treated like a normal mouse device, so maybe you have to adjust the settings? To find out if they do, select Start->Settings->Control Panel->Mouse->Pointer Options.

Yea I tried to change the windows mouse settings it didnt do to much all the way maxed out. Mame doesn't seem to have sensitivity settings. I hate this gun. even if I do ever get it to work it will be an extreme pain in the ass everytime I want to play a game. Think I will just get rid of it and try a different kind

[Dav1d]

Yea I tried to change the windows mouse settings it didnt do to much all the way maxed out. Mame doesn't seem to have sensitivity settings. I hate this gun. even if I do ever get it to work it will be an extreme pain in the ass everytime I want to play a game. Think I will just get rid of it and try a different kind

I'll give you 3 bucks for it. Can you pay for shipping?

[jthompson]

Yea I tried to change the windows mouse settings it didnt do to much all the way maxed out. Mame doesn't seem to have sensitivity settings. I hate this gun. even if I do ever get it to work it will be an extreme pain in the ass everytime I want to play a game. Think I will just get rid of it and try a different kind

You have to get rid of the ems drivers (gun2mouse) completely and install smogs guncon2 drivers. Since mame 105 or so the ems drivers don't work properly. The gun itself works pretty well once set up, but from my experience, the limited amount of games was not worth all the hassle and expense (for any gun). I also could not get Zsnes to work with it and downloaded snes9x and it works great.

Jay T

[mrserv0n]

You have to get rid of the ems drivers (gun2mouse) completely and install smogs guncon2 drivers. Since mame 105 or so the ems drivers don't work properly. The gun itself works pretty well once set up, but from my experience, the limited amount of games was not worth all the hassle and expense (for any gun). I also could not get Zsnes to work with it and downloaded snes9x and it works great.

Jay T

Let me tell you JT you were right and this thing works BETTER than I ever thought. I mean it is literally perfect. I did not even have to recalibrate or change screen resolution nothing just hopped game to game blowing things away. I am so happy thank you. My off screen reloads work for A51 and Maxforce but not for lethal enforcers 1 and 2. Is this a known issue?

[jthompson]

Let me tell you JT you were right and this thing works BETTER than I ever thought. I mean it is literally perfect. I did not even have to recalibrate or change screen resolution nothing just hopped game to game blowing things away. I am so happy thank you. My off screen reloads work for A51 and Maxforce but not for lethal enforcers 1 and 2. Is this a known issue?

To be honest I'm not sure. Some games handle reloads differently. Jurrasic park for instance is unplayable with a light gun, do to the way the gun tracks. It also seems like a lot of games kind of took a dump after mame 105 or so, but I know the mame devs are still ironing some of the bugs from the new video system and whatever the major changes were. I found something on this page (http://wizardsworks.org/chod/gun/topgun.htm#install1) which may interest you though.

"Does offscreen reloading work?

Yes, with wingun or Guncon2mouse

Mame notes:

If offscreen_reload = 1 mame considers a mouse button 2 as reload.

In wingun configuration you can set 'offscreen shot' to mouse button 2 (which should do it)

Smog & EMS drivers don't know what to do with offscreen shots so they can't offscreen reload for mame.

Notes for specific games:

Lethal enforcers 1 may only reload if you point at the right down edge

Lethal enforcers 2 you cannot reload

Under Fire - must point to right-down corner to reload"

I'm glad you got your gun to work and didn't give up on it. It really works well, I just wish there were more games to play with it.

Jay T

[mrserv0n]

Yea I mean theres quite a few even though most are dated. I got all the house of the deads in PC format and they play great too since mame doesnt have them. I havent tried it on my sega cd emulator yet but if that works theres some great American laser games in that set that will be fun.. Max force and Area 51 were my reason for buying it so since they emulate perfect i am happy and am going to buy a second gun.

[Adultery]

Yea I mean theres quite a few even though most are dated. I got all the house of the deads in PC format and they play great too since mame doesnt have them. I havent tried it on my sega cd emulator yet but if that works theres some great American laser games in that set that will be fun.. Max force and Area 51 were my reason for buying it so since they emulate perfect i am happy and am going to buy a second gun.

You can emulate Area 51 without noticable slowdown? I assume you're talking about the MAME version? How did you set it up so it runs at a playable speed? Just curious.

[mrserv0n]

You can emulate Area 51 without noticable slowdown? I assume you're talking about the MAME version? How did you set it up so it runs at a playable speed? Just curious.

Yea there are 2 versions R3000 and Regular.. both run the same but regular one loses sound in the middle of lvl 2... so I use the r3000. Anyway. I dunno only game I cannot run smooth is some Saturn games Full screen, Blitz for mame and Carnevil for mame. I think one of the gauntlets run poorly too.

My mame machine has fairly nice specs

Athlon 64 4000+

2gb corsair xms

160gb wd 16mb cache

nvidia 6800gt 256mb

[hansolo77]

YAY!!! MY GUN ARRIVED!!! It was a bitch to get the LED stands to stay in place. My TV is covered in invisible tape. I tried to use some double sided tape, but it wasn't sticky enough. Then I moved up to brown packaging tape. I rolled it into a tube and stuck it on the back of the stands. That tape was even worse! So I used tom invisible tape and just sorta "hung" them at the top and bottom of the screen. From that website posted over on PAGE 1 (http://wizardsworks.org/chod/gun/topgun.htm) it sounds like mounting horizontally on the top/bottom will let you get closer to the tv, which is important since it's a large screen in my little bedroom. So I plugged everything in and it popped up your typical "hey, there's a new device plugged in but I got no clue what it is" box. I just cancelled it's install and tested the "recoil." From everything I saw in videos, the recoil action seemed pretty cool, but in hands on, it's leaves a lot to be desired. It looks like your typical Beretta when firing, the top part of the gun slides back then forward. Sounds really neat, but the thing is made out of plastic. There's hardly any weight to the gun at all, and the recoil part seems to be lighter than an empty pop can. I imagine having it on all the time will eventually cause a catch to snap somewhere, and it will shoot off and stab me blind in the eyes. Nice idea-Needs Improvement. As for everything else, There is a LOT of cables. I wish everything was more modulated. The LED stands have a small female plug like the "IN" jack of an A/C adapter, while the gun has it's male counterpart plug. So the gun is wired, and the modular connection point is that plug. Also on the gun wire is a USB plug that goes into your computer, and apparently an XBOX plug. I don't own an XBOX so I can't say for sure that's what it is, but its the only other thing the gun says I can run on... Finally there is another female plug (like the LED stands) that looks like another A/C adapter receiver. It plugs into ANOTHER set of wires. This set has the male counterpart plug, another USB and another "XBOX" plug. Essentially, this 2nd set is for your recoil, so the gun can get the power from the USB or XBOX plug. So make sure you've got enough ports! Back to the modular thing though. I like the quick connect plug idea they got going, but I'd like to see plugs to add/remove the other connectors. I don't have/use an XBOX, so why keep it on there? Just quick disconnect it. I also feel the use of wires is going a bit far. I mean, we're in the 21st century. Using wires to connect the LED bars to the gun is so ancient. I mean, my parents have a VCR with a wired remote.. It's like this gun was made in the 70's!

So basically, the way I see it, the gun works like this... Picture your tv set with a remote. Your remote has a little infrared emitter on it (looks like a little light bulb). That emitter (LED) sends the signal to the receiver on the TV, and your TV does the function you commanded. The gun is just that, only in reverse. The LED stands by your tv screen are the remotes, and your gun is the TV. From the gun's point of view, it's stationary. The LED bars are moving around, and the gun's receiver picks up where the LED's are. Then it sends this recorded data through the USB cable into your program. Pretty simple setup, and I'm surprised nobody thought of it sooner. If the company didn't close out (as I've read), they could have further increased the technology to be completely wireless. The LED's plug into the USB port along with a built in receiver. They transmit, the gun picks it up in it's little camera, and sends information wirelessly back to the LED bars' receiver, which goes back to the USB. You wouldn't have recoil right away, because it takes a lot of juice, but no more than your typical wireless rumble pad for you game console. Throw in some rechargeable batteries and a "gun holster charger" and you'd be set. Hell, if nobody further progresses this, who wants to help me build it?! In fact.. just in case: [This paragraph is © Copyright January 5, 2007 by Aaron Lloyd. All Rights Reserved. This copyright is legal and in place for the life +50 years of the author as according to Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution. This copyright is legal and adheres to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. All violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.]

So anyway.. I can't wait to try it out! I'm going to install the drivers that came with the gun first. I don't know where to find these "smog" drivers, and if it doesn't work I know how to UNINSTALL. Plus, I'm currently running a complete ghost image backup of my "C" drive incase I have trouble uninstalling. Here's to having a good, fun filled evening!

- Han

[mrserv0n]

First off your weird for copyrighting your post, anyway. Do not use the stock drivers. I tell you now, if your using it for mame you cannot use those. You must get smog and your thing will run like a dream just search for them on google.

So anyway.. I can't wait to try it out! I'm going to install the drivers that came with the gun first. I don't know where to find these "smog" drivers, and if it doesn't work I know how to UNINSTALL. Plus, I'm currently running a complete ghost image backup of my "C" drive incase I have trouble uninstalling. Here's to having a good, fun filled evening!

- Han

[hansolo77]

I put that on there so if in the future somebody DOES decide to make them, it would be infringing on my idea. I'm just cheap and trying to make a buck ok?

Yeah, the EMS v3.2 drivers sucked. First of all, they wouldn't install without causing my computer to crash. Then they took over all of my mouse controls and I couldn't do anything. So I found the SMOG drivers after searching in Google earlier today. Everything seems to look good. I'm having a hard time with the edges of the screen. When I have the gun controlling the mouse cursor, I notice a strange phenomenon. Everything lines up perfectly in the center, but as I move away, the mouse seems to go faster. So by the time I'm at the edge (IE; a corner) the mouse arrow was there long before I was. It makes it very difficult to control. I also notice a lot of jittering even though I tried to hold the gun a piece of wood for stability. I realize there's some tweaking involved that I haven't done yet. So overall, everything seems to be working nicely. I was actually able to play some Area51 today which I haven't done in probably 10+ years when it was out in the arcade. Man technology has progressed since then! My next test is to get it to work with my Sega Genesis Menacer games and then Duck Hunt on the NES.

[cupid]

Sorry to say it Hansolo77, but the Nintendo Wiimotes just function like you described (if I understand correctly). I think Nintendo has the copyright to this.

In every wiimote there is a little infrared camera which picks up the two Light sources from the so called sensor bar. If you calibrate your wiimote with your wii, you can even see the raw output of thoses cameras (two dots).

To show that there are no sensors in the sensor bar: You can even put two candles in front of you TV instead of the sensor bar and your wiimote will work. Look at wiimote hacking sites and you'll find it.