MAME Dual Light Gun Shooter in Virtua Cop 2 Cabinet

[mike boss]

Picked up this gutted Virtua Cop 2 cabinet off a buddy for FREE! (Thanks Lucas!)
Cabinet was in decent shape, just dirty on the outside...............INSANELY clean on the inside!

After some thought I decided to go with a MAME shooter cabinet with MaLa as  the front end.
I wanted it to feature the best assortment of light gun games it possibly could.
The idea is to have everything from MAME to NES, all the way up to the PS1.

Thanks to the good folks of this very site and a ton of reading and question asking I decided to go with Aim Trak guns from Ultimarc. I was able to pick up some GunCon2 guns locally for $40 a pair. Not bad considering he was 5 minutes from my house and the bundle came with three games (that I'll never used).

I ordered the Aim Trak light gun kits, but not shells as I had the GunCon's. The Aim Trak's cost me $97 US with shipping.

Plan on getting a used 25" TV from Kijiji and one of these PC's for the brain :
Dell Dimension mini-towers:
 - 3.0Ghz Intel Pentium 4.
- 80Gb HDD.
- 512Mb RAM.
- DVD Burner (DVD Burner!!).
- Ethernet Card.
- Plenty of USB Ports.
- XP Home Edition.
 Units have keyboard and mouse.
 Bundled with a 15" LCD Monitor !!!

I also created a custom MaLa skin based off of HOTD: Overkill art, here is a video :



And the pics :

[mike boss]

So to elaborate, the plan, should it all go to plan is to have the most comprehensive collection of light gun games available. Even an assortment of PC based gun games if I possibly can. I plan on configuring the PC so it boots up right into MaLa. You will be able to navigate MaLa using the D-pad on the guns, one and two palyer start will remain on the cabinet as they would stock. Since most games only require the trigger and a second button in some instances I plan on using TRIGGER/AUX/U,D,L,R of the D-Pad/and using the 7th connection on the Aim Trak for CREDIT.
I'm confident the majority of gun games will fit on the 80GIG HDD as I don't plan on moving complete ROM sets.

If anyone has any ideas,tips,suggestions I'm open to any and all feedback.

Thanks for looking.

[eds1275]

I'd wire up your coin reject buttons on the coin door to insert credits! That's what I'll be doing though I haven't really thought of how yet. I may just bolt a microswitch to it so that pushing the reject physically pushes the button.

If you are going to add artwork to the cab the playing field is wide open. You could even throw some of those hillbilly bullet hole car decals to the side and call it a day.

[Donkbaca]

I hooked up my coin reject button to add credits. All you do is hit glue a microswitch so that when the reject button is pressed, it hits the microswitch

[8way]

One problem i see, is the specs on that PC are kinda low. You wont be able to run games like Area 51, CarnEvil, Time Crisis. At least not the MAME or PS2 versions. They should be fine on Psx emulator.

[mike boss]

One problem i see, is the specs on that PC are kinda low. You wont be able to run games like Area 51, CarnEvil, Time Crisis. At least not the MAME or PS2 versions. They should be fine on Psx emulator.

I don't play on putting any PS2 emulator on the cabinet. It was however suggested I beef up the CPU. Adding some RAM is something I think I will do for sure, I'll double it.

[Donkbaca]

Time crisis doesn't run well in MAME anyway,  I can run Area 51 with the same set up, can't run carnevil though

[mike boss]

Modified the layout to reflect "use up & down to select game" & "press player one  to start."
Excellent point was made, I designed the layout knowing how MaLa worked, not thinking that someone else would be stuck! Thanks

[mike boss]

Aim Traks came in today !
Still in the process of rounding up all the required files I need for the PC.
I plan on doing that this weekend.
Question, some of the input I got leans towards that PC (specs above) perhaps not having enuff power.
I'm looking to get more RAM to fix that.
Any harm in loading the files getting everything done, installed, tested, configured, then adding the RAM last ?

[eds1275]

Nope! Do what you can and then test it out!

[mike boss]

Was able to make some progress on the PC side of the cabinet this weekend.
I got MAME & MaLa installed and working. I created a custom desktop for the PC that ties in with the existing MaLa layout.
Using the same artwork I created my custom "Now Loading" screen. Really happy with the artwork I've done so far.
I made a few adjustments also as I had messed up and created a vertical window for the snap, I corrected this and made it horizontal.
I'll post all the artwork and layout should anyone want it.

I used Uncle T's awesome MaLa guide to install everything.
I made some amendments, only using emulators that had light gun games.
I also added a Play Station & Sega Saturn emulator.

Took me a lil while to get some of the required files, like DLL files and what not.
But now everything is installed and ready for tweaking. Other than finding some games that I
have not yet obtained I think I've got pretty much every base covered.

I'm hoping this week I can get the rest of my snap files, ROMs, and CHD files moved.
From that point I'll revert back to Uncle T's guide to ensure the emulators work via command line.
If all goes well I should be able to easily add them to MaLa.

Seeing as I used all the same emulators Uncle T did I'm hoping I have no problems.
I'm thinking (as they are not on the guide) that I might have some issue with the Saturn & PS1.

A buddy of mine has some extra RAM for me which I think will be a huge plus. I also went through my parts stash and I do have an extra videocard with S-Video out. However I might see if I can find something locally on Kijiji better suited.

[mike boss]

Here is my artwork.
I'm hoping to NOT make additional layouts for each of the consoles emulated.
It's going to be too much work and even if I did they would just be slight variants of what I've already done.
This could change as I get further along, but for now that is the plan.

Shoot-em-up Multicade is the desktop image I'm using
Now loading is the custom load screen in MaLa
Two options of the main layout in MaLa, I'm going with the image that features the "use up/down to select game" and "press p1 to start" above the games list.
The other image has it above the snaps, but I don't think it makes sense.

[mike boss]

Making some progress on this project.
Getting the PC fully configured has proven to be a real challenge.
TONS OF WORK !
For now I've got my layout working the way I want it.
Now its just a matter of getting all the emulators to work !
Here is a lil video of the menu.

[BadMouth]

A little off topic, but since you've made a light gun list for each emulator.......

Are there any decent console light gun games that weren't just a ports of arcade games?

[mike boss]

I think many of the games are indeed duplicates. The reason for the multi system set up was to perhaps find an emulator with better support of an individual game. For example I was told in MAME some games like House Of The Dead wont play correctly. However in M2 they play flawless. So adding M2 gives you the ability to play perhaps one of the best known gun games. Visually (and keep in mind I do plan on selling this cabinet) it makes for what reads like a more impressive cabinet. Also should a buyer want to add additional controls entire ROM sets are on the computer.
I've always sorta been a media wh0re of sorts. And even on my "altered" XBOX consoles I "HAD TO" have every emulator I could with every ROM I could. Something very cool (to me anyway) about having the ability to play one of your old time favorites regardless of what it is or what system its on.

PROJECT UPDATE :

Cabinet is cosmetically about done. Needs a good cleaning & the coin door needs a coat or two of black paint.
I have no decided yet on weather or not I want to go with side art.

26" Samsung TV has been purchased, tested, and working great. It's a widescreen LCD.

PC needs a new video card, which I have. It will also need more RAM which I am yet to get.

As far as the PC goes I've done the following :

MAME - working perfect.
NES - working perfect, solved my ESCAPE issue
SNES - working perfect
SEGA MASTER SYSTEM - working perfect, resolved my ESCAPE issue + full screen issue
SEGA 32X,GENESIS - not loading games
PLAYSTATION - not loading games
M2 - working outside of MaLa - needs an upgraded video card. In MaLa the games wont load
DREAMCAST (Chankast) - this is going to be my tuffest challenges. Gotta figure out the mounting of images.

[ark_ader]

I think many of the games are indeed duplicates. The reason for the multi system set up was to perhaps find an emulator with better support of an individual game. For example I was told in MAME some games like House Of The Dead wont play correctly. However in M2 they play flawless. So adding M2 gives you the ability to play perhaps one of the best known gun games. Visually (and keep in mind I do plan on selling this cabinet) it makes for what reads like a more impressive cabinet. Also should a buyer want to add additional controls entire ROM sets are on the computer.
I've always sorta been a media wh0re of sorts. And even on my "altered" XBOX consoles I "HAD TO" have every emulator I could with every ROM I could. Something very cool (to me anyway) about having the ability to play one of your old time favorites regardless of what it is or what system its on.

PROJECT UPDATE :

Cabinet is cosmetically about done. Needs a good cleaning & the coin door needs a coat or two of black paint.
I have no decided yet on weather or not I want to go with side art.

26" Samsung TV has been purchased, tested, and working great. It's a widescreen LCD.

PC needs a new video card, which I have. It will also need more RAM which I am yet to get.

As far as the PC goes I've done the following :

MAME - working perfect.
NES - working perfect, solved my ESCAPE issue
SNES - working perfect
SEGA MASTER SYSTEM - working perfect, resolved my ESCAPE issue + full screen issue
SEGA 32X,GENESIS - not loading games
PLAYSTATION - not loading games
M2 - working outside of MaLa - needs an upgraded video card. In MaLa the games wont load
DREAMCAST (Chankast) - this is going to be my tuffest challenges. Gotta figure out the mounting of images.

You can do nearly all of that on an old Xbox with light guns.

[mike boss]

I didn't know the old XBOX had a lightgun. I have 6 old XBOX consoles, all of which have been "altered" and feature an extensive list of emulators and ROM sets.
I'll look into that in the near future.

For now I'm trying to finalize this PC so I can begin to work on the Aim Trak guns.
Here are a few videos of the Layout @ work, including a new custom menu for House Of The Dead 1 & 2 (PC versions).





For now I still need to work on the Null DC emulator as games are not loading. I feel I will have much better luck with Null vs Chankast. Chakast has been giving me a heck of a time. The PS1 emulator is working ,but not playing all my ISO files. SSF (Sega Saturn) will also need work, as will M2 which does not play in MaLa but does outside of MaLa.

[DataWest]

It would really help some of us out if we had a list of all your lightgun games. I've always wondered if I missed some.

[BadMouth]

It would really help some of us out if we had a list of all your lightgun games. I've always wondered if I missed some.

I'm following you around answering your questions today.


All the MAME ones are covered in the Aimtrack manual.
Download here:

http://www.ultimarc.com/aimtrak.html

Other than MAME, there's.....
Nebulas Sega Model 2 emulator:

Virtua Cop
Virtua Cop 2
House of the Dead
*Behind Enemy Lines
*GunBlade NY
*Rail Chase2
(*mounted gun games, but they'll work with Aimtrack.  No go with Act Labs guns)

Demul:

Ranger Mission
Confidential Mission
Extreme Hunting
Extreme Hunting 2
House of the Dead 2
Lupin the Third
Maze of the Kings
Sport Shooting USA (crashes after calibration for me)
Death Crimson OX

Almost all the console games were just inferior ports of the arcade ones, so I've never bothered with them.
Time Crisis for playstation might worth it.
I would like to see a list for them, just to know what was released.

There have been a lot of light gun questions lately.  (and I always jump in, lol)
I've been thinking about making a light gun info thread like the driving cab info thread.
Maybe I'll get around to it on a rainy day.

If one of the other light gun enthusiasts wants to go ahead and start one, I'll contribute what I know.

[DataWest]

It would really help some of us out if we had a list of all your lightgun games. I've always wondered if I missed some.

I'm following you around answering your questions today.


All the MAME ones are covered in the Aimtrack manual.
Download here:

http://www.ultimarc.com/aimtrak.html

Other than MAME, there's.....
Nebulas Sega Model 2 emulator:

Virtua Cop
Virtua Cop 2
House of the Dead
*Behind Enemy Lines
*GunBlade NY
*Rail Chase2
(*mounted gun games, but they'll work with Aimtrack.  No go with Act Labs guns)

Demul:

Ranger Mission
Confidential Mission
Extreme Hunting
Extreme Hunting 2
House of the Dead 2
Lupin the Third
Maze of the Kings
Sport Shooting USA (crashes after calibration for me)
Death Crimson OX

Almost all the console games were just inferior ports of the arcade ones, so I've never bothered with them.
Time Crisis for playstation might worth it.
I would like to see a list for them, just to know what was released.

There have been a lot of light gun questions lately.  (and I always jump in, lol)
I've been thinking about making a light gun info thread like the driving cab info thread.
Maybe I'll get around to it on a rainy day.

If one of the other light gun enthusiasts wants to go ahead and start one, I'll contribute what I know.

LOL you are. Spooky....

Thanks 

[mike boss]

I got most of my info from wikipedia.

And Bad Mouth sir you have been awesome and a HUGE help! I thank you a ton for your time and patience to answer my questions.
This site and its contributors are just awesome !

I've made little progress and  this is where the cabinet is as of right now.
New videocard and 1 GIG of RAM getting installed on Monday.
(RAM $20 locally and videocard free from local coin-op enthusiast)
I hope this will help with some of the M2 issues (pixel shader) and NullDC.
Some of the games in Null seem to just get hung up and stall. I'm thinking RAM issue ?

Now with respects to Null & M2 I can't get them to launch from MaLa. I've followed Uncle T's install guide,
I've tried everything suggested to me. I've just had 0 luck. The MaLa menu will still show them as installed,
the ROM files will be left intact. However I don't think I will spend more time trying to fix this.
When (if) I sell the machine should the buyer want to  work on it he/she can.

Cosmetically now that the weather is nicer (I'm in Ajax Ontario Canada) I want to get outside and give the cabinet a good cleaning.
It has been touched up in areas and the coindoor might get a few coats of black if needed once cleaned.
I'm not going with any sideart, just keeping it simple and clean.

I have a buddy willing to help me install a shelf for the 26" Samsung TV, and another buddy who in the next few weeks is going to help me wire the Aim Trak guns.

All in all and easy project, the PC took me awhile to configure. But the cabinet was in great shape and really didn't need much work at all. Perhaps during the week I'll install the admin buttons and wire up the keyboard encoder. Really not many man hours have been spent on this machine, a pretty quick turn around.