Will Act Labs GS Gameport light guns work in Windows 7/XP with Mame?

[mtarcade]

Hi all!  Just picked up a pair of Act Labs GS gameport light guns....with the holster/wii remote thingy.

Just wondering if anyone knows current compatability in Mame? 

I also didn't realize i don't have a Gameport Midi port on my pc as it's newish so I was thinking about picking up a USB 2.0 to 15 prong Gameport adaptor.  Just looking for advice on this if it's a waste of time/money to pick up or if these guns are worth it now with newer compatability in Mame.

I've been digging around for hours online and it seems like people aren't impressed previously to 2005....lol. 

Any advice for me and anyone else considering these guns for a Mame machine would be fantastic.
Thanks ahead for anyone that takes the time to respond. 

[ark_ader]

I have a bunch of light guns and controllers that do not work well with Windows 7.  Better stick    with Windows 2K or XP.

Give it whirl if you have already bought them.

[mtarcade]

I bought the gs set off ebay but, with the research i did....turns out that it's Win 95/98 compatable! 
I built my machine off a Quad core processor with 8 gig ram....lol.  Not interested in putting Win 95 or 98 in the machine. 

I was wondering if anyone else has had luck with these guns working under Windows XP/Win 7....I'd say Vista but, who wants to go there. 

Also wondering if anyone knows if you can hook up the USB to Gameport adaptor as I don't have a Gameport Midi on this pc or capabilities off the board?

[BadMouth]

Gameports are simple things.  For the most part, the old joysticks didn't actually have any chips inside and didn't communicate with the computer.
Basically, the pots and buttons inside the sticks are wired directly to the pins on the gameport.  No real worry of matching protocols, drivers, etc.

Because of that, it will most likely work if you can get a gameport installed.


I have this gameport adapter:


IT DOES NOT SUPPORT ALL FOUR AXIS, so probably only one of your guns would work.
It shows up as a generic 2-axis joystick.

I'd get a $7 sound card that includes a gameport.  Make sure the gameport on it supports 2 joysticks.
It will still only have one gameport.  The pins for both joysticks are located on the same port.
I've read that some cheap sound cards only support one, but don't really see it mentioned in the specs so it might be trial and error.

Not sure about the chances of windows 7 drivers being available.
XP should be fine.

[mtarcade]

Thanks for the advice.  I was worried I was going to have to walk away from the gun idea for awhile.  I looked around and it's hard to find a soundcard with gameport for PCI-E.  I only have a few PCI-E slots available in my arcade machine.  I'll try either the soundcard with gameport or the usb adaptor.

[mtarcade]

It would be great to hear from anyone else in this thread that has tried the Act Lab GS gun system with Mame to get some feedback on their experience. 

I just pulled the trigger and bought a "Rockfire USB to DB15 gameport adaptor/convertor"  off ebay for $23.  I decided to go with that one because it can apparently handle 4 axis.  So, hopefully that gets me up and running so i can dig deep and start shooting things! 

It'll most likely be 3 to 4 weeks before it gets here but, I will start a new thread giving a review on my experience to help anyone else out who decides to get into these GS guns in the future.  It looks like a great kit.  2 guns, a holster base, and a wii mote thingy. 

I havn't read any good feedback on them with all the digging around I did.  But, the most current feedback I could find from someone was from 2006.  Almost have to take a time machine to dig info up on these.

Thanks again for anyone with advice, info or better yet.....any experience with these guns!

[BadMouth]

I haven't seen any comments on the GS model since becoming a member here.

I have a pair of the ray gun style USB guns and love them.  They are dead accurate, supposedly within 3 pixels.
Hope yours prove to be as good.

I also have a pair of the newer small silver pistols (also USB) and don't like the feel of the grip or trigger.
Those also seem to register shots slightly too high on the windows desktop.  I'm hoping it can be corrected by bending the sensor a bit.
It doesn't really matter in MAME.  After you calibrate them in game, they're accurate.

[mtarcade]

That's good feedback on the ray gun model.  The GS is a pair of ray gun style.  Now, I just have to play the waiting game until I get my adapter off ebay.  Then, I can test these guns out and let everyone know if they are a good candidate for a gun for Mame.

[mtarcade]

I'm starting to toy with the Act Labs GS guns now.  I've been sitting on the game port adapter for awhile now.  Just trying to find some downtime around here over the holidays to start in on this and see if I can get anywhere with these gems.  I'll update everyone and document how these things work.....if at all!?!

[zebidia]

Hi mtarcade. I'm re-opening this old thread because I find myself in exactly the same position as you were back in 2013. I hope you're still around to respond.

I just picked up a basically brand new set of the Act Labs GS guns from eBay for $60 Canadian bucks... pretty good, I think. Still in the original box, twist-ties still on all the perfectly folded cords, etc. They have a VGA connector and a gameport connector, as did/does yours.

So, simple question: did you have any luck getting them working, and can you offer any advice before I just track down an old mobo and gameport-sporting soundcard to do an XP build? Sure would be nice if I could stick with the groovymame Windows 7 build I already have.

[mgb]

Hi mtarcade. I'm re-opening this old thread because I find myself in exactly the same position as you were back in 2013. I hope you're still around to respond.

I just picked up a basically brand new set of the Act Labs GS guns from eBay for $60 Canadian bucks... pretty good, I think. Still in the original box, twist-ties still on all the perfectly folded cords, etc. They have a VGA connector and a gameport connector, as did/does yours.

So, simple question: did you have any luck getting them working, and can you offer any advice before I just track down an old mobo and gameport-sporting soundcard to do an XP build? Sure would be nice if I could stick with the groovymame Windows 7 build I already have.

his last login was june 19th 2015, so there's a bit of a chance he may not see this

[zebidia]

Thanks, mgb. The poster also has only 9 posts total... not encouraging.

I did manage to track down gameport drivers that are supposed to work in Windows 7, so that's a good start. But the real show-stopper right now is that the setup executable provided in the GS box will not run on Win7. I think I will probably just try to put together an XP build... save myself a lot of hassle.

[mgb]

Yeah, that sounds like it maybe the better bet than trying to get it working in 7.

[zebidia]

Well, I'm pretty sorry I didn't scour this web site for information on the Act Labs GS system before I made the purchase. Turns out these things are utterly useless. I thought I was getting a steal of a deal at $60, but it turns out the seller is the one that did the stealing.

Lesson learned, and in the land-fill they go.

[mgb]

There are game port to USB adapters but according to Act Labs, the game port versions
Don't even work with Windows 2000 or XP. Only with 95/98

[zebidia]

There are game port to USB adapters but according to Act Labs, the game port versions
Don't even work with Windows 2000 or XP. Only with 95/98

And furthermore, the guns are simply not supported in MAME, either (to be fair, someone mentioned that they partially work in MAME32, but I'm not willing to expend the time, effort and money to prove/disprove it).

[Crayfish]

Does anyone know if the guns themselves from the old game port model are interchangable with the USB model? I heard the old ray gun style guns are better, but I dont know if you can swap them between versions.

Here are pics showing the USB box gun connector, and the old game port one. Its looks like a different pin layout to me
The USB looks like 9 pin and the old gameport one 13 pin, so wouldnt even fit:

[mtarcade]

Wow.....time flies!  Haha.  Sorry for the 7 year late reply guys!  I had zero luck with the GS model guns(pair in holster with weird wii type controller).   
I did buy an interface card, and tested it with different versions of windows and mame builds and after really digging around and doing research.....these guns are useless.  They look cool.  All show, no go folks!  I too bought them off ebay thinking i was getting those infamous Ray guns that work for CRT.  But, no luck!
I have since found a single usb Ray gun and it works perfect on CRT.