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Aimtrak Gun Help

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Wade007:

1001mph, do NOT edit the mameUI64.ini file. Wrong file. Leave as is.

mameUI64.ini controls the interface for MAME UI's interface, not MAME itself. I use MAMEUI64 as well. I understand what you're talking about.

Find and edit the "mame.ini" file only. If you have more than one mame.ini file, then you'll have to figure out which one your frontend is using.  It's possible that you have one inside the "INI" folder and another in the root directory of MAME. Maybe edit them both to be sure. :)

Open the file (mame.ini) with Notepad/Word and make the following edits:
mouse 1
joystick 1
lightgun 1
offscreen_reload 1
lightgun_device none
mouse_device mouse
dual_lightgun 0

You will already find these lines of text in the ini file towards the bottom. You won't copy and insert all text shown above. You are mainly only editing the "1", "0", or "none" values of existing lines so your AimTraks will be recognized correctly. By default your light guns are configured to work in mouse mode for cursor x and y movements.

THEN, launch MAMEUI64 (without Hyperspin) and set up your controls for the lightgun games within MAME: Tab, Inputs - General, Lightgun X, Lightgun Y, etc as described in the AIMTRAK manual. You should get a value of something like "GUN 2X" and "GUN 2Y", etc when you move your gun across the screen for MAME to pick it up. Test/play the lightgun game. Once you get this working, try playing via your frontend, Hyperspin. If there's still a problem at that point then you know there's a disconnect with Hyperspin (likely using a different mame.ini file). You may need to delete the individual ini files in the INI folder for any lightguns games you've messed with (ie: ptblank.ini) just to be sure there are no conflicts with your correct lightgun setup.

I hope this helps. ;)

1001mph:

Thank you Wade!

I think I'm making progress - I found that ini subfolder in the mame folder and it had the mame.ini that you described.

I've made the changes you've suggested but I still seem to be getting the x and y axis showing as mouse not lightgun and if i change P1n Button 1 and 2 it does come up now with GUN 1 but with the cross hairs still jumping around it also is picking up the x and y axis and setting P1 button 1 as Mouse Axis X Gun 1 X-axis and Gun 1 button 1

I've also removed anything i changed in the other ini files

I've obviously missed something - back to my real work now but if you have any suggestions they'd be greatly appreciated

Here's what the mame.ini looks like now

#
# CORE INPUT OPTIONS
#
coin_lockout              1
ctrlr                     X-Arcade
mouse                     1
joystick                  1
lightgun                  1
multikeyboard             0
multimouse                0
steadykey                 0
ui_active                 0
offscreen_reload          1
joystick_map              auto
joystick_deadzone         0.3
joystick_saturation       0.85
natural                   0
joystick_contradictory    0
coin_impulse              0

#
# CORE INPUT AUTOMATIC ENABLE OPTIONS
#
paddle_device             keyboard
adstick_device            keyboard
pedal_device              keyboard
dial_device               keyboard
trackball_device          keyboard
lightgun_device           none
positional_device         keyboard
mouse_device              mouse

Wade007:

Triple check that you're using the right mame.ini file. You may be using one that is in your root directory not in the INI folder. Be sure you edited the correct mame.ini (or edit all you find to be sure).

I'll take a look at my mame.ini file and perhaps attached it here later as a guide. Perhaps there's something not tweaked quite right.
I too use an X-arcade tankstick, so the settings should be nearly the same. Hold tight... we'll get you though this.  ;)

Also... when setting up the lightguns in MAME, be sure NOT to point the gun at the screen when setting up the trigger or other gun buttons. Only point the gun at the screen when mapping the X/Y axis of each gun.

One more thing...this may sound dumb but did you actually calibrate your guns within Windows before trying to set them up with MAME? You have to calibrate them first in Windows environment and later in a select few MAME games as well. You have to push one of the Aimtrak buttons for a few seconds before it will enter "calibration" mode. See my video posted above for more help.

[EDIT]
Below is the core input options code from my mame.ini file:

--- Code: ---#
# CORE INPUT OPTIONS
#
coin_lockout              1
ctrlr                     x-arcade
mouse                     1
joystick                  1
lightgun                  1
multikeyboard             0
multimouse                0
steadykey                 0
offscreen_reload          1
joystick_map              auto
joystick_deadzone         0.3
joystick_saturation       0.85
natural                   0
joystick_contradictory    0
coin_impulse              0
--- End code ---

Looks like you probably have the mame.ini file set up correctly. Check that you've calibrated your guns within Windows correctly next.




1001mph:

Thanks Wade!

Making some progress but also going backwards lol

I went back and calibrated in Windows (again) and it seemed to help  with the crosshair movement in Mame - it took quite a few tries in Mame to get it to recognize gun 1 x and gun 1 y but it finally did (it kept doing the mouse 1 x and mouse 1 y instead but after about 10 tries it finally came up gun 1 x and y

However, now i can't get the P1 Button 1 and 2 to work??? (they worked at least sometimes previously).

With the gun away from the screen i get Mouse 1 Button 1 and Gun 1 Button 0 (same with pointing on the screen with usually a x or y axis thrown in). The more interesting part is now the front button on the gun also programs the same Mouse 1 Button 1 and Gun 1 Button 0.

I've gone into the aimtrak utility and made sure the button assignments were checked and correct - they are

Not sure what else i can do?

Thank you!

Mike

Wade007:

Glad you're making some progress. Still, something odd is happening with your set-up.

I think you've solved or at least are on the right track with the crosshair movement. Calibration within Windows is the first step and can be tricky. Don't move your wrists when pointing at the three calibrations targets on the screen. Only point the barrel of the gun if that makes sense. That will yield the most accurate and smooth calibration. Stand back from your screen at least 4 feet when doing this. If your guns then work as mouse pointers in Windows, you should be good to go. Move onto to MAME (but not Hyperspin yet...that's the last step).

I'm not sure what to tell you about the P1 & P2 button mapping. Getting something like "Gun 1 Button 0" or "JOY Button 1" is correct and should work. Don't point your gun at the screen when mapping the buttons. You DON'T want it to pick up any X/Y axis coordinates along with your selected button(s).

If both your trigger button and your rear "reload" button map the same button, something is off. Sounds like you already checked it out in the AimTrak utility. That's what I would have suggested. Maybe you go back there (configuration tab) and change it up to be sure they are separate buttons? Write down what the buttons are supposed to come us as and then cross-reference those button names to what comes up in MAME (or should be coming up). Be sure you are NOT moving your mouse while doing any button mapping of any kind. keep it on lock-down somehow so it doesn't get accidentally picked up. :)

When mapping a gun button in MAME: select the button in the menu, press ENTER, then press ESC to clear ALL entries. The mapping should now say "None". Then go back to the button, press ENTER again, now pull the trigger or press the gun button desired. That's the best way to map gun buttons (for me) so there are no conflicts or additional unwanted mapping entries.

Mmmmm... I may have to think a bit more on this. Have you tried contacting AimTrak/Ultimarc directly to troubleshoot? They may be better equipped at this point to help you. I know Andy (Ultimarc) and could give you his email address. Or are your guns Arcade Guns (also AimTrak tech)? I also know Eric Harbo at Arcade Guns.

Another advanced idea: I don't know how computer saavy you are but the thread below talks about a utility that is used to automatically map ALL buttons, joysticks, AimTrak guns, triggers, etc each time you boot up your MAME system along with remapping the IDs correctly when/if Windows decides to change them. This requires some XML coding and a knowledge of what your buttons are supposed to be. The main obstacle this utility overcomes is the Window's ID issue (separate from your setup issues) but it can also be used to correctly map all your buttons and X/Y axis for ALL of MAME perfectly every time. Not required, but I use it. See my comments toward the very end of the thread along with code you could copy and paste. Maybe this will help you...or maybe just confuse you more at this point. I don't know. Thought I'd just throw it out as an option:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=108767.0

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