Jamma light gun

[Ninja69Assassin]

Have to try and phase this correctly so it doesn't get deleted...

I'm not ready for MAME style programming but think I can handle the jamma stuff. I noticed here and there places that seem to have things similar to kits for 2 player light gun games. Nothing specific but maybe HOD3, Far Cry, etc and on a kit type setup from blah. Has anyone tried these type things before?

I just want a up and running soon type setup until I get a lot better. I've found some that could be 3 in 1 for around 6-700, wish more game options but yeah...anyone have thoughts on jamma light gun kits?

Simple enough, or should I focus on learning MAME. My 60 in 1 jamma was a nightmare for me to get workingbut it works. Hoping to get a gun game option soon.

[Titchgamer]

If I am understanding your question correctly:

I dont know of any jamma gun kits per se.
But what you can do is buy a jamma gun cabinet and install multiple game boards of the same pinouts via a switcher.

From what you say though such a task may be a large task for you.

[Ninja69Assassin]

Let's say I'm up for doing the homework, any good top rated threads on multiple boards running together; or even better a videi to show how it would work?

I've seen some MAME videos but curious on the jamma side. Per ghe kits, not saying they exist but if they did it'd likely be a quick google search. If I had to guess, most potential kits might start with 3 or 4 games included.

[Titchgamer]

Afraid I dont know of any videos etc but I did see it done where the person had a Area 51 cab and also installed I think it was police trainer and Something else.

They basically put a jamma switcher in to change between boards but I think they had to modify some wiring to get them all to work together.

I might look into myself in the future.

Doing it through MAME though is much easier. Couple of aim traks and some roms and away you go.

I run lots of light gun games on my cabinet.

[SuperGojira2001]

Good video on a JAMMA switcher:

EDIT: After some research on multi-light gun setups with original PCB's, it looks like a lot of work. Not everything will all compatible with each game, so you will have to do some rewiring and other tedious stuff. If you're comfortable going on an adventure go for it, but it might be easier to get a 3 in 1.

[ark_ader]

What is a jamma light gun?

[Titchgamer]

What is a jamma light gun?

A non existent entity that is known as a light gun for use with jamma wired light gun game boards.

Hope that clears that up for you Lord Ark!

[Ninja69Assassin]

3 in 1 sounds easy, any good tutorials  on MAME light gun systems? This site has so many resources, wish we could build a best of the best noob guide.

Cabinet making 101 with top few threads.
Control panels 101 with top few threads.
Control panel artwork 101
Blah blah blah
Etc...

One stop shop that would take a noob from nothing to done 😁

[Titchgamer]

Now where would be the fun in that? 

But we are currently waiting on a Light Gun sub forum.

[ark_ader]

What is a jamma light gun?

A non existent entity that is known as a light gun for use with jamma wired light gun game boards.

Hope that clears that up for you Lord Ark!

She has a mouth on her eh? 

[Titchgamer]

What is a jamma light gun?

A non existent entity that is known as a light gun for use with jamma wired light gun game boards.

Hope that clears that up for you Lord Ark!

She has a mouth on her eh? 

Your sense of Gender worries me!

Not one of the "Binary" people are ya!?

[PL1]

One stop shop that would take a noob from nothing to done 😁

If only we had a working wiki with a FAQ. 


Scott

[Ninja69Assassin]

Amazing page

[Tarma]

Ninja69Assassin – That sounds like a pit you could throw a lot of money into! 700 for the JAMMA setup, a couple hundred more for the monitor, a couple hundred more for the cab and artwork...you could easily be in for 1200 and end up with a very “home-made looking” setup unless you have mad woodworking skills. For that much you could likely buy a used HOTD or similar on Craigslist and it would have a greater resale value later than a home build. I'd follow Titchgamer's advice and learn to set up light guns in MAME. Every hour you spend learning now is money you'll save later!

[Ninja69Assassin]

Actually spent about the last 90 minutes contemplating that. I'm far from super wealthy but the wife is typically behind things I spend money on that will keep me mentally occupied. The last one I made turned out terrible but it kept me busy for months trying to figure it all out.

I'm doing my homework on the Mame concepts. I showed her a showcase style build she didn't throw a fit. I told her we could even try to hide a liquor cabinet in there somewhere.

Has anyone tried to make one of those showcase builds?  I probably spent the last two weeks just taking random pieces of wood MDF plywood plyboard and such and just painting them to see how that process actually goes. Started with just black and seeing if I could get a glossy finish then start mixing colors and throwing designs out. I just have to stay mentally busy outside of the office or I go nuts, usually she's willing to let me spend some money to not drive her crazy.

I do believe the three in one for $700 is a bit pricey given that there's a three-game limitation. Definitely doing my homework. Like the idea of either a two or ideally a four player style cabinet with dual light guns. Could I put an emulator on my current gaming PC and start testing the waters, anything specific I need out of the gates to start learning it?

[ark_ader]

Actually spent about the last 90 minutes contemplating that. I'm far from super wealthy but the wife is typically behind things I spend money on that will keep me mentally occupied. The last one I made turned out terrible but it kept me busy for months trying to figure it all out.

I'm doing my homework on the Mame concepts. I showed her a showcase style build she didn't throw a fit. I told her we could even try to hide a liquor cabinet in there somewhere.

Has anyone tried to make one of those showcase builds?  I probably spent the last two weeks just taking random pieces of wood MDF plywood plyboard and such and just painting them to see how that process actually goes. Started with just black and seeing if I could get a glossy finish then start mixing colors and throwing designs out. I just have to stay mentally busy outside of the office or I go nuts, usually she's willing to let me spend some money to not drive her crazy.

I do believe the three in one for $700 is a bit pricey given that there's a three-game limitation. Definitely doing my homework. Like the idea of either a two or ideally a four player style cabinet with dual light guns. Could I put an emulator on my current gaming PC and start testing the waters, anything specific I need out of the gates to start learning it?

Awesome to have a wife that supports you like that.  Does she have a sister? 

[Titchgamer]

Actually spent about the last 90 minutes contemplating that. I'm far from super wealthy but the wife is typically behind things I spend money on that will keep me mentally occupied. The last one I made turned out terrible but it kept me busy for months trying to figure it all out.

I'm doing my homework on the Mame concepts. I showed her a showcase style build she didn't throw a fit. I told her we could even try to hide a liquor cabinet in there somewhere.

Has anyone tried to make one of those showcase builds?  I probably spent the last two weeks just taking random pieces of wood MDF plywood plyboard and such and just painting them to see how that process actually goes. Started with just black and seeing if I could get a glossy finish then start mixing colors and throwing designs out. I just have to stay mentally busy outside of the office or I go nuts, usually she's willing to let me spend some money to not drive her crazy.

I do believe the three in one for $700 is a bit pricey given that there's a three-game limitation. Definitely doing my homework. Like the idea of either a two or ideally a four player style cabinet with dual light guns. Could I put an emulator on my current gaming PC and start testing the waters, anything specific I need out of the gates to start learning it?

Yup!

A half decent PC, MAME, Roms, a pair of aim traks (or guns of your choosing) and get playing!

[Ninja69Assassin]

Awesome to have a wife that supports you like that.  Does she have a sister? 
[/quote]

She does, but she plays for a different team.

[TapeWormInYourGut]

That just makes it more fun.

Good luck on anything lightgun related. Until an viable/accurate IR option is available, you are SOL. You will either end up with a setup that supports very few games while paying an arm and a leg for hardware, or end up going the IR route and have accuracy issues.

[Titchgamer]

That just makes it more fun.

Good luck on anything lightgun related. Until an viable/accurate IR option is available, you are SOL. You will either end up with a setup that supports very few games while paying an arm and a leg for hardware, or end up going the IR route and have accuracy issues.

I dont have any accuracy issues

Only issues I have are controller ID's but thats not to be blamed on the guns....

[TapeWormInYourGut]

Try playing duckhunt and then tell me you have no accuracy issues. It's near impossible to play. Move the gun to the left or up an inch you are off by quite a bit. It's a limitation with current IR solutions.

[Titchgamer]

Try playing duckhunt and then tell me you have no accuracy issues. It's near impossible to play. Move the gun to the left or up an inch you are off by quite a bit. It's a limitation with current IR solutions.

Never played Duck hunt on my set up.

But I have played Time Crisis, Carnevil, Point Blank, Area 51, Police trainer etc etc all of which involve moving the gun with no issues.

[CheffoJeffo]

EDIT: After some research on multi-light gun setups with original PCB's, it looks like a lot of work. Not everything will all compatible with each game, so you will have to do some rewiring and other tedious stuff. If you're comfortable going on an adventure go for it, but it might be easier to get a 3 in 1.

This.

I have a set of of Clay's MultiJAMMA boards (love it!), but wouldn't waste time trying to have even two gun games in the same cabinet.  Compatibility is a PITA (some gun/game combinations can kill your game board) and it's more hassle than it is worth.

Way back when I decided to have a dedicated generic (ie MultiExidy doesn't count because it's only Exidy 440 games) gun cabinet, there weren't good  available options for MAME gun set ups. I picked up a set of standard Happ guns and decided to be satisfied with games that were plug-and-play or had a simple adapter (LE, PT, ZP, A51 ... I even ran EggVenture with an adapter when the kids were young).

If I had it to do over and needed to cover a variety of games, I would either not bother or go MAME.

[bimm25e]

Make sure you get a cabinet with a standard resolution monitor (15khz)  or one that is tri-sync, if you are going to go with a jamma switcher.

Heres the info I collected on it:
https://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=271012

I disagree with the above poster about the multi lightgun not being a good project. I think the multi jamma cabinet was an extremely worthwhile and rewarding project.  Aimtracks are not accurate enough in my opinion, and there are only about 20 lightgun games worth playing.  There is a user developing a 8 JAMMA pcb switcher and when that drops you should easily be able to cover all of the (actual, HAPP45, beam-based) light gun games you want, 100% accurately with 100% accuracy in any cabinet with a rgb monitor.

The thing about light gun games though is you have to understand that some games use a beam timing circuit (LE, A51, Point Blank, Police Trainer, TurkeyHunting USA, Time Crisis 2) while other games use an IR sensor (HOuse of the dead 2, virtua cop, Jurassic park, Time Crisis 4, ghost squad).  You need different guns for each group,
 Sega is pretty much the boss of the IR gun game world and games made after 2000 tend to need sensors,

pretty much anything up to Time Crisis 2 will work with the HAPP 45 guns



also the 3-in-1 gun kit you mention, those are not aiming guns, those are mounted guns, they actualy work like loysticks to aim.  think revolution X or terminator.  these guns tend to use analog controls like spinners or POT's to determine gun location, for the most part, they are NOT compatible with the handheld gun games mentioned above.

[Titchgamer]

Make sure you get a cabinet with a standard resolution monitor (15khz)  or one that is tri-sync, if you are going to go with a jamma switcher.

Heres the info I collected on it:
https://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=271012

I disagree with the above poster about the multi lightgun not being a good project. I think the multi jamma cabinet was an extremely worthwhile and rewarding project.  Aimtracks are not accurate enough in my opinion, and there are only about 20 lightgun games worth playing.  There is a user developing a 8 JAMMA pcb switcher and when that drops you should easily be able to cover all of the (actual, HAPP45, beam-based) light gun games you want, 100% accurately with 100% accuracy in any cabinet with a rgb monitor.

The thing about light gun games though is you have to understand that some games use a beam timing circuit (LE, A51, Point Blank, Police Trainer, TurkeyHunting USA, Time Crisis 2) while other games use an IR sensor (HOuse of the dead 2, virtua cop, Jurassic park, Time Crisis 4, ghost squad).  You need different guns for each group,
 Sega is pretty much the boss of the IR gun game world and games made after 2000 tend to need sensors,

pretty much anything up to Time Crisis 2 will work with the HAPP 45 guns



also the 3-in-1 gun kit you mention, those are not aiming guns, those are mounted guns, they actualy work like loysticks to aim.  think revolution X or terminator.  these guns tend to use analog controls like spinners or POT's to determine gun location, for the most part, they are NOT compatible with the handheld gun games mentioned above.

Sorry to hijack but....

Glad you are still active Bimm!
I read your thread a few months ago and it gave me ideas!

I have brought a Area 51 cab and would like to multi game it!
I have not got it yet though as its gone to have the monitor fixed.
Its not a original area 51 cab though so ime not sure what to expect until I collect it (not seen inside yet!)

So may be looking to your thread soon!
Thanks for getting it on there!

[CheffoJeffo]

Heres the info I collected on it:
https://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=271012

I disagree with the above poster about the multi lightgun not being a good project. I think the multi jamma cabinet was an extremely worthwhile and rewarding project. 

That is a great thread and I've used it to refer people to what a pain it can be. Rewarding if you are into the tech or into the games enough. I'm not.

Aimtracks are not accurate enough in my opinion, and there are only about 20 lightgun games worth playing.

I don't particularly disagree. My 20 includes the classics and JAMMA leaves me dead in the water (but I get a number of those in my MultiExidy so am happy enough).

 

There is a user developing a 8 JAMMA pcb switcher and when that drops you should easily be able to cover all of the (actual, HAPP45, beam-based) light gun games you want, 100% accurately with 100% accuracy in any cabinet with a rgb monitor.

This would change my opinion entirely. And to think I just pitched the Die Hard duramold I had been using as a dedicated gun cabinet.

Great info -- thanks.

[bimm25e]

Always glad to hear it helped a little, I apologize that the structure of that thread is mostly crazy ramblings but I tried to really highlight the important stuff.

I am still waiting for someone to see my thread and decide to make the community a multi-game PCB that plays the solid HAPP 45 games.  To me, lightgun games are one of the more difficult control schemes to emulate properly (still looking for a set of act labs vga guns ) combined with a set of very enjoyable titles.  If I could be satisfied with MAME-ing them all I would, but for now playing the real deal PCB's is as good as it gets on this medium IMO

[bimm25e]

Simple enough, or should I focus on learning MAME.

everything said, as far as return on investment, you'll have WWWAAAYYYY more fun if you get mame working well vs a lightgun cab
MAME is also free, and those lightgun PCBs are gonna run you $40-$150+ apiece depending on what games you're looking for