Light Gun Interface

[dmish82]

HI,

What kind of PC interface card do I need to connect 2 light guns to my arcade? Also, what kind of connection do the light guns need to have to interface with the card?

Thanks,
Dave

[Howard_Casto]

You can't, and you can't.  There is no known way to interface arcade lightguns to the pc for various reasons I won't get into.  

Buy two act labs lightguns.  analog mame supports two just fine.

[u_rebelscum]

Depends on the lightgun.

USB, for USB PC lightguns.
PS/2, for PS/2 PC lightguns.  (most suck though)

As HC said, no arcade lightguns.

[Nephus]

so I guess what you guys are trying to say is that this doesn't exist: http://www.r0r3.com/productsusbopticalgun.htm

Yes, it's expensive.. plus you have to buy 2 expensive guns (if you don't already have them)... but you can do it.

edit: that thing will accept standard happ guns right out of the box... so if you bought a shooter cab somewhere and have the guns, all you need to do is drop that baby in there.

why is it so fun when the new guy proves the "impossible" to people who've been around here for so long?  

[clanggedin]

No one has been willing to plunk $150+ just to test it with Mame.

Will you do that for us??

[shadowdrak]

The biggest problem with the r0r3 interface is not only is it expensive, but it seems like there is no place to buy one either.  If you can get ahold of one, lemme know how it works.  Looks like it should work ok.  With the price of happ guns though, you'd be looking at 4-500 to get them and get them installed.  One thing you might try is to fit the actlabs PCB into a happ gun. If you want that authentic look.  Dunno If that would even work as it would require some modifications to the equipment(a lot cheaper to test though).  I thought It might be neat to get a solenoid gun working with the act labs setup.

[Xiaou2]

ive seen happ guns on ebay for arround 50$

[MoonDog]

i'd be curious as well to hear if this works.  i just picked up a couple arcade light guns for free.  i thought i could get them to work with MAME, but i guess maybe not.  i don't even know if they work so dropping $150 bucks to find out isn't quite worth it at this point.

[SirPoonga]

No one has been willing to plunk $150+ just to test it with Mame.

Will you do that for us??

For 1 gun, for two you need to buy more

"The optical gun board will work in conjunction with the UGCI and will allow a complete Optical Gun system supporting two optical gun inputs can be built for less than a few hundred dollars."

[MoonDog]

I emailed r0r3 recently like others on this board and have not heard back.  It sure would be interesting to find out if this mystical device actually works.

[KevSteele]

I've also emailed ROR3 about reviewing their interface - no reply.

I'll try again, and I'm thinking right now of using any raffle proceeds from the upcoming WGD9200 RetroBlast raffle to finance a purchase of one of these interfaces for a review.

Kevin

[hulkster]

so I guess what you guys are trying to say is that this doesn't exist: http://www.r0r3.com/productsusbopticalgun.htm

Yes, it's expensive.. plus you have to buy 2 expensive guns (if you don't already have them)... but you can do it.

edit: that thing will accept standard happ guns right out of the box... so if you bought a shooter cab somewhere and have the guns, all you need to do is drop that baby in there.

why is it so fun when the new guy proves the "impossible" to people who've been around here for so long?  

  booyah

[Howard_Casto]

Not really... I had heard rumors of such a device, but without a single review, a single user stating they had actually bought one, or any proof of it working, regardless of the price, at this point it is vaporware.  It's kind of like those ps/2 lightguns rebel mentioned. Technically they are lightguns, but they suck and don't really work well so we don't count them.  

Take that and the fact that you can't buy said interface and even if you could you probably couldn't afford it and I'll still stand by the statment that there are no known ways to easily interface arcade lightguns to the pc.  

[SirPoonga]

I've also emailed ROR3 about reviewing their interface - no reply.

I'll try again, and I'm thinking right now of using any raffle proceeds from the upcoming WGD9200 RetroBlast raffle to finance a purchase of one of these interfaces for a review.

Kevin

Did you try and call them?  If the long distance is an issue I might be able to try.  I have a calling card that is 3.4 cents a minute  Just PM me what questions you'd like to have answered.  Word them exactly the way you'd want me to ask.

Jack J. McCauley - VP Sales
1 Jillian Way
Danville
California
USA 94506
Tel: 925-362-8591
Fax: 925-838-0597
www.r0r3.com
ntdrivers@r0r3.com

[KevSteele]

Nope - I haven't called (yet). LD charges are no problem, just haven't had a voice this last week due to the flu.

I'm sounding less "frog-like" every day, so I'll give them a buzz in a couple of days.

Kevin

[dmish82]

I guess if I just plug 2-Act Labs USB interface light-guns into the computer that would work. Now does Mame support the light guns or would there be any other interface needed?

[Minwah]

I guess if I just plug 2-Act Labs USB interface light-guns into the computer that would work. Now does Mame support the light guns or would there be any other interface needed?

Buy two act labs lightguns.  analog mame supports two just fine.

[exibar]

So has anyone tried this board yet?

  anxious people need to know :-)

Mike B

[MoonDog]

I finally got an email response from Jack McCauley at r0r3.  He said he sells this board directly.  I'm a bit far out from needing one right now, but I hope to get one in the future.  I have two arcade guns but I'm not even sure if they work yet.

He said to give him a call at (925) 362 - 8591.

Anyway, I just thought I would pass that on.  It sounds like others weren't able to get any response.

[MoonDog]

I'm quite curious to hear if this thing will work.  If anyone gets one, be sure to post a review.

I'll probably email the guy back and ask some questions since I finally got a response.  Does anybody here have anything specific they would like to ask about this?  Who knows, maybe I'll just bite the bullet some point and pick one up myself.

[KevSteele]

My plans at the moment are to buy the ROR3 interface and two light guns as soon as the current RetroBlast raffle is over, and review them ASAP.

I'll be sure and post here when the review is ready.

Kevin

[Pilot143]

you do realize the future of this company rests in kevins hands... if its a thumbs up... they'll be backordered for months upon MONTHS!

...if its a thumbs down...

[KevSteele]

you do realize the future of this company rests in kevins hands... if its a thumbs up... they'll be backordered for months upon MONTHS!

...if its a thumbs down...

Methinks you exaggerate a bit...  

Kevin

[exibar]

So I should order one now to go with the ebay auction of a zillion (ok a huge pile, not quite a zillion) of lightguns that I just won for $36.00 and change?

  shipping was $34.80 though... ouch... but there are at least 2 dozen lightguns in there.... it's questionable how many work, but I figured that I should give the auction a bid and see if I win just in case a few actually work.... hoping that this interface works as well as it should...

[Minwah]

My plans at the moment are to buy the ROR3 interface and two light guns as soon as the current RetroBlast raffle is over, and review them ASAP.

Great news, can't wait

[exibar]

here's the scoop on those ULGI light gun interface boards.  I've spoken with Jack yesterday and he filled me in on what they can and cannot do, at the moment.

  They will not work properly with MAME right now, due to a driver issue.  The board doesn't make the arcade lightguns act as a mouse, which is basically what we are in need of.  Jack flat out said that they will not work with PC's and MAME right out of the box.  I'm sure if they did he would have told me so, I had my charge card in hand ready to buy one from him had he said "yes the boards work with MAME".

   BUT, he did say that he will include the SDK (Software Development Kit) with the purchase of the board that will allow the creation of such a driver.  He said they work with the Playstation 2 right out of the box, so if you own a PS2 and want to use an arcade lightgun, do it to it!

   I've sent Jack a message today requesting a development sample of his ULGI board.  With the board in hand, his SDK and Microsoft's Driver Development Kit I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to write a driver for this interface board that will allow it to be treated as a mouse, thus we'll be able to use these boards and arcade lightguns with MAME and basically any other emulator out there.
    I will not be able to do this if I'm forced to pay $160 for the board though.  As it is not 100% for sure that the driver can be written by anyone to perform what we need it to do.  I am confident of my abilities to write the driver, but I'm not cinfident enough in the UGLI's ability to make the lightgun behave like a mouse enough to gamble $160.  Development samples of computer hardware are exchanged all the time in exactly this manner, so I'm hoping that Jack's company has a policy in place that allows for this type of exchange, hardware for software.  

    I'll keep everyone posted on the progress.

  Mike B

[SirPoonga]

He said they work with the Playstation 2 right out of the box, so if you own a PS2 and want to use an arcade lightgun, do it to it!

Not to get off topic from what you said about the SDK and such, is it me or is this a really expensive way to get a lightgun ona  platform with not too many lightgun games?  They must sell to business and game expos, not to users.

[Minwah]

I'll keep everyone posted on the progress.

Cool, thanks for the effort and I'll look forward to reading any progress

[KevSteele]

Mike,

Good luck, and be sure and keep us all informed on how it goes!

Kevin

[dmish82]

Thanks for the extreme effort Mike. I look forward to hearing about this.

[PacManFan]

I would be willing to develop an interface to MAME using the SDK. If someone can provide the lightguns and interface boards, I will write the device driver for it. I've written device drivers before for 98 and XP, and I've got full access to MSDN resources and DDK's.
I definately think this is something worth pursuing for mame. It'll give me a chance also to examine the interface hardware board in detail, and possibly figure out  a way to reverse engineer it.

-PMF

[exibar]

I would be willing to develop an interface to MAME using the SDK. If someone can provide the lightguns and interface boards, I will write the device driver for it. I've written device drivers before for 98 and XP, and I've got full access to MSDN resources and DDK's.
I definately think this is something worth pursuing for mame. It'll give me a chance also to examine the interface hardware board in detail, and possibly figure out  a way to reverse engineer it.

-PMF

  I do have the lightguns, but not the board as of yet.  I'm still waiting for Jack's reply.  I figure due to the holiday on Monday that he might have taken today off.  I'll call him on Tuesday if I don't hear back from him.

   Perhaps we can collaborate on the driver?  Sounds like we both have the same resources available and two minds are better than one, as they say :-)

    Mike B

[MoonDog]

Too bad that it won't work with MAME yet.  

That is great that there are a couple people who might be able to put together a driver if it's possible.  

Mike, if Jack won't provide a board I bet we could take up a collection.  Maybe he'd at least give you a discount.

I emailed Jack the other day to ask about compatibility issues, but I guess I have my answer since it doesn't work with MAME (yet).  The specs show that it will work with SVGA 640 to 1024.  Does anyone know if it will work on an arcade monitor?  It's not as big a deal for me since I'm running a PC monitor right now, but I may switch at some point.

[exibar]

It will work with an arcade monitor and a TV.  Right now it works great with PlayStation 2 I'm told, right out of the box.

  We'll see how things go, I've already received a couple offers for donations to the project, but I'm holding out for a development board from R0R3 in exchange for my (our?) work on a driver that will work with Mame.

  Mike B

[DanteBK]

analog mame supports two just fine.

MAME32 has options for:

Enable Lightgun
Reload
Dual Lightguns

Has anyone tested these? I only ever hear people mention analog mame.

[u_rebelscum]

analog mame supports two just fine.

MAME32 has options for:

Enable Lightgun
Reload
Dual Lightguns

Has anyone tested these? I only ever hear people mention analog mame.

Official mame's (and mame32's) "Dual lightgun" support only works if one gun's trigger is mouse button 1, the other gun's trigger is mouse button 3.

Official mame's (and mame32's) "Reload" is designed to translate all mouse button 2 presses to reload (and with the "dual lightgun", a mouse button 4 press as player 2 reload).  You can't remap this.

Official mame's (and mame32's) "lightgun" is just like enabling mice, except the cursor position is polled (instead of polling relative movement like with enabling mice).

[exibar]

Still no word from Jack about the sample development board :-(

  I'll ping him today and see how it goes, I'll report back here later tonight.

  Mike B

[clanggedin]

Also there is no way to map Lightgun2 X and Y in Official mame right now. It maybe possible, but no one in the mame developer forums can show me how.

[u_rebelscum]

Also there is no way to map Lightgun2 X and Y in Official mame right now. It maybe possible, but no one in the mame developer forums can show me how.

Currently, you have to edit the cfg (or better, the ctrlr) file in a text editor.

Instead of "GUNCODE_1_ANALOG_X", put "GUNCODE_2_ANALOG_X" (same with Y axis).  Hmm, I've been having probs with guncode; try "MOUSECODE_2_ANALOG_X" or "MOUSECODE_3_ANALOG_X" if guncode doesn't work.

Of course, mame has to able to see the guns as seperate devices, which ofiicial mame does in win9x, but I don't think so in winXP.

[Billkwando]

I'm new here but fairly experienced with building arcade controls for Neo Geo and such..but I have what is probably a ridiculously dumb question in reference to this thread.

If MAME drivers hadn't been written with the mouse in mind, what would stop one from interfacing a console gun with the PC?

For example, I have a few different Tigergame/Mayflash adaptors I use to play PC games with my XBox controllers (such as my XBox flight stick which ownz). The other day I thought it would be fun to hook my Dual PSX/Saturn lightgun to my PSX to Xbox adaptor, and then hook my PSX to Xbox adaptor to my XBox to USB adaptor, then my Xbox to USB adaptor to the PC to see if "we get signal". (Phew!!)

Well, sure enough when I hooked it all up and went into the windows calibration utility, and it recognizes button presses from any of the buttons including the trigger.

What I'm wondering is since lightgun games are made to work with "raw" lightguns, if we had a "raw" mame driver (read: non mousified), shouldn't you be able to calibrate the gun and use it as normal?? (I should mention I use TV-Out here I think)

I mean, assuming that there's not a contact in the PSX controller port that's only used by lightguns, the data from the sensor has to be going somewhere, right? I suppose the question would be where?

Am I on to something, or as usual missing something painfully obvious that throws an 8 foot monkey wrench into the equation?

Thanks!
Bill