ACT Labs PC-to-TV light guns: Are they worth it in this setup?

[dragon13]

Simple question. I am running Win2000, with the latest version of MAME (Windows command line version mame087b), and am running MAMEWah as the front end.  I am using an ATI graphics card with S-Video out to my 25 inch TV. These are the beginnings of the cabinet and I am planning out the controls as I type this. Performance wise, I couldn't be happier with my preliminary system.

I would like to be able to play shooting games, especially Terminator 2 and Area 51, but would also like to be able to run Duck Hunt and more classic games like this. Will this version of MAME, with my OS support two of the ACT labs PC-to-TV light guns? Has anyone tried this setup? I had heard rumblings that Win2000 doesn't support dual mice, which is what I am assuming a light gun emulates.

One final question, If I can't use a light gun, I would at least like to play T2 with a mouse, is this possible?

Thank you in advance...

[Hoagie_one]

dont forget police trainer...that game was phat

[dmish82]

I was looking into the exact same thing myself (I have a 27" TV w/ s-video) and I was wondering how well they worked.  From what I've heard, the guns will not work w/ T2 but will work w/ a mouse. I have heard there are hacks to make a light gun out of an optical mouse but I'm not sure as I've never tried. Hopefully someone's tried this out.

[clanggedin]

I have 2 guns setup to play on my 25" TV. They even work with T2 and Revolution X. YOu have to turn off the guns in the mame.ini and calibrate with the joysticks. Then turn them back on again in the ini file.

FYI 2 guns are still not supported in mame yet (as of .86). One gun is but there is no way to set-up the second gun. You'll need either NoNameMame or Analog+. I use Analog+

T2 and Revolution X are a little harder to play because you cannot hold down the trigger and move your gun. Since the position of the gun is only read when the trigger is pulled you end up getting a tired trigger finger really quickly. Be prepared to switch firing hands often to play this game.

Also off-screen reload works in mame, but not in analog+. I don't recall getting it to work in nonamemame either.

You'll also have to set up analog+ in Mamewah as another emulator so you can play 2 player gun games.  

Tonight I hope to try mame.87u1 and HOTD to see if both guns work in that.

[krick]

I had heard rumblings that Win2000 doesn't support dual mice, which is what I am assuming a light gun emulates.

Yes, windows 2000 won't doesn't support dual mice (at least without a TON of work, trust me, it's not worth it).

So, if you want dual lightguns or dual trackballs, you need to go with Windows 98SE or Windows XP.

I'm running a similar setup.  Win2K + mamewah.  I'm getting ready to switch to Win 98SE for the dual mice support and the fact that the OS has a much smaller memory footprint, boots faster, and has more easily customizable boot screens among other reasons.