topgun screen flash and offscreen reload questions

[salty]

Hi,

I'm a short-time lurker, initially drawn here by that juicy 45 page LCD topgun thread, and now, despite having my gun (soon to be guns!!) working very well, find myself coming back to fantasize over the thought of building my own cab. Luckily, my gf has an Arkanoid fetish, so is very keen to play it with a spinner, thus giving me free reign to build a monster. 

I have a question about the screen flash in mame lightgun games. As I'm using topguns, it doesn't actually serve any purpose (does it?), and since I value my eyesight and ability to play point blank for hours at a time over authenticity I'd quite like to turn it off. Any idea if this is possible?

I'm using mame32 and smog's driver atm.

I have HOTD on my pc as well, and have been playing it with the help of the troubleshooter. I use the topgun A and B butttons to reload. Can anyone tell me how (or if it's possible) to get offscreen reload working?


Any replies will be gratefully received.