Getting AimTrak working in mame

[Hyperfan]

I have AimTrak working great as a mouse emualtor in model2 em and pc games. How do i get it working in mame? My light gun tick box under controlls is greyed out?

[Turnarcades]

You need to have 'lightgun device' set to mouse as well, then be sure that within a game, if it is still not working, you open the 'tab' menu and re-map the mouse axis' correctly if the Aimtrak is being recognised as anything but 'mouse 0'.

[Hyperfan]

thanks so i dont need to worry about he lightgun input tickbox?

also can i stop the gun entering calibration when i hold the trigger in continuous fire games.

[Neverending Project]

In what application are you referring to a tick box?

Yes, you can disable calibration or set to something longer that standard using the AimTrak calibration software.

You can tick the Disable Trig Cal box, or set the delay to up to 30 seconds, IIRC.

[Hyperfan]

im mame default game options under controllers there is a enable light gun tick box.

[bkenobi]

In MAME, you need to enable lightgun input AND you need to set the lightgun device to use mouse inputs (not joystick, keyboard, etc).  The only other options that you might need to adjust are off screen reload (if you want MAME to interpret a shot off the screen or on the boarder as a reload input) and dual lightguns (if you have 2).  Once these are set up, you can adjust the controls in MAME's Tab menu to the correct axis and buttons.  It can be a pain to get working, but it should work.

[Hyperfan]

I go to options > default game options > controllers and enable light gun input is greyed out.

How do i enable this? i take it something on other tabs needs to be active for this option to be active?

[BamBam]

I go to options > default game options > controllers and enable light gun input is greyed out.

How do i enable this? i take it something on other tabs needs to be active for this option to be active?

Are you using Mame32 or are you running Mame through a front end or from a command prompt?  My guess is you need to open the Mame.ini or Mame32.ini file in Notepad and set the value (lightgun=1) in there 0=off 1=on.  I am not at my arcade PC right now so I hope I have quoted it correctly.

[Hyperfan]

Ok im getting somewhere.

i changed the ini setting and now the lightgun moves the cursor, i still cant get the gun trigger and second button to fire.

I have tried controller mapping set to mouse and lightgun but still cant get any trigger to fire.

Any ideas what to check next?

[smalltownguy]

I go to options > default game options > controllers and enable light gun input is greyed out.

How do i enable this? i take it something on other tabs needs to be active for this option to be active?

Based on this statement, I'm guessing you're using Mame32, but that shouldn't matter for assigning specific inputs to games.

To get the buttons working on your AimTrak, the only foolproof way to do this is to launch the game you want to play, pause it (hit 'p' on the keyboard), and then hit tab to enter Mame's in-game configuration menu. From there, select 'Input (this game)'. Once the next screen comes up, you need to locate the game's specific input that you want to re-map to your aim track's trigger. Arrow down to that input, select it (usually by hitting 'enter' on the keyboard) and then click the fire trigger. Be sure to keep the gun pretty still when you do this, because if you're moving it around, Mame will interpret the movement as your intended assignment, not the trigger. If you mess up, just clear that game's control by selecting it, hit 'enter' then 'escape' right away. That will clear all the assigned inputs for that control. Then you can try again.

This is one surefire way to be positive you're assigning the gun's input to the game in question. You'll need to complete this process for each game you want to use the AimTrak for. You will only need to do this once.

One note: be sure to use the same USB port each time you plug/unplug the AimTrak in. Also, be aware of any additions or removals of mouse type peripherals on your system. This may change your device ID, causing Mame not to see your AimTrak. On my rig, I have a regular mouse, trackball, and my Aim Trak. One time I unplugged the mouse during some servicing I was doing and forgot to plug it back in. This caused my AimTrak to get a different mouse ID on startup, which made Mame stop seeing it as 'Gun 2' like it did before. Once I unplugged the AimTrak, plugged back in my mouse, and then my AimTrak again, all was fine.

[Hoopz]

I go to options > default game options > controllers and enable light gun input is greyed out.

How do i enable this? i take it something on other tabs needs to be active for this option to be active?

Based on this statement, I'm guessing you're using Mame32, but that shouldn't matter for assigning specific inputs to games.

To get the buttons working on your AimTrak, the only foolproof way to do this is to launch the game you want to play, pause it (hit 'p' on the keyboard), and then hit tab to enter Mame's in-game configuration menu. From there, select 'Input (this game)'. Once the next screen comes up, you need to locate the game's specific input that you want to re-map to your aim track's trigger. Arrow down to that input, select it (usually by hitting 'enter' on the keyboard) and then click the fire trigger. Be sure to keep the gun pretty still when you do this, because if you're moving it around, Mame will interpret the movement as your intended assignment, not the trigger. If you mess up, just clear that game's control by selecting it, hit 'enter' then 'escape' right away. That will clear all the assigned inputs for that control. Then you can try again.

This is one surefire way to be positive you're assigning the gun's input to the game in question. You'll need to complete this process for each game you want to use the AimTrak for. You will only need to do this once.

One note: be sure to use the same USB port each time you plug/unplug the AimTrak in. Also, be aware of any additions or removals of mouse type peripherals on your system. This may change your device ID, causing Mame not to see your AimTrak. On my rig, I have a regular mouse, trackball, and my Aim Trak. One time I unplugged the mouse during some servicing I was doing and forgot to plug it back in. This caused my AimTrak to get a different mouse ID on startup, which made Mame stop seeing it as 'Gun 2' like it did before. Once I unplugged the AimTrak, plugged back in my mouse, and then my AimTrak again, all was fine.

You DONT want to pause the game before going to the in-game configuration.  That can cause issues.  Just let it run while you hit TAB (or whatever button you have assigned to enter the menu).

[Turnarcades]

You DONT want to pause the game before going to the in-game configuration.  That can cause issues.  Just let it run while you hit TAB (or whatever button you have assigned to enter the menu).

Since when? Pausing the game ensures you aren't distracted by whatever buttons you're pressing activating game functions in the background. From what I understand and experienced, pausing first is ideally how you should do it, particularly if doing cheat searches etc. using the menu.

[Hoopz]

You DONT want to pause the game before going to the in-game configuration.  That can cause issues.  Just let it run while you hit TAB (or whatever button you have assigned to enter the menu).

Since when? Pausing the game ensures you aren't distracted by whatever buttons you're pressing activating game functions in the background. From what I understand and experienced, pausing first is ideally how you should do it, particularly if doing cheat searches etc. using the menu.

Here's what u_rebel said about it.  Who cares about what's running in the background?  Stay focused on what you're doing, not the game.

Short answer, I think: don't pause when remapping in mame.

Mame's tab input remap menu works as such:
- Left side is the game's input, right is what is mapped in mame to that input.
- Multiple keys or key combos can be mapped to the same game input.  Example: You want "P1 Up" pressed if mame sees either the A or T key pressed, or if both the O & E keys were pressed at the same time, or "key_A or key_T or (key_O and key_E)".  This would be shown as "A OR T OR O E".
- Having "Ctrl Left Ctrlr Right" on the right side means mame is looking for both the ctrl keys for mame to send the game that input.
- Having "..." means the keys that are mapped do not fit in the space given.  Scolling over will expand in a box the keys that are mapped.  (This is not a choice box.)
- Pressing the key mapped to UI_select (usually enter) tells mame to change to the key/keys next pressed.  If you want A, press enter, press A, then wait until mame excepts the change (~ one sec).  If you want A or B: enter, A, wait, enter, B.  If you want A + B: enter, press A and B before the second is up, wait.  To start over, scroll off the input, go back on and continue as normal.

If paused, the ctlr, alt and shift buttons (defaults or P1 B1, B2, & --BINGO! Either that, or I was attempting to say "before" but it was too many letters to type--, respectively) usually are seen as both the left & right, even if you press only one.  So just don't pause while remapping.

Mame FAQ is a good place to start.

[Hoopz]

If you search "don't pause" WITH the quotes, you'll find a great deal of info about it.   Searching with for it without the quotes is pretty worthless.  

[Turnarcades]

If paused, the ctlr, alt and shift buttons (defaults or P1 B1, B2, & --BINGO! Either that, or I was attempting to say "before" but it was too many letters to type--, respectively) usually are seen as both the left & right, even if you press only one.  So just don't pause while remapping.

I think this is why it's never been a problem for me - every cabinet I've set up uses a non-default set of key maps and interface key assignments as I've always hated the default MAME layout. Why the devs chose to assign the standard controls to 'function' keys like shift and ctrl in the first place is beyond me, as these keys behave differently in different situations (as mentioned here), some encoders don't like function keys as mappings and there were plenty of available 'normal' keys that could be used instead.

I've always used a mapping of 'normal' keys as if using other emulators in a cabinet as well as MAME, you will find that many emulators do not allow the mapping of 'function' keys either, as they activate other emulator options or behave strangely when incorporated with Windows shortcuts. The stickykeys activation by tapping 'shift' is one example and whilst this can be turned off, other function keys have problems too like the silly pause response change detailed by urebel.

[xmod]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but stuck in similar situation and decided to use this one instead of making a new one.
Also shows that I was searching the issue but to no avail.

I have aimtrack and working like a charm for stuff like the M2, nintendo and sega emulators.

When i got to mame, had to search a bit and read info from this very thread.
Got it going with settings mentioned above but dealing with a weird issue.

Player 1 is red and p2 is blue.
The gun moves the red cursor and mouse moves the blue.
BUT, when i shoot with my lightgun, it shoots where the blue cursor is pointing and not where I point?

I played with the settings for hours now and just not making this happen, thought I would ask the experts.

thanks