Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: jfunk on July 12, 2005, 02:06:32 pm
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From Act-labs.. Neat-o!
Dear Jason,
We are delighted to inform you that the light guns are ready to ship very soon (see schedule below). Some of you might know, our previous vendor made it very difficult for us to make this last production, so thank you for your patience.
You will be thrilled to know that we have made 2 improvements: The first improvement is that we changed the design of the light gun to be more realistic looking and lighter for longer duration of play.
The second improvement is that the gun is now detachable from the VGA box. You can now customize and build your gun however way you'd like, we are considering to supply different gun parts and to partner with gun shell manufacturer to provide you with a great selection to build your very own future arcade guns.
If you'd like to see the new image of the guns, please check out our site in the guns section. If you have any comments about our guns, please email sales@act-labs.com
Shipping Information:
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For US & Canada customers: Guns will be shipped to our Canada location from the factory and the estimated arrival time is August 15. We will then process your order and ship it out via UPS. We will only process your credit card when it is ready to ship and we will email you shipping information accordingly.
For International customers (anywhere other than US & Canada): Guns will be shipped directly from our manufacturer in China via Fedex around July 15-25.
Payment Information:
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Please make sure the credit card you have on file is valid when we process your order. We will only process your order when your light gun is ready to be shipped out. For orders over 5 quantity, you will be contacted to arrange wire transfer or money order payment, thank you.
Thank you for your support with our light guns product! Any questions? Please email sales@act-labs.com
Cheers
ACT LABS Team
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Maybe this will end the "ray gun" complaints. They really were some funky looking guns.
This only applies to their one-time production run though? Or will they be mass producing these things again?
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..some funky looking guns.
*ahem* Hey! Watch your use of my name! ;D
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Will these things be back in production? Anybody know how much they cost or how much they will cost? Is it too late to order?
They're still kinda small, but they look better than they did.
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What's the price on one of these? Can two work together?
:)
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What's the price on one of these?
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..some funky looking guns.
*ahem* Hey! Watch your use of my name! ;D
hey, I didn't say they were some jfunky guns ;)
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Nice makes me happy I pre-ordered one! Now I am thinking I want two. I think my waiting payed off and I didn't get stuck with a hair dryer. :) I waited till my cab was up and running before I ordered! This also has helped me to understand the huge price increase. Now I can all but hope it is built to last.
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Same here - now that I see the new shell, I wish I had ordered two of them. I only ordered one (thinking it was the old design) as a stop-gap until something better came along.
-gary
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Yeah, but they say the new one is lighter. I wish it was heavier. I'm going to have to fill it with lead shot.
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Ya I am sure there will be a way to make it heavier! Just hope it is heavier than a few pieces of paper! Just sent Act-Labs an e-mail for changing my order and getting 2 TV Light Guns.
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Me too. :)
Now that I see what they look like I want 2 instead of the 0 I pre-ordered. :(
Sadly they are all out of the PC version.
Joseph Elwell.
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whoa...$100...thats ridiculous. id pay $30 tops for a light gun. area 51 is cool but not $200 cool.
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whoa...$100...thats ridiculous.
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hack or no hack...limited production - the only light guns that "truly work" I might be willing to part for mine for lets say $500.00 - HA! Isn't that the markup they were getting for the original $40 cost and the selling price on ebay of $200!!!
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hack or no hack...limited production - the only light guns that "truly work"
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Yeah, but they say the new one is lighter. I wish it was heavier. I'm going to have to fill it with lead shot.
I have the old version and it feels like it weighs about 2 ounces. If you let this new one go, it'll probably float away like a balloon!
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From Act-Labs's site:
(http://www.act-labs.com/LightGun.jpg)
I just sent an E-mail to Act-Labs to see if they're willing to sell just the shells to current gun owners.
--Chris
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Ya but perhaps the new style is worth the extra cash............ Then again maybe not. The monitor version is $79 the TV is $99. Trigger looks a bit fragile but can only tell so much from a picture. Now as far as the shell well if the gun is lighter perhaps the guts are a bit different also wich may mean that the old gun's guts may or may not fit. Let us know what you find out.
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I can't imagine how that gun could get much lighter...
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I'd personally like some weight in it.
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This thread is a dupe: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=37348.msg332274#msg332274
Thanks guys for doubting me....
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I'm still amazed that they updated the model on a limited run. It just doesn't make much sense (at a buisness level). The added the limited run (I'm guessing) because they saw how much people thought they where worth from ebay.
I personally think they have a MUCH more viable longer term product with the new gun model. I will definately consider selling my current one and buying a new one. Hopefully I can make the swap for 20 bucks or so and some shipping...
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I agree with lilwolf. What kept me from act labs was the space phaser shape. Frankly I'd take the ugly orange guncon over act labs because it is more arcade-like. But this new shape is just cool, it looks like a gun :)
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Personally, I like the way the Guncon2 looks, but finally Act Labs has something to compete. I hope they realize it and put it back into full production.
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I'm surprised no one has commented on the fact that these are designed to have the shells changed out. Even if you don't like the new design, you can always change it.
Makes me happy I ordered my two :)
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the interchangeability sounds great if they make some cool accessories for the gun. Why do they need the cable to detach? I am not sure the reasoning behind that.
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I know, they have cool features for this one, which they should have had int he first place. I think they could actually sell this model.
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the interchangeability sounds great if they make some cool accessories for the gun.
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So if my cab uses a regular TV, I'd be good to go with the TV Out version of the gun, right? Sounds like you can still order these? I'd love to get one, but only if it'll work on my cab. The gun looks sa-weet!
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It seems outrageously unlikely that they designed and manufactured a new gun shell for a "limited, final run". Seems likely to me that either:
a) They're actually getting ready to get these back on the market for real, or:
b) -back when they quit producing before, they were already in the process of a re-design, and had the new shells at least as far as the final production molds.
Wonder which.
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when they first came out i emailed them about the detachable design....they said that it was just used to cover up the screws and in caps said "WE WILL NOT BE RELEASING ANY SIGHT AID/MODIFICATION FOR THE ACT-LABS PC USB LIGHT GUN"....SEEMED KIND OF RUDE, MAYBE NOT AS RUDE AS ME FORGETING TO TAKE CAPS OFF ;)
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There was a comment they made about their last manufacturer making this run difficult for them. I'm guessing that the former manufacturer wouldn't give them the dies for the old gun shells. 500 pre-orders at double the old price made it worth their while to redesign the guns for the final run. More than likely the redesign was actually on the guts so that they'd work with someone else's existing line of shells...leading to the interchangeable shells.
Purely speculation, of course.
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Bingo...
Here it is compared to an old PSOne gun called the Scorpion 2.
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Bingo...
Here it is compared to an old PSOne gun called the Scorpion 2.
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WOW!
I have the scorpion 2! It's an AMAZING PS1 gun!
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Lighter? Damn the old ones were already so light they almost had wings! And swappable shells sound cool, but that current one looks like a piss ant .22! And for how much MORE?
No thanks! For now I'll keep my "Mini-Cricket" guns! lol!
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This brings up the question, can you get a scorpion 2 to work on a pc?
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If the Scorpion2 is Guncon2-compatible then you absolutely can use it with a PC. Check out the 15 pg. thread in this forum about that very subject.
In my opinion these ACT labs guns aren't worth the cost now that there is a solid, working driver for Guncon2 guns. In the next few months the driver should be perfected and GC2 will become the quality standard for MAME cabs.
-Ace-
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Where is the best place to buy a pair of guncon2 guns?
and
Is there a certain manufacturer or model that is preffered?
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If the Scorpion2 is Guncon2-compatible then you absolutely can use it with a PC. Check out the 15 pg. thread in this forum about that very subject.
In my opinion these ACT labs guns aren't worth the cost now that there is a solid, working driver for Guncon2 guns. In the next few months the driver should be perfected and GC2 will become the quality standard for MAME cabs.
-Ace-
It's a psx gun, not ps2 :( Hence why I ask.
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I doubt it will work as ps1 guns don't use a usb connector
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Well, I don;t think not having a usb connector is wha tis holding it back. It htink it's more of someone has to make something that takes a psx plug and convert it :)
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So does anyone have a definitive answer if 2 pc guns are compatible in XP with the latest version of MAME?
Are the CPNMouse drivers needed...and if so, do they work? I see that the dual lightgun bug had been recently fixed(don't remember which version). Did this *help* the dual pc lightgun issue?
I am looking forward to my guns arriving in August, but NOT looking forward to spending hours(if not days) getting them to work simultaneously. I see many posts regarding this, but some say they will work and others say 'nope'.
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So does anyone have a definitive answer if 2 pc guns are compatible in XP with the latest version of MAME?
Are the CPNMouse drivers needed...and if so, do they work? I see that the dual lightgun bug had been recently fixed(don't remember which version). Did this *help* the dual pc lightgun issue?
I am looking forward to my guns arriving in August, but NOT looking forward to spending hours(if not days) getting them to work simultaneously. I see many posts regarding this, but some say they will work and others say 'nope'.
Yeah, what he said.
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Only the TV USB Actlabs or guncon2 guns are support in the regular version of mame.
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So does anyone have a definitive answer if 2 pc guns are compatible in XP with the latest version of MAME?
Depends on the monitor and version of mame. Act Labs FAQ says for the PC light gun...
Can I use two PC USB Guns in tandem?
A: First of all, the software (Game) has to be able to support 2 Light Guns. Analog MAME allows support for 2 PC or TV USB Light Guns. MAME 0.79 and later support 2 TV USB Light Guns. Two PC and/or TV USB Light Guns can be used in tandem with the help of a special driver on this website:
http://thetroubleshooter.home.mindspring.com/.
That holds true for almost any lightgun that interfaces with the pc.
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The problem is that Analog MAME hasn't been updated since January. I haven't found any version that works with XP with two USB VGA guns.
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http://www.freeforumzone.com/viewforum.aspx?f=66424
I see there is a thread on guncon 1...
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The 2 items that make me wonder if 2 guns will usuable in standard MAME are:
1) The bug fixed in .96
0.96
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IMPORTANT: As of MAME 0.96, the source code license has changed.
Please see the new file license.txt for details. The new license
is based off the BSD license, with additional prohibitions against
commercial usage. See http://mamedev.com for additional details.
Changes
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Added step in/out support to TMS34010 disassembler. [Aaron Giles]
Added explanation that left/right joystick wiggle works on "OK"
screens. [Aaron Giles]
Fixed -dual_lightguns option. [Jonathan Lunman]
....
2) And this thread:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,29861.0.html
The drivers listed at http://thetroubleshooter.home.mindspring.com/ appear to be for special games that are not apart of MAME...thus it wouldn't help me in playing Carnevil or Area51.
When you say it won't work, have you actually tried to get 2 PC guns working personally or saying what seems to be the general consensus? I could roll the Analog MAME diff in, put would the old version flow with MAME .98? Surely not, and I would like to be lazy and have just one version instead of 2...yea, I know, lazy.
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Man, I am confused by all this. I have a Betson arcade monitor in my cab. Can I hook up the Guncon 2 into the usb port and load the drivers and be off and running?
I went to their website and it states you need to make a special VGA converter to do this, but I have read nothing about this on this forum.
Thanks for the help.
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Man, I am confused by all this. I have a Betson arcade monitor in my cab. Can I hook up the Guncon 2 into the usb port and load the drivers and be off and running?
Basically yes, read the guncon2 thread (and smogdragon's site, links in first post of thread)
I went to their website and it states you need to make a special VGA converter to do this, but I have read nothing about this on this forum.
That's because this is the PC USB gun we are talking about, meant for VGA monitors, not arcade monitors.
I think there's been limited success in getting one of the act labs gun models to work with arcadevga.
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Man, I am confused by all this. I have a Betson arcade monitor in my cab. Can I hook up the Guncon 2 into the usb port and load the drivers and be off and running?
Basically yes, read the guncon2 thread (and smogdragon's site, links in first post of thread)
I went to their website and it states you need to make a special VGA converter to do this, but I have read nothing about this on this forum.
That's because this is the PC USB gun we are talking about, meant for VGA monitors, not arcade monitors.
I think there's been limited success in getting one of the act labs gun models to work with arcadevga.
Now you confused me even more. I have read the threads and have gone to smog's site, but you have to build a special circuit to get this to work with an Arcade Monitor through VGA. First you stated you can and then in your next line you state you can't with an arcade monitor.
I do have an Act Labs gun and it does work with my arcade monitor, but I also have a GunCon2 laying around and would like to try and get that working as well, but I don't want to/know how to build a special electronic circuit to splice into my VGA cable.
I was hoping it would be as easy as plugging in the Guncon2 into the USB port and then loading the special drivers.
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Fixed -dual_lightguns option. [Jonathan Lunman]
As far as I know, that only applies to the TV guns. I know I have not been able to make that option work with my VGA guns.
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Oh yes, you are right. My bad. What I said works for TV and a vga card that has rca out.
For VGA to arcade monitor with a guncon2 you need to follow IntruderAlerts info with smogs info.
http://intruderalert.myarcade.org/GUNCON2.htm
That circuit would not be tough to build on perfboard from radioshack.
The only problems I can see if you try and perfboard that circuit is you might want to replace the line of solder form pin 8 to that resistor with a jumper wire and the smae with pin 4 to the resistor. Otherwise you can layout the parts the same way and just make solder trails that looks like the circuit.
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Well, I don;t think not having a usb connector is wha tis holding it back. It htink it's more of someone has to make something that takes a psx plug and convert it
The frist attempts I made of using a playstation gun on my arcade cab where made using a PS1 gun. I wrote a parallel port driver to use the gun with the same connection schemes of psxpad.
Unfortunately, the gun seemed not to like the sync of my tweaked-vga and I was never able to obtain a good reference for vertical axis.
This was long before I realized that the sync from vga would need some adjustments to work. So I don't exclude a PS1 GUN could work just writing a new driver for parallel port.
I have no time to do it now but I will do again my tests (sooner or later)
One last word. I am currently playing with 2 guncon2 on my cab using AdvanceMame, other people on http://xoomer.virgilio.it/smogdragon could help you to make it work even on official mame.
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One last word. I am currently playing with 2 guncon2 on my cab using AdvanceMame, other people on http://xoomer.virgilio.it/smogdragon could help you to make it work even on official mame.
What operating system are you using? What video method are you using (TV, arcade monitor, pc monitor)?
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So does anyone have a definitive answer if 2 pc guns are compatible in XP with the latest version of MAME?
Are the CPNMouse drivers needed...and if so, do they work? I see that the dual lightgun bug had been recently fixed(don't remember which version). Did this *help* the dual pc lightgun issue?
I am looking forward to my guns arriving in August, but NOT looking forward to spending hours(if not days) getting them to work simultaneously. I see many posts regarding this, but some say they will work and others say 'nope'.
I have 2 USB Act Labs TV OUT guns and they both work concurrently (off screen reloads and everything) in games like area51, max force, etc.
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Who else is getting confused with people talking about act-labs and guncon every other post! ;D
Has anyone reading these posts used the CPNMouse drivers to get the 2 guns to work?
And to clarify..I am referring to the Act-Labs...not guncon! ;)
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The problem is that Analog MAME hasn't been updated since January. I haven't found any version that works with XP with two USB VGA guns.
So? What's wrong with the most recent version of Analog? Your frontend will be happy to use the most recent build of Analog for gun games, and today's fastest, newest MAME build for everything else. Or are there gun games that have been added/fixed since then? And what about NoNameMAME? I believe that build includes the Analog+ code.
Who else is getting confused with people talking about act-labs and guncon every other post! ;D
Yes!
Folks, any chance that the Guncon discussion could be moved to the Guncon threads, and OUT of this one?
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Guys, Take it from me. DUAL Guncon2 & TV ACTlabs guns now work with standard mame without needing any superduper AnalogMameXP+++ versions. I have tested this myself & I talked to the guy who actually fixed the mame code to support this.
He is a quote from the email he sent.
MAME does not handle dual PC Monitor guns. But it does handle dual TV guns. When Act Labs made the TV guns, they added a new switch to the design. When the switch is set for Player 1, the gun sends mouse buttons 1 and 2 for trigger and reload. When the switch is set for Player 2, the gun sends mouse buttons 3 and 4 instead. As far as Windows is concerned, it's still just a single mouse with 4 buttons. So you don't need Raw Input to handle dual TV guns.
MAME handles the dual TV guns perfectly. When the -dual option is selected, it reads buttons 1 and 2 for Player 1 and buttons 3 and 4 for Player 2.
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The problem is that Analog MAME hasn't been updated since January.
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The problem is that Analog MAME hasn't been updated since January.
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Lilwolf, do you know who started the CPNMouse thread over at MAME.net?
I wonder if he ever browse these forums and can give us his 2 cents.
I can't seem to pull up that thread anymore.
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Guys, Take it from me. DUAL Guncon2 & TV ACTlabs guns now work with standard mame without needing any superduper AnalogMameXP+++ versions. I have tested this myself & I talked to the guy who actually fixed the mame code to support this.
He is a quote from the email he sent.
MAME does not handle dual PC Monitor guns.
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Guys, Take it from me. DUAL Guncon2 & TV ACTlabs guns now work with standard mame without needing any superduper AnalogMameXP+++ versions. I have tested this myself & I talked to the guy who actually fixed the mame code to support this.
He is a quote from the email he sent.
MAME does not handle dual PC Monitor guns. But it does handle dual TV guns. When Act Labs made the TV guns, they added a new switch to the design. When the switch is set for Player 1, the gun sends mouse buttons 1 and 2 for trigger and reload. When the switch is set for Player 2, the gun sends mouse buttons 3 and 4 instead. As far as Windows is concerned, it's still just a single mouse with 4 buttons. So you don't need Raw Input to handle dual TV guns.
MAME handles the dual TV guns perfectly. When the -dual option is selected, it reads buttons 1 and 2 for Player 1 and buttons 3 and 4 for Player 2.
Yep you're right (for the most part). Two Act Labs USB TV guns work now in Mame 97 (just tried last night on area 51). It even has a different crosshair now for the 2nd player! Very cool. The only glitch is the off screen reload is not very good on the 2nd player gun. You have to point right at the edge of the screen to reload, as opposed to just pointing completely away from the screen. Player 1 reloads fine. This is in Win98 BTW, using Mame32 .97.
Yeah that depends on the game. I cant remember which one, but it had problems. Some games work well with the option 'off_screen_reload' others don't