Author Topic: WOW New LightGUN Info !!! Woot!!! :) (Read 407976 times)

darthbane2k · « **Reply #600 on:** February 02, 2006, 11:46:13 am »

Quote from: Santoro on February 02, 2006, 11:41:14 am

USB port.

my usb ports are located inside my cab towards the back. I dont fancy wheeling the cabinet out every time I want to play a gun game.

I believe an external power supply can only be used for the gun and not the stands..

Farmboy90 · « **Reply #601 on:** February 02, 2006, 11:56:22 am »

Just add one of these to your cab - paint it to match and you are done.

http://www.datapro.net/products/70202.html

Fozzy The Bear · « **Reply #602 on:** February 02, 2006, 12:27:32 pm »

Quote from: JoyMonkey on February 02, 2006, 11:37:10 am

Don't the guns take 5v?
If so you could just hook them up to an LEDWiz and have them power on when a gun game is selected in your front-end; no need for a relay at all since the LEDWiz outputs 5v.

Or you could just take the simple route and hack a two pole switch into the cable to the LED stands.... all you have to do is turn it on when you want to play a gun game.

This does have another advantage..... I also play windows based gun games and wouldn't necessarily be running an arcade front end to launch them and I'm not in any case, running a LEDWiz.

The solutions suggested so far do seem to me to be a bit over complex just to turn off some IR LEDs when they're not needed. There's a lot to be said for the simplest solutions sometimes.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

Warborg · « **Reply #603 on:** February 02, 2006, 12:28:06 pm »

Well, I just had an idea as far as powering the strips on and off... If you are going to have a holster mounted on the cab for the gun, why not hack a USB extension cable to where it's 5v lead goes to a microswitch's NC lead, and then mount it with some soft of lever inside the holster? That way, when the gun is holstered the stands would be off, when you draw the gun they power up?

AceTKK · « **Reply #604 on:** February 02, 2006, 12:33:44 pm »

Quote from: Warborg on February 02, 2006, 12:28:06 pm

Well, I just had an idea as far as powering the strips on and off... If you are going to have a holster mounted on the cab for the gun, why not hack a USB extension cable to where it's 5v lead goes to a microswitch's NC lead, and then mount it with some soft of lever inside the holster? That way, when the gun is holstered the stands would be off, when you draw the gun they power up?

I like this idea, good thinking.

Fozzy The Bear · « **Reply #605 on:** February 02, 2006, 12:35:11 pm »

Quote from: Warborg on February 02, 2006, 12:28:06 pm

Well, I just had an idea as far as powering the strips on and off... If you are going to have a holster mounted on the cab for the gun, why not hack a USB extension cable to where it's 5v lead goes to a microswitch's NC lead, and then mount it with some soft of lever inside the holster? That way, when the gun is holstered the stands would be off, when you draw the gun they power up?

Now that one makes a lot of sense!

you could run a lever through the side of the cab that the gun or holster hooks onto for storage... with a microswitch on the inside of the cab. Neat!

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

ErikRuud · « **Reply #606 on:** February 02, 2006, 12:41:55 pm »

Quote from: JoyMonkey on February 02, 2006, 11:37:10 am

Don't the guns take 5v?
If so you could just hook them up to an LEDWiz and have them power on when a gun game is selected in your front-end; no need for a relay at all since the LEDWiz outputs 5v.

Edit: Wait... do the stands use the power adapter, or take power from a USB port?

According to the EMS documentation, an external power supply needs to provide 5 Volts at 600ma or more.

The guns do not ship with any power adapter. They do have a USB dongle thingy to draw power from a USB port. Keep in mind that the extra power is for the LEDS stands and to power the recoil function. If you choose to not use the recoil, you do not need the extra 5 volts for the gun.

In the long run, it will probably be better to power the LEDs and recoil from a seperate power source to avoid overloading your USB ports.

Lilwolf · « **Reply #607 on:** February 02, 2006, 01:03:15 pm »

The reason we get two led stands is this.

So we can practice hacking the heck out of them... without worry!

So adding extra power throught a holster idea is easy. No worry about destroying something.

I might try and hook them up behind my bezel... and to do it, I might have to remove them from the box.... Not sure yet... I like the idea, but not sure if it will be worth it... but I can try without worry.

maybe spread them out for a big wall. and see how well it works.

up the voltage from 5v to 10v and see if it works better from across the room.

Or I might just put one on my desktop machine also... So I can play on my faster machine the games that don't really run 100% all the games...

but take it as one free fun hack per dual system.

BTW... whoever was talking to their guys. You might want to ask if you could replace the leds with more powerful ones to increase the distance / accuracy. Might be worth it for those with projectors. Would be cool to put them off to the side.

ErikRuud · « **Reply #608 on:** February 02, 2006, 01:19:55 pm »

Based on the quote in an earlier post, they are already using the best IR leds they can get.

Minwah · « **Reply #609 on:** February 02, 2006, 01:35:36 pm »

Some promising news:

I tested my build posted earlier and I *think* it fixes the problem (in Lethal Enforcers/2).

The reason I say 'think' is that I now cannot get my gun (software) calibrated properly with Smogs driver . I had to unplug/plug in the gun for Windows to recognise it, and now I can't get the guns sight to line up exactly with the mouse cursor as it should. However, the gun is out on all working games (inc. LE/2) by the same amount, so I think it works...

Down to you lot to try now as I should be getting ready for the Dam

ErikRuud · « **Reply #610 on:** February 02, 2006, 01:39:04 pm »

Minwah,

When you say it doesn't line up with the site, are you referring to the laser sight or the fixed sights on the gun itself?

I have noticed that it does not take much to knock the laser out of alignment. Those thumb wheels are pretty sensitive.

Minwah · « **Reply #611 on:** February 02, 2006, 01:43:01 pm »

Quote from: ErikRuud on February 02, 2006, 01:39:04 pm

When you say it doesn't line up with the site, are you referring to the laser sight or the fixed sights on the gun itself?

I have noticed that it does not take much to knock the laser out of alignment. Those thumb wheels are pretty sensitive.

The sight itself...I can't get it to calibrate manually or otherwise.

I agree about the laser sight tho...I put my left hand on the gun to operate the buttons and it would be easy to knock out the thumbwheels.

Smog · « **Reply #612 on:** February 02, 2006, 01:44:49 pm »

Minwah, after you reach a good calibration I suggest you to backup your profile file under the GunCon2 driver installation directory. Sorry for the bug (if any)

Minwah · « **Reply #613 on:** February 02, 2006, 01:49:20 pm »

Quote from: ErikRuud on February 02, 2006, 01:39:04 pm

When you say it doesn't line up with the site, are you referring to the laser sight or the fixed sights on the gun itself?

I have noticed that it does not take much to knock the laser out of alignment. Those thumb wheels are pretty sensitive.

The sight itself...I can't get it to calibrate manually or otherwise.

I agree about the laser sight tho...I put my left hand on the gun to operate the buttons and it would be easy to knock out the thumbwheels.

Minwah · « **Reply #614 on:** February 02, 2006, 01:50:49 pm »

Quote from: Smog on February 02, 2006, 01:44:49 pm

Minwah, after you reach a good calibration I suggest you to backup your profile file under the GunCon2 driver installation directory. Sorry for the bug (if any)

OK thanks...I didn't think of it when it was working OK yesterday (it just seemed to calibrate itself after waving the gun about...I take it that is how it should work?)

And thank you for the driver in the first place

Smog · « **Reply #615 on:** February 02, 2006, 02:23:55 pm »

Quote

I take it that is how it should work

You take it well ...

Silver · « **Reply #616 on:** February 02, 2006, 02:31:13 pm »

Quote from: Minwah on February 02, 2006, 01:35:36 pm

Some promising news:

I tested my build posted earlier and I *think* it fixes the problem (in Lethal Enforcers/2).

Oh man if you mean the 0x80 change works, that will be hilarious (and good). (I may have to put my SuperLeetMameDev Hat....*cough*...).

Although all credit should go to that thread linked to earlier about calibrating analogue joys to start centered....

Anyway, I'll test it out more tomorrow.

Regarding smogs driver, I've had similar problems with calibration (and losing it). In the end I calibrated completely manually entering values in the box to get it good as poss, and turned off all the auto stuff and didn't touch the wizard.

The games which accelerate the target (zombieraid/opwolf3) I suspect will be more complicated....

ErikRuud · « **Reply #617 on:** February 02, 2006, 02:38:24 pm »

Quote from: Silver on February 02, 2006, 02:31:13 pm

The games which accelerate the target (zombieraid/opwolf3) I suspect will be more complicated....

Here is a thought...

Having lightgun set to 0 causes MAME to read the mouse in realtive mode. Lightgun 1 causes it to read the mouse in absolute mode. I wonder if zombieraid/opwolf3 need to be in relative mode?

Level42 · « **Reply #618 on:** February 02, 2006, 03:20:31 pm »

Quote from: Warborg on February 02, 2006, 12:28:06 pm

Well, I just had an idea as far as powering the strips on and off... If you are going to have a holster mounted on the cab for the gun, why not hack a USB extension cable to where it's 5v lead goes to a microswitch's NC lead, and then mount it with some soft of lever inside the holster? That way, when the gun is holstered the stands would be off, when you draw the gun they power up?

Bingo ! Good thinking ! And I already said we needed something that would switch when "playing a light-gun game", not "playing a MAME light-gun game"

Now we need a holster. The HAPP/SUZO holsters are quite expensive and probably won't fit right with this gun because of the laser unit but not sure about that....also the metal doesn't make building a switch inside any easier. I was thinking about plastic hand-grip like things. The one's I know are not deep enough for a gun though.....at least I think...anyone got an idea ?

Warborg · « **Reply #619 on:** February 02, 2006, 03:44:54 pm »

Quote from: Level42 on February 02, 2006, 03:20:31 pm

Quote from: Warborg on February 02, 2006, 12:28:06 pm
Well, I just had an idea as far as powering the strips on and off... If you are going to have a holster mounted on the cab for the gun, why not hack a USB extension cable to where it's 5v lead goes to a microswitch's NC lead, and then mount it with some soft of lever inside the holster? That way, when the gun is holstered the stands would be off, when you draw the gun they power up?
Bingo ! Good thinking ! And I already said we needed something that would switch when "playing a light-gun game", not "playing a MAME light-gun game"

Now we need a holster. The HAPP/SUZO holsters are quite expensive and probably won't fit right with this gun because of the laser unit but not sure about that....also the metal doesn't make building a switch inside any easier. I was thinking about plastic hand-grip like things. The one's I know are not deep enough for a gun though.....at least I think...anyone got an idea ?

I'm sure it'd be easy enough to fabricate some sort of holster for the side... Leather, plastic, sheetmetal, doesn't really have to be "form fitting".

As to the mechanism, was thinking on it, mounting the holster to some sort of rod that goes into the side of the CP or cab somewhere, having it extend to the inside of the cab and be on a pivot, and then a fixed lever coming off the rod that rests against a standard pushbutton. As long as the holster is light enough, the spring pressure of the button could open the microswitch, and when the gun is put in it, the weight should cause it to pivot enough to push down on the button to shut the power off.

Skippy2k · « **Reply #620 on:** February 02, 2006, 03:48:07 pm »

Hi sorry that this has nothing to do with the light gun talked about but due to me using a tv for my arcade monitor would it be better for me to get a guncon2 compatible gun instead of this.

I was intrested in getting this one

http://tinyurl.com/dryuw

What is the diffrence with the LEDgun one apart from with the LEDgun you can play it on any display, but by reading the post you all seem to be useing Smog guncon2 drivers.

What do you guys think, get the cheap one or the LEDgun.

Thanks

Warborg · « **Reply #621 on:** February 02, 2006, 03:56:15 pm »

Actually, that did remind me of a question I had as well... Would it be possible to run a Guncon2 and the TopGun simultaneously for a 2-player game? Anyone try this or care to speculate?

ErikRuud · « **Reply #622 on:** February 02, 2006, 03:58:24 pm »

The LCD TopGun IS a guncon2.

You would still have the same issues.

The same drivers, the same software, the same OS.

Warborg · « **Reply #623 on:** February 02, 2006, 04:14:51 pm »

Quote from: ErikRuud on February 02, 2006, 03:58:24 pm

The LCD TopGun IS a guncon2.

You would still have the same issues.

The same drivers, the same software, the same OS.

Ok, I perhaps should have said an original (optical) orange Guncon2 from Time Crisis 2. And I didn't expect this would solve any issues, I asked because I have one TopGun waiting for me, and I have an old orange gun sitting in a drawer at home and was wonder if the urge struck me if I could use them in unison on same games (current software issues aside) without any sort of odd conflict.

JoyMonkey · « **Reply #624 on:** February 02, 2006, 04:18:56 pm »

Once I get my guns (hopefully early next week) I'll see if I could CNC some holsters. Hacking a switch into a USB extension cable and hooking it up to the holster shouldn't be too much of a problem.

My only concern about this kind of a setup is; when the gun and led stands have no power going to them, won't Windows think they're unplugged? And then, when they receive power again (when the gun is removed from the holster), won't it take a few seconds for windows to recognize them fully? And then will you have to re-calibrate every time?

Warborg · « **Reply #625 on:** February 02, 2006, 04:23:23 pm »

Quote from: JoyMonkey on February 02, 2006, 04:18:56 pm

Once I get my guns (hopefully early next week) I'll see if I could CNC some holsters. Hacking a switch into a USB extension cable and hooking it up to the holster shouldn't be too much of a problem.

My only concern about this kind of a setup is; when the gun and led stands have no power going to them, won't Windows think they're unplugged? And then, when they receive power again (when the gun is removed from the holster), won't it take a few seconds for windows to recognize them fully? And then will you have to re-calibrate every time?

As I am understanding things, the stands have a separate USB connection just for power, so you'd only be cutting the power to the stands, not the gun itself, so there shouldn't be an issue of losing settings or re-detecting or anything.

Farmboy90 · « **Reply #626 on:** February 02, 2006, 04:24:53 pm »

The stands draw power from one of the USB connectors off of the gun. The gun has two USB connectors, one for the PC hookup and one just to run power for the recoil.

Warborg · « **Reply #627 on:** February 02, 2006, 04:29:46 pm »

Quote from: Farmboy90 on February 02, 2006, 04:24:53 pm

The stands draw power from one of the USB connectors off of the gun. The gun has two USB connectors, one for the PC hookup and one just to run power for the recoil.

Which I imagine you could just put a hacked USB extension in between the stand and the gun to cut power only to it...

Gh0sty · « **Reply #628 on:** February 02, 2006, 04:42:59 pm »

- nevermind - everthing works fine

Skippy2k · « **Reply #629 on:** February 02, 2006, 05:43:52 pm »

Soz guys me again,

What I wanted to know is with the LCDguns not LEDguns

does the screen flash and does the screen flash with a standard guncon2 gun.

Because I use a standard TV I was thinking of gust getting the ps2 gun and trying that, but I would like one where the screen don't flash.

What do you guys think

Thanks

Smog · « **Reply #630 on:** February 02, 2006, 07:00:12 pm »

Obviously the screen does not "need" to flash with these LCD guns. This does not mean it won't .. some MAME games and probably your ps2 games will flash whatever gun you use. But, the point is, that the gun does not need the flash to work so you won't have any prob with pc games and all games designed not to flash.

Quote

does the screen flash with a standard guncon2 gun.

I could not get this

roylazarovich · « **Reply #631 on:** February 02, 2006, 09:07:09 pm »

Hello Everyone.

I'm not a regular in these boards but I just wanted to say that I've been looking for a user review for the USB TopGun and am glad I stumbled upon this great topic, you guys convinced me to order a unit, I've just completed an order on Play-Asia for $47 including shipping to Israel.

Eager to get the gun and play some Virtua Cop and HOTD.

Thanks again!

Silverwind · « **Reply #632 on:** February 02, 2006, 10:21:09 pm »

You could always get a powered USB hub and then switch the power on and off for that. It could double as an easy way to plug the guns into the front of the cab as well. Cut a small slot or mount it under the control panel where it won't be noticed.

patrickmaher · « **Reply #633 on:** February 02, 2006, 11:35:18 pm »

I read the info about being 2X farther away from the screen than the led stands are from each other. I am assuming this mean where the gun must be so your body would be even farther away. I have a 17" lcd monitor that is 16.5" wide (outer plastic included), this puts the gun 33 inches from the monitor. When I stand back that far and look at the screen it seems kinda far. I went to the arcade last night and tried some light gun games, I'm guessing they were 29" screens and I really doubt I was anywhere near 60" away from the screen (I know it doesn't matter on these games). I guess my question is, do you really need to stand that far away or is that just a suggestion for best results? How far can you push the ratio of led stand distance and distance from screen before you get problems? It seems like it would be pretty hard to play from that far away. I guess it would reduce the distance if you mounted the leds horizontally as someone showed earlier in this thread (unless your screen is vertical).

Do you have to do the guns hardware calibration for each gun if you have 2 guns? What happens if you are playing 2 player with 2 people (not one person with dual guns) and the other person wants to be farther away then you are?

I am curious to know what people that have the act labs gun and the lcd topgun think about them in comparison of each other. What are your Pros and Cons between them. Also the comparison of a 2 player setup if you have 2 guns for both.

Thanks

MPTech · « **Reply #634 on:** February 03, 2006, 01:25:28 am »

Could you find a "holster" at Home Depot? Maybe something used for a cordless drill?

So, did anyone ever work-up a group buy?

Warborg · « **Reply #635 on:** February 03, 2006, 02:43:39 am »

Well... I got my Topgun tonight...

Sigh...

Couldn't get it to detect on my main PC, but I blame the PC for that, I've had some oddness with drivers lately, been trying to backup and reload but haven't really gotten to it lately...

So, move it to my arcade PC... I get the pointer when aiming at the screen for the most part, but it kinda flickers in and out in certain spots, and there is like a "dead area" in the lower right corner, about 20% of the screen. The mouse tracks ok, a little laggy and loses track once in a while. Tried Duck Hunt in MAME real quick, pointer was all over the place. Tried PC HOTD1, and the tracking wasn't consistent either, and had the same problem with the lower right corner obviously, but couldn't get the mouse pointer to the bottom of the screen at all. This is using Wingun, BTW.

So my first 15 minute impression isn't exactly sparkling, but again I only had about 15 or so minutes to mess with it, so hopefully this weekend I can sit down with it and tinker... But considering I blew a wheel cylinder on the way to UPS that might take up a bit of my time getting it fixed... $:-\$

darthbane2k · « **Reply #636 on:** February 03, 2006, 05:08:54 am »

DAMN YOU LIK SANG!

My gun is still not here, and its been 7 DAYS!

It does NOT take 7 days to send something from hong kong to the UK, even with bog standard post!

Xiaou2 · « **Reply #637 on:** February 03, 2006, 06:49:58 am »

Just a note to others so they do not make a simular mistake...

Make sure the LED stands are installed in the correct way. It needs the stand with the Power light to be on the right side.

I had it in reverse.. and kept wondering why I couldnt get it to calibrate correctly! Reversed it, and all was good.

Silver · « **Reply #638 on:** February 03, 2006, 07:03:50 am »

Quote from: patrickmaher on February 02, 2006, 11:35:18 pm

I read the info about being 2X farther away from the screen than the led stands are from each other. I am assuming this mean where the gun must be so your body would be even farther away. I have a 17" lcd monitor that is 16.5" wide (outer plastic included), this puts the gun 33 inches from the monitor. When I stand back that far and look at the screen it seems kinda far. I went to the arcade last night and tried some light gun games, I'm guessing they were 29" screens and I really doubt I was anywhere near 60" away from the screen (I know it doesn't matter on these games). I guess my question is, do you really need to stand that far away or is that just a suggestion for best results? How far can you push the ratio of led stand distance and distance from screen before you get problems? It seems like it would be pretty hard to play from that far away. I guess it would reduce the distance if you mounted the leds horizontally as someone showed earlier in this thread (unless your screen is vertical).

Quick thought on distance. You should be able to place the LED stands above and below your screen, which is a shorter distance than side to side. (You can play with the gun sideways or upsidedown no problem). You will just have to make sure that you hardware calibrate the guns as they are expecting (so top left will be bottom left and so on). Once calibrated it should work fine normally, and you should be able to stand closer.

Compared to arcade games, I don't know. With typical optical guns like a normal guncon2 or "light" gun which flashes the screen, yes you can get closer but they have there own problems. I know similar infra technology is used in the arcade of HOTD2 or HOTD3, so I don't know how close you can get for them.

Silver · « **Reply #639 on:** February 03, 2006, 07:13:35 am »

Good News.

Altering the initial offset for the GunInputPorts in the drivers for Lethal enforcers (lethal.c) and Lethal Enforcers 2 (konamigx.c) has solved the tracking problems for both games, and both now appear to play accurately.

The specific code changes have been posted here before, and I've summarised them on my site.

You can download a pre-compiled mame with the changes from Minwah here:

http://mamewah.mameworld.net/mametest.zip (PASTE INTO BROWSER, DON'T CLICK!)

or from me here:

http://www.silverfoxy.f2s.com/mame103le2hack.zip

Both downloads are around 9meg, although Minwahs mametest.exe once unzipped is 35meg big (its uncompressed), but mine is the normal 9meg. They are both the same exe, compiled by Minwah.

I can only assume the initial offsets were done to move the cursor off the screen at startup so it did not get in the way (not an issue when using a mouse).


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