Ok - the desire for a lightgun has hit again, lots of old links dead.....

[rbarr110]

Well the desire to get a lightgun working with mame again has struck, this time I have enough gift cards to Best Buy to go ahead and get a component in tv to put in my cab.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7006036&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat95100050021&id=1099392081842

I currently have an ATI AIW 8500 in the cab and have a component out adapter for the card.  So I have some questions on how to get it up and running.

1) I swear I have seen it before, but can't find it now. - I can hook the light gun up to the Green line of the component out for the sync. Correct?

2) I need to use powerstrip to get the video card signal to 15khz?

3) Which Guncon driver is best for running Mamewah with command line version of mame in Windows XP?

4) What else do I need to know or am forgetting?

Thanks

[rbarr110]

Hello...is there anybody out there....

Bump

[horseboy]

Well, it sounds like you are planning on using GunCon's. Correct? I haven't used them personally, but pretty much everyone reports much more reliable results with the LCD TopGuns. Also, if you use the TopGuns, it doesn't matter how you hook your TV (or any other display) up.

[Gambit]

I found a few eBay auctions with cool light guns from actual arcade machines.  Like some T2 machine guns, pump shotguns from that zombie game. etc.

[horseboy]

I found a few eBay auctions with cool light guns from actual arcade machines.  Like some T2 machine guns, pump shotguns from that zombie game. etc.

Yeah, but the problem with that is that AFAIK nobody has successfully used real arcade lightguns with pc setup. There was a link to a usb arcade lightgun "controller" that showed up on here a couple of times. It cost $180 each and nobody on here was willing to give it a shot.

The positional guns (T2, etc.) are basically just analog joysticks with triggers, so they are easy to interface. You can find a well documented how-to for that on 1-up's site. The problem with positional guns is that they aren't real light guns, so it wouldn't be like the real deal.

[u_rebelscum]

Yeah, but the problem with that is that AFAIK nobody has successfully used real arcade lightguns with pc setup. There was a link to a usb arcade lightgun "controller" that showed up on here a couple of times. It cost $180 each and nobody on here was willing to give it a shot.

The other problems are it doesn't say it's winXP compatable (doesn't say it's not, either), and hints you have to buy another board to work:

... a fully HID USB compliant optical gun interface board that will allow a first person shooter to be built around a WINDOWS or LINUX USB compliant PC. The optical gun board will work in conjunction with the UGCI and will allow a complete Optical Gun system supporting two optical gun inputs can be built for less than a few hundred dollars....  WINDOWS 98/ME Compatible

But looks like it's down to $160.  Still too high for me, even if it was already tested.

edit: added italics to quote

[NightGod]

IIRC someone contacted the guy selling those and confirmed that you need both boards.

[rbarr110]

Ok, so it looks like going this route will work best overall
http://www.hkems.com/product/xbox/LCDTopGun.htm

Now what I am having a hard time locating is can you use 2 simultaneously? (Edit: apparently yes after more searching with some difficulties)

I am planning on being about 2' from the arcade cab, is this a problem?  Too close?
And where is everyone buying theirs?

Thanks

[horseboy]

I bought mine here.

Cliff Racer

They are sold out now, though. Call and see when they are getting more.

As for the distance, I cant exactly remeber ( and I can't find it right now), but there is a multiplier that was generally accepted around here. Maybe it was like ...

distance between stands x 2.5 = distance from screen.

2.5 sounds right, but I am not sure. Try to mount the horizontally as opposed to vertically and you will be able to stand a bit closer.

[NightGod]

I'm almost positive that they have to be mounted vertically, thought I remember reading someone who was unable to get them to calibrate like that.

[ahofle]

I am planning on being about 2' from the arcade cab, is this a problem?  Too close?
And where is everyone buying theirs?
Thanks

Not speaking from experience and just by the posts in that mega LCD topgun thread, it sounded like most people are having to stand 4-6 feet away from the screen, so I doubt you'll get 2 feet.  This is the only reason I haven't jumped on these guns.  For me that's a deal breaker.  I sure hope they improve this in the next generation of the LCD topguns.

[horseboy]

I'm almost positive that they have to be mounted vertically, thought I remember reading someone who was unable to get them to calibrate like that.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=48982.msg504054#msg504054

This guy did it, and I have read about several others as well. The trick is that you have to mount them in the correct way. I think that the bottom need to be on the left and the top on the right.