Lightguns on PC?

[Kurt_]

I want to make a Lightgun MAME cabinet.

But will an arcade lightgun hook up to the PC?

Will a USB lightgun work with MAME?

[nevermind1534]

I want to make a Lightgun MAME cabinet.

But will an arcade lightgun hook up to the PC?

Will a USB lightgun work with MAME?

I know that light guns only work with tube TVs, and I'm fairly certain that the signal has to be interlaced, so that would rule out an old computer monitor.

[tom61]

Basically, from reading up on the arcadecontrols.com forums, there are a few lightguns that will work with a PC, but all of them have their flaws.

Act-Labs gun system: works on PC or TV CRT monitors. I forget what the issues of these were.
Guncon 2: Hacked driver for PC, only works on TV and arcade monitors (requires circuit to be used for an arcade monitor to feed the gun sync). Issues of getting it to work accurately in many cases.
LCD Top Gun: Works on all monitors, but requires the use of IR bars on either side of the monitor or cabinet.Issues: calibration drift, cheap feel
Wii remote in gun shell: Works on any monitor, but requires the use of an IR bar above or below the monitor. Not really addressed on the arcadecontrols.com forums, I don't think it's 'arcadey' enough for them. Will likely require software tweaking to get two guns to work and be properly calibrated.

Right now, most on that forum are waiting/hoping for Ultimarc.com to come out with a solution, as they posted an interest check and query about how far away to use guns.

[Kurt_]

I've been considering the Top Gun 2. I want to buy a cheap projector off of eBay, and get some two-player house of the dead or something going.

Not because I want to drop $150 for two guns, but because I have no other choice.

[tom61]

I've been considering the Top Gun 2. I want to buy a cheap projector off of eBay, and get some two-player house of the dead or something going.

Not because I want to drop $150 for two guns, but because I have no other choice.

Last I heard House of the Dead in MAME wasn't working, and the PC version only supports one player. I suppose you could use an original X-Box for that. I've also heard a soft-modded X-Box is very good for lightgun games in MAME.

If you have a Wii you could build an extended sensor bar, and just grab a couple $15 Nyko Perfect Shot Wiimote shells, and blast zombies in the various House of the Dead games out for it.

[Kurt_]

I do have a Wii, but it's just not the same. There's no way to adjust the calibration, so you're just looking at the crosshair on screen, not interacting with a gun.

I guess I'l ltry to get MAME working first.

[Kurt_]

You're right, but House of the Dead 2 and 3 PC work just fine.

I was thinking, what if I had like, a mouse you wave in the air, kind of like a wiimote but one that can be properly calibrated and hooked up to a PC (No bluetooth, although I'd consider it if it was a viable option). Then I can just set it as the mouse, and I'm golden.

What are those types of mice called? Are they hard to make? Are they expensive to buy? Are they still USB?

[tom61]

I do have a Wii, but it's just not the same. There's no way to adjust the calibration, so you're just looking at the crosshair on screen, not interacting with a gun.

It is annoying that many shooting games lack calibration, however, people have reported good results tweaking the size of the sensor bar relative the screen size for more accurate results.

You're right, but House of the Dead 2 and 3 PC work just fine.

I thought you wanted two player, do the PC versions actually have a way to let you use two guns?

I was thinking, what if I had like, a mouse you wave in the air, kind of like a wiimote but one that can be properly calibrated and hooked up to a PC (No bluetooth, although I'd consider it if it was a viable option). Then I can just set it as the mouse, and I'm golden.

What are those types of mice called? Are they hard to make? Are they expensive to buy? Are they still USB?

Gyroscopic mice are what they are called the most popular brand is 'Gyration'. To make one you just need a gyroscopic sensor and some way of sending mouse signals, but probably cheaper to just buy a wiimotion-plus and get it working in software (either attached to a Wii remote, or via something like an Arduino). The cheapest gyration mouse I found on Froogle was $40, and was wireless with a USB dongle.

Since it's hard to make two mice work at the same time, I'm guessing you're going to do one player for the time being, in which case check out these links for a cool project:
http://hackaday.com/2009/06/21/vr-game-gun/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnGSpAZtm38" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;