Mame Lightgun Setup

Mame Lightgun Setup - Some Basic Pointers.

A lot of the info on this page has been pulled from Derrick Renauds page on Multiple lightgun setups: http://derrick.mameworld.info/lightgun/Act_Labs_Light_Guns_on_XP.html

Basic Setup

Mame has had its analog input code rewritten in recent times (current version is 0.113). This has affected how analog devices including lightguns are configured. Here are some basic pointers. (At the moment this is geared towards Windows XP.)

Mame now treats Lightguns the same as mice.

Running "mame gamename -verbose" from the command line. tells you what devices MAME finds connected and their numbers.

You no longer need to use the -lightgun or -dual_lightgun commands/ini options. You must use the -mouse command instead (or "mouse 1" in mame.ini)

Offscreen Reload

If you are running a game that needs you to shoot off screen, you will still need to use the -offscreen_reload command. This will change the functionality of button 2 to simulate firing off screen, thereby reloading.

NB There may be some issues in some games with offscreen reload. I am not sure that the code currently works with every game.

Running Mame

To use light guns you would use a command similar to this:

mame yourgame -mouse -r 800x600 -refresh 60

yourgame = is the name of the romset you are using

-r 800x600 -refresh 60 = sets the game to use a fixed resolution and refresh. This is so you do not have to constantly re-calibrate your gun.

NB Some guns (e.g. LCD Topgun) are quite resiliant to resolution changes, but it is still probably best to calibrate your guns to one resolution and run all lightgun games in that resolution.

In Game Setup

When you are in the game, you will need to select the light gun as a control. Do this by pressing the [TAB] key. You will now see this menu.