Mame Light Gun Games: Do I need to calibrate all players?

mahoneyt944

@jiryn the white cross hairs can be turned off in the core options . Retroarch-> quick menu -> options ->

I think it's called show it display crosshairs or something. Near the middle of the list .

mahoneyt944

And it sounds like your controller is not setup properly. I would delete any custom configs and reconfigure the controller in emulationstation

Jiryn

@mahoneyt944
I don't use any costume configs, save for the setting you told me analog to d-pad.
I set it up through emulationstation and it's recognized fine for an 8bitdo controller.
However once I run the games mentioned above, it only recognizes input from analog stick and not the d-pad.
I was wondering why this was happening.

When using the analog stick, it snaps back to the center of the screen whenever I let go of the stick, and it refuses to shoot the 4 corners of the screen or even come close to them.

YFZdude

@jiryn
I have experienced this same effect. The analog stick is nice for its 'return to center' feature, but I could never get mine to reach all the way into the corners.

The D-pad worked for me using the Logitech controllers and allowed me to move the cursor over the entire area of the screen, but it will not snap back to center so I always had to move from where you last were.

Because of these two frustrations, and the accuracy I gained, I simply plug in a mouse for light gun shooters. Much better for me. The only downsides are having to have a flat surface to use the mouse and it wouldn't work if you are putting together a cabinet build. Maybe when I get a Sinden Lightgun someday I'll use that instead.

Jiryn

@yfzdude
It's not even recognizing my D-pad for those games mentioned.
I even went and reconfigured my controller to NOT use the analog stick and I couldn't move the crosshairs with the D-pad at all!
Mouse seems like a great idea, will it recognize 2 people/mice?

@mahoneyt944 This is what's going on exactly

I even reconfigured the controller and showed I had no custom controls installed.
After the video I went in and reconfigured it again in emulation station, this time without using analogue and I couldn't move the crosshair at all in any of the games in Mame 2003.

I've since tried 4 more controllers, the PS4, PS5, XB1, and XBSeries controllers and all have the same issue of the analogue not hitting the corners and the D-pad not being recognized.

mahoneyt944

@Jiryn

Load terminator 2 , open the mame menu-> input this game. Then map the light gun x and y inputs. You'll have to click "a" on a lightgun direction...let's say for up... then press dpad up to map it. Do this for every direction.

This maps your dpad to work and the analog to digital option you enabled earlier will allow the analog to work like the dpad.

If you want the analog to snap to center you'll have to turn off the analog to digital option from earlier then map the dpad and analog to the lightgun x and y.

Another thing to check, you can change the analog deadzone setting in core options I typically use 15.

Lastly check that you don't have 4 way emulation enabled in the core options. You'll have to load a game that uses it like pacman to see it in the list. . Keep this disabled for now.

Jiryn

@mahoneyt944
I got it up and running pretty good now, but I've noticed some minor issues

In MAME2003
Everything works perfectly, I can use the D-pad OR Analogue stick and I can access the mame menu by hitting L2/LTrigger
However, the analogue stick is not recognized for any inputs in the mame menu, and still won't reach the corners of the screen.
I was able to set the speed of the cursor perfectly for the D-pad, (oddly through the mame analogue controls speed) though it still ignores the Analogue to Digital for some odd reason.

On the other hand.
MAME2003-Plus is having issues
#1. It requires L3 to enter Mame Menu
#2. It doesn't recognize the D-pad on any controller, so even with Mame Menu open I cannot switch or select any options. I think this is the primary issue.
I can't even play games like the X-men or turtles game in 2003 because it doesn't recognize the D-pad.

So yea, 2003 is working like a dream and I may just delete PLUS because of the issue.

it probably has something to do with this https://retropie.org.uk/docs/MAME/#lr-mame2003-plus-mame-2003-plus
*Some notes about extra controls options and configuration available in MAME 2003-Plus:

MAME 2003-Plus can use different RetroPad layouts, chosen with the Device Type configuration option in the Controls menu in RetroArch:
    Classic Gamepad, based on mainline MAME's default Xbox 360 controller layout, likely to suit DualShock or SNES-style gamepads.
    Modern Fightstick, a fight stick and pad layout popularised by Street Fighter IV and assumes an 8+ button controller.
    6-Button, a layout intended for SNES-type RetroPad controls as well as 6-button arcade panels arcade panels.
    8-Button, a layout intended for an arcade panel (8 buttons)

MAME 2003-Plus maps the analog controls to joystick control by default, instead of the D-Pad. This can be changed from the Core Options, switching the Control mapping option to digital.

MAME 2003-Plus disables the MAME menu by default (usually mapped to Tab). It can be enabled by changing the Input interface Core Option to simultaneous.*

Also, I want to just turn off the Crosshair of whichever player is not playing. Since I am not using a real light gun, I still kinda need to see where I am shooting. Problem is it Maximum Force and Area 52 still show the cross hair for the other players, dead center at all times and is kind of distracting is all.
I know, just a minor issue is all.

Thank you for all your help and suggestions!

mahoneyt944

@jiryn it was changed to L3 in 2003+. You can also press tab on a keyboard to open the menu or load any game, then open Retroarch menu-> quick menu-> options -> display mame menu.

It sounds like you need to configure things in the mame menu. You should first load a game in the core. Open Retroarch menu-> quick menu-> controls-> port 1 controls-> analog to digital-> none.

Then open the mame menu. Under input general, these will be the mappings the core uses by default. Note that you can map the user interface (UI) directions and buttons which will be used to navigate the mame menu.

Under input this game, these are the mappings the game is currently using. This will be the inputs that get used in the game.

A very important note, if you want to use the dpad and analog you must map both individually to each direction. This is best done under input general in the mame menu so it auto configs your games the way you prefer.

Once your controls are working, analog and digital. If you want to override the analog from snapping to center then you can load any game in the core, open the Retroarch menu-> quick menu-> controls-> port 1 controls-> analog to digital-> left analog

Jiryn

@mahoneyt944
Thank you again!
I had to find a Keyboard to hook up to the system to get some of the configs working. (I almost never have it attached, I have this setup as an arcade machine)
Oddly the mame menu recognizes the D-pad, but not the Analogue Sticks.

mahoneyt944

@jiryn map dpad and analog to UI under input general.

Mame2003 does not natively support analog so you'll need to use analog to digital after mapping your dpad.

Mame2003-plus does natively support analog

Make sure you're mapping (up dpad and up analog) to everything you want to be able to use either on.