*2025 * Arcade Gun Options: Discussions: Gun4IR / Sinden / DIY/ ALIEXPRESS

[Sbdesign]

ARCADE GUN OPTIONS DISCUSSION

After derailing this thread regarding 1 cab, I thought its best to have a thread just about the options and discuss.
LINK: So what would you do ?
That thread was about CRISIS ZONE with failing jvs rays i/o board, which is hard to come by.

OPTIONS that started to be discussed were:

LINK: REAPER 3
Which is very similar to GUN4IR but prebuilt, and reported to be even quicker more accurate than gun4ir.
Delivery is about $66 USD
So around $300US for 2 guns all in. (don't forget if you get stung on VAT and import taxes, it could be considerably more)



LINK: GUN4IR DIY KITS
Buy PCBs to make it from here, and source stuff like the camera etc your self, or buy a bundle.



So lets discuss, & share info (builds, orders, experience, ideas, pricing comparisons etc)

MEMBERS FROM OTHER THREAD:
@bones @Retroman839 @John Bennett @samusaran @ZedEx48K @[B]Shoryu-stu[/B]

 

[Sbdesign]

But works out quite a bit more expensive than building G4IR yourself.

Also Retroman, in reality those gun and racing cabs are gonna want 16:9 screens on them, a lot of content spesh for guns comes from Teknoparrot in widescreen.

Ive just been looking into this more.
I have a fair few gun cabs, and hate the reliability.
Time crises has started being a little temperamental to say the least. SO with 1 gun only... Im thinking of doing this first.

You mention G4IR being cheaper, but just for the basics without camera, my basket comes to: $75 for parts from gun4ir , then P+P, license, camera, lets, and either a namco gun with working Solonoid or purchase all those parts, to me seems a fair bit more expensive.

Do you have a list of parts and prices you used?

 

[Sbdesign]

I was just having another ponder…
If the gun I/o’s tend to give x/y axis output to a game board such as Sega model 2.

Is there any reason a gun can’t connect to original hardware directly.
I understand it’s not going to work plug in and play without some further development to make the correct info go to the board, but in theory, is there any barriers to this?

 

[ZedEx48K]

You don't need the circuit boards from G4IR, they just make life easier for some, you just solder to the atmega for the buttons, if you install the pin headers the camera has sockets on the wires, and done (if you use tha G-con 1), so parts list is gun, atmega, cam, G4IR license (which I did forget has gone up in price unless you wait for a sale).

Atmega 3 for 20, cam 24'ish, gun from 15 quid on ebay, license 30 I think now, call it 60 per gun, sensors are pennies on the 4 resistors and a bag of leds about 6 quid for 100. Obviously times by 2 so leds and license per gun goes down.

Adding recoil does cost more obviously, but I didn't want the extra weight myself when you will be having longer game sessions with all the shooters on tap.

I had 4 or so guns lying around like most that had/have home consoles, by the time I was done I had 3 guns for under £100 minus license (£15 at time of buying, it's multi use so 100 guns on a hundred cabs if you want)

 

[ZedEx48K]

I was just having another ponder…
If the gun I/o’s tend to give x/y axis output to a game board such as Sega model 2.

Is there any reason a gun can’t connect to original hardware directly.
I understand it’s not going to work plug in and play without some further development to make the correct info go to the board, but in theory, is there any barriers to this?

G4IR is just a fancy mouse and keyboard at the end of the day.

 

[ZedEx48K]

Oh, if you have a 3D printer, print the gun yourself, https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5361060

 

[Sbdesign]

Light SMDYou don't need the circuit boards from G4IR, they just make life easier for some, you just solder to the atmega for the buttons, if you install the pin headers the camera has sockets on the wires, and done (if you use tha G-con 1), so parts list is gun, atmega, cam, G4IR license (which I did forget has gone up in price unless you wait for a sale).

Atmega 3 for 20, cam 24'ish, gun from 15 quid on ebay, license 30 I think now, call it 60 per gun, sensors are pennies on the 4 resistors and a bag of leds about 6 quid for 100. Obviously times by 2 so leds and license per gun goes down.

Adding recoil does cost more obviously, but I didn't want the extra weight myself when you will be having longer game sessions with all the shooters on tap.

I had 4 or so guns lying around like most that had/have home consoles, by the time I was done I had 3 guns for under £100 minus license (£15 at time of buying, it's multi use so 100 guns on a hundred cabs if you want)

Sounds good.
I do have some bits to make up 2 recoil namco guns minus the gun4ir bits and bobs. I certainly have spare non working sega guns for those cabs.
So this maybe the cheaper route for me.

IF it is a lot easier the bits from GUN4IR are

SUPPLIER	PART	1 GUN Price EA	2 GUN Price EA
GUN4IR	License	€20 (normally €30)	€10 (normally €15)
GUN4IR	Cable	€25	€25
GUN4IR	Light DIY SMD PCB	€45	€45
GUN4IR	IR LED PCB SET	€5	€2.50
TOTAL	TOTAL	€95 each	€82.50 each

OTHER PARTS NEEDED:
IR LEDS £10 (100, but only need 12)
POWER SUPPLY £15
CAMERA £24 (credit ZedEx48)
FISH EYE LENS £5
RUMBLE - if desired £5
BUTTONS - if wanting to add additional £5



QUESTION:
HAS ANYONE TRIED GUN4IR with a mirror cab? and CRT?

 

[pubjoe]

Unreasonable gripe: I hate the video reviews that discuss accuracy while steering an on-screen crosshair. If you're using the gun as a glorified mouse it doesn't count!

From what I gather these options are accurate enough though. After past disappointments I think I want to see someone quick aim>shoot through Point Blank Insane on a big screen before I truly believe them.

I really miss the 50" Point Blank DX they had in the arcade round here.

 

[Sbdesign]

Unreasonable gripe: I hate the video reviews that discuss accuracy while steering an on-screen crosshair. If you're using the gun as a glorified mouse it doesn't count!

From what I gather these options are accurate enough though. After past disappointments I think I want to see someone quick aim>shoot through Point Blank Insane on a big screen before I truly believe them.

I really miss the 50" Point Blank DX they had in the arcade round here.

Ive watched and read a lot today and gun4ir, is on par with the crt light guns, and im confident in my research that they are not lying.
I think 16ms is the number

 

[ZedEx48K]

Oh, here's the camera for sale https://uk.farnell.com/dfrobot/sen0158/ir-positioning-camera-arduino/dp/3517916

 

[yoganuggy]

There is a yourube channel called https://youtube.com/@boojakascha
He has reviewed 100's of light guns and said gun4ir is the best.

But really for the full arcade experience you need to get the "named" (namco arcade repro) guns and install the gun4ir kit. These named guns are something like £200 each though.

You can also use native guncon2 and guncon3 on crt with pc emulation and a basic playstation to pc usb adapter with sonics new drivers: https://github.com/sonik-br/GunconUSB

Plus look at the old act labs crt guns if you are in crt.

I honestly think the ultimarc aimtrak are good too but you have to stand way back at least 2 meters from the screen.

Then some folks have hooked up sega ir arcade guns to PC (great if you already have a virtual cop 3 or house of the dead 2 or confidential mission cab).


lots of options.

 

[Retroman839]

Yeh like I’m still to set my gun4ir up..
But I brought the gun4 because I played on it at HOG. It was to me anyway very good.

I have hotd2 original kit sega guns sega io .. Naomi hardware etc..
I have owned
Crises zone
Ghost squad
Time crises.

Lindbergh games on tech parrot i believe you can go 640x480 VGA to crt
As was the original hardware allowance

Excuse my mental capacity fiesta tonight few beers 🍻 ..
I also owned prime evil hunters ..

ghost squad has a great kickback solinoiod in the hilt of the gun..

I have shot a lot of guns including a few thousand rounds on a Bren gun.
Also I have marksmenship from sandhurst military academy ,

Exceptional groupings with the LMG& sa80 enough to get my crossed riffles. Lot of time with lee Enfield.

So I’m looking forward to tryimg
The ghost squad gun with the gun4ir kit on it . A good combo.
I will let you know how it is in a couple of weeks I should have it set up .👍

Owned all the usual suspects also on ps1 ,2,3 …. Dreamcast hotd2 mini games was best for me shooting that frogs and gold Coins. Gun was
Super accurate and super quick..

Just a shame no kick back can’t have it all but that would have been the total experience .

 

[Sbdesign]

Well I hoping to order bits for gun4ir
But just wondering if to spend more and buy jbs cable and and board to make things easier.

First 3 guns I’ll be doing is the namco recoil gun on time crises crt mirror cab, and on a ust projector Hotd Dx - 2 Sega stunners

 

[samusaran]

It’s beyond my capabilities the Gun4ir so I went for the Reaper and im not disappointed.i also have a Sinden which is good but it’s not as good as the Reaper. You also have the white border which people don’t like, it never bothered me personally.

Theres plenty of free light gun builds out there as well as the paid ones. Ive downloaded a few of them but ended up doing my own build as I don’t want 500 games I’ll never play.

 

[Retroman839]

Well I hoping to order bits for gun4ir
But just wondering if to spend more and buy jbs cable and and board to make things easier.

First 3 guns I’ll be doing is the namco recoil gun on time crises crt mirror cab, and on a ust projector Hotd Dx - 2 Sega stunners

Will you do Hotd with sega guns?
Superb games !

TC 2 I will try to get running in Mame asap when back in uk!!
I have a long list of projects .. driving cab ffb multi with the new board from seB..

But hope to get my gun4ir up running pretty quick .

 

[samusaran]

Some really good info on these FB pages. Really nice people who share builds, info etc and everyone gets along.

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

This one is a free build you can download, he’s ready to offer a brand new build in the next few weeks.

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

 

[Sbdesign]

It’s beyond my capabilities the Gun4ir so I went for the Reaper and im not disappointed.i also have a Sinden which is good but it’s not as good as the Reaper. You also have the white border which people don’t like, it never bothered me personally.

Theres plenty of free light gun builds out there as well as the paid ones. Ive downloaded a few of them but ended up doing my own build as I don’t want 500 games I’ll never play.

I backed the Sindens and got them. They are ok, but didn't like the gun shell, I wanting things to appear and feel like the original.
Also for dx cabs working with rear projections, or even just projectors... the sinden did not like it much at all.

 

[2huwman]

I've just got the Sinden and am a bit disappointed with it. It doesn't seem any better than the AimTrak, and I have to sit quite far back from the TV for it to work properly. I did just find a USB2Gun on ebay so looking forward to trying that with a CRT.

 

[samusaran]

I've just got the Sinden and am a bit disappointed with it. It doesn't seem any better than the AimTrak, and I have to sit quite far back from the TV for it to work properly. I did just find a USB2Gun on ebay to looking forward to trying that with a CRT.

Needs a bit of tinkering, there’s some good YouTube vids on it. I found the darker the room the better it was.

 

[Mr Matt]

I went the Gun4IR route about 6 months ago after weighing up all the pros and cons of Retro Shooters, Sinden and Gun4IR.

Gun4IR is obviously the most versatile as you can mod any gun you want with the boards and use their software UI to calibrate and run the guns. It's really satisfying making your own and I was more than impressed with how well they work too.

I only wanted 2 Guncons so I could play Point Blank X, and now I'm making an Uzi, an Aliens M41A pulse rifle and a RoboCop Auto-9.

It was a bit of a hassle getting all of the parts for a single build so I started putting kits together for the 4IR to sell in the UK to help anyone else wanting it do it, and it got a bit out of hand and I'm now selling pre-built 4IR units too!

I think for anyone not handy enough to put the guns together themselves then the new Retro Shooter Reaper 3 is the way to go. But if you can do basic soldering then I'd do Gun4IR everytime.