Dreamcast lightgun Problem.

[rmoxon]

I dusted off my Dreamcast recently for a go on house of the dead 2 and for some reason cant seem to get the lightgun to work.

When i calibrate it, it lets me shoot the left hand corner then refuses to shoot the target at the bottom right. They if I try and calibrate the gun again it wont even shoot the top corner until I've restarted the machine.

I cant see it being the gun becuase it works at first everytime I turn the machine on and Its worked on the TV I'm using for it before.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks.

[smouty]

You are using a CRT? No 100/120Hz?
This is the sort of problem you get on LCD/Plasma etc.

[rmoxon]

Yes I'm using CRT, i know its the kind of problem you get on LCD screens which makes it all the more odd really.

[Soundwave]

I have the same problem with all my gun games...

Saturn - Virtua Cops & HotD
Dreamcast - HotD2

Cant calibrate the gun at all.

I'm using a JVC CRT Widescreen & I think my error comes from the refresh rate...it doenst do 60Hz at all, hates the DC with a passion (Completely black screen @ 60hz) & refreshes at IIRC 75Hz which means the guns cant calibrate for some reason.

I'm fine in the centre of the screen but any corners & it just refuses to recognise it...no real idea why
It's a right pain in the arse to be honest as I'd love to play some VC again.

Neil

[rmoxon]

The TV I'm using has never really had a problem with the Decent its always been fine on it before (and still is apart from the lightgun)

My House Of The Dead 2 is a Japanese copy so I might try using a boot disk that boots the game in 50hz on a UK machine and try that. I'm not sure why that would work but i don't have any other ideas really.

[rmoxon]

Well I've tried running at 50hz and that dosent work either, not sure what to do now.

[SH4R4KU]

Wow, same thing happened to me the other night. I will see if this can be resolved.

[Baseley09]

I have the same problem with all my gun games...

Saturn - Virtua Cops & HotD
Dreamcast - HotD2

Cant calibrate the gun at all.

I'm using a JVC CRT Widescreen & I think my error comes from the refresh rate...it doenst do 60Hz at all, hates the DC with a passion (Completely black screen @ 60hz) & refreshes at IIRC 75Hz which means the guns cant calibrate for some reason.

I'm fine in the centre of the screen but any corners & it just refuses to recognise it...no real idea why
It's a right pain in the arse to be honest as I'd love to play some VC again.

Neil

Shiiii that's lucky i was recently considering building a collection of the ALG lightgin titles on 3DO but looks like i'd be wasting my time! gah.

[Link83]

Just checking here, but everyone is using either a PAL-E or NTSC-J version of the games, not NTSC-U?

I only ask as I know official lightgun support was deliberately removed from the NTSC-U versions (USA) apparently due to the Columbine shootings - unofficial/third party guns should still work with them though. This is why the official sega lightgun was only released in Europe/Australia and Japan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcast_light_guns

I have some other suggestions aswell (if you havent already tried them) hope thats ok....

-Try having a controller in the second controller port, with a VMU in slot 1. eg. Lightgun controller in port 1 (with optional rumble pack) and normal controller in port 2 with a VMU in slot 1 (with free space for saving of course!)

-Check that any extra 'picture processing' on your CRT TV has been disabled - especially any 75Hz, 100Hz, 120Hz or 'flicker free' modes. Remember that any lightguns which dont use an external LED bar (like the Wii Sensor Bar) will not work on LCD or Plasma screens, which means most 'retro' lightguns wont work on modern HDTV's

-Make sure the 'lens' on the gun is clean - if it needs cleaning use a lens cleaning cloth designed for plastic lenses or similar (Usually sold for glasses)

-Stand/sit a reasonable distance away from the screen, too close or too far away and lightguns become alot less reliable.

-Id also make sure that your brightness and contrast are set correctly as apparently that can also cause problems with lightguns sometimes aswell. Perhaps even try making the picture slighty 'overbright' if possible and see if that makes any difference.

-Oh, and playing in a dark/dimly lit room helps aswell.

-Some oddball/random thoughts-
-I think fluorescent lighting (fishtanks, etc) can also cause problems too due to the bulbs 'refresh rate' being the same/similar to CRT TV screens. Id imagine some energy saving bulbs are the same aswell (as they are just CFL's - Compact Fluorescent Lights)

-One other thing I was thinking although its probably completely rubbish - do you have a Wii sensor bar above/below the TV? Maybe try and disconnect it for a while whilst testing and see if that makes any difference? Even if the Wii is powered down I believe the sensor bar is still on, it shouldnt make any difference anyway but still....