I have always enjoyed playing with lightguns, but until recently, they have always been something that someone else made. Probably in a factory and I imagine by magic!
I have been getting back into them more and more recently though. The upcoming Sinden Lightgun has rekindled my interest, but its been a long time coming and I don’t like waiting.
There have been various projects floating around the internet for a long time, but nothing that looks like someone with pretty basic electronic skills could attempt. That is until recently when Samco over at Arcade controls put together a design for a fully functioning lightgun based on an Audrino and the new DFRobot IR positioning camera.
I followed Samcos instructions and built his gun. It works really well and is on a par with the Aimtrak lightgun.
Samcos Design prompted another member of arcade controls – JayBee to expand on it and he has built a solution that uses 4 LEDs positioned around the TV and results in even better accuracy (mainly as you change position) and requires no calibration.
It turns out that there are lots of people around the world who are into modding and building their own lightguns but the information is spread out and hard to find – So I’m going to put as much of the basic information here and link to more detailed information so that hopefully anyone can build their own DIY Lightgun.
Designs and Instructions
Getting the right Switch
The feel of the trigger in your lightgun is a big thing for some people. The lightguns in the arcades used high quality momentary switches that had a more progressive feel than the home released ones. If you are modding your own and want to add a better switch, its not just a case of popping one in though as they need to fit perfectly into the gun.
Fortunately TheMagicTrashman has a 3d printed solution for almost every gun model that he can make or you.
Check out the list of available mods along with instructions for fitting them here – DIY Lightgun Switches
Solenoids
Philip is a life long gamer and enthusiast.
He first started gaming in the 80’s on an Atari 2600 and has never looked back. He has owned just about every major console since then.
His passion for retro gaming and emulation sprung from trying to recapture the excitement of playing light gun games like Time Crisis and Point Blank in the arcades by emulating them on a PC and has grown from there into a love of emulation and Retro Gaming.