Managed to get American Laser Games working...

[Johnny T]

I had a bit of trouble getting American Laser Games to work.

I spent a lot of time on Google and between many different posts I managed to cobble something together which seems to work well for me.

I thought I would post the details just in case anyone else is having trouble and it helps you out.

This info is simply me regurgitating other info I've found so I'm standing on the shoulders of giants with this so I can't take any credit for it.

Firstly create a .bat file in the folder where your Daphne is for American Laser Games.

I called the .bat file "American Laser Games.bat"

The contents of the file look like this....

daphne.exe singe vldp -fullscreen_window -ignore_aspect_ratio -x 800 -y 600 -framefile singe/%1/%1.txt -script singe/%1/%1.singe

So this .bat file needs to be in the same folder as your daphne.exe file and it assumes your folder layout is like this....

Launchbox -> Emulators -> American Laser Games -> this folder contains daphne.exe and the American Laser Games.bat files.
The same folder has another folder called "singe" which contains further folders titled the same as the various games...
such as... crimepatrol

Launchbox -> Emulators -> American Laser Games -> singe -> crimepatrol
                                                        -> maddog
                                                         etc....

Each game folder must have a .txt file inside it with the same name as the game. The part of the .bat file is pointing to this .txt file.

Where the .bat file says.....

singe/%1/%1.txt

The software will replace "%1" with the name of the game.

So, if you had a game called maddog then the .bat file is looking for a file with the path....

singe/maddog/maddog.txt

So, either make sure these files are in the right place or alter this part of the .bat file to suit your locations.

 

Next... import the ROMs into LaunchBox but just import all the .txt files (the files with the same names as the games and the folders).

Finally, edit the emulator settings so that it looks like the following.....

And (hopefully) that should be you sorted!

Happy shooting ya varmant!!!!!

Edited October 2, 2018 by Johnny T
** Edited the .bat file to stop problems with the cursor sticking to the sides of the screen **

[larsherbaut]

Hi!

I tried your tutorial and stubled upon this error.

In the Daphne tutorial (which works fine) you also have to asign the the *.txt files in Daphne. But this is not possible because the American Laser Games are not in the List.

Is there a possibility to add games to this list? What am I doing wrong?

Thx!

Additional question: Are there USB laser guns that actually work on an LED screen? What type? Where to get them? How to configure?

 

Edited January 1, 2019 by larsherbaut

[Johnny T]

I'm not sure what's going wrong with your setup for American Laser Games but, for the light guns, I use the AimTrak ones from Andy at Ultimarc.com

I've found them to be really good so far. I had to open them up and put in stronger springs but, apart from that, they are superb.

Cheers

[bman83]

Hi All,

Firstly thanks to Colpipes78, Harrison Hacks & Johnny T.

Combining these 3 contributors, I have been able to load American Laser Games (ALG) through Launchbox. 

** AND REMEMBER MAKE BACKUP UP COPIES OF ALL FILES THAT ARE RENAMED**

So Background on the way this works:-

There are 3 files needed to run the games.

a. The DAPHNE emulator (daphne.exe)  - [ROOT DIRECTORY]

b. The FRAMEFILE (game.txt) - [..\SINGE\GAME\game.txt]

c. The SINGEFILE (game.singe) - [..\SINGE\GAME\game.singe]

 

1. Download Daphne emulator. Install in ..\LAUNCHBOX\EMULATORS\AMERICAN LASER GAMES\

2. Create JohnnyT .bat file. SAVE as "AMERICAN LASER GAMES.bat" in DAPHNE.EXE directory.

daphne.exe singe vldp -fullscreen_window -ignore_aspect_ratio -x 800 -y 600 -framefile singe/%1/%1.txt -script singe/%1/%1.singe

BAT file is used as the emulator application in  LAUNCHBOX

"-fullscreen_window" can be substituted with "-fullscreen"

 

2. Match file names for each game in "..\SINGE" FOLDER  for the files below:-

[FOLDERNAME], [FRAMFILE.TXT], [GAME.SINGE]

 

eg. ..LAUNCHBOX\EMULATORS\ALG\SINGE\CRIMEPATROL

..LAUNCHBOX\EMULATORS\ALG\SINGE\CRIMEPATROL\crimepatrol.txt (rename from crimepatrol-framefile. txt)

..LAUNCHBOX\EMULATORS\ALG\SINGE\CRIMEPATROL\crimepatrol.singe (rename from cdrom-crimecontrol.singe)

 

3. SETUP LAUNCHBOX EMULATOR

 

4. IMPORT EACH ROM FILE eg: ..\LAUNCHBOX\EMULATOR\ALG\SINGE\CRIMEPATROL\crimepatrol.txt

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2019 by bman83
UPDATE

[Light Sock]

Just a specification. Daphne Singe emulated games need 2 .singe files to work so the provided bat file doesn't work. I've updated the code for the cdrom singe file.

daphne.exe singe vldp -fullscreen_window -x 800 -y 600 -framefile singe/%1/%1.txt -script singe/%1/cdrom-%1.singe

hope this helps someone!

[latin625]

The gun crosshairs seems to always move to the corners of the screen on windows 10.  I calibrated them in the AimTrak Utility. Anyone else have this issue?
Thanks!

[midd]

Thanks for this! I was able to get Daphne and ALG added to my Launchbox. 

Edited December 30, 2019 by midd

[UncleLeoTheDad]

I was able to import ALG games using this method, however I seem to have 2 problems.

 

1. lbh (Last Bounty Hunter) imports, but there doesn't seem to be any art associated with it.  Other people also seeing this?
2. I get an error whenever I try to import MadDog, though MadDog2 works fine: 

Quote

2020-01-13 11:00:10 AM Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.ViewModels.MainViewModel.window.Activated Start
2020-01-13 11:00:10 AM Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.ViewModels.MainViewModel.window.Activated Before JoystickTimer Enabled Set
2020-01-13 11:00:10 AM Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.ViewModels.MainViewModel.window.Activated Before Resume Video
2020-01-13 11:00:10 AM Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.ViewModels.MainViewModel.window.Activated Before Check Already Focused
2020-01-13 11:00:18 AM Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.ViewModels.MainViewModel.window.Deactivated Start
2020-01-13 11:00:18 AM Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.ViewModels.MainViewModel.window.Deactivated Before Pause Video
2020-01-13 11:00:18 AM Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.ViewModels.MainViewModel.window.Deactivated Completed
2020-01-13 11:00:18 AM FIRST CHANCE EXCEPTION: The given path's format is not supported.
   at System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermission.EmulateFileIOPermissionChecks(String fullPath)
2020-01-13 11:00:18 AM FIRST CHANCE EXCEPTION: The given path's format is not supported.
   at System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermission.EmulateFileIOPermissionChecks(String fullPath)
2020-01-13 11:00:18 AM Imageloader successful: pack://application:,,,/WpfResources/Background.png
2020-01-13 11:00:20 AM Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.ViewModels.MainViewModel.window.Activated Start
2020-01-13 11:00:20 AM Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.ViewModels.MainViewModel.window.Activated Before JoystickTimer Enabled Set
2020-01-13 11:00:20 AM Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.ViewModels.MainViewModel.window.Activated Before Resume Video
2020-01-13 11:00:20 AM Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.ViewModels.MainViewModel.window.Activated Before Check Already Focused
2020-01-13 11:00:22 AM Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.ViewModels.MainViewModel.window.Deactivated Start
2020-01-13 11:00:22 AM Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.ViewModels.MainViewModel.window.Deactivated Before Pause Video
2020-01-13 11:00:22 AM Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.ViewModels.MainViewModel.window.Deactivated Completed

I'm using the same approach to import maddog as everything else, so I'm not sure why I'm receiving this error.  Any ideas?

[Retro808]

Not sure about the error. I have both imported fine. Although they were added quite a while back. As far as artwork for LBH I am seeing artwork for that game.

[UncleLeoTheDad]

When you imported it, it looks like you used a custom platform, "American Laser Games", like I did.  I then used "Arcade" as "Scrape as".  Did you use the same?

[Retro808]

1 minute ago, UncleLeoTheDad said:

When you imported it, it looks like you used a custom platform, "American Laser Games", like I did.  I then used "Arcade" as "Scrape as".  Did you use the same?

Yes. I scrape all arcade games even if put in a custom platform as "Arcade". If I delete the database ID and all images and run a search it finds the game and find the images from our DB.

[UncleLeoTheDad]

Thanks for your help!   I'll keep plugging away

[Sbifio]

Thank you all. I made everything work with launchbox. but I have a problem: when I start a game a window remains in the foreground. as shown in the photo.

does anyone have any ideas to close it automatically?

[wallmachine]

55 minutes ago, Sbifio said:

Thank you all. I made everything work with launchbox. but I have a problem: when I start a game a window remains in the foreground. as shown in the photo.

does anyone have any ideas to close it automatically?

[Sbifio]

5 hours ago, wallmachine said:

thank you ?

[Greatestdadever2]

Was anyone able to calibrate their wii mote for the ALG games?  Mine keeps hanging on to the edges of the screen 

[Johnny T]

On 12/26/2020 at 5:26 PM, Greatestdadever2 said:

Was anyone able to calibrate their wii mote for the ALG games?  Mine keeps hanging on to the edges of the screen 

I've never used the Wii Mote for my cab. I'm waiting on the new Sinden Lightguns arriving early next year. If you're struggling you could have a look at the Sinden guns. They look superb (a bit of an investment though?).

[d8thstar]

thanks for this guys.  followed all instructions and was able to import and start mad dog and mad dog 2 (import the tx files).  But, it won't see or let me import any other txt file, this is weird!

any thoughts?

other weirdness, same thing happens in daphne games... when i exit, the video freezes, the audio keeps playing and about 20-30 seconds later, the game finally exits.

Edited February 10, 2021 by d8thstar

[Johnny T]

You need to be able to start the games from the Daphne launcher before you try and import anything in to Launchbox. Once they are working from there then you should be able to just run them from LB.

LB isn't actually "doing anything" apart from just starting the game as you would through the native emulator.

[Tsigarinho]

Hi i managed to import some ALG games and make them playable through Launchbox. The above commands in the .bat file works only with few games. For example about Mad Dog McCree i had to create a new .bat and then add it as a new emulator to the launchbox. So i have an emulator just for Mad Dog. It took me some time to understand it how it works but now that i know everything is looking beautiful and playable 100%.

Thanks.