As you know, this summer is all about optimization at Recalbox. After work on the Pi 5 2GB (article here) and on Naomi 2 and Model 3 (article here), the team turned its attention to the GunCon 2 — the gun that lets you play Time Crisis, House of the Dead, Duck Hunt, Confidential Mission… — plug and play with Recalbox since the release of the RGB Dual 2.

While the experience was generally solid, a few issues could crop up: missed shots, rough calibration, needing to crank up screen brightness for certain games to work properly, notably on Dreamcast… The overall experience was good, but we wanted to deliver rock-solid support.

A well-calibrated caliber

After several weeks of work — and a certain Recalbox JVS that got us digging back into gun cabs — we're happy to announce that the GunCon 2 now works wonders with the 10.1-patron-1 update!

We've added a calibration screen every time you launch a game for your GunCon 2, letting you test and confirm your setup and calibration for optimal accuracy.

Say cheese, you've been flashed

For the GunCon to work, it needs to "see" a flash. Most games generate one by default, but not all do (you know, those white flashes that appear when you shoot). Many arcade games, for example, don't produce this flash, so we decided to add one to every game that was missing it to provide a better overall experience.

Room for two frequencies in this town

As you know, the GunCon 2 is compatible with 15 kHz CRT screens (the old-school cathode-ray TVs that used to sit in every living room…); compatibility is now extended to 31 kHz monitors (the CRT VGA screens that notably powered our old PCs…). Plenty of room to enjoy your gun on this type of screen with zero compromise!

Broad hardware compatibility

While support for the GunCon 2 was officially introduced alongside the release of the RGB Dual 2, where it works out of the box, we haven't forgotten about our other hardware either, especially those dedicated to arcade gaming, where light gun titles are everywhere.

The GunCon 2 is also compatible with the Recalbox RGB JAMMA 2 and the Recalbox JVS. Both feature the required ports to connect the gun and will automatically support the new peripheral. A demonstration video on cabinet is available at the end of this article.

Trigger aces at work

These optimizations are already available to Patrons via 10.1-patron-1, and will be coming soon to the stable release for everyone. In the meantime, check out the video below for a few clips from our testing on these optimizations.

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