Overview

The Blamcon ARC (Advanced Remote Console) allows you to customize all functions of your Blamcon Light Gun. Customize key bindings, set your player config, even set your cursor smoothing algorithm. Blamcon ARC will get the most out of your light gun and nail those high scores!

Device Setup

Off of the Home screen, the Device Setup menu is where you access all of the information and features of your Blamcon light gun. As you navigate around you’ll find that most buttons and functions have associated help info on the right side of the screen.

Explore the tabs to see all of the available features and configuration for Blamcon light gun.

Device

The Information tab will provide you with key or important details about your Blamcon, such as:

1. Com Port
2. Product Name
3. Firmware Version
4. Vendor Id
5. Product Id
6. Firmware Build number

There’s also a number of buttons at the bottom of the info panel that perform specific firmware functions.

Factory Reset

Sometimes you just need to start over. You can use this option to erase all of the stored settings which effectively sets the firmware back into the state it was shipped.

Reboot for upgrade

This is convenient if you have downloaded the latest firmware from our website. When using this button, the device will disconnect and reboot into storage mode so you can simply drag and drop the firmware file onto the device. The device will apply the firmware and restart with that firmware installed.

Upgrade Firmware

ARC comes with firmware packaged. If you connected device is reporting an older firmware than the one packaged with ARC, then you can conveniently upgrade the firmware right there. It will give you an progress indicator while it uploads the firmware binary. When successful, the device will disconnect and restart with the firmware installed.

General

Under this tab you can change the general settings like assigned Player Id, emulation mode, and other light gun functions.

Player Id

The firmware for each gun is preset to be player 1 device. However, this can be changed if you want to use two guns at the same time for multiplayer games. There are four player Ids to select so that the gun is registered with a different device Id.

When the Player is changed it will be saved for future game play and the firmware will reset for the changes to take effect. This is necessary so that the device can properly register with the Operating System. After a short pause, the gun will be back in game play mode.

Each Player Id should register as a different device when plugged in. If the device is not being recognized correctly after changing the Player Id, you may need to change your selection. First, unplug the gun and plug it back in to see if it’s recognized. If not, you may need to change Player Id again. If you are only using two guns, then have one gun on Player 1 and change the other to Player 2.

Full Auto Mode

If your Blamcon light gun has a recoil action, then it has a solenoid installed. By default the recoil action will be a single shot based on the trigger action during game play mode. The Full Auto Mode setting allows you to change the behaviour of the recoil to full auto or disabled altogether.

• Disabled – turn off this feature.
• Normal – single shot which only activate the recoil once.
• Full Auto – hold the trigger to activate the recoil continuously.

Pedal Reload Mode

If you have a pedal connected to your Blamcon breakout box, you can have the pedal behave in three different ways. By default, the pedal is assigned to mirror the B button or the right mouse button. You can change it to mirror the A button or the middle mouse button. Last, the pedal can be assigned a specific key on the keyboard.

Offscreen Reload Mode

Some games require the ability to reload your weapon by shooting your light gun off screen. This setting allows you to enable this feature so you can send a reload command as the camera points off screen.

• Disabled – turn off this behaviour.
• Move Offscreen – Point your camera off screen so it can’t see all of the IR leds.
• Shoot Offscreen – Move the camera offscreen and pull the trigger to reload.

Tracking

This tab contains main features and functions related to tracking.

LED Positioning

Blamcon light guns are designed to work with four infrared LEDs arranged around your screen or TV. This setting will allow you to select which orientation you have configured your LED setup, and informs your Blamcon device how to interpret the IR light sources. Default setting is 2-up 2-down arrangement which is two LEDs on top and two and on the bottom. This is the default and recommended setting. The standard Blamcon IR light bars come in a set of two light bars, where a single light bar has two sets of IR LEDs. Check out the manual for more information on how to set up your IR light bars properly.

IR Camera Sensitivity Level

You can change the sensitivity of the IR Camera to accommodate the environment you are playing in, or if you have a weaker IR LED setup. There are three settings available: Normal, High, and Max. By default the firmware is programmed with the Normal setting since it’s the most common and reliable setting.

Why should you change the sensitivity? Good question. In general, this is not a setting that you should bother with unless you know what you’re doing. If the IR Camera can not detect your IR LEDs reliably, you may want to try other settings to see if it improves. It can be hard to determine if your LEDs are hard to detect by the camera. First, make sure that you are standing back far enough so that the camera can see all the LEDs, or install the fish-eye lens.

Aspect Ratio

Some games still need to be played in the letter box format (4:3) where your screen is squished between two large black areas. The Aspect Ratio setting can be used to correct the cursor tracking for games that are displayed in a letterbox 4:3 aspect ratio. The default setting is no aspect ratio is applied (recommended).

Cursor Smoothing

Cursor smoothing can help with general usability of a hand held device like Blamcon. By default the cursor smoothing uses an adaptive algorithm to smooth the movements and steady the cursor. A lot of newer light gun games already have this built into the game play, in which case you can switch this off for a more responsive experience.

Where there is no cursor smoothing,  you will notice when aiming that the cursor is very jittery, and you will not be able to hold the cursor still. This is a result of natural human body movements,

Dynamic Scaling

Dynamic scaling will adjust your calibration on fly when it detects that you’ve changed position, or have moved closer or further away from the IR source. If you are having tracking issues, you can try turning this off (not recommended).

Buttons

This tab contains all of the buttons that support assignable key bindings. These settings are determined by which emulation mode you’ve have selected for the device. For example, the available keys for binding in Mouse/Keyboard mode is different from the buttons available for assignment when in Gamepad mode. Each emulation mode has it’s own set of default key bindings. Changing or switching emulation modes will not erase or overwrite the key bindings for other modes, they are persisted so you don’t have to always change or update the bindings.

The primary buttons are standard on every Blamcon. The primary buttons include:

1. Trigger – defaults to left mouse or south button on gamepad.
2. A Button – defaults to right mouse or east button on gamepad.
3. B Button – defaults to middle mouse or west button on gamepad.

The auxiliary buttons are optional buttons that only come with some Blamcon models. The auxiliary buttons include:

1. Pedal – The pedal is optional and depends on whether your Blamcon cable has a breakout box connector for a pedal. This setting will be greyed out if the Pedal Mode setting is NOT set to Assignable. When it is assignable, this defaults to ‘r’ key on your keyboard, or the east button on gamepad.
2. Aux Toggle – Button assignment for the Recoil Toggle. The Recoil Toggle is only available as an option only on a Blamcon Vyper.

The Joystick buttons include:

1. Select
2. Start
3. Up
4. Down
5. Left
6. Right

Feedback

This tab can be used to test feedback components in your light gun. This can be useful if you want to ensure all the components are functioning properly i.e. you are a building or repairing your own Blamcon. Feedback includes an addressable LED, a rumble or haptic motor, and solenoid for recoil. Recoil is optional and not included on all Blamcon models.

Each component has an action button that will activate the component:

1. Enable LED – turn the LED on or turn it off. (Remember to turn it off)
2. Rumble – activate the rumble motor once.
3. Recoil – activate the recoil once.

Live View

This tab is used to test all the input functions of your light gun. In this view, you’ll be able to test whether all the devices inputs are functioning correctly by talking to the device directly. This is independent to the device configuration or emulation mode.

Buttons

On the left panel, you can check to see if all of your buttons are functioning and reporting correctly. To test a button simply press it and it should light up on the panel. A full set of buttons are listed for testing, however your Blamcon model may not have all buttons available.

Primary buttons:

• Trigger
• Button A
• Button B

Auxiliary buttons:

• Pedal
• Aux Toggle

Joystick buttons:

• Select
• Start
• Up
• Down
• Left
• Right

Camera View

In the right panel, you can point your camera at the screen to see whether the camera can detect and report on all of your LEDs around your screen or TV. It’s important to point out that the camera can only report on four LED light sources. The camera panel will mirror the view of the camera so if you move the camera around it will move the LEDs around to reflect how the camera is reporting them. Remember it’s a mirrored view, so up is down and left is right 🙂

This view can be very helpful for not just testing your camera functioning, but also whether your LED setup is working properly. For example it can be very useful for visualizing or detecting abnormal conditions such as:

1. Weak LED – sometimes an LED might not show up if it’s under powered, or if the room lighting is too bright.
2. Missing LED – If LED is powered correctly, it might not be viewable if the angle between camera and LED is too great.
3. Reflected LED – If your TV or screen are mounted onto a reflective surface like glass, you might find a stray LED in the wrong position.
4. Unintended light sources – If you have strong bright lights near the screen or in the camera view, something like a wall sconce, you might find a stray LED in the wrong position.

Calibration

This tab is used to calibrate the tracking system for your Blamcon light gun. The first thing you must do with every Blamcon light gun is calibrate it for your home setup to get the tracking system dialed in.

Calibration Profiles

The Blamcon CORE gives you the ability to configure up to 4 different calibration profiles, for each support LED configuration. This means there are four profiles for 2-Up 2-Down LED setup, and four profiles for Crosshair. That’s a total of 8 different profiles so you can setup and use your Blamcon with different LED configurations without having to re-calibrate each time.

Using the drop down you can select different profiles to calibrate. You’ll have four profiles to choose from, the default is profile 1. Once you’ve selected your profile then start the calibration process.

Calibrating Point of Aim

Use the Re-Calibrate button to start the calibration process. A new screen will display and you should just follow the instructions. It will follow the outlined process:

• Mouse cursor should move to center of the screen
  • Aim down the iron sight and find the cursor. Using a steady hand, capture the cursor position.
    • Make tiny adjustments to get the green LED.
  • When the LED is green, pull the trigger to capture position
• Mouse cursor should move to top edge of the screen
  • Repeat process
• Mouse cursor should move to bottom edge of the screen
  • Repeat process
• Mouse cursor should move to left edge of the screen
  • Repeat process
• Mouse cursor should move to right edge of the screen
  • Repeat process

At this point, the calibration settings will be saved on-board and your device should be ready.

LED Guidance System

The calibration process includes an LED guidance system. The addressable LED guidance system will change colors to help you understand what the camera is detecting and whether you need to make any corrections to get the best result from the calibration process. Your goal is to have a green LED before capturing each of the five cursor positions. Here’s a simple guide or legend to help you understand what each LED color represents and any corrections you should make.

• Red – If the addressable LED is red then it can’t see any of your IR LEDs.
  • Check that your IR LEDs are plugged in and on. The human eye can’t see IR light but an easy trick is to use your phone camera. Hold the camera up to the IR LEDs and you should see a purple glow.
  • Check your distance to the screen. Try stepping back so the camera can see all four IR LEDs in its view. If you have a compatible fisheye lens, try installing that to increase the camera’s field of vision.
• Amber – If the addressable LED is amber means that the camera can see some IR LEDs but not all four.
  • Check your distance to the screen. Try stepping back so the camera can see all four IR LEDs in its view. If you have a compatible fisheye lens, try installing that to increase the camera’s field of vision.
• Blue – If the addressable LED is blue means that the camera can see all four IR LEDs but an angle has been detected. This is normal.
  • You are holding the lightgun at a slight angle. A natural position is to hold the light gun controller slightly off center. Try tilting the lightgun to move the camera slowly in either direction. If small adjustments make the LED turn green then hold and continue the calibration process. If you can’t get the LED to turn green, then it may indicate that your camera is installed incorrectly.
  • Check the camera installation. If you purchased a kit from Props3D, it should come clearly marked which way is up. If you purchased your camera elsewhere  it’s a common mistake to install the camera in the incorrect orientation. Loosen the inset screw and adjust the camera so it’s as close to center as possible.
  • Check that your IR LEDs are installed correctly. If you are using a lightbar, check that it’s level as possible and adjust if necessary. If you are using separate IR LEDs, make sure they are installed at the same level and positioned as evenly as possible.
• Green – If the addressable LED is green means that the camera can see all four IR LEDs and there is no detectable angle. Excellent
  • Aim down the iron sight and find the cursor. Using a steady hand, capture the cursor position, and repeat the process for all five positions. Each time you move to a new cursor position, make tiny adjustments to get the green LED.
  • Don’t worry if you can’t keep the LED in a green steady state. Along as it’s close you should see the LED change between blue and green rapidly means you are close to the threshold and within 2 degrees of a level IR configuration in the camera view.

Adjusting Point of Aim

You can use this operation to make adjustments to your calibration when the tracking doesn’t seem accurate. Sometimes after calibrating you might find that moving the cursor left or right the cursor may be slightly ahead of where your pointing or slightly behind. For example, this can happen on TVs or screens that have larger bezels, or even when using a fisheye lens.

How this process works is by pushing or pulling the location of each edge that was captured in calibration process. By doing so, you change the dimension of space for which the cursor is tracking. As you make adjustments they are applied immediately to the calibration settings so that you can move the cursor around to examine the effect. If you manage to make too many adjustments and have over corrected too many edges then it’s recommended that you re-calibrate and start again.

Use the Re-Adjust button to begin the process for making micro adjustments to your calibration settings. A new screen should appear, and you should follow the instructions to complete the process.

• Mouse cursor should move to top edge of the screen
  • Aim down the iron sight and find the cursor.
  • Use Button A to move the cursor up, or the Button B to move it down
• Mouse cursor should move to bottom edge of the screen
  • Repeat process
• Mouse cursor should move to left edge of the screen
  • Repeat process
• Mouse cursor should move to right edge of the screen
  • Repeat process

At this point, the calibration settings will be saved on-board and the device will be ready to use.

Troubleshooting

1. Why does the dropdown show the same device twice?

• You likely have two Player 1 devices connected to your PC.
• Check if you have two Blamcon’s plugged in, unplug one of them.
  • Exit and reload the application.
• If you want to use two devices, change one of them to have a different player Id