TIME CRISIS 2 -- a decompiled engine for Namco's 1997 arcade game (System 23)
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NO GAME DATA IS INCLUDED. You need MAME's ROM set timecrs2.zip (Time Crisis II, US TSS3 Ver. B). Keep it zipped.

  Windows:    put timecrs2.zip in the "roms" folder next to TimeCrisis2.exe, then double-click TimeCrisis2.exe.
  Linux /     make TimeCrisis2-x86_64.AppImage executable (right-click > Properties > Permissions, or chmod +x) and run it.
  Steam Deck  Put timecrs2.zip next to the AppImage or in ~/Downloads: the first start copies it to ~/.local/share/tc2/roms/.
              On a Deck, in Desktop Mode: right-click the AppImage > Add to Steam, then play from Game Mode.
              PORTABLE MODE: make a folder named tc2-data next to the AppImage and everything (ROMs, settings, scores) is kept there.

The first start unpacks the zip (a few seconds; every chip is checked against MAME's checksums).

PLAYING
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  Mouse / light gun   aim (the pointer); LEFT button = shoot, RIGHT (or middle) button = the foot pedal (come out of cover)
  Reload              shoot off the edge of the screen, or hold R / a gun's side button, or release the pedal (take cover)
  5                   insert a coin (the default is 4 coins a game; Free Play is in the test menu, COIN OPTIONS)
  Space / Enter       shoot           Z / X   the pedal          Arrow keys   aim
  Game pad            either stick or the D-pad aims, A or RB shoots, B or LB is the pedal, Back = coin; rumble on each shot
  F2                  the operator's TEST switch (press again to leave): coin options, game options, I/O test, sound test
  Page Up / Page Down / Home    the operator's buttons in the test menu (up / down / enter)
  9                   the service button
  F8                  a white border around the picture, for light guns that need one (Sinden)
  F11                 fullscreen       F12   screenshot (screenshots/)       P   pause
  Esc                 the menu: Display (window size, fullscreen, widescreen, resolution, frame rate), Audio (volume),
                      Controls (rebind keys, mouse and pad buttons), gun options

LIGHT GUNS: any gun that works as an absolute mouse (Sinden, GUN4IR, OpenFIRE, Blamcon, AimTrak) aims with the pointer.
RECOIL: the game's gun solenoid is sent out like MAME's network output (tcp 127.0.0.1:8000, "gun_recoil"), so MAMEHooker or
Hook Of The Reaper can drive a recoil gun; a pad rumbles instead. MAME does not send this signal itself, so Hook of the
Reaper needs the game file in the hotr folder: copy hotr/timecrs2.txt into its defaultLG folder (hotr/README.txt says more).
Display > Recoil outputs / Pad rumble on recoil turn each on or off.

YOUR OWN CROSSHAIR: put PNG pictures in a "crosshairs" folder next to the game (or one named crosshair.png) and pick one in
Display > Crosshair image ("built-in" is the game's own cross). 8 bits per channel (grey, RGB, RGBA or palette; transparency kept),
not interlaced, at most 256 x 256; drawn at its own size on a 1080-line screen, so 64 x 64 is about the built-in cross's size.

TWO PLAYERS ON ONE COMPUTER (the arcade's LINK PLAY, two light guns)
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  1. Esc > Online > "Second player on this computer". A second copy of the game opens (two monitors: one each; one monitor:
     side by side), joins the first over the LAN, and the game starts by itself once both are in. Player 1 is Left/Red
     (Richard), player 2 is Right/Blue (Keith).
  2. Each copy must read ITS OWN gun: Esc > Controls > "Gun device" lists every mouse and gun (move one and it says "<- moving");
     pick one in each window. The first copy's choice is remembered; the second copy takes the first other gun it finds (its own
     settings live in tc2_2.cfg, so its choice is remembered too). Without a choice a copy reads the system pointer, which every
     gun moves at once.
     Linux: reading a gun directly needs permission for /dev/input: sudo usermod -aG input $USER, then log out and in.
     "Gun mapping": what the gun's full range covers -- the whole desktop (the usual), the window's monitor, or the window.
  3. Put a coin in each window (5), choose LINKED on the game's own screen, and shoot. (./launch.sh --2p does step 1 from a shell.)
  Two copies on two computers on one LAN: "Host a LAN game" on one, "Find LAN games" and Join on the other, Ready, Start.

Settings are kept in tc2.cfg, the machine's settings, bookkeeping and rankings in tc2_backup.nv (the arcade board's battery RAM),
both in the game's folder (Windows: next to the .exe; Linux: ~/.local/share/tc2/). The log of the last start is tc2.log there.

PROBLEMS?
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"needs its ROM file"      timecrs2.zip is missing, or it is a different set/version: the message names the chip and why.
Black screen / no start   update your graphics driver (OpenGL 3.0 is needed). Read tc2.log.
"Windows protected your PC"  click "More info", then "Run anyway" (the game is not signed).
