Colt's Wild West Shootout

Windows Game
Hardware:	Windows
Download:	Abandonware
License:	Commercial
Game info
Developer:	Contraband Entertainment, Inc
Released:	US, 09/20/1999
Players:	1 Player
Type:	Rail shooter
Note: Requires the original disc image to be mounted. The game is picky about installation paths, drive letters, display resolution and refresh rate

Default Controls
Shoot (trigger):	Trigger button
Reload:	Reload button

Colt's Wild West Shootout is a western-themed arcade shooting game for Windows. Set in a classic Old West atmosphere, the game sends players through a series of shooting-gallery style stages filled with outlaws, pop-up targets and frontier hazards. Gameplay is simple and fast-paced: aim, shoot the bad guys, avoid hitting the wrong targets, and try to survive each scene with a high score.

Because of its straightforward point-and-shoot gameplay, the game is a good fit for the Sinden Lightgun. However, running it on modern Windows systems requires some additional setup, including a mounted disc image and a valid 320x240 display mode for proper fullscreen output.

Limitations

• The game is very picky about installation paths.
• Installation should be done from the setup file inside the mounted disc image.
• Very short installation paths are recommended, for example:

D:\a

• Some drive letters may not work correctly.
• The original disc image must be mounted when launching the game.
• The game may not display fullscreen correctly unless Windows has a valid 320x240 display mode.
• On some modern systems, 320x240 must be created as a custom resolution.
• The custom resolution may need to use the same refresh rate as the display's normal/current refresh rate.
• If the cursor behaves incorrectly, the Sinden border may need to be increased.
• If the intro videos or sound effects are silent, the in-game sound volume may be set to zero.

Downloads

• QRes
• DemulShooter
• DAEMON Tools Lite or another disc image mounting tool
• Optional: CRU / Custom Resolution Utility, if the GPU driver does not expose 320x240 correctly

Setup guide

Installation

Mount the original game disc image.

Run the setup file from inside the mounted disc image.

Use a very short installation path. Example:

D:\a

The installer can be very picky. If installation fails, try:

• a shorter installation path
• a different drive letter
• installing from the mounted disc image instead of copied setup files

After installation, the installed game files can be moved to another location.

Example final game folder:

E:\LaunchBox\Games\Windows\ColtsWildWestShootout

The game can be launched directly with:

Wild West Shootout.exe

Disc image requirement

The game still checks for the original disc after installation.

The disc image must be mounted before starting the game. If the image is not mounted, the game may not boot.

Example ISO location:

E:\LaunchBox\Games\Windows\ColtsWildWestShootout\ColtsWildWestShootout.iso

Creating a 320x240 custom resolution

For proper fullscreen output, the game may require a real 320x240 display mode.

QRes can only switch to resolutions that Windows already sees as valid display modes.

First check whether Windows already has 320x240 available:

Windows Settings
→ System
→ Display
→ Advanced display
→ Display adapter properties
→ List All Modes

If 320x240 is missing, create it manually in the GPU driver control panel.

NVIDIA Control Panel

Open:

NVIDIA Control Panel
→ Display
→ Change resolution
→ Customize
→ Create Custom Resolution

Create a custom resolution:

Horizontal pixels: 320
Vertical lines: 240
Color depth: 32-bit
Scan type: Progressive
Refresh rate: use the display's current/native refresh rate

Examples:

320 x 240 @ 60 Hz
320 x 240 @ 120 Hz
320 x 240 @ 144 Hz

Use the refresh rate your display normally uses.

For example, if your monitor is normally running at 144 Hz, create:

320 x 240 @ 144 Hz

In one confirmed working setup, 320x240 at 60 Hz did not appear correctly, but 320x240 at 144 Hz worked because the display was normally running at 144 Hz.

After creating the resolution, click Test, save it, and make sure it is enabled in the custom resolution list.

GPU scaling

Recommended NVIDIA scaling settings:

NVIDIA Control Panel
→ Display
→ Adjust desktop size and position

Use:

Scaling mode: Full-screen
Perform scaling on: GPU
Override the scaling mode set by games and programs: Enabled

Equivalent scaling options should also be tested on AMD or Intel systems.

QRes setup

Place QRes in a utilities folder.

Example:

E:\LaunchBox\Utilities\QRes

Create a batch file called:

320x240.bat

Example content for a 144 Hz display:

@echo off
cd /d "%~dp0"
QRes.exe /x:320 /y:240 /r:144

Change the refresh rate to match your own display.

Examples:

QRes.exe /x:320 /y:240 /r:60
QRes.exe /x:320 /y:240 /r:120
QRes.exe /x:320 /y:240 /r:144

Important: the QRes refresh rate must match a valid Windows display mode.

For example, this command:

QRes.exe /x:320 /y:240 /r:144

requires that Windows knows a valid mode for:

320 x 240 @ 144 Hz

Sinden border notes

If the cursor goes wild or tracking becomes unstable, increase the Sinden border size.

This can be especially important at very low resolutions such as 320x240.

Sound notes

If the intro movies have no sound and the game has no sound effects, the in-game sound volume may be set to silent.

Open the game options menu and increase the sound volume.

AutoHotkey

This example script does the following:

• Starts the Sinden Lightgun software
• Enables the Sinden border with Alt+B
• Unmounts existing disc images
• Mounts the Colt's Wild West Shootout ISO
• Switches to 320x240 using QRes
• Launches the game
• Starts DemulShooter
• Restores the desktop resolution on exit
• Unmounts the ISO and closes helper programs

Adjust all paths, drive letters, resolutions and refresh rates for your own setup.

Run, E:\LaunchBox\Utilities\SindenLightgun\Lightgun.exe
Sleep, 3000

; Toggle Sinden border
Send !{b}
Sleep, 4000

; Unmount existing disc images
Run, "C:\Program Files\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTCommandLine.exe" --unmount_all
Sleep, 2000

; Mount game ISO to F:
Run, "C:\Program Files\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTCommandLine.exe" --mount_to --letter "F" --path "E:\LaunchBox\Games\Windows\ColtsWildWestShootout\ColtsWildWestShootout.iso"
Sleep, 4000

; Switch to 320x240.
; Use the refresh rate that matches your display, for example 60, 120 or 144.
RunWait, "E:\LaunchBox\Utilities\QRes\QRes.exe" /x:320 /y:240 /r:144
Sleep, 1000

; Launch the game
Run, "E:\LaunchBox\Games\Windows\ColtsWildWestShootout\Wild West Shootout.exe"
Sleep, 4000

; Start DemulShooter
Run, "E:\LaunchBox\Utilities\DemulShooter\DemulShooter.exe" -target=windows -rom=coltwws -nocrosshair

Esc::
; Restore desktop resolution.
; Adjust this to your normal desktop resolution and refresh rate.
RunWait, "E:\LaunchBox\Utilities\QRes\QRes.exe" /x:1920 /y:1080 /r:144
Sleep, 1000

; Unmount game ISO
Run, "C:\Program Files\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTCommandLine.exe" --unmount_all
Sleep, 1000

; Close game
Process, Close, Wild West Shootout.exe
Run, taskkill /im "Wild West Shootout.exe" /F

; Close Sinden software
Process, Close, Lightgun.exe
Run, taskkill /im "Lightgun.exe" /F

; Close DemulShooter
Process, Close, DemulShooter.exe
Run, taskkill /im "DemulShooter.exe" /F

ExitApp
return

Optional batch files

Instead of calling QRes directly from AutoHotkey, batch files can be used.

320x240.bat

Example for a 144 Hz display:

@echo off
cd /d "%~dp0"
QRes.exe /x:320 /y:240 /r:144

RestoreDesktop.bat

Adjust this to your normal desktop resolution and refresh rate.

@echo off
cd /d "%~dp0"
QRes.exe /x:1920 /y:1080 /r:144

Then call the batch files from AutoHotkey:

RunWait, "E:\LaunchBox\Utilities\QRes\320x240.bat"

and on exit:

RunWait, "E:\LaunchBox\Utilities\QRes\RestoreDesktop.bat"

Troubleshooting

The game does not start

Make sure the ISO is mounted before launching the game.

The game still requires the disc image after installation.

If it still does not start, try mounting the ISO to a different drive letter.

Installation does not work

Run the setup file directly from the mounted disc image.

Use a very short install path, for example:

D:\a

If the game installs successfully, the files can be moved afterwards.

QRes does not switch to 320x240

Check whether 320x240 exists as a valid Windows display mode:

Display adapter properties
→ List All Modes

If it is missing, create a custom resolution in the GPU driver control panel.

Also check that the refresh rate in the QRes command matches the refresh rate used when creating the custom resolution.

Example:

QRes.exe /x:320 /y:240 /r:144

requires:

320 x 240 @ 144 Hz

640x480 works, but 320x240 does not

This usually means QRes is working, but Windows or the GPU driver does not expose 320x240 as a valid display mode.

Create 320x240 manually as a custom resolution.

Use the refresh rate your display normally runs at.

Custom 320x240 resolution is created but does not appear

Try creating the custom resolution using the same refresh rate as the display's current/native refresh rate.

For example, if the monitor normally runs at 144 Hz, try:

320 x 240 @ 144 Hz

instead of:

320 x 240 @ 60 Hz

No intro movie sound or no sound effects

The game volume may be set to zero in the game options.

Open the in-game menu and increase the sound volume.

Cursor goes crazy

Increase the Sinden border size.

Low resolutions such as 320x240 may require a larger border for stable tracking.

Confirmed working notes

A confirmed working setup used:

Custom resolution:
320 x 240 at the display's normal/current refresh rate

Example:
320 x 240 @ 144 Hz

QRes command:
QRes.exe /x:320 /y:240 /r:144

Game launched from:
Wild West Shootout.exe

Disc image:
Mounted before launch

DemulShooter:
-target=windows -rom=coltwws -nocrosshair

The key discovery was that the custom 320x240 mode may need to use the same refresh rate that the display normally uses.

In one working setup, the display was running at 144 Hz, so 320x240 @ 144 Hz worked, while 320x240 @ 60 Hz did not appear correctly.