Posted by Druin on 7, 2000 at 2:29 PM:
In Reply to: two anlog joysticks in MAME - no soldering - Under $20.00 including the sticks posted by Marshall on 7, 2000 at 11:31 AM:
Just my observational comment of verification, without actually verifying all the connection details in the wiring map, the concept is valid. The single 15 pin game port on computers is in fact not only a single joystick port, but a dual joystick port AND a midi in/out port all in one, that's how the joystick Y cables work, they don't do anything magical, they just provide the extra connections that normally go wasted in a single joystick being plugged into the game port directly.
So this project shows how to make more full use of the game port's features by splitting the player 1 and player 2 wires from the original game port into 2 separate 15 pin plugs where each one has the respective joystick connections routed as if they were in the player 1 position but one is really wired to player 2's normally neglected pins. To make this type of project ultimately complete, the joystick Y cable, if home made, could additionally bring out the other 2 wires for midi in and out, along with the joystick 1 and 2 connections, and provide full use of the game port!
Here is a link to the pinouts of the joystick connector, and a circuit to build a midi interface as well.
http://servicepac.mainz.ibm.de/eprmhtml/eprma/929.htm