I have one disappointment with this system. I am not able to use my 2 Gravis Gamepads simultaneously in multiplayer games.
I bought 2 Gravis Gamepads (not the Pro version), since they scream "DOS", unlike other joysticks that are more suited for Windows games. And I have 3 gameports - one each in the SBPro, YM744 and AWE64. I tried to use them in Lotus, since it is a multiplayer game. At first I tried to use two gameports, one at port 201 and the other at port 202, but only the one at port 201 would work. Then I read this thread which suggested that most games only check port 201 so I would need a Y-Splitter cable to connect 2 gamepads. I purchased such a cable, but it only partially works. One gamepad works fine, but in the second gamepad only the D-pad works, the buttons don't respond.
I used TMScope from this thread and I'm able to test both gamepads fully if they are in different gameports. Too bad no game works that way. When I test both gamepads in the same port using the splitter cable, TMScope does not detect the buttons from the second gamepad either.
Thinking the cable is faulty, I purchased a second cable. This one comes with a pin-out diagram that looks right. It doesn't work either. TMScope still doesn't detect any buttons from the second gamepad.
It can't be that both cables are defective. So wiring my own cable is not going to be any different from the second cable that already has the right wiring. The gamepads and gameports have been individually fully tested for four button support using TMScope too, so none of them can be faulty.
So what is the problem? User @cyclone3d mentioned that the Gamepad Pro version has a switch to select 2-players, and it explicitly mentions 2-player support on back of it's box. User @Jorpho mentioned that his original Gravis Gamepad also has a switch to select 2-players, as can be seen in his box. But I have the "Advanced" Gravis Gamepad, and as can be seen by this box has no switch to select 2-players. And instead the same switch provides a "turbo fire" mode. Is it possible that Gravis killed this feature so that people would either buy the more expensive Pro version, or it's "Dual Port Gravis Eliminator Game Card"? I've run out of options at this point to get this to work. Anyone have any experience getting these "Advanced" Gravis Gamepads to work in 2-player mode?