DOS does not read USB by default, save via a specific BIOS function that converts USB keyboard calls to PS/2 for emergency input purposes. So long as it is activated (which depends on the sound or input card configuration), gameport function is essentially driverless but limited to what the gameport itself supports: generally 4 axes & 4 buttons. Some Sidewinder gameport models function out-of-the-box in DOS, others were made for Windows 9x only.

More details about your configuration and which joysticks you are looking at is needed in order to better answer.

Thanks! I have a Pentium III 600 on an Intel 440BX motherboard. The game port is on a Sound Blaster AWE 64 ISA. I am looking at these joysticks:
Microsoft Sidewinder Precision Pro (X03-57540)
Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro (96755)
Logitech Wingman Extreme Digital 3D (J-ZA10)

I guess another question I have about these gameport joysticks: When loaded with the full Win98 drivers, can Windows pass on basic functionality to DOS games running in a DOS window (IF basic 4-button mode doesn't work driverless out of the box)?

You have a very decent machine for the Windows 9x era and as such (depending on how demanding the games you wish to play are) you may consider running DOSBox which will completely solve the issue by translating digital input to the analog which DOS games understand.

That being said, it is not an OS issue at all but a protocol one. In the beginning, there was just DOS which just understand the 4-axis 4-button analog gameport. Thrustmaster and CH achieved industry notoriety with their proprietary methods of getting around those restrictions, but those came with input drawbacks. Then in 1995 with introduction of the Sidewinder line, Microsoft came up with its own solution by "fixing" the gameport to accept their own digital protocol which dodged those problems while lifting some input restrictions. Problem is, that came with bigger compatibility drawbacks which were: 1) the gameport was now dedicated to controller use only (forget about MIDI); 2) the digital input could not be read unless the game/application was programmed to understand it.

The short answer to your question posted in the topic is no: while the vast majority of gameport joysticks are analog and will work fine, Microsoft's devices are digital (as is ANYTHING on USB, which came after DOS was superseded anyway). There is one key exception: the original Sidewinder 3D Pro is digital (albeit only a single DOS game takes advantage of its extra buttons this way) but features a switch for analog fallback into either Thrustmaster or CH mode (http://vsavoldi.com/fpweb/a3d/joyprocon.htm provides a great overview on how they work and the relative advantages of each). And because it is a protocol issue the Windows 9x DOS box cannot make any DOS games within understand the digital input, but Windows games have no such issue because Windows itself (actually DirectX) understands digital input regardless of whether it comes from gameport or USB.

The force feedback Pro and Precision Pro don't work in DOS as far as I know.

I am not sure on the Logitech.

I use Sidewinder 3D Pro for DOS. In DOS the buttons on the base dont work, but in Windows they do.

BaronSFel001's answer is pretty complete, but to give you a short and simple answer: no, none of the joysticks you are looking at will be supported in DOS games unless you can use DOSBox, in which case you're better off running the game on a more modern computer and using the TCS1600M that you already have. Something like the Gravis Analog Pro would be a good option for a four-button DOS joystick, and you can often find these cheap locally at garage/yard sales or in local listings for "joystick."

I’d like to add to previous posts that CH used ”button chord” method, where hat switch buttons were combinations of button presses. The drawback is that you can’t press two buttons at the same time and system requires support from the game, which many titles did. AFAIK Logitech and Suncom used similar scheme with at least some of their joysticks.

Thrustmaster mapped the keys as values to 4th stick axis in a similar manner. If your game doesn’t know that certain button functions are mapped to one analog axis, it can’t use those extra buttons.

Then there are some other solutions, used with things suchs as CH Fighterstick HOTAS, where hotas is connected to PS/2 keyboard port and buttons are mapped to keyboard with a profiler software and a game profile is loaded to HOTAS for each game separately.

But yeah, DOS basically supports only four button joysticks and having more requires some workaround and support from the game. These joysticks that have some sort of special solution, like CH Flightstick, can work with DOS games without direct support, but then they function as a regular 4-button joystick.

CharlieFoxtrot wrote on 2025-07-30, 10:34:

I’d like to add to previous posts that CH used ”button chord” method, where hat switch buttons were combinations of button press […]
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I’d like to add to previous posts that CH used ”button chord” method, where hat switch buttons were combinations of button presses. The drawback is that you can’t press two buttons at the same time and system requires support from the game, which many titles did. AFAIK Logitech and Suncom used similar scheme with at least some of their joysticks.

Thrustmaster mapped the keys as values to 4th stick axis in a similar manner. If your game doesn’t know that certain button functions are mapped to one analog axis, it can’t use those extra buttons.

Then there are some other solutions, used with things suchs as CH Fighterstick HOTAS, where hotas is connected to PS/2 keyboard port and buttons are mapped to keyboard with a profiler software and a game profile is loaded to HOTAS for each game separately.

But yeah, DOS basically supports only four button joysticks and having more requires some workaround and support from the game. These joysticks that have some sort of special solution, like CH Flightstick, can work with DOS games without direct support, but then they function as a regular 4-button joystick.

I was tempted to "geek out" about how those two companies creatively extended the analog gameport, but it wasn't pertinent to the original question. Now we still could, though the link I gave goes into some detail explaining the same in its FAQ section below. However, I would say that only becomes a matter depending on the game (65C02 has not yet been specific on which games to play) since later DOS ones include control selection options "Thrustmaster" and "Flightstick Pro" (or some nomenclature thereof) which are designed for how inputs get read to either of those two methods...and ONLY if it is just that joystick being used (a Thrustmaster WCS or CH Throttle cannot be used in conjunction with either of those named options because it would mess up axes and/or cut out the keyboard input those HOTAS devices rely upon).

Analog joysticks with extended function other than Thrustmaster or CH name brand used either one of their methods; documentation or function testing would have to be done to determine for certain which (the Logitech Wingman Extreme Digital could switch between both, while the regular Wingman Extreme used Thrustmaster and the original Wingman CH).

BaronSFel001 wrote on 2025-07-29, 20:36:

You have a very decent machine for the Windows 9x era and as such (depending on how demanding the games you wish to play are) you may consider running DOSBox which will completely solve the issue by translating digital input to the analog which DOS games understand.

That being said, it is not an OS issue at all but a protocol one. In the beginning, there was just DOS which just understand the 4-axis 4-button analog gameport. Thrustmaster and CH achieved industry notoriety with their proprietary methods of getting around those restrictions, but those came with input drawbacks. Then in 1995 with introduction of the Sidewinder line, Microsoft came up with its own solution by "fixing" the gameport to accept their own digital protocol which dodged those problems while lifting some input restrictions. Problem is, that came with bigger compatibility drawbacks which were: 1) the gameport was now dedicated to controller use only (forget about MIDI); 2) the digital input could not be read unless the game/application was programmed to understand it.

The short answer to your question posted in the topic is no: while the vast majority of gameport joysticks are analog and will work fine, Microsoft's devices are digital (as is ANYTHING on USB, which came after DOS was superseded anyway). There is one key exception: the original Sidewinder 3D Pro is digital (albeit only a single DOS game takes advantage of its extra buttons this way) but features a switch for analog fallback into either Thrustmaster or CH mode (http://vsavoldi.com/fpweb/a3d/joyprocon.htm provides a great overview on how they work and the relative advantages of each). And because it is a protocol issue the Windows 9x DOS box cannot make any DOS games within understand the digital input, but Windows games have no such issue because Windows itself (actually DirectX) understands digital input regardless of whether it comes from gameport or USB.

Wow, thanks for this incredibly informative reply! So being analog or least switcheable to analog is the key to driverless operation in DOS. The Sidewinder 3D Pro is the one to get, then. I've seen several of the old Gravis Analog Pro joysticks at 2nd hand stores but avoided them because I wanted something a little newer, better built, and comfortable to use. Basically, something that is closer in design to my Thrustmaster, but with DOS support. I think for now I'll use DOSBOX as suggested, but will continue to be on the lookout for an original 3D Pro.

Off the top of my head the DOS games I want to use with a joystick are:
Descent 1 and II, Star Wars: X-Wing, Mortal Kombat, OMF, and Wing Commander 1-3

65C02 wrote on 2025-07-31, 19:07:

So being analog or least switcheable to analog is the key to driverless operation in DOS. The Sidewinder 3D Pro is the one to get, then. I've seen several of the old Gravis Analog Pro joysticks at 2nd hand stores but avoided them because I wanted something a little newer, better built, and comfortable to use. Basically, something that is closer in design to my Thrustmaster, but with DOS support. I think for now I'll use DOSBOX as suggested, but will continue to be on the lookout for an original 3D Pro.

Microsoft sticks are not a bad choice because they (most of them anyway) use hall sensors instead of pots, making them among the most durable out there. As the 3D Pro was the first true Sidewinder controller it is extremely common, inexpensive, and easy to pick up online. That it happens to support all 4 axes by itself (including twist rudder, which can be quite handy in Descent) yet in analog fallback remain compatible with just about anyone's HOTAS: not difficult to see why it is so favored.

If you desire features that came later (such a force feedback) that is a different matter.

65C02 wrote on 2025-07-31, 19:07:

Off the top of my head the DOS games I want to use with a joystick are:
Descent 1 and II, Star Wars: X-Wing, Mortal Kombat, OMF, and Wing Commander 1-3

I could play any of the above just fine in my ~1 GHz XP laptop via DOSBox (went through the entire campaign of TIE Fighter Collector's CD with my Sidewinder Force Feedback 2); by all means test and see how well they perform on your system.