rec.autos.simulators

Sorry if this has already been discussed to death.

I just bought a GP1 wheel to play GP2. My kids need the joystick for
their games. How can I hook up both so I don't have to keep switching
them around.

1 - Will a simple Y connector work?
2- Do I have to use a more expensive switch box?
3- How does everyone else do it?

My joystick connects to my i/o card. I have another connection on my
sound card but it's jumpered out. I tried jumpering it in and
connecting the wheel there but then neither the wheel nor the joystick
would work.

Any help appreciated.

Sorry about the fake address but the spam bots & spiders finally got
to me.

No, there is a cheaper alternative (read below).

Simply buy an extension cord (NOT an Y-cable!). Put the other end in
the game port, and tape the other end to where it is convenient, like
on the table or on top of the PC case, for example.

Now, whenever you want to change your controllers, simply unplug the
other controller from the end of the extension cord, and plug the
other one in. Takes maybe two seconds, plus if you need to change the
properties in Win95 controllers panel (sometimes it is necessary,
sometimes Win95 recognized the new controller itself, as long as you
load controller panel (make a shortcut for it in the Desktop, if you
do this all the time)).

I have this setup, and it works great. Using a switch box instead
would save maybe one second of my time, not worth it.

Best would have been if you had USB. Then you would have had no problems at
all, but I guess this is a useles remark. If you had USB you wouldn't have
asked.

Harald.

I can't beat the "extension cord" solution for price, but CompUSA recently put
out an inexpensive solution.  They call it "2-way game switch" (sku# 181674).
Plug both your joystick and wheel into it.  You switch back and forth with your
"fire" button.  Still need to change the game controller settings in Windows,
but it does end the constant plugging and unplugging.

Additional benefits: you can use it also for two-player games as long as they
only require two buttons and direction control.  You can also plug a series of
these doobies into one another and have up to 8 joysticks or wheels connected.

It's only $14.99 (but I wish I'd thought of the extension cord before I bought
my switch the other day!).  :-/