***WARNING: The following is provided for informational purposes only. It is not a recommendation. Any damage resulting from the use or misuse of this information is not my responsibility or that of the DescentBB.net forum.***
I have an identical gamepad (same part no.) along with the USB-to-gameport adapter that ships with it. The adapter measures 247 mm (9 3/4 inches) in length from the tip of the USB connector to the tip of the gameport connector. If one were to make an adapter from scratch, it might be wise to make sure the length is no greater than the official one.
For reference purposes, I will use the pinouts on the following pages:
http://pinouts.ru/Slots/USB_pinout.shtml (USB side of adapter is A-type plug in upper left corner of page)
http://pinouts.ru/Inputs/GameportPC_pinout.shtml (gameport side of adapter is 15 pin D-SUB female connector in upper left corner of page)
Note that if you examine the male plug on the joystick gameport connector (directly at the ends of the pins), the pins are numbered 1-8 from left to right along the top (wider row) while pins 9-15 are from left to right along the bottom row (narrower row). There is also a J1 marking on the right side of the connector.
Note that the pin sockets on the gameport side of the USB-to-gameport adapter are numbered in mirror-image, and therefore pin-socket numbers match when the male plug and female socket are mated.
I did a complete resistance matrix measurement for all gameport sockets and USB connections on the adapter, including the shield on both ends. Rather than list the entire matrix, I will just give the non-infinity values:
Gameport adapter socket 1 - USB adapter pin 1 = 0.7 Ohms
Gameport adapter socket 14 - USB adapter pin 2 = 0.6 Ohms
Gameport adapter socket 10 - USB adapter pin 3 = 0.6 Ohms
Gameport adapter socket 4 - USB adapter pin 4 = 0.6 Ohms
Gameport adapter shield - USB adapter shield = 0.6 Ohms
So if you look at the pin descriptions on the web pages, pin 1 on both ends corresponds to +5 Volts. Pin 4 on both ends corresponds to Ground. USB pin 2/gameport socket 14 is Data - (Button 3 on gameport socket) and USB pin 3/gameport socket 10 is Data + (Button 4 on gameport socket).
There is no way to \"open\" the adapter to see if there are any additional electrical components in the adapter since the connectors are covered in molded plastic.
Good luck with the experiment.