Possibly Xpadder or the like if it doesn't have native support.

Going all pad will be difficult though because the game is pretty mouse dependant. My suggestion would be to try left hand on the controller and right hand on the mouse, or the other way around if you're left handed.

So, movement on the controller (and a couple of things mapped to the left shoulder buttons) and aiming with the mouse.

You could try this I've known about it for a while but never tried it The few times I used a controller all i did was some digging for ores and I used Xpadder which worked fine with smart cursor on.

Had a look at that but could understand how to get it working as it seams to require 'gamelauncher' which looks like its steam specific

I've used antimicro (like xpadder but open source) see: https://github.com/Ryochan7/antimicro

it would have been good if they built gamepad controls like on xbox version, that i've heard about, back into the game.

I have some muscle weakness and my left hand isn't so good these-days with keyboard controls - find it awkward and much prefer a game controller like the xbox360's

Sorry about that I should have looked into it more.

I've heard of antimicro but never used it. Have you tried using Pinnacle Game Profiler? This profile works pretty well. There is a trial of the software I cant remember how many days its good for though. The normal price for a license is $19.99 but its on sale right now for $9.99. I have seen the price drop to $4.99

Yeah I've saw PGP and had a go a while back ffor ME3 but didn't really play ME3 for long... started something else and didn't get back to it.
then removed PGP - thought it was ok might buy it if its on sale sometime... just wasnt sure I liked it that much (put off by website)
I'll have a go trying to set up with antimicro first - it nice simple software

thanks for sugesttions all!

have you tried this?
http://terraria.gameiki.com/Terraria_Forum/thread/Terraria_with_a_Gamepad_GlovePie-2337

I haven't myself, tried Terraria on the consoles and just couldn't take it. Playing with a controller just felt off and not as accurate but that's just me.

The Xbox 360 controller mod is is confirmed to be coming to the GOG version of Terraira... so keep an eye out for the new version.

When and if anyone gets that and tries that, give me a holler, I'm curious. I'm playing this game WAAAAAAAY to much and my wrist is paying the price so a gamepad might be a nice change.

from a comfort level sure but it will make the game more of a pain to play at times especially during boss fights and times when you need to have precise aiming really quickly.

Good point. :D

OT can you post a bigger pic of your avatar? I want a better look at that, thanks.

sure, http://forums.terraria.org/index.php?attachments/item3000-gif.3878/

It's the new alchemy station coming in 1.3 it probably will replace the old place a empty bottle on a table one

Controller mod now available:

http://forums.terraria.org/index.php?threads/xinput-gamepad-support-mod.1260/