I purchased this game not too long ago, and after finding out buying an Xbox 360 controller will not be helpful in getting to play this game with a controller, I invested in a Gigaware controller that had two analog sticks, thinking the DirectInput would work against the XInput.

Instead, I've found this game reacts the same way to BOTH controllers. No matter what I try in the settings, when the game starts, I'm running around in circles automatically. The controller clearly sends signals to the game and I am able to jump and stab the pitchfork, but I cannot get it to actually work like it's supposed to. I've also tried it in BloodCM and that was pretty much a dead-end too. It's got to be the game because it does this for both controllers.

Yes, I've Googled, yes I've played with the .cfg file and the settings that came with the GOG version - nothing. 4 hours of effort wasted. Yes, I suppose I could just do the Mouse and Keyboard, but I find that pretty uncomfortable and pointless because this game is supposed to have Joystick/Gamepad support, right?

So, what's the problem here? How can I fix this?

Try using Xpadder - https://sourceforge.net/projects/xpadder/

I actually have Xpadder and I haven't put it on the computer I'm trying to game this on, but I haven't been in a hurry to try it because:

A. I've tried Xpadder for Duke3D and I've still not found a reasonably decent way to play Build games. Best combination I've gotten is to use the controller AND the mouse, and that's pretty cumbersome.

B. It's not the controller, it's the game. I can already get the Xbox controller to operate on it without Xpadder, and all I do is spin in circles no matter if I have the Xbox controller in or the Gigaware controller in. Even if I put Xpadder on there, I'm sure there will be a conflict and make it even worse.

It just seems silly to have to have another 3rd party program for something it's supposed to have support/functioning for anyway. So I go back to my original question - do I need to set it up a certain way or is the game just glitched?

It looks like there is a write-up on how to use DOSBox's own Mapper utility to get Tomb Raider (I'm assuming the original) working with an XBox controller. You might check that out, it might have the answer to your question: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=121453434

It mentions setting the "Timed" value in the games DOSBox.conf file to "false", to fix spinning issues.
timed=false

Apologies for not having a more direct answer for you.

Here's an idea, KB+Mouse

From above:

Good reason as any I guess. :)