Since acquiring my Logitech G25 steering control set last summer, I have been having a blast with certain driving games that recognize it, whether partially (e.g. no H-gate, some buttons missing etc.) or fully (H-gate). These include:
- Race Driver: GRID
- Test Drive Unlimited
- GT Legends (seems to accept three distinct, simultaneous USB controllers!)
- GT-R Evolution & Race 07
- rFactor
- TOCA Race Driver 3
- MAME: Hard Drivin' & Race Drivin'
Unfortunately, older games such as Dethkarz just don't work right with the G25. It's as though the game expects only certain kinds of input - perhaps from a gameport wheel or something - and even then maybe only certain ranges of signal. Try as I might, I could not use Logitech's profiler software to reassign controls. Is this the kind of thing that the GOG team is able to address, in their custom re-writes of classic code?

pffft... physical input devices..

And you are implying that real cars should be driven by neural impuises? Or perhaps that race cars should merely run on rails? Where is the fun in that?
Less hijacking and more topic, please. :)

I figured at least if I posted something, other people might not be intimidated and post as well. Otherwise my statement would stand true for the whole of the community.

So when other community members read this and don't reply, they are fulfilling your "hands-off" prophecy? I get it! I think... :)

Ah yes the G25... I considered plopping down the dough for that a few months ago, but then I moved out into the cold cruel world of adult life where money had to be allocated to keeping myself alive.
But you haven't tried Gran Turismo 5 Prologue yet? I used to have a general disinterest towards driving simulators, but the beauty of GT5 Prologue changed all that. In addition to looking just so very pretty, the physics and unique handling of each car is just conveyed so intuitively.
Now I just need the G25 wheel... and a good driver's seat setup.

$50 demo.

Uh excuse me? It's more like $40. And it's not a demo. It's more like a charity donation where suckers give their money to help fund the project because the developers were too busy buying their sports cars instead making the game.

Try Xpadder. It lets you set inputs on the controller to keys on the keyboard. It isn't exactly the best solution in this case, but it should help you remap the things that don't work correctly. It even includes some analog, rumble, and force feedback functionality if your controller supports it (if I recall correctly). For the inputs that do work correctly you should be able to leave them as-is.
EDIT: oops, I bwoke it.

And if that program isn't powerful enough for your needs, you can always use Pinnacle Game Profiler. Its not free like Xpadder, but its quite a bit better. You can try it out for a month. It has a trial period.
http://www.pinnaclegameprofiler.com/

Well folks, thanks for your input (pun intended)!
I won't hold my breath expecting that any of these utilities will achieve exactly what I want, but I suppose $20 for a specialized utility is cheaper and more effective than GOG reprogramming all those old racers just for newer DX9 devices.
EDIT: Besides, finding out that a $6 FlatOut vintage title recognizes my G25 is just really sweet. :-)