You could use VJOY for free to provide a virtual joystick that you can map key/mouse to:
http://vjoystick.sourceforge.net/site/

there's also the older PPJOY, but it has installation "issues" with 64 bit Microsoft OSes newer than Vista(or is it XP?)

Is there any way to re-map the buttons with an Xbox 360 controller in the game?

So does any joystick work? I have a newer logitech joystick and I'm just worried that it wouldn't work with this considering Aquanox required a lot of fiddling with to get it working properly with a joystick.

I guess I was nuts, then. I didn't have a joystick, and I played space sims just fine, including TIE Fighter.

press ESC before you go into a mission and there is an option that says JOYSTICK on the control panel... click that for the button remapping tool. There you can press a button on the controller and then select which keyboard button/combo it will send.

I doubt that it will "see" your triggers as buttons, but i have not tested this. I use a Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS and the game does not "see" any of my additional analog axes... just the throttle (but thank the maker for that, anyway).

I can highly recommend a third party (paid) joystick remapper like X-padder (http://xpadder.com/), Joy2Key (http://joytokey.net/en/) , or even Pinnacle Profiler ([url=http://pinnaclegameprofiler.com/)if]http://pinnaclegameprofiler.com/)if[/url] you're going to do any serious controller work, especially with older GOG fare.


There are also freeware options if you want to start with those and see if they suit you:
J2K: http://www.emulation-evolved.net/?q=node/19 (note, this software puts Cypress HIll songs in my head on infinite repeat, YMMV)
AntiMicro: https://github.com/Ryochan7/antimicro
UJR: http://evilc.com/joomla/articles/9-code/autohotkey/1-ujr-universal-joystick-remapper (note: never got this to work correctly last time i tried it, again YMMV)

Does that mean it won't work with a modern USB-joystick?

Oh it will, i use one (Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS) with no problems.... i should clarify that this message was meant for the brave/insane soul who wanted to play WITHOUT a joystick. The game won't even LAUNCH without detecting one, so using a virtual joystick driver will get you past this requirement.

Oh thanks! :)

I tried to find a solution some months back when I was investigating if there was any way to play the Windows versions without joystick, but no. Never found an acceptable solution.

Virtual joysticks are useless and there's no way around it. This game need an actual joystick (except the DOS versions)

I think you mean the Collector's Edition. That one had Windows 95 autorun support but did run on 32bit DOS Extender under the DOS Layer of Windows.

You can also play the game with a Xbox 360 controller. Works like a charm from the get-go.

You might have played the first CD-ROM version, which was done in 1996 IIRC, which was the DOS version that ran in a Win95 launcher. That's what I had.

Yeah it is working fine, I have a Thrustmaster T.16000M and it recognised it and auto mapped the buttons and throttle in the game. Works like a charm.

My 360 controller is working pretty good, though the controls are a little flimsy and the trigger buttons are not recognized. They work nonetheless, but cannot be remapped. they have a speed setting.

Using PS3 controller, blasting rebel scum. Needed some tinkering though.