Started recently and I'm finding it a bit hard to enjoy SS1 for the moment. Even with mouse look, controls are a bit hard and the 3D/2D hybrid (3D world, but lots of sprites are 2D) is giving me a bit of motion sickness.

I hope it's just a matter of getting used to, like it was in case of Magic Carpet. The first few levels there were a torture, but after getting the hang of it turned out to be a great game. Which is why I'm not giving up on this yet.

Combat in general is bad. The best thing that seems to work is just whacking enemies with a lead pipe. For example: by the time I click on a zillion things to get to that grenade, the enemy is already upon me.

Cyberspace is the worst so far. It gets disorienting very fast.

Anyway, few questions about it:

1) Found something called Ping Game. How do I use it and what's it for? Surprisingly googling "system shock cyberspace ping" doesn't help.

2) How do I defeat the cyberguard in the 3rd room of first level? And enemies in general? Just fire at them by spamming right-click?

3) Should I be worried about entering/exiting cyberspace too much? Will it have any adverse effects (other than driving me crazy in real life?) The manual says time is a precious commodity in cyberspace, so is it possible to reach a situation where you wasted too much time in early levels, that later cyberspace levels become unfinishable?

I'm pretty sure the manual refers to wasting time in general, since on highest difficulty, main storyline is timed and if time runs out, you instantly lose.

Thanks!

Does playing this game have any use? Or is it just to pass time?

As far as I know, it's just a fun little diversion for immersion. According to this wikia (see link below), there's 7 games to collect and play including Ping. :) Also, this wikia seems to have some solid entries, I'm sure browsing through it (it covers both SS1 and 2 btw) will provide some more details and answers you're curious about.

http://shodan.wikia.com/wiki/TriOptimum_Fun_Pack_Module

Thanks again.

Does playing System Shock have any use? Or does it just pass the time?

It's a cool way to wait for your RAD contamination to wear off :P
It also serves well to explain your route plan to your viewers (that is do something in game without progressing while you have to explain a lot of details before hand) if you are into streaming on twitch or youtube hehe.

Also regarding the overall combat mechanic, learn to use your LEAN controls. If you peek before entering a corridor you might spot a patrolling bot and you might got a chance to shot him in the back before he turns on you. In general the game has plenty of cover, sometimes even slopes can help you expose as little as you can while you shoot the enemy. The ammo is scarce so that's the reason they give this advantage. on cyber space, you advance when you left click in the direction your reticle is. Shoot with right click. Try to do the sections in order to obtain the two type of weapons so you can destroy any cyberguard.

sorry for the wall of text but I like this game very much :3

Thanks for the hints. I found about leaning and it's really helpful. The game was a tiny bit hard to get into initially, but now I'm on the reactor level and enjoying it very much.