I was hoping to use xpadder and my 360 controller with this. I set up a new profile, yadda, yadda, yadda and run xpadder, run sys shock 2 and none of the controller functions, buttons, sticks or anything are recognised. It simply doesn't work, at all.! I've used xpadder in dozens of other games and never had this problem, has anyone else had this problem and if so how did you get around it?

I have Xpadder as well -- the latest version you have to buy. I haven't built a profile for this game (thought about it), but after trying on my end I have no issues. I bound WASD movement to the left thumbstick of my Xbox 360 controller and mouse movement to my right thumbstick, and everything is working here.

Thanks for the reply. I have the paid for version of xpadder, but still no luck getting it to work with system shock 2, this is the weirdest thing, I have used xpadder with loads of other games and never had any issues.

It's because Shock2 is running with Admin rights. Either run Xpadder with Admin rights, or run Shock2 without them. As long as Shock2 has "higher" rights than Xpadder it cannot inject the keyboard hook that is needed to make the controller work.

Why do you need to run the game as admin?
I run System Shock as a normal user with no problems.

Can you please make me understand how you plan on playing this with a controller?

Probably mouse mapped to right analog, movement mapped to left analog, most common keys to buttons of choice. It wouldn't be my preference, since I like the mouse for fine motor control (looking around). But if you're used to console FPS games, then it's definitely possible.

I imagine inventory management would be less than ideal, but I suppose it works.

It works fine. So do the first two Thief games. You just have to be smart about mapping them.

I have the paid version of xpadder also. I got a profile for SS2 from the xpadder forums. Works good. I prefer a mouse/keyboard for this game though. I just wanted to try it out.

You're a genius!! Thank you very much for the help!!

Alternately, set System Shock 2 to not use administrator elevation:

Go to the installation folder (by default this is C:\GOG Games\System Shock 2) and open the properties of Shock2.exe; go to the compatibility tab, remove the administrator check box, and click OK, then adjust your shortcuts as needed (GOG's shortcuts point to start.exe, which still gives the prompt).

Once you do this Xpadder doesn't have to be run as an administrator in order to work with System Shock 2 and you also won't see the administrator prompt when launching System Shock 2 itself.

I had this same issue using xpadder to run Spelunky. Had to run xpadder as admin and then it worked like a charm.