Get Indigo Prophecy (Fahrenheit) to recognise my xbox 360 controller

Question

I got Indigo Prophecy (Fahrenheit) from steam and need to play it with a controller (not keyboard and mouse, due to RSI).

But was disappointed that it doesn't work with the xbox 360 controller - right analog stick and d-pad aren't recognised, and you need 2 sticks (or one stick and the d-pad at least) to control the game.

So I tried another cheap USB controller I had and it didn't recognise that one properly either.

So I tried using game's keyboard/mouse mode and a keyboard/mouse emulation program (it captures controller input and turns it into customisable keyboard/mouse commands) but the game changes how it controls to suit a real keyboard/mouse, and so it doesn't work properly (for example, you press up to go forward, right and left to turn, rather than pointing in the direction you wish to walk. In this game, on my controllers, that's pretty much unusable).

Has anyone had success using a controller with this game?

Is there some way I can mess with the controls in a config file and force it to recognise the 360 controllers axis properly? or mess with the controllers own drivers or whatever to swap things around?

Is there a way I can force the game to use the controller-style input but accept keyboard and mouse commands (through my emulation program)?

Anyone know what game engine was used? (maybe I can find hacks that worked on another game with the same engine).

Answer 1

I'm still interested in the real answer to this question, but in the end, I just found a controller that works.

For anyone else who really wants to do this, keep trying different controllers until you find one that works. I recommend quality console controllers (gamecube, PS2, xbox) if you already have them, connected using USB adapters, or cheap USB gamepads from eBay.

The one that worked for me cost about $7 (bought from wholesaler xinga.com years ago but try ebay etc). It's a semi-transparent (purple) chinese knock-off of the standard PlayStation 2 dualshock controller. Windows recognises it as "PS converter", so the electronics are probably identical to USB PlayStation 2 controller adapters sold by the same company (and many/most other companies, probably).