I'm playing the unpatched gog download--and the west pillar always clicks on the first try-no problem. The others simply don't respond. I remember this being a frustrating issue when I played the game for the first time back in the day but nothing like this.

I am doing all the usual stuff--like standing right in front of the pillar and I'm in turned base mode.

This is a known and glaring bug--you have to use the space bar. Glad I remembered--had me going for a while.