Analog stick character facing

[Sargon]

I am using an Xbox Elite Series 2 controller and I have noticed that when I tap the analog stick in one direction, my character often springs back to face the opposite direction. The same thing doesn't happen if I use the d-pad. Is there any fix for this behavior?

[TommyEV]

It's stick drift, a problem with your controller.
I'm not sure about this but maybe you can adjust the deadzone of the joystick within Steam's settings (not the game).

[Nibbie]

I have a similar problem with my regular xbox one controller, but not with my ps5 controller. Might be an xbox thing? Haven't tried the deadzone mentioned above, but its a good shout.

[Sargon]

It isn't stick drift, but adjusting the deadzone in the Steam settings did resolve the issue.

I suspect that the Elite Controller sticks have a little more spring than a standard Xbox controller. What is happening is that when I hold the stick one direction and release it, it springs back enough to force the character sprite to turn the other direction (but not enough to move).

Making the deadzone a little bigger helped a lot. That, combined with being a little gentler on my stick handling, seems to have taken care of the problem.

Thanks!

[TommyEV]

Ursprungligen skrivet av Sargon:

I suspect that the Elite Controller sticks have a little more spring than a standard Xbox controller. What is happening is that when I hold the stick one direction and release it, it springs back enough to force the character sprite to turn the other direction (but not enough to move).
!

That's stick drift lol.
But I'm happy it helped! You could also try to clean the controller's insides or, if you don't want to open it up, blow air inside (even with your mouth). There could be dust making a wrong contact. It ctually happened to me recently and I managed to "save" a controller after thinking it was a goner.

[Sargon]

Ursprungligen skrivet av TommyEV:

Ursprungligen skrivet av Sargon:

I suspect that the Elite Controller sticks have a little more spring than a standard Xbox controller. What is happening is that when I hold the stick one direction and release it, it springs back enough to force the character sprite to turn the other direction (but not enough to move).
!

That's stick drift lol.

I disagree. Stick drift is when a stick, absent of any force being applied, drifts to one direction or another. My stick it isn't drifting per se, but the return force of releasing the stick is just enough to cause it to momentarily go past the axis in the other direction and cause the character to face the other direction. I would not call that stick drift, although in this case the resolution is the same.

[ultimachi]

This is just a problem with the elite controller lol. I've used multiple and if you release the stick the input will bounce back to the opposite direction. Not a problem with some games due to different deadzones. Just get used to keeping your thumb on the stick when you want to put it back to neutral.

[TommyEV]

You guys are insistent. Yikes.

[intenselygoodtime]

As a previous Xbox Elite controller owner, I can confirm that it is NOT stick drift. (Nearly all Xbox controllers absolutely do die slowly from stick drift.) So here are some interesting/useless details, unless anyone wants to avoid making the mistake of wasting money on an Xbox Elite controller:

The Elite controllers have metal hardware mounts under their replaceable sticks.
This necessitates MUCH stronger springs than in the standard all-plastic controllers (including the also-all-plastic custom "Design Labs" controllers).
This heavy spring snaps the heavier sticks back, and definitely causes a very slight motion in the OPPOSITE direction, unless A) you increase the size of the Dead Zones), or B) have ninja-like stick control, and never-ever "tap" your sticks -- instead, always manually returning the stick to its neutral position.
The bumpers, and their underlying hardware, are still built from cheap plastic. What's worse is that they're CONNECTED via a 1mm plastic bar. So if you drop your Elite Controller -- heavier due to the metal in the other parts -- on the hardwood floors, you'll knock the bumpers completely out.
Thus for the ~18mo I had the original Elite, I used D-pad for all 2D games, and increased dead zones on the games that supported it.
Oh, and the soft-rubber grips STINK unless you clean them. ...or, you know, never snack while gaming.


--sufficiently happy consumer of the all-plastic controllers. (no more overpriced, halfway-redesigned Elites)

PS: You can use a Q-tip and rubbing alcohol to clean UNDER the sticks to eliminate gunk-build-up on just about any controller -- wipes away that inevitable stick drift, which is the OTHER topic in this thread. Stick drift is when the little sensors get skin cells, grease, Doritos-powder, or whatever grossness comes off your hands down under the stick-mounting ball, and that build-up prevents the sensors from correctly detecting that the stick has indeed returned to its center. ...or alternately, repeated drops have completely unaligned the sensors to the stick. Then your only hope is physically opening the damned thing. ...or just buy them on sale in late November each year, always having a spare on-hand.

[nfnp]

Ursprungligen skrivet av intenselygoodtime:

As a previous Xbox Elite controller owner, I can confirm that it is NOT stick drift. (Nearly all Xbox controllers absolutely do die slowly from stick drift.) So here are some interesting/useless details, unless anyone wants to avoid making the mistake of wasting money on an Xbox Elite controller:

The Elite controllers have metal hardware mounts under their replaceable sticks.
This necessitates MUCH stronger springs than in the standard all-plastic controllers (including the also-all-plastic custom "Design Labs" controllers).
This heavy spring snaps the heavier sticks back, and definitely causes a very slight motion in the OPPOSITE direction, unless A) you increase the size of the Dead Zones), or B) have ninja-like stick control, and never-ever "tap" your sticks -- instead, always manually returning the stick to its neutral position.
The bumpers, and their underlying hardware, are still built from cheap plastic. What's worse is that they're CONNECTED via a 1mm plastic bar. So if you drop your Elite Controller -- heavier due to the metal in the other parts -- on the hardwood floors, you'll knock the bumpers completely out.
Thus for the ~18mo I had the original Elite, I used D-pad for all 2D games, and increased dead zones on the games that supported it.
Oh, and the soft-rubber grips STINK unless you clean them. ...or, you know, never snack while gaming.


--sufficiently happy consumer of the all-plastic controllers. (no more overpriced, halfway-redesigned Elites)

PS: You can use a Q-tip and rubbing alcohol to clean UNDER the sticks to eliminate gunk-build-up on just about any controller -- wipes away that inevitable stick drift, which is the OTHER topic in this thread. Stick drift is when the little sensors get skin cells, grease, Doritos-powder, or whatever grossness comes off your hands down under the stick-mounting ball, and that build-up prevents the sensors from correctly detecting that the stick has indeed returned to its center. ...or alternately, repeated drops have completely unaligned the sensors to the stick. Then your only hope is physically opening the damned thing. ...or just buy them on sale in late November each year, always having a spare on-hand.

hey this is well written and you're dead right. This is a prolific problem with the elite controllers (both new and old). Only solution is too either use the DPAD like you suggested or just use the cheaper (plastic) normal series x controller.

it's a real shame too because the elite 2 is such a good controller otherwise.

[SirGouki]

Ursprungligen skrivet av Sargon:

I am using an Xbox Elite Series 2 controller and I have noticed that when I tap the analog stick in one direction, my character often springs back to face the opposite direction. The same thing doesn't happen if I use the d-pad. Is there any fix for this behavior?

use the steam ui to increase your deadzone on the stick slightly.
While it looks like it springs back to the exact center, they often go a bit passed that, and this is also why deadzone settings exist (other than actual stick drift issues, which this is not, it's completely normal for a lot of controllers to exhibit this behavior, both my regular xbone controller and my ps4 controller do this, even when they were brand new... my 8bitdo ultimate wireless controller doesn't though). Also, you really shouldn't just let the sticks slam to center, you should guide the stick close to the center first then let go, this will make your springs last much longer, especially on certain controllers. The springs are there to provide resistance to your input (i.e. to make it so barely touching the stick doesn't make it go right to the end) for finer control, not to auto center from the outside ring. If you've ever seen an N64 controller with a dropping thumb stick, 90% of the time letting it slam center from the outside ring is what caused it.

[ominumi]

"Stick Drift" according to most internet users is when the subject within the game moves without the player's input. Doesn't matter if the sensors are worn out. Or the sticks are not calibrated correctly. People just like to generalize.

[Adam]

This thread was quite old before the recent post, so we're locking it to prevent confusion.