Analog Stick Test
Sweep both sticks through their range and watch the circular visualizers plus axis meters.
Analog stick panel
Focuses on stick travel, centering, and axis pairing.
Map full travel and circularity on both sticks
The Analog Stick Test emphasizes range, circularity, and axis independence while you draw full circles. Look for clipped corners, uneven travel, or axes that max out early. Those patterns explain why aim feels sticky in one direction even when idle drift looks mild. After range checks, confirm rest behavior on Stick Drift.
Browsers report normalized axes, typically from negative one to positive one, but third-party fight pads and adapters can invert or scale channels oddly. The Gamepad API does not promise console-accurate circularity metrics; it shows what the host exposes. Keep the tab focused so polling stays responsive.
Example: diagnosing a soft right stick
- Draw slow circles on the right stick and watch for flat edges.
- Push to each cardinal extreme and confirm near-full magnitude.
- Compare left stick travel under the same motion.
- If only one stick clips, suspect that module rather than the whole pad.
Use Deadzone to see how gating would hide small errors, and the Controller Tester when buttons also misbehave. Xbox-oriented players can mirror the workflow on Xbox Controller Tester with the same API limits.
FAQ: why do circles look squarish?
Many controllers and drivers produce slightly square outer envelopes. Mild squaring is common. Severe flats or sudden jumps suggest wear, dirt, or a failing sensor path rather than a drawing bug on the page.