vr mod – Page 2 – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

December 20, 2021

‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ VR Support Arrives from Modder Behind ‘GTA’ & ‘Red Dead Redemption’ VR Mods

Luke Ross, the modder who brought VR support to a host of non-VR games such as GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Mafia II, surprise-released a VR mod for the PC version of Horizon Zero Dawn.

YouTube channel Cas and Chary got an exclusive first look at the mod. Casandra Vuong (aka ‘Cas’) went hands on, revealing just how the mod’s first and third-person modes look in a 20-minute video.

In the video, we get a look at Cas playing the full game with a gamepad, riding tamed beasts and attacking the game’s rougher mechanical wildlife. In the third-person, we see Cas experiencing cutscenes and following the game’s protagonist Aloy from overhead.

Both first and third-person appear to be pretty intense from a VR comfort standpoint, since the game requires fast and frenetic movement. It also doesn’t appear to include motion controller support.

Granted, it’s still early days for the mod, which was originally supposed to be a third-person only experience—just like the unmodded game itself. Luke Ross says in a paywalled Patreon update that the bugs are still being ironed out, but it was just too tempting to pass up:

I hate last-minute ideas, because they inevitably bring crunch and a huge risk of failure and disappointment. Yet, there was zero chance that I could pass up on something that looked so promising. I decided to at least try to implement it, even if that meant delating the release for some indeterminate (hopefully not too large) amount of time. Then the curiosity to actually see the dame form the new perspective got the better of me, and I literally worked day and night, first to prove that it was actually possible, and after that to iron out all of the kinks. Well, most of them :-)

If you’re looking to install the mod, Cas provides a step-by-step tutorial at the end of the video (timestamped 19:33). You’ll need to be a Patreon supporter to get access, which starts at $10 per month. If you’re looking to follow Luke Ross, you can check out updates posted to his Patreon page and Twitter.

In the meantime, we’ll be waiting to hear more news on the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 VR mod that Luke Ross says should arrive sometime in January 2022.

The post ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ VR Support Arrives from Modder Behind ‘GTA’ & ‘Red Dead Redemption’ VR Mods appeared first on Road to VR.

November 5, 2021June 9, 2022

‘Deep Rock Galactic’ VR Mod Released in Open Beta

Deep Rock Galactic is a cult-favorite PC co-op game where teams of up to four players dive into perilous caverns in search of precious minerals while battling hordes of alien bugs along the way. And now the game is soon to see the first release of a mod that makes DRG fully playable in VR.

Update (June 8th, 2022)

The Deep Rock Galactic VR mod, which its creators are calling VRG, has been released in open beta. One of the mod team’s members, Herr “Punished” Fristi, posted a short announcement trailer for the open beta release:

You can find the mod and detailed instructions on how to use it at the Deep Rock Galactic VR mod’s official Mod.io page.

This is a genuine beta release and the team warns, “this mod is currently in beta, you will encounter bugs, maybe also crashes, and things will not be as smooth as they could, but we’re working hard on this mod every day and we’re very dedicated to improving it to the best of our abilities, and trying to make it feel as good as possible!”

The mod team encourages users to leave feedback in the DRG section of the Flatscreen to VR Mod Discord server.

There’s a lot of movement in DRG and the mod doesn’t appear to have done much to address the potential for discomfort, so be careful—the last place you want to be nauseas is in a cave full of aliens that are out to kill you…. Perhaps later updates will add additional comfort options.

The updates and original article below overview the inception of the mod and some key development milestones along the way to this open beta release.

Update (May 18th, 2022)

The Deep Rock Galactic VR mod is nearing initial completion with many of the game’s major functions working correctly in VR with motion controls, including the interface and weapon wielding.

DRG modder Herr Fristi reports over at the mod’s Discord server that the developers of Deep Rock Galactic have given the mod ‘Approved’ status, which means players will be able to use the mod with their main save, including the ability to play multiplayer with other players and earn progression in the game as normal. And yes, VR and non-VR players can play together (provided everyone has the mod installed).

Matteo311 recently took a look at an early version of the Deep Rock Galactic VR mod, showing off a holster system for inventory and some gesture controls, though there’s still a number of things to be fixed like weapon and hand placements and the ability the dig using a swinging gesture rather than a button.

The DRG VR mod is purportedly set to release in public beta “soon.”

The prior update, which covers the mod’s early development progress, continues below.

Update (November 25th, 2021)

Modders have been quick to jump on the newly opened opportunity to mod Deep Rock Galactic with VR support. While the first tests simply showed that the game could be correctly displayed inside of headsets, just a few weeks later modders have already demonstrated functional motion controls.

While there’s still plenty of work to do before the mod is ready for prime time, modders have also showed that things are working well enough to play through a complete mission (albeit not with motion controls or any comfort adjustments).

Even after fully functional motion controls are added, there will still be a lot of work to do to get the game’s informational UI and interactive UI into VR, followed by some reasonable accommodations for VR comfort.

The original article, which overviews the genesis of the Deep Rock Galactic VR mod, continues below.

Original Article (November 5th, 2021): Developer Ghost Ship Games this week launched a major update to Deep Rock Galactic which adds new weapons to the game for the first time, alongside new missions, enemies, cosmetics, and more.

Hidden deep in the update’s huge list of patch notes was this valuable gem:

ENABLED VR PLUGINS

Speaking of modding, we have enabled the SteamVR and OculusVR plugins to allow modders to play with them. Have fun!

While this doesn’t mean that the game can be played in VR just yet, it does mean that modders can tap into those VR plugins to begin experimenting with adaptations that could make the game fully playable in VR.

This small addition to the update appears to be thanks in part to Reddit user Elliotttate, a member of the Flatscreen to VR Mod Community, who got the attention of the studio through a post in the Deep Rock Galactic subreddit which asked the developers to enable VR plugins so that VR modders could try adapting the game. As the post explained:

For an UE4 game, the one essential ‘piece of VR modding’ that we need first from the developers (that currently can’t be ‘modded in’) is just to include the VR plugins in the project when building. It takes two minutes to do and has no negative consequences for the shipping version of the game. Recently, we asked the Mechwarrior 5 developers (PG) the same thing, they added it and now have a full VR mod for it!

In fact, modders have now already triggered the plugins to verify that the game can be rendered correctly in VR.

Of course this is extremely early work. Getting the game to play well in VR will need to go well beyond simply rigging up the game to take input from motion controllers. Anyone who knows Deep Rock Galactic knows that it’s a game with lots of erratic player movement and comfort will be a huge challenge—not to mention figuring out how to balance the game’s vast number of quickly moving enemies to not be completely overwhelming in VR.

Luckily the game also recently added official modding support; as long as VR input, rendering, and interfaces can be made to work correctly, it should be relatively easy to experiment with VR-focused content and balance changes and then distribute them to players via the existing modding system.

The post ‘Deep Rock Galactic’ VR Mod Released in Open Beta appeared first on Road to VR.

September 17, 2021April 15, 2022

‘Half-Life 2’ VR Mod Shows Off New Progress with Gravity Gun Gameplay

Many years before the release of Half-Life: Alyx, a group of fans built a rudimentary Half-Life 2 VR mod which allowed the game to be played with early VR headset development kits. Unfortunately the mod eventually lost compatibility with newer hardware as the first consumer VR headsets began to hit the market. But last year a group of proven VR modders rebooted the mod for modern VR headsets, and now they’re showing the first signs of progress.

Update (April 15th, 2022)

The HL2VR modding team seems to be making strong progress. Just two weeks ago the group showed off some early work on the revamped Half-Life 2 mod, including manual reloading and ladder climbing in an early section of the game. This week the group has shown off its latest efforts, including a weapon selection menu, a functional Gravity Gun, and a working vehicle driving segment.

The team had not expected to be working on these aspects of the game for some time yet, with u/fholger sharing they “got a lot more done than I anticipated,” after spending two prior weeks hunting down a “subtle, but annoying bug.”

The Gravity Gun is now fully functional, along with the SMG & Pulse Rifle (including secondary fire modes), as well as the RPG. u/fholger says the rest of the game’s arsenal still needs work.

“There’s still work to be done to get some of the weapons into a functional state. Revolver, shotgun, crossbow, grenades and bugbait are in various states of disrepair. Making them functional is currently my primary focus, since having all the weapons should (in theory) make the entire game playable, now that the vehicles are working,” they said. “After getting all the weapons functional, we want to make them great. That includes integrating updated weapon models with actual hand poses and animations. This work isn’t necessarily going to block a public release; we’ll get as far as we can and then keep working on them over time.”

And while the vehicle sections of the game are now functional, the team warns that even with the game adjusted to always keep the view upright, comfort is not guaranteed.

“You do, unfortunately, still need solid VR legs for them. Vehicle rides involve artificial turning, and there’s little I can do about that without completely reimplementing how they work.”

However, the team has a plan to optionally make the vehicle sections of the game project into a flat 2D screen (as if you’re sitting in front of a virtual monitor) which could significantly improve comfort.

Once the game is at least technically playable from start to finish, the team has plans to put out an initial public release of the Half-Life: 2 VR mod to get feedback.

Update (March 31st, 2022)

This week Source VR Team member u/fholger posted a detailed update on the HL2VR mod since the team started working on it last year. The group worked initially to salvage pieces which had been previously built, but had to fill in the blanks in a number of places. That included building a missing “bridge” which connected the inherited parts of the mod to the underlying Half-Life 2 game, as well as adding support for Vulkan rendering and MSAA anti-aliasing which u/fholger says “provides a significant uplift to the game’s graphics in the headset.”

While progress was slow at first, things started coming together toward the end of 2021 allowing the team to focus on making early levels of the game fully playable. u/fholger shared a new video showing the latest progress on the Half-Life 2 VR mod, including Index controller finger tracking, proper ladder climbing, and manual reloading.

While the game looks perfectly playable from the video, u/fholger warns that there’s still a lot to do elsewhere; the modders will need to continue progressing through the game fixing what’s broken and making specific sequences functional VR, like the vehicle driving sections later in the game.

The next step after this first milestone is to get the game at least technically playable from start to finish, and to bring more of the old mod’s VR enhancements to the new version of the mod. Once that’s complete, the team has plans to release a public alpha of the mod to find bugs and remaining issues to be fixed.

“Please do not expect a perfect VR experience for [the alpha] release—flat-to-VR ports will always have some jank remaining, and we will still be focussing on the most critical aspects to get the game playable,” says u/fholger.

For now there’s no timeline given for the alpha release of the HL2VR mod, but u/fholger says they’ll make an effort to be more communicative about the mod’s progress than was seen in the past.

The original article, which outlines how this new group of modders brought life to the long defunct HL2VR mod, continues below.

Original Article (September 17th, 2021): If you’ve been following the VR gaming space for a long while, you probably recall back in 2017 when the Half-Life 2 VR mod was announced to significant fanfare. The team that had made the original version of the mod (compatible only with older Oculus development kits) planned to update it for modern consumer headsets and remaster the game with VR-specific touches like a made-for-VR UI, multiple locomotion methods, and more. The mod’s original announcement trailer gives an idea of what they hoped to deliver:

Unfortunately, despite a blessing from Valve permitting the release of the project on Steam, the revamped version of the mod never got completed, having seemingly fallen into development hell.

Somehow between then and now Valve made an entirely new VR game, Half-Life: Alyx, which released in 2020 to widespread acclaim. But the Half-Life 2 VR mod may live on yet.

The project has purportedly been re-rebooted by a team including VR modder extraordinare Simon “Dr. Beef” Brown, who is behind VR mods of Half-Life, Doom, and plenty of others.

In a message posted to the Flatscreen to VR Mod Discord community earlier this Summer the team announced that it is working with some of the mod’s original team and building on work it had already done, with the goal of readying an open-source version of the code so that others can begin contributing in a structured way.

A couple weeks ago, @DrBeef and @cabalistic stepped up to see how we could revitalize the project and get it out the door. The goal has been to make sense of the existing work the previous team had done and to polish it enough to get some open source version released as soon as possible in at least an alpha state so that others could contribute to continue to polish it up.

In just the last couple weeks, DrBeef has re-written almost all of the VR code to run a whole lot better and even ported the engine’s VR implementation to use Vulcan instead of DX9 with the help of DXVK! (current VR APIs only work with DX11 and above). He also has fixed a lot of game breaking issues that were in the build. Cabalistic has also done some magic and has gotten MSAA working for textures too.

There’s no rough release date for the new Half-Life 2 VR mod, but one sticking point on the current development path is deciding which version of the Source engine to use as a foundation.

One thing we need to finalize before we get too far along is whether we want to continue the project with the Source 2013 SDK version (all the VR work has currently been done to that version). Or whether we want to switch to the newer CS:GO engine (all of [another modder’s] updated maps was done with that version). We’re not sure at this point how much of a setback switching engines would be. One side advantage of working on the CS:GO port is that that’s what a version of Portal 2 uses and it could mean one day making a Portal 2 VR port (or at least making that easier). The disadvantage to switching is that the project couldn’t be open source as that version of the engine requires a Valve signed NDA for anyone to have access to.

Just this week the team confirmed that work is continuing on the Half-Life 2 VR mod, and further noted that there’s yet a separate mod project in the works by another modder which is aiming to add modern VR support to a version of Source Engine which could be compatible with Half-Life 2.

“Currently, [the other mod’s author] plans to continue working separately, but perhaps there’s still things we can share between projects. If anything, competition could be nice along with options for players,” one of the modders wrote.

It’s been nearly eight years since the original version of the Half-Life 2 VR mod was released, and four years since the reboot was announced. For anyone craving more Half-Life in VR, you’re gonna want to keep your fingers crossed.

The post ‘Half-Life 2’ VR Mod Shows Off New Progress with Gravity Gun Gameplay appeared first on Road to VR.

July 9, 2021

VorpX VR Driver Adds ‘FullVR’ Support for ‘GTA V’ and ‘Red Dead Redemption II’

VorpX is a tool which adapts many non-VR games to be played with VR headsets. A new update adds automatic configuration for both GTA V and Red Dead Redemption II, offering an optimized out-of-the-box VR experience with minimal fiddling.

VorpX supports a long list of games, allowing users play them using a VR headset along with various adaptations that make them more suitable and comfortable in VR. While the app doesn’t add core VR functionality like hand-tracking, for many games it adds head-tracking, stereoscopy, and other tweaks that make non-VR games playable inside the headset.

VorpX has a huge range of options allowing players to tweak games to feel right in VR, but this can be an involved process. Luckily the software includes built-in ‘FullVR’ configurations for specific games which makes them ready to play in VR right out of the box.

The latest version of VorpX, v21.2.1, now includes ‘connection mods’ for GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 which automatically configure the games for “a great out-of-the box FullVR experience.”

“The connection mods implement perfect 1:1 headtracking, decoupled walk/look/aim, auto switching to EdgePeek in cutscenes and menu screens for improved comfort, and unique VR optimized cameras for both games that get rid of nauseating head bobbing and whenever possible the equally nauseating moments where the games briefly take away control, e.g. when entering a car or mounting a horse,” the developer writes.

VorpX has been available in active development since at least 2013 and has seen regular updates adding new features and growing the list of supported games. It supports all Oculus, SteamVR, and WMR headsets.

The post VorpX VR Driver Adds ‘FullVR’ Support for ‘GTA V’ and ‘Red Dead Redemption II’ appeared first on Road to VR.

May 21, 2021

Red Dead Redemption 2 VR Mod veröffentlicht

Es ist eine neue Modifikation erschienen, mit der ihr Red Dead Redemption 2 in der Virtual Reality spielen könnt. Die Mod wurde entwickelt von Luke Ross, welcher zuvor bereits VR Mods für GTA V und No One Lives Forever 2 veröffentlicht hatte.

Red Dead Redemption 2 VR Mod veröffentlicht

Das verlinkte Video von UploadVR zeigt die ersten 27 Minuten mit der VR Mod. Aktuell kann die Mod nur mit dem Gamepad gespielt werden und es gibt noch einige Probleme, an denen der Entwickler jedoch arbeiten wird. Man sollte aber ohnehin davon ausgehen, dass sich eine solche Modifikation nie wie eine native VR-Umsetzung anfühlen wird.

Wer mit diesem Umstand leben kann und gerne mit seiner VR-Brille in die Welt von Red Dead Redemption 2 eintauchen will, benötigt das Hauptspiel und die Mod von der Patreon-Seite des Entwicklers. Um bereits heute einen frühen Zugriff auf die Mod zu erhalten, müsst ihr Spender oder Spenderin werden und ca. 10 US-Dollar im Monat bezahlen.

“Ich habe mich dazu entschlossen, den Schritt zu wagen, und vor etwa sechs Monaten habe ich aufgehört, neue Verträge mit meiner Haupttätigkeit als freiberuflicher Entwickler anzunehmen”, schreibt der Entwickler auf seiner Patreon-Seite. “Seitdem arbeite ich Vollzeit an diesem Projekt, und wenn ihr bereit seid, mich zu unterstützen, ist es mein Wunsch, dies auch in absehbarer Zukunft zu tun.”

(Quelle: Upload VR)

Der Beitrag Red Dead Redemption 2 VR Mod veröffentlicht zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

April 16, 2021

Co-Op Horror Shooter GTFO Gets Full Native PC VR Mod With Motion Controller Support

This week a new mod released for indie co-op horror shooter GTFO from 10 Chambers. The mod features full native VR support including motion controllers and cross-play with non-VR. Check it out in the trailer below:

GTFO VR Mod

In the trailer we can see everything from motion-controlled melee weapons, free aiming guns with laser sights and flashlights, impressive lighting and fog, and lots of truly gruesome blood and gore. GTFO is the kind of game you really need a full group of people to get the most out of it, similar to Phasmophobia, except with a lot more guns and violence.

This mod is certainly an unexpected but welcome surprise since the dark and creepy atmosphere in the game is such a perfect fit for VR. Once the monsters show up things get crazy fast and I can only imagine how frantic things would feel inside a VR headset if the game already makes me sweat outside of VR.

GTFO is in Early Access still on Steam for $35 with a ‘Very Positive’ review average after nearly 18,000 user reviews. I’ve played it in non-VR and can confirm that it’s extremely tense, terrifying, and very fun with friends—but it’s also extremely difficult and requires real coordination to succeed.

For more details on the mod and the community behind it, check out the Discord server. You can download the mod itself over on github. If you decide to give it a try let us know what you think in our own Discord or down in the comments below!

h/t: Thanks to Brian Tate for sending a tip to tips@uploadvr.com!

January 4, 2021

Alien: Isolation VR Mod Updated With Epic Games Store Support

The VR mod for horror game Alien: Isolation has been updated to include support for the Epic Games Store version, which was available for free for one day in late December.

Released in 2014, Alien: Isolation is a survival horror game set 15 years after the first Alien movie. You play as Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda, navigating your way around the ship and hiding from xenomorphs. A mod for the game added full VR functionality, including motion controller support. Despite being fan-made, the VR mod for Alien: Isolation made it into an excellent VR survival horror title.

Back in late December, Alien: Isolation was available for free for one day only on the Epic Games Store and we encouraged anyone who was interested in trying out the VR mod to redeem a free copy. However, some of our readers soon reported that the VR mod didn’t work with the Epic Games Store version, as the mod was originally developed for the Steam release.

The creator of the mod, Nibre, released an update (the first in over two years) last week that rectifies the issue and adds support for the Epic Games Store version. If you snagged a free copy but weren’t able to get the VR mod working, you should be able to now.

You can download the new mod version over on github now and check out our guide on how to start playing Alien: Isolation in VR. And please let us know in the comments how it works out for you.

December 21, 2020

Alien: Isolation Is Free On The Epic Games Store Today, VR Mod Works Great

One of the scariest games of all-time, which supports a full VR mod that even includes motion controller support, is totally free today only on PC via the Epic Games Store. You have until 8AM PT on 12/22/20 to grab it before it switches to tomorrow’s free game.

One thing to note: we don’t know for sure if this mod works with the Epic Games Store version, but it absolutely should. Here are details on getting the mod working, but make sure you refer to the official github listing for up-to-date information.

Alien: Isolation is a perfect fit for VR, so even though it’s a bummer we don’t have integrated official support, at least the mod works great. You see, the game had been shown with its VR support in the past, so it follows that modders were able to essentially “fully activate” in a sense.

In Alien: Isolation you take on the role of Amanda, Ellen Ripley’s daughter 15 years after the events of the first movie. You navigate through the ship and do your best to survive by hiding from xenomorphs and uncovering the secrets of what happened. It’s a true survival horror game that is full of tense moments.

Originally released in 2014 it does show its age visually, but it’s still an excellent survival horror game whether you’re a big fan of the film universe or not. There’s really no reason for you to not log onto the Epic Games Store right now and redeem your copy for free. It’s a great game!

Let us know what you think if you give the VR support a spin down in the comments below!

April 30, 2020

Quake VR Mod Update Adds Half-Life: Alyx-Style Gravity Gloves And More

Vittorio Romeo’s excellent Quake VR mod is one of the first games we’ve seen to take direct inspiration from the recent launch of Half-Life: Alyx.

Appearing in the v0.0.4 update — which is out now — is a Gravity Glove-style system that allows you to reach out to select items, flick your wrist back and catch them in your hand. From the looks of the system, seen in the trailer below, it works just like it did in Alyx. We loved the implementation there, so we’ll be eager to see how it feels in a classic game.

Of course, that’s far from all 0.0.4 brings. The developer has also added support for dual-wielding weapons, so you can hack away at goons with two melee items, or target two enemies at once with firearms. Plus weapons and items can now be tossed at foes when you don’t want them anymore. Heftier additions to your arsenal like rifles and shotguns, meanwhile, can now be gripped with two hands instead of just one.

Elsewhere there’s now a grappling hook to zip through levels with (which looks especially vomit-inducing), new weapons to wield and, quite importantly, support for Quake’s first mission pack, Scourge of Armagon. So even if you’ve torn through the entire original game already, there’s reason to jump back in here.

Finally, on the note of comfort, the developer added teleportation locomotion, which should make things a little more palatable for the more nausea-inclined among us.

We were really impressed with this take on Quake VR when we tried it earlier this year, and now it looks even better than it was before. You can download the mod from here though, of course, you’ll need to own Quake itself to play it.

The post Quake VR Mod Update Adds Half-Life: Alyx-Style Gravity Gloves And More appeared first on UploadVR.

April 27, 2020

Alien: Isolation Is 95% Off Today Only And Has A Great VR Mod

Alien: Isolation is one of the best and most tense horror games from the past decade and even though it doesn’t have official VR support, you can play it in VR thanks to a great mod. Grab the game now on Steam for 95% off (that’s just $2!) today only for Alien Day. That’s until 10:00AM PT 4/28/20.

Fans of the Alien film franchise or just fans of horror games in general owe themselves this treat if they haven’t had the chance to play Alien: Isolation in VR on PC. VR support was scrapped for the game’s full release, but it works very well using this mod. It doesn’t have motion controller support, but plays great with a gamepad and enable full head-tracking.

I’ve played and reviewed a lot of VR horror games and few of them measure up to the quality of Alien: Isolation’s atmosphere and palpable sense of slow-building terror. Getting chased by a xenomorph, hiding, and literally holding my breath because it felt so real, is easily one of my most memorable gaming moments.

In Alien: Isolation you play as Amanda Ripley, the daughter of the original movie’s protagonist, Ellen Ripley, fifteen years after the film’s events. Your goal is to unravel the truth behind your mother’s disappearance and try to get out alive.

Now, be aware of course that this game is six years old at this point, so it’s not exactly the most graphically impressive but it still looks really good. all things considered. Check out the mod here and let us know what you think if you give it a try! It’s still one of our favorites.

The post Alien: Isolation Is 95% Off Today Only And Has A Great VR Mod appeared first on UploadVR.