The next beta is now available. Note that this is still a BETA in the true sense of the word. So expect one or the other rough edge. Full changelog a few posts above.
BETA download
Highlights:
1. New Gestures
With the newly added gestures the arsenal is now large enough to make certain games feel fairly close to native games. Especially shooters with their limited set of interactions, but pretty much every action oriented game can benefit hugely. For now there aren’t many games with predefined gestures though, which will be one of my tasks in the upcoming weeks.
If you don’t want to configure gestures yourself (easy, check the video in the original post), but still would like to try, try Cyberpunk 2077 (powerful PC required) or Aliens: Colonial Marines (decent PC should suffice).
Cyberpunk extra hint:
The Cyberpunk profile now comes with all the extra goodies of the standalone version. vorpX will ask you to install a dedicated mod when you launch the game the first time with vorpX hooked. This mod is necessary to make things work, it communicates with vorpX to enable AFR3D, positional tracking, VR optimized vehicle cameras and context sensitive gestures, i.e. the profile not only has gestures, but even can switch between gesture sets depending on gameplay context, e.g. whether you are in a car or on a motor cycle, or are holding a rifle or a pistol.
ACM extra hint:
ACM was my most recent gesture testing ground. Don’t let reviews put you off, the game has been massively improved after its flawed launch. Almost more important: story driven, straight forward shooters without much fluff like this one lend themselves well to VR/vorpX.
Make sure to run the DirectVR scanner when entering a level for roomscale tracking and FOV. and don’t forget to check the instructions shown in the headset. The game’s FOV slider has to be set to minimum, otherwise vorpX’s FOV calculation doesn’t work right. BTW: Also one of the games with automatic weapon hide, so no face gun.
2. Virtual monitor / desktop viewer integration
The virtual monitor added in the last beta now automatically kicks in when you launch the desktop viewer and put on your headset. Now you may think: great, thanks. But I already have a monitor and am about to play in VR anyway, so why on earth would I want that?
First and foremost: No more tinkering with custom resolutions to play games at higher resolutions than your monitor can display. This is a no-click one-size-fits-all solution that works for any GPU (AMD included) and any game you may intend to throw at it. That alone is reason enough to use the virtual monitor even if you don’t plan to use the desktop viewer for anything else than launching games. The virtual monitor has a large set of resolutions tailored for use with vorpX predefined that your monitor can’t display. If you want, you can add even more in the config app. Shouldn’t really be necessary though.
Secondly: If you occasionally play games using the desktop viewer without vorpX hooking into them, the virtual monitor has the huge extra benefit of running at your headset’s refresh rate. So provided the game you want to play can run at the full headset refresh rate, there won’t be any micro stutter from the normal monitor/headset refreshrate mismatch you get when you capture your actual monitor. Make sure VSync is enabled in games for that to work, also make sure there is no 60fps or so limit set in the game options. VSync alone is what you want. If you want a desktop capture app optimized for playing games, this is officially the one you want to use.
Added bonus: Probably not many will, but if you actually want to do general PC stuff using the desktop viewer, you can now do so on an ultra-ultra-wide 32:9 display surrounding your head. Judging from recent Star Trek TV shows that’s the future. So, welcome to the 24th century. :) The virtual monitor’s desktop resolution can be set in the Windows display settings.