- This topic has 8 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated Apr 23, 2019 5:18am by
.
-
Posts
-
I’ve been stereoscopic gaming for nearly a decade now, mostly on a 720p DLP in frame-packing mode (TriDef) but more recently moved to a 1080p display (so using top/bottom, mostly through TriDef as well). Since I already played in 3D I didn’t feel the need to hop into VR right away. Now that a wide-fov HDM is available at a reasonable price (Pimax 5k) I plan to hop on the VR bandwagon, and will definitely be using vorpX since the vast majority of my games are not VR titles.
My primary tools are TriDef (now defunct) and SuperDepth 3D for games which either don’t work in TriDef (few) or for which performance through TriDef just isn’t satisfactory, or for a handful of other reasons. (Unfortunately ReShade disables access to the depth-buffer during online play, so that makes SuperDepth 3D unusable in games like Fallout 76. We need to convince Crossire to allow this to work.) As such, I’m relatively familiar with tweaking 3D profile settings for games etc.
Anyone here make a similar transition and have advice to give as to what problems to watch out for? I’m just looking for some general advice / tips if anyone wants to share.
I mostly play character-and/or-world-driven RPGs (Dragon Age Origins = my favorite game of all time) and Racing SIMs with a dedicated racing seat and FFB equipment (T500) (Assetto Corsa = my current go-to). In fact, I’ll almost certainly want to go back and play all of my long-time favorites again as soon as I get the rig working properly: Dragon Age series, Mass Effect series, Fallout 3 and newer, etc. As such I imagine that I’ll largely be using an HMD with traditional controls (I have a Nostromo, so I can effectively keyboard & mouse without having to use the regular keyboard itself). How hard has it been adjusting to use of traditional controls when you can’t see them? Or does vorpX do such a good job of mapping VR controllers that even for games like Dragon Age Origins I should just bite-the-bullet and adapt?
And how are the vorpX profiles? If I see that a game is supported does this mean the profiles are excellent, or are there issues like the frequent lighting/shadow depth problems TriDef had, that have to be discovered and worked-around?
I can’t really answer all of your questions, what I can say is that I would consider some of the profiles for games you mention pretty good.
Fallout 3/NV/4/76 for example have full support for a unique set of features subsumed under the heading DirectVR that handle everything from resolution over FOV to perfect 1:1 head tracking by writing head tracking data directly into the game’s memory. You can play these games and many other first person titles like actual VR games, including VR controller support, which can be configured either as kb/mouse or gamepad.
In official profiles shadows and other effects that might not work well in stereo can usually at least be disabled. In a similar manner HUDs/menus are individually defined as scalable with stereo depth if possible. You also often can switch between Geometry 3D and Z-Buffer 3D.
Last but not least vorpX has a multitude of smaller features that you will find handy for some games. E.g. a built in gamepad to kb/mouse mapper, a function to deal with HUDs/menus/cutscenes that can’t be scaled (EdgePeek), a magnifier for small text in cinema mode (very useful in Dragon Age Origins), basic image processing (gamma/saturation/sharpness), a freely configurable 4×4 virtual hotkey menu that allows you to execute hotkey functions by looking at a floating ‘button’ in front of you, and more.
Stereo 3D as you know it isn’t even half of what vorpX can do.
Thanks for the replay. That sounds like a nice set of tools. Don’t know how much use I’ll make of things like on-screen keyboards as I have a tendency to want my games to be as immersive as possible and often use mods or shortcuts of other types that allow me to completely hide even the in-game UI as much / often as possible. But I’m sure I’ll try out all of the features before deciding on a set I like. It would be interesting to try playing a game like DAO using the motion controllers. I can’t imagine how that would work since it is so keyboard/mouse focused, but it will be interesting to give it a try.
Really good to see a built-in gamma, saturation and sharpness controls, a that’s all I use ReShade for about 50% of the time, and simpler is always better. Other times I use ReShade to do things like add Film Grain or AA. Any problems with ReShade and Vorpx that you know of? I know that ENB often interfered with TriDef, and in the distant past even ReShade would occasionally cause issues.
I’ve been stereoscopic gaming for nearly…
Anyone here make a similar transition and have advice to give as to what problems to watch out for? I’m just looking for some general advice / tips if anyone wants to share.
I’ve been a long time 3D Vision user and participated a lot in the 3D Vision forums as it relates to fixing games with broken shaders in 3D. There is a Helixmod community for 3D Vision users similar to the growing Vorpx community here which has great relevance in getting the most out of this beloved hobby. Thanks to mods like Vorpx for the PC gaming platform. I can share the following thoughts.
My biggest issue with gaming in VR is the fidelity, especially with games that were never designed for VR. This is a hardware issue and Vorpx does the best it can while offering a variety of display modes that can be switched and saved on a per game profile. My primary Vorpx display mode is “Immersive” and on occasion “Cinema” depending on the game title. Unfortunately Full VR is just not that good and again more related to hardware. To get high resolutions in Full VR is difficult since frame rate significantly suffers. G3D is also a criteria for me since playing in any other mode (i.e. 2D or Z3D) is not as a compelling experience. This is subjective of course and you would need to experiment on what works for you.
Vorpx does have a variety of useful tools especially the shader authoring tool which can be useful in disabling offending shaders that don’t render well in G3D. The crux of this of course is this is an advanced tool which may or may not turn you off. A bit of a learning curve but not too difficult if you put the effort into it. I personally prefer it since like any mod that has advanced configuration options, you can get the most out of what it has to offer.
Vorpx does have some nice technical features and the only way get the most out of this mod is to experiment since everyone’s experience is different and opinions are subjective. There are two features missing that I see as essential to make Vorpx much improved.
1.) Multiple G3D strength settings on a per game profile would be incredibly useful since games with different view perspectives such as isometric games, zoom levels, cut scenes etc…can make G3D hard to view. Currently, Vorpx’s Edgepeek is the best it has in dealing with this kind of thing. Helixmod uses an ini file to configure multiple 3D settings via a keyboard short cut that allows the gamer to change the 3D strength on the fly while in game. Perfect for switching when cut scenes are close up.
2.) There a some games that use the same name on the executable files and Vorpx has no way of dealing with this due to the nature of the profiles being locked off to one exe. lithtech.exe (game engine) is an example. Sometimes you can get away with renaming the executable but this does not always work. This is more of a hack or workaround.Other than that, there is some fun to be had. I don’t feel ripped off as a purchase since I’ve had some fun experiences. I play most of my games in 3D vision simply for the following reasons and this more hardware related. Graphic fidelity and comfort. Playing a traditional game in VR for long periods of time begins to get uncomfortable and I cannot last more than 30-45 mins per session. I am enjoying Oblivion with Vorpx in my Rift and I have this game heavily modded. My resolution is set to 3840×2160 (widescreen, immersive mode and G3D). Performance is fine. I used to own a Nostromo myself and switched to the Logitech G13 which is so useful playing in VR. I can control complex keyboard configured games with the mouse and G13. All intuitive once you get used to it.
Finally, I have been eyeing the Pimax but my shift is now to the HP Reverb VR headset since early feedback suggests the graphic fidelity is the best so far and comfort seems to be quite good. The FOV is not as good as the Pimax (115 I believe) but the price point is much better than the Pimax product. Hopefully Vorpx will support this new headset which is expected to launch this spring. If this hardware works out, the shift to using Vorpx and VR may be the way to game with non VR games and older titles going forward.
Have fun,
Stryker
h TriDef, and in the distant past even ReShade would occasionally cause issues.
Can anyone chime in on an easy fix for getting reshade to work with vorp X? I.e. how to easily rename one or the other files? As of now, any game that I have reshade installed to, will not work with vorpx, as I get the message saying vorp x couldn’t hook due to a conflict.
Since I have reshade installed on most of my games this is currently making it so I don’t use vorpX very much. If there was a way to have both vorpx and reshade installed easily without conflict I would appreciate it.
There may be a trick. (havent tried that with reshade yet and theres no guarantuee that it will work). Assuming that reshade consists of a d3d9.dll and possibly some other files that you put in the game folder you could try the following:
-backup everything first
-download a hex-editor like HXD somewhere
-rename the d3d9.dll (from reshade) in the games folder to r3d9.dll
-hexedit the games exe, change each “d3d9.dll” entry that you find to “r3d9.dll”
– if that dosnt doest work, look through any other file in the game folder that contains “d3d9.dll”, proceed as above file by file.
– dont hexedit the reshade files, but if the game doesnt run, go through those as well.Some games refer to the windows/system32 or syswow folders only, as a last chance put reshades “r3d9.dll” there (DONt overwrite any d3d9.dll !! )
We use this trick with DGVoodoo2 and certain DX9 games sometimes and it works well.(most of the time)
Make shure you dont break any laws by doing the above.
Even more important: make sure to not break the game doing that. :)
There is a reason why vorpX complains when a d3d9/10/11 DLL is found in the game directory and the reason is that vorpX usually hooks into the same functions that the replacement DLLs hook into, pretty much a recipe for disaster.
Your dgVoodoo d3d9 to 11 case is special in that regard since dgVoodoo hooks D3D9 here while vorpX hooks into the D3D11 portion of dgVoodoo, so no potential for a direct conflict.
In the common case of the replacement DLL hooking the same functions as vorpX the potential for fatal conflicts is much higher. Hence the warning.
Didn’t even realize I de-railed the thread here… Sorry about that. To the OP… I’m also a long time 3D Vision user… VORPX is definitely worth getting. Many years ago I was only able to get it to work with a few games but these days I am finding it invaluable.
Anytime you want to really immerse yourself completely inside the game, at the expense of some visual fidelity, VORPX does the trick. Seems most games now support proper 3D and thanks to the awesome user base, you can often find a custom profile for the game your looking at.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.