vorpX 21.3.5 Available Now

[Ralf]

23/07/27
vorpX 21.3.5 has been released

This is a maintenance release that mainly fixes a severe issue caused by recent nVidia drivers.

• New method to apply automated game settings. Fixes many DirectVR profiles that include automatic game settings optimization being broken with nVidia drivers newer than February 2023.
• Comes with all profile updates since the last regular vorpX update compiled in the installer for convenience.
• Various smaller fixes.

22/02/08
vorpX 21.3.2 has been released

This is a small in-between-updates-update(tm) with the changes below:

• TrackIR head tracking can now be configured to not disable mouse emulation tracking entirely. Makes head tracking work with TrackIR in Farming Simulator 22 both on foot and in vehicles.
• New profile: Farming Simulator 22: G3D, FullVR, DirectVR features: auto settings, FOV setup, TrackIR head tracking (has to be enabled in the game options).
• New profile: Dying Light 2 (DX12 only!): Z3D, FullVR, DirectVR features: auto settings, FOV setup, memory scanner head tracking.
• Kingdom Come Deliverence: on horse camera centering disabled automatically for better comfort.

21/10/23
vorpX 21.3.1 has been released

Every now and then it’s time for a bit of spring cleaning, occasionally even in late October. ;) That’s what this maintenance release is about: lots of annoyances and uncritical bugs fixed, also some minor improvements. Some things you may have noticed, others you probably haven’t. Reasonably complete changelog below:

Improved/Fixed

• Improved: Smarter profile merging during database updates.
• Improved: Minor config app layout modernization.
• Improved: Hooking conflict warning shown as overlay if hooking isn’t prevented.
• Improved: Revised DXGI hooking.
• Fixed: DirectVR scanner start via keyboard shortcut could fail (e.g. Borderlands 3).
• Fixed: Some settings in the vorpX menu didn’t update properly occasionally.
• Fixed: Resident Evil 2 FOV mod UI (and probably other mod UIs) weren’t visible.
• Fixed: User shader definitions for official profiles were removed during update.
• Fixed: Pixelated cinema/immersive screen with ‘Generic VR Headset’ device.
• Fixed: Installing hook helpers could fail occasionally if requiring admin rights.
• Fixed: DX12 settings weren’t handled correctly during database updates.
• Fixed: DX11: switching to/from highest Clarity could occasionally crash some games.
• Fixed: DX9: some vorpX UI elements drawn out of place under some circumstances.
• Fixed: vorpControl didn’t exit cleanly when switching from admin to non-admin.
• Fixed: Waiting for dialog confirmations wasn’t reliable under some circumstances.
• Various other small fixes/improvements and some internal refactoring.

Profile Changes/Fixes

• Quake 4: fix for blurry textures on modern GPUs added to DirectVR auto settings.
• Metro Exodus: a bunch of additional shadow shaders defined.
• Borderlands 3: More reliable hooking, DirectVR tracking added, defaults fixed.
• Fallout 4: hang on launch when run fullscreen in Generic 3D/headset mode.
• Elder Scrolls Online: HUD shader definition fixed for latest game version.
• Halo MCC: CE: DirectVR Weapon Hide added, G3D fixed for latest game version.
• Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon: DX11 .exe detection fixed for latest game version.

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21/10/04
vorpX 21.3.0.1 has been released

This is a hotfix that addresses the issue below, no other changes.

• Switching between Z3D and G3D could cause a garbled image under some circumstances.

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21/09/30
vorpX 21.3.0 has been released

This update mainly adds AMD FidelityFX upscaling/sharpening during the headset render stage of vorpX for a crisper final image. Note that FidelityFX works kind of the other way around than it does usually in games. Instead of rendering a game at a lower resolution to gain performance, vorpX uses the method to improve the image clarity while rendering the game at the same resolution as before.

Also two new game profiles have been added: F1 2021 and Deathloop

FidelityFX is enabled per default and can be configured further on the ‘Image’ page of the vorpX menu with the ‘Clarity’ option. The sharpening algorithm is on per default, the other two components of the method (improved upscaling and texture detail enhancement) can be enabled in addition. Note that texture detail enhancement is not available for every game.

Clarity Off vs. Full (Skyrim SE at 1440p game resolution):

Full Changelog:

Improved/Fixed:

• AMD FidelityFX upscaling/sharpening for a crisper final image. Note that this does not improve performance per se since the game is still rendered at its original resolution. Instead you get get a crisper image in the headset from the same game resolution.
• FluidSync can now be configured to cap the frame rate at either half or third the headset refresh rate on devices with a 90Hz refresh rate or more.
• VR Controllers could not be used as gamepad in GTA V and Red Dead Redemption II while no actual gamepad was connected.
• EdgePeek requests handled differently in GTAV/RDRII connection mods. (Hopefully) resolves issues with EdgePeek staying enabled although it shouldn’t.
• Some potential exit crashes prevented.
• GTA V could crash on load while VR controllers are connected.
• Injection didn’t work correctly on Windows 7 anymore.

New Profiles:

• F1 2021: Z3D/FullVR, DirectVR: auto settings, tracking
• Deathloop: Z3D/FullVR, DirectVR: auto FOV and settings

[Laser]

Tested clarity fx in few games, works as I expected. Handy for heavier games to drop down a resolution and get the performance boost that way. Thanks for the update! I will propably use the medium and full option, didn´t seem to oversharpen on my Reverb G2.

[mr_spongeworthy]

Thank you Ralf! This is a significant improvement in clarity. I’ve only spent a few minutes with it in CP77 so far, but with max sharpening things look much better at moderate or lower native game resolutions than before. I’ve seen a little texture shimmering here and there, but I haven’t played with it long enough to see if that’s related to other settings.

Thank you again, this really makes a huge difference, especially for those of us who prefer a really crisp display.

[moarveer]

Can’t wait to try this out, sadly I won’t be able to check it out until weekend, also Deathloop fullvr profile is a fantastic addition, thanks Ralf as always for a fantastic update.

[dellrifter22]

Glad i got a chance to check this out tonight, before I’m out of town for a week. Thanks.

Initial impressions are that it looks pretty good (much clearer than previous vorpX defaults) although noticeably softer than I’m used to at max sharpen. 2.0 on this filter seems about as strong as 1.0 of the old. I think the new combination has a more natural “smooth” look, perhaps more stable and more accurate, but I may still prefer the old method with Sharpen 2.0 and Crystal image Normal.

The old filter seems to have a higher contrast defining edges, adding more black to contour lines and textures, in turn making the overall scene look slightly more complex. It’s subtle effect, but adds just enough to better discern objects in the distance, like individual trees and their leaves, and makes terrain textures look slightly more detailed – even if artificially. Text lines are also better defined. I’m using Assassin’s Creed Origins/Odyssey as test cases for high res Z3D 3200×2880.

At least these are my observations off the bat. I know it’s subjective, and most will prefer a more accurate image, free of artifacts, but just thought I’d mention this opinion in case there were some way to extend the range of the new sharpen, or include the old filters as alternatives.

Anyhow, I look forward to playing more with this when I return. Thanks.

[Ralf]

Theoretically it would have been possible to combine the FidelityFX high quality sampling with vorpX’s original sharpening, but in the end a few small nuances made me lean against that.

My original custom sharpen method had a heavily fine tuned edge detection that focused on edges while not entirely leaving out areas with less contrast. The AMD sharpening also tries to find a balance between both, but uses a different approach.

I did a lot of back and forth testing and my conclusion was that the AMD sharpening sometimes provides the more balanced overall output, hence it won in the end. Considering that the main selling point of the AMD sharpening is its ability to enhance fine structures without oversharpening, my original custom method comes extremely close, I literally spent days finetuning the edges vs. fine structures balance when I implemented it originally. So it wasn’t an easy decision to ditch it, really just nuances that made me lean towards replacing it in the end.

[RJK_]

Very well done Ralf !

To me the new filter makes distant objects more detailed and a little less sharp on close objects compared to the old one, but the overall view is definately better to many degrees. Way less artifacts compared to the old filter. Hair also looks more detailed now. (Fallout 4)

Then i freaked out on Fallout 3. Using a good texture pack and the new sharpening feature insanely boosts the image quality to an never before known state. Perhaps the new filter has even more impact on older games then expected.

Interesting detail about my Vive Pro. VorpX now seems to almost wipe out the screendoor effect. At least i had that impression on Fallout 3, i was trying so hard to find my pixels , but i just couldn find any. The image was “too clear” for it :-)

[dellrifter22]

I agree that the overall image appears more balanced and easy on the eyes, although by that same nature it can feel a bit flatter. I guess I’m just used to the oversharpen by now :) and think it still has it’s own benefits.

Is there some way I can enable and test with the og sharpen, via some external ini perhaps?

[Ralf]

No, sorry. I have considered that, but overall the all AMD solution is the better one. Trust me, I didn’t make that descision lightheartedly.

I understand that occasionally it can be a bit of a nuisance to get used to some detail that is slightly different than before, but in this case having to maintain two things in parallel would have so little benefit that I decided to keep it simple instead. It’s just a new sharpening algorithm after all, others force a whole new OS user experience upon you every five years. ;)

[dellrifter22]

That is understandable. Thanks for the responses.

[markab10]

does it work with the oculus quest 2

[steph12]

i like this new clarity fx feature, my games seem crisper, well done Ralf !
Thank you for improving VorpX and glad to see 2 new profiles !

[Ovo]

This update erased my (and my friend’s) custom shader tweaking. At least on Rocket League.

By the way, you could fix that game for everyone: about every arena has some light with incorrect stereo, you have to go through each arena in freeplay mode and set those lights to No stereo 3D. There’s also one at the beginning of a boost (if the car was halted), hit escape to pause so you can fix it.

[dlrjajdlfo]

Is there any way to prevent automatic updates?

The profile that I spent a lot of time making using the shader authoring tool was reset.

Again I have to spend a lot of time. This makes me uncomfortable.
It is unreasonable in some cases to force an update when there are no complaints about the current version of vorpx.

As always I appreciate your efforts and respect you, but I hope this will be fixed

[Ralf]

Sorry guys. There seems to be some bug since ages that I just can’t wrap my head around. The bug occasionally makes the profile database update fail for unknown reasons, resulting in a reset of all custom profiles and settings. There are already a bunch of safety measures in place during the database update, but apparently there is still some issue that I can’t replicate here.

If you have profiles/settings that you spent a lot of time on, please upload them to the cloud, so you can redownload them later in case something goes wrong. Would be great anyway since that way others could also try them. If you don’t want to upload them to the cloud, you can alternatively make local backups in the config app, either with the ‘Export to file’ button or via drag/drop to the desktop.

@ Ovo: If you have improvements like that for an official profile, it would be great if you could send me a mail with a backup of your settings (see above) to support at vorpx com, that way I could easily intergrate them into the official version.

[Author]

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