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Problem solved, Steam overlay was the culprit, I disabled it and now it works every time the game is launched, no more freeze…interesting that it worked with Steam overlay for a while, I’m not sure that it won’t happen again, but it looks stable. Hope that helps anyone who encounters this issue.
I played a bit of the first level of Outlast, messed with the in-game Vorpx settings a bit to get the best possible image, decided for Geometry 3D reconstruction and letterbox 2 fov, exited the game to grab some food and now Outlast freezes after displaying the intro images, just before loading the main menu.
I restored the Vorpx profile to default values from Troubleshooting menu, reinstalled the game, deleted the Outlast profile folder, nothing works, freezes every time. The game works on monitor if I exit Vorpx and other games work just fine in VR using Vorpx. Any ideas on what can be done ?
I’m using Vorpx 0.9.1.0, Oculus runtime 0.8.0.0, Windows 10 64bit, Outlast is launched from Steam.
Glad I could help ;) Although for me, setting the IPD to a lower value than default 64 did the trick, setting it higher increased the zoomed-in effect, so yeah maybe it is a vision thing. However, as Ralf said, setting the FOV to 120 or the highest possible value is essential and you have to make sure it is effectively set at 90 or 120 because, as in your Arma 3 case, it may only appear that it is set to 120, but when checking on 2D display it turns out to be the default low FOV.
Regardless how u apply instructions from the Essential Game Hints combined with the IPD setting, a vorpx supported game will always look fine in the end, even better than native ones in some cases, as long as you can manually increase the FOV. But for some games, where FOV can’t be changed or increased to much like BF Hardline, the zoomed in problem can only be diminished using Ralf’s Essential Game Hints, but it’s still there. So that’s why successfully setting the correct FOV value is so important.
I completely agree with this review, it points out the key pros and cons of Vorpx. Also, in a sea of complaints there should be some positive reviews coming from satisfied users. Fortunately, I encountered only one issue with VorpX where it didn’t hook to Metro Last Light but the problem got solved easily with Metro LL Redux version. Except that, all the games ran flawlessly, I finished BF3, BF4, Metro series and Stalker series so far. It has been my dream to be able to play Stalker Misery mod in VR and VorpX made that dream come true. So I have nothing but respect for Ralf and his creation.
Initially I didn’t wanted to give money for a 3-rd party driver so I tried the free Vireio Perception which does a pretty good job for a few games, but has VR boost and user interface issues, frame counter impacts performance heavily etc. But all that only works on nVidia GPUs, I’m an AMD Radeon user and almost every supported game doesn’t hook in VR properly or has severe issues after level or savegame loading. Vireio developers said on reddit that they all have nVidia GPUs and will optimize for AMD in the future. So I had no other choice for playing great non-VR games in VR, other than VorpX. So after days of reading long reviews and watching youtube videos, I decided to purchase VorpX and after 2 months of daily VR gaming my conclusion is: damn was it worth it !
It has a very well made Windows and in-game interface with lots of useful options to set the best possible VR image. And after doing that a few times, it gets very easy and the user can port those settings from one game to the next, making only a few modifications to fine tune the experience. If the VR image is set properly, with best calibration, FOV, aspect ratio, head tracking sensitivity, edge peek screen distance etc, you can obtain a very immersive experience that is way better than playing the game on 2D displays. Most of the games I played were in Z-buffer mode which is a “less 3D” way of experiencing a game, but still 3D enough to perceive the spatial depth of objects. Generally this is the way most games are played in VorpX because only a few are compatible with Geometry 3D. Of course, Geometry 3D is the best way to go, total immersion, feels like a native VR game, but has a higher impact on performance which might be a problem if it’s a demanding next gen game and the GPU and system are not very strong. If you have a high end system, Geometry 3D will not decrease performance in most cases.
If you don’t have an issue with playing a game with mouse and keyboard or controller on DK2, or if you get used to doing that, I see no problem with playing games using VorpX, it feels very professional, the interface doesn’t miss any needed option, it’s easy and intuitive, it is very stable and if the user is lucky enough not to encounter the issues I sometimes read on this forum, then it is worth the price in my opinion, seeing how many AAA games will you be able to play in VR. The only small inconvenience I had throughout these 2 months of VR gameplay was the fact that not all games can be set to move the HUD elements towards the center of the display in order to be visible in DK2 and some games like Fallout 3, Skyrim or Stalker series which have RPG elements (inventory, map, dialogue interface etc) are displaying them in fullscreen which can’t be entirely visualized in VR. In order to bypass this issue, you click the middle mouse (scroll) button to enter Edge Peek mode to view the whole screen like a projection in front of you and look in the corners of the screen using head tracking. And if the text descriptions are too small or some objects are not clearly visible, you can decrease/increase the distance between the Edge Peek screen and your face (Expert options must be enabled). After a few days of use I adjusted to this method just fine, it comes naturally now, so I guess it’s not such a major issue.
In conclusion, if you love VR gaming and can tolerate DK2’s screen door effect, VorpX is the best solution to this date. All it takes is a few tweaks and settings, occasionally using an external FOV tool like Flawless Widescreen and you’re all set. The issues that some users are having with VorpX are generally caused by other software products that interfere/prevent VorpX to function properly or incorrect setup of DK2/games/VorpX. Best way of making a decision is to read as many user experiences and reviews as possible. I for one, am completely satisfied, as it made possible playing my favorite games in VR in a much better way than initially expected. Fully recommended 10/10, kudos to Ralf and any other parties involved in making VorpX.
Well, I took my chances and bought Metro LL Redux on Steam Summer Sale and it paid off cause vorpX hooks up just fine in DX11 mode ;) So for anyone who can’t play Metro LL original in DX11…Metro LL Redux is the solution.
And it looks surprisingly good for Z-buffer, the image quality is much better than Metro 2033, even if it lacks the immersion and depth of DX9’s Geometry 3D.
Thank you for your input grumdark, you pushed me in the right way suggesting Redux version ;)
Thank you for the suggestions, but that is exactly how I set the user.cfg file when I switched to DX11. Despite that, when I launch the game from vorpX created desktop icon or from Steam, I see 2 separate displays each for one eye in 2D environment. Also I have no vorpX ingame menu because it doesn’t hook to DX11. I guess I’m pretty much screwed at this point.
Metro Last Light Redux is now on Steam Summer Sale at -75 % price offer, so it is very attractive :) I would buy it if I was 100 % sure vorpX hooks in DX11 mode, because if it doesn’t, as it happens with Metro Last Light (original), than it’s a waste of money.
DX11 in Z-buffer with higher 3D-strength and FOV adjustments is still pretty good, as I experienced in BF3, BF4 or Stalker Lost Alpha…of course Geometry 3D is way better, but I prefer to play it with reduced 3D immersion in DX11 if there’s no other choice. Is there something special that needs to be done in order to get vorpX to hook in DX11 mode ? Cause I tried everything…
VorpX does not hook to Metro Last Light for me in DX11. It looks like 2 separate monitors and there is no vorpX menu when pressing Del. I launched it directly from Steam and then created a desktop shortcut for MetroLL from vorpX tray icon, switched between “Use system settings” (Rift as primary display) and “Show on Rift DK2” (Rift as secondary display) and get the same result. I also tried all applicable steps from “basic troubleshooting” section of the forum, same result. The only time it worked was on DX9, only once and I had no Geometry 3D option, only Z-buffer, but after I exited and launched the game again I always got the black screen freeze.
I finished Metro 2033 with no problems on DX9 and Geometry 3D so it would be a shame not to be able to continue the saga. I understand that DX9 either triggers the black screen freeze or doesn’t work in Geometry 3D but I want to play it at least in DX11 with Z-buffer. I am on Radeon GPU, latest drivers installed, Oculus runtime 0.5.0.1, Windows 8.1 64bit.
Please help
As I suspected, it differs from game to game and from one 3D reconstruction method to the other (Z-buffer/Geometry 3D). After finishing BF4 campaign, I started setting up Metro 2033 and tried to apply vorpX settings from BF4.
Metro 2033 allows Geometry 3D in DX9 mode, which is a way better 3D reconstruction method than Z-buffer and setting IPD to 60.75 (as in BF4) was completely off, I had a cross-eyed / double image, so I had to re-calibrate and 64 (the default male average) was where I ended up being the best value, as for any native VR supported game. As for the other settings, I had 3D-Strength to 2.00 and 3D FOV Enhancement to 0.30 (besides setting 90 FOV in user.cfg file) and that resulted in a perfect scale / FOV, absolutely no “zoomed-in” effect. No image zoom or 2D FOV Enhancement were required as in BF4’s case.
So having the ideal settings for the best scale / FOV and resolving the “zoomed-in” issue, depends on the game you’re playing, 3D reconstruction method, personal preference and perception. And of course setting the FOV from game’s options (if any) or using an external tool is an absolute must. The fact that vorpX has all these useful options to set the best possible VR image is goddamn amazing! So thank you Ralf ;)
One very important thing regarding the “zoomed in” effect, that almost everyone misses, including me, is calibrating IPD in vorpX’s ingame menu. So do calibrate your IPD following the on-screen instructions, trust me…it does wonders to the resulting image both for FOV and 3D depth and presence feeling.
I tried a few games like Crysis, Fallout 3, BF3, BF4 etc and no matter what methods I used for improving FOV, including FOV enhancement tools and vorpX’s FOV options and zoom, it still felt a bit “zoomed in”, especially on close range objects.
So after finishing the whole BF3 campaign using Flawless Widescreen set to max FOV, Letterbox 1 aspect ratio, 2D FOV-Enhancement and 85 % image zoom, I started BF4 (same settings) which had better 3D definition but after playing for a while, the “zoomed in” feeling became kind of annoying and broke the immersion. Besides that I also got some blurry vision for half an hour after playing, until my eyes readjusted.Then I started messing with Calibrate IPD option from page 2 (display) and found that 64.00 which is the default average for most males was wrong, so I re-calibrated using the on-screen instructions and ended up at 60.75 where the cross was perfectly visible and most clear (I do not suffer from any vision issues, I see very sharp, near and far).I was stunned by the result as the “zoomed-in” issue was completely gone, the FOV was just like as in an Oculus native supported game like Alien Isolation or HL2. I was stunned even more when I instantly noticed a huge improvement to 3D depth, the distance from my face to every object in the 3D environment was very clear which is a huge boost for presence feeling. And after playing for a couple of hours without any pause, when I exited, the blurry vision was greatly diminished and it completely disappeared in 1-2 minutes.
So this is the most important thing to do besides setting the FOV. You might end up higher than me, closer to 62-63…in my case, might be the VR Cover cloth which I applied over the DK2 and puts a bit of higher distance between the lens and the eyes, although the VR native games didn’t gave me any problems with the 64 IPD default setting in Oculus profile. I’m not sure how that is possible, maybe it differs from one game to the next, but the result is amazing ;)
Exactly, grumdark, I remembered that I initially applied Battlefield 4 settings in vorpX’s Games Settings Optimizer after I started playing again but unfortunately I didn’t see any edit option to modify my post, thank you for pointing that out, it’s very useful in order to have visible HUD in VR.
Also, you are right about the MSAA filter, I had it disabled from the start so I didn’t know that. As for black smear I didn’t see any difference whether it was on or off, it may be useful for some.
For anyone trying to play the BF4 campaign with vorpX, in order to reduce the “zoomed in” effect, do this:
1. Install and run Flawless Widescreen (64bit), set path, select Battlefield 4 from the list and turn the slider all the way to the right (higher)
2. Launch BF4 (64bit), load a mission, presc Esc and press Del to access vorpX menu
3. Select page 2 (display) and set Aspect Ratio to Letterbox 1, 2D FOV Enhancement to 1 and Image Zoom to 0.90 (any less then this and you will see screen borders, thus breaking the VR immersion)
4. Enjoy a playable BF4 VR experience ;)The “zoomed in” effect is still there but far less visible, middle range and distant objects appear just fine, only close objects seem zoomed. Oh, and don’t bother using BF4’s in-game FOV sliders from video options, those work only for multiplayer, no effect for campaign mode.
This solution is also applicable to other vorpX compatible games that suffer from limited FOV. They only need to be detected by Flawless Widescreen.