The new version of VorpX, the 3D driver that lets you play non-VR games on your Oculus Rift, has just been released and it adds early support for the DK2, Geometry 3D support for DirectX 11 games and positional tracking for Skyrim.
VorpX Adds Early Oculus Rift DK2 Support and Much More
Watching the dawn of the new VR revolution is never anything less than fascinating; the sheer level of creative output seen since the Oculus Rift DK1 launch last year has been staggering. But, until a commercial product is released, triple A gaming titles with virtual reality support are somewhat thin on the ground. VorpX allows you to play many of your favourite games in VR in full stereoscopic 3D with head tracking using your Oculus Rift DK1 and DK2.
The latest version of VorpX has just been released and it brings with it some exciting new features. One of the biggest feature additions, for Oculus Rift DK2 owners at least, is initial and early support for their shiny new VR headset, meaning you can now play games supported by the driver in 1080p and on that glorious OLED panel, a huge visual upgrade—especially for those jumping up from their old DK1.
Another big feature addition is brand new support for full Stereoscopic Geometry 3D with a collection of DirectX 11 based games—a feature previously restricted to DirectX 9 games. This means that the likes of Bioshock: Infinite, F1:2013, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution with more convincing 3D depth, much closer to that you might experience in a made-for-vr game in fact. More games with DX11 G3D will follow. The video above gives you a glimpse of what Bioshock: Infinite is like with DK2 and G3D support.
Oculus Rift DK2 Positional Tracking (Alpha)
And as we highlighted recently, the latest version of VorpX also adds DK2 positional tracking to the incredible Elder Scrolls IV: Skyrim, meaning you can now lean in and out of the game just by moving your head. Peering around corners and more closely at signs and fine detail is especially cool, and adds a more natural sense of immersion to the experience. Currently this feature is in alpha and restricted to Skyrim, with the hope of more titles to be added soon.
Apply Optimal Game Configs From VorpX Control Panel
The whole point of VorpX is that you’re adding VR support to a game that currently has none. This often means, in order to get the optimal experience from the game in question, you’ll need to dive into config files to tweak settings such as FOV. The forthcoming version of VorpX contains a feature to apply the most common of these settings from the VorpX configuration utility. A good example is Mirror’s Edge (2008), which requires key bindings in order to switch the in-game FOV. Select the game profile within VorpX’s control panel, hit apply and those settings are automatically engaged for you with no requirements for digging around in your profile directories. This is great user experience enhancement and once that will hopefully save a lot of scratched heads and frustration.
All The New Features at a Glance
They’re the headline additions, but here’s the full list of features available in the latest edition of VorpX:
- Initial (Alpha) DK2 support
- Positional Tracking (Skyrim only for now, more to follow)
- G3D11 Geometry 3D (Bioshock: Infinite, F1:2013, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, more to follow)
- Game settings optimizer (supporting ~15 games for now, more to follow)
- More than 50 smaller bugfixes and enhancements, among them latency improvements, DK2 black smear fix, and easier setup
- 15 Additional games including: F1:2013 (G3D/Z3D), FEAR1+2 (G3D/Z3D), Gone Home (G3D), Thief [2014] (Z3D), Space Engineers (G3D/Z3D), The Stanley Parable (G3D/Z3D)
Where to Buy vorpX
You can buy VorpX through our affiliate portal.
Note For Existing Customers
If vorpX does not download the update when starting vorpX Control, it has to be updated manually. This can be done very easily by executing the web installer that was downloaded when vorpX was purchased. It will fetch the latest version that is available on the server.
Full Disclosure: Road to VR has an affiliate agreement with VorpX.
