Latest VorpX Adds Oculus Rift CV1 Support, HTC Vive Support “Planned”

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Apr 10, 2016

The latest release of VorpX, the VR injection driver that lets you play your favourite non VR games in VR, is here and it brings support for the consumer edition (CV1) Oculus Rift.

It’s hard to believe VorpX, the injection driver which adds virtual reality support to gamed with none, saw its first release way back in September 2013 for the Oculus Rift DK1. An impressive piece of software back then has evolved to a formidable and feature rich application today, enabling VR modes for some 150+ games.

See Also: Oculus Rift Review: Prologue to a New Reality — See Also: Oculus Rift Review: Prologue to a New Reality

Now, version 16.1 of VorpX is with us, and hits a major milestone in its development as it brings support for the first commercially available consumer grade VR headset, the Oculus Rift CV1, which was launched (less that gloriously) on March 28th. The new version now supports 150 games with full stereoscopic 3D support.

What’s more, this latest release brings with it a community feature to help people get the most from VorpX; shareable profiles. Any custom profiles for any game can be shared, which means less manual tweaking for VorpX users going forward.

See Also: HTC Vive Review: A Mesmerising VR Experience, if You Have the Space — See Also: HTC Vive Review: A Mesmerising VR Experience, if You Have the Space

VorpX author Ralf Ostertag has stated that support for the Valve engineered HTC Vive VR system – which launched on April 5th (also with issues) is also “planned”, although no hint of a timeline just yet.

If you already own VorpX, the latest version should download and install automatically. If you don’t, you can grab a copy over at our affiliate page here, supporting Road to VR in the process.

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Please bear in mind the following notes from the author should you run into troubles updating VorpX:

Important note for vorpX owners:

vorpX will only auto update if you have the Oculus runtime 0.8 running. vorpX 0.9.1 cannot start otherwise and initiate the auto update! If you already installed runtime 1.3, please try this:

Workaround 1: Use your web installer to install 16.1.1 manually
Workaround 2: Use the runtime switcher linked here to allow 0.8 run side by side with 1.3:

If the runtime switcher does not help and you don’t have your web installer anymore, please contact support |at| vorpx com.

jlschmugge

Yay VorpX! My Rift Preorder is still a long time coming, but I hope this program continues to do well, as developers nowdays are scared to make traditional games in VR, and the HMD manufacturers refuse to support it. VorpX fills a gaping hole in the VR industry.
Bryan Ischo

I had a poor experience worth Vorpx – bought specifically to pay one game on its supported games list that never worked. Developer acknowledged that it didn’t work but still never took the game off the supported list. At least the refund I requested was honored.
- Albert Walzer
  
  care to elaborate on the game? And god please don’t say alien isolation :D (cant get it to run anymore since 1.3)
  - Bryan Ischo
    
    It was The Talos Principle, which in theory had VR support already, but at the time SteamVR wasn’t working very well with the DK2. evrydayvr had made the game look really good in his videos and I wanted to try it, and VorpX seemed like the only way to get VR working for that game. VorpX never produced anything other than a black screen though and I tried to get help on the VorpX forums. I was eventually told that “the next release” would have support but after waiting 6 weeks and with very little feedback from the developer, leading to a lack of confidence in my part that it was ever really going to happen, I started a refund process via PayPal. What really bugged me is that despite The Talos Principle being confirmed as nonworking by the developer, they never removed it form their supported games list, even when I pointed out to them that they were still listing that nonfunctioning game as supported.
    
    I have since gotten The Talos Principle to work in SteamVR, some more recent update made the DK2 happier, but getting the resolution and frame rate right took an incredible amount of fiddling and in the end, I lost interest. Haven’t even played it after all that :(
    - Raphael
      
      I got talos principle to work without vorpx but the experience was so bad it’s not worth the effort. The game is so dark it looks like night and the brightness control has no effect. There are many games that work very well on vorpx so buying it just for Talos was a dumb move.
      - Bryan Ischo
        
        “There are many games that work very well on vorpx so buying it just for Talos was a dumb move.”
        
        OK that’s a bit insulting and very egotistical. The insulting part is insinuating that it was dumb to buy a product for a specific purpose that the product was advertised as fulfilling. In this case, I was happy to pay $40 (or whatever VorpX cost at the time) for the ability to play The Talos Principle. There is nothing dumb about that.
        
        The egotistical part is assuming that your own personal motives for buying the product must also be the same as everyone else’s, otherwise they are “dumb”.
        
        I have seen quite a lot of ego from you in your posts on this form. I think you will have a happier life if you learn some humility and stop acting like you know better for everyone else than they know for themselves.
      - Raphael
        
        The reason it’s dumb is because Vorpx doesn’t give native VR quality… So that outlay just for one game is bizarre. Vorpx has a lot to offer beyond that one game. The virtual theater mode is great.
        
        You got a refund on a product that’s actually very good. Just because of one average game. That’s dumb. I’m not bothered if you find that offensive. It’s just my opinion.
      - Bryan Ischo
        
        It’s not dumb because I don’t care about or want the other features that VorpX offered. What is dumb is continuing this pointless conversation however. So, goodbye.
      - Raphael
        
        That one game not working was your karma for failing to appreciate the great features vorpx has. See you later dude.
      - Steven L.
        
        So you’re cooling with companies promising something but then not actually delivering on that promise. Cool, good to know.
      - Raphael
        
        In general no. But your case is extreme to say the least. You were totally obsessed with one game and bought vorpx just for that one game. Most people who buy vorpx want to experience a whole lot of games. I found myst v didn’t work for me with it last year. Wasn’t a problem.. Plenty of other games work very well. Tried myst v on vorpx a few weeks ago and it works now.
        
        I played the talos principle with the experimental built in vr working. It was a disappointment. The image was dark and adjusting brighntess made no different.
        
        Alien isolation works better for me with vorpx than it does with the built in experimental vr.
TaxPayer

How is this? Fallout 4 in vr? Seams too good to be true…
- Raphael
  
  Fallout 4 is very impressive on Vorpx. Some games look better than others with emulated VR… Metro 2033 and Last Light don’t look too great but Skyrim and Fallout 4 seem to work much better. Overall vorpx is very good and certainly much more capable than the free alternative I tried.
  - TaxPayer
    
    What does it look like though? MAN I NEED TO SEE VR SO I CAN UNDERSTAND, lol i really hope they setup demos at bestbuy soon or i can snag a DK2 from someone for cheap.
    - Raphael
      
      VR is pretty much like a star trek holodeck without the physical touch element (that will come later). When you put wear Oculus or Vive you are in that game world. Everywhere you look… life-size 3d graphics. Some people make a big deal about the screen resolution but what you lose in pixel res more than makes up by being in that game world. I bought my DK2 from a friend who has pre-ordered CV1. I also have CV1 and Vive on pre-order but I will cancel one when the other ships (whichever comes first).
      
      There is an increasingly common feeling among VR users that they no longer want to play games without it. I am one of those people.
      - TaxPayer
        
        I had a feeling that would happen, i almost have that feeling just reading so much about it.
        
        how big of a difference in your opinion is the Dk2 to the Cv1 ?
        
        thanks for telling me about the life size part, puts it into more of a perspective.
        
        Man i cant wait to try this….
      - Raphael
        
        It’s not a massive leap between DK2 and CV1 but the upgrade is still worthwhile if you can afford it. The difference isn’t great enough to make DK2 redundant. DK2 will still offer good VR and usable with Oculus home and CV1 games for another year hopefully. A used DK2 at half the cost of CV1 would still be a good purchase.
      - yag
        
        Dunno, DK2 is really too uncomfortable for long sessions. I would go for psvr or gear vr instead.
      - Raphael
        
        Eh? Uncomfortable for long sessions? I’ve used it for many hours on a daily basis and have no discomfort.
      - yag
        
        Well having all the weight on the front is more or less bearable depending of the shape of your face. Vive has the same problem, that’s why people find it often less comfortable than CV1 (except for big heads).
      - Raphael
        
        I keep reading that Vive is heavy and that CV1 is heavier than DK2. Some people say that DK2 gave them broken necks and all kinds of other issues so I’m always skeptical when people complain about weight. None of my VR using friends have had issues with the weight of DK2.
        
        The only concern I have about the Vive is that I read from one user that the hard head straps can be sore above the ears. General consensus is that CV1 is more comfortable than Vive and better for long play sessions.
      - Johnny Virgil
        
        Broken necks? They must be bobbleheads who would become fatigued by wearing a hat.
      - Raphael
        
        I agree. Only bobbleheads would have this kind of problem. Bobbleheads have neck problems even after wearing woolly hats.
      - Robert Jenkins
        
        Wuh? Gear is uncomfortable and is hardly what I’d call good vr. Psvr is unproven
mellott124

Glad Vorpx is here so I can play Skyrim on my CV1. Needs some tweaking to get head tracking to be smooth but looks great otherwise.
- yag
  
  If it’s just for Skyrim, Vireio has a better support.
  - Raphael
    
    No it doesn’t. Skyrim was unplayable on Virerio when I tried it earlier this year. Shadows at wrong depth, menu text unreadable. Vorpx from version 9 onwards is excellent with Skyrim. It also has far superior tracking that isn’t a pain to setup.
    - yag
      
      Skyrim on vireio was very playable for me (gamepad support and fixed interior shadows were a must), I even made a video then :
      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mPqtTwzXOyg
      Now I grant you that the last version of vorpx supports ATW, but do you know if gamepad is still unsupported ? (Genuine question)
      - Raphael
        
        Based on your video it looks like they fixed the text and menus. Good if they’ve fixed the shadows too. Vireio is free for everyone to try so I guess people can make up their own minds. It used to do that head-tracking scan whenever I went into a game and it always used to fail the test. I’d still have tracking but I forget what the scan was called.
        
        With vorpx there isn’t any of that scanning. The games just work. Another thing I found really annoying with Vireio was the very small obscure games list. I’m sure that’s improved now but still not like vorpx. It’s also great having the virtual theater mode for games and videos. Image quality with version 9 onwards is significantly improved as well.
        
        I’ve used controller with skyrim and vorpx.
      - Pennywise The Dancing Clown
        
        How did you make controller/vorpX work? Some controller features work, but L1/R1 are being used for Block/Attack, and L2/R2 appear to function awkwardly, as well as not being able to lower weapons, etc. The jolting vorpx menu that continues to pop up makes me nauseous but I can’t seem to find a fix.
    - Enverex
      
      Just tried it using a 980Ti and I get barely 20FPS and the head-tracking is off. Not quite what I was expecting.
      - Raphael
        
        Vorpx?
      - Enverex
        
        Yes.
      - Stephen Cook
        
        Same here. Unsure what thats about. Maybe a 980ti thing?
Ian Shook

This doesn’t work with production software, does it? Like 3DSmax? etc?
yag

Bought vorpx in the first days but didn’t used it too much (vireio is better for Skyrim). Until GTA5, which works pretty great with vorpx + a few VR mods.
- Raphael
  
  In the early days you were right. Vorpx latest far outperforms Vereio on games including skyrim. Skyrim is a pretty bad experience with Vereio and one of the better experiences on Vorpx. The 3d looks right, the shadows are at the correct depth, the menus and in game text are easy to read.
Armand Rock

i hope Vive support is coming soon. I have a DK2 but honestly as soon as I get my Vive consumer version i will probably sell the DK2 which means I will lose the ability to play games using Vorpx.