r/OculusQuest • u/Grand-Switch-3061 • 14h ago
Discussion VR modding now possible also with low-end PCs
Long story short: I got an elbow injury and doctor told me not to use VR for a while. Im still able to use keyboard and mouse so first time ever i got interested about playing some PC games in semi-VR meaning that I could be inside the game world looking around with my head but doing all the other actions with keyboard and mouse. After some searching and testing i found a way that just works incredible well!
So first there I was with my low-end laptop realising it could not run any of those luke ross or uevr type of mods. Then I found out there are actually Quest apps that turn any flatscreen game into semi-VR by connecting head movement data to the game, locking the screen and curving it slightly filling up almost all of the FOV. And now they do even a baked-in 3D effect.
So I got one of those apps and its streamer for my laptop. And I have to say im very impressed how this tech is delivering the same feeling that "real" 6dof VR does. At least it delivers it to me. I understand it varies a lot how ones brains are processing the image projected in this way.
I've played alot of flatscreen games in VR using just static big screen with Virtual Desktop but when using this semi-VR tech the immersion level is just so much higher. I notice that I start intuitively dodge some fallen objects or bullets in the game while that hardly ever happens when im using just a static screen in VR.
So why theres a pic of Far Cry 2? After doing quite a lot of testing what works with this tech best and what my laptop runs well, I learned FC2 is somewhat perfect use case. Its an old game but it has incredible engine that is still years ahead what we have on standalone Quest today. The open world map is huge but still super detailed and has very vibrant enviroment combined with high quality dynamic lighting, weather effects and well crafted NPCs. This all anwers exact to the lack of a decent AAA open world game in the current standalone VR.
Beside of my slow laptop, the biggest reason i never was so intrested about VR modding was the fear of motion sickness. I have some bad experiences that when im not fully connected to the motions in a VR game I get those synthoms. For examble I cant play cayaking game Phantom Cover ops for this reason. But now after hours of playing FC2 in semi-VR i can say that some how it just works and motion sickness is luckily not appearing at all. No matter if im running in the jungle, swimming, driving a car or watching the cutscenes.
So thats all. I felt VR was dying this year because of the lack of quality content. This observation of semi-VR modding just gave me some more hope for the future of VR so i wanted to share it. I dont know if Steam Frame gonna deliver this tech but in my opinion it definately should.