The Vireio community has released version 2.0.6 of the popular driver that allows some non-native games to play on Oculus Rift, and with this version they have fixed an important bug that caused the games to start slowing down due to a memory leak. And for the first time, we have been able to enjoy a practically plug & play experience in Dear Esther or Skyrim.
The release notes for version 2.0.6, which you can download here, are as follows:
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- Fixed memory leak
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- Configurable key for the Disconnected Screen (allows us to use the headtracking to see the edges of the screen, just like VorpX)
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- Added zoom on Offline Screen using absolute positioning
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- Fixed Timewarp bug
We have been able to briefly try Skyrim and Dear Esther and the result has left us very satisfied. Remember that, in the case of these two games, it is not necessary to copy the Vireio DLLs to the game folder, it works as is. In Skyrim, the only thing we had to adjust was the absolute positioning sensitivity, leaving it at 0.3, as well as slightly increasing the scale since it gave the feeling that the world and the characters were somewhat smaller in the account. Adjusting the levels of detail of the game, we have achieved a practically stable 75 fps and the feeling is approaching that of a native experience. If they manage to fine tune the headtracking a little more, which thanks to the Timewarp works much better than before (try pressing Shift + Del to deactivate it and see the difference), and adjust the absolute positioning a little better, which makes strange movements when looking sideways and bending down, the result will border on perfection. We have found a very natural 3D effect, a perfectly scaled and readable hud and an incredibly achieved feeling of immersion. After about 15 minutes of playing we have not detected any performance problems, as happened in the previous version. Only the gigantic hands of our character, which can be adjusted to a certain extent, remind us that we are facing a forced experience using a wrapper.
As for Dear Esther, we don’t know what this game has to offer, but it’s an experience like no other. As in Skyrim, we have adjusted the sensitivity of absolute positioning to 0.3 and also increased the scale a little. For some reason, and we have been observing this for some versions, the first time we start a game the FOV is wrong and it is unplayable when looking at the sides, but it is enough to go back to the main menu and launch the game again so that everything is solved. The headtracking is better than in Skyrim and in our GTX 980 the 75 fps are totally stable, even applying AA and with the detail to the maximum. Playing the fourth episode, the lighthouse, we have come to feel small flashes of presence. As soon as we leave the initial cave and turn right, we begin to notice the strange feeling that we are transported to the place. It must be a mixture of the night lighting, the level of detail of the game and the artistic quality of it that makes us feel at times that we really are there.
We have also had time to try Left 4 Dead 2 and it continues to work quite badly for us, it appears totally out of alignment and it is necessary to modify even the convergence to get to see it correctly. Together we will try to give a review to the rest of the supported games.
