How to play FRONTIERS with the Oculus Rift

This guide was last updated on 9/1/2015 for FRONTIERS v0.4.6 / Oculus SDK v0.5.0.1. This guide only covers setup for Windows. I'll update it for OSX & Linux as I get feedback from players.

Latest Compatibility

9/1/2015 - I'm hearing that the game isn't working with the latest Oculus runtime. Looking into this now & will update soon.

DK1 Configuration

(FRONTIERS VR was developed primarily using the DK1 on Windows 7 64 bit & has been tested with the DK2)

Before you do anything:

• Download & Install the latest Oculus drivers[developer.oculus.com], including the Oculus runtime. (Make sure to run as admin.)
  
• Download the 0.3.2 SDK and extract it somewhere convenient, but don't install anything from it. This SDK contains the latest firmware for the DK1 (0.18rc).

Now that you have the latest drivers & firmware ready:

• Configure Monitors

• Plug in the Rift & connect it to your machine, both USB and HDMI/DVI. If possible, plug the USB cable into a USB 2.0 port connected directly to your motherboard.
  
• Open the Screen Resolution dialog from your Desktop. You should see at leat two monitors available. One should be labeled Rift DK. If you don't see it, skip ahead to troubleshooting.
  
• Choose Extend These Displays and click Apply.
  
• Set the Rift as your 2nd monitor with 1280x800 resolution. Make sure it's set to Landscape.
  
  

  • Configure the Rift

  • Open the Oculus Configuration Utility
    
  • You should see Oculus Rift DK1 Ready. If you see HMD not detected or Tracker not detected, then skip ahead to troubleshooting.
    
  • Open Tools-Advanced->Update Firmware and select RiftTrackerFirmware_v0.18rc.ovrf from the extracted 0.3.2 SDK. It should be in ovr_sdk_win_0.3.2\OculusSDK\Firmware. (If your firmware is already up-to-date the Configuration Utility will tell you so.)
    
  • Open Tools->Rift Display Mode. Set the display mode to Extended and make sure the DK1 legacy support checkbox is checked.
    
    

  • Configure the game

  • Launch the game normally (DON'T use Frontiers_DirectToRift.exe)
    
  • Select your profile and open the Options dialog.
    
  • In the Accessibility section, I strongly recommend that you check the Use Dyslexic Font checkbox. Reading text in the DK1 using the default font can be difficult. Click the Save Changes button to apply the font.
    
  • In the Key Bindings section, if you don't have any custom key bindings, I recommend that you click Reset All button to make sure you're working with the latest setup. Click the Save Changes button to apply the new key bindings.
    
  • In the Video->General section, make sure Full Screen is checked.
    
  • In the Video->Oculus Rift / VR section, you should see an Enable Oculus Mode checkbox. If you see No VR Device Detected, skip ahead to troubleshooting.
    
  • Click the Enable Oculus Mode checkbox.
    
  • Close the dialog. The game will enter Oculus mode.
    
  • Put on your Rift headset - the game should now be visible in the Rift (ie on your 2nd monitor). If it's visible on your primary monitor, Alt+Tab out of the game and use the Screen Resolution dialog to set the Rift to your primary monitor.

DK2 Configuration

Update:

I have tested the game with a DK2 and can confirm that it now works in both Extended and Direct mode with both D3D9 (default) & D3D11. On my setup I experienced the best results with Direct mode using D3D11. You can force FRONTIERS to use D3D11 by creating a shortcut to FRONTIERS_DirectToRift.exe and adding " -force-d3d11" to the target.

Before you do anything:

• Download & install the latest Oculus drivers[developer.oculus.com], including the Oculus runtime. (Make sure to run as admin.)

Now that you have the latest drivers & firmware ready:

• Configure the Rift

• Plug in the Rift & connect it to your machine, both USB and HDMI/DVI. If possible, plug the USB cable into a USB 2.0 port connected directly to your motherboard.
  
• Open the Oculus Configuration Utility
  
• You should see Oculus Rift DK2 Ready. If you see HMD not detected or Tracker not detected, then skip ahead to troubleshooting.
  
• Open Tools-Advanced->Update Firmware and select C:\Program Files (x86)\Oculus\Tools\Firmware\DK2\.
  
• Open Tools->Rift Display Mode. Set the display mode to Direct HMD Access From Apps.
  
  

• Configure the game

• Launch the game using FRONTIERS_DirectToRift.exe (Or your D3D11 shortcut). Don't launch the game using Frontiers.exe when using the DK2 - on my system it has judder.
  
• If you're using extended mode and have trouble getting FRONTIERS to use your primary monitor, create a shortcut & add " -adapter 1" to the target.
  
• Put on your Rift headset - the game should now be visible in the Rift. If it's not, skip ahead to Troubleshooting.
  
• Select your profile and open the Options dialog.
  
• In the Key Bindings section, if you don't have any custom key bindings, I recommend that you click Reset All button to make sure you're working with the latest setup. Click the Save Changes button to apply the new key bindings.

Playing the Game

Controls

Movement Controls: Strafing is disabled in VR mode. To turn left / right, either turn your head or use your left/right movement axis.
Interface Controls: There is no mouse-driven cursor movement in VR mode. You must either use a controller or a keyboard to navigate the interface.

VR Icons

When an interface is open four icons will appear at the bottom of your screen. They control how interfaces are positioned in 3D space. The icons can be selected and clicked like normal buttons. In order from left to right:

• RESET TRACKING: Resets the tracking and the interface orientation in one step.
  
• LOCK TO VIEW: Forces the interface to follow your camera. Activating it sets the interface's offset. You can center the interface with REORIENT.
  
• LOCK TO CURSOR: Keeps the interface centered over your mouse cursor.
  
• REORIENT: Rotates the interface to face the camera.

Troubleshooting

If your Rift isn't being detected:

• Windows Firewall may be blocking the Oculus service. Make sure your rules are up to date.
  
• Logitech Download Manager may be interfering with the Oculus service. Run msconfig.exe and disable it.
  
• Razer peripherals (eg Razer Hydra) may be interfering with the Oculus service. Run msconfig.exe and disable any Razer services or startup programs.
  
• If you're using the DK1 or running the Rift in Extended mode, make sure your monitor setup is actually set to 'Extend these displays.'
  
• Make sure the Rift is plugged into a USB 2.0 port. Plugging it directly into the motherboard is preferable.
  
• This list isn't meant to be comprehensive, it's just the things that I've personally dealt with. This also doesn't cover difficulties on OSX or Linux. I defer to mighty Google for anything I haven't listed.

If you're having trouble configuring monitors or launching the game:

If your Rift is getting detected but you're having trouble getting it set up correctly I recommend trying Bilago's unofficial VR manager / launcher. I haven't used it myself I hear it's magical:
VR Manager forum link (download link in posts)[forums.oculus.com]

If using the DK2 in Extended mode causes a crash

This was still happening occationally (maybe 1 out of 10 times) when using Extended mode in D3D9. When using D3D11, or when I use Direct display mode with either D3D9 or D3D11, I never experienced a crash. Please post a bug report if you're able to reproduce a crash consistently with Extended mode / D3D9 so I can tell people what to avoid.

If your frame rate is too low (<75fps)

FRONTIERS still isn't fully optimized so you're not going to see silky-smooth 75fps on low-end systems. If you're experiencing low frame rates on your system I recommend waiting to play VR until the game has been optimized. For minor frame-rate boosts:

• Check all the VR-specific options in the Video->Oculus Rift / VR section, as well as the Reduce Tree Variation checkbox in the Video->Terrain section.
  
• Turn off Aero theme in Windows (this can actually help a lot)

If none of this helped then I recommend you check out this more detailed troubleshooting guide.[www.ilculto.it]

[Akibajin2081]

Which version of the oculus runtime is this game compatible with. I am looking to feed something nice to my DK2 and It looks like Frontiers might be a nice VR experience. Thanks !