VorpX now available for the Vive. Disappointing!

[Cyrix]

VorpX just released their first version with Vive support today so I decided to try it out. For those who don't know, it hooks into the rendering process in non-VR 3D games to add partial VR support to those games (the primary target is first-person shooters). The degree of VR support you get depends on the game; some have stereo 3D and head tracking while others might only have 2D. Many games are only partially supported or don't work at all. Since this is a $40 investment, I thought I'd report my experience.

Vive support is currently "beta" right now, but I don't know exactly what that means or what might change in the next few updates.

VorpX has a virtual desktop environment, but it doesn't work correctly if you have more than one monitor connected to your computer, so it was completely useless for me.

The first game I tried was Knights of the Old Republic. KotOR uses the "cinema" mode in VorpX, which means that you watch the game on a giant 3D monitor in a virtual lounge. Unlike any of the virtual screen apps available on Steam (e.g. Virtual Desktop, MyDream Swift) the game is actually 3D and the experience is similar to seeing a 3D-movie at the theater or playing on a (room-sized) Nintendo 3DS. This was a pretty cool experience and my only problem with it is that alt-tabbing or clicking certain VorpX dialogs caused the game to crash (also, that in-game movies don't appear in the headset).

Next I tried Portal 2. My experience with P2 was very frustrating and disappointing. When I started the game, the menu was much larger than my field of view, and the menu was attached to my head so that even if I turned I couldn't see the buttons on the left to click them. My understanding is that there is an "edge peek" feature to let you turn your head to look at the corners of the screen, but instead I toggled on the Cinema mode so that I could see the full screen, and started a level from there.

In non-cinema mode the FOV was much too small; I couldn't find an FOV slider in Portal 2's settings, so I adjusted the FOV in the VorpX settings. This caused some visual glitches - objects near the edges of my view would flicker in and out of existing since Source's culling algorithms didn't know that my FOV was that high. Image quality after adjusting the FOV in VorpX was terrible, everything aliased and blurry. I tried zooming out the image in the VorpX settings, but then I could see the edges of the screen and the culling problems were more obvious. As far as looking VorpX around, VorpX translates your head movements into mouse movements to let you look around wtih your head, although you'll need to fine-tune the sensitivity. However, there is no head roll support in P2, which bothered me so much I preferred looking around with my mouse. Overall, I was really disappointed with the experience and ended up switching over to Cinema mode again, which wasn't as immersive but didn't have any quality problems and makes more sense when you're aiming with the mouse. I'm guessing with enough work you could get Portal 2 to work pretty well, but without head-roll support I don't think it's worth the effort. On the plus side, Portal 2 didn't make me instantly motion sick like I had expected. although I moved very cautiously because I got very very very sick trying out Windlands a few days ago.

Next I decided to try a MOBA. It turns out that neither DOTA 2 or Heroes of the Storm is supported at all; if you launch them they don't even show up in the headset.

I looked through the list of supported games and picked out Metro 2033 and Vermintide to test out next. Since both are officially supported by VorpX, I was able to apply recommended settings profiles before launching them. However, both games crash when I launch them with VorpX enabled, so I wasn't able to actually test either one.

Overall my experience with VorpX has been very disappointing. Two of the four officially supported games I tried wouldn't even start, and Portal 2 was frustrating to configure and never worked the way I wanted it to. Hopefully some of these issues will be ironed out as the developer enhances support for the Vive, but if my experience with Portal 2 is anything to go by, you'll have to do a lot of manual setup for each game you want to try, unless you play everything in the cinema mode. Overall, I wouldn't recommend VorpX to any but the most diehard of gamers who aren't prone to motion sickness and don't mind spending a lot of time tinkering with settings.

[Polytricktian]

Thanks for this review. I am very disappointed to hear about the issues with portal 2.
Portal 2 is what I am looking forward to the most. Let's just hope that there will be patches that will address these issues.... Soon!!!

[Red Hayek]

I managed to get Metro Last Light working by running everything as admin. Maybe the same would work for 2033? The game itself works fairly well in VR and doesn't give me nausea; if I want to feel sick I'll play Toy Plane Heroes...

[40+]

"Mydream Swift" is available through steam. It is a similar product to VorpX but they are still working some kinks out.

[Cyrix]

引用自 pfrances：

"Mydream Swift" is available through steam. It is a similar product to VorpX but they are still working some kinks out.

Yeah, they sure have been pimping themselves heavily on this forum. However, their tool doesn't offer stereo 3D in non-VR games.

[r0setta_st0ned]

Dont buy this product. It does not work. Its a total waste of money. The support is garbage. If you havs an htc vive you will be throwing your money away.

[TRON]

I agree as Vorpx is a waste of money for games not ment for VR. Fallout being one of the biggest disappointments. I tried it with Mirrors edge also and things just dont seem like they do in real VR titles.

[zentric egg]

Vorpx is excellent for what it brings. The experience does vary with games and that isn't down to vorpx. Skyrim looks and plays very well. CSGO also. Serious Sam 3 is a lot of fun. Metro 2033 and LL are awful. The entirely negative rant here must have been written by a teen.

[zentric egg]

引用自 Rosetta_Stoned：

Dont buy this product. It does not work. Its a total waste of money. The support is garbage. If you havs an htc vive you will be throwing your money away.

I have Vorpx and HTC Vive. I understand how to use vorpx and what it brings. I'm not a numpty with unreasonable expectations.

[zentric egg]

引用自 pfrances：

"Mydream Swift" is available through steam. It is a similar product to VorpX but they are still working some kinks out.

Yes like no stereoscopic support......... duh.

[zentric egg]

引用自 Shotgun Selfie：

Thanks for this review. I am very disappointed to hear about the issues with portal 2.
Portal 2 is what I am looking forward to the most. Let's just hope that there will be patches that will address these issues.... Soon!!!

Actually the issues with portal 2 are down to poor game coding. Rendering shadows in 2d rather than proper 3d (that's lazy coding a lot of developers used to do). That's changing now as we have 3d engines like Unity, Unreal and Cryengine that bring proper stereoscopic support.

[Cyrix]

Thank you for your helpful and informative posts. Please continue to dazzle us with your wit and insight.

[Cyrix]

The thing is that you're in here throwing a tantrum and throwing around insults because someone insulted your favorite toy. All you're doing is making yourself look like an obnoxious, rabid fanboy.

[rujoking]

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only person who's had a negative experience with vorpX. I was a bit suprised at how queasy I got playing Mirror's Edge because I almost never get anything approaching motion sickness; I seriously had to quit after about five minutes just so I wouldn't vomit. And considering that was one of the games listed on the vorpX site as being fully supported, I'm not looking forward to trying to configure something like Dirt Rally that isn't on the list.

引用自 Pie Face Poo Face：

The thing is you're here posting bitter drivel because your favourite toys didn't play well on vorpx therefore vorpx isn't worth buying.

Miserable noob.

Your opinion has been noted.

[WarMachine]

In my experience, if you want to have an enjoyable VorpX game play, don't play new games. I find my 970 maxes out in Fallout NV in medium settings and no visual mod. This isn't VorpX's fault, the game has to be rendered twice, so in any game expect a drop of 30% to 60% from max. From what I hear the 980 is about as good with Skyrim. But, I've had enjoyable and immersive Fallout VR play sessions.

引用自 rujoking：

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only person who's had a negative experience with vorpX. I was a bit suprised at how queasy I got playing Mirror's Edge because I almost never get anything approaching motion sickness; I seriously had to quit after about five minutes just so I wouldn't vomit. And considering that was one of the games listed on the vorpX site as being fully supported, I'm not looking forward to trying to configure something like Dirt Rally that isn't on the list.

Your getting sick because it isn't motion sickness your getting, it's simulator sickness. Usually because the locomotion is too fast. But mirrors edge is a fast paces game, as slowing the game down to a manageable speed would have messed up the game mechanics. In FONV there are plenty of mods to help with this, but with Mirrors Edge you just kinda have to suffer through it.

[zentric egg]

I get no motion sickness with mirrors edge or any other game. I have an idea it's down to poor spacial awareness with the percentage who get dizzy and sick.