VR Setup (INDEX) and General Diagnostics

Basics in setting up VR for Beam.NG based off my own knowledge using a Valve Index.

Setup using a Valve Index

First, click on the BeamNG play button in steam. Do not open steam VR yet, as this will cause Beamng to natively open using your headset and not allow you to access the preload prompt.

You will then click on the "Vulkan" button, which in its current state is experimental, and contains bugs.

After loading the game up in vulkan mode, you will select your map, and the vehicle you wish to use as if you were normally going to drive in its original mode. You can use your preferred steering method, in this case I use keyboard for this quick tutorial.

Once your map and vehicle have been selected, you will press ESC, and navigate to the OPTIONS tab at the far right of the top of the screen, and click on DISPLAY located on the top of the left options panel.

In DISPLAY, click on the "VIRTUAL REALITY (OpenXR)" Toggle button enabling it to on, or off.

This is where SteamVR should automatically open, detecting your Valve Index. You shouldnt need your controllers unless you are navigating outside the vehicle, but to keep it simple we will stick to the first or third person view of the vehicle. If SteamVR does not automatically open, this is when you should open the program.

BeamNG will automatically detect the Index.

This is a detailed video from another contributor by the name of Ataberk KOÇ, who thankfully has uploaded a visual tutorial explaining everything mentioned above. The video content is theirs, and only used in this guide as a helpful resource.

General Gameplay and Easy Diagnostics

After starting VR you will notice things arent visually quite right, or off-center. You can press CTRL + NUM 5) to center the camera, playing you behind the vehicle. If you started the process in first person inside the vehicle, you will be placed about 1 foot behind the steering wheel in my experience. If you want to be closer to the steering wheel, move backwards a few inches, and recenter so your sitting position is closer to the wheel or as desired. Please make sure to recenter your play position if you are under the map, inside a building, or anywhere you arent supposed to be expecting your viewpoint. I cant stress how important this is, because while it might feel like a broken pile of trash, its likely because you forgot to center your viewpoint. (CTRL + NUM 5)

If you started BeamNG with SteamVR open already; Make sure to close it. Restart the process but this time with BeamNG open first, then follow the beginning of this guide from the start. SteamVR should open automatically, and if it does not, reopen it.

"Theres no sound in my Index!!": The only fix I was able to find to this issue where BeamNG was not natively utilizing my index's speakers, was to use normal earbuds, or a wired headset plugged into the audio slot in my monitor. You can use desktop speakers for this, which would also work fairly well as a substitution. I have tried changing my audio settings natively on my pc in my windows settings, and tried to change the Audio output settings from default to my HMD using SteamVR's launcher, but nothing seemed to have changed or fixed my issue.

"I hate you and your keyboard!": You can use a steering wheel setup as well, or if you dont like that either there is working alternatives like a PS4/5 controller, or any other controller steam supports. *Just make sure to go into your steam settings and enable the generic controller option if its not already.

"The HUD is too small and I cant read or see the car selection screen:" In your Display settings there will be a slider to move this HUD closer to your face. You can find it beneath the VR settings you enabled VR with.

"VR doesnt work at all, or is extremely laggy:" You may not have the required pc specifications BeamNG needs to operate VR. Since it is still also in an experimental state, this may also be due to a bug or some other critical failure unforeseen by the developer team. Make sure to report your findings to the developers when you can. While you might have the top of the line equipment, things may still not be up to par with software coding.

The gameplay is very "watery", "blurry when moving" or "wobbly". Try disabling motion blur in the SteamVR settings dropdown menu. This may also potentially increase a small amount of FPS.

* It is to note with my time using VR in BeamNG in its current state in a Valve Index, adjusting graphics settings and changing maps or vehicles can cause a severe delay and create a long loading process. Its best to do these adjustments if you decide to add traffic or change vehicles before starting the VR functionality, as it will take less time to load. I do experience a low looking resolution but as to my current knowledge this isnt fixable with OpenXR or third party software, but I will update this with more information when that time comes.

Have Fun!

Remember the Vulkan launcher is experimental as of 9/2023. You will encounter strange things or unexpected failures like OpenXR crashing, SteamVR crashing, extremely long loading times, or graphical problems. BeamNG has already addressed the new feature will be extremely CPU and GPU intensive, but this will likely improve as they patch and update the VR features.

[Eagle]

who likes to play beamng drive

[Sam Von Mox]

This setup will work for the Quest 2 as long as you are using a connect cable to your pc and you meet the system requirements for VR.

[user]

does it work with a meta quest 2?

[Sam Von Mox]

The only work around would be to achieve a higher speed by disabling unnecessary processes and startup programs in your task manager. Keep in mind this wont increase the quality of the experience, but it will free up used cores in your cpu giving it a little more working room. The only recommendation is having a cpu processor at atleast an i5 minimum, but preferably something close to or near an i9. Anything lower than an i5 processor will experience severe unstable gameplay, or just flat out inability to play. i5 processors at the current time are phasing out, as i7 and i9 processors are more common in laptops and pre-built pc's.

[HAVIT GAME SERIES]

i only have a ryzen 7 2700

[HAVIT GAME SERIES]

But his core i5 laptop is glitchy too

[HAVIT GAME SERIES]

i do not have anything near a core i5 but my ram and grphics card is killer is there another way around? my step-dad has a core i5 laptop with a rtx 3050 and i have a 3060Ti

[Sam Von Mox]

My specifications using BeamNG VR is an i5-10400F, 26GB of RAM, RTX 3060 12GB VRAM.

[Sam Von Mox]

Remember the game is still in early access regarding VR. My experience was also very gittery/watery when using VR in BeamNG, this could be related to RAM and VRAM. Recommended specifications for BeamNG is around minimum 32GB of RAM, so this can be tied to the experience as well.

[HAVIT GAME SERIES]

i have a damn 3060 Ti and the game is glitchy as hell how do you fix this?