First person camera for Star Wars Outlaws O_O

[Update: If you haven't done so yet, please make sure to read the original post for the game to find detailed instructions on how to make the mod work. Also, it is safe to apply the official patch 1.1.2, as it doesn't seem to have broken anything in VR.]

This is it, folks! Exploring the galaxy has never felt so immersive, shooting Stormtroopers has never felt so intense, racing and jumping with your speeder has never felt so exhilarating, and most importantly, Nix has never looked so cute and adorable :-)

Get up close and personal with release 13.1.0 of the R.E.A.L. VR mod, attached below, which features a perfect implementation of a first person camera for the open-world game of the moment, Star Wars Outlaws!

Haha, just kidding. Of course it's nowhere perfect; it's janky as usual. Well, maybe a little less janky than usual. But yup, still quite janky. It does the job though ;-)

Everything in SWO can be experienced in first person now, except of course for cutscenes, and a few rare moments when the game forces the camera away from you to have you take in some scenic vista.

Unlike Dark Souls games, where first person makes combat quite more challenging, here I find that the personal POV just makes the experience more intense and visceral, without adding too much to the difficulty. The one thing that will be harder is keeping track of your enemies' movements when hiding in the tall grass, because the more realistic placement of the camera means that you won't be able to see them just as they won't be able to see you! However, Nix is always there to lend a paw with his sixth sense.

To activate the first person camera, go to the "SWO" tab of the mod overlay (I fixed the phantom controller disconnects with this game by the way) and select it from the "Custom camera" dropdown menu. I also added a "Closer" camera option if you just want to get nearer to Kay but feel that first person is too intense for you. Please note that the closer camera will only make a difference when you're on foot or climbing, while it won't change anything when you're on your speeder or in space.

Getting back to the first person camera, I recommend ticking the checkbox "Pressing both shoulder buttons on the gamepad cycles camera", so you'll have a quick way of swapping the current camera without leaving gameplay. I haven't made this option a default because when you're on your speeder or in space, the game binds the shoulder buttons to the dodge motions and some of you might find themselves accidentally toggling the camera, which might be surprising if you don't know about the setting.

When the camera is at "Game default" you can still tweak its offsets; when it's set to "Closer" you can tweak both the offsets and the distance; but the "First person" camera is where you get the most freedom.

You can decide whether you want first person to be active while you're racing on your speeder (this is on by default, because the sense of speed and the thrill of jumping across chasms are just too good to be passed by!), and whether you want it to be forced also while climbing or in space.

I don't really recommend using the first person camera during climbing. I did my best to have it behave it sensibly, but Kay just swings around too erratically, so your view will keep clipping into her. If the "Force first person when climbing" checkbox is off, when you begin climbing the camera will automatically change to "Closer", and will return to first after you're done.

The "Force first person in space" is mostly a curiosity, inspired by an email exchange that I had with Brandon :-D It puts your point of view inside the starship, which sort of works, but unfortunately the ship is not fully modeled while you're traveling in space (of course, since the game never expected you to be able to see it from the front, let alone from the inside!). You can check it out if you wish, but be aware there are a couple of caveats: when you use your boosters, the camera will become headlocked, so the ship will bend around you as you turn your head; and for some reason pursuit mode, the one where you lock on to an enemy ship to automatically follow it around as it maneuvers, seems to be doing nothing when in first person.

As you activate the various first person modes, sliders will become available to fine tune the camera offsets to your liking. Just be aware that for the main implementation, used when you're on foot, there is very little leeway, because as soon as you push it forward you will start clipping into walls and cover, while if you pull it backwards even a little bit Kay's hair will start to dance in front of your face. There's nothing to be done about that unfortunately, because the game animations were not designed for first person, and I had to spend a lot of time just to find an acceptable compromise.

Have fun roaming the galaxy!!!

Cyberpunk 2077 and other games

This release also fixes a regression I accidentally introduced in CP2077 with the previous version, where several elements of the HUD (like the whole scanning and hacking interface) went missing.

Another post will follow soon(ish) where I will explain more about the recent improvements I made to the framework. For now, you're free to experiment on your own. Remember that for the time being, the FOV optimizations will only have a positive effect if you're using the Oculus runtime.

Also, from the reports we're receiving of double or warped images, it looks like Virtual Desktop might not be dealing with my new changes correctly. If you have a Quest 3, I recommend using the Link cable for optimal performance and correct behavior.