I’m not kidding when I say that a new flatscreen to VR hack that was published earlier this week is truly changing the game for PC VR. Thanks to the UEVR hack by godlike VR modder Praydog, you can now magically add VR compatibility to hundreds of flat Unreal Engine games with only a few mouse clicks.
Since its first announcement, there has been a noticeable buzz about Praydog’s Unreal Engine VR Injector Mod (UEVR), at least within the Flatscreen to VR Modding Community. The mod has been in development for at least a year. Does it, however, really live up to the hype?
That’s where Ian’s VR Corner this week’s show comes in! Watch the video below for an overview of the mod, which includes six examples of the mod in action across a range of game genres and a few brief examples showing how simple it is to convert flat UE4/5 games to full 6DoF VR. Among them is the astonishing first-person VR shooter Returnal from Housemarque, which comes with extra motion controls!
As I demonstrated in this week’s VR Corner video, even my non-techie self can easily install and use Praydog’s hack. All I had to do to transform the game from a pancake playground into a fully functional VR title was to switch on my Quest 3, load an Unreal Engine game, launch the UEVR mod tool, choose the game I was playing from its menus, and then click the “inject” button. That was all there was to it.
Finding an appropriate game, the Flatscreen to VR Modding, also didn’t take me long. A list of hundreds of games that Community Discord users have thoroughly reviewed is available. Every tested one has information on how well it works with the mod as well as any further troubleshooting methods you may need to use to make your preferred game operating as smoothly as possible.
Some members of the Flatscreen to VR Modding Community have developed custom motion control configurations for a range of games in addition to testing hundreds of UE4 games. Since these games were designed to be played on flat screens exclusively, you may play them all using controllers or a keyboard and mouse as intended. However, if you have a special configuration for a game you want to play, you can transfer it into UEVR and it will function there as well with just a few clicks.
Returnal, a first-person game with motion controls, is among the best instances of this, as was already noted. However, I also checked out Robocop: Rogue City, which you can see in action in my video. The battle clip turned out extremely stuttery, but rest assured that it worked well in my headset! I apologize for not being able to show off much gameplay, as playing that plus running Oculus Mirror was a little too much for my setup to handle! However, I’ve included a few slower scenes in the video so you can see how the motion controls work in this stunning UE5 game.
Furthermore, Praydog’s mod is compatible with more titles than only first-person shooters. In this video, I go through many games, including third-person Souls-like Mortal Shell, arcade driving game Horizon Chase 2, racing bike simulator Ride 5 (to test out some cockpit cam action), and even a little bit of Ghostbusters: Spirits. Unleashed with a controller, and let me tell you right now—if you love Ghostbusters, virtual reality exploration of that iconic firehouse is really unique!
You can tweak a tonne of options on the UEVR tool itself to enhance your experience, including as comfort settings like pitch-locking for third-person games and click-turning for first-person games. There are choices to tweak the resolution to reach the sweet spot for performance, and there are a ton more menus with a ton of terms I didn’t understand but that will surely help you optimize even more. But to be honest, I didn’t need any of them. Basically, everything was just plug and play for me. Launch the game after downloading it, add the mod, and play.
I was able to play games in virtual reality that were never intended to be played in just a few seconds. It’s true that sometimes the performance may be erratic and that certain menus and cutscenes seem a little strange in virtual reality, but it’s still incredible to be able to play any UE4/5 game in my Steam or Epic library in VR from beginning to end with very little effort.
Praydog’s breakthrough work here has allowed my VR library to almost triple (at the very least) over night, making UEVR the single most stunning modding tool I have ever seen. I strongly advise you to try this mod out for yourself if you have a VR headset and a PC that can support virtual reality (VR). It seems like a breath of new air for the genre and a huge advancement for VR in general.
You are a legend, Praydog!