CircuitLord’s turnkey solution to one of VR modding’s many friction points feels like a bigger step forward than yet another example of a great VR mod for an already great game.
Getting the immediate question out of the way, yes, the Titanfall 2 VR mod is as great as advertised. Rather than a barely-performant, deeply flawed, subpar “early version” mod that wouldn’t qualify for early access status if it were an actual game, like many of the vibe coded VR mods that popped up over the summer (yes, I played several of them), the TF2 mod feels like a finished product out of the gate.
We will have another article soon from a writer who had never played Titanfall 2 prior to the mod that gets into what makes it great. Having previously played the game myself, I cannot offer that perspective.
Titanfall 2 VR mod gameplay captured by UploadVR
In spite of my enthusiasm for VR as a medium, I despise extensive tinkering and troubleshooting in any form. After a long workday and any needed household/family duties, when I put on a headset and press play for a game, I want it to just work. VR mods have always actively worked against that innate desire for a turnkey implementation. Even the Universal Unreal Engine VR Injector (UEVR), another excellent technical achievement, still requires profiles to be built for individual games if you want any of the VR comforts like full motion controller support and a more reliable camera, the latter being particularly important to comfortably play a third-person game in first person. These have to be sourced by the player, usually with multiple options to review and choose from. UEVR will get an Unreal Engine 5 game rendering in VR fairly quickly, but you will need to go profile hunting.
So when I volunteered to test the Titanfall 2 VR mod, having already completed the game on Steam a couple of years ago, I took a deep breath and steeled myself to have to relocate and rename files or install a profile or anything other than ‘press play and go.’ CircuitLord’s installer took all of that away and that was easily my biggest takeaway. Installers for mods are nothing new, but rarely are they this painless.
CircuitLord’s installer takes all the pain of mod updates away
After downloading, the installer does a three-step check to get you going:
- Ensures the game is installed and automatically marks the install folder
- Directs you to log into the EA app necessary to play the game
- A one-click mod install button
After that, it’s simply press the play button with SteamVR open and you are in. This level of care and attention to the finer details extends to the available options within the game. There is a toggle for cinematic cutscenes to either render them in full VR (with the associated camera jerkiness that comes with that choice) or on a 2D panel for anyone prone to motion sickness. The in-game prompts have been adapted to account for the VR controllers, unlike other mods that would suggest you press LB, RB, L3, or R3 (traditional game controller buttons). When people say it “feels like a native VR game,” this is part of that assertion. CircuitLord has put the time in to ensure all of this is seamless out of the gate.
Setting up mods manually, frankly, can be a pain and has proven to be off-putting for many VR users, whether they are enthusiasts, more casual, or somewhere in-between. So much so that entire Discord servers and subreddits have been dedicated to helping people troubleshoot their issues. There’s a great support community around VR modding, but that community is necessary because mods by and large don’t just work for everyone.
For as long as VR has been in the public eye, there has been an ongoing discussion about its pain points and what the technology “needs” for wider adoption. Headsets need to be lighter and more comfortable. We need higher PPD. Better FOV. More affordable for the casual consumer. Brighter panels. Better lenses. Better software. Higher refresh rates. None of these are necessarily wrong, but they all represent the same basic issue: friction.
CircuitLord’s installer addresses friction and accessibility in a way I wish VR modding would make it a point to address more often. Modder MrSurvivor’s VR hub is another great example of this, an application that guides you through installs, uninstalls, and updates for a bevy of games to get them running in VR in just a few clicks.
These tools are a step forward in accessibility, one of the more criminally overlooked aspects of XR technology. The easier and more comfortable something is to use, the more people will be willing to take a chance on it. Video game modding has largely been the realm of tinkerers for decades now, mostly because sideloading, file renaming, and any other additional steps to get into a game are a deterrent. That needs to change. Convenience matters. Accessibility matters.
Titanfall 2 is already a terrific game. A competent mod is all it needed to be a great VR experience and CircuitLord’s work far exceeds that. The installer though, is the best selling point for getting people who are wary of mods to give it a go.
You can get CircuitLord’s installer, which also works for their mod of Big Walk, here. Look for a full mod review from a Titanfall 2 newcomer here on UploadVR soon.
