Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) added experimental PC VR support to Star Citizen late last year, taking a first step in fulfilling a more than decade-old promise. Things are getting increasingly serious though after the release of its second post-VR update.
Update Alpha 4.5 initially brought a VR theater and full VR mode to the game in December, which lets users play the bulk of the game in PC VR headsets for the first time, including walking, flying, EVA, combat, and using menus.
Granted, it’s still a (very) experimental mode, which initially required some users to even add VR config lines to the game’s directory to get it working, done in addition to keeping track of keybinds to cycle through VR modes on the fly.
Now the studio has released Star Citizen 4.6, adding for the first time an official VR option in the settings menu, making managing and enabling VR mode at startup a much easier affair.
Although 4.6 doesn’t radically expand VR features, it’s certainly a vote of confidence that VR support is not only still on track, but moving closer to the core of the game. Still, it’s polished a number of usability issues, such as better menus and a smoother overall experience.
That said, as mentioned in a recent ‘Ray’s Guide’ video, players still need to carefully tune OpenXR settings, upscaling options, and in-game VR stuff, such as UI scale, distance, and IPD alignment just to get comfortable results. Users also typically need to switch between full VR and theater mode constantly for inventory and kiosk interactions, which is a definite immersion breaker.
That, and it doesn’t include VR motion controller support yet, making control remapping almost mandatory at this point, with many users relying on a mix of controllers, keyboards, HOTAS, and voice command software to manage the game’s enormous number of bindings.
As Silvan-CIG says in the 4.5 update announce in December though, all of its done in the spirit of open development.
“This is not our full VR launch. When that day arrives, we will make plenty of noise about it. What we are rolling out today is an opportunity for some early hands-on time, very much in the spirit of Open Development, so you can jump in, see how things are shaping up, and help guide what comes next.”
That said, creating a VR-native out of a Star Citizen is a tall order. Looking ahead, CIG’s biggest challenges will probably be centered around balancing those ambitions with the rest of the game’s development, which is constantly growing in scope and graphical complexity.
