Development thread (Grandfathered; OLD Vireio Structure)

[Baristan6]

EDIT BY MODERATOR:

This thread has been grandfathered because the updated Vireio Perception drivers are based on a completely different software structure, and the expectations and updates in this thread may no longer be applicable.

This is the current development thread: http://www.mtbs3d.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=141&t=18150

Regards,
Neil

-----

Test builds:
This version adds Philpax's D3D proxy.

simply add proxy_enabled="1", and proxy_dll="your/dll/path/here/some_d3d9.dll" to your game profile in profiles.xml, and it should all work.

Latest build

• Perception D3D proxy 1.zip
  • added Philpax's proxy DLL
    Perception D3D proxy 1.zip

Old builds

• Perception keybindings.zip
  • added keybindings.xml
    key rate fix
    NikH's tracker fix
    Perception KeyBindings1.zip

• Perception 1.0.5 rc1.zip
  • saves swap_eyes to profile
    saves SHOCT lines to user
    added Antichamber profile
    moved distortion scale to shift+F4/F5
    re added print screen to F1
    ...
    Perception 1.0.5 rc1.zip

[Neil]

It would be a big help if there was a 0 separation setting. I don't like the negative separation option because it's harder to calibrate proper 3D settings.

Also, a hotkey for seeing overlapped images in both eyes would help. When doing settings, it helps to be able to see both views at the same time (on top of each other) to know if the images are correct or what exactly is being adjusted. It's much too easy to have divergence or uncomfortable results, and this would be a helpful tool to prevent that.

Regards,
Neil

[pizzy00]

I will post on this thread from now on. Thanks for making this thread. Before I wanted to post info but wasn't sure which thread to post to. Now I know.

[cybereality]

Awesome!

[pizzy00]

Here is a note guys.

You want to run Skyrim at 1280x800. I ran it at 1280x720 and got roll skewing again. So this leads me to believe roll skewing is somehow related to aspect ratio.

[Baristan6]

Here is a note guys.

You want to run Skyrim at 1280x800. I ran it at 1280x720 and got roll skewing again. So this leads me to believe roll skewing is somehow related to aspect ratio.

Yes roll skewing was due to aspect ratios and the projection matrix, but that should be fixed. I think your Rift is stretching the 1280x720 input to 1280x800 causing the skewing.
I don't get any skewing running at 1280x720 or 1024x786 in windowed mode on my monitor. I checked with a ruler to make sure.

[pizzy00]

I think you are right. 720 must be getting upscaled to 800. I can't turn on center timings option for Rift in AMD CCC to force no upscaling to confirm. So someone else could test that, but I think it is all figured out, and due to upscaling.

[Neil]

Here is a request that may or may not be possible to implement.

The Rift's advantage is also a disadvantage: the FOV goes beyond what your eyes can see, but so do many game interfaces!

Is it possible to add a feature so the HUD can be grown and shrunk separately from the game's 3D graphics? The big problem would probably be around crosshairs that are part of the main HUD frame; I don't know.

Skyrim is a good example of the problem. Try as I might, I can't seem to get the interface to be readable within the FOV that the Rift was designed for. You can shrink and grow the whole image, but that cuts down on image quality and immersion.

Regards,
Neil

[pizzy00]

Here is a request that may or may not be possible to implement.

The Rift's advantage is also a disadvantage: the FOV goes beyond what your eyes can see, but so do many game interfaces!

Is it possible to add a feature so the HUD can be grown and shrunk separately from the game's 3D graphics? The big problem would probably be around crosshairs that are part of the main HUD frame; I don't know.

Skyrim is a good example of the problem. Try as I might, I can't seem to get the interface to be readable within the FOV that the Rift was designed for. You can shrink and grow the whole image, but that cuts down on image quality and immersion.

Regards,
Neil

Baristan6 made post on this in Skyrim and Vireio thread http://www.mtbs3d.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=141&t=16372

I will be test Skyrim HUD mods to make game playable on Rift.

[Neil]

Here are some ideas I've been toying with that may help solve the UI problem.

1. The left/right eye perspectives are incomplete

Using Skyrim as an example, if you look at the left and right images on your monitor display, you will see that the right image is incomplete compared to the left. As much as half of the HUD could be missing!

What if we used a dominant eye technique where the right eye stays whole and stable, and all the separation and convergence adjustments happen in the left eye?

If the UI is working properly in the dominant eye versus the other, that may be a big help.


2. Limit screen space size

If I'm correct, each eye is supposed to only see 640X800 pixels. However, easily a quarter to a third of the horizontal space is lost at the edges because our eye can't physically see it. Would it be possible for the game to use less horizontal screen space? This would keep the imagery where we could see it (e.g. the HUD), but still maintain the immersion.

Regards,
Neil

[cybereality]

OK. I just tried beta4 on Left4Dead. Was fun to play on the Rift but I noticed a few issues.

1) The screen distorts when rolling. I had thought this was fixed on L4D, but I guess not.
2) The image is way too dark, I think this is a gamma setting which I thought I fixed as well (look in StereoView.cpp, I had some L4D specific code there).
3) The flashlight decal looked normal, previously I thought it was broken.

Thanks, again, guys for helping with development.

[Baristan6]

2) The image is way too dark, I think this is a gamma setting which I thought I fixed as well (look in StereoView.cpp, I had some L4D specific code there).

I accidentally un-commented "//device->SetRenderState(D3DRS_SRGBWRITEENABLE, 0);" which might interfere with the L4D specific code.

[pizzy00]

Edit: The L4D 2 FOV is locked at 90. Hopefully Valve makes a VR mode someday. I have found out HL2 has a max FOV of 100 or 110 I can't recall which value it is at the moment. The roll skew in other games should fixed by changing code for aspect ratio.

I customized a Skyrim config that has shadows disabled I will post it after work.

Off topic. I ran through the UDK demos yesterday, it was fun flying around. I got my Hydra yesterday so I hope Sixense released demo today so I can test out virtual hands.

[Baristan6]

I updated the top post with a new version.
It should fix the roll in Source engine games, and gamma setting in L4D.

I tested it in HL2 and Portal 1, but I don't have L4D to test the gamma.

[pizzy00]

I updated the top post with a new version.
It should fix the roll in Source engine games, and gamma setting in L4D.

I tested it in HL2 and Portal 1, but I don't have L4D to test the gamma.

I will test it out new driver shortly. Here is my current Skyrim config, it disables shadows. If on Windows 7 place here C:\Users\{username}\Documents\My Games\Skyrim. I have settings turned down to try and get a steady 60 FPS or higher on my rig which is definitely a requirement of VR. I am gonna put my specs in my sig so I don't have to type out specs when referring to my rig in the future.

[jack612]

Just played some Half Life 2 with the latest build and it is pretty awesome! The only issue I noticed is that when you tilt your head and the rest of the world rolls with the head tracking, reflections in the surface of the water seem to maintain their position.

[XavierMidnight]

can't find the post delete button

[pizzy00]

Feedback - I know some of these can not be fix by driver.

General note happen is all games if you adjust convergence to much or just change sometimes it will mess up 3D when rolling. To fix this press shift F6 to reset settings. Seems like certain shader don't like someone just mentioned.

IMPORTANT TIP this is missing from the current readme file. You can Zoom the game screen in and out with F1 and Shift F1.

This is important to be able to see some in game menus and can also help you find the best viewable area, to how you want it. The zooming is kind of slow so you will need to hold keys down for a while.

Here is an example on how I use it. I take off the Rift to look at monitor. On HL2 or Skyrim I will zoom out with Shift F1 to see more of the ingame menu to load game or change other game options. Once ingame I recommend changing your FOV. Then I will put Rift back on and zoom in and out finding a happy medium.

TIP Since all of these games use mouse and head tracking for aiming. I personally find it better to try and move left to right with head and if need to go outside neck range use mouse to compensate. I do not recommend trying to aim with your head, will tax your neck. For aiming I use the mouse, it feels a little weird it really depends how long the distance is that you move your mouse. The short the mouse distance the better.

My general idea is to use the head tracking as much as possible because getting moved around in VR by none VR controls like mouse or even w a s d keys will probably affect your inner ear more. I have gotten pretty used to w a s d keys. I feel my neck muscles getting stronger lol.

TIP Skyrim must currently be played with mouse and keyboard, if I try to play with Xbox controller x and y head tracking doesn't work

L4D 1
-Looks great. Very fun. It tires my neck aiming with head, and feels kinda weird moving mouse to aim.
-Small issue shadow from Flashlight does not roll - maybe there is a command disable these shadows - screenshot attached
-Other shadows render correctly - highlight in screen shot attached
-HUD rolls with view
-Not sure if I noticed this before but the character model is visible so like TF2 you can look down and see your body
-Note set your mouse to default sensitivity

L4D 2
-Shadow from Flashlight does not roll
-HUD rolls with view
-You can not see character model

HL2
-Max FOV 90 -screen shot attached - there may be mod for this out there - even though you can type in a higher FOV it does not change actual FOV
-HUD rolls with view
-You can not see character model

Skyrim
-Note on using the config I posted for no shadows, if you click on options when starting the game it will enable shadows again. So place config and don't click on options. I have not tried changing graphic setting ingame yet to see if that also breaks it.

Dear Esther
-The game UI is set far left so you have to zoom way out to see them or guess on which menu items you are selecting.
-This game I change FOV to 110 and above it allows you to go above 110
-Warp seems off on this game
-After messing with driver settings world gets skewed when moving left and right
-Ocean shader does not roll


@cybereality - Have you tried HL2 Episode One or Two? I don't own them but may buy them to test out.

[XavierMidnight]

still don't know where the post delete button is.

[pizzy00]

is the oculus rift skyrim only tracking roll?
I do not have any up/down left/right action from the headset.

Only keyboard and mouse works currently. Do you have a Xbox or controller plugged in? For me I can actually unplug controller ingame and you will get your x and y head tracking.

[cybereality]

OK. Looking better. Just tested L4D again. The gamma fix works so the colors now look normal. Nice.

The roll fix was good and bad. It did fix the aspect ratio problem, but now it was uncomfortable to view (the vertical alignment was off). I think this has to do with adjusting the stereo separation after the roll takes place (I think you want to do the stereo first or something like that). Anyway, it looks off and is headache inducing. But it's getting closer. I also noticed that the head-tracking was choppy somehow. It wasn't just the framerate, as moving the mouse was smooth. But moving my head it would jump at times. Not sure whats going on here.

I also tried HL2:Ep1. It works pretty good. The roll did not have the same problem as L4D (which is strange since they are on the same engine). I mean, it wasn't perfect, but I guess it's probably as good as it's going to get with injection drivers. The head-tracking was also much smoother than with L4D. Overall the support on HL2 seems good.

Thanks again, great work here.

[pizzy00]

@cybereality Can you explain more what you mean by vertical alignment is off? I am not understanding what you mean.

I experience what you described as far as the adjusting of separation or convergence settings not sure if it happens before or after roll, but once changes are made that cause the roll 3D distortion is majorly headache inducing. To fix this I hit shift F6 and reset the settings and then the roll works correctly and I readjust settings while doing some roll to make sure it is not broken.

I don't think I experience choppy head tracking I will retest to see if I get same thing.

Funny story. maybe not that funny.

I just realized rereading the original readme about these hot keys.

F8 / F9 : Adjust Tracking Yaw.
SHIFT + F8 / F9 : Adjust Tracking Pitch.
CONTROL + F8 / F9 : Adjust Tracking Roll.

I for the past week I have been so focused on testing games and getting Separation & Convergence settings correct, that I was hit F9 or F10 take screenshots on FRAPS and my head would start spinning and started to think it was a head tracking issue. Come to find out it was my own fault duh I was hitting those hot keys. Spinning around is VR is not fun. So my fix was to restart game.

Side Note: We have some good info in these threads it may help to add them to the readme file.

[Neil]

The roll fix was good and bad. It did fix the aspect ratio problem, but now it was uncomfortable to view (the vertical alignment was off). I think this has to do with adjusting the stereo separation after the roll takes place (I think you want to do the stereo first or something like that). Anyway, it looks off and is headache inducing. But it's getting closer. I also noticed that the head-tracking was choppy somehow. It wasn't just the framerate, as moving the mouse was smooth. But moving my head it would jump at times. Not sure whats going on here.

I see exactly what is happening. The separation works properly. The convergence is adjusting the vertical alignment, not the horizontal alignment. I'm able to see this by looking at the raw monitor screen. Hit shift-F6 to revert to the original settings so you can see a comparison after playing with settings.

Regards,
Neil

[Baristan6]

I see exactly what is happening. The separation works properly. The convergence is adjusting the vertical alignment, not the horizontal alignment.

That was the bug.
Was inverting a matrix after the convergence was applied instead of before.

New version is posted up top.

The view matrix is the same for most games now. A view translation matrix is calculated once per frame instead of every shader call. The performance gain will most likely be unnoticeable.
Also reduced the sensitivity of adjusting separation, and can no longer have a negative separation.

[yomer]

I see exactly what is happening. The separation works properly. The convergence is adjusting the vertical alignment, not the horizontal alignment.

That was the bug.
Was inverting a matrix after the convergence was applied instead of before.

New version is posted up top.

The view matrix is the same for most games now. A view translation matrix is calculated once per frame instead of every shader call. The performance gain will most likely be unnoticeable.
Also reduced the sensitivity of adjusting separation, and can no longer have a negative separation.

Baristan6,
Is there a thread/wiki with technical details on the process for adding support for games. I mean, not every detail. But a streamline of the process so in case anyone wants to dig in to add support to a game, can get into the process with a head start.

BTW, I just bought Mirror's Edge on Steam, I couldn't resist the sale price.

[Baristan6]

Baristan6,
Is there a thread/wiki with technical details on the process for adding support for games. I mean, not every detail. But a streamline of the process so in case anyone wants to dig in to add support to a game, can get into the process with a head start.

Not yet. It is difficult to do. Right now Cybereality is the only person who has added a game to Vireio.

Start by copying D3DProxyDeviceMono, and renameing it to D3DProxyDeviceYourGame(filename,classname,include...).
-add D3DProxyDeviceYourGame.h/.cpp to both DxHijack32 and DxProxy solutions.
-add YourGame to enum ProxyTypes in D3DProxyDevice.h
-add YourGame to D3DProxyDeviceFactory(include, and enum to D3DProxyDevice).
-create a profile in profiles.xml

Now YourGame should run without stereo or headtracking.

After that it starts to get tricky.
The goal is to modify the games viewProjection matrix to include eye separation, convergence, offset, roll.
There are many tricks used in Vireio to do this.
Look at these Classes to see how they work.

(in order of complexity)

• D3DProxyDeviceMono basic setup
  D3DProxyDeviceFixed SetTransform
  D3DProxyDeviceSource SetVertexShaderConstantF
  D3DProxyDeviceAdv SetVertexShader, DrawIndexedPrimitive, ...

Start with the easy methods first. If SetTransform doesn't work try SetVertexShaderConstantF...

notes:
validRegister 0-15 for SetVertexShaderConstantF
watch out for transposed matrices(Source vs Ego). Use D3DXMatrixTranspose before and after translating them.
disable roll at first. It can be very difficult to get working correctly.

My wiki skills are lacking.
If someone else wants to add this to the wiki go ahead.

[Neil]

Hi Baristan6,

I'm finding the hotkeys are tight in that they often don't seem to do anything - separation especially. Are you having any hotkey problems?

Regards,
Neil

[Baristan6]

Hi Baristan6,

I'm finding the hotkeys are tight in that they often don't seem to do anything - separation especially. Are you having any hotkey problems?

Regards,
Neil

It works for me. Changing the separation is now too slow. added an extra 0 to the separation code so it takes 100x as long to adjust instead of the 10x I was going for. I didn't modify any of the other keys. I do have problems with F5 in Skyrim because it is also quick save.

fixed this in beta 6.

[Neil]

I'm trying to adjust in L4D. Separation is SUPER slow. Is it the same Beta6 listed in this forum?

Regards,
Neil

[virror]

Just want to give a HUGE thanx to Baristan6 for picking this up and i think he is doing some amazing magic : D

[Neil]

Had better luck with Skyrim. I think you got the separation and convergence funciton keys mixed up!

Regards,
Neil

[Neil]

AHAH! I'm sure of it. The separation and convergence keys are mixed up (F2/F3 is controlling convergence, F4/F5 is controlling separation). Also, the setting that is supposed to be "0 separation" is actually being treated as "0 convergence". Not the same thing (and that shouldn't have the same limitations)!

Regards,
Neil

[pizzy00]

I am having issues with Mirror's Edge. I can't launch exe in \mirrors edge\Binaries. I get error "Application load error 5:0000065434" . I can launch it from Steam but the graphics are all messed up. Anyone have any ideas? It was the first game I was going to test with beta6 fyi.

[pizzy00]

Found commands to up FOV on HL2

sv_cheats 1
fov 110 or whatever your want
viewmodel_fov set to match your FOV or you can zoom character weapon in and out

[Neil]

Ok. I've been trying out the Perception drivers in anaglyph mode with L4D, and there are definitely bugs.

1. When I play with F2/F3 keys (for separation), the images separate. HOWEVER, when you move in and out of the scene, the left and right views don't separate proportionately according to distance. It's as though they are just two left views offset from each other, and not a stereo camera rendering.

2. I'm really not sure what is happening between the separation and convergence controls. For example, if I get the separation controls down to zero, the images can still be doubled, and that shouldn't be possible. Something is definitely wrong.

Are others seeing the drivers behaving the way they should in anaglyph mode? I think this is the best bet to see what is really happening and if indeed the drivers are behaving the way they should.

Regards,
Neil

[Baristan6]

New beta with fix for Mirror's Edge, and new convergence method.

[jayoh]

cheers baristan6, will give mirror's edge a test tonight. will bring puke bucket along.

update: plays pretty well. things seem over sensitive compared to more native implementations, but turning my head left 90 degrees turns my head 90 degrees in game, so i'm not sure exactly why. wish the sensitivity was adjustable, i'd rather have to turn more in real life than force myself to stay somewhat fixed with my head movements. i tested it with a xbox controller, and i think you could play through the vast majority of the game in the current implementation. luckily i've built up my vr sea legs so i didn't experience any discomfort.

[Drewbdoo]

I've mentioned this in the Vireio skyrim thread, but a great skyrim mod for the hud is called iHUD Immersive HUD. Basically makes the hud a toggle and only shows the crosshairs when you have a ranged weapon or spell ready.

[Dr.Omnibus]

Looks fantastic!

Are all these fixes and updates going to be rolled into a new single download like the current 1.0.4?

[Baristan6]

Beta9 should have all of the changes in it. I leave old builds here in case I break something in a new build.
When Cybereality finishes switching the licence of Vireio to MIT, and the view adjustments are working correctly, would be the time for a new official build.