The most exciting gadget in technology world right now is probably the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. It promises to revolutionize the way we play video games and is probably one of the best gadgets to be showcased at the CES 2014. The steps forward doesn't end there for the Oculus Rift, as PC gaming giant, Valve, is showing its support in a big way. It is evident that if gamers want to play the latest games with Oculus Rift support in the future, the best platforms to take a liking to is the PC and Steam.
According to Valve's programmer Joe Ludwig, the Steam client beta version now supports VR mode, which means the Oculus Rift should work. However, the device will only work in the menu areas and not with games, as that is up to developers to support.
"As of the most recent Steam Client Beta steam now supports an experimental VR mode. If you own an Oculus Rift dev kit you can try it out by starting Steam with "-vr" on the command line. Then press the Big Picture button to enter Big Picture + VR mode," Ludwig said.
If you're interested in putting your Oculus Rift to work on Steam, you are required to do the following:
- Run Steam in the desktop client without the -vr option
- Find "SteamVR" under "Tools" in your library. (If you don't have it installed, install it.)
- Bring up properties on SteamVR and opt-in to the "Beta Update" beta. Let the update download.
- Quit the Steam Client again and start it with -vr."
Taking Steam for a spin the first time around with Oculus Rift will lead to problems. To get around this, users must first download an update for Steam VR.
Here are the full instructions, according to Reddit user, CunningCory.
- Go to "Library", "Tools", and download SteamVR
- Opt into SteamVR Beta. Make sure it's up-to-date
- Set Steam to start in Big Picture mode.
- Create a shortcut to Steam and add -vr to the launch options
- IMPORTANT: Set the Rift as an extended monitor and make sure it's the secondary.
- Start Steam using your modified shortcut.
The next big step here is for developers to begin supporting the Oculus Rift with future games.
