Valheim, the popular Viking-themed survival game for PC, doesn’t natively support virtual reality, but thankfully there’s a full-featured mod out there that lets you play via PC VR headsets and Oculus Quest via Link or Air Link. The unofficial VR mod has gotten some pretty substantial updates for the new year that have really rounded out the game to feel more like a built-for-VR experience.
Since we last checked in with VHVR, a number of quality of life features have been added which aim to make it feel much more like a VR-native.
Here’s a look at some of the most important features to come to the mod recently, now bringing the mod to its 0.8.1 version:
- Massive update to HUD to make it more VR friendly:
- Healthbar, Minimap, and Stamina Bar can now be independently moved between three locations: Left or Right hand, and a Camera locked position
- Camera Locked UI elements can be moved up, downl, left, or right as well as scaled
- UI elements attached to the hand can be freely moved around using a custom config menu option
- Check the “VRHUD” tab of the VHVH menu options to see all the ways it can be configured
- Options to move the UI elements to the original UI panel if desired (legacy mode)
- Hid the hotbar
- Lock the main UI panel in place when the Map or Inventory is open
- More to come in the future
- Updates to minimap (in addition to the VR Hud Updates above):
- Important: When using the new VRHUD map, the map toggle button now toggles the minimap off and on. To toggle the main big map, you must instead use the “Quick Action” menu on the left hand.
- Oculus Touch users can now zoom the map in and out by holding the right grip button and using the right joystick up/down
- Map Pins can now be added by holding the “Click Modifier” (left controller trigger) and “left”-clicking on the map (right controller trigger)
- Players can now ping the Minimap by holding the “Click Modifier” and “right”-clicking on the map (B button on right controller)
- Fixed compatibility problem with Jotunn mod that resulted in log spamming “Unmapped ZInput” warnings and caused massive performance problems.
- Fixed Bloom graphical effect, this can now be safely used without graphical artifacts on screen.
- Tweak to arrow rest position on bow
- Disabled roomscale movement when attached to things
- Added option to avoid rotating view with lox when lox turns
- Added option for “ExclusiveRoomscaleSneak” to force players to physically crouch if they want to sneak (default allows both crouching and joystick when using roomscale sneak feature).
- Fixed a problem with KB&M controls where users would have to look slightly off-angle to hover over an object to use it.
- Added option to disable the “Recenter Pose” where holding the controllers in front of the face for 3 seconds caused a tracking reset
You can find VHVR over at NexusMods, where you’ll also find a handy step-by-step guide on how to install. The original article detailing VHVR follows below:
Two updates released this month (versions 0.6 and 0.7) include substantial gains for users looking for a more VR-native experience. Now Valheim VR has included some of the important things mentioned above, but has also fixed things like anti-aliasing, arms not properly syncing in multiplayer, and Vive wand bindings.
Another nice touch: crouching is configurable for room-scale sneaking and a few mechanics were included such as shield parrying, stabbing, and improved fishing. You can check out the full change log here.
The original article detailing the inclusion of motion controller support follows below:
Original Article (June 21st, 2021): Initially released in February by Brandon Mousseau, not only does the mod let you play in VR in the first-person, but also now includes inverse kinematics for articulated upper body and finger animations, and a full assortment of things you can do with motion controllers. You can now do things like engage in melee combat via swinging and punching, naturally shoot a bow and arrow, hold up your shield, and fish.
There are some things that haven’t changed because of the obstinately flatscreen nature of the game, such as some point-and-click interactions like building, gathering supplies, and interacting with menus. The mod however does now include custom controls for switching and equipping items via a more accessible quick menu, and holstering and unholstering weapons, which is a big step in making it feel more like a VR native.
Check out this video from YouTuber ‘Gamertag VR’ to see the mod in action:
There are still a few caveats to the Valheim VR mod. At the time of this writing, all multiplayer users must have the mod installed, otherwise those non-VR player may see some odd behavior such as missing upper-body and hand animations. Mod developer Brandon Mousseau also says full room-scale tracking is still in the works, as all locomotion is still based on joystick movement only (see updates).
If you want to play Valheim in VR, you’ll need a few things outside of a SteamVR-compatible VR headset, VR-ready PC, and a legit copy of the game. You’ll also need to download the BepInExPack installer to inject custom code, and the VHVR mod hosted over at NexusMods.
If you’ve never installed a mod for Valheim, Mousseau also created a handy step-by-step installation guide. You’ll find everything you need there.
Thanks goes out to Twitter user OXIOXI for the tip.