If you’ve decided Elden Ring isn’t immersive enough, and you’d rather face the eldritch monsters up close, you’re in luck. Unofficial virtual reality support is coming to Elden Ring’s PC version as early as next week, thanks to a new mod from Luke Ross.
Ross has already made a name for himself in the modding community, adding VR support to a wide range of PC games. Previous efforts include adding VR modes to Cyberpunk 2077, Red Dead Redemption 2, Horizon Zero Dawn and others. Now Elden Ring players are getting their own chance to play the game like never before.
Ross posted a brief preview of the mode on YouTube, showcasing some of the things you can expect from Elden Ring VR — including pop-ups, combat, and the general movement around the game’s open world.
Over on the Real VR patreon, Ross admitted that Elden Ring VR “will likely be a work-in-progress for quite some time," but is aiming to have a playable version ready “by the end of next week." The post went live on April 22, meaning the mode should be available by May 8, if all goes according to plan.
Ross also warned that people should “keep your VR legs in shape, because they’re really going to be put to the test."
Considering the preview video made me feel a little woozy, that doesn’t surprise me. Looks like my inclination towards motion sickness, especially where VR is concerned, means I’ll definitely be sitting this one out.
Ross also told PC Gamer that you won’t be limited to playing in the first person perspective, with the VR mod preserving the original third person camera view. However, it’s not recommended you play like this, down to the fact VR doesn’t work so well when camera is so far away from the player’s avatar — around 5 meters on average.
“Instead of being in the thick of action, you're kind of like 'Hey, is something going on over there?',” Ross said. “Nevertheless, I'm going to leave the original camera as an option for purists. I'll probably also add an intermediate, close-third-person camera. But I think the first-person camera is where it's at."
As for Elden Ring’s more acrobatic moves, like rolling, Ross has come up with a novel solution to prevent motion sickness from taking you out of it: "When rolling or performing other scripted animations like the combat moves, the camera follows the character's head (so its position changes) but it remains oriented correctly according to what your head is doing in real life. So the horizon will stay level and the world will always look stable."
If you like the idea of exploring the Land’s Between in first person VR, then you’ll need to subscribe to the Real VR Patreon for access. It’s $10 a month, and gives you immediate access to all Ross’s early development VR mods.
