VIDEO GAMES IN VR: How to use UEVR for Quest – Beginners Guide + Troubleshooting

You can now play over 600 Unreal Engine video games in VR with Praydog’s UEVR.  Learn how to use UEVR for Meta Quest in this simple tutorial for beginners.

WHAT IS UEVR?  What can you expect from UEVR?

UEVR converts around 92% of Unreal Engine games into VR (over 600 games tested to date).  It requires a VR headset that can run SteamVR.  This includes Quest 3, Quest 2 or Quest 1 but will require PCVR (it will run from your PC, and your Quest must be connected to your PC via a cable or wirelessly).

Games that have been converted by UEVR into VR games can be viewed in VR with your headset, but the perspective will not change.  If it’s a game with third person view, it will generally remain in third person view.  The controls will also be via gamepad, although the Oculus Touch controllers can work, but only as gamepads.

UEVR is a powerful tool and can convert some third person view games into first person, and for some games, it can add motion controls, such as being able to use your Touch controllers to swing a sword, but those improvements require custom settings for each game and are outside the scope of this beginners’ guide.  If that’s what you’re looking for, check out Alex’s tutorials.

WHAT YOU NEED for UEVR

• You need to setup PCVR for your Quest or other SteamVR-compatible headset.  This requires:
  • Meta Quest 3, Quest 2, Quest 1 or any VR headset that can run SteamVR.
  • A VR-Ready PC.  You’ll need an even more powerful VR Ready PC than typical PCVR.
  • Install either Quest Link, Air Link, Virtual Desktop, or Steam Link.  If you’re not familiar with how to use SteamVR on Quest, see this beginners guide to PCVR for Quest.
• Download and install a compatible Unreal Engine game.  UEVR only works with about 92% of games with Unreal Engine 4 or Unreal Engine 5.  You can see the list of tested games here.  Download and install the UEVR game of your choice, preferably one that “Works Perfectly” or “Works Well.”  Some free games that work on UEVR: Tekken 8 Demo, Like a Dragon: Ishin Demo, and Sorceress Demo.  In this sample, I installed Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, which “Works Perfectly.”   You can get the game from Steam but you don’t have to.  For example, you can get games from the Epic games store.

Games I’ve personally tested (i7-7th gen, 32GB RAM, GTX 1070, Quest 3, Air Link):

• Dragonball Z: Kakarot – works on default settings
• Sifu: crashed on default settings.  When I used the lowest settings, it worked on my system.  I also had to switch to Sequential Synchronized rendering.
• Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite.  Works but you have to change the World Scale so that the menu doesn’t block your view.
• Tekken 8 Demo: with the lowest settings, it worked on my system with occasional jitters.
• Like a Dragon: Ishin – works with Low settings, in Sequential Synchronized rendering.  Camera was jittery on my system but still playable but a bit nauseating because of the camera movements.
• Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.  Extremely jittery on my system.  Not playable.  “Works Well” for tester Alex.
• Final Fantasy VII Remake: only part of the view was being rendered.  Not playable.  “Works OK” for tester Elliot.
• Sorceress (Demo) – works on default settings.  Feels nauseating to use gamepad to turn around.
• Injustice 2: Not compatible (apparently, it uses Unreal Engine 3).

STEP 1: Download UEVR

Download the latest version of UEVR here.  Scroll down and under Assets, you should see a zip file.  Download it and extract it.  Make sure to download only from Praydog’s official UEVR github.  If you download anywhere else, you might get malware.

STEP 2: Add anti-virus permissions

If you run UEVR’s injector, Windows thinks it’s a virus.  To tell Windows that it’s not a virus, go to Windows Security and add permissions.

But you might be wondering: is this dangerous?  Is UEVR a virus?  First of all, only download it from Praydog’s UEVR github and not from other sources.  In github, under Assets, Praydog has provided the source code for UEVR, which you can review yourself and compile yourself if you wish.   Or wait for everyone else to use it and see if anyone has problems.

If you’re satisfied that it’s not a virus then here’s how to add permissions:

• Click on the Windows Start button then type “Windows Security” then click on the link.
• Click on Virus & Threat Protection
• Under “Virus & Threat Protection Settings” click on Manage Settings.
• Scroll down to Exclusions and click “Add or remove exclusions”
• Click “Add an exclusion” and in the dropdown, choose “Folder” and select the unzipped UEVR folder.

STEP 3: Download a compatible Unreal Engine game and PREP it

After downloading and installing a compatible game, prep the game by turning OFF any VR modes the game has and setup the controller you want to use.

Turn OFF any VR modes in the game

To ensure that UEVR works properly, disable any other VR plugins in the game.

• In your Steam Library, click on your game on the left side, to bring up the Steam page for your downloaded game.
• Click on Manage (the cog on the right side), and then choose Properties.
• Under Launch Options on the bottom, type (including the hyphen): -nohmd
• Another thing you can do is to go to the plugins folder of the game, look or a directory called OpenXR or OpenVR and delete the directory.  You can restore the directory in Steam by using verify integrity.

Choose your controller

If you haven’t setup your gamepad yet, connect your controller via USB.  In Steam, click on the menu Steam on the upper left corner and choose Settings, then choose Controller.  Then click Begin Test.  It should auto-detect your controller.  You can reconfigure as needed.  If you don’t have a controller yet, the simplest option is an Xbox controller, but in my case I use Playstation DualSense.

In the Properties screen for the game, go to Controller and choose Enable Steam Input to override the game controls with whichever gamepad you have setup on Steam.

STEP 4: Run SteamVR

Use Quest Link, Air Link, Virtual Desktop or Steam Link to run SteamVR (detailed setup instructions here).  Here’s a summary for using Quest Link via USB:

1. Launch the Oculus desktop app
2. Connect your Quest 3, Quest 2, or Quest to your PC via USB.
3. In your Quest, click on the menu button on the right controller, click on the clock on the left side, then choose Quest Link.  Launch Quest Link.
4. After Oculus desktop launches, go to your PC and launch SteamVR.  You should see the SteamVR home in your Quest headset.

STEP 5: Launch the game and change the graphics settings to the LOWEST SETTINGS first.

In Steam, the game usually appears as a large virtual monitor in the Steam home (but not always).  Check the game options for graphics and use the lowest settings first.  Changing the options is an important step.  For example, if I play Sifu in default settings and I try to use UEVR, the game crashes.  If I use lower settings, the game runs fine.

STEP 6: Switch the game to VR

• On your PC, launch UEVR as administrator.  In the unzipped UEVR folder, right click on UEVRinjector.exe and choose Run as administrator.  Alternatively, run it and then click on “Restart as Administrator.”
• Click on the small arrow on the right side below Inject.  This will reveal all programs that are running.  Select the game.  Then when you see the Inject button appear, click on Inject.  For SteamVR on Quest with GTX 1070, I use OpenVR but depending on your hardware, OpenXR may work better.

The screen will go black for a few seconds and will relaunch in VR mode.

Switch to the game on your PC and close the overlay, or press the Ins key to toggle the overlay.  On Playstation DualSense you can press L3+R3 to toggle the UEVR overlay.

STEP 7: Troubleshooting

Problem 1: the game appears on only one eye, or some elements such as menus appear only on one eye.

Solution: If you are seeing only one eye, or some of the graphics are only appearing in one eye, you need to switch UEVR’s rendering mode from Native Stereo to Synchronized Sequential.

• Press Insert key to toggle the UEVR overlay.
• On the left side, click on Unreal.
• On the right side, click on the dropdown for Rendering Method and choose “Synchronized Sequential”.

Problem 2: the characters are too small or too far away.

Solution: You need to adjust the camera.

• Press Insert key to toggle the UEVR overlay.
• On the left side, click on Camera.
• On the right side, the first slider under Camera lets you move the camera forward or backward.  Adjust it to your liking.

Problem 3: parts of the HUD are blocking what I see

Solution: Try adjusting World Scale.

• Press Insert key to toggle the UEVR overlay.
• On the left side, click on Unreal.
• On the right side, look for the World Scale slider and try adjusting it to see if it moves the HUD to an acceptable view.

Problem 4: the game crashes when I launch UEVR.

Solution: try using the lowest settings first.  In your game’s options look for the graphics options and change them all to the lowest settings (lowest resolution, shortest draw distance, etc.) and try going back to Step 5.

Improving the VR experience

You can make your VR experience even better by adjusting the camera’s view, or converting a third person game to first person, or adding motion controls.  Check out Alex’s tutorials for how to do this.  If you like UEVR, you can support Praydog on Patreon here.  Meanwhile, check out the UEVR FAQ here.