X4 VR 0.4.0

This release adds X4 8.00 support. It also fixes very slow loading when X4 starts through the launcher, and a HUD distance mod that stayed off after switching game versions.

X4 8.00

The mod used to look for the X4 code it hooks at fixed 9.00 addresses. It now finds that code by its bytes and knows the code of both 9.00 and 8.00. To play 8.00, pick it in Steam under X4's Properties > Game Versions & Betas and start X4 through the launcher, which rebuilds the HUD distance mod for that version's files. In the headset on 8.00, the cockpit and walking on foot showed the correct eye in every frame and kept the image in sync with the head, the same as on 9.00. On a version the mod doesn't know, it leaves X4's code alone and the log says signature mismatch.

Faster loading

The launcher starts X4 under a small crash recorder, and because of that Windows gave X4 its debug heap, which checks every memory allocation under a single lock. X4's loading crawled: on 8.00 with many mods it sat on the splash screen for more than 7 minutes. With the fix, X4 sent its first frame to the headset 21 seconds after launch. This affected every VR launch on every X4 version, so frame rates you measured before may have included the same cost.

HUD distance

X4 remembers which extensions you turned off in its Extensions menu. If you turned mods off, for example while switching game versions, X4 kept skipping the HUD distance mod while the launcher still showed it as on. The launcher now tells you when X4 has the mod turned off, and Apply turns it back on. A factor typed with a comma, such as 2,5, is now read as 2.5 instead of 2.

Frame limiter

The launcher's settings check now asks for X4's Frame Rate Limit to be off. It used to accept a limit of 90 fps or more. The mod already paces X4 to the headset, and any limit under 180 fps defeats pair mode. Fix X4 settings turns the limiter off for you.

Other changes

• The Default profile now expects X4 at 3840×2160 and uses OpenVR.
• README: Quest players should stream with Virtual Desktop. Steam Link corrects both eyes with the left eye's head pose, so the right eye jitters when you turn your head. A Quest 3 player confirmed that Virtual Desktop works with both the OpenVR and the OpenXR option.
• README: a new Smoother frames section lists optional settings against short hitches, such as NVIDIA's power management and shader cache, the Windows power plan and the mouse polling rate.
• Building from source now also finds a CMake installed outside Visual Studio. Thanks to @sandboxcoder (#1).

Tell us how it runs on your headset and X4 version, on the Discord or in a GitHub issue. The launcher's Report a bug button collects the logs for you.

Install or update:

1. Download X4_VR-v0.4.0.zip below.
2. Extract it into your X4 installation folder, the one that contains X4.exe. You should end up with X4 Foundations\X4_VR\X4VRLauncher.exe. If you're updating, close X4 and the launcher and let it overwrite the old files. Your settings and saved profiles stay.
3. Start X4_VR\X4VRLauncher.exe and follow the README for the NVIDIA DSR and X4 settings.

Copy the X4_VR folder itself, not the files inside it. Windows "Extract All" likes to add an extra folder named after the zip; if the launcher says "Build: missing ..\X4.exe", move the inner X4_VR folder up one level.

You don't need Visual Studio or the Visual C++ redistributable. Windows may warn that the launcher isn't signed; click More info and then Run anyway.

Requirements: Windows 10 or 11, X4 9.00 or 8.00, and SteamVR (or, with the experimental option, your headset's OpenXR runtime). Tested with SteamVR on a Varjo Aero with an RTX 3090. Each eye still runs at half the headset's refresh rate.

X4 VR 0.3.0

This release fixes the stutter in stereo, on foot and in the cockpit, and the mouse cursor that disappeared after a while in menus. It is a checkpoint: please try it and tell us how it runs on your headset.

Stutter fixed. The image could stutter even with your head completely still. X4 reads the head tracker on one thread and builds the camera on another, so a few frames in every hundred were rendered with the other eye's position and jumped sideways. The eye is now chosen at the moment X4 builds the camera, and with a still head we measured no wrong-eye frames at all. A second bug sometimes paired a frame with a head pose from two frames earlier, which made head movement jittery. That is fixed too. Frames also reach SteamVR more reliably, with far fewer missed compositor frames (the dark or grey flashes).

On foot. Walking had the same wrong-eye problem, and moving your head gave heavy stutter while mouse turning looked fine. Both are fixed. On foot now measures the same as the cockpit: every frame goes to the right eye, and the pose sent with each image matches the one it was rendered with.

Mouse cursor. After a while of opening and closing menus, the cursor vanished for the rest of the session. The mod uploaded the cursor image to SteamVR on every shape change, and SteamVR only allows about 200 such uploads per game. Each cursor shape is now uploaded once, and a 5-minute menu test used 5 uploads.

Feedback wanted. Tell us how smooth it feels in the cockpit, on foot and in menus, which headset and GPU you use, and anything that looks wrong. The best places are the Discord or a GitHub issue. The launcher's Report a bug button collects the logs for you.

Install or update:

1. Download X4_VR-v0.3.0.zip below.
2. Extract it into your X4 installation folder, the one that contains X4.exe. You should end up with X4 Foundations\X4_VR\X4VRLauncher.exe. If you're updating, close X4 and the launcher and let it overwrite the old files. Your settings and saved profiles stay.
3. Start X4_VR\X4VRLauncher.exe and follow the README for the NVIDIA DSR and X4 settings.

Copy the X4_VR folder itself, not the files inside it. Windows "Extract All" likes to add an extra folder named after the zip; if the launcher says "Build: missing ..\X4.exe", move the inner X4_VR folder up one level.

You don't need Visual Studio or the Visual C++ redistributable. Windows may warn that the launcher isn't signed; click More info and then Run anyway.

Requirements: Windows 10 or 11, X4 9.00, and SteamVR (or, with the experimental option, your headset's OpenXR runtime). These fixes were tested with SteamVR on a Varjo Aero with an RTX 3090. The experimental OpenXR option hasn't been retested with them yet. Each eye still runs at half the headset's refresh rate.

X4 VR 0.2.0

This release adds an experimental OpenXR option and lets you use DLSS.

OpenXR (experimental). The launcher has a new VR runtime box. OpenVR (SteamVR) stays the default. OpenXR (experimental) sends the frames to Windows' active OpenXR runtime instead, for example Varjo Base's own runtime, so SteamVR doesn't need to run. On a Varjo Aero it behaves the same as the SteamVR path, including the theater screen for menus and the mouse cursor. The choice applies the next time X4 starts, and you can switch back at any time. Overlays that live in SteamVR (dashboard, fpsVR, OVR Toolkit) don't show in a headset's native OpenXR runtime. So far it has been played only with Varjo Base's runtime. SteamVR's own OpenXR runtime passed a technical check but hasn't been played yet.

DLSS allowed. The launcher's X4 settings check no longer asks for DLSS off. DLSS upscaling works, tested up to Ultra Performance. DLSS frame generation must stay off, because it blends frames that belong to different eyes.

Install or update:

1. Download X4_VR-v0.2.0.zip below.
2. Extract it into your X4 installation folder, the one that contains X4.exe. You should end up with X4 Foundations\X4_VR\X4VRLauncher.exe. If you're updating, close X4 and the launcher and let it overwrite the old files. Your settings and saved profiles stay, and existing profiles keep using OpenVR.
3. Start X4_VR\X4VRLauncher.exe and follow the README for the NVIDIA DSR and X4 settings.

Copy the X4_VR folder itself, not the files inside it. Windows "Extract All" likes to add an extra folder named after the zip; if the launcher says "Build: missing ..\X4.exe", move the inner X4_VR folder up one level.

You don't need Visual Studio or the Visual C++ redistributable. Windows may warn that the launcher isn't signed; click More info and then Run anyway.

Requirements: Windows 10 or 11, X4 9.00, and SteamVR (or, with the experimental option, your headset's OpenXR runtime). It has only been tested on a Varjo Aero with an RTX 3090, and each eye runs at half the headset's refresh rate.

X4 VR 0.1.1

A small update for two problems people ran into with 0.1.0. VR behaves the same as before.

Windows Defender flagged 0.1.0 as "Trojan:Win32/Sabsik.FL.A!ml". That verdict comes from Defender's cloud machine learning, not from a known virus. The crash recorder that starts X4 still contained developer tools, including a mode that can load a DLL into the game at startup. The launcher never used them, but they made the file look like a trojan loader. This release ships the crash recorder without that code. Defender here finds nothing in the new download, but the machine learning verdict depends on Microsoft's cloud, so a warning can still show up until they've reviewed it.

The Report a bug dialog now says that opening a GitHub issue needs a free GitHub account. Without one, post in the Reddit thread and share the zip through a file host.

Install or update:

1. Download X4_VR-v0.1.1.zip below.
2. Extract it into your X4 installation folder, the one that contains X4.exe. You should end up with X4 Foundations\X4_VR\X4VRLauncher.exe. If you're updating, close X4 and the launcher and let it overwrite the old files. Your settings and saved profiles stay.
3. Start X4_VR\X4VRLauncher.exe and follow the README for the NVIDIA DSR and X4 settings.

Copy the X4_VR folder itself, not the files inside it. Windows "Extract All" likes to add an extra folder named after the zip; if the launcher says "Build: missing ..\X4.exe", move the inner X4_VR folder up one level.

You don't need Visual Studio or the Visual C++ redistributable. Windows may warn that the launcher isn't signed; click More info and then Run anyway.

Requirements and limits are unchanged: Windows 10 or 11, X4 9.00 and SteamVR. It has only been tested on a Varjo Aero with an RTX 3090, and each eye runs at half the headset's refresh rate.

X4 VR 0.1.0

First download release: stereo VR with 6DOF head tracking for X4: Foundations 9.00 on SteamVR headsets.

What's in it:

• Cockpit flight in stereo with full head tracking, including leaning.
• A HUD distance setting in the launcher. By default X4's cockpit HUD sits about 15 cm from your eyes; the launcher moves it further away at the same apparent size.
• The main menu and fullscreen menus on a flat virtual screen, with the mouse cursor.
• Walking on foot in stereo, with mouse-turn compensation.
• Ctrl+F11 switches to the flat screen at any time, and Ctrl+F12 recenters.
• A Report a bug button in the launcher that packs the logs and opens a GitHub issue.

Install:

1. Download X4_VR-v0.1.0.zip below.
2. Extract it into your X4 installation folder, the one that contains X4.exe.
3. Start X4_VR\X4VRLauncher.exe and follow the README for the NVIDIA DSR and X4 settings.

You don't need Visual Studio or the Visual C++ redistributable. Windows may warn that the launcher isn't signed; click More info and then Run anyway.

Requirements and limits: Windows 10 or 11, X4 9.00 and SteamVR. It has only been tested on a Varjo Aero with an RTX 3090. Each eye runs at half the headset's refresh rate (45 Hz on a 90 Hz headset). On other X4 versions, walking falls back to the flat screen and leaning backwards stays blocked.