deVRace v1.1.0

deVRace 1.1.0: a calmer end of the race, and the wreck gallery in the headset.

Install

Download deVRace-v1.1.0-x86_64.AppImage and devrace-setup.sh into one folder, then:

chmod +x devrace-setup.sh deVRace-*.AppImage
./devrace-setup.sh

The script finds Carmageddon (Steam Max Pack, GOG, Heroic, or --game-dir), copies the game data to ~/.local/share/devrace/games/ (your Steam/GOG installation is not changed), creates a config and adds deVRace to the application menu (Splat Pack via right click). No root needed. Start SteamVR, then deVRace. Updating from 1.0.0: run the new script the same way, your config and save games are kept. Details: Installing, ./devrace-setup.sh --help, --uninstall.

The AppImage (x86_64, built on Ubuntu 22.04) bundles SDL3 and the OpenXR loader; GPU driver, OpenXR runtime and C++ runtime come from your system. It needs FUSE 2 (libfuse.so.2) to start directly. You still need your own copy of Carmageddon.

New since 1.0.0

• Still camera after the race: once you have won (or are wrecked), the chase camera no longer circles your car and bobs up and down, which was sickening in the headset. It stays where it is, and you can turn it around the car with the right stick: the further you push, the faster (at most as fast as the original camera keys). Looking left/right on the right stick is off during that time. The monitor-only build keeps the original behaviour.
• Wreck gallery shows the cars: on the damage screen after the race the 3D wrecks were only drawn on the monitor, the panel in the headset showed an empty grid. They are now on the panel too, zooming in on a car included. For this the BRender fork's OpenGL renderer can now render into a rectangle of a render target (BRender-v1.3.2 2009fbc).
• Test switch DEVRACE_TEST_FINISH_RACE=<seconds>: a single player race is won after that many seconds, to get to the end of the race and the summary screens without driving it.
• Latest Dethrace upstream merged (RenderAFrame matched to the original, #1208).

Tested with

Arch Linux, GNOME 51 (Wayland), Radeon RX 7900 XT with Mesa 26.2, SteamVR, Valve Index, Xbox Wireless Controller. 144 Hz throughout, also on the summary screens.

Known issues

See Known issues – short pauses while loading, the first SteamVR start after plugging in the Index may hang (SteamVR-for-Linux#948).

Bug reports and feature requests are welcome in the issues. Testers, and anyone who would like to do a Windows or Meta Quest port, are welcome – see CONTRIBUTING.md.

deVRace v1.0.0

First stable release of deVRace: Carmageddon (Dethrace) in VR on Linux through OpenXR.

Install

Download deVRace-v1.0.0-x86_64.AppImage and devrace-setup.sh into one folder, then:

chmod +x devrace-setup.sh deVRace-*.AppImage
./devrace-setup.sh

The script finds Carmageddon (Steam Max Pack, GOG, Heroic, or --game-dir), copies the game data to ~/.local/share/devrace/games/ (your Steam/GOG installation is not changed), creates a config and adds deVRace to the application menu (Splat Pack via right click). No root needed. Start SteamVR, then deVRace. Updating from 0.2.0-alpha: run the new script the same way, your config and save games are kept. Details: Installing, ./devrace-setup.sh --help, --uninstall.

The AppImage (x86_64, built on Ubuntu 22.04) bundles SDL3 and the OpenXR loader; GPU driver, OpenXR runtime and C++ runtime come from your system. It needs FUSE 2 (libfuse.so.2) to start directly. You still need your own copy of Carmageddon.

New since 0.2.0-alpha

• Comfort vignette (VR options, first row, off by default): the view narrows to a clear circle around each eye's line of sight while the car turns or tumbles fast, and a little at high speed
• Pixel blood (on by default): the blood on the lens is made of the game's own gib sprites – splats and chunks, now and then a bone, an eyeball or a colon – turned at random, without drips or smears; in the cockpit the airstream still pushes it up and aside
• Blood from shaking the mouse in the menus needs a 50 % harder shake
• Pedestrian spasm fix always on (no longer an option)
• Vastly extended draw distance on by default; full detail opponents stay off (they made the headset drop below 144 Hz at the start of a race)
• Latest Dethrace upstream merged (ten more functions matched to the original)
• Cleaned up code: shared GL helpers for the post effects and the VR layers, long functions split; builds with -DDETHRACE_WERROR=ON on GCC 16
• New CONTRIBUTING.md: testers wanted, and anyone who would like to do a Windows or Meta Quest port is welcome to join the repository

Tested with

Arch Linux, GNOME 51 (Wayland), Radeon RX 7900 XT with Mesa 26.2, SteamVR, Valve Index, Xbox Wireless Controller.

Known issues

See Known issues – short pauses while loading, the first SteamVR start after plugging in the Index may hang (SteamVR-for-Linux#948).

Bug reports and feature requests are welcome in the issues.

deVRace 0.2.0-alpha

Second alpha of deVRace: Carmageddon (Dethrace) in VR on Linux through OpenXR. Now with an AppImage and a setup script – no building needed.

Install

Download deVRace-v0.2.0-alpha-x86_64.AppImage and devrace-setup.sh into one folder, then:

chmod +x devrace-setup.sh deVRace-*.AppImage
./devrace-setup.sh

The script finds Carmageddon (Steam Max Pack, GOG, Heroic, or --game-dir), copies the game data to ~/.local/share/devrace/games/ (your Steam/GOG installation is not changed), creates a config and adds deVRace to the application menu (Splat Pack via right click). No root needed. Start SteamVR, then deVRace. Details and options: Installing, ./devrace-setup.sh --help, --uninstall.

The AppImage (x86_64, built on Ubuntu 22.04) bundles SDL3 and the OpenXR loader; GPU driver, OpenXR runtime and C++ runtime come from your system. It needs FUSE 2 (libfuse.so.2) to start directly. You still need your own copy of Carmageddon.

New since 0.1.0-alpha

• Post effects on each eye: Sharpen, Vivid, Junkyard, Glow, Voodoo (3dfx look), Comic, CRT (monitor only) – VR options → SHADER/EFFECT
• VR options screen (VR button in the options) for blood, slop-pack options and effects
• Recenter with the right stick press (race and menus) or SteamVR's own recentring
• Blood on the lens when running over pedestrians at speed
• Rear view mirror in the cockpit view, far chase camera, cockpit view without the driver's hands
• Options from dethrace-slop-pack (Tom Butler): extended draw distance, max-detail opponents, round wheels, pedestrian spasm fix (on by default)
• Electro-bastard ray drawn in the OpenGL mode (Dethrace PR dethrace-labs#1131 by Link4Electronics), same for both eyes
• Menus run at the headset's pace, 24-bit depth for render targets
• Latest Dethrace upstream merged (matching work on pedestrians, sparks, replay controls, scores; global initializer fixes – car shadows are drawn again in the 3dfx mode)

Tested with

Arch Linux, GNOME 51 (Wayland), Radeon RX 7900 XT with Mesa 26.2, SteamVR 2.17.10, Valve Index, Xbox Wireless Controller. The AppImage was additionally tested with Monado.

Known issues

See Known issues – short pauses while loading, the first SteamVR start after plugging in the Index may hang (SteamVR-for-Linux#948).

Bug reports and feature requests are welcome in the issues.

deVRace 0.1.0-alpha

First public version of deVRace: Carmageddon (Dethrace) in VR on Linux through OpenXR.

Source only for now – build it as described in the README. Clone with --recurse-submodules, the BRender submodule carries part of the VR changes. You need your own copy of Carmageddon.

What's in it

• Stereo 3D with head tracking on top of the original chase and cockpit cameras (144 Hz on the Valve Index)
• Native Wayland through SDL3 + EGL (XR_MNDX_egl_enable), no X11
• Sky fixed to the world, menus and HUD on a panel in front of you, every HUD element switchable
• Cockpit view with the 3D bonnet instead of the 2D dashboard
• Gamepad support with analog steering/throttle/brake and force feedback (pedestrians, car crashes), fully remappable
• New options: [VR], [Gamepad], VSync, GrabMouse, FrameStats

Tested with

Arch Linux, GNOME 51 (Wayland), Radeon RX 7900 XT with Mesa 26.2, SteamVR 2.17.10, Valve Index, Xbox Wireless Controller.

Known issues

See Known issues – missing lightning strike in VR, no car shadows in 3dfx mode, short pauses while loading, no recenter key yet.

Bug reports and feature requests are welcome in the issues.