RDR2 (Patreon)

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Game

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1174180/Red_Dead_Redemption_2/

Enabled technologies

AER v2, DL(S)SS

Supported version(s)

The R.E.A.L. VR framework was tested with game version 1.0.1491.50, available directly from Rockstar. The same version of the title bought from other vendors should also work, like for example the one found on Steam at the address linked at the top (I get no commissions). I cannot give any guarantees however, as there could be differences that cause issues ranging from small defects to showstopping problems in VR.

IMPORTANT: The game offers two rendering backends, DirectX 12 and Vulkan, but you will need to make sure that Vulkan is selected as the Graphics API, because that's the only configuration that will work in VR with R.E.A.L.

Older versions or pirated copies are not supported. Official versions later than the ones listed above may or may not work, depending on what was changed. See here for information on how to prevent automatic game updates from breaking VR functionality.

Special setup notes

The folder where you should extract the R.E.A.L. VR archive and run RealConfig is "C:\Program Files\Rockstar Games\Red Dead Redemption 2". You might have to customize the path if you moved your games library or in case you own the game from a different store, but it will always be the folder that contains the "RDR2.exe" executable file.

Note that for this title RealConfig will offer you a choice of five quality levels, preconfigured to help you find the best balance between eye candy and smoothness. If you have an RTX 5090 you can easily go with (U)ltra; if you're running on a laptop maybe start with (M)edium or (L)ow. There is also an optimized config by Hardware Unboxed listed as option (O) that might give you some more fps without noticeable quality loss. Feel free to experiment, but keep in mind that what really matters in VR is resolution. Unless you totally butcher your frame rate with Ray Tracing or Path Tracing (which this title doesn't have), spending a lot of time tweaking all the graphics options will normally have an overall impact of no more than 25-30% on the performance. But choosing suitable values for the resolution and FOV restrictions can easily span a 2x-3x performance interval, ranging from an unplayable 30 fps to fluid 72 or 90 fps.

For this title you will also need to make sure that the "Disable Windows key" option is checked in the Rockstar Games Launcher, to prevent huge keyboard lag at launch and/or when you Alt-Tab out of the game.

NOTE: It is up to you whether to install Alexander Blade's Script Hook RDR2; my framework doesn't need it, except for a very small script I wrote years ago to add automatic heading control to RDR2 (i.e., making your character follow the direction you're looking at when walking or running). Auto heading control has never worked so well with this title though, so it is still marked as experimental and you will probably find that the game plays smoother if you don't activate it.

You can still use Script Hook RDR2 though, if you need it for other purposes: for example because you want to install third-party mods that need the ability to call arbitrary native functions, or if you'd like to use Alexander Blade's Native Trainer to do all sorts of weird stuff in your game like spawning vehicles and weapons, change the time of day and the weather, make yourself invincible and so on.

Since my runtime attaches to the game using the Vulkan layers mechanism while Script Hook RDR2 uses dll injection, there are no incompatibilities: you can simply drop dinput8.dll and ScriptHookRDR2.dll directly from the https://www.dev-c.com/rdr2/scripthookrdr2/ download into the game folder. Again, they're not needed if all you want is playing the vanilla game in VR.

Resolution and aspect ratio

RDR2 deals quite poorly with large, squarish resolutions. Both the in-game Log (very important because it contains mission information you can't find anywhere else) and the trappers' user interface don't work well with square aspect ratios. They also have a tendency to become narrower as the absolute window height increases, to the point where text and images get cut off on both sides and the UI becomes unusable.

So, I had to implement a custom selection of base window resolutions, which you will find in the game-specific "RDR2" tab of the R.E.A.L. overlay. As you will see, the list begins with square resolutions, but as you go up the vertical size gets clamped to 2736 pixels which is the maximum value that preserves readability. A starting resolution will be preselected for you according to the quality choice you made when running RealConfig; later on you will be free to change it from the "Base window size" drop-down menu. Do not use the in-game GRAPHICS> VIDEO> Resolution option, because it only exposes standard resolutions which won't look good in VR.

The framework will also remember the base window size you set across sessions, so once you find the right compromise between detail and fluidity you should be able to play the rest of the game without touching the resolution again.

One final note: why is it called the "base" window size? This title was initially launched without DLSS support, and provided its own mechanism to upsample/downsample the framebuffer in order to get the best compromise between image quality and performance. That mechanism is still available through the "Resolution Scale" game option, which becomes selectable if DLSS is turned Off. You can choose any resampling ratio from 1/2 to 5/2, with the default being Off or 1/1.

1/2 will render the game world at half scale, with maximum performance but a very blurry image; on the opposite end of the range, 5/2 will render the world at 2.5x the base window size, so for instance with a window size of 2160x2160 you will get a VR resolution of 5400x5400 pixels, wonderfully detailed but enough to bring the best GPUs to their knees.

With DLSS on (the configuration I personally use and recommend) Resolution Scale is disabled, and for some reason the roles are reversed; the base window size becomes the output resolution, and the actual rendering resolution is not shown but computed internally from the DLSS preset. Example: the Quality preset upsamples with a 3/2 ratio, so for a base window size of 3472x2736 (the output resolution sent to the VR headset) the game will render onto an internal 2315x1824 buffer.

Options

You can tweak most graphics and gameplay options in the SETTINGS menu according to your liking and how powerful your GPU is, but there are a few game options that you must leave at the defaults preselected by RealConfig in order for the title to display properly in VR. Specifically, in the GRAPHICS page:

• Screen Type = Windowed Borderless

• VSync = Off

• NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency should be Disabled (system-dependent, but for me switching it on tends to have a negative impact on frame rate);

• Triple Buffering: you can leave it On, it doesn't seem to make any difference in VR;

• NVIDIA DLSS. Make sure this is selected so that you can use my DL(S)SS fix to completely eliminate the shimmering around nearby characters and objects. All presets work correctly; I recommend you start with Quality if you have a powerful GPU, or with Balanced or Performance if your card is not top of the line.
  As those among you who accompanied me through these years will remember, for RDR2 I made a special, customized version of the DLSS fix. In other titles it's just approximate, even though engines that implement DLSS properly like Decima will still manage to look spectacular. But in RDR2, everything is pixel perfect. You can see the individual strands on your horse's mane or Arthur's unruly beard.
  If you have an RTX 4090 or 5090, this title definitely deserves DLAA, as the image quality is just out of this world. For unfathomable reasons, Rockstar decided not to expose DLAA as a quality preset, but you can just force it from the NVIDIA App; it will work correctly, even though the game menu will mislabel it "Ultra Quality". If you choose this path, I recommend that you also force Preset K, as later ones are meant for high upscaling ratios like 3:1, while K is a cheaper alternative that works perfectly at 1:1 and won't kill your frame rate.
  In case you are running an AMD GPU, you might try the amazing third-party OptiScaler (see my previous post for details on how to install and configure it for VR) so that you can still make the game believe you're using DLSS. I'll need your feedback on this however, because I don't have an AMD card available to test on at the moment;

• Advanced Settings. Change it to Unlocked, so that the following lines will be editable, beginning with the all-important...

• Graphics API: this MUST be set to Vulkan. DirectX 12 works for other titles in R.E.A.L., but not here; for RDR2 you have to use Vulkan.

• Motion Blur needs to be Off. You should never enable any kind of motion blur when using R.E.A.L. VR, or the world will look smeared out horizontally.

There are also a couple of options that RealConfig cannot set on its own, so you'll want to configure them manually the first time you launch the game in VR:

• in the CONTROLS> CONTROLLER page, under TARGETING AND WEAPONS, move both Aim Assist Strength sliders all the way to the left and set Lock-On Mode (On-Foot) and Lock-On Mode (Mount / Vehicle) to Free Aim, so the automatic assist meant for console-style play won't interfere with gaze-based aiming;

• in the DISPLAY page, section RADAR AND BLIPS, I recommend setting Radar to Compass for a cleaner and more immersive look in VR (the expanded minimap can be quickly brought up at any moment with D-Pad Down)

• finally, in the CAMERA page, under FIRST PERSON, set First Person Head Bobbing to Reduced; your stomach will be most thankful *_*

Additional game-specific notes

You can bring up the R.E.A.L. overlay with the Pause key on the keyboard, or by pulling both triggers on the gamepad. This latter gesture is only recognized when the title is paused, to avoid interfering with gameplay.

In case you need to briefly change the view mode to the 2D virtual screen, for instance in order to browse more relaxedly through one of the incredibly detailed catalogues in stores, I added a special gesture: just press the left thumbstick and the left shoulder button of your gamepad at the same time. That's active at all times, without the need to enter the pause menu first. Do it again to return to full 3D.

Input

You'll want to use a gamepad to play RDR2. Keyboard and mouse sort of work too, but there might be issues, like mouse clicks activating other windows at random or some entries in the game menus being unreachable with the cursor; thus, in order to have a smooth experience, using a gamepad is highly recommended.

Don't worry about console-player syndrome: with R.E.A.L. VR, aiming is gaze-driven and extremely fast, intuitive and accurate, so even if you're used to playing FPS with your mouse, give your gamepad a chance. It will be one headshot after the other, even when shooting from a running horse which is notoriously hard in this game. And yes, Dead Eye works as intended!

Just be careful about one thing: at least on my PC, and using a wireless Xbox controller, the game has a nasty tendency to crash to desktop if the gamepad is switched on or off during gameplay. As you might know, RDR2 absolutely doesn't save during missions, even long ones: there are checkpoints, but you can only restart from them if you didn't leave the game. In case of a crash, all your current progress since your last save or autosave (both of which can only occur in free roaming mode) will be hopelessly lost.

The only time when it's completely safe to connect or disconnect your gameplay is before the game enters Story Mode. You've been warned!

Camera, HUD, gameplay, cutscenes

The R.E.A.L. framework supports 6 DoF tracking, i.e., the camera will follow your head rotation and movement. It's completely decoupled (meaning that you can look in a different direction from Arthur without influencing where he walks), except when you're aiming in third person.

During normal gameplay, the HUD will float in space in front of you. For this game, the crosshair will always be correctly aligned, without any need to limit the tracking from 6 DoF to 3 DoF. In other words, positional (roomscale) tracking will be available at all times.

All the cameras that you can select while on foot or riding (1st person, 3rd person with different distances, even the majestic cinematic camera which makes for some truly epic views as you travel across the mountains with your gang) will work as expected in VR. So will special tools like your binoculars, photo camera, weapon scopes and the such. Kill Cams also render correctly... and I have to say, gore in 3D always looked more satisfying to me. Am I weird?

The UI splits perfectly between HUD and world markers, and every element gets drawn at the correct depth and position, so you won't miss any of the important information that appears at the sides like the "cores", hints, ammo count and so on, while at the same time enjoying a pixel-accurate crosshair and easily readable subtitles that won't clip into the characters.

I have to say, even after 8 years, this game is probably the most realistic-looking and awe-inspiring of all the titles we can play with the help of the R.E.A.L. VR framework.

Cutscenes are presented in full 3D, and my framework will give you the ability to look anywhere you like. I also removed the letterboxing for an unobstructed view. This being a Rockstar title, the attention to detail is unmatched, and even the "backstage" (the portion of the scene which you were never supposed to see) almost always renders correctly, without missing props, teleporting or rubber-legged characters.

That is very important, as a good portion of the story gets told through cutscenes. The result is one of the most immersive experiences I've ever played through (but of course, we're all waiting for GTA VI, aren't we?)

Custom controls in the "RDR2" overlay tab

If you installed Script Hook RDR2, which is completely optional, my companion script will provide some relatively rough Auto heading control. It's limited to walking/running in first person (so no horses, vehicles or third person). You can assign a keyboard shortcut to it for easy on/off toggling. You can also select whether the HUD should swivel to follow your gaze as you look around.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any way of changing the character's walking direction smoothly, as I have in other engines, so the automatic adjustment happens in discrete steps; the direction will be automatically updated past a certain amount of time or rotation angle. This is because every time Arthur's direction gets changed even slightly, the DLSS or TAA anti-aliaser resets, which translates visually to a short flash of the jaggies. As a consequence of that, I can't really recommend using auto-heading, but it's there if you want to check it out.
[Just to clarify: controlling Arthur's direction with the right stick works perfectly fine, with no judder or flashes. The issues are only with the optional head-based movement.]

As I said at the beginning of the post, this title is a little different from what you've become used to in terms of setting the resolution. You will find the list of VR-ready window sizes in the "RDR2" page of the overlay. Changing the selection in the drop-down menu will have immediate effect on the game and will persist across gaming sessions. As an alternative for power users, you can set the drop-down to "No override" before quitting the game, and then hand-edit the RealVR.ini file while the game is stopped. The resolution you put in the base window size line of the [RDR2] section, for example BaseWindowSize=2432,2678 will be picked up by the framework at the next launch and listed in the drop-down as a Custom resolution.

The "Fix TAA/DLSS for Stereo" checkbox is meant to be always left on, but I included it as an option in case you want to compare just how much worse the world looks when DLSS doesn't work properly in stereo :-|

As usual you can change the world scale, from small adjustments to playing with tiny soldiers or giants.

For accurate, intuitive ADS (Aiming Down Sights), don't forget to set your dominant eye. The default is right-eye dominant, which works for about 2 out of 3 people.

Scopes in VR can look weird (I'm speaking in general, not just about RDR2), due to the FOV mismatch between the magnified image provided by the game and what your brain expects to see in the headset. If you can stomach the original rendering, you can leave the Scopes drop-down set to "Native (default)"; if that's too much for you, there is an "Adjusted" option which makes the image look flatter and more similar to the one you would expect for example from a pair of binoculars in real life, and a "Mono" option which will get rid of the 3D effect completely. If even that is problematic for you due to the distortion making you dizzy, a final choice is to have the game automatically change to a virtual 2D display whenever you're zooming in.

If you're still using Legacy AER (which I don't recommend because AER v2 works really well in this game and makes it look very close to a native implementation), you can select whether to compensate the background judder when you're using the thumbstick to rotate the camera.

The vast majority of users should not need to touch this setting, but if your system appears to miss frames in the compositor because the GPU is stretched too thin, or on the contrary you get low values of GPU usage that you would like to improve, you can try tweaking the "GPU Throttling" slider. Around 50% is a good balance between performance and responsiveness. Note that doesn't mean your GPU will be capped at 50% usage: actually, with the slider at its default of 49 and a suitably large resolution, you should be seeing around 95% GPU usage which is optimal. Higher than that and the system will begin to skip frames because the graphics card is too busy to deliver them at the right moment when they're needed; lower and you're not getting all the bang you deserve for your buck. If your usage does not feel optimal, increase the value of GPU Throttling to reduce usage and improve responsiveness, or drag it to a lower value in order to push the GPU harder, possibly delivering higher fps but in a more choppy way.

Updates and known issues

[I'll post new information here as it becomes available.]