Firestorm VR Mod 6.3.9 and 6.4.5

Firestorm 6.4.5.60799 with OpenSimulator viewer is a Beta test viewer which includes support for EEP (the Environmental Enhancement Project) and support for the Chrome Embedded Framework Live Video Streaming features in Second Life and OpenSim. VR Mode in this new version acts in the same way as in Firestorm VR Mod 6.3.9. See under “> Assets” for the releases via https://github.com/humbletim/firestorm-gha/releases

Peter Kappler maintains the Firestorm VR Mod Viewer and his source code modifications to allow the Firestorm Viewer to work with VR headsets at https://gsgrid.de/firestorm-vr-mod/ – go there to download his latest version and for usage information, source, advice on trouble shooting, etc. For community support use the Discord Discussion Channel: P373R-WORKSHOP by p373r_kappler [ Invite ].

On that channel @humbletim has announced an automated scripted build system with help from @thoys using GitHub Actions (GHA) which merges Peter Kappler’s VR code additions into stock Firestorm and which can autobuild a release executable version. He has done that for Firestorm 6.3.9.58205 and 6.4.5.60799. See https://github.com/humbletim/firestorm-gha/. Look under the Releases tab and the installer is under the “Assets” chevron.

These install in to their own folder and use their own user Settings directory so that the VR Mod viewer can be installed alongside the standard Firestorm viewer. Note that if you want to import existing Firestorm accounts/settings you have to manually copy them over between AppData/Roaming/Firestorm_x64 and AppData/Roaming/FirestormVR_x64 folders.

As usual, Ctrl+TAB initially sets up SteamVR (and HMD support as needed), TAB is used to toggle VR mode on or off, F5 lets you select and step through the various VR HMD or user specific settings for IPD, texture shift to register the left and right eye images, and focal distance to change depth perception, etc. F6/F7 are used to increment and decrement each setting selection.

Peter Kappler suggested the following process to establish suitable settings for your HMD:

  1. Set IPD to 0 (zero)
  2. Then adjust Texture Shift until image is sharp and focused
  3. Then adjust IPD which separates your cameras to left and right to get a good 3D effect


If you see a lot of hover tips showing under the mouse it could be that the debug setting “ShowHoverTips” is set to TRUE (the default) which may show something constantly under the mouse even for inert unscripted objects. You can turn that off via Debug Settings or via Preferences – User Interface – 3D World – Show Hover Tips. Via that same preferences panel, you might alternatively prefer to lengthen the delay before hovertips are activated.


On the Discord channel @humbletim on 28-May-2020 wrote:

For anyone wanting to compile from source I was able to get a combined Firestorm stock + VR Mod built using Github Actions (much thanks to @thoys for helping figure it out!).

Still tweaking the build script but latest windows version is here:
https://github.com/humbletim/firestorm-gha/blob/gha/Firestorm_master_VR/.github/workflows/CompileWindows.yml

And here are the minimum source changes that seem necessary on top of stock Firestorm_6.3.9_Release to merge in the 6.3.3 VR Mod source, fetch OpenVR as a submodule dependency, and then automatically bundle as part of the generated installer.
https://github.com/humbletim/firestorm-gha/compare/Firestorm_6.3.9…humbletim:Firestorm_6.3.9_VR


For more details and advice on running Firestorm VR Mod see https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/2019/11/28/firestorm-vr-mod-6-3-3/.


Reflections Issue in Firestorm 6.4.5.60799 VR Mod

Ahah… I notice a BIG difference when using 6.4.5.60799 VR Mod… as you tip you head from side to side when in VR Mode the UI elements like the HUDs and name/group tags correctly stay level. BUT the REFLECTIONS of in world items ALSO stay level which looks very odd. In 6.3.9.58205 they correctly stay as a mirror image of the objects. I wonder if the EEP code has altered the graphics layer on which reflections are placed in some way that needs a change to the VR Mod approach? Or if its a bug somewhere in the core Firestorm/Linden Lab rendering code.

Here are screenshots from FS 6.3.9.58205 VR Mod (left) and FS 6.4.5.60799 VR Mod (right) in VR Mode with HMD tipped to the side… click on images for full size versions…

It may be that Linden Lab moved the reflections onto a different graphics layer and the VR Mod code folks might be able to fix that… but it might also partially explain why there is a big frame rate drop in the EEP viewers… as we already know that turning off the UI layer improves frame rate a LOT…. just speculation at the moment but still… interesting.

Looks like its an issue in Linden Lab (and hence Firestorm) EEP code changes.. as it can be observed in the standard non-VR Mod viewers. It is rather obvious in VR Mode, but can also be seen in a standard view… if you place your avatar so its at an angle (e.g. on a pose stand and rotate it sideways) and go into Mouselook mode you can see the reflections are wrong… setup as in the following image…

Here are screenshots from FS 6.3.9.58205 (left) and FS 6.4.5.60799 (right) in Mouselook mode with avatar view tipped to the side… click on images for full size versions…

The issues is in the Linden Lab EEP code and is reported at https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/BUG-229181 and https://jira.firestormviewer.org/browse/FIRE-29972

This entry was posted in OpenSim, Second Life, VR and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.

1 Response to Firestorm VR Mod 6.3.9 and 6.4.5

  1. bat says:

    Experimental GitHub Actions Builds…

    Firestorm VR Mod 6.3.9.58205 (with corrected version number)
    https://github.com/humbletim/firestorm-gha/runs/770396429
    Update: 2020-06-16: This has now replaced the 6.3.9 version under assets.

    Firestorm VR Mod 6.4.5.60799 (with EEP support)
    https://github.com/humbletim/firestorm-gha/releases/tag/v6.4.5-vr-alpha-0

Comments are closed.