Steam Frame VR Roundup: Fan-Made Unreal VR Ports Go Standalone, Forefront Adds Breakthrough Mode

Unreal Gold and Unreal Tournament in standalone VR (unofficial)

Independent developer Game Or Die has released free, fan-made VR conversions of Unreal Gold and Unreal Tournament (1999), according to MIXED. These are unofficial projects, not Epic Games releases. Headset builds run on Steam Frame and Quest 3 without a PC running the game, and PC VR versions are available too.

• Your own game data: the ports don’t include the original game files. Per MIXED, the standalone Unreal Gold setup can use a compatible copy you already have or download a disc image from the Internet Archive, and the Tournament setup downloads a disc image and an OldUnreal patch.
• Setup still needs a PC: on Quest 3, it needs developer mode and a USB connection. On Steam Frame, it needs developer mode, the Lepton app, and a PC on the same network.
• Controls: head tracking and motion controllers with hand-aimed weapons. Room-scale walking and physical crouching are optional, and Tournament has a calibration room for weapon alignment.
• Online: the developer’s server lets PC VR, Quest 3 and Steam Frame players play together.
• Tested setups: the developer says it tested Quest 3 over Virtual Desktop, Steam Frame through SteamVR on PC, and both headsets standalone.
• Limitations: menus stay flat, room movement can lag online, servers with anti-cheat haven’t been tested, and the Windows installers aren’t code-signed.

For PC VR, Unreal Tournament is a 32-bit game, so the developer says Quest Link and Air Link users should go through SteamVR, since Meta’s PC runtime doesn’t offer a 32-bit OpenXR runtime. An Unreal Gold VR 1.0.1 update fixes a save crash on Quest 3 and Steam Frame. MIXED says it hasn’t tested the ports.

Forefront: Operation: Sandstorm

Triangle Factory’s VR shooter Forefront got its Operation: Sandstorm update on October 29, MIXED reports.

• Breakthrough mode: attackers must capture every point in a sector before pushing to the next, on Tunnels, Siberia, Mauritania and Fjord.
• New gear: a knife for all classes and the FMS burst rifle for Assault and Medic. Both are free unlocks.
• Operation rewards: a paid premium tier adds cosmetics like skins, weapon patterns and charms.
• bHaptics support: TactSuit vests, TactSleeve and TactVisor.
• Steam Frame: the notes list “improved foveated rendering,” with no frame-rate figures or test conditions given.
• Fixes: controller rebinding, equipment randomly dropping or swapping hands, parties being kicked over leader errors, plus network, server and voice chat work.