Getting a full Grand Theft Auto game inside VR headsets is a dream for many of us, but we do at least have something to hold us over in the GTA 5 VR mod, Grand Theft VR. Last week its developers returned with the first updates of 2017.
Last we heard from Grand Theft VR it had been updated to support new versions of OpenVR in December 2016, and hadn’t been updated since May 2016 before then. But in the past week we’ve had not one but two updates. The first one more added support for the latest version of OpenVR, but also fixed a bug with disappearing cars.
The most recent update is a bit more significant with some major bug fixes and additions. Highlighting the update is the ability to steer cars by rotating your position-tracked controller, keeping the experience entirely immersive. On Vive, you can now also walk by holding the trackpad and run by clicking it in. Finally, bugs have been fixed concerning teleportation and the seated pose.
Grand Theft VR allows players to access the first-person camera view introduced in the PC and current generation versions of Grand Theft Auto V. Using position-tracked controls you can get closer to the characters in the game than ever before, realistically aiming weapons and, after last week’s updates, driving cars. You’ll of course actually need a copy of the game (as well as the VorpX software) to use it but, being on OpenVR, it works on both the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
It might not be an official GTA game in VR — that doesn’t seem like something Rockstar Games owner Take-Two Interactive is so keen on right now — but it’s a start. Now we’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed that an unannounced PC port of the upcoming Red Dead Redemption 2 gets VR support.
