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Game
https://store.steampowered.com/app/939960/Far_Cry_New_Dawn/
Enabled technologies
Supported version(s)
The R.E.A.L. VR framework was tested with the Deluxe Edition, Update 1.05, available from Ubisoft Connect with Ubisoft+. The same version of the game bought from other stores 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.
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 (x86)\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher\games\Far Cry New Dawn\bin_plus" if you have the Ubisoft+ subscription, or "C:\Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher\games\Far Cry New Dawn\bin" if you bought the game from Ubisoft directly but without the subscription. You might need 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 "FarCryNewDawn.exe" executable file.
Resolution and aspect ratio
A few steps are needed in order to set the resolution for the first time and make FCND run properly in VR:
boot up the game, which will most likely start in fullscreen mode;
put on your headset and watch or skip the intro messages/logos;
once you get to the main menu, bring up the R.E.A.L. overlay and use the "Target pixels per degree" slider and "Adapt resolution" button (see here to find out how they work);
as the prompt tells you, the new custom resolution will have been injected into the "Borderless" category, but due to a quirk in the engine that I haven't been able to sort out yet, it won't be immediately available;
in game, go to OPTIONS> VIDEO> MONITOR, choose Borderless mode, and select the first available Borderless resolution (typically 1920x1080): apply it and confirm;
then go all the way back to the main game menu, and once more select OPTIONS then VIDEO then MONITOR. The injected resolution will finally be available in the Borderless category and you'll be able to select and apply it.
You'll know that the correct resolution is set because the window on the monitor will appear squashed vertically, but in the headset the aspect ratio will be correct. Also the R.E.A.L. VR overlay will report it as the current VR resolution.
The resolution will remain valid until you quit the game. On the next gameplay session, FCND will remember your injected resolution, but it won't be automatically activated for some reason. What I do to get it back is quite simple (a little tedious, but you only have to do it once per play session):
boot the game up;
put on your headset and watch or skip the intro messages/logos;
when the main menu becomes available, you might notice that it's cut off vertically, and the OPTIONS line could even be hidden. Just press Alt-Enter on the keyboard twice. That will restart the VR output and you'll see a squashed image on the desktop monitor but a correct one in your headset. From that point on, the menu will be fully navigable with a gamepad in VR.
Options
You can set all graphics and gameplay options according to your liking and how powerful your GPU is, but there are a few settings that you must leave at the defaults preselected by RealConfig in order for the title to display properly in VR:
Reticle Position = Offset
Window Mode = Borderless (not the usual Windowed!)
Aspect Ratio = NATIVE (16x9)
Motion Blur = 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)
V-Sync = OFF
Enable Framerate Lock = OFF
The following settings are preselected by RealConfig but it's possible that different values would still work correctly, although I'm not sure because I couldn't test them thoroughly:
Adaptive Resolution = OFF
Resolution Scale = 1
I also recommend setting "HD Textures" to ON unless you card is really low on video memory.
As also discussed in the "Known issues" section, you will need to reset OPTIONS> GAMEPAD> GENERAL> Aiming Assists to OFF every time you boot up FCND, as for some reason the game doesn't remember the setting.
Additional game-specific notes
You can bring up the R.E.A.L. overlay with the Pause key on the keyboard, or by pressing both thumbsticks on the gamepad (this latter gesture is recognized only when the title is paused, to avoid interfering with gameplay).
Input
You will definitely want to use a gamepad to play FCND. 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 ;-)
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. Gaze-based aiming works and the crosshair will always be properly aligned. To that effect, whenever you have a weapon drawn 6 DoF will be limited to 3 DoF, i.e., without positional tracking. Binoculars work too, and tagging enemies similarly follows the direction of your gaze.
Some scripted animations, like the one when you enter a ladder going down, look weird in VR.
All kinds of vehicles (ground, sea, air) work very well, with a new control system that I implemented for FC5 and then ported to the other games in the series. Even shooting your handgun while driving feels quite easy and intuitive.
Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, there is no way to swivel generic mounted guns like turrets in FC games according to where the player is looking at, so I decided to disable gaze-based aiming completely in those situations. In other words, mounted guns will be fully controlled by the thumbstick while the camera has freelook. The crosshair won't be in the correct position, but it doesn't matter much because mounted guns give you a pretty clear idea where you're shooting at, just by watching where the bullets and tracers go ;-)
When your personal weapon is holstered, the HUD will float in space in front of you, so you can just look around in order to be able to read its full information, even the hints appearing on the sides and in the corners.
FCND offers co-op multiplayer, which took me some additional time and effort to fix but is now working properly. There might still be some jank when using the Ubisoft overlay (the chat for instance has a tendency to become headlocked and too big), but that can be worked around by temporarily switching to the 2D virtual screen. Chatting while playing co-op in VR is best done via mics anyway instead of textual input.
Cutscenes have top/bottom black bars, which I didn't disable because they work correctly in VR and sort of preserve the "cinematic" effect. There is no forced camera though: you can still look anywhere and the frame will follow your gaze.
A few short cutscenes have an FOV problem that makes the world look a little swimmy, as though the image were zoomed in.
Some other cutscenes were prerendered by the developers and stored as movies, so there's nothing I can do about them: they will appear as if projected on a virtual 2D screen in VR. That is notably true of the rather long introduction sequence.
Custom controls in the "FCND" overlay tab
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.
I disabled depth of field effects because usually they have no place in VR, and in FC games they make weapon models look all blurry, especially when you aim down the sights. However, since I always believe in keeping as faithful to the original gameplay and design as possible, I left a checkbox to allow you to restore them if you so wish (game restart needed).
As usual you can change the world scale, from small adjustments to playing with dolls or giants, and even force the game to render to a 2D virtual screen in case you should find a section too hard to play in full VR.
It's a rare occurrence, but sometimes the game may tilt the camera left and right, for example when you're lying on your side on the floor (it mostly happens in cutscenes). If the effect bothers you, uncheck the "Allow camera roll" box to keep it from happening in VR.
World markers (like quest objectives and the such) in this title tend to appear huge in VR, so I added a scale slider for them, defaulting to 40%.
Known issues
World markers: Sometimes icons that should be anchored to specific objects, NPCs or locations in the world will be floating instead, depending on the direction you're looking at and on your distance from the object. Getting closer to the anchor always appears to fix it.
Gaze-based aiming: Especially during a heated battle, you might find yourself unable to move the gun left/right by turning your head (it looks like it's sticking to one enemy). That is caused by OPTIONS> GAMEPAD> GENERAL> Aiming Assists accidentally turning itself ON. Unfortunately, at least on my system, FCND has a bug that makes it forget the setting for Aiming Assists every time you boot up the game. If you have the same issue, you need to change Aiming Assists to OFF at the start of each playing session.
Steam Input: If FCND doesn't seem to recognize some specific gamepad inputs, try disabling Steam Input (globally or for the game).
Widescreen monitors: If you are using a desktop monitor resolution which is not 16:9 and the game appears to be using the wrong FOV (which results in the world distorting as you look from side to side), make sure to set your desktop to a 16:9 resolution before starting the game.
[I'll post new information here as it becomes available.]