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Game
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3768760/007_First_Light/
Enabled technologies
Supported version(s)
The R.E.A.L. VR framework was tested with game patch 1.02, available from Steam at the address linked on top (I get no commissions). The same version of the title bought from other stores might also work, but there are no guarantees.
Older versions or pirated copies are not supported. Official versions later than the one 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)\Steam\steamapps\common\007 First Light\Retail". 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 "007FirstLight.exe" executable file.
Resolution and aspect ratio
Use the "Target pixels per degree" slider and "Adapt resolution" button (see here to find out how they work). The game seems to deal just fine with any aspect ratio, so R.E.A.L. will automatically compute custom resolutions that fit your headset field of view perfectly.
The framework will also remember the resolution 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.
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. Specifically, in the OPTIONS> GRAPHICS menu:
Display Mode = Windowed
V-Sync = Off
Resolution scaling = NVIDIA DLSS. Make sure this is selected so that you can use my DL(S)SS fix to eliminate the shimmering around nearby characters and objects. If 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.
DLSS frame generation = Off. This is crucial as not only FG does not work at all in VR, it usually also crashes the game immediately and sometimes brings down the whole system. If you turned it on by mistake and now the game won't even start anymore, temporarily rename the dxgi.dll file in the game folder to dxgi_bak.dll to deactivate VR, then launch the game and turn FG back off. After that you can restore the dxgi.dll and the game should start normally again.
Motion blur, Fullscreen blur effects, Radial blur effects = 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). Double check this group, because the game seems to save it in encrypted form where RealConfig cannot reach, so you will probably have to turn off all blur settings manually.
I also recommend setting Film grain effects and Chromatic aberration effects to Off as I don't think there's any need for them in VR. Everything else can be adjusted according to your preferences.
Additional game-specific notes
You can bring up the R.E.A.L. overlay with the Pause key on the keyboard, or by pressing Back+Start (Select+Start) on the gamepad. The controller gesture is always active, even during gameplay.
Performance
This game manages to perform reasonably well in VR, despite its amazing visuals and rich environments. However, since it's quite action-heavy, you will probably want to use 1/2 Rate for AER v2 instead of the less taxing 1/3 rate. That means you'll have to make some compromises though, because as you well know, in the infamous "frame rate vs. resolution vs. image quality" triangle you can usually stretch the blanket to cover only two of the three corners.
Personally, in this title I like to set all the graphics options to Ultra (except for Shadow/Volumetric fog/Volumetric effects quality which I leave on High), so I restrict my headset FOV to 0.8 in order to achieve good PPD values.
Be mindful that the engine seems capable of delivering very high frame rates while indoors, but less high when you're outside, and it tends to really stutter when you're driving a car. So, since the action will often transition from one to the other without warning, I set my DLSS quality and game resolution in such a way that the game can maintain stable frame rate while driving (worst case), which means that performance will be consistent throughout. That way I don't have to keep tweaking the sliders while playing, as I find it really detracts from the immersion.
Input
You will definitely want to use a gamepad to play BOND. 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. I haven't tried with the DualSense yet, let me know if it works well for you!
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. It's usually completely decoupled from the character (meaning that you can look in a different direction from James without influencing where he walks or drives), except when you're aiming.
I managed to split the UI for this title, so world markers like button hints, quest pointers and so on will be at their proper position in the 3D world, solidly attached to the object they're describing, while the information that the game draws near the screen borders (your current mission objective, ammo count, battery status, subtitles, etc.) will be floating in space in front of you, where you can easily look at it. If some elements are still hanging outside of your field of view or hard to read, you can try to get a better fit by using the sliders available in the HUD section of the main page in the overlay: "Normal HUD size/distance" for normal gameplay, and "Aiming HUD size" when the HUD is headlocked because you're aiming a gun or a gadget.
However, the UI is very complex and I could not find 100% reliable indicators to determine precisely whether a UI element is part of the HUD or a world marker, so I had to employ a few heuristics. This means that sometimes the split will fail, and some elements will be headlocked just outside your field of view.
One example is the compass dial in the bottom left corner, which is not so important because the mission objective is also marked in the 3D world, and the relevant information like the battery charge is still split correctly and visible on the HUD.
However, another example is the group of four conversation choices you are occasionally given, which hangs very low in your FOV where it's really hard to read. To make all information visible, you can use the "left thumbstick + left trigger" gesture on the gamepad, which you can activate from the "BOND" tab of the R.E.A.L. overlay.
Once you have activated the gesture (it defaults to off to avoid surprising behavior of the gamepad in case you're not aware of it), a quick toggle will bring all available information on the HUD, which will render everything visible but will break the world markers, making them double up and detach from their objects, and it will cause artifacts like phantom monitor screens and image retention during cutscenes. So when you're done (for instance after selecting the conversation choice you prefer), I recommend using another quick toggle to get back to the normal split UI.
Cutscenes are fully 3D and allow you to look anywhere without restrictions. I was able to remove the letterboxing black bars, so you won't need any third-party mod for that. Expect the usual weirdness in the parts of the scene you weren't supposed to see with the scripted cutscene camera, like dangling limbs, characters clipping through the floor and other funny stuff.
There are some 2D movies too, rendered in-engine but stored as full motion videos. They will be headlocked, but you can bring them onto the HUD using the quick toggle I described above (left thumbstick + left trigger gamepad gesture).
Custom controls in the "BOND" overlay tab
As promised, with all new games I'm doing my best to add the capability to unlock the horizon that I first introduced when I started supporting BG3. You will find a "Camera pitch behavior" dropdown menu that can be set to:
"Always keep horizon locked": the golden rule in VR, and the original setting I used for all these years. When this is selected, no matter what happens in cutscenes or gameplay, the R.E.A.L. VR framework will always keep the horizon, erm, horizontal. This is meant to minimize conflicting inputs to your vestibular system, as many people tend to get sick otherwise.
"Fully unlocked": using the mouse or the right stick on the gamepad to move the camera will make the world tilt up or down just like it does when you're playing a 3D game on a flat screen. This is potentially very nauseating in VR, and I don't like it personally because it's immersion breaking for me: it gives me the feeling that I'm in a game I control, as opposed to a fixed external reality. But on the plus side, it won't force you to crane your neck up and down when the camera position is far above or below the target you're looking at (which is especially annoying in cutscenes that quickly alternate between the camera pointing straight up and down, as you never seem to be looking at the point where the action is).
"Tilt for large angles (default)": this is the new preferred option I'm defaulting to. It will keep the horizon locked for normal situations, like when the gameplay or cutscene camera is facing more or less straight ahead; however, it will progressively tilt the world towards you as the camera inclination becomes steeper. So during normal gameplay it will feel like the world is stable, which by all means it should be, but if for instance a cutscene is rapidly toggling the camera between pointing way up and way down (think the classical Romeo and Juliet scene), you will be able to see everything without constantly craning your neck.
It's a rare occurrence, but sometimes the game may roll 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.
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. Optionally you can also bind the 2D screen toggle to a keyboard shortcut to make it easily accessible.
The vast majority of users should not need to touch this setting, but if your system appears to display the 3D effect incorrectly (as though distant objects were actually in front of closer ones) try changing the "Frame delay compensation" value step by step until you get a perfectly stable world image, with proper depth everywhere.
Updates and known issues
Particles: If you set your game resolution too high (I'm not sure what the limit is exactly but around 4000x4000), the rain in the first level will change to black lines when DLSS is on. This is a bug with the game itself, as it occurs even without installing my framework. Other particles might be affected too.
[I'll post new information here as it becomes available.]