DOOM
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Game
https://store.steampowered.com/app/379720/DOOM/
Enabled technologies
Supported version(s)
The R.E.A.L. VR framework was tested with game version 1.0.2, the "Minor update" released on April 11, 2024. which is available from Steam at the address linked at the top (I get no commissions). The same version of the title bought from other stores might also work, but there are no guarantees.
To clear out any confusion: in this post I'm referring to the game which is popularly called DOOM (2016). However, my framework also works with two other titles in the franchise: https://store.steampowered.com/app/782330/DOOM_Eternal/ and https://store.steampowered.com/app/3017860/DOOM_The_Dark_Ages/ (see the specific posts here and here if you'd like further information on them).
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\DOOM". 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 "DOOMx64vk.exe" executable file.
Deactivating VR support for DOOM temporarily, in case you find something wrong with it or just want to play flat, is very easy. Actually there are several ways to do it, but the canonical one which I recommend is renaming the RealRepo folder to a different name (for example adding an underscore at the end, "RealRepo_"), since my Vulkan injection process will look for that folder before trying to hook a game. When you want to go back to playing in VR, you can restore the folder to its original name and my framework will hook again the next time the game is launched. Note that this is only needed in case you find showstopping issues or want to play flat for a long time; if you simply want a short break from VR, for example to try out a hard battle in 2D, all you need do is press the "Stop VR" button in the R.E.A.L. VR overlay.
Resolution and aspect ratio
Use the "Target pixels per degree" slider and "Adapt resolution" button (see here to find out how they work). You can also select a target aspect ratio from the ones that the engine supports; usually 1:1 is the best fit for most headsets, although you might find that some (rare) user interface elements will appear distorted, like for instance when you get the prompt to interact with world objects. If that bothers you, you can choose a wider aspect ratio, at the cost of some performance lost to drawing pixels that will never be displayed in your headset.
Options
IMPORTANT: this title encrypts its saved games and user options files with the unique ID of the player. That means RealConfig will NOT be able to preselect the graphics options needed for VR and you'll have to do everything manually, so please read on and follow the instructions in this section to the letter or the game will not be working correctly.
Before installing R.E.A.L. VR, run DOOM flat (not in VR) and access the in-game SETTINGS menu to set the following options:
VIDEO:
WINDOW MODE = WINDOW
ASPECT RATIO = 16:9 and RESOLUTION = 1920 x 1080. Those are the recommended baselines for the engine, even though you will actually choose a narrower (usually 1:1) aspect ratio and a much larger resolution from the R.E.A.L. VR overlay.
VERTICAL SYNC = Off
ANTI-ALIASING = TSSAA (8TX). 2016 was a simpler time, and games still offered support for traditional types of antialiasing that used to work wonderfully in VR. You can check the list to select the one that looks best on your graphics card; they are roughly ordered by increasing quality and decreasing performance. No DLSS or RT to worry about in this one ;-)
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)
ADVANCED:
Graphics API = Vulkan (this is essential: if you select OpenGL 4.5 you will get no VR at all)
Resolution Scale = 100%
Motion Blur Quality = Low
Depth of Field and Depth of Field Antialiasing = disabled
All three Rendering Modes (Default, Gritty and Cinematic) are supported.
I recommend that you disable CHROMATIC ABERRATION, as the headset lenses already have that built-in, so to speak. You shouldn't need to turn off AIM ASSIST in the CONTROLLER page, but you might try that in case you notice any issues with gaze-based aiming.
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.
DOOM is a game from another era: a superbly optimized title, developed using one of the best engines available on the market. Despite having beautiful visuals it will run at full frame rate on most systems. That's why I chose AER v2 as the default Render Mode, which for instance on a Quest 3 set to refresh at 72 Hz will make the game run at 144 fps, thus eliminating any need for reprojection.
Input
You will definitely want to use a gamepad to play DOOM. 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. However, by default full 6 DoF is only enabled in cutscenes and other moments when you don't have control of your character, because during actual gameplay the camera is in a constant "aiming" state, meaning there's always a crosshair or dot displayed where you are aiming.
So during gameplay R.E.A.L. VR will restrict you to 3 DoF, or rotational tracking only, as enabling positional tracking would quickly get your aim out of alignment. If you prefer you can force 6 DoF on at all times (see the "Custom controls in the 'DOOM' overlay tab" section below); just be mindful not to stray from your home position, or if that happens recenter by shaking your head "no".
The HUD rescaling can be finely customized, so you won't miss any of the important information that appears at the sides like health, hints, ammo count and so on. If the default size I suggest doesn't work for you, you can tweak it using the "HUD scale" slider, which will have immediate effect while playing without any need to bump the resolution. Note that this slider is found in the "DOOM" game-specific overlay tab and is not to be confused with the "Normal HUD size/distance" and "Aiming HUD size" sliders available in the HUD section of the main page in the overlay.
Mantling in the DOOM games uses a different code path than the rest of gameplay. I managed to make it work in VR anyway, but please note that while normally your character will move where you look, during mantling he will be decoupled from the camera (so before you jump off a wall make sure that your character is facing the direction you want it to jump towards!).
Cutscenes are fully 3D and allow you to look anywhere without restrictions. Expect the usual missing props, invisible walls, levitating characters and so on in the parts of the scene that you were never supposed to see in the flat game.
Unfortunately a few cutscenes in this title are hard-locked at 60 fps, which means that they will exhibit some judder in VR, due to the mismatch between the engine animation tick and headset refresh interval. To the best of my knowledge, nobody has ever been able to work around the cutscene FPS cap for this game, but if you manage to find a third-party mod that uncaps the frame rate please let me know and I will update the post with the information!
Occasionally, some cutscene portions will use the wrong FOV (the world will appear too big or doubled), but that only lasts for a few seconds.
An awesome feature of the DOOM games is that frequently cutscenes are seamlessly integrated with gameplay, with no visible jump from one to the other, which makes the experience very immersive and visceral.
Custom controls in the "DOOM" overlay tab
You can adjust the camera position finely in 3D space using the Camera sliders.
The "Allow 6DOF in gameplay" will let you disable the restriction to rotational tracking while aiming. I don't recommend doing that since the game is frantic, and you probably don't want your crosshair to get out of alignment all the time just because you moved your head too far from your home position. But the option is there.
"Camera rotation compensation" is only relevant if you are using Legacy AER: it will get rid of the world judder that can be perceived when you use the thumbstick to rotate the camera.
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.
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.
Known issues
The menu prompting you to reload the last checkpoint when you die appears on the far left of the screen and it's headlocked, so it will likely hang outside your field of view. If you wish, you can use the 2D virtual screen toggle to read it the first times it appears, but after that you can just click it blindly as it only has three entries and you'll always want the first ;-)
[I'll post new information here as it becomes available.]