Subnautica VR Guide

Overview

Subnautica for 1.0 will be releasing with some known but, hopefully, minor bugs. The game will be complete and playable just sometimes bad things may happen to VR players. This is primarily because the fixes for the main game help VR but VR fixes don’t help the non VR game. This means that with so few working days left the best bang for the buck is to fix generic bugs and then later once there is more time fix the VR only bugs.

About this guide

Last edited Jan 15, 2018

Subnautica for 1.0 will be releasing with some known but, hopefully, minor bugs. The game will be complete and playable just sometimes bad things may happen to VR players. This is primarily because the fixes for the main game help VR but VR fixes don’t help the non VR game. This means that with so few working days left the best bang for the buck is to fix generic bugs and then later once there is more time fix the VR only bugs.

This guide is designed to address some of the obvious gotchas in running Subnautica in VR at release time. There are a number of issues which we will likely ship with. The goal here is to ensure that people are able to navigate the release version entirely in VR.
This guide is written primarily from using the HTC Vive using a steam controller for input.

As or release there are a number of outstanding bugs on the playtesting Trello board[trello.com]. If you are hopping mad and want to complain about something please check here[trello.com] first just to make sure there isn’t a simple fix noted in the card.

Before you start

1. The single most important thing you need to know about VR in subnautica is that the f2 key resets the camera position in game. This means if you decide to switch chairs and you are now seated 15 feet left of your body, press f2 and things should work nicely. If for some reason you feel like the game feels bad. The first thing you should do is press f2. Having a tilted horizon line is a super fast way to get VR sickness, don’t let it happen to you.
2. Second, to have a good VR experience you are going to need a pretty hefty machine. The target FPS should be around 90, you may need to run on low settings even if you normally run on super-premium-awesome-Mc-Laser-Pants. The reason here is that basically more frames is less nausea.
3. The game defaults to using a controller, so if you have one plugged in or powered on it will try to use it. If you want to use a keyboard turn them off or unplug them. Note that things like motioninjoy will install a virtual controller. The game just sees a controller. Plan accordingly. To check what controllers you have active in windows you can go to: Control Panel -> Devices and Printers
4. Finally, it is worth noting that the game will play fewer animations. When you climb a ladder in VR you simply teleport to the top. When you open a hatch it may simply pop open. This is to reduce nausea. When the player loses control of their eyes it causes badness in a serious way for a whole bunch of folks.

Recommendations for those new to VR

This is where I tell you how to not be nauseous for days on end.

• Plan to take frequent breaks.
• Ensure that the HMD is fitted correctly.
  • There should not be any wiggle as you move your head around,
  • Text should be reasonably sharp, the HMD may be in the wrong position if things are blurry
  • If things make you feel cross eyed adjust the Interpupillary Distance ( Vive[www.vrheads.com] | Rift[www.tomsguide.com])
• Playing from a swivel chair to allow you to turn 360 degrees can make you less nauseous when compared to turning using the mouse or controller
  • If you are doing that a wireless controller will help out immensely. Finding a keyboard after you turn can be harder than you expect.
• Understanding the button/keyboard layout before you start in VR can be very helpful because you won’t be able to see the controller or keyboard.
• Did you read the bit about f2? It resets the camera position.
• Don’t be afraid to play on the low graphics settings if you feel like things are stuttering a bt. More fps is really really handy here.

Troubleshooting Guide and Reporting Bugs

Orfevs has been keeping up a very good troubleshooting guide on the steam forum. It is a good first stop on the way home from “everything sucks town” If things go wrong that are not covered, please post and let us know. If we can reproduce your bug, it will go into the bug queue to get fixed.

FAQs

Does Subnautica Support Motion controls?
Subnautica does not currently support motion controllers.