The countries between are a beautiful, attacking place – “like a dream”, as all the fat stones put it. The surreal mix of beauty and horror would be something to experience through a VR headset, and it just so happens that modder Luke Ross (known for his REAL VR mods for Red Dead Redemption 2 and Cyberpunk 2077) makes Elden Ring VR to one thing. Click on the video above for an exclusive sneak peek.
While Ross is well versed in making third-person VR mods (the Mafia trilogy is an example), for Elden Ring, he optimizes the mod for the first-person perspective. You will also be able to play in the original third-person view even if he does not recommend it.
“The third person in this game is really far away (about 5 meters on average) and it doesn’t work very well in VR,” Ross told me. “Instead of being at the forefront of the action, you’re a bit like ‘Hey, is something going on over there?’ “Nevertheless, I want to leave the original camera as an option for purists. I will probably also add an intermediate camera, close to the third person. But I think the first person camera is where it is.”
That’s a fair point, though I have to say that in the case of the Elden Ring, “something’s happening over there” could be a catstone gargoyle lurking around a corner, or a Tree Sentinel riding in to spit on you. , while slaughtering a herd of wandering nobles. Controlling the camera regardless of your character can really save your skin. On the other hand, you will probably be in a much better position to time these pairings to perfection when a hellebard is heading towards the side of your actual head.
I also asked Ross how he would relate to motion sickness compared to the more herky-jerky aspects of the Elden Ring, like all that rolling. “When you scroll or perform other scripted animations such as combat moves, the camera follows the character’s head (so its position changes), but it remains oriented correctly to what your head is doing in real life,” he said. “So the horizon will remain level and the world will always look stable.”
So it sounds like your VR view will not be turned upside down every time you scroll, even though there will still be plenty of movement. Ross emphasizes that his mods are designed for an audience that has “already developed their VR legs”, so it looks like you should either be comfortable in VR or just be picky in your dodge-rolls. The threat of nausea is a great incentive not to just start panicking as soon as you taste the power of Radahn or any of the other shards.
Ross hopes to release the Elden Ring VR mod before the end of the month, but stresses that it will still be a work in progress at that time. To get it, along with all of Ross’ other VR mods, subscribe to the REAL VR Patreon.