How to get started with UEVR Easy Injector
New to UEVR and want to play 2D PC Steam games in Virtual Reality using your Meta Quest headset? Here’s how to get started.
1. Ensure your PC can handle it
VR requires rendering at a very high resolution, and the experience is sensitive to low frame rates. Therefore, you need a modern, powerful PC. Your graphics card should be particularly strong and have ample VRAM for the high resolution. If the game you want to play does not achieve high frame rates at high resolutions in 2D, it is unlikely to perform well in VR.
2. Install your game
First, check if your game runs on Unreal Engine version 4 or higher, which is required for UEVR. The simplest way to do this is by searching the game’s name along with “Unreal Engine version” on Google or Bing. UEVR Easy Injector currently supports Steam and Epic. Install your game via Steam or Epic as you normally would.
3. Ensure you have a fast network connection to your headset
Transferring VR display data from your PC to your headset requires a lot of bandwidth.
-
If you have a good Wifi/LAN connection - go for WIFI connection
Is your PC connected to your router via LAN? Is your network router modern (preferably WIFI6/6E/7)? Is your network channel idle and not congested with other neighborhood networks or other devices using much bandwith?
(The Windows built-in Hotspot feature often has reliability issues under high CPU load and suboptimal Wifi card settings, so it is not a replacement for a modern router) -
no good network - go for USB cable connection
Though it sounds like a better bet to simply always use USB, it will reduce your options. Better go for WIFI if you can.
4. Choose and install an app to link your headset to your PC
While there are several smaller ones out there, the most widely used and user-friendly ones are:
| App Name | Price | Network | Image quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Desktop | One time purchase | WIFI only | Best |
| SteamVR | Free | WIFI only | Good |
| Meta Quest Link | Free | WIFI (Airlink) and USB | Good |
If your network is great, I highly recommend Virtual Desktop.
It has the best image encoding, upscaling options and frame generation on headset, resulting in the best image quality.
If your network is weak and you are a Meta Quest user, use USB on Meta Quest Link.
If you search for a free option that is also know to be very stable, use SteamVR.
Except for Meta Quest Link the installation requires an app both on PC as on the headset.
4.1 Tipps for configuring Virtual Desktop (the recommended option)
In the PC app:
- Codec: Leave on “Auto”. Best quality is achieved with HVEC/10bit. Although the Quest-exclusive AV1 might be tempting, NVidia cards are better optimized for encoding HVEC, making AV1 less ideal for performance.
- Network bandwith: Leave on auto. Manually increasing bandwidth too much may cause latency hiccups due to network interference in busy environments. Virtual Desktop usually finds the optimal balance.
In the headset app’s streaming settings:
- VR frame rate: Set higher to reduce flickering (even if your PC cannot render at, for example, 120Hz).
- Enable the Snapdragon Super Resolution for a good on device AI upscaling
- Synchronous Spacewarp: Set to “Auto”. It increases the frame rate and works in conjunction with Super Resolution. Be aware that this may cause flickering in elements like health bar HUD overlays.
- Sharpening: Reduce to the small value, as Super Resolution will provide superior sharpening.
- Color Vibrance: Consider enabling “Increase color vibrance” and disabling “Increase nominal range” to prevent blown-out shadows.
5. Install UEVR Easy Injector
The latest releases can always be found here on GitHub:
Download latest UEVR Easy Injector release
6. UEVR Easy Injector - Games page
When you start UEVR Easy Injector, you’ll see a list of installed Unreal Engine Steam games that might work, along with a switcher for the OpenXR runtime. But what is OpenXR?
There are two protocol standards for transferring VR graphics data: OpenVR and OpenXR. OpenVR is the older standard, used by some older headsets and initially by SteamVR.
OpenXR is the newer and recommended protocol. It allows you to choose which linking app should handle your OpenXR graphics. If you have multiple linking apps installed (to try out different options), you can select the one to start the game with here. This setting is a global option for all apps using OpenXR on your PC, not just UEVR Easy Injector.
After selecting your OpenXR runtime (if necessary), simply click the game to start.
7. UEVR Easy Injector - select a profile
To ensure UEVR handles the game correctly and connects your controller to in-game elements like weapons, you’ll need a profile. Simply click “Search online” on this page to access a list of community-submitted and tested profiles. Since UEVR is relatively new, the number of supported games may be limited. Select a suitable profile and click the “Install” button.
If no profile is available, you can create one yourself. Click the “Add profile” button and configure the options. It’s recommended to start with the most performant settings. If the game crashes or exhibits graphical issues, try more conservative settings.
Make sure your linking app is running and you are connected to your PC via your VR headset before hitting the launch button.
UEVR will start the game (if it is not already running) and inject UEVR into the game. Continue in your headset.
Initially, UEVR will display a menu in-game. You can hide the menu by pressing the “Insert” (“Ins”) key on your keyboard or by pressing both joystick buttons simultaneously.
9. Mastering in-game controls
If the game supports gamepads, your VR controllers will function like a gamepad. You can typically use the joystick and the A button to navigate the menus:
| VR controller button… | …will function as game button |
|---|---|
| Left thumbstick | Move in game |
| Right thumbstick | Rotate view |
| Left Grip | LB |
| Right Grip | RB |
| Left Trigger | LT |
| Right Trigger | RT |
| Left Thumbstick Click | L3 |
| Right Thumbstick Click | R3 |
| Left System Button | Start/Pause |
| Left A Button (X on Meta Quest) | B/Circle |
| Left B Button (Y on Meta Quest) | Y/Triangle |
| Right A Button | A/X |
| Right B Button | X/Square |
Note the counterintuitive mapping of the buttons B/X/Y. You can typically also play with the keyboard and mouse, using just the VR 3D view.
10. Connecting your controllers motion controls
Connecting your 3D controllers to e.g. your hand or weapons greatly increases the immersion (6DOF). However, if you have no preset profile from the “Search online” database, it is pretty complex to set up. See some Youtube in depth tutorials for more details.