How to play Panzer Dragoon and NiGHTS in VR!

Panzer Dragoon
1

This is a quick VR setup guide that will let you play: (note: works for any PS2 game!)

-Sega Ages 2500 Vol 27 Panzer Dragoon [NTSC-J]
-PlayStation 2 [NTSC-J] version of NiGHTS into Dreams.

In VR!

These games can be played in full VR with Oculus and Vive. Along with a program called VorpX and the PlayStation 2 emulator PCSX2 1.4.0.

-Step 1 (Getting VorpX/setup)

First you need to buy and install VorpX: (some info):

"vorpX is a 3D-driver for DirectX9-11 games that is specifically geared towards VR-devices like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Additionally to ā€˜making games 3Dā€™ it offers various features to tackle many of the issues that arise when playing games on a VR headset that are not designed for it.

vorpX allows you to experience modern DX10/DX11 games like Bioshock: Infinite, various Call of Duty titles, Battlefield 3/4, Fallout 4, GTA V and many others on your VR headset."

Link: https://www.vorpx.com/

Once youā€™ve installed VorpX go into ā€œConfigure VorpXā€ click on the ā€œgeneralā€ tab and over to the right make sure ā€œEnable Expert Settingsā€ is checked off.

-Step 2 (Setting up PCSX2)

Download PCSX2 1.4.0. (PlayStation 2 emulator). Once you have it installed. Set it up with these settings:

-Config/emulation settings/go to EE/IOP. In round mode select chop/zero and in clamping mode set to normal.

-Config/emulation settings/go into speedcheck. Set VU Cycle stealing = 2.It should give you 60+ fps mostly all the time. Note: leave EE Cycle rate alone, just leave it at 0 as it can cause problems.

Important: if you encounter graphical glitches during gameplay or during cutscenes, lower VU Cycle stealing back down to 0.

-Config/Video/Plugin Settings. Set the renderer to Direct 3D11 Hardware. Also, try to at least set the graphics to 2X Native (3X for better quality picture, if your computer can handle it). This will take away the blurriness and smooth out the graphics. Which is a must to make the limited 3d settings in VorpX pop!

-Config/Audio/Plugin Settings. Use Linear simple okay sound. And have disable effects processing checked off.

-Lastly, go to Config/Plugin BIOS/Selector, and set the BIOS to Japan.

-Step 3 (Setting up VorpX in-game)

Once you start up the game using Oculus/Vive/PCSX2 and see the game running inside your VR headset, if you press ā€œDeleteā€ you can bring up the VorpX menu and settings. Here are the settings you will need for Panzer Dragoon:

-Game is best viewed in Cinema Mode
-Use Z-normal for 3D
-3d strength, Depth Weighting and Focal Distance set to max.
-Screen aspect ratio should be set to 16:10
-Click on ā€œMore Cinema Settingsā€
-Set screen curvature to 3.00 or max

For NiGHTS, just play around with what works for you. You can also use these settings for any and all PlayStation 2 games to play them in VR. Just make sure to set the BIOS back to your region when playing any non-Japanese game.

Note: If you have Steam and are using an XBox 360 controller make sure you go into the Steam launcher, go to ā€œBig Picture Modeā€/Config/Controllers and uncheck all controller options. If anything is checked you will have controller issues.

2 Likes
2

Alternate way to play Panzer Dragoon, Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Nights into Dreams and any other Saturn game in VR using Oculus or Vive:

First download Mednafen (Sega Saturn Emulator) Within the mednafen.cfg, file and using notepad or notepad++ to edit it, make these changes and save:

Video Settings:

-Hit ctrl+f, search for ss.stretch
change ss.stretch aspect_mult2 to ss.stretch aspect

-ctrl+f
search for ss.correct_aspect
0 is native
1 will squash or stretch to 4:3

-ctrl+f search for ss.videoip
0 will give you sharp pixels
1 will apply bilinear filtering (a blur)

Other Settings:

-ctrl+f search for video.frameskip
set this to 0
so the emulator renders all frames

ctrl+f search for ss.scsp.resamp_quality
sound quality for the scsp
0 is lowest
10 is highest
default is 4

-ctrl+f search for ss.midsync
setting to 1 can reduce input lag
but increases CPU load

-ctrl+f search for cd.image_memcache
if you have a good bit of RAM
setting this to 1 will load the entire game into your RAM

Basic Emulator Settings:

Alt + Shift + 1 -> Set controls for Player 1
Alt + Shift + 2 -> Set controls for Player 2
Alt + Enter -> Full Screen
0 - Save Screen Snapshot
F2 - Save Game State
F4 - Load Game State
F11 - Toggle FPS Text
ctrl+shift+esc (only use this if you have to force close Mednafen)

Loading a game:

To start a game drag an ISO of your chosen Saturn game over the mednafen.exe file found in your main directory folder.

Installing ReShade a program that will split your screen:

Now, to play these games in VR you will need a program called ReShade; a program that will split the screen. Go to the site and download it. Next install ReShade on mednafen.exe, found in the main directory where you installed the emulator. When installing ReShade Select OpenGL

When you open up the emulator and load a game, you will see the ReShade interface overlaid on the emulator screen when you start a game. Hit the home button to bring up the tutorial and hit continue to bring up the shaders. From the list select Depth3D to split the screen. You can then play around with the Divergence and Convergence, which will set how strong the 3D is.

Install Virtual Desktop from the Oculus Store:

Next, you will need to buy a program from the Oculus Store called Virtual Desktop. Once inside this program you can bring up the emulator from your desktop into full screen. You can then, either from the Virtual Desktop menu or by pressing F6, split the screen to go into VR along with the ReShade split screen. You can also curve the sides of the screen and zoom in or zoom out to your liking.

If you experience a glitch where the background themes keep changing do this. Just go into wherever your Oculus games folder is on your PC, then go into software, then guy-godin-virtual-desktop, then go into the environments folder and delete all of the themes.

Lastly, I had a slight resolution problem once where the SBS, split screen mode wasnā€™t working. I right clicked on the desktop, went to display settings and in scale and layout switched over to either 100% or 125%. So just in case you SBS isnā€™t working properly, try this.

Fixing Resolution problems when going fullscreen:

On the mednafen.exe file right click go to properties. Click Change High DPI Settings, check off Overide High DPI scaling behavior scaling performed by:application near bottom. This will scale full screen properly.

Important Startup information:

Start the emulator first on your desktop with the games running without plugging in, putting on or going into Oculus. Then put on your headset and go into Virtual Desktop. For some reason starting the emulator from within Oculus/Virtual Desktop wonā€™t work.

So, basically, start your emulator and game in full screen without Oculus plugged in, bring up Reshade interface, make sure the Depth3D shader is on. Which will split the screen. Minimize or back out of your emulator so it is paused or on stand by. Plug in your Oculus and go into Virtual Desktop. Then, resume your emulator and game into full fullscreen and hit F6 to merge the screens into 3D. Also, note with Project64 you might have to install reshade and open the emulator from the source installation folder found in your program files. Enjoy!

3

Interesting. I only have a PS VR so that would make this even more complicated to try unfortunately. Can you change the controls in Panzer Dragoon to work with the VR headtracking? So basically like Rez: Infinite?

4

@Draikin No, there is no head tracking just a side by side screen in front of you, which you merge together by pressing F6, but you can also control the screen distance to make it however close or far away you want. Its not static unless you set it to be. You can also bend the left and right edges of the screen to get a wrap effect. Also you can lock the screen to your face if you want as well so the screen will move with your head movement. I donā€™t use that personally though.

5

How to get a better 3D effect with ReShade:

Iā€™ve just discovered how to get a better 3D effect with more perspective using ReShade. So this will work great for any emulator youā€™re playing with in VR. Playing Panzer Dragoon or any other game will look much better now!

So, Iā€™ve been using Reshade all wrong this entire time! As you all know I created a tutorial on how to use ReShade to split the screen along with Virtual Desktop so you can play older games in VR, on emulators like: Playstation, PS2, Wii U, SNES, N64, Saturn etc.

Well, I just found out how to get better 3D effect/depth. Iā€™ve been using Depth3D this entire time, but when I tried the Perfect Perspective shader along with Depth3D, everything looked more 3D!

Here is what you have to do:

So select and use both the Depth3D and Perfect Perspective shaders. Leave the Perfect Perspective shader at its default settings. You will then want to select Depth3D and play around with the Divergence (up to or past 40 is fine), Convergence, and Perspective Slider (89 for me), which will set how strong the 3D is. Donā€™t forget to set the Perspective Slider. Move it up until you feel it has added the full amount of Depth you need. Note, in most cases you wonā€™t need to touch the Convergence slider. Looks awesome in Breath of the Wild by the way!

Note: for SNES/Genesis, within the Depth3D options go to Stereoscopic options, and move the perspective slider until you get the correct adjustment for 3D (I set it to -100) and set the regular Divergence setting at the top to 9. And again, leave the Perfect Perspective shader at its default settings.

6

Playing Games in Real VR with Dolphin VR:

Also, if any of you want to play Nights: Journey of Dreams in VR you can actually play it in real VR not just 3D. What I mean is: Itā€™s real VR and you can look 360 degrees around you.

For those who are wondering how, you will need an emulator called Dolphin VR. This emulator will allow you to play all Gamecube, Wii, and some N64 games in true VR. Here is my setup guide:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dolphin_VR/comments/a5md0j/dolphin_vr_quick_setup_guide_and_tips/

Some examples:

7

Just beat Panzer Dragoon Saga in VR/3D using Yabause 0.9.15. Kronos Yabause v1.6.0 did not work with ReShade and kept freezing, so I stuck with Yabause 0.9.15. I was able to get the L and R buttons mapped with the gamepad option ā€œonlyā€ using a Nintendo Switch Pro controller. The 3D control pad option would not map the L and R buttons. And just remember to uncheck Enable Built in HLE Bios in general settings and use OpenGL video interface.

Used integer pixel scaling to 4. And I played the game in 3D using ReShade and my Oculus Rift.

I used the Depth3D and Perfect Perspective shaders. Divergence was set to 40 and the Perspective Slider was set to 89.

I had no issues with the game at all. If youā€™re going to play the game in 3D/VR I recommend Yabause 0.9.15. Mednafen looked horrible in 3D, since it has no upscaling.

Going to try Zwei and Panzer Dragoon next!

Again if you want to find out how to play this along with other emulators and games in 3D/VR use my setup guide found here:

1 Like