Dev Update #36 - VRidge 2.0 is LIVE!

VRidge 2.0 is now LIVE

The update that everyone was waiting for is finally here. As the codebase got significantly changed, VRidge 2.0 has to be installed as a fresh install. You can keep both VRidge Classic and VRidge 2.0 installed simultaneously.

To install VRidge 2.0 - simply go to https://riftcat.com and install RiftCat.

Or download new client from here:

Note: Remember that new mobile app is also required. Link available in RiftCat client or HERE

To learn the basic of VRidge 2.0 usage - watch our instructional video

PC side setup design

We’ve made everything from scratch and introduced a design that puts all the setup on the PC side. This means that you won’t have any issues using VRidge no matter which device you choose. You can use All-in-one headsets, GearVR or even the simplest Google Cardboard. In the future, we will expand on this concept even further!

Note: We left one input on mobile. Just tap the screen and you will recenter your view. You can also set a custom hotkey in RiftCat options.

New UI

Completely new UI that makes VRidge even easier to use. Logging into RiftCat is no longer obligatory so if you want to introduce VRidge to someone - it’s going to be faster. RiftCat client is now significantly lighter - going down from over 50MB to just 8 MB.

On the fly settings

You can now change the stream quality settings on the fly during streaming. If you want to squeeze the best performance with superb visual quality you no longer need to do the tedious task of restarting VRidge hundred of times.

Moonlight Support

If you want to try other streaming methods, we have made Moonlight streaming available. You can find a guide on how to use it HERE.

Integrations

Integrations will let us extend VRidge capabilities in easy to use ways. Expect more with the next updates!

Multilanguage support

Thanks to multi language support, we will be able to spread accessible VR to even more people. For now we have Polish and English languages. Let us know which languages would you like to have next!

We are thankful to all Beta testers who helped us bring this update to everyone. Thanks to you guys we've been able to fix most of the bugs - expect more features with the next Beta update. 

Check out what's coming on our public Trello board: https://trello.com/b/1UpZVzD0/vridge-development

Update changelog: 2.0.3

2.0.3 is release candidate for 2.0 stable release, which will happen on Tuesday, January 30th.
Full blog update will be posted on Tuesday but we're posting a quick technical changelog today.

Both mobile app and desktop app need to be updated to 2.0.3 to work together.

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Added / Changed:

• Added IPD and Scale sliders, adjustable mid-stream.
• You can fine-tune viewport to match your custom lenses. It works with Daydream, Cardboard and Gear VR backends.
• Added Tracking Prediction slider.
• Bigger prediction window results in a faster response but high values are more likely to overcorrect, resulting in a rubbery judder. Default is configured for 60ms of total motion-to-photon latency.
• Added Streaming Mode selector.
• Default will prioritize keyframe delivery to keep a good balance of latency vs artifacting but you can prioritize latency or artifacting countermeasures.
• Console window was hidden.
• You can still the same log in Logs/VRidge.log file. The console window along with extra diagnostics will still appear when started in standalone/diagnostic mode.

• SteamVR will now report real selected FPS instead of 60. 
• This is useful for third party VR software which relies on SteamVR-provided HMD FPS.    

• Disabled SteamVR's async reprojection in VRidge driver. 
• It doesn't change anything in our driver workflow but fixes crashes for some people.

• Installer was updated to match new color set.
• VRidge PC server will now use a bit less CPU.
• Added splash screen during RiftCat launcher startup.
• RiftCat launcher will now remember whether you selected WiFi or USB as a connection method.
• Logs will now be rolled into one file instead of individual file for each session.

Fixed:

• Play SteamVR button won't become disabled (unclickable) when VRidge exits incorrectly.
• HEVC (aka H265) will now work correctly on Galaxy S6 and some other phones.
• VRidge mobile will no longer crash on screen tap in certain cases.
• FreeTrack tracking won't interfere with API tracking (NOLO and other custom API clients)
• Moonlight (rooted edition) will now be properly detected as viable Moonlight app in Moonlight mode.
• Moonlight mode will no longer crash on Maxwell NVIDIA GPUs when NVENC wasn't selected.
• Sound streaming should no longer cause additional latency with new default Streaming Mode (which only prioritizes keyframe delivery).
• Fixed text rendering issues with certain Xiaomi phones.
• Fixed Windows firewall rule not being set correctly for RiftCat.exe.

This build will move to stable channel next week and replace default 1.3 installer. Both 1.3 and 1.5 versions will continue to work if you want to stick to the old version. NOLO wireless mode will be brought back in v2.1 in February/March.