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Do games purchased from Oculus Home work in Desktop Mode without a Rift plugged in

FX2K
Heroic Explorer
Simple question..

Do games purchased from Oculus Home, ones supporting desktop mode, work in Desktop Mode without a Rift plugged in?
i.e Project Cars or anything else which is not VR exclusive?
CV1: Ordered 6th Jan 2016 - Est Delivery Some time in May... DK2: Ordered: 8th of Aug 2014 - Delivered: 14 Oct 2014
9 REPLIES 9

FX2K
Heroic Explorer
BTW, You right click the app in Home to open in Desktop Mode.

I don't fancy buying something just to find out the answer, especially since there is no refund policy for Oculus Home, so hopefully somebody is willing to give it a go,

CV1: Ordered 6th Jan 2016 - Est Delivery Some time in May... DK2: Ordered: 8th of Aug 2014 - Delivered: 14 Oct 2014

MrGeddings
Explorer
i do not believe they have a desktop only mode but some may (elite dangerous might have that option).
it depends on the game.

before you buy a game i would look into seeing if you can play that game on your 2d desktop too.
it would be nice if there was info in the store for games if it has a 2d desktop mode or not.

cybereality
Grand Champion
Some games do have a desktop mode, but you need a headset in order to use the Oculus software (meaning nothing will really work without the hardware).
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FX2K
Heroic Explorer


Some games do have a desktop mode, but you need a headset in order to use the Oculus software (meaning nothing will really work without the hardware).



Ok, so if I purchased say Project Cars from Oculus Home, I couldn't use it on my laptop in Desktop Mode without the CV1 connected.  I feared that was the case.
CV1: Ordered 6th Jan 2016 - Est Delivery Some time in May... DK2: Ordered: 8th of Aug 2014 - Delivered: 14 Oct 2014

AndrewJ71
Heroic Explorer
Elite actually does work in desktop mode without the Rift plugged in. I know, because I don't have the Rift yet, but purchased Elite ahead of time to get familiar with the controls while I could see what I was doing. When I first tried to run it (normally), I got a message about it being unable to find the Rift - and had a moment's annoyance at my stupidity in forgetting the DRM.

I then tried a right-click and launched in desktop mode. I still had an error message pop up, but the Elite launcher still loaded up and I was able to play the game with no problems.

So, yeah - it works in that one specific case. Though it was slightly clunky and there's no guarantee that it will work for other games.

weasel47
Heroic Explorer
I am able to play Subnautica in desktop mode when ovrservice and Oculus Home aren't running.  I just launch it with the executable in the Oculus software folder.  I'm assuming it would work whether or not the Rift was plugged in.

FX2K
Heroic Explorer
I guess that now the hardware DRM check has been removed in 1.5, that this should no longer be a concern. If so, that's good news.

I realise that 'most' things on Home will be VR only, but even so.. there are things that aren't and likely will be more down the road.

CV1: Ordered 6th Jan 2016 - Est Delivery Some time in May... DK2: Ordered: 8th of Aug 2014 - Delivered: 14 Oct 2014

tarens21
Honored Guest
Is there any graphics difference between the Oculus Home or Steam Version of Project Cars for example?

Baishan
Protege
Project card and most games on steam use the oculus API (not steam vr) when using the rift. So they work just as well as buying from the oculus store. Some sneakily have the oculus icon but only use steam vr (Ethan carter) but I've been able to get a refund on steam when that happens. Steam is just a better platform if you are planning on streaming or using desktop mode.