It only took 8 years...

Haven't even looked at my Index all summer, it's been too damn warm. Yesterday it was cool enough so i decided to go for a bit of Elite: Dangerous and my closest Base Station started flashing red and it was working fine months ago. Valve are absolutely wonderful.

In recent years, PCVR gamers began to notice a growing issue with Quest VR headsets and stutter in Steam VR which carried onto the next generation of Meta Quest VR headsets, Quest 2 & Quest 3. The issue was known as Stutter, Judder, or Lag. 

For the last 5 years many people proposed many different solutions to the problem. Countless claims were made that it was caused by various things, like Windows 11, GPU driver settings, Oculus Debug Tool settings, Oculus OVR task priority, and so on. Unfortunately, many of these had very limited temporary success, if any, none of these proposed solutions were permanent. 

Until now...

I have finally solved this mystery permanently.

In 2018, Valve Software Corporation introduced Motionsmoothing to their Steam VR app. At the time all VR headsets connected to computers with HDMI or Displayport cables. 

In 2019, Oculus Quest was released. Quest was the first VR headset to use a proprietary USBC data cable connection named Quest Link, taking connectivity to PCVR in a different technology direction than other headsets.

The Real cause of the Steam PCVR games stuttering is Steam's very own Motion Smoothing feature. 

It is a feature that is enabled in Steam VR by default, and for whatever reason Quest does not work properly with it enabled. The other issue is that the Steam VR app has no option in settings to disable Motionsmoothing when Quest is connected. (Especially via Quest Link Usb cable, or Air Link).  

You should notice that Stuttering does not occur in Quest's own Rift and Rift S pcvr games that are purchased from the Meta Quest Link app. Stuttering is only a Steam VR related issue.

Steam Recenly released Steam Link for Quest, and it seems to by pass the motionsmoothing issue keeping re-projection and dropped frames to a minimum. 

Virtual Desktop has also had limited success at improving Steam VR PCVR performance. 

These Wifi only connections have other limitations and issues to consider, compared to the USB connection which should provide the best experience. 

As mentioned earlier, the Steam VR app does not have an option to disable motion smoothing for the Quest headsets. However, if you use other headsets that use Displayport connections such as Playstation VR2 then you will get the Motion Smoothing option, and can disable it in the app.

Through my research I have discovered that the only way to disable Motionsmoothing in Steam VR for Quest headsets is through a configuration file in the Steam folder. 

There are two files in different locations to work with. 

The first file is the Default Settings file, which contains all the default settings for Steam VR. This file should NOT be modified because it gets replaced with each app update. It is to be used as a reference for sourcing the command lines for the next file.

The file where the magic happens is the Steam VR settings file. This is where all user settings are applied and stored, and it over rides the Default Settings file. 

If you review the default settings file, under the Steam VR section you will see a line for Motion Smoothing and it is set to TRUE by default. This means Motion Smoothing is always enabled by default.

To disable Motion Smoothing completely, this line needs to be copied to the Steam VR settings file in the Steam VR section, in the exact same format as the original, but the TRUE setting needs to be changed to FALSE. This will disable Motion Smoothing in Steam VR for Quest headsets.

Note: The last line in the Steam VR settings file under the Steam VR section should not have a trailing comma at the end (such as all preceding lines have.)

Default Configuration File location...

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\SteamVR\resources\settings\default.vrsettings

User Configuration File location...

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\config\steamvr.vrsettings

The line to copy and change is... "motionSmoothing": true,

Change to... "motionSmoothing": false,

Once this change is made, you should notice stuttering in Steam VR games has been solved. It should be gone completely, other than the normal game performance encounters in key spots, not in the previous constant manner that made games unplayable.

Now that Stuttering is FINALLY  solved, you can focus on tweaking the other aspects of Steam VR, Oculus Debug Tool, the Quest Link app, Windows, and GPU drivers settings for optimal performance based on your individual computer specifications. 

Lowk I don’t know much about VR hardware and such. I just searched it up online and saw that they weren’t cheap. Is there a way to test this without buying a $30 power supply?

For a second i thought they cancelled it due to how long it was taking them😮‍💨

I just found this out

I’ve been thinking about this lately.

Meta seems to be pulling back in certain areas (layoffs, shifting focus, mixed messaging about long term VR priorities). Now Valve is reportedly preparing a serious entry with Steam Frame. Of course, pricing will be critical.

Here’s the bigger question: if Valve can’t make a compelling, widely adopted VR platform work, who can?

They have:

• the largest PC gaming ecosystem

• deep experience with VR (Index, SteamVR)

• developer trust

• a strong core audience

If Steam Frame struggles to gain traction, does that mean VR standardization just isn’t happening anytime soon?

Maybe it’s not literally the last bullet but it definitely feels like one of the last major opportunities to consolidate and stabilize the space.

Curious how others see it.

Read first, this is a edit.

After making this post, I did list the entire thing on eBay, I have since taken down the listings to get a better chance to try this headset.

I started by fixing a issue with a bluetooth driver not loading due to memory integrity being on in defender.

I then used the sync cable and routed it through my old pulley system from my index.

My experience has greatly improved, but the controllers do still suck, as I mostly play competitive FPS games and sandbox games such as Bonelab.

I ordered a new face pad thats not made out of the same thing as the original one, which was irritating my skin.

I decided to grab a OG Vive today off Facebook marketplace for $90, and I thought it was a decent idea.

It wasn't.

The headset has a absolutely HORRIBLE resolution, and its capped at 90HZ.

The base stations are also super picky. I had to use the sync cable to even get somewhat usable tracking.

The controllers are hot garbage, if you don't want to toss them across the room, you have to have your finger on the trackpad, which then turns your camera / moves you in game.

The headset is also horribly balanced, and insanely uncomfortable.

I mainly bought it as a chance to play some VR after selling my Index, and most games don't even remotely support it.

I did play beat saber and it wasn't horrible, besides the tracking loss that is from my lack of wanting to set it up.

I guess its not horrible to try VR, but I would not recommend it after trying ANY other proper VR headset.