Decouple OpenXR from Studio

Right now, if you have a VR headset connected to your computer, Roblox Studio automatically starts up your OpenXR runtime. This is extremely annoying.

I leave my Valve Index plugged into my computer all of the time so that I can play VR games easily. Unfortunately, this means that Roblox Studio will launch SteamVR whenever I open it, which steals away the audio output from my headphones to pipe it through the headset instead. It also wakes my base stations from sleep. None of this is desirable.

Instead, I propose that you should be able to start and stop the OpenXR runtime manually from the Studio interface. For example, you might choose to expose this via a toggle button:

Whatever interface is used, it should let you manually start and stop the OpenXR runtime. It would be acceptable to restart Studio, if this is necessary for the feature to be implemented.

Either way, this would allow developers with VR headsets to much more easily work on non-VR games and software packages without having to physically disconnect equipment from the computer or rename program files.

22 Likes

I’ve had this issue. Studio and Player constantly open SteamVR on their own, unless I move the files out of steamapps and onto the desktop, and on the post I replied to, they stated its a bug and they would fix it by “next client release” (source), only to delay it to after the Quest launch (source), and to this day, absolutely nothing.

It’s been so annoying when I forget and then have to wait for SteamVR to load everything, only to then close it and go through the process.

EDIT: When they mentioned delaying it to after the Quest Launch, they also specified a VR Prompt to allow the user to choose whether to run Studio or Player in VR, which would be good, but it would still force users to reopen Studio to develop in Non VR.

2 Likes

This would be an extremely useful addition, it would also remove the need to restart studio to toggle between VR and non-VR.