Oculus Rift: Quick Start

This guide covers everything you need to know to get started developing Unreal applications for Oculus Rift.

HMD Setup

Setup the headset, as described in Get Started with Rift.

Select an Unreal Engine Distribution

There are a number of ways that you can obtain the Oculus Unreal distributions.

• You can obtain a binary distribution with the Epic Game Launcher. This Oculus code may be two or more more versions behind the latest Oculus SDK. We recommend that beginning developers use this binary distribution. It is stable, and does not require pulling the source from GitHub, setting up Visual Studio, and performing a lengthy compilation of the entire Unreal game engine source code.

You can also get source distributions from GitHub if you have the correct access.

Important: To access the Epic and Oculus GitHub repositories, you must be logged in to GitHub and subscribed to the private EpicGames/UnrealEngine repository (see UE4 on GitHub for details). Otherwise, you will receive a 404 error when you try to access the repository links. An Unreal license is not required. There are two choices:

• You can obtain a source distribution from the Epic GitHub Repository. This Oculus code may be a version or two behind the latest Oculus SDK. Please see the Epic GitHub Repository table in Version Compatibility Reference, in order to choose the specific downloads that best suit your development criteria.
• You can obtain the most up-to-date source distribution from the Oculus GitHub Repository. These distributions are the most up-to-date with the latest Oculus SDKs. We support the current release of UE4 and any preview of the next release of UE4. Please see the Oculus GitHub Repository table in Version Compatibility Reference, in order to choose the specific downloads that best suit your development criteria. While new Oculus features ship first to the Oculus GitHub versions, API changes may occur when these branches are merged back into Epic’s version of the engine. We recommend these distributions for professional developers who would like to access the latest Oculus SDK features. In order to build this source, see Building UE4 from Source.

All versions of the Oculus Unreal SDK require Windows 7 or later.

Enabling Unknown Sources

In order to play an in-development application, you will need to enable the Oculus system to run applications from unknown sources by using the Oculus app settings, available through the gear icon in the upper-right. Select Settings, then select the General tab, and turn on Unknown Sources to allow this.

The first time you run an application that you have not downloaded from the Oculus Store, you will need to launch it directly. Once you have run an application from an unknown source at least once, it will then appear in the Library section of Home and the Oculus app, and may be launched normally, as long as Unknown Sources is enabled.

Developing Applications with the UE4 Editor

1. Download and setup the Unreal engine that you wish to use. Make sure you are using a compatible set of SDKs, as shown in the Version Compatibility Reference.
2. Follow the instructions in the Oculus Rift Quick Start provided by Epic.

Adding the Entitlement Check

It is recommended that all Unreal apps implement the Entitlement Check to verify that the user’s app is legitimate. For information about how to implement the Entitlement Check, please see the Unreal Development Getting Started in the Platform Solutions section.

Plugin Settings

Configure different aspects of your Oculus app such as whether it supports hand tracking, what level of FFR it uses, and set the color space using the Plugin Settings. For more information, see Plugin Settings.

Application Distribution Requirements and Guidelines

Also see the Oculus Distribute document.