EliteG19s SteamVR

This document explains how to enable and configure the SteamVR display in EliteG19s, change resolution and options via options.json, access and use the overlay toolbar, and understand per-ship overlay positioning and monitor mode.

Table of Contents

• Enabling SteamVR display (Settings Wizard)
• Enabling SteamVR display (Menu Screen)
• Changing resolution and low-level settings in options.json
• Monitor Mode (desktop overlay)
• Overlay toolbar: how to open and what each button does
• Per-ship overlay location saving
• Examples: options.json snippets
• Troubleshooting and tips

Enabling SteamVR display (Settings Wizard)

Use the Settings Wizard when you first run EliteG19s or when you want to re-run the setup flow. The Settings Wizard provides a guided experience for enabling SteamVR overlay output.

• Open EliteG19s and run the Settings Wizard from the initial setup or by holding the SHIFT key when starting the app.
• In the Wizard, locate the SteamVR page. Here you can enable the SteamVR overlay mode and set its opacity (lower value means a more transparent window).

Enabling SteamVR display (Menu Screen)

If you prefer to enable SteamVR manually while the app is running, use the in-app menu screen.

• Open the EliteG19s menu screen.
• Navigate to the Display > SteamVR submenu.
• Click on the button to Enable the SteamVR overlay.
• The overlay will attempt to connect to SteamVR and appear in your headset.

If the overlay does not appear, verify:

• SteamVR is running and not reporting errors.
• SteamVR has a compositor active and the headset is available.
• Your system's VR runtime (SteamVR/OpenXR) is correctly configured.

Changing resolution and other low-level settings in options.json

EliteG19s stores low-level rendering and overlay settings in an options.json file located in your user data folder. Editing options.json lets you change resolution, scaling, monitor mode, per-ship positions, and other advanced options not available in the GUI.

Where the SteamVR options live (exact keys)

The SteamVR-related options are nested under DisplayOptions -> SteamVRDisplay in options.json.

The property names you'll see and can edit:

• IsEnabled (bool) — whether the SteamVR overlay is enabled.
• Width (int) and Height (int) — the overlay render target size in pixels used when rendering into VR. The implementation creates a square shared texture with size = max(Width, Height).
• MonitorModeWidth (int) and MonitorModeHeight (int) — pixel size used when running in Monitor Mode (desktop mirror window).
• MonitorModeWidthMeters (float) and MonitorModeDistanceMeters (float) — physical size in meters and distance used to compute the monitor-mode plane transform when toggling Monitor Mode.
• DefaultTransform (object) — default OverlayTransform applied when there is no per-ship saved transform. OverlayTransform contains WidthMeters, Position (with X,Y,Z) and Rotation (with X,Y,Z).
• Opacity (float) — overlay background opacity used when filling the overlay window area.

How to edit safely:

1. Close EliteG19s to avoid race conditions while options.json is read/written.
2. Open options.json and edit the values under DisplayOptions → SteamVRDisplay using the exact property names above.
3. Save the file and restart EliteG19s.

Important: Keep a backup copy of options.json before making manual edits.

Monitor Mode

Monitor Mode temporarily changes the overlay to a larger screen with a larger resolution (default 1920x1080) to mirror your display. This makes it easier to navigate to Inara while not having to take off your headset.

To enable Monitor Mode:

• In the overlay toolbar, click on the "Monitor" button.

Changing the monitor resolution:

• In options.json, edit the resolution object. Example:

"resolution": {
	"width": 1920,
	"height": 1080
}

• After saving, restart EliteG19s. The overlay will render to a desktop window at the specified resolution.

Tips:

• Use a resolution matching your monitor best clarity.

Overlay toolbar: opening and button explanations

The overlay toolbar is the small floating control panel attached to the overlay. You use it to change position, lock the overlay, resize, and access settings quickly.

How to access the toolbar:

• VR controllers: Point just below the overlay and you will see the toolbar buttons appear automatically.

Toolbar buttons and actions:

• Tilt Vertical
• Tilt Horizontal
• Rotate
• Move
• Distance
• Size
• Reset orientation
• Monitor mode toggle

Per-ship overlay location saving

EliteG19s saves per-ship overlay transforms in the per-commander memory store (memory.json), not in options.json.

What is stored and where:

• Per-ship transforms are stored in the Memory object under the OverlayTransforms dictionary (string key -> MemoryOverlayTransform).

How the app chooses which transform to apply:

• When a ship (or SRV) is detected, the app looks up a per-ship entry in Memory.OverlayTransforms using the ship identifier provided by Elite Dangerous (for example Anaconda or an SRV type string).
• If a per-ship MemoryOverlayTransform exists it is used and applied to the overlay; otherwise the global settings from options.json is used.

Notes:

• Because per-ship transforms are saved per-commander inside memory.json, different commander profiles (or different platforms) will have separate memory.json entries and therefore independent overlay positions.

Examples: code-accurate snippets

1. options.json — SteamVR settings (under DisplayOptions → SteamVRDisplay)

"DisplayOptions": {
	"SteamVRDisplay": {
		"IsEnabled": true,
		"Width": 640,
		"Height": 480,
		"MonitorModeWidth": 1920,
		"MonitorModeHeight": 1080,
		"MonitorModeWidthMeters": 2.0,
		"MonitorModeDistanceMeters": 1.5,
		"DefaultTransform": {
			"WidthMeters": 1.5,
			"Position": { "X": 1.0, "Y": 1.0, "Z": -2.0 },
			"Rotation": { "X": 0.0, "Y": 0.0, "Z": 0.0 }
		},
		"Opacity": 1.0
	}
}

2. options.json — Monitor mode settings only

"DisplayOptions": {
	"SteamVRDisplay": {
		"IsEnabled": false,
		"MonitorModeWidth": 1920,
		"MonitorModeHeight": 1080,
		"MonitorModeWidthMeters": 2.0,
		"MonitorModeDistanceMeters": 1.5
	}
}

3. memory.json — per-ship transform example (this is where per-ship positions are saved)

{
	"OverlayTransforms": {
		"Anaconda": {
			"IsEnabled": true,
			"WidthMeters": 1.2,
			"Position": { "X": -0.3, "Y": 0.2, "Z": 1.2 },
			"Rotation": { "X": 0.0, "Y": 10.0, "Z": 0.0 }
		}
	}
}

Recommended values and notes:

• Width/Height used for the VR overlay determine the render target and are used to compute a square shared texture; higher values give crisper UI at higher GPU cost.
• For the mirror window, match MonitorModeWidth/MonitorModeHeight to your monitor or streaming canvas.
• To change UI scale in VR, change DefaultTransform.WidthMeters or edit per-ship WidthMeters entries in memory.json.

Troubleshooting and tips

• Overlay doesn't appear in VR: Ensure DisplayOptions.SteamVRDisplay.IsEnabled is true and SteamVR is running. The code checks for an HMD and OpenVR runtime before creating the overlay; if either is missing the overlay will not initialize. Restart EliteG19s after enabling SteamVR.
• Overlay is blurry or text is small: Increase DisplayOptions.SteamVRDisplay.Width/Height (the code creates a square texture with size = max(Width, Height)), or increase DefaultTransform.WidthMeters / per-ship WidthMeters to scale UI elements larger in world space.
• Want to copy layout between ships: Copy the MemoryOverlayTransform JSON object for one ship to another key inside memory.json (backup first), or position the overlay in VR while that ship is active and let the app save the new transform automatically.