The latest patch update for Oculus Rift looks very promising, especially for its loyal users. Aside from bug fixes, there are also some improvements laid out in path 1.17, particularly when it comes to playing games that are on Steam, as well as a party chat.
The Oculus Rift forum revealed a number of updates made to the Virtual Reality headset. One of which was the inclusion of the Oculus library, where users can see more details whenever there are software updates that are being made, whether on their apps or on the Rift software.
Perhaps the biggest update of them all is that users can now quickly launch all the apps that support Rift from the Oculus Store or outside the store as well. This is especially good for users who like to play all kinds of games in the headset, particularly on Steam and GOG, who are known to have great deals for virtual reality software. Oculus has been criticized for being closed off in terms of playing games on virtual reality, but this update will change that.
There is also the inclusion of the Party Chat feature. The Party Chat on the Rift is very similar to the ones on Xbox One or PlayStation 4. Pick a friend from the Universal Menu or the Oculus Home then "Invite to Party," to start chatting away. Users can have up to four friends in a chat, and it stays open regardless which app the user or their friends are currently using.
Oculus has also improved their Mixed Reality Capture feature. They have also fixed a number of bugs, such as restoring the Rift headset's functionality when reconnecting after a time of being disconnected, the lens slider settings, and the floor shifting while the user is in virtual reality, among other improvements.
