Love them or hate them for it, Bethesda’s games offer up a great opportunity for modders to get under the hood of impressively large-scale virtual worlds and summarily fix whatever messes the studio left behind. The same goes for Skyrim VR (2018), which for all its charms, is still obviously in need of tweaks to make it more like the VR-native game it should have been when it was first released on PC VR headsets in 2018. Now there’s a mod for that.

Created by NexusMods contributor ‘FlyingParticle’, the nifty mod fixes many of the non-VR design conventions that were essentially ported from the flatscreen version of Skyrim, namely the overreliance on text-based inventory menus and point-and-click object interaction system—both total immersion killers in their own right.

Called HIGGS VR (hand interaction and gravity gloves), the mod adds in some seriously useful abilities which were inspired by Half-Life: Alyx (2020). With it installed, both hands and objects have collision enabled so you can actually hold items.

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Borrowing the gravity gloves mechanic from HLA, the mod also lets you highlight and select items from a distance and force-grab them to you. Combined with another mod, called VRIK Player Avatar, you can also add in dynamic handposes for more realistic object interaction.

Looting is a more natural experience too, as you can stash items by placing them in an over-the-shoulder inventory on your back. You can also move bodies, and strip them of armor by pulling on it, which are really nice touches for the sake of immersion.

HIGGS VR only works with PC VR versions of Skyrim VR. You can download it at Nexus Mods, which hosts a mind-boggling number of mods for many games, including many of the fan favorite mods for Skyrim VR.

Check out the HIGGS VR mod in action below, courtesy of YouTube channel ‘Ben Play’s VR’:

 

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Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 3,500 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Ad

    Bethesda’s VR games poisoned the well, but I think we need a big push for PC-PCVR games, so that more developers can ignore Quest and generally PCVR can be healthier and more independent. Tons of games would be great in VR and could probably work. Games like Payday 2 did VR pretty well and it’s been years, it can be done a lot better than back in 2017. Technically this mod makes Skyrim VR more advanced in its VR design than half of VR games.

    • IMO, Skyrim VR was an excellent game to play sitting down with a controller. I don’t know why so many people think VR games MUST have motion controls or they suck, but some of the best VR experiences I’ve had are with games that use traditional controllers. Subnautica, Overload, and the original DK2 Half-Life 2 spring to mind.

      • johann jensson

        Exactly. My own GOTY 2020 was not HL: Alyx (it was great, but nothing more). It was Jedi: Fallen Order played through VorpX.

      • Ad

        I think they do need immersive controls, but I could see a case for some PC to VR ports that are third person or use a tracked gamepad (clip a steamVR controller or steamVR tracker to your gamepad).

    • Data Soul

      Companies aren’t going to ignore the Quest. It’s low cost entry point makes it really easy for people to get into VR. Way more people can purchase a quest as opposed to a PCVR set up. I think the Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners devs just announced they sold 10x the number of games for quest then all PCVR sales combined.

      Yes, I think PCVR, performance wise, beats Quest, but the quest 2 is still really compelling (I have both setups, so I know). But asking devs to ignore quest is really asking them to leave money on the table and right now they need that money to keep their doors open long enough for VR to go mainstream.

      • Ad

        You literally made the reverse point. More people have no VR than a quest so making non VR versions is also viable, and much more so. The Quest is also incredible constrained and would harm many games more than making non VR modes.

        Also you’re straight up lying. They said that during the months since the Quest launch (like a year after it came out on PC and months after PSVR) they’ve sold more copies on the quest store than the rift store. It is on PSVR (6 million headsets) and Steam (2.5 million) and was in multiple sales and even a big humble bundle. It probably didn’t sell more on Quest than PC at all.

        At least try.

        • The Jordan Complex

          Sorry. You’re right, I rechecked the article and it seems I made a mistake. I wouldn’t go as far as saying I “straight up lied”, just a misunderstanding.

          Also, I re-reading your comment, I think I misunderstood your point. I was arguing that VR game companies shouldn’t ignore quest, but yes, companies like Bethesda and other AAA developers should look at making more PCVR ports of their PC Games, or going the route of something like SW Squadrons. In general, I agree this is good for the PC VR market and VR in general.

          • Ad

            I also mean that PCVR games should get flatscreen ports instead of Quest. This means fewer features lost to support mobile and lets them make real use of features of steam (like remote play together, discord, or workshop) or other PC platforms.

      • Amni3D

        I have literally seen devs port their whole games to Quest but refuse to release on the last second. They don’t need Facebook to survive if they can ignore them on a whim and still make money.

    • As a gamedev, let me tell you that it is not that easy. If Quest is more profitable, than of course game studios, that have to pay their bills, will focus on Quest first and PC will only have portings of Quest games. We need a bigger market for PCVR games

      • Ad

        “PC-PCVR” means PCVR and non VR.

  • Rudl Za Vedno

    Kudos to HIGGS VR… It makes you wonder how lame Bethesda’s VR port really is when moding community can do much better job them them.

  • Ragbone

    Fans are constantly having to fix or improve games that the game companies don’t bother to do lol.

  • Alex

    Cool ! I own Skyrim VR but didn’t play it yet. I played the original game back in 2012, like a lot!!… so I’m not in a hurry, but I will play with this mod for sure, thanks to the mod community for this incredible upgrade.

  • Now this seems cool.

    It’s just a shame all this mod stuff seems like an utter convoluted mess to me based on all the hoops you have to jump through to get this game working with them, and to even figure out which ones to get in the first place.

    If there were some easy way to go into a menu in the game and just turn mods on and off, much like the way someone did it for playing Doom in VR on the Quest 2, then it would be a game-changer feature imo.

    • Marcus

      What about wabbajack.org?

  • dogtato

    hm, I refunded Skyrim after about an hour because the interactions were so unforgivably bad, much like playing any of their games with a mouse and keyboard. This is pretty tempting, though I’m still reluctant to reward Bethesda’s minimal effort console ports.

  • Wild Dog

    My god, they finally added it.

  • johann jensson

    I tried to play Skyrim VR, but the lighting was so basic even with ENB (and the performance a bit stuttery), that it broke my immersion often. Later i sold my Rift S after a year of using it regularly, and got back to 21:9 flat gaming for now. Much better Skyrim lighting with ENB, and it feels more immersive because of that. Sometimes i miss my HMD, but then i enjoy a gaming session with a drink and some snacks and i’m happy with my ultrawide flatscreen. :)

    VR has a long, long way to go, still. And it doesn’t help that highlights like Lone Echo 2 are delayed and get the downgrade treatment just to be playable on the cr@ppy Quest 2.

  • Wow, that’s a very interesting mod. I loved the grabbity gloves in alyx and it’ s good to see them in other games as well

    • Ad

      This really shows how much was possible with this port.

  • Bumpy

    Very nice VR mod. Hope this comes to Fallout 4 VR also!