Caution

THIS GITHUB PAGE IS THE ONLY PLACE THIS MOD EXISTS

https://github.com/JRDevo/ETS2-ATS-VR-Controls is the only source of truth for this mod: the only place it is published, the only place it is documented, and the only place to download it (its Releases page).

• There is no website for this mod. There never will be one. No Discord, no Patreon, no Nexus, no Steam Workshop, no app store.
• DO NOT DOWNLOAD THIS MOD FROM ANYWHERE ELSE. Any other site, mirror, "launcher", "installer", video link or forum attachment that offers it is not mine and may carry anything. If it did not come from this GitHub page, do not run it.
• Updates, release notes, the button and settings reference and the troubleshooting guide live here and only here. If someone tells you to get the mod somewhere else, they are wrong.

ETS2 ATS VR Controls

Play Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator in VR with only your headset and its own controllers. No steering wheel, no gamepad, no keyboard, no mouse, no extra hardware.

• Drive with the controllers: three ways to steer -- a stick (smooth, like a gamepad), a two-hand wheel (hold both grips and turn your hands) or pointing with one controller. The triggers are gas and brake.
• Every key on a button: indicators, horn, lights, anything, in four layers (hold the right grip, the left grip or both for more buttons). Pick the keys in a menu in the headset.
• A mouse in your hand: a stick or the controller's aim moves the pointer, a button clicks. For the game's menus and the map.
• A full keyboard in the headset: point and pull the trigger. For the few things that need typing.

Start the game in VR, put the headset on, and play. You never need to reach for the desk.

Note

Status: v0.2.0: controller buttons as keys and mouse in four layers, a VR menu and a full keyboard in the headset, and driving with the controllers -- steer with the stick, a wheel held with one or both hands, or by pointing; gas and brake on the triggers. Planned: the keyboard pinned to the cab, and single buttons you place anywhere (for example over a cab switch) that press a key.

Important

OpenXR only. The mod works when the game runs in its OpenXR VR mode (-openxr). It does not work in the game's -openvr (SteamVR native) or -oculus (Oculus native) modes. Every headset can use OpenXR, see Which VR mode?.

Screenshots

Driving tab: steer with the Wheel	Driving tab: steer by Pointing	Driving tab: the Stick

Buttons tab: picking a key	Buttons tab: the Mod 1 layer (Normal / Mod 1 / Mod 2 / Both)	Mouse tab

Panels tab	Look tab	The keyboard

Pointing at a setting: its help at the bottom	The compact keyboard (Panels tab > Compact)

Menu: Screenshots · Which VR mode? · What it does · Default buttons · Driving · VR menu · Install · Privacy · Settings · Problems · Report a problem · Build · License

Which VR mode?

ETS2 / ATS have three VR modes, chosen by a launch option (Steam: right-click the game > Properties > Launch options). This mod works only in the OpenXR one:

Launch option	VR system	This mod
-openxr	OpenXR	works
-openvr	SteamVR's own system (OpenVR)	does not load
-oculus	Meta's old Oculus system	does not load

SCS also recommends OpenXR: it is the only VR mode in the normal game builds (1.55+; there, also add -experimental_vr), while -openvr and -oculus exist only in the oculus beta branch on Steam.

How to use OpenXR with your headset:

• Quest via Virtual Desktop: -openxr, with Virtual Desktop's VDXR as the OpenXR runtime (Virtual Desktop sets it).
• Quest via Link / Air Link: -openxr, with the Meta Quest Link app as the OpenXR runtime (Meta app > Settings > General > OpenXR Runtime).
• Valve Index, HTC Vive, Pico and other SteamVR headsets: -openxr, with SteamVR as the OpenXR runtime (SteamVR > Settings > OpenXR > Set SteamVR as OpenXR runtime). The game then still runs through SteamVR.
• Windows Mixed Reality: -openxr, with the Windows Mixed Reality OpenXR runtime.

Only one OpenXR runtime is active at a time; the last one you set wins.

What it does

• Each controller button sends a key or a mouse button that you choose in config.ini.
• One stick moves the mouse pointer (the right stick by default).
• Air mouse: hold the right grip and turn the controller. The pointer follows, like a laser pointer. (Or set it to toggle: one press on, the next press off.)
• Modifier: while you hold the modifier button (right grip), buttons can send something else. Default: right grip + A or right trigger = left click, right grip + B = right click -- so one controller does everything: hold the grip (the pointer follows), press A or the trigger to click, hold B to right-click (drag the map). Set any button's modified key in the VR menu.
• Two modifiers = four layers of buttons: modifier 1 (right grip) and modifier 2 (left grip). No grip = your normal buttons; right grip held = layer 2; left grip held = layer 3; both grips held = layer 4. Hold the grip(s) first, then press the button. A button with nothing set in a layer does its normal job. (Both grips + the left stick click is the menu's own combo: that one never sends a key.)
• Driving: three ways to steer -- the left stick (default), a wheel you hold with one or both grips, or pointing a controller left / right. The right trigger is the gas pedal, the left trigger the brake. Smooth, not on / off keys. Gas and brake can go on any button. See Driving.
• VR menu + keyboard: hold both grips + the left stick click for 1 second. A menu opens in front of you. See The VR menu.
• The game's own VR controls (the trigger and the left menu button) still work.
• It only works in the games named in config.ini. In every other VR program it does nothing.
• It only sends input while the game window is in front. It never types into another program.

It is an OpenXR API layer: a small add-on that the VR system loads into the game. It does not change any game file, and it works next to the ETS2 / ATS DLAA mod, VR EyeCapture, Virtual Desktop, OpenXR Toolkit and VectorXR.

Default buttons

Made so that one controller (the right one) does the whole mouse: point with the right stick or the air mouse, A = left click, right grip + right trigger = left click too, right grip + B = right click. Driving: left stick = steering, right trigger = gas, left trigger = brake.

Controller	Sends	In ETS2 / ATS (default keys)
Right stick	moves the mouse pointer
Right grip (hold)	air mouse (the pointer follows the controller), and the modifier
A	left mouse click	click
Right grip + A	left mouse click	click while the air mouse aims
Right grip + B	right mouse click	drag the map: hold the grip, aim, hold B
Right grip + right trigger	left mouse click	click while the air mouse aims
Right trigger	gas pedal (press harder = more gas, let go = roll)
B	Esc	menu / back
Left stick left / right	steering (stick half left = wheel half left; let go = straight again)	see Driving
Left trigger	brake (press harder = more brake)
X	[	left indicator
Y	]	right indicator
Right stick click	H	horn
Left stick click	F	hazard lights
Both grips + left stick click, 1 second	opens / closes the VR menu

(The right stick's arrow keys -- up / down / left / right -- work when you set the mouse to the left stick: Mouse tab.)

Change them in config.ini. If you changed the game's key bindings, change config.ini to match.

The game keeps its own menu button: the left menu button on every controller, B and Y on Valve Index, B on Vive and Windows Mixed Reality. A key set for that button does nothing (the log says so).

Every other button is shared with other VR mods that watch it (for example VR EyeCapture's record combo, both stick clicks): both react. If that is not what you want, set that button to none here or in the VR menu.

Cab buttons: the game has no clickable buttons in the cab, so pointing at a switch does nothing. Map the key of that function to a controller button instead (for example y = l for the lights).

Driving with the controllers

By default:

Controller	Does
Left stick left / right	steering. The wheel glides to where the stick is: a little push = a little turn, all the way = full turn. Ease the stick = less turn. Let go: the wheel glides back to straight.
Right trigger	gas pedal. Press a little = a little gas. Let go = the truck rolls (no gas).
Left trigger	brake. Press a little = a little brake.
Right grip + right trigger	left mouse click (not gas): hold the grip to aim with the air mouse, pull the trigger to click

You choose what drives. Gas and brake are normal button choices, like a key:

• In the VR menu: Buttons tab, point at a button, then pick Gas or Brake in the bar at the bottom. Also with the modifiers ("Mod 1" / "Mod 2" / "Both": for example right grip + right trigger = brake).
• In config.ini: rtrigger = brake, lgrip = brake, lup = gas (stick forward), modifier_keys = rtrigger:brake ...
• Triggers and grips are analog (press harder = more). A stick direction too. Any other button (A, B, X, Y, stick click) is full gas / full brake.
• The steering stick: left, right or off (Driving tab, or steer = left / right / off). That stick's left / right then steer; its up / down are still free buttons (for example gas and brake).

Three ways to steer (Driving tab: Steer with, or steer_with = stick / wheel / point):

Steer with	How	Full lock
Stick (default)	the stick, as below	the stick all the way
Wheel	hold the grips and turn your hands like a steering wheel: left hand up = turn right. Hold the wheel with both grips (default), the left, the right or either grip (steer_wheel_grip): with one hand, move it round the rim like a real wheel (right hand down = turn right). Let go: the wheel goes back to straight. The grab does not move the wheel, also when a second hand joins or lets go	90 degrees of hand turn (steer_wheel_angle)
Point	point a controller left / right (Hand that points: left or right, steer_point_hand): straight ahead = straight. While you point at the VR menu or keyboard, or use the air mouse, the wheel holds where it is -- so you can type in a bend	35 degrees left / right (steer_point_angle)

• Stick on / off (next to the angle; steer_stick_too): on = the stick steers too (push it and it wins, let go and the hands steer again); off = only your hands steer, and the stick's left / right are normal buttons again.
• Wheel and Point are speed-sensitive like the stick (At 90 km/h, below). The wheel follows the hands at once (smoothed a little: steer_aim_smooth, 0.08 s), with no speed limit.
• A grip that holds the wheel is only the wheel: no key, no modifier layer, no air mouse, no gas / brake from it. With "Both", one grip alone keeps its own jobs; both together are the wheel (so no "Both" layer while steering with the wheel). With Left / Right / Either, that grip is always the wheel: the Buttons tab shows it as "the wheel", and a layer that needs it is greyed. Point with the other hand than the one you type with: the pointing hand steers on.
• config.ini only: steer_point_button = x (point steers only while X is held; set X itself to none), steer_aim_deadzone (degrees around straight that do not steer, 2).

How the wheel moves: the stick's place is where the wheel goes. The stick's throw is short, so it has two zones: most of it (up to 80 % of a push) makes small, careful turns -- up to 20 % of the wheel, for following the road --, and only the last bit, pushed all the way to the edge, makes hard turns up to full lock. While you hold the stick, the wheel glides there: a small push turns it slowly, a full push fast, and a wobbling thumb is smoothed. Ease the stick a bit: the wheel comes back to the new place and stays there. Let go: the wheel goes back to straight. If your thumb slips past the middle as you let go, the wheel only goes straight, never past it.

Steering feel (Driving tab, or config.ini):

Setting	What it does	Default
Steering dead zone (steer_deadzone)	how far the stick must move before the wheel turns	0.10
Small turns (most of the stick) (steer_fine, steer_fine_zone)	the stick's throw is short, so it has two zones. Most of it (the first 80 % of a push) makes small, careful turns for following the road: up to this much of the wheel. Only the last bit, at the edge, turns hard, up to full lock. Set it to "even (off)" for one even zone. 95 % of a push already counts as all the way (steer_full_at; many sticks stop there)	20 %
Full stick turns the wheel (steer_max)	how far the wheel turns with the stick all the way	100 %
Wheel follows the stick (steer_follow_time)	smoothing while you hold the stick: how quickly the wheel goes to the stick's place, in seconds (when standing; calmer at speed by itself). More = smoother and calmer	0.4 s
Let go: back to the middle (steer_center_time)	how the wheel comes back when you let go. At once = at the wheel speed below (the default). More = a slow glide, in seconds	at once
Wheel speed at most (steer_max_speed)	the fastest the wheel turns, with the stick pushed all the way (a small push turns it slower): seconds from straight to full lock (in config.ini: full turns per second, 0.5 = 2 s). Slower at speed too	2 s
Wheel speed back to straight (steer_back_speed, config.ini only)	the fastest the wheel goes back toward straight: when you let go, or push the stick the other way (a quick swing from one side to the other). Full turns per second (2 = 0.5 s from full lock to straight; 0 = no limit). Slower at speed too	2
At 90 km/h (steer_speed_sens, steer_at_speed)	speed-sensitive steering, On / Off: up to 10 km/h the stick steers fully; at 90 km/h and faster full stick turns the wheel only this much (30 %), so small moves are fine. A bend you hold while you speed up stays	On, 30 %

Too twitchy at speed? Lower "At 90 km/h". Too twitchy everywhere? Make "Wheel follows the stick" slower (more seconds) or "Wheel speed at most" slower. Small turns too big or too small? Change "Small turns". The wheel comes back too fast? Give "Let go: back to the middle" some seconds.

Not sure what a setting does? In the VR menu, point at it (or at its name): the line at the bottom of the menu says what it does.

Switch driving off: Driving tab > Driving: Off (or drive = 0). Then nothing steers, the gas / brake buttons do nothing, and the steering stick's left / right send their keys again. On brings it all back.

It is smooth, like a gamepad: not on / off keys. How: ETS2 and ATS have their own door for input add-ons (the SCS input SDK). This mod is also such an add-on, so the game gets the stick and the triggers directly. No driver, no fake gamepad, no file in the game folder, and nothing to set in the game's options (it works next to your wheel, keyboard or gamepad settings). install.ps1 tells the game where the mod is (see What install.ps1 does).

• The game shows a note at every start: "Request to use advanced SDK features detected". That is this mod. Point at OK and click (A or the right trigger). SCS shows it for every add-on that uses their SDK; as far as we know, a mod cannot hide it.

  

• steer = off and no gas / brake buttons: nothing drives, but the game still loads the add-on (so the VR menu can change it at once). To remove it completely, run uninstall.ps1.

• It works in every OpenXR mode and headset (Virtual Desktop, Link, SteamVR, Windows MR): the driving part does not depend on the headset at all.

The VR menu

Hold both grips, then press and hold the left stick click, for 1 second. The menu opens in front of you. Do it again to close it. (Grips first: the left stick click alone is still the hazard lights.) It is not both stick clicks, because VR EyeCapture starts a recording on that.

Two different pointers (read this first)

There are two pointers, and only one of them works on the menu and the keyboard:

	The game's mouse pointer	The VR pointer (white dot)
What it is	Windows' mouse arrow, inside the game's own screens	A white dot that this mod draws on its own panels
How it moves	The right stick, or the air mouse: hold the right grip and turn the controller	Just point a controller at the menu or the keyboard. No button needed.
Where it works	Only inside the game's picture (game menus, map, ...). It can not reach the VR menu or keyboard.	Only on the VR menu and the keyboard
How it clicks	A = left click, right grip + B = right click	Trigger while the dot is on a key / button

So for the menu and the keyboard: do not use the air mouse (do not hold the grip). Aim the controller at the panel like a laser pointer. A white dot appears where you point, and the key under it lights up. Then pull the trigger.

(While a controller points at a panel, its grip does not start the air mouse, and the game does not get its trigger.)

• Point with either controller. A white dot shows where. Pull the trigger to press.
• Not sure what something does? Point at it (or at its name on the left): the line at the bottom of the menu explains it. While you point at the menu, the game does not get that trigger.
• Buttons tab: every controller button and what it sends. Point at one, pull the trigger, then press a key on the keyboard (or pick Mouse L / Mouse R / Wheel / None at the bottom). For Shift + F: press Shift, then F. Normal / Mod 1 / Mod 2 / Both at the top: the layer the rows show and set -- what each button sends while modifier 1, modifier 2 or both are held ("as normal" = no entry). 1: ... and 2: ... pick the two modifier buttons (each press: the next button, or off).
• Mouse tab: which stick moves the mouse, its speed and dead zone, the air mouse button, hold or toggle, its speed.
• Panels tab: menu size, keyboard size, show / hide the keyboard, bring both in front of you.
• Panels tab also: the distance of each panel (Closer / Farther).
• Driving tab: Steer with Stick / Wheel / Point / Off; for Wheel and Point the hand angle for full lock, Stick on / off, and which grips hold the wheel (Both / Left / Right / Either) or which hand points (Left / Right); for the stick the stick that steers, the dead zone, small turns, how far the wheel turns, how quickly it follows the stick and comes back, its top speed; and speed-sensitive steering. Gas and brake: any button, Buttons tab. See Driving.
• Look tab: colours (Dark, Blue, Grey, Light, Black, Green), how see-through the menu and the keyboard are, and pointer smoothing (Off / Low / Medium / High): calms a shaky hand, for the menu pointer and the air mouse.
• Reset tab (bottom right of every tab): puts that tab's settings back to the defaults. Press it twice (the first press asks "Sure?"). Only that tab changes. On the Panels tab it also brings the menu (and the keyboard, if it is shown) in front of you.
• Keyboard (button at the top of the menu): a full keyboard with F-keys, arrows and number pad. A key goes down when you pull the trigger and up when you let go. Shift, Ctrl and Alt stay on for the next key. A button for the keyboard: Buttons tab, point at a button, pick Keyboard in the bottom bar. Then that button shows / hides the keyboard (y = keyboard in config.ini; it needs the VR menu on: vr_menu = 1). The keyboard stays when the menu closes, also at the next game start (put it at the side of your cab). Its x hides it. Full or Compact (Panels tab): Compact has only the main keys (Esc / F-keys down to Enter, Shift, Ctrl), with its only an x (above Backspace) to hide it: about 30 % narrower. Its size: Panels tab > Keyboard size.
• Move a panel: point at it, hold the grip and move the controller. While you hold it, push that controller's stick up / down to move it farther / closer. Size: the - and + at the top.

Every change works at once and is saved in config.ini. The menu uses no keyboard key, so it never clashes with the ETS2 / ATS DLAA mod's menu (Delete). The menu and keyboard float in the room: after a recenter they move with it.

Install

1. Download ETS2-ATS-VR-Controls-v0.2.0.zip from the Releases page. Close the game.
2. Unzip the folder to a place where it can stay (for example C:\ETS2 ATS VR Controls).
3. Right-click install.ps1 > Run with PowerShell. Click Yes in the Windows admin prompt. (Admin is needed: ETS2 / ATS only load VR add-ons that are registered for all users.)
4. Start the game in VR.

Uninstall: run uninstall.ps1 the same way. Then you can delete the folder.

What install.ps1 does, and why there is one

Why a script? This mod is not a game mod (.scs file) and does not go into the game folder. It is an OpenXR API layer: a small add-on that the VR system (OpenXR) loads into the game when the game starts VR. OpenXR finds add-ons through one entry in the Windows registry. For driving, the same DLL is also the game's own kind of input add-on, and the game finds those through one registry entry per game. The script writes these entries for you, so you do not have to edit the registry by hand.

What it installs: nothing is copied into Windows or into the game. It writes three registry values:

Where	Name	Value
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Khronos\OpenXR\1\ApiLayers\Implicit	the full path of XR_APILAYER_JRDEVO_ets2_ats_vr_controls.json in your mod folder	0 (= switched on)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SCS Software\Euro Truck Simulator 2\Plugins	ets2_ats_vr_controls	the full path of ets2_ats_vr_controls.dll (driving)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SCS Software\American Truck Simulator\Plugins	ets2_ats_vr_controls	the same (driving)

The .json file tells OpenXR the add-on's name and where ets2_ats_vr_controls.dll is (next to it). That is why the folder must stay where you unzipped it: the registry points to it.

How it works, step by step:

1. It stops if ETS2 or ATS is running (the DLL would be in use).
2. It removes an old per-user entry of this mod, if there is one (that would load the mod twice).
3. It asks for admin rights: you see one Windows prompt (UAC). This is needed because the entry is under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (for all users): the OpenXR loader built into ETS2 / ATS only looks there.
4. It removes an older entry of this mod from another folder (if you moved the folder), then writes the new one. The same for the two driving entries (the keys are made if they are missing, so a game you install later finds it too).
5. Done. The next time the game starts VR, OpenXR loads the mod. In every other VR game the mod does nothing (see apps in config.ini).

uninstall.ps1 removes these registry entries again (also with one admin prompt). Your files and config.ini stay; delete the folder yourself if you like. You can check the entries yourself with regedit at the paths above.

"Run with PowerShell" is not there, or Windows blocks the script? Open PowerShell in the mod folder and run:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\install.ps1

What runs when / privacy

• Nothing runs in the background. No service, no tray icon, no startup entry. With no VR game running, Task Manager shows nothing from this mod.
• It only starts with a VR game. The game's own VR system (OpenXR) loads it when the game starts VR, the same way it loads OpenXR Toolkit or other VR add-ons. When the game closes, the mod is gone too.
• Other VR games: it checks the game's name once at start (less than a millisecond), then switches itself off for the rest of that game: no work, no log, no buttons. (The small DLL stays in that game's memory until it closes.)
• No internet. It never connects anywhere.
• Only its own files: it reads config.ini and writes its own log and the settings you change in its menu.
• Keys only to the game: it sends keys / mouse only while the game window is in front. It does not look at other programs or at what you type outside the game.
• One install, both games: the registry entry is for the whole PC, so it works in ETS2 and ATS (the apps line in config.ini lists both). All of the source code is in this repository.

Settings

Use the VR menu, or open config.ini in Notepad. Every setting is explained in the file. Restart the game after a change in Notepad (the VR menu's changes work at once).

Button names: ltrigger rtrigger lgrip rgrip x y a b lstick rstick menu lup ldown lleft lright rup rdown rleft rright. Values: a key (h, f1, space, [), up to 3 keys with + (shift+f), mouse_left, mouse_right, mouse_middle, wheel_up, wheel_down, gas, brake (driving), keyboard (shows / hides the VR keyboard) or none.

Problems

The log is logs\ets2_ats_vr_controls.log next to the DLL. It says which controller the VR system uses, which buttons are mapped, and every problem. The log is off by default (no file, nothing measured: the lightest). Set log = 1 in config.ini to write it, and also log_inputs = 1 to see every key the layer sends.

Reporting a problem (what to upload)

1. In config.ini (next to ets2_ats_vr_controls.dll) set log = 1 (and log_inputs = 1 if a button does the wrong thing).
2. Start the game in VR and do what goes wrong for 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Quit the game.
4. Open a bug report and drag logs\ets2_ats_vr_controls.log and config.ini into it.

Build from source

Visual Studio 2022 (C++), CMake 3.20+. The OpenXR SDK is downloaded on the first configure.

cmake -B build -S . -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64
cmake --build build --config Release
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File tests\run_unit.ps1
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File tests\run_e2e.ps1

tests\run_e2e.ps1 runs a fake game through the real OpenXR loader, this layer and a fake VR runtime with scripted button presses. No headset is needed, and no real key presses are sent.

License

PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0, see LICENSE.md.