In short, you can stream VR by doing the following:
- Set up your own Discord server (the how of which is detailed below)
- Join a voice channel
- Select the “Share Screen” option and a popup window will appear on your screen showcasing your display options (one of which will be your VR device)
- Select your display option and share your VR screen with whoever is on your server to watch you play the game you are playing on your VR headset.
It is not an extremely technical process but may be confusing for some and depending on your headset of choice may be more difficult than others.
The below article gives you pointers on how to execute streaming VR on discord correctly.
A Bit About Discord And Their Servers
Discord is a text and voice chat application aimed at gamers that are gaining traction in the industry at a rate of knots. A Discord server is sort of akin to when you have a whole bunch of your best friends hanging out at your house.
Everyone is having a conversation about different things at the same time with anyone who is at your house at that time.
Setting Up A Discord Server
First thing is first, you have to download the Discord app or open the web interface. Then you have to create an account. Once you are in, you will be asked whether you want to create or join a server.
You can create a new server by clicking on the huge plus sign and clicking the “Create a Server” button. You will then be asked to give your server a name and to select a region.
After that, you have connected to your server automatically and you can select your new server on the left of the screen and click the drop-down menu to invite friends, create channels or change the server’s settings.
To create a channel in your server you can either right-click anywhere in the channel panel or click on the “Create Channel” command where you can choose if it is a voice or text channel.
Typically for VR streaming, you would use a voice channel over a text channel as a voice channel will allow you to share your device’s screen.
You can have up to 50 people watching your screen share which is great. Although, if you would like to keep your channel to just your friends and family, you can make it private to limit any abuse or decrease the amount of admin-related duties associated with moderating the channel.
This is a pretty straightforward process but it is important to note that only Discord’s Windows desktop client is able to stream games and VR. So you will need to use the desktop or Google Chrome browser client to watch Discord Streams.
The first thing you have to do is open Discord and select the server where you want to stream. Then you hook up your VR headset and open the game on your VR headset you would like to stream. You then need to do the following to share non-gaming apps or your entire VR screen:
- Take your headset off for a quick second because you cannot see your Discord screen with the headset on!
- Join the server of your choice’s voice channel.
- Click the “Go Live” button
- Select either the “Screens” tab and click the option for your VR screen- but be sure to only do this when you are ready to do so!
Streaming Without A PC – The More Challenging Option
As an example, some people have had issues with streaming through Discord on the Oculus Quest 2 even when using the OculusMirror software which allows you to stream VR games onto a chat platform such as Discord.
The issues are there because of the challenges between linking Discord to the Oculus Quest 2 as Oculus is owned by Facebook and Discord is not, so allowing Discord to function on your Quest 2 means you are allowing a competing service onto the device.
You can of course use the method above and use a separate mic along with the in-built one in the headset and screen share but it is a roundabout method.
So in order to stream from your VR headset directly to Discord, you will need to download an app that allows you this capability. For this to happen, the app you choose to use should have a marketplace type of setup that gives you access to the games and apps you may not be able to access through Oculus directly.
You can then “sideload” the Discord app onto your Quest 2 and then you can stream directly to Discord through the screen share method from your Oculus. Apps such as Side Quest or Virtual Desktop will allow you to do this.
You need to connect your headset to the app by plugging in your headset to your PC, allow access, with the app open in developer mode on and you should be able to connect to the app. Then download the Discord APK on your PC and then drag and drop the APK from your downloads folder or go to the top right and click on “Install APK”.
Once it is installed, head over to your headset, unknown sources, click on Discord and login, and click “Enable Overlay”.
Alternatively, you can use SteamVR streaming through your VR headset to stream on Discord but it seems to only stream the small SteamVR window that appears in Discord. This is easily fixed by opening up the SteamVR settings and disabling the “Always On Top” button which will display the VR view as you see it.
It is important to remember that you need to connect an external or PC microphone to this setup by configuring the output from audio settings from Discord under the Voice and Video settings in order to have audio streamed along with your VR video.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is It Free To Set Up A Discord Server?
Yes, it is completely free to set up a Discord server and there are zero limitations on the number of users added to the server or the number of channels within the server.
This is due to the full screen and so the sound is not transmitted properly on discord and this is solved by slightly minimizing the scream so that it can transmit the audio correctly.
I want to share my passion for VR gaming with others through Moggles. This site is dedicated to providing others with all of the information they need to know about VR. From the best zombie games, the most suitable headsets, and how to successfully mod games, we have got you covered.
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