* Half-Life: Alyx *

Cosmic Schwung · 21 Nov 2019 at 22:07

MadMossy said:
They also discussed about the reasons for going VR rather than 2D with one of the explanations pretty much summing up what VR brings to a game. In a 2D for example, you come to a door, you press a button and it opens. It has 2 states, open/closed. In VR you can interact with it just like you would for real. Open it slightly, peak through the gap, lob a grenade in, shut the door again etc. Something that would be impossible to do with a 2D game and traditional controls.

I get where they're coming from, but this particular example they're giving is funny given what you can do with a door in Modern Warfare.

Of course you wouldn't have nearly the same level of control as you would in VR, but you can manage what they're suggesting.

MadMossy · 21 Nov 2019 at 22:10

Thats where the differrence lies. That has been specifically programmed to behave in that manor, but it lacks any finnese or control you would have using you own hand.

BananaDunka · 21 Nov 2019 at 22:26

akaFonzie said:
Just watched it, looks pretty good tbh but unfortunately I don't own VR

Now is your chance. I am the same, no interest in VR gaming but this is HL and the trailer looked stunning. Consider me a VR convert. Gotta say it all looks highly polished too. Wonder if it's a new engine or reworked Source for modern times?

Zefan · 21 Nov 2019 at 22:39

Wizzfizz said:
They obviously want to shift more VR sets, so made a game on a 15 year old engine. Ground breaking.

Source 2 was first announced in 2015.

Perfect_Chaos · 21 Nov 2019 at 22:49

Zefan said:
Source 2 was first announced in 2015.

Yeah it looks much the same as robot repair but maybe more polished, so obviously Source 2.. "15 year old engine" nonsense.

The facial animation looked great of what little they showed too.

BananaDunka · 21 Nov 2019 at 23:23

Done a bit of looking up prices for all the supported VR headsets and we're looking at around £400 with motion controllers. That's a lot for just one game so I will be looking for reviews first and seeing how the experience varies in visual quality between headsets because from what I can tell from the teaser and the Verge interview with Valve, VR gaming post Alyx is going to really kick things up a notch so I'll be buying as a gaming investment for the format going forwards.

I don't need or even want an entire room setup, but just the ability to view in VR and use the controllers to interact. So standing is perfectly fine for me.

I may also need a new GPU but will test how a GTX980 handles this first. The rest of my specs exceed the minimum requirements.

If anything is going to get me into VR gaming, it's a Half-Life game because you know it's not going to be second rate and will almost certainly set the bar.

docsonic · 21 Nov 2019 at 23:36

After how long & how many meme's? Curious decision to vr only. But there's hope now for more I guess that isn't vr...:/

IT Troll · 22 Nov 2019 at 00:34

Really looking forward to this. There have been some great VR titles released this year and this bodes well for next year. I heard this is one of three VR games Valve are developing; hope one of the others is “Portal 3”.

Mark A · 22 Nov 2019 at 01:03

Would it not be possible to merge VR with keyboard and mouse gaming? I just can't get used to the idea of playing an FPS with handheld controllers

. Not that i'll probably ever play it anyway as I can't justify the cost for one game.

Mark A · 22 Nov 2019 at 01:10

Poneros said:
It just goes to show how little thinking people do before they start typing.

Yep, right back at you. Valve have sunk an untold fortune into developing VR hardware, so of course this is a bid to capitalise on that investment. HL is a massive franchise on PC and if any game is going to convert the masses its a new HL game.

zola25 · 22 Nov 2019 at 04:57

Whilst I applaud Valve's willingness to innovate and have nothing against VR, this is a disappointment for me personally as I suffer from an inner ear condition and am unable to use VR. Hopefully this will kick start some interest in Half-Life again which may lead to a future game though.

lokiss · 22 Nov 2019 at 06:42

Mark A said:
Would it not be possible to merge VR with keyboard and mouse gaming? I just can't get used to the idea of playing an FPS with handheld controllers

There are certainly games that offer this, but really it's a sub par experience, i play Arma 3 from time to time this way. Once you've held a gun up in VR with motion controls, going back to a mouse feels extremely basic and totally unengaging despite the full head tracking and physically looking down the sights.

The actual physical controllers become totally irrelevant once your mind is focused on what your seeing, a gun in your hand...

Relentless81 · 22 Nov 2019 at 07:26

I've got a lot of reading to do, I'm not missing out on this game so I'm getting a VR something or other but I don't have room for a full walking around setup and I'm not paying Valve Index money either

theone8181 · 22 Nov 2019 at 07:35

I foolishly had a look as to how expensive the valve VR setup is. I can't understand why its not taken off at that price

.

Temujin · 22 Nov 2019 at 08:02

mrk said:
Now is your chance. I am the same, no interest in VR gaming but this is HL and the trailer looked stunning. Consider me a VR convert. Gotta say it all looks highly polished too. Wonder if it's a new engine or reworked Source for modern times?

Yeah I guess, I had an original Oculus Dev Kit back in 2014 and didn't really enjoy using it. Though, that may be alleviated now tech has improved a lot. Really need to try out a new headset to see if the sickness problem still persists.

Terminal_Boy · 22 Nov 2019 at 08:08

When someone makes a VR setup that:

- Can be used seated in a small box room
- Is compatible with regular sized prescription glasses
- Doesn’t cause motion sickness
- Has zero mesh effect
- Costs £250

Let me know. Had a Rift CV 1 for a while and used it for all of 10 minutes as it was like interacting with a blurry world viewed through a screen door trying not to throw up.

SS-89 · 22 Nov 2019 at 08:33

Terminal_Boy said:
When someone makes a VR setup that:

- Can be used seated in a small box room
- Is compatible with regular sized prescription glasses
- Doesn’t cause motion sickness
- Has zero mesh effect
- Costs £250

Let me know. Had a Rift CV 1 for a while and used it for all of 10 minutes as it was like interacting with a blurry world viewed through a screen door trying not to throw up.

Most vr headsets can be used in a small room with the in built room scale now (quest, rift s etc.). Never had any problems with my glasses on the newers sets as they have adjustment brackets and you can buy prescription lens caps as an alternative.

Motion sickness is entirely person dependent so it might just be something not for you or you are more susceptible to lower frame rates. The index is high frame rate but very expensive. Will become more mainstream as tech matures.

Screen door is much improved but still needs a generation to eliminate probably and costs will come down as it matures and becomes more mainstream. Oculus are doing well in this regard and hopefully will keep pushing for mainstream.

I also had a cv1 and returned as couldn't get on with the sde. Just picked up a quest to get back into it after trying mates vive pro and index. Not quite ready to drop the big money but happy to jump in at this price point.

Poneros · 22 Nov 2019 at 08:55

Terminal_Boy said:
When someone makes a VR setup that:

- Can be used seated in a small box room
- Is compatible with regular sized prescription glasses
- Doesn’t cause motion sickness
- Has zero mesh effect
- Costs £250

Let me know. Had a Rift CV 1 for a while and used it for all of 10 minutes as it was like interacting with a blurry world viewed through a screen door trying not to throw up.

For that it's gonna be 5+ years. There's some very exciting and advanced display breakthroughs happening for VR. I'm talking 5000+ PPI OLEDs.

kinger8938 · 22 Nov 2019 at 09:50

Different Actress for Alyx, maybe as shes supposed to sound a bit younger? The original actress is happy for the game to be coming so doesn't sound like they are on bad terms, tweeting about it etc. So maybe she's back for a future sequel as present day Alyx

IT Troll · 22 Nov 2019 at 09:50

Mark A said:
Would it not be possible to merge VR with keyboard and mouse gaming?

zola25 said:
Whilst I applaud Valve's willingness to innovate and have nothing against VR, this is a disappointment for me personally as I suffer from an inner ear condition and am unable to use VR.

I am sure the gaming community will produce a mod to allow it to be played in "pancake" mode. However, some of puzzles and game mechanics may not work so well. Not sure how you can rummage through shelves with a keyboard and mouse.

*** Half-Life: Alyx ***

* Half-Life: Alyx *