Half-Life: Alyx

ci_newman · 1 Apr 2020 at 11:52

Ravenger said:
You need to rub its tummy to get it to release it willingly. Seriously, that's not an April fool!

Thanks, I'll give it a try!

melmac · 1 Apr 2020 at 12:49

Ravenger said:
You need to rub its tummy to get it to release it willingly. Seriously, that's not an April fool!

melmac · 1 Apr 2020 at 12:52

ci_newman said:
I can't work out how to pick those balls up. They shy away from the grav gloves and my hands...

You ever try to take the coin out of another person's hand before they close their hand? That's the way I approach getting the grenades out of their grip.

fiveub · 2 Apr 2020 at 12:00

I really need to get myself an Index and get playing this game!

Ravenger · 2 Apr 2020 at 13:59

fiveub said:
I really need to get myself an Index and get playing this game!

You don't need an Index - it works great on most PC VR headsets, as well as the Quest with link cable/virtual desktop. Though it's probably best overall on the Index due to the FOV, clarity and audio (and refresh rate if you have the hardware to push it).

Zairs · 2 Apr 2020 at 14:31

I've been playing on the odyssey plus and it been great, no issues using wmr

melmac · 2 Apr 2020 at 16:57

And I have just met Jeff.

Friendly guy but Definitely a hugger and that's not really appropriate in the current climate!!

Ravenger · 2 Apr 2020 at 18:47

Anyone else realised you can wear the breathing masks to stop the spores getting to you, rather than covering your mouth with your hands?

i-bert · 2 Apr 2020 at 21:14

Ravenger said:
Anyone else realised you can wear the breathing masks to stop the spores getting to you, rather than covering your mouth with your hands?

WHAT?

Zairs · 3 Apr 2020 at 10:00

Have I missed something about the spores?

Ravenger · 3 Apr 2020 at 10:26

Zairs said:
Have I missed something about the spores?

There's several sections where there are clouds of spores where the game tells you to put your hand over your mouth to stop breathing them in. But you can also put on a respirator mask - they're often lying around with the helmets.

Also wearing helmets and full face masks will protect you against barnacles. The barnacle will grab the helmet or mask instead.

Zairs · 3 Apr 2020 at 11:14

Maybe I'm still wearing a mask cause I haven't had that issue, i did put one on near the start because I could.

I been walking around with a pan on my head after I lost my hard hat to one.

frankmcg · 3 Apr 2020 at 15:12

I tried to pull one of the white respirator masks off a dead dude but I couldn't do it. Anyone got a screenshot of what they look like pls? The holding hand over mouth thing isn't working well for me - and aren't we supposed to sneeze into our elbow anyway these days :-D

Edit: never mind found one later on in the mission and through it now. Wow that chapter was scary!

Toekiller · 6 Apr 2020 at 13:45

Only found out half way through, the plants with the orb that retract, if you rub their bottom half you can grab the ball which is a grenade.

Zeeflyboy · 6 Apr 2020 at 14:46

Toekiller said:
Only found out half way through, the plants with the orb that retract, if you rub their bottom half you can grab the ball which is a grenade.

you can just grab it quickly too - as someone said earlier imagine like you are trying to snatch a coin out of someone's hand before they close their grip.

Or if you are a fan of belly rubs, then have at it!

Vega · 6 Apr 2020 at 16:38

This game is amazing. VR really needed this to show that VR isn't going anywhere. Great time.

Ravenger · 6 Apr 2020 at 17:12

Doing a second playthrough now using my Quest with Virtual Desktop. Still fun the second time around, and this time it's wireless

Participant · 8 Apr 2020 at 14:36

Having never played a proper VR game on a decent headset, is there a way to describe how immersive this is on something like the Index? Is it like you forget about real life for moments, or is it still very much 'just a game'?

I guess it's something in between, but it would be great to hear people's thoughts on how good the immersiveness is.

Zeeflyboy · 8 Apr 2020 at 14:47

Not index user sadly, but I play it on the quest.

I think it varies significantly from person to person, I always feel like I'm playing a game (thankfully, some bits of Alyx would be pretty poop inducing otherwise) but that doesn't mean it's not immersive to me. I mean for example when you play paintball you know it's just a game, but you can still get into it right?

There are still moments that will make me jump or swear a bit too.... I also did have just one moment where I nearly fell over looking in a bin because I was about to try and lean on it before I stopped myself lol.

Ravenger · 8 Apr 2020 at 14:57

I've played this both on Index and Quest (via wireless). I did find myself *almost* trying to kick a headcrab away - of course your feet aren't tracked in VR! The most immersive part of the game for me are the puzzles where you have a hologram in front of you that you have to manipulate. Because these are really 3D, 'in your face', and you're manipulating them with your hands and a multitool, you really tend to forget your surroundings and it feels very real. I think if I had more room to move around I might find the normal gameplay more immersive (I've found this with Quest games when playing in a large area), as the physical act of walking really adds to it.

Also when fumbling a reload as a zombie lurches towards you is pretty immersive, though I've never felt the need to take a step back.

The most immersed I've been in a game is playing Euro Truck similator when driving along a motorway in VR using a steering wheel peripheral. It was so much like driving in real life I went to rest my elbow on the window sill, then I found myself lurching sideways as it wasn't actually there. I've also tried to grab onto table tops and other surfaces when getting up from a crouch in some games, which doesn't really work when they're not a actually there.

I find the Index a bit more immersive than playing on the Quest mainly because the framerate is so smooth by comparison.