Half Life: Alyx

For PS3/4 owners, is HL Alyx giving you a "The Last Of Us" vibe with the spores and organic growth inside some buildings? I wonder if Value got inspiration from that game...
 
I was watching the PC world YouTube vid on which they were talking about this game and the guy was very dissapointed due to the lack of interaction with stuff in the game and all I could think of was, if you want that lvl of interactivity it would take centuries to make games.

He was dissapointed you could not open a box of matches and light one on fire, you could not read all the books in game, there was a vhs tape you could not playback etc..

I mean it's true it is somewhat immersion breaking, but it would be pretty unrealistic to think you could make a game world as interactive as the real world even with the money vavle has.

I mean...you can draw a dick on a window with a Sharpie, what more do you need?
 
Also, I thought this was interesting:



I didn't even realize you could change graphical settings, the Performance thing is like down below the rest of the options and you have to manually scroll. Mine I guess was set on Low for some reason, but I cranked it to Ultra and performance-wise it didn't seem to make much of a difference. But also, graphically I didn't see a ton of difference, either, so...*shrug*
 
Also, I thought this was interesting:



I didn't even realize you could change graphical settings, the Performance thing is like down below the rest of the options and you have to manually scroll. Mine I guess was set on Low for some reason, but I cranked it to Ultra and performance-wise it didn't seem to make much of a difference. But also, graphically I didn't see a ton of difference, either, so...*shrug*


I did that too when I was getting a bunch of jittering. Changing it from High to Low didn't do anything. Then I turned off my AA in the Steam VR app and the jittering went away.
 
Feels like the dress rehearsal is over and the new era has officially begun.

Though a new life experience like this game would transcend numbered scores, like the first time going jet skiing or skydiving or tasting your favorite food -- in that moment you are unconcerned with the Yelp rating of the thing you're experiencing.

Screenshot_20200327-134237~2.png
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The thing about VR, too, is that even with older hardware you can still have a great experience because it's so immersive, you aren't paying a lot of attention to things like SDE. I am still rocking my original Vive and HL:Alyx feels great. I did get the Index controllers, but I bet even with the Vive wands it would be perfectly enjoyable as well. Valve did a great job of being inclusive with hardware for this one. You don't have to spend $1000 to get a VR rig capable of having a good time with this.
 
For PS3/4 owners, is HL Alyx giving you a "The Last Of Us" vibe with the spores and organic growth inside some buildings? I wonder if Value got inspiration from that game...

well,
Jeff
certainly could have been lifted right out of TLOU...
 
Finished the game this morning. Came in at 12.9 hours but I had a bit of pause time Monday since I was "working" so lets say 12.5 hours total. I've played all of the Half-Life games numerous times so the puzzles were pretty easy for me to figure out. I wouldn't say I rushed it although if you are actually able to get all of the weapon mods then I missed a lot of resin.

I avoided all reviews and game play footage until now as I did not want anything spoiled. One thing I will say is that watching this on a screen vs playing it is that you absolutely do not have the sense of scale watching it on a flat screen. As good as the game looks trust me when I say it is truly a better experience in VR.
 
Finished the game this morning. Came in at 12.9 hours but I had a bit of pause time Monday since I was "working" so lets say 12.5 hours total. I've played all of the Half-Life games numerous times so the puzzles were pretty easy for me to figure out. I wouldn't say I rushed it although if you are actually able to get all of the weapon mods then I missed a lot of resin.

I avoided all reviews and game play footage until now as I did not want anything spoiled. One thing I will say is that watching this on a screen vs playing it is that you absolutely do not have the sense of scale watching it on a flat screen. As good as the game looks trust me when I say it is truly a better experience in VR.
I also finished the game just now... mind blowing! This is really one of the best games Valve has ever made. Now that the Source 2 engine is finished I hope we get more of this soon.
 
Did this game just cause VR headsets to sell out everywhere? I can't find an Oculous Rift S or anything else really for sale on neither Amazon or Newegg.

I'm looking to buy a VR set for $500 or less for this game, so can someone please find/recommend me one that's available? I haven't really looked at VR solutions much until just now and just started shopping for them.
 
Nice, thanks. Guess I'll wait a few months at least then.

Edit: I see some used locally for $200-$400, might go that route then.

I was finally able to order a Rift S straight from Oculus last night. Won’t ship until April 20th, though.
 
One thing I will say is that watching this on a screen vs playing it is that you absolutely do not have the sense of scale watching it on a flat screen. As good as the game looks trust me when I say it is truly a better experience in VR.
Case in point, seeing a Strider on a flat monitor = okay

Going outside in VR and looking up at a Strider towering over you = momentary loss of bowel control
 
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Valve updated its Steam hardware survey for March and it includes a more accurate accounting of VR headsets than in months past...according to the update, 1.29 percent of Steam users own a VR headset of some kind...that translates to more than 1 million VR headsets

the latest data is the most accurate accounting of VR hardware on Steam to date...that's because Valve changed the way it collects that type of data...UploadVR says it received an email from Valve explaining that starting March 1st, Steam started using records of any headset connected in the past month, rather than just scanning current USB devices...

https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam
 
Half-Life: Alyx - Locomotion Deep Dive

The Half-Life: Alyx team talks player locomotion in a behind-the-scenes deep dive. Valve developers Jason Mitchell, Luke Nalker, Greg Coomer, and Roland Shaw share some of our early prototypes, and walk through user interface, audio, and player movement discoveries that led to the game's final designs...

 
Just look at the video above you. It's pretty clear that it has.
 
Okay, I have just finished this game. What an incredible game, well crafted levels and great graphics for a VR game. And as a VR experience, it is fantastic. Not a fault free experience though, for example it is really puzzling that you cannot melee attack anyone by pistol whipping or bashing with a hammer or anything you find on the ground. Not only if you run out of bullets and you are screwed, it feels weird in a game that is otherwise so immersive feeling.

Are open spoilers okay in this thread? Well, just in case I'll hide it...

And the ending, I was smiling like an idiot when I realised that I was in Gordons body, and got literal goosebumps up my arms and spine when I grabbed the crowbar. :D I thought I was over with Half Life and would not really care that much if HL3 ever came, but now I feel hyped and excited again. I just hope the ending is not a major troll and Gabe sits on his fat ass on a pile of money for next 15 years or so...
 
Okay, I have just finished this game. What an incredible game, well crafted levels and great graphics for a VR game. And as a VR experience, it is fantastic. Not a fault free experience though, for example it is really puzzling that you cannot melee attack anyone by pistol whipping or bashing with a hammer or anything you find on the ground. Not only if you run out of bullets and you are screwed, it feels weird in a game that is otherwise so immersive feeling.

Are open spoilers okay in this thread? Well, just in case I'll hide it...

And the ending, I was smiling like an idiot when I realised that I was in Gordons body, and got literal goosebumps up my arms and spine when I grabbed the crowbar. :D I thought I was over with Half Life and would not really care that much if HL3 ever came, but now I feel hyped and excited again. I just hope the ending is not a major troll and Gabe sits on his fat ass on a pile of money for next 15 years or so...
I think the melee thing was on purpose, melee combat in VR has a bad habit of breaking balance thanks to the fact that we can swing the weapon like a mad man and arn't limited to an artificial swing speed like they can do in flat screen gaming.
 
I think the melee thing was on purpose, melee combat in VR has a bad habit of breaking balance thanks to the fact that we can swing the weapon like a mad man and arn't limited to an artificial swing speed like they can do in flat screen gaming.

True, but there are workarounds. A quick and dirty one is to do what Asgards Wrath did. If you try to bitchslap your enemies to death the game won't register all the hits. A better and more immersive solution is to do what Sword & Sorcery does is that whatever you carry has a momentum. If you try to swing a massive claymore one handed, it will swing slowly and dragging behind no matter how quick your real life hand is moving and the damage is going to be low because you are not powering your swing properly by using your two hands.

*Edit* meant to use word inertia and not momentum, but whatever.
 
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I was never going to invest in VR.
Just no desire.
That said, Im a true Half Life junkie.
Ive played them all numerous times.
So I was lucky and got an Index in early March.
I simply cant believe how good Alyx is.
Tension, excitment, sweaty palms, all the emotion on a huge stage.
Simply the best video game ever.
I want more, please.
I also really enjoy the Index as a system.
 
Half-Life: Alyx now has Steam Workshop support and official mod tools

Valve added beta Steam Workshop support to Half-Life: Alyx and released a set of modding tools to work with...As a bonus, the update brings native Linux support for Alyx using the Vulkan API...here's what's included in the editor tools suite:
  • Hammer, the latest version of the Source 2 level editor.
  • Material Editor, the tool for creating and tuning materials in Source 2.
  • ModelDoc, a tool for viewing, editing, and compiling models with animation, collision, and other gameplay attributes.
  • AnimGraph, our animation tool used to create complicated animation setups with blends and transitions.
  • Particle Editor, for making new particle effects.
  • Subrect Editor, for creating smart texture sheets known as "hotspots."
  • Source Filmmaker, the Source 2 cinematic renderer and animation tool
https://store.steampowered.com/newshub/app/546560/view/3758762298552654077
 
Half-Life: Alyx Update 1.4 released

Game Features
  • Added subtitles for: Brazilian, Czech, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Vietnamese
  • Bottles now appear to have liquid inside them that sloshes around as you shake them
  • UI appears quicker when returning to Main Menu
  • Improvements to addon management UI
https://steamcommunity.com/games/546560/announcements/detail/2229791404478061089
 
I ordered an Index the second week of March, then Covid put a halt to everything. Just got the notification that it is shipping and HL:Alyx has been added to my library.

Do you know what 11 weeks of trying to avoid spoilers is like? So looking forward to this game. Open to any suggestions / tips for a first time VR user.
 
I ordered an Index the second week of March, then Covid put a halt to everything. Just got the notification that it is shipping and HL:Alyx has been added to my library.

Do you know what 11 weeks of trying to avoid spoilers is like? So looking forward to this game. Open to any suggestions / tips for a first time VR user.
Oh goodie. Means I might get mine in the next week or so... Coming on 10 weeks now for me.
 
I ordered an Index the second week of March, then Covid put a halt to everything. Just got the notification that it is shipping and HL:Alyx has been added to my library.

Do you know what 11 weeks of trying to avoid spoilers is like? So looking forward to this game. Open to any suggestions / tips for a first time VR user.
Alyx dies in the end. Because of the player sucking at the bad boss, not the game story :D!
 
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