Valve confirms Half-Life: Alyx

Looks amazing, exactly what I want to get into VR for.

Hopefully this is revolutionary and pushes the technology in the right direction.

Gonna get real tired of all the people crying about not having a standard call of duty FPS to play on their GTX960's.
 
Likewise - the extra manual articulation looks like it'll be fun, but is manually reloading bullets or biometric hand scans going to justify the price delta? The main thing will be sneaking around and shooting which you'll be able to do fine with a cheaper HMD and controllers.

I'll first try the game on an Odyssey+ and then see where things are at with finger-level controllers.

Really the only thing that would matter is if you needed to use individual fingers to do stuff. You can simulate grasping on the Vive wands easily enough with the analog trigger.

I'll wait to see if we get more info or videos showing Index-specific stuff.
 
Just how big is Half-Life: Alyx?

According to Valve, it’s the length of Half-Life 2, which most estimates clock in at around 13 to 15 hours. “This isn’t a spinoff or a side story, or anything of the sort,” said Walker. “It’s a full-scale campaign - repeated playtest results indicate it’s about the same length as Half-Life 2.”
 
Hell yes:

A set of Source 2 tools for building new environments will ship with the game, enabling any player to build and contribute new environments for the community to enjoy. Hammer, Valve’s level authoring tool, has been updated with all of the game’s virtual reality gameplay tools and components.
 
Really great trailer... but I can't get onboard with spending all the dough on a VR setup right now...
How much would it cost for an "entry level" setup?
 
Supposedly it'll work the the Rift S as well, that's only $400 USD. (Whoops, the website only mentions the Rift, not the S. It also mentions the HTC Vive.)

Minimum system requirements are i5-7500/Ryzen 1600 and GTX 1060/RX 580.

The last tech I was an early adopter for was back when AMD released Eyefinity, and eventually Nvidia Surround. While great fun for a few years, game dev support, hardware requirements, and monitor upgrades eventually pushed me back to a single monitor. While there were many hiccups along the way, it was overall a very fun thing to have.

One thing I learned though was that buying a sorta-good solution now will likely just result in me eventually spending the money on the correct solution down the road. If you can, it's worthwhile to buy whatever is going to provide you with the best experience, but that's also why I will wait and see how this game fares on the hardware that's available.
 
giphy.gif
 
Smart of them to put the release date to march, but they can't afford any delays. April: Cyberpunk 2077, May: TLOU2. Unless they pull a HL2.
 
^ Odyssey+ definitely looks to be the best entry-level option right now.
 
Looks good. Hope they do a non-VR version. I mean, why not? It would require some work but I'd bet millions would throw their money at but don't have a VR setup. Even if it isn't ground breaking it looks fun enough.

Still not a fan of the floating hands and guns in VR though.
 
One thing I learned though was that buying a sorta-good solution now will likely just result in me eventually spending the money on the correct solution down the road.

Fair enough, but the subject came up.

I can't justify dropping $1000 on a VR rig just for this game (my PC is fine), so I guess I'll pass. Maybe if I ever get around to getting a VR rig I'll go back and get this game.
 
I lost my excitement when I heard it was going to be a VR-only title. But that trailer was so good I could feel my balls crashing into the corner of the sofa.
 
You can get a 64gb oculus quest for $400, maybe less over black friday/cyber monday or after holiday sales. They support a link cable to pc for pc VR in beta now and soon they will release a fiber optic usb c cable for them for longer length. You could probably run an active usb 3 extender though for now. The oculus Link essentially turns the oculus quest into a slighter higher rez OLED version of the oculus S for pc VR while still having stand-alone portable functionality for easier to render oculus quest standalone VR games off of it's built in snapdragon 835 processor.
 
I just watched the trailer again and realized it won't look as good on my Index. Resolution is still pretty low
 
Looks good. Hope they do a non-VR version. I mean, why not?

Because it was built ground-up for VR. Meaning they started with the concepts and mechanics that made the most sense for VR, and worked backwards building a game around those mechanics. So, something like poking your head into a cabinet or drawer scrounging for bullets or med paks while the enemy is closing in will make sense in VR, but won't translate on a flat monitor, and people would be complaining "this is boring/tedious, why am I having to do this".
It would require some work but I'd bet millions would throw their money at but don't have a VR setup. Even if it isn't ground breaking it looks fun enough.

They're thinking way bigger. Releasing a non-VR version that people could just play once and move on to the next weekly AAA release would not only be short-sighted but would undermine the goal of platform buy-in. The goal is to catapult VR as a platform and spawn tens of thousands of other games.
 
Last edited:
I wouldn't bother with the Odyssey+. The only thing is has going for it is the screen, it does look really nice. Tracking and overall performance is poor (glitches, etc.).

Rift S is a pretty good option for PC only use. Quest with the Link cable is another option but I haven't tried it so I won't comment.
 
for comparison you can get a switch for $300, a now dated price wise ps4 pro for $350 and a pc linkable oculus quest or oculus s for $400. VR isn't price prohibitive at that level.
 
VR needs a title like this right now, frankly. I haven't used my VR rig in awhile now because there hasn't really been anything seriously cool to check out on it.
 
Looks really cool, would love to play it but I'm not buying a $500 dollar VR headset to do so.
 
$400 for oculus-s or + cable cost I guess if an oculus quest. People buy $400 (and much higher priced) monitors for new features, or a new console for exclusives so I don't see the price as a big deal. With a quest you also get standalone portable vr gaming (and fitness gaming) sort of like a vr switch so dual functionality for $400 (+ cable to pc) is not a bad deal at all imo.
 
Don't dodge the question. Does this game have deep mechanics, perhaps a meaningful narrative? Do the visuals look current gen to you?
No? Then it fulfills all my objections to VR.
I'm not saying you shouldn't enjoy VR, but stop telling me that I'm in the wrong if I don't get on the bandwagon right now. I need the correct incentive.
When and if a truly AAA quality game comes, where VR is not the selling point, just a tool I'll get into VR. Perhaps This HL game will be that. But so far I haven't seen any VR game that made me want to spend $100 let alone $1000.
Is there plenty of shovelware? Sure.
No one is going to force you to buy VR anymore than they'll force you to buy a PS4.

Deep mechanics? Most games anymore whether VR or not don't offer deep mechanics. I bet the top 3 selling games this year are just rehashes of games that weren't even new in the mid-2000s, so I'm pretty sure that critique isn't very unique. Here's looking at your COD:WTF, Battlefield 27 and Madden.

Eve Valkyrie, Budget cuts, Lone Echo, and Talos are all fine games with different stuff going on that make them original and different. Even Gorn is kinda fun, albeit straight shovelware ALA a lot of Wii games.
Those games do some unique things which are inherent to VR. Check 'em out. Talos may be up your alley.
I wanted to like Robo Recall more than I did because a childhood friend worked on it but it just didn't end up really being that much for me. I haven't tried the new (Appollo) Creed game he worked on.
I put 2 hours into it and refunded it. If it was a "flat" game it would be considered to just be another shitty zombie game which is the problem with the vast majority of VR games; they're only considered good because almost everything else on the platform is marred by annoyances like clunkiness or just isn't fun after you get past the "Whoa this looks crazy in VR" feeling wears off.
I disagree I played through the game twice. I enjoyed the bright aesthetic of the non cave levels (which felt more obligatory) and I genuinely enjoyed the ending and the story.

Beat Saber, while gimmicky is a fun DDR type party game which really opened up once I began to download my own song preferences.
Hotdogs horseshoes and hand grenades also is a ton of fun.
 
They're thinking way bigger. Releasing a non-VR version that people could just play once and move on to the next weekly AAA release would not only be short-sighted but would undermine the goal of platform buy-in. The goal is to catapult VR as a platform and spawn tens of thousands of other games.

Obviously I understand that, but I have little care about a company pushing a product or platform. If I had VR I'd certainly pick it up because I'd like to play more Half Life. But for everyone else who doesn't have VR, it would be great to have more Half Life.
 
If my g/f ends up playing this, will need to resist urge to grab top of her head at exact moment she's jumped by VR headcrab. Unfortunately I'm still working out some kinks in the strong self-control department.
 
Last edited:
I'm not about to drop a grand to get an index but if HL:Alyx will work on a Rift S or quest then screw it I'll buy the hardware to play it. Looks like there are a few cool vr games already out anyway
As a Samsung Odyssey+ (one of the best bang for buck HMD out there) I hope Valve doesn't pull some proprietary BS. I don't think they can or will though as they will want the sales. But there could be some behind the scene deal. Vive and Index only if they are wanting to block out Occulus and WMR.

As a side note I only buy VR games now, and I believe user for user VR owners buy more games. Same logic that RTX-2080ti owners buy more games then an iGPU user. Those who invest in the hardware are more likely to exploit it with purchases. I don't think Valve is risking much on this VR only title. It will be a must have for most.
 
As a Samsung Odyssey+ (one of the best bang for buck HMD out there) I hope Valve doesn't pull some proprietary BS. I don't think they can or will though as they will want the sales. But there could be some behind the scene deal. Vive and Index only if they are wanting to block out Occulus and WMR.

It already says it will work on Rift, Quest, and Windows MR headsets.
 
I couldn't focus on anything else during this trailer.

Otherwise, I don't know. This just looks like HL2:VR to me, I was hoping for something mind-blowing and revolutionary.
So you want to play VR and see your whole body standing in front of you? VR mimics reality. What do you see in front of you?
Most 2D FPS show your arms holding a weapon. How is this any different?
 
Back
Top