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Half-Life: Alyx - Valve's full-length flagship VR game set between HL1 and HL2

Taurist

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I hate the funny New Zealand character. I dont want this kind of broad comedy in FPS. Half Life 1 and 2 had comedy in them that didnt require a famous comic celebrity talking the whole way through the fuckign game.

This seems to be that standard approach for Valve writing, Portal 2 was full of it too with Stephen Merchant.
 

Jenkem

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Make the Codex Great Again! Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. I helped put crap in Monomyth
One humorous line in what is clearly near the beginning of the game before shit really gets going CLEARLY means that they are talking and making quips the whole way through the game... :roll:
 

Whipped Cream

Learned
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Half-Life 2 has a lot of moments where the characters are cracking jokes and talking in an upbeat manner which feel a bit out of place considering that the characters are basically living in "1984, but worse".

I've noticed that a lot of American writers tend to do this thing where characters are constantly cracking silly upbeat jokes under inappropriate circumstances, like when they are in life threatening situations. This can be very annoying if poorly exectued, because it can destroy the tone of a scene and come across as cringey. I don't think this was a problem in Half-Life 2 because the jokes mostly land, but nu-Bioware can't go 10 seconds without doing this and it makes me want to murder their writers in their sleep. *Insert joke about Hollywood and gaming companies needing to hire more cynical Eastern European writers with suicidal depression*.

Of course, the converse problem is to make everything overly serious and melodramatic, which can be equally annoying. Or worse, you can go full Kojima and somehow manage to do both mistakes within the span of 10 seconds.
 

Venser

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There's surely gonna be jokes because Jay Pinkerton (co-writer of Portal 2) returned to Valve to work with Erik Wolpaw on this project.
 

Taurist

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One humorous line in what is clearly near the beginning of the game before shit really gets going CLEARLY means that they are talking and making quips the whole way through the game... :roll:
Its Rhys Darby. I dont think its a stretch to assume that they hired a comedy actor to perform a comic role.
 

Egosphere

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I hate the funny New Zealand character. I dont want this kind of broad comedy in FPS. Half Life 1 and 2 had comedy in them that didnt require a famous comic celebrity talking the whole way through the fuckign game.

This seems to be that standard approach for Valve writing, Portal 2 was full of it too with Stephen Merchant.

It was probably not that great in HL2, but in HL1 it worked very well. Probably as well as it did in Deus Ex.

Would have loved to see a fleshed out Half Life game taken in the direction of HL2 Beta. A lot of the stuff that was leaked about it made it seem darker than Ravenholm
 

ADL

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Oct 23, 2017
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I would be very surprised if any future Half-Life has a significant "comic relief" character. The scientists and Barney sort of played that role in HL1 and 2 but I think Valve knows that Half-Life and Portal need to have different tones and just because a Portal writer is involved with this one doesn't mean it's gonna be Portal 3 with Alyx Vance as a protagonist.

The only way I see that happening is if
that Half-Life 3 leak where Gordon wakes up in Aperature is legit
 

LESS T_T

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Codex 2014
The game itself is currently #47 on the global top seller list, unthinkable for a just announced AAA game, let alone a new Half-Life game. I guess it's telling how small the existing VR audience is. Of course Index VR Kit (which includes the game) sits at the top of the list since the announcement, but the list is based on revenues so you can't really estimate with that.
 

Origin

Augur
Joined
Dec 4, 2011
Messages
339
Half Life series were always about subtlety, isolation, minimalism to me. That claustrophobic feeling of crawling through the seemingly endless vent until you hear distant echoes of a helicopter, signaling exit is somewhere near. Valve ruined it for me with episodes. It's still too early to write off Alyx prequel, but based on that trailer, it seems to me they are still bent on fusing the series with tv-showesque popcorn model.
 
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Origin

Augur
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Dec 4, 2011
Messages
339
Going VR only is such a weird, limiting decision for Valve. Seems like a bad moment for that. Personally I don't have a problem with developments in VR area, but I'm sure that the flagship-budgeted game can't be a commercial success with current state of VR technology. Technology is still too expensive, unpractical. That is niche market. To succeed the game would have to be pretty fucking groundbreaking.
 
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Wilian

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Divinity: Original Sin
Going VR only is such a weird, limiting decision for Valve. Seems like a bad moment for that. Personally I don't have a problem with developments in VR area, but I'm sure that the flagship-budgeted game can't be a commercial success with current state of VR technology. Technology is still too expensive, unpractical. That is niche market. To succeed the game would have to be pretty fucking groundbreaking.

In that light I am happy there are companies willing to take that risk and the inevitable loss because they seem to be passionate in driving new tech. I find that far better than a company that pushes out cookie cutters to appease shareholders.
 

Origin

Augur
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Dec 4, 2011
Messages
339
Going VR only is such a weird, limiting decision for Valve. Seems like a bad moment for that. Personally I don't have a problem with developments in VR area, but I'm sure that the flagship-budgeted game can't be a commercial success with current state of VR technology. Technology is still too expensive, unpractical. That is niche market. To succeed the game would have to be pretty fucking groundbreaking.

In that light I am happy there are companies willing to take that risk and the inevitable loss because they seem to be passionate in driving new tech. I find that far better than a company that pushes out cookie cutters to appease shareholders.

I'd like to believe in that. Hopefully this is not just a way to make quick cash on assets from various attempts at new hl game in these 10 years or so.
 

BlackAdderBG

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Codex 2013 Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Grab the Codex by the pussy Codex USB, 2014 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker
Going VR only is such a weird, limiting decision for Valve. Seems like a bad moment for that. Personally I don't have a problem with developments in VR area, but I'm sure that the flagship-budgeted game can't be a commercial success with current state of VR technology. Technology is still too expensive, unpractical. That is niche market. To succeed the game would have to be pretty fucking groundbreaking.

In that light I am happy there are companies willing to take that risk and the inevitable loss because they seem to be passionate in driving new tech. I find that far better than a company that pushes out cookie cutters to appease shareholders.

And what do we get out of it? Generic FPS, such a big risk and innovation!!! This VR gimmick has nothing in common with gaming that is not larping or some other degeneracy. What is the gameplay with these VR games? You are doing menial shit that is substitute for game animations, there is zero weight and tactile feedback form interacting. You need way more that just headset and some controller for that.
All VR games are banal-shit boring, 99% are some sort of fps or other decline. The very nature of VR is in contrast with RPGs where stats become pointless so there can't be actually VR RPG.
 

ADL

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And what do we get out of it? Generic FPS, such a big risk and innovation!!! This VR gimmick has nothing in common with gaming that is not larping or some other degeneracy. What is the gameplay with these VR games? You are doing menial shit that is substitute for game animations, there is zero weight and tactile feedback form interacting. You need way more that just headset and some controller for that.
All VR games are banal-shit boring, 99% are some sort of fps or other decline. The very nature of VR is in contrast with RPGs where stats become pointless so there can't be actually VR RPG.
lol seriously? If anything, keyboard presses are shoddy substitutes for actually performing the action in game. With VR, something as simple as reloading becomes skill-based and you're rewarded for your skills and it's actually possible to fumble around and fuck up and drop your magazine. Perhaps mid-reload you come across an enemy soldier and you throw the magazine at the soldier's face to stagger them while you pull a second pistol out of your holster and get go for a double tap like it's a John Wick movie.

This isn't some make believe scenario. I've done it before and it's awesome. VR is the ultimate incline.
 

Wirdschowerdn

Ph.D. in World Saving
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Clogging the Multiverse with a Crowbar
Going VR only is such a weird, limiting decision for Valve. Seems like a bad moment for that. Personally I don't have a problem with developments in VR area, but I'm sure that the flagship-budgeted game can't be a commercial success with current state of VR technology. Technology is still too expensive, unpractical. That is niche market. To succeed the game would have to be pretty fucking groundbreaking.

In that light I am happy there are companies willing to take that risk and the inevitable loss because they seem to be passionate in driving new tech. I find that far better than a company that pushes out cookie cutters to appease shareholders.

And what do we get out of it? Generic FPS, such a big risk and innovation!!! This VR gimmick has nothing in common with gaming that is not larping or some other degeneracy. What is the gameplay with these VR games? You are doing menial shit that is substitute for game animations, there is zero weight and tactile feedback form interacting. You need way more that just headset and some controller for that.
All VR games are banal-shit boring, 99% are some sort of fps or other decline. The very nature of VR is in contrast with RPGs where stats become pointless so there can't be actually VR RPG.

VR is ultimetaly about immersion, not better gameplay. Feelz over thinking.

I can't really see how Valve can do anything different with it, but we'll see.
 

Dexter

Arcane
Joined
Mar 31, 2011
Messages
15,655
lol seriously? If anything, keyboard presses are shoddy substitutes for actually performing the action in game. With VR, something as simple as reloading becomes skill-based and you're rewarded for your skills and it's actually possible to fumble around and fuck up and drop your magazine. Perhaps mid-reload you come across an enemy soldier and you throw the magazine at the soldier's face to stagger them while you pull a second pistol out of your holster and get go for a double tap like it's a John Wick movie.
Imagine needing like 3 different context menus to pick up, pretend to drink from a cup and put it down again (oh "Star Citizen", you are the gift that keeps on giving). :lol:


Instead of just "doing it" (yes, it's a gimmick game and the guy is even using the old Vive Wands, but that's not the point):


Or having a single key like "E" or "F" that can be used in every context that literally does everything and is a stand-in for every interaction the player has available with the game world from picking stuff up/putting it down, using items, combining items, opening doors, pushing buttons to "paying respects" (to the point that it becomes a Meme) and thinking "that's totally the best way to do it" and the absolute height of gameplay and game design and nothing could ever improve on that!
f2e.jpg_large
 
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Wilian

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
2,819
Divinity: Original Sin
Going VR only is such a weird, limiting decision for Valve. Seems like a bad moment for that. Personally I don't have a problem with developments in VR area, but I'm sure that the flagship-budgeted game can't be a commercial success with current state of VR technology. Technology is still too expensive, unpractical. That is niche market. To succeed the game would have to be pretty fucking groundbreaking.

In that light I am happy there are companies willing to take that risk and the inevitable loss because they seem to be passionate in driving new tech. I find that far better than a company that pushes out cookie cutters to appease shareholders.

And what do we get out of it? Generic FPS, such a big risk and innovation!!! This VR gimmick has nothing in common with gaming that is not larping or some other degeneracy. What is the gameplay with these VR games? You are doing menial shit that is substitute for game animations, there is zero weight and tactile feedback form interacting. You need way more that just headset and some controller for that.
All VR games are banal-shit boring, 99% are some sort of fps or other decline. The very nature of VR is in contrast with RPGs where stats become pointless so there can't be actually VR RPG.

It requires astounding lack of imagination to not see what could be potentially achieved with VR even on this early stage.
 

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