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

[Latro]

what the hell else would it look like

A new game? In a new area? Do sequels/prequels usually take place in the same spot with a graphical upgrade? Not really.

Alyx is basically EP3, HL3 won't be a retread whatsoever. Or shouldn't be, you never know with Valve.

 

[DalekFlay]

Alyx is basically EP3, HL3 won't be a retread whatsoever. Or shouldn't be, you never know with Valve.

Well it's $59.99 and came out 15 years later, so I'm not sure that holds water, but... whatevs. It looks very nice, I'm just saying I wish I were blown away by the new Half-Life visuals rather than just thinking "wow they made Half-Life 2 look amazing."

 

[rusty_shackleford]

looks like a glorified tech demo

 

[taxalot]

Apparently the ending confirms HL3.

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

Apparently the ending confirms HL3.

Hopefully it's a more reliable confirmation than HL2's confirmation because yikes...

 

[Doktor Best]

There is no sprint button and smooth turning is bugged. I dont want to crawl through the levels let me run at a reasonable speed ffs. I play quake vr, i dont need a game to nanny me so i dont vomit on the floor.

 

[Venser]

I hope Alyx gives them enough money to finance Portal 3, HL3 and some new game in that manner.

The money isn't an issue with Valve. They can finance anything they want from that Steam$$$

 

[taxalot]

Apparently the ending confirms HL3.

Hopefully it's a more reliable confirmation than HL2's confirmation because yikes...

I saw the post-credit sequence. It doesn't say much but it has strong "Yes, we're doing this" vibes.

 

[Jenkem]

they already stated they wanted to do more games in the half life universe once alyx is released

 

[J_C]

Launch day peak player number: 42,858

https://steamdb.info/app/546560/graphs/

It's not just low for a new Half-life game, it's middling for a big AAA game. Well device requirements and adoption rate and all that.

It's very good for a VR exclusive game.

 

[Terenty]

It looks impressive graphically, but its linear as fuck as far as i can tell(i dont have a vr). But gameplay wise is there something that is unique to vr that cant be accomplished or experienced otherwise?

And i cant see the future for vr either. Sure valve and maybe some other company can afford to make a linear game with insane attention to details, but what about vr games with more than a single room that leads to a corridor that leads to a room etc? How much would it cost? Its not feasible imo

 

[Venser]

Sure valve and maybe some other company can afford to make a linear game with insane attention to details, but what about vr games with more than a single room that leads to a corridor that leads to a room etc? How much would it cost? Its not feasible imo

The cost of making a VR game shouldn't really be any higher than a normal game. The problem is making a return since not enough people have VR headsets yet. Why it shouldn't be feasible? There are open world VR games. No Man's Sky added a VR support after it's release but it's done just as good as in any native VR title. Valve didn't have to design it in a linear manner, they chose to do it.

 

[Jenkem]

it's as linear as every other half life game...

alyx has an achievement called "off the rail" so it clearly is less linear than half-life 1

 

[Tacgnol]

Sure valve and maybe some other company can afford to make a linear game with insane attention to details, but what about vr games with more than a single room that leads to a corridor that leads to a room etc? How much would it cost? Its not feasible imo

The cost of making a VR game shouldn't really be any higher than a normal game. The problem is making a return since not enough people have VR headsets yet. Why it shouldn't be feasible? There are open world VR games. No Man's Sky added a VR support after it's release but it's done just as good as in any native VR title. Valve didn't have to design it in a linear manner, they chose to do it.

Valve has money to burn on experiments and "innovators".

From their perspective they are probably aiming for long term returns with this.

 

[Venser]

All 3 of them got motion sick from the Index and switched to Rift S, saying they were willing to sacrifice better visuals for more comfort. Hmm...first time hearing something like that. Thought you would be less prone to sickness on the Index since it has much higher refresh rate

 

[A horse of course]

All 3 of them got motion sick from the Index and switched to Rift S, saying they were willing to sacrifice better visuals for more comfort. Hmm...first time hearing something like that. Thought you would be less prone to sickness on the Index since it has much higher refresh rate

Maybe they were below 90fps on the higher res models.

 

[Terenty]

The cost of making a VR game shouldn't really be any higher than a normal game. The problem is making a return since not enough people have VR headsets yet. Why it shouldn't be feasible? There are open world VR games. No Man's Sky added a VR support after it's release but it's done just as good as in any native VR title. Valve didn't have to design it in a linear manner, they chose to do it.

Non linear, open games with such attention to details and interactivity? Seems too resource costly. Isn't VR whole schtick is being this intimate with environments and basically simulating every aspect of it in 3d space ala Alyx? Static non interactive environments with objects glued to the ground wont cut it anymore. Maybe i'm wrong i have no experience with VR

 

[Jenkem]

imagine getting motion sick in vr.. the manlet menace is a disgrace to the gene pool

 

[a Goat]

DAY AFTER RELEASE

HALF LIFE FLOPYX: SUCCESSFUL ONLY IN VIRTUAL REALITY

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

Jeff Gerstmann seems completely unimpressed by it. I trust that man more than any one, so it must suck.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

DAY AFTER RELEASE

HALF LIFE FLOPYX: SUCCESSFUL ONLY IN VIRTUAL REALITY

Isn't that because the MURICANS aren't awake yet?

 

[Egosphere]

I just realized that blink movement in VR is basically like the stuttering movement in Myst and Riven, but with an unlocked camera. Return to tradition!

And i cant see the future for vr either. Sure valve and maybe some other company can afford to make a linear game with insane attention to details, but what about vr games with more than a single room that leads to a corridor that leads to a room etc? How much would it cost? Its not feasible imo

I don't get how Alyx is supposed to open the door for other devs to try out VR. Half Life has been around for 20+ years, has a massive fanbase, was getting a sequel that has been hyped up for 16 years; the devs are turning a big profit from the headsets AND have endless cash from Steam on top of that.. If you're in charge of $100m project, would you pivot to VR because of Alyx? I wouldn't. Valve can make money from the hardware and 100% of the money from sales (+ money from complementary demand for other HL games) + 30% cut on all the titles if this leads to a boom in demand. Everything is stacked in favour of Alyx

Lots of shit to interact with and lore to find if you look around, for instance there's a globe in the apartment that basically indicates that the good old US of A is no more and you are or there is something of interest in Russia:.

Interesting. Those free levels they released for index owners had all the writing in Bulgarian. Seems like they turned the setting back to Russia some way into development.

 

[a Goat]

I just realized that blink movement in VR is basically like the stuttering movement in Myst and Riven, but with an unlocked camera. Return to tradition!

If anything it's admission of defeat of VR devs realising that there's no fucking way to make convenient control scheme for FPS games with VR.

In a decade from now the headsets we have now will still be the most advanced pieces of VR ever made, with simulator fans fighting for the ones that still work. The tech is shit, the concept is shit and thankfully Half Flop:Alyx is the final nail to the coffin of this retardation.

 

[Morgoth]

Gaben should have canceled the VR gang (Mike Abrash) a long time ago and instead root for the AR gang (Jeri Ellsworth). But his ADD made him decide... nothing. And now we're stuck with this bullshit.

 

[GewuerzKahn]

If anything it's admission of defeat of VR devs realising that there's no fucking way to make convenient control scheme for FPS games with VR.

Is just use the trackpad on the controller to move around. You don't have to teleport (except for some jump sections). It's not difficult.