Half-Life: Alyx VR

[paul]

We’re excited to unveil Half-Life: Alyx, our flagship VR game, this Thursday at 10am Pacific Time. Can’t wait to share it with all of you!

Valve on Twitter

We should probably begin with the game's name, as revealed in a leaked Game Awards 2019 presentation and confirmed hours later by an official post from Valve. Half-Life: Alyx is a brand-new game in the Half-Life universe designed exclusively for PC virtual reality systems (Valve Index, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Windows Mixed Reality).
This is, in fact, the oft-teased "VR game" mentioned by Valve over the past few years and the one we had been told to expect by the end of 2019. Today's leak includes a revised release window of March 2020, which our sources indicate is likely—but also subject to change due to the phenomenon that fans call "Valve Time."

The game's name confirms what has been loudly rumored for months: that you will play this game from the perspective of Alyx Vance, a character introduced in 2004's Half-Life 2. Instead of stepping forward in time, HLA will rewind to the period between the first two mainline Half-Life games.

A data leak from Valve's Source 2 game engine, as uncovered in September by Valve News Network, pointed to a new control system labeled as the "Grabbity Gloves" in its code base. Multiple sources have confirmed that this is indeed a major control system in HLA.
How do they work? We've gotten hints that they might more accurately be described as "Magnet Gloves," in that they let players magically point to and attract distant items to your hands. Instead of having to walk all the way to an object in VR or bend over to grab something from the floor, HLA players will have a handy point-and-snag system. And we're told that these are spiritual successors to HL2's Gravity Gun, in terms of revolving around realistic physics. Maybe that means we can, or cannot, grab certain items due to real-life physics systems or obstacles.

Our sources have told us not to expect one iconic weapon in HLA, however. Each of these sources mentioned that a virtual crowbar was tested at one point in the game's multi-year development but was eventually scrapped. To be clear: we don't have conclusive evidence that the crowbar won't eventually appear in the game in one way or another. (If Valve plans to upgrade the game with a physical crowbar purchase, my sources sure haven't heard of it.)

Half-Life: Alyx: What we know about Valve’s upcoming full-length VR game | Ars Technica

[paul]

Return to Half-Life in VR, March 2020. https://half-life.com/alyx

Available for pre-purchase on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5...HalfLife_Alyx/

Set between the events of Half-Life and Half-Life 2, Half-Life: Alyx is a new full-length game built from the ground up by Valve for virtual reality.

#HalfLifeAlyx

#HalfLife

ABOUT THIS GAME

Half-Life: Alyx is Valve’s VR return to the Half-Life series. It’s the story of an impossible fight against a vicious alien race known as the Combine, set between the events of Half-Life and Half-Life 2.

Playing as Alyx Vance, you are humanity’s only chance for survival. The Combine’s control of the planet since the Black Mesa incident has only strengthened as they corral the remaining population in cities. Among them are some of Earth’s greatest scientists: you and your father, Dr. Eli Vance.

As founders of a fledgling resistance, you’ve continued your clandestine scientific activity—performing critical research, and building invaluable tools for the few humans brave enough to defy the Combine.

Every day, you learn more about your enemy, and every day you work toward finding a weakness.

ABOUT GAMEPLAY IN VR:

Valve’s return to the Half-Life universe that started it all was built from the ground up for virtual reality. VR was built to enable the gameplay that sits at the heart of Half-Life.

Immerse yourself in deep environmental interactions, puzzle solving, world exploration, and visceral combat.

Lean to aim around a broken wall and under a Barnacle to make an impossible shot. Rummage through shelves to find a healing syringe and some shotgun shells. Manipulate tools to hack alien interfaces. Toss a bottle through a window to distract an enemy. Rip a Headcrab off your face and throw it out the window.

Extra content for Index owners

Customers who have purchased Valve Index hardware by the end of 2019 will have access to unique bonuses starting early next year:

• Explore environments from Half-Life: Alyx in your SteamVR Home space
• Alternate gun skins to embellish Alyx's arsenal
• Special Half-Life: Alyx-themed content for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
  
  Community-built environments
  
  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.

[razvanrazy]

Pare interesant si arata bine si ziceau ca este un full game.

Sunt curios de 2 chestii:
1. O sa iasa vreodata si pe alt VR? Gen PS VR chiar daca pe next gen.
2. Cum rezolva cu motion sickness? Sau nu mergi cu omu, doar te teleportezi? Personal nu pot juca asa. La Skyrim imi venea sa-mi vars matele dupa 5 minute de joc...

[PoisonRemedy]

Ce a fost in mintea lor cand au decis sa faca asta in VR? Sunt total dezamagit. Desigur jocul arata bine si probabil o sa fie un joc bun, dar dc VR?

[calin_kalf]

[eagle-eye]

Ce a fost in mintea lor cand au decis sa faca asta in VR? Sunt total dezamagit. Desigur jocul arata bine si probabil o sa fie un joc bun, dar dc VR?

Ca sa vanda VR-ul. Cum adica ce a fost in mintea lor? Marketing

[paul]

[razvanrazy]

[memwarrior]

Sunt curios cati dintre jucatorii de pe PC vor da 2000-3000 lei pentru un Oculus Rift sau vreo 4000-5000 lei pe un HTC Vive ca sa se joace prastia asta de joc.
Mai si are niste cerinte de te doare capul, dar grafic arata ca un joc din toamna lui 2009.

Ba cred ca VR-ul o sa ofere o experienta proasta, dar ce sa faci daca Gabe a ajuns un obez lacom care face intelegeri cu Oculus si HTC fara sa-i pese despre ce cred jucatorii?

Eu zic PAS, ba cred ca o sa obtina usor nominalizarea pentru premiul de petarda anului ca un concurent serios pentru Warcraft Reforged.

[razvanrazy]

Eu cred ca arata chiar foarte bine. Nu doar pentru un titlu VR, ci pentru un titlu normal.

Nu stiu cat sau daca ai jucat in VR, dar eu dupa zeci de ore pe PS VR pe base PS4, am realizat ca nu conteaza atat de mult calitatea grafica, cat imersiunea si atmosfera. Astea te ajuta teribil de mult sa ajungi "acolo".

Normal, este un joc si in continuare esti constient ca esti intr-un joc. Dar in videos astea nu vezi adancimea si nici acelasi camp vizual din VR. Iar partea te interactiune si fizica din joc sunt chiar misto implementate.

[memwarrior]

Eu am jucat o ora in VR la o sala.
Ma lua ameteala, se vede prost si mai sunt si acele doua maini enervante pe ecran de-ti strica imersiunea.

VR e bun poate pentru simulari, dar nu pentru jocuri.

[razvanrazy]

Desigur ca nu-i pentru toata lumea. Personal am rau de miscare in VR (nu pot sa joc jocuri cu masini), dar cat timp personajul nu merge ci folosesc teleportarea pentru miscare, nu am nicio problema.

+ de asta, sunt si jocuri 3rd person sau cu camera fixa (gen Astro Bot) care sunt excelent realizate si fara rau de miscare.

Ideea este ca adancimea in jocuri + campul vizual real ajuta foarte mult la imersiune.
Iar jocul asta arata mai bine decat orice am jucat eu pana acum, iar unele jocuri de PSVR m-au umit dpdv grafic si imersiune.

[calin_kalf]

[paul]

[razvanrazy]

[memwarrior]

Se pare ca jocul e un succes in ciuda nemultumirilor ca e cu VR exclusiv.
Ma rog, pentru jucatorii care au stomac pentru ca sa se joace cu VR.

Cred ca o sa apara si pe PlayStation 4 VR.

[razvanrazy]

Pai jocul este un succes pentru ca este bun si bine facut, iar faptul ca este VR only nu i-a oprit pe oameni sa-l achizitioneze si joace.

Si eu l-as juca cu mare drag daca mi-as permite un PC capabil si un VR de calitate. Dar cu putin noroc, iese pe PS5 si PS VR

[Khufu]

A couple of weeks ago we looked at a non-VR mod for Half-Life: Alyx that made Valve's new shooter partially playable with mouse-and-keyboard controls, but it was still in pre-alpha and kind of a mess, and it wasn't possible to complete the game with it. Now there's a new non-VR mod promising it will let players experience the entirety of Half-Life: Alyx without a headset.

The setup process may be a bit complicated—there's a seven-minute video explaining what to do—but apparently once complete you'll be able to flatscreen your way through the whole thing. There's a list of the controls at the Github page, which notes the movement (smooth movement, of course) defaults to the arrow keys rather than WASD. There are also some walkthrough notes for sections players might have difficulty with thanks to the revised controls.

Cred ca ia cu siguranta din imersiune si nu are acelasi farmec, dar, poate sunt doritori care vor sa incerce asta.