Half Life: Alyx VR

TheValeyard

This is a big deal. First Half Life game in twelve years. And it's VR. Also from Valve.


Announcement on Thursday.

Atomic Pineapple

As a Half-Life fan, this is terrible.

As a VR fan, this is incredible.

TheValeyard

Atomic Pineapple wrote: »

As a Half-Life fan, this is terrible.

As a VR fan, this is incredible.

Paradox?

TheValeyard

It's looks really good!

mrcheez

Jaysis.. that's looks amazing

lmimmfn

This looks fantastic, HL2VR was fantastic until valve bored it so this should be great, also decent physics is brilliant in VR

mrcheez

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2056469764/101

This thread is absolutely hilarious to read. It's so salty I could tilt my laptop over a saucepan when boiling pasta.

lmimmfn

mrcheez wrote: »

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2056469764/101

This thread is absolutely hilarious to read. It's so salty I could tilt my laptop over a saucepan when boiling pasta.

Tbf the argument that some people don't have good gaming PCs and headsets is a decent enough argument, however that's not valve's fault Sony always have the option of purchasing the rights.

In general the arguments are nonsensical though as it's obvious the gameplay mechanics are relying on VR and having played HL2VR it's obvious this is the next gen HL needs.

mrcheez

Available March 23

https://twitter.com/valvesoftware/status/1228039740001177600

fsck me that was quick!

B.A._Baracus

I am so tempted to buy this. But that also means buying a completely new pc and VR. Which won't be cheap.
Also, am sneekingly hoping the PS5 will have improved vr and who knows, Half Life Alyx may get a port?

Obviously Valve want to push their Index so why port it? But then again, it's not like its "index only" and even Half Life 2 got an XBOX port while HL2 itself was pushing steam. So I dunno heres hoping :pac:

Shlippery

Out on Monday...have the rift up for sale but tempted to hang on to try this out :O

Lot of hype around it, apparently it's the real deal..

pasta-solo

Any idea when this unlocks today? I'm so excited to try it - may no get a chance this evening, but have it preloaded, so hopefully tomorrow if not today!

mrcheez

pasta-solo wrote: »

Any idea when this unlocks today? I'm so excited to try it - may no get a chance this evening, but have it preloaded, so hopefully tomorrow if not today!

5pm!

Already got my playspace setup, just waiting till I sign off work at 4:59

https://yourcountdown.to/half-life-alyx

pasta-solo

I hope I get a chance to at least try it this evening, I'm so hyped! Been playing Boneworks and Blade & Sorcery to try to develop a VR sickness threshold.

Shlippery

Sold the Rift CV1, now gotta wait til Rift S gets back in stock to get to grips with this...good luck all! Exciting times and only 9 minutes to go!

mrcheez

Holy Mother of God, this is incredible

pasta-solo

mrcheez wrote: »

Holy Mother of God, this is incredible

It really is! I'm going very slowly, taking it all in. Its so good, and feels so very Half Life! Worth the wait!

mrcheez

pasta-solo wrote: »

It really is! I'm going very slowly, taking it all in. Its so good, and feels so very Half Life! Worth the wait!

Yeah it's hard to go fast at it. There's so much detail and things to interact with that it's a joy just to savour every section.

Graphics and sound are astonishing. Best graphics yet I think?

TheValeyard

as I said on the other forum,

Really enjoying this. Played about two hours so far. Its very immersive, it looks absolutely stunning, the humour is great and story line is good fun so far.

Never felt sick once, or had any motion sickness problems.

kerplun k

Anyone playing this on the quest?

pasta-solo

kerplun k wrote: »

Anyone playing this on the quest?

Yes, I am using Oculus Link on my Quest. I have no doubt its a better experience on Index, but I am absolutely loving it on Quest. I've played about two hours so far. It looks incredible, and controls very well with the Quest controllers.

kerplun k

Good to hear. In the market for a new gaming laptop at the moment. This will be my first purchase after I pick one up.

mrcheez

Quest and Link here too... curious to try wirelessly tomorrow

pasta-solo

mrcheez wrote: »

Quest and Link here too... curious to try wirelessly tomorrow

Let me know how that goes!

The dark underground sections are so scary! Headcrabs were an annoyance in old school Half Life, now they are genuinely terrifying.

Atomic Pineapple

I guess it's impossible to play this without a gaming PC is it? It won't run natively on just the Quest alone?

mrcheez

Atomic Pineapple wrote: »

I guess it's impossible to play this without a gaming PC is it? It won't run natively on just the Quest alone?

yeah you need a gaming PC. I have a laptop with GTX 1070 and 16GB RAM and it runs flawlessly.

You *may* not need a Link cable though, as you can play via Virtual Desktop as long as your home network/router is up to it.

Also for Quest wear some good headphones as the sound in this game is superb and I'd rate it as important as the visuals.

pasta-solo

Atomic Pineapple wrote: »

I guess it's impossible to play this without a gaming PC is it? It won't run natively on just the Quest alone?

That's right, you need to connect the Quest to a reasonably beefy PC to play. I don't think the Quest would have enough power to run the game on its own unfortunately.

mrcheez

How many here drew a cock n balls on the window at the start?

kerplun k

mrcheez wrote: »

yeah you need a gaming PC. I have a laptop with GTX 1070 and 16MB RAM and it runs flawlessly.

You *may* not need a Link cable though, as you can play via Virtual Desktop as long as your home network/router is up to it.

Also for Quest wear some good headphones as the sound in this game is superb and I'd rate it as important as the visuals.

I was gonna ask how you planned on playing it wirelessly on quest. Never thought of the VD option.

TheValeyard

mrcheez wrote: »

How many here drew a cock n balls on the window at the start?

No but I spent a lot of time smashing windows on the train.

sticker

Sorry for double post -

Hi,

I'm considering getting the Steam Valve Index for new Half Life VR Game.

Would my PC spec run well with it?

CCL Customised Reaper PC
Code# CONFIG_C4680228.0
Comprising of:
1 x 3 Year Warranty
1 x GameMax (30cm) Magnetic LED Strip - White
1 x Cooler Master MasterLiquid Lite 240 Liquid CPU Cooler
1 x Seagate BarraCuda 4TB SATA III 3.5" HDD
1 x Lite-On eBAU108 External DVD Writer Optical Drive
1 x Gigabyte G750H 750W Modular 80+ Gold PSU
1 x Corsair Carbide 275R TG Gaming Case - White
1 x Gigabyte B450 AORUS PRO AMD Socket AM4 Motherboard
1 x Adata Ultimate SU800 1TB 2.5" SATA III SSD
1 x MSI GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER GAMING X 8GB
1 x AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 3.8GHz 6 Core (Socket AM4) CPU
1 x HyperX FURY 16GB (2x 8GB) 3200MHz DDR4 RAM

Thanks!

sticker

Just seeing the price is €1000+ for the kit.. Maybe not!

Anyone receommned the best platform for Alyx under the Index pricepoint?

sticker

Got my Answer to compatability...!

mrcheez

ya that lot should see you through for a good few years

pasta-solo

sticker wrote: »

Just seeing the price is €1000+ for the kit.. Maybe not!

Anyone receommned the best platform for Alyx under the Index pricepoint?

I don't know it its the best, but I'm using Oculus Quest and its great! It also works as a standalone headset, so you can use some apps/games without being tethered to a PC. Its on the cheaper side (for VR, still expensive.) Rift might be cheaper, but can't be used independently from a PC.

sticker

pasta-solo wrote: »

I don't know it its the best, but I'm using Oculus Quest and its great! It also works as a standalone headset, so you can use some apps/games without being tethered to a PC. Its on the cheaper side (for VR, still expensive.) Rift might be cheaper, but can't be used independently from a PC.

I've a PS4 Pro VR. WOuld the Quest blow it out of the water in terms of performance and aesthetics?

Is there a huge gulf between Valve machine and Quest?

THanks

pasta-solo

sticker wrote: »

I've a PS4 Pro VR. WOuld the Quest blow it out of the water in terms of performance and aesthetics?

Is there a huge gulf between Valve machine and Quest?

THanks

I've used PSVR, and Oculus is definitely a visual improvement, but not a huge one. The major benefit in my opinion is in ease of use. With Quest, you literally just pop on the headset and you're good to go. PSVR felt like a lot of hassle to set up and use. Quest has better tracking too, in my opinion.

I haven't used Valve Index, but by all accounts its very good, especially the controllers. Again, I'd still prefer the ease of use of the Quest to be honest, especially since Quest Link works quite well. Quest Link is the ability to connect to your PC with a supported cable and use it for Steam VR or any other PCVR games.

sticker

pasta-solo wrote: »

I've used PSVR, and Oculus is definitely a visual improvement, but not a huge one. The major benefit in my opinion is in ease of use. With Quest, you literally just pop on the headset and you're good to go. PSVR felt like a lot of hassle to set up and use. Quest has better tracking too, in my opinion.

I haven't used Valve Index, but by all accounts its very good, especially the controllers. Again, I'd still prefer the ease of use of the Quest to be honest, especially since Quest Link works quite well. Quest Link is the ability to connect to your PC with a supported cable and use it for Steam VR or any other PCVR games.

Thanks!

Shlippery

sticker wrote: »

Thanks!

https://www.reddit.com/r/HalfLife/comments/f2hsql/requirements_for_half_life_alyx_and_how_to_get/#button

Have a read of this, I'm hoping to pickup a Rift S as I'm happy to just use VR while tethered to my PC and feel will get better quality than the link with the Quest!

(Loved my CV1 Rift btw)

sticker

Can't seem to find a rift s available for sale!

sticker

Shlippery wrote: »

https://www.reddit.com/r/HalfLife/comments/f2hsql/requirements_for_half_life_alyx_and_how_to_get/#button

Have a read of this, I'm hoping to pickup a Rift S as I'm happy to just use VR while tethered to my PC and feel will get better quality than the link with the Quest!

(Loved my CV1 Rift btw)

Is the linked Quest and wired Rift S not the same as they are both using the PC for the heavy lifting? Is the refresh rate not better on Quest?

mrcheez

sticker wrote: »

Is the linked Quest and wired Rift S not the same as they are both using the PC for the heavy lifting? Is the refresh rate not better on Quest?

The blacks are apparently better on Quest than Rift S so shadows look better.

The Link cable introduces some minor artifacts due to some compression to get the feed into the Quest headset, but to be honest you would hardly notice them, and they are more or less the same. Just that the Quest is a bit heavier?

My Quest via Link is outputting fantastic visuals for Alyx and better than my original Rift.

Homelander

I would say the Quest is excellent if you value the fact it can be used independently (personally I do, but a lot wouldn't).

The Rift S is much better value if you just want a VR headset to play PC games on as it's a good bit cheaper.

Depends on your PC, but Rift S or Quest with a good PC is significantly better than PSVR.

Obviously Quest standalone - image quality is good, but the games/experiences are limited by the fact it's all powered by a mobile processor.

I have the Oculus Go, it's amazing for traveling - your own personal cinema on the bus/plane/etc.

mrcheez

Oculus Go is also a great portable fitness device with Racket Fury I find!

I play it out in my garden a lot and it feels 6DoF even though it's only 3DoF

Shred

What a game, it's so fúcking good and as fluid as you'd hope it to be from Valve (I'm playing on a Vive). I love the backpack ammo storing/loading astethic, it's very natural and immersive. The gravity gloves are brilliant and the torch being mounted on the back of your left hand, switching on/off automatically, is awesome too.
I'm really taking my time and savouring every minute of it. I've just come to the train section in Chapter 3; the headcrabs (especially those armored bastids) are great as have been my initial run ins with the Combine; the dark sections underground had my heart pounding waiting for the next headcrab to come at me; especially that entire section leading up to (and after) obtaining the torch! Brilliant, brilliant stuff.

mrcheez

spoilers please

I really need to get more time to play this!

Shred

I thought I was being pretty general with my post and didn't think I needed to spoiler tag anything tbh?

mrcheez

Shred wrote: »

I thought I was being pretty general with my post and didn't think I needed to spoiler tag anything tbh?

I haven't met a combine or got the torch yet.. there's a torch?!?

Shred

mrcheez wrote: »

I haven't met a combine or got the torch yet.. there's a torch?!?

Ok, fair enough!

T-b0n3

How much physical space do you need in a room to play this? I'm thinking my current office / gaming room could be very tight for it.

Thinking Rift S if that makes any difference.

mrcheez

T-b0n3 wrote: »

How much physical space do you need in a room to play this? I'm thinking my current office / gaming room could be very tight for it.

Thinking Rift S if that makes any difference.

You can play seated, so just space around your chair