• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Half-Life: Alyx |OT| Three's Company

This is only somewhat related but apparently Valve and HP just teased a new VR headset in collaboration with MS...


Seems like a solid kick to the pants to everyone that just dropped 1k on the Vive to play Alyx.
I get an "Error - Unable to load information about this item."

Working links:

store.steampowered.com/app/1271440/Next_Gen_HP_VR_Headset/

 

Grinchy

Banned
Man, I keep going on twitch and opening streams and then noping out because it looks so fucking amazing and I'm holding out hope it comes to PS5 VR or something.
 

Romulus

Member
Got it up and running on the Odyssey+ for a friend of mine but he already had a lot of the workload done. Game still looks gorgeous on that cheap headset, I just don't like the controllers that much, but they're decent enough. But it's really great for the money at $250. What a fucking value HMD. Most don't even know it exists.

Anyway, going to dive back in on the Rift S! I was thinking about my first hour with this game. It has that feel like Doom 3 and Half Life 2 had back in 2004, like its just a technical marvel ahead of its time. Polish galore. I haven't had that same feeling in over a decade about any game.

Remember this dude that did the old ass Half Life 2 review for gamespot?

">March 23, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Last edited:

moniker

Member
20200323223952_1vmjy3.jpg


Nailed it!
 
Played about an hour so far. Game is absolutely phenomenal. Unmatched atmosphere, takes advantage of VR strengths, has puzzles/physics you would expect from a HL game.

42k concurrent user peak so far. May not seem like a lot, but it's like 5 times more than any other VR game has had.

edit: the coolest thing for me is the exploration. Yes, most of the game so far has been pretty closed spaces (with some nice vistas), but the level of interactivity makes you want to explore every corner of every room, and you should because you'll find stuff you need.
 
Last edited:

lukilladog

Member
That's really weird. Not saying it isn't true, just can't understand it. But fair enough. Probably avoid this :messenger_tears_of_joy:

Yep, I had to rush second half of Black Mesa because it was killing me but I´ve played hundreds of hours Battlefield 3, Planetside 2, and Battlefront 2 very comfortably. This game seems to be bad for Motion Sickness, 4 out of the 5 streams I´ve checked up they admit it and one had to stop playing, didn´t catch the other one in video:



 
Last edited:

Shai-Tan

Banned
I've mostly got movement down now. what worked for me:

-for drops off ledges, use the jump teleport (back on right stick), over actually dropping. less immersive but less sick feeling
-dont do full run over uneven ground.
-avoid fast strafe and backward movement as much as possible
-do more smooth turning with body and head/hands (I prefer continuous hands, can look around while walking slow)
-because there isn't a more gradual acceleration on movement you've got to ease into the faster speed.
 
Last edited:
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
Played about an hour so far. Game is absolutely phenomenal. Unmatched atmosphere, takes advantage of VR strengths, has puzzles/physics you would expect from a HL game.

42k concurrent user peak so far. May not seem like a lot, but it's like 5 times more than any other VR game has had.

edit: the coolest thing for me is the exploration. Yes, most of the game so far has been pretty closed spaces (with some nice vistas), but the level of interactivity makes you want to explore every corner of every room, and you should because you'll find stuff you need.

Yeah, it's a ton of fun just picking shit up and manipulating it. Dumping out boxes of junk to find ammo, etc. Just such an immersive experience. I love it.
 

Stuart360

Member
Been watching Shroud play the game for like an hour, and it looks a bit meh to me. Granted Shroud is clueless, but its just all gimmicks and shit. Give me a proper Half Life 3 please.
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
One of these days I will clear out my VR space so I can play again. This is at the top of my list. Might be a good project since I'm homebound for the foreseeable future.
 

Romulus

Member
Yep, I had to rush second half of Black Mesa because it was killing me but I´ve played hundreds of hours Battlefield 3, Planetside 2, and Battlefront 2 very comfortably. This game seems to be bad for Motion Sickness, 4 out of the 5 streams I´ve checked up they admit it and one had to stop playing, didn´t catch the other one in video:







5 impressions?

Resetra impressions are over 400+ so far, motion sickness is rarely even mentioned.

Also, of the 400 or so impressions, about 98% of them are along the lines of "incredible, god damn mind-blowing game."

I'm actually seeing fewer motion sickness posts than I expected considering how many brand new VR users bought into VR just for Half Life.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I am usually motion sick but not here. I play on borrowed rift cv1... sadly sold my S year ago.
Full motion walking + 45 snap turning. Longer distances I walk by snapping with right stick and smaller by analog stick. All turning by 45 snapping since this cv1 only has 2 cameras and I can't rotate 360 :(
Anyone plays this on rift S compared to cv1? I will rebuy either S or Quest. Leaning towards the quest since I remember it looked way better than cv1 right ?

And about the game - 6 hours in. It is amazing and I am sad it will end. Let's hope it's closer to 15 hours rather than 10...
The atmosphere, interactions, all the little details. And I am a vr veteran since 2013 who kinda lost hope in vr.
 

lukilladog

Member
5 impressions?

Resetra impressions are over 400+ so far, motion sickness is rarely even mentioned.

Also, of the 400 or so impressions, about 98% of them are along the lines of "incredible, god damn mind-blowing game."

I'm actually seeing fewer motion sickness posts than I expected considering how many brand new VR users bought into VR just for Half Life.

Resetera is an echo chamber. I switched to another stream, and the guy is already getting headaches:

 

Wonko_C

Member
Well, I know I wont be playing this, 2 of the three guys I´m watching on twitch already complained of sickness:


I didn't know you could get motion sickness instantly by falling down, for me it's something that starts gradually in games where I have to move the camera using the analog stick and smooth turning on (click turning is fine). Fortunately I got used to it and it doesn't affect me now.
 

Thaedolus

Gold Member
I didn't know you could get motion sickness instantly by falling down, for me it's something that starts gradually in games where I have to move the camera using the analog stick and smooth turning on (click turning is fine). Fortunately I got used to it and it doesn't affect me now.

Vertical movement is apparently the biggest trigger for motion sickness. I haven’t really felt VR motion sickness except for when I turn my head and put in the opposite input on the stick so my FOV doesn’t match my head movement. Up and down don’t seem to bother me
 
Last edited:

Shai-Tan

Banned
I didn't know you could get motion sickness instantly by falling down, for me it's something that starts gradually in games where I have to move the camera using the analog stick and smooth turning on (click turning is fine). Fortunately I got used to it and it doesn't affect me now.

for some reason this is the first game that did it for me, although I did get a similar feeling sometimes in other games on a ledge looking over a steep drop
 
Last edited:

Wonko_C

Member
Vertical movement is apparently the biggest trigger for motion sickness. I haven’t really felt VR motion sickness except for when I turn my head and put in the opposite input on the stick so my FOV doesn’t match my head movement. Up and down don’t seem to bother me
Vertical movement in VR has never affected me for some reason. I've jumped from insane heights in Windlands, flown a plane straight into the ground in AC7, went crazy with my jetpack in No Man's Sky, and I feel absolutely nothing. The only time a game that made me flinch a bit was when I fell to my death in the original Mirror's Edge on Xbox 360, and that isn't even a VR game.

I'm a bit sad as I want to feel that rush when falling down Mirror's Edge gave me, but in VR. No game has done that to me, at least not yet.
 
Last edited:

Romulus

Member
Resetera is an echo chamber. I switched to another stream, and the guy is already getting headaches:



You're just pressing your agenda. Searching your name + VR proves how antiVR you are. You're trying to alter the thread by posting super short clips to your your channel without any other impressions. Just singling out the negative because we know they're saying positive things you don't want us to hear.
500+ post impressions + reviews on are ALL echo chambers,, but 5 nameless guys are the gospel. Lol. I can post 5 clips of a nonvr game of someone getting sick. Back at it again.
 
Last edited:

lukilladog

Member
You're just pressing your agenda. Searching your name + VR proves how antiVR you are. You're trying to alter the thread by posting super short clips to your your channel without any other impressions. Just singling out the negative because we know they're saying positive things you don't want us to hear.
500+ post impressions + reviews on are ALL echo chambers,, but 5 nameless guys are the gospel. Lol. I can post 5 clips of a nonvr game of someone getting sick. Back at it again.

Don´t listen to me then, but it´s not coincidence that almost all streams I´m watching they get motion sickness:

 

lukilladog

Member
Imagine having the time to go find any mention of motion sickness in streams for a new game so you can clip them and upload them to your YouTube channel

I´m working in my computer while watching the game in a little window as the HL fan I am, it takes like 30 seconds to make and upload the clip, the issue is really common;

 

Grinchy

Banned
5 impressions?

Resetra impressions are over 400+ so far, motion sickness is rarely even mentioned.

Also, of the 400 or so impressions, about 98% of them are along the lines of "incredible, god damn mind-blowing game."

I'm actually seeing fewer motion sickness posts than I expected considering how many brand new VR users bought into VR just for Half Life.
What I always disliked about the motion sickness comments was that it's always going to be way over represented on internet forums. Someone who played a VR game and experienced nothing negative has no reason to go on the internet and post about how they didn't feel motion sickness. They don't even know to think about motion sickness or would ever think about it in the first place.

But anyone who does feel woozy from VR is all but guaranteed to talk about that exclusively afterward. It makes sense. It would be my only takeaway from trying VR if it made me want to puke. But, this has created this weird idea on the internet that motion sickness is some guaranteed result for the majority of people who try it, which is completely not the case.
 

Solomeena

Banned
Been watching Shroud play the game for like an hour, and it looks a bit meh to me. Granted Shroud is clueless, but its just all gimmicks and shit. Give me a proper Half Life 3 please.

Spoken like all other people who have never tried VR, you just don't get it and i feel sorry for you that you are unable or unwilling to expand your mind.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Nobody said Alyx solves motion sickness for the tiny minority that get sick in VR (sucks to be them but it is what it is, some get over it, others don't and should just not play rather than take medication or try to push through, it's crazy to keep playing if you do get sick). You said it once, is that not enough? What are you trying to accomplish here? Most people here are posting their own impressions, not random streamers. You've not even tried it to know if you get sick, that's like not playing FPS because you heard they weren't popular in Japan back in the day because of motion sickness.
 
Last edited:

Stuart360

Member
Spoken like all other people who have never tried VR, you just don't get it and i feel sorry for you that you are unable or unwilling to expand your mind.
Er i probably tried VR before most people on here as managed to try the first Oculus dev kit. And i thought it was great, and i used to shout VR from the roof tops, but what i wanted to happen with VR never happened (having the option to play all games in VR, and using the headset for the visual immersion, while playing with a controller, which you can kind of do with Oculus), but that didnt happen, and we still only get the gimmicky games.
 

Shai-Tan

Banned
it's obviously a problem for vr and a barrier for new people. I showed index to about 10 people and several got sick even just moving in Google Earth. but I think most can adapt to it. Alyx is maybe not the best beginner VR game
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Google earth is not very good for a first try, best to go with stationary demos like First Contact on Oculus or some of The Lab bits or Space Pirate Trainers and such elsewhere, zooming around a globe in such unrealistic ways is sure to get some weirded out before learning to treat it as a tool.

Er i probably tried VR before most people on here as managed to try the first Oculus dev kit. And i thought it was great, and i used to shout VR from the roof tops, but what i wanted to happen with VR never happened (having the option to play all games in VR, and using the headset for the visual immersion, while playing with a controller, which you can kind of do with Oculus), but that didnt happen, and we still only get the gimmicky games.
Just use VORPX and VR is exactly what you want, pancake games with headtracking to look around, ie, a stupid underutilization of what the medium offers that suits you. Why so bitter that other people also get what they want out of VR, which is games with new gameplay scenarios and elevated presence and interactions? Funny how VR didn't sell nearly as well back when Oculus didn't have the Touch tracked controllers and only offered traditional gameplay experiences with headtracking and how every company who gets into VR utilizes it to the fullest, but still, you can get what you want, except be able to play proper full VR games out of VR, which is something you'll have to live with, after all, it's just gimmick games like Half-Life Alyx,. Saints & Sinners, Onward, Lone Echo, Pistol Whip, etc., and you don't want those in the first place so where's the problem, lol.
 
Last edited:

Stuart360

Member
Just use VORPX and VR is exactly what you want, pancake games with headtracking to look around, ie, a stupid underutilization of what the medium offers that suits you. Why so bitter that other people also get what they want out of VR, which is games with new gameplay and elevated presence?
How am i bitter?, the reply to my post was the bitter one.
 

Shantae

Banned
I am so bummed that I can't really play this. I'm pretty sure I'd need a whole new PC to even think about getting into VR on PC, and we're talking thousands of dollars of investment, which...as much as I'd like to play this game, can't justify it :(
 

Romulus

Member
Imagine having the time to go find any mention of motion sickness in streams for a new game so you can clip them and upload them to your YouTube channel

He has his own little propaganda anti-VR campaign going because of his extreme motion sickness. Weeks ago, he said the sold-out VR headsets were all fake stats. That all the headset manufacturers made a pact for scarcity tactics. LOL
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
I can get a bit motion sick sometimes but I’ve played this for 2 hours straight using teleport and feel fine.

I‘m only on a GTX 970 on the low graphics setting but it’s the best looking VR game I’ve ever seen.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
I can't even tell if she's referring to the game with that short clip, lmao. Stop being an idiot. Yes some people get motion sick in VR, most don't, end of story. Also so many people call getting queasy here and there "sickness" as if you wouldn't get queasy in some situations (great heights etc.) irl.
 
Last edited:

Romulus

Member
Oh, and remember what Valve said about their next Half Life game being VR?

"It depends how the reaction to Alyx is."

Alyx has sold out headsets and meet with critical acclaim, both user and critic reviews. :)
 

lukilladog

Member
Let’s knock off the self-promotion to your channel, and derailing this thread around people who have yet to discover Dramamine.

All right, I was just responding to the guys quoting me while giving them evidence, there is nothing to promote in my chanel. I´ll keep posting clips in there for people interested on this issue on this game.
 
Last edited:

INC

Member
so far after 4-5 hours

- everything on ultra, runs great on my rift s
- no smooth turn is a massive shame, i hate quick turn, plus if youre gonna have teleport, at least have spring for people who also hate teleporting
- its very corridor heavy
- so far no dual handed guns, i wanna rack my next shotgun shell valve!!
- id rather have a weapon belt and backpack, just have a weapon wheel type system feels a bit lame in VR, i wanna draw my weapon off my hip or back, not select it
- throwing and interacting feels gamey, but familiar, and all the better for it, grenades are a joy to use, and i generally suck at throwing in VR
- how they do weight (or overall lack of it some times), its the perfect balance for me, (boneworks goes too OTT with it)
- not having to constantly crouch to pick shit up, just a flick of the wrist to grab stuff, genius
- mini puzzles are fun
- wheres all the shotgun ammo
- no crowbar or melee weapon seems like a massive oversight to me

its very good, the scope seems too corridor focused, the combat whilst rewarding, the movement system kinda of stops me from 100% loving it. needs more freedom and open areas, smooth turning and a MP mod could be very interesting
 
Last edited:
I am so jealous of everyone with an Index who's under quarantine right now!

But I refuse to watch anything about this, no reviews, no videos - one day I will get a VR headset and will experience HL Alyx fresh without spoilers. One day.
 

INC

Member
I am so jealous of everyone with an Index who's under quarantine right now!

But I refuse to watch anything about this, no reviews, no videos - one day I will get a VR headset and will experience HL Alyx fresh without spoilers. One day.

alot of index players are actually disappointed with the lack of pressure buttons used to interact, its not really any different to a rift, just pull a trigger to grab stuff, pretty lack luster apparently
 

Grinchy

Banned
This guy is pretty damn chill and typically does a good job of streaming VR games. He's going to start from the beginning sometime soon for anyone interested.

edit - you know, once he finally gets his technical shit together lol
 
Last edited:

INC

Member
This guy is pretty damn chill and typically does a good job of streaming VR games. He's going to start from the beginning sometime soon for anyone interested.

you can easily watch the first hour and not really spoil anything, its more like valve showing 'hay its half life in VR, isnt it pretty'
 

Sorcerer

Member
Did Epic try to get Alyx as an exclusive? Lol, I am joking of course, but I wouldn't put it past Epic to try.
 

Tesseract

Banned
gonna play in about an hour, positively stoked

congrats to the team, you guys worked incredibly hard to get here
 
Last edited:

Romulus

Member
I just smacked a headcrab off a table with a keyboard. That sounds really simple, but the way it felt was godlike. The impact was powerful as it knocked off a lamp and cupholder. The debris was flung into the shadows realistically. I couldn't find the headcrab to save my life for several seconds. It made me feel like that scene in Aliens were Ripley is trying to protect Newt in the lab from the facehugger. God damn this is intense.

Also, I just saw Alyx is at 96% positive on Steam. Doom Eternal at 90% last I checked. More reviews of course but 96% with 4k reviews is nothing to sneeze at.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom