Sorry for the double post. Here's almost everything Tyler answered in that Q&A. I skipped some redundant questions. Obviously, this is unscripted and very speculative. He put everything he was 100% confident about in the report. There is a lot of illuminating stuff here though, including a megaton about HLVR that I bolded.
Rumors Tyler has heard but was unable to verify at all, he treats them as hearsay and not fact:
- At one point, the game used the F-Stop camera perspective mechanic
- Early in development, there was a co-op mode with one player in VR and another on PC, where one character would be Alyx and another would be Gordon
- You might see d0g as a "puppy"
- Black Mesa flashback sequence where you experience the disaster from young Alyx's POV
- The crowbar was cut for a while because devs couldn't get the physics to work right (crowbar was glitching and getting stuck to things)
- There may be a single-player story-driven DotA VR game in development
When does he expect the trailer?
- There's no telling with Valve, a portion of the company may even think they don't need one. Tyler thinks they need to take marketing more seriously.
- But he thinks if there is a trailer, it'll be end of November or early December. No way it's happening after the Steam Winter Sale, since that's when the work year essentially ends for Valve (he accidentally says "before").
How will Tyler feel when the announcement happens?
- He's excited to see his years of reporting vindicated by an announced title. He's tired of putting up with getting crap on the internet for reporting on things that never pan out (like Left 4 Dead 3).
- He hopes Valve will give the press\him a heads up in advance
- He'll probably cry when he sees the nostalgic Half-Life stuff.
- He's going to be very happy.
HLVR PSVR?
- Lol no
- You can try to use your PSVR headset with SteamVR.
Will the game be called HLVR?
- No. But the game might not currently have an actual title yet.
Will HLVR flop like
Artifact?
- Critics will love it, but who knows if it'll be commercially successful.
- It all comes down to Valve handling the marketing and drumming up pre-release hype. But Valve might not value marketing.
What happened to Campo Santo's
In the Valley of Gods?
- Tyler was actually allowed to send questions to the dev team for an interview video last year, but after sending them they went silent.
- He has been told that development was paused when Valve completely committed to HLVR and began full-scale development, and that some of the team also worked on the Steam redesign.
- The thing to worry about isn't that development is on hold, it's that once HLVR is done and shipped the team will have other things they want to work on instead of returning to the game.
- Valve considers ItVoG a full-fledged Valve game, and there was some pressure to move the game to Source 2.
- Valve will likely want to follow up HLVR with another VR game, to take advantage of the years of R&D put into their VR mechanics and design. ItVoG, as originally conceived, is not a VR title.
- He really likes the idea of incorporating the F-Stop mechanic with the protagonist's camera; F-Stop in Egyptian ruins. Fun fact, I was the person who pitched this idea to Tyler forever ago. It would be dope.
Any other games from Valve?
- Yeah, but HLVR is taking up all the company's bandwidth right now.
- There's "Citadel," report incoming.
- The ones being publicly updated: Underlords, CS:GO, TF2, etc
- Artifact 2.0
- Besides Citadel and Artifact 2.0, the things you don't know about are all cancelled and shelved.
- "You really have to wait for them to finish the first game before they move on to anything else."
Will there be cheaper ways to get into PCVR to play HLVR?
- You already can. There is a whole VR ecosystem.
- Low budget PCVR exists in the form on Windows Mixed Reality sets. On average, $200 for a full kit, the most expensive is $500
- Next tier up is the OG Vive and Oculus, at $350-$500
- Above that is Rift S, above that is Vive Pro, above that is Index.
- Valve won't make a "cost-effective" Index because other companies are filling that role in the ecosystem. Valve is focusing on setting the standard for enthusiast VR in 2019, with the hopes it trickles down as the technology matures.
- If you want a $60 headset, get a Labo.
- He's making a "VR on a Budget" video soon.
- Tyler McVicker LOVES the Index. Especially the audio- props to Emily Ridgeway.
- He thinks the Knuckles should drop the trackpad in favor of an improved thumbstick implementation and more buttons.
Is Valve still interested in Brain-Computer Interfacing?
- Tyler is uninterested outside of having to report on it, since Valve is interested and it's Gabe's pet project.
- Tyler doesn't know much outside of what Gray Newell (Gabe's oldest son) told him- check out Tyler's interview with him for a fascinating look into BCI. Tyler would like to interview Gray again.
Any news on
TF2's Moon\Space update?
- Tyler has heard about a "Space Update" a few times, as well as a "2008 throwback" update.
- It's likely being worked on, but HLVR is taking priority in terms of dev resources. Probably next year.
Will HLVR be scary?
- Yes. It's got zombies that will sniff you. Hopefully no jump scares.
Will HLVR release in 2019?
- Tyler doesn't think so. He's heard it's coming in 2020 but can't verify it.
Ravenholm?
How will movement work?
- The player will have several locomotion options.
How will Valve utilize the Knuckles in HLVR?
- Being able to grab and throw things is Knuckles' bread and butter.
- A long time ago, Gabe gave a talk to a group of deaf people where he discussed Alyx and d0g using sign language to communicate with a deaf character. Tyler is speculating and has no sources, purely his own conjecture, but thinks the finger-tracking might enable this as a mechanic.
What strategy will Valve use to announce and market the game?
- He has no idea what they're going to do, but knows what he wants them to do.
Will Alyx talk in the game?
Will he livestream a playthrough?
- He will stream it live the day it comes out.
- Also, will be giving away a VR headset in the near future.
- He plans on milking the Half-Life hype\attention\relevance for all it's worth.
Realtime reflections in Source 2?
Is HLVR
Half-Life 3?
- No, it's a prequel.
- It's the safest method to "break the ice" in regards to having been silent about the IP for 12 years.
- Making a prequel makes the game much easier to produce, since writing Half-Life 3 is a much harder job than the (still difficult) job of writing a prequel.
- Valve wants to avoid the pitfalls that killed various other HL3 projects.
- Tyler thinks Valve feels that releasing the prequel will ease the tensions with the community enough that they can openly discuss the franchise again
What did VR change in Valve that they were able to get HLVR so close to the finish line?
- Valve only tends to get things done when they have some kind of obligation.
- Half-Life 1 had to be finished as per contract with Sierra- obligation
- Same for HL2, which had the additional pressure of the humiliation of the game's leak- obligation
- Episode 1 was an an experiment that led to something- not an obligation
- Episode 2 was made because Episode 1 put them on the hook for it- obligation
- TF2 and Portal were packaged in as an apology for the time it took to get Episode 2 out.
- L4D was a third-party game Valve bought with its team
- L4D2 was made so the rights for the IP wouldn't revert back to Turtle Rock after they left
- Portal 2 was made because they wanted to make it
- Everything after that was made to make money.
- HLVR exists because Valve has invested a ton of money into VR, and enthusiast-level VR is dying.
- Facebook is paying people to develop on Quest, not much in the high-profile PCVR space.
- HLVR would be a massive shot in the arm for the enthusiast PCVR scene.
Where is Valve's future in Linux?
- SteamVR will likely come to Linux.
- Valve has invested a lot of time and money into Linux game compatibility
- SteamOS is still updated.
- Support will continue the way it has been for the last few years; HLVR launch might make things a bit more interesting
HLVR headset compatibility?
- If you can run a headset with SteamVR, it will work. You need motion controllers (like Index controllers or Oculus Touch)
Is
TF2 dying?
Will Tyler update his Nintendo channel?
Have there been any leaked concepts for HLVR that Tyler knows is still in the game?
Will HLVR have a dynamic soundtrack design?
How is
Boneworks connected to HLVR?
- Boneworks has nothing to do with Valve, but Valve has met with the devs many times and have drawn a lot of inspiration from them in the direction HLVR has taken
- Boneworks may have been pitched to Valve as a Half-Life game
How many people from 2007 are still at Valve?
Who is the lead writer of HLVR?
- Erik Wolpaw & Jay Pinkerton
Is Mark Zuckerberg's enthusiasm for VR good for Valve?
- Facebook launching an accessory to use the Quest as a PCVR headset very close to HLVR's release is no accident. The game will move headsets and Facebook wants in.
Portal VR?
- Tyler doesn't know much about the Portal VR prototype other than it existed at one point and isn't being developed currently.
- Traditional Portal mechanics in VR will make people sick.
How does Tyler deal with the toxicity thrown his way?
- He knows he's right. Projects he's reported on get shelved and make him look like a jerk, but it doesn't mean his reporting was inaccurate.
- He loves his job. Getting hate on a daily basis is just part of the gig.
- it's definitely affected his mental health. He says content creators need to actively take care of themselves mentally to deal with the stress of online toxicity. Recommends seeing a therapist as part of the content creation job.
- He's good at being an investigative journalist in games. He wants it to be his career.
What does he remember from
Half-Life 2's launch?
- Tyler was 7 in 2004 and wasn't allowed to play violent video games.
- He first played HL2 as part of the Orange Box on Xbox 360 in 2007.
- His memory of HL2's launch day was eating ice cream for his brother's birthday.
Will there be vehicles in HLVR?
- Vehicles are a relatively easy problem in VR and Tyler thinks it would be great.
- Tyler loves vehicles in VR, and recommends the free experience Aircar (I can too, it's neat)
- He's heard there may not be vehicles in the game.
What NPCs have been leaked?
- The Reviver is an enemy in the game
- You might be able to communicate with NPCs by speaking into a built-in mic, but not all headsets have this feature
Has Valve reacted to Tyler's HLVR report?
- No, and they wouldn't as it would confirm or deny before they're ready to discuss the game?
Will HLVR lead to a
GMod-like experience in VR on Source 2?
- It would be possible to make vanilla GMod if Valve released the engine tools.
- It would take years to get to the level of polish that GMod is at now
- It likely wouldn't be GMod 2, but a spiritual successor
- Facepunch probably wouldn't do it, they have a history of announcing projects that never come to fruition
Why does HLVR need a day-night cycle?
- It's an engine feature, not necessarily a feature of the game
Would Tyler be happier if the next
Half-Life game wasn't a VR game?
- No, he's been waiting for this specific game for years.
What will Tyler do if there's no HLVR trailer this year?
What about his research for the HLVR report surprised him?
- Well yeah, actually-
- HOLEY MOLEY A BIG CSGO UPDATE IS IMMINENT
- Okay sorry
- Gearbox may have been in talks to make a Half-Life episode in the late 2000s
- F-Stop VR may have been a thing
- Citadel
Who does Tyler think the G-Man is?
- Not the ultimate mastermind, but their messenger
What do you know about the
Alien Swarm VR Experiment?
- Never heard of this...
- What do you know about Alien Swarm VR?
Does Tyler think
L4D3 will recommence development after HLVR ships?
- It's possible. The game was playable when it was canned- needed final art, voice acting, polish.
- VR and "pancake" crossplay was a huge feature of L4D3.
Will the player character be speaking? How will it work?
- Like Doom VFR and Arizona Sunshine.
Are you worried about your credibility with this report?
- It's Valve, so not everything he's said will jibe with the final product.
- The game will come. It will happen. He is happy about that.
Will HL3 will be even more delayed because of HLVR?
- HL3 is not in development. It's not "delayed." It's cancelled.
- HLVR did not stop HL3's development. HL3 imploded and HLVr began development months later.
- There's always a possibility for a VR HL3 if HLVR is always successful, but it won't be HL3 as it was originally envisioned. They have 12 years of assets from like 8 different failed iterations of the game to draw from.
- HLVR is trying to solve the problem of VR being non-mainstream.
What dogs does Tyler like?
Will Valve be influenced by
Black Mesa's depiction of Xen?
How would Tyler characterize his relationship with Valve?
- No idea why Dough Lombardi doesn't like him.
- Valve is a company of hundreds of people with various options of Tyler. Some like him, some tolerate him, some dislike him.
- Valve shares his videos around.
Does the HLVR report coincide with incoming news?
- No, he just wanted to get it done.
Why was VR support removed from HL2?
- It was outdated and didn't represent the current state of VR.
How restricted is HLVR's story?
- They're probably trying to experiment with the lore.
Is Tyler excited to see Valve's take on Xen? Will it be better than
Black Mesa's?
- It will be very different. Who knows which he'll like more.
What does Tyler think of
Project Borealis and
Guard Duty?
- He doesn't know how he feels about Borealis as a whole. Some people involved are incredibly talented, some might just want it for content in their portfolio.
- It's a massive undertaking that will likely not be completed.
- HLVR will likely take some wind out of its sails.
- He's very excited for Guard Duty.
Why is Tyler confident HLVR will be released?
- He's been researching HLVR for 3 years.
- No Half-Life project has made it this far in the last 12 years.
- Tyler has heard that the game is about 90% complete and is playable from start to finish. š²
- Mostly just art and voice acting to finish at this stage.
- Tyler has been researching this game for way too long. He's sure.
- Also, Kerry Davis said the game is happening at that DigiPen talk.
Is Citadel still in development?
- Yeah. That's a topic for another time, though.
Since HLVR is singleplayer, is Valve working on a VR multiplayer or co-op title?
- There were never "3 VR games" in development. Tyler has evidence for 5-7 games.
- They're not working on a multiplayer title, but maybe a co-op title.
How should DotA stay more relevant in the face of Riot expanding
League of Legends as a franchise?
- Riot is trying to expand League into every eSport category they can.
- Valve needs to do more with the DotA IP, like what Riot is doing.
- Valve is working on a singleplayer DotA experience.
- Valve isn't worried about "staying relevant," they have an audience.
Has Tyler seen screenshots or models from HLVR?
If there was a
Half-Life or
Portal movie, what would Tyler want to see?
- Apparently it's happening? We learned about this forever ago. No news though.
- No idea what he wants to see, but a mockumentary about Aperture Science would be really cool.
- Doesn't think Gordon's story could be adapted, but a side story could work. References A Place in the West as an example.
Another
Counter-Strike game?
- CS:GO has seen so many rebirths over the years that it's likely going to be the form the game will take for the forseeable future.
- That being said, at some point Valve will have to deal with Pavlov being the defacto VR Counter-Strike.
Will HLVR be non-VR exclusive?
- No. Someone (maybe Tyler) will hack it.
Hey, remember the time Tyler missed out on a free Vive? That'll probably happen with HLVR lol
CS:GO Halloween update?
- Maybe! It happened last year. A huge update is coming though.
Why is Lighthouse 2.0 so expensive when Valve actively tried to make it cheaper?
- Seems like Valve failed. Manufacturing cost? Part sourcing?
Will HLVR influence Valve to make more singleplayer games?
- HLVR, a singleplayer game, has been in development for 3 years. So yes.
Will HLVR reference Gordon Freeman?
- Maybe in passing. It would be stupid if it did anything more than that.
Will Valve adopt the controller-less hand tracking Facebook has developed?
- No. You need something in your hand to create the illusion that you are holding something in a game.
- The Index controllers are the better option but need refinement.
- Predicts failure for Oculus' hand tracking.
A while back, Tyler reported that cut
HL2 enemy "Cremators" would be in HLVR. Is this still the case? Will other cut elements show up?
- Cremators will likely still be in the game.
- The game had many cut HL2 elements, but the story was rewritten entirely earlier this year, so who knows.
Will there be a Source 2 SDK?
- HLVR mod SDK yes (but not day 1), full Source 2 SDK probably never.
What does Tyler expect from HLVR's modding?
- Probably restricted to single-player unless someone hacks multiplayer in.
- Many attempts at remakes, importing Source engine content, ports of HL2 mods.
- Wholly new experiences like map packs and model replacements, etc.
Will there be a dev commentary?
- It would be cool. Who knows.
What reports are coming?
- The next video is about CS:GO. Artifact and Underlords reports are coming.
Can Tyler say something about the
CS:GO update?
- He refers to it as "Operation 9." Not sure about what's being packaged in, but knows a lot about what they've been working on, especially cosmetics (lots of throwbacks)
Will there be more
HL2 beta content?
- A video series about the HL2 beta is being worked on behind the scenes.
- He is fascinated by the HL2 leak, and finds that there is a lot of misinformation spread about it. Takes some responsibility for this misinformation.
- Is working on a "Beginner's Guide" to the HL2 leak designed to comprehensively detail what exists and what is known about the HL2 beta.
Why did Valve go silent on
Half-Life?
- Valve found that everything they said was picked apart and taken immediately as fact, and were having a lot of internal issues.
- If they had said that Episode 3 was cancelled, there would have been enormous backlash.
Will HLVR go into early access?
Any comments on the graphical quality of HLVR?
- Tyler has been told it looks amazing. "The best VR game you have ever seen."
Raytracing in HLVR?
Know any cancelled GoldSrc games?
- There's a lot. Half-Life: LOOT, "Team 2010" Half-Life expansions, a submarine game, Prospero, TF2: Brotherhood of Arms, Valve's Team Fortress, Quiver, etc.
Where's Lever Softworks' (Tyler's mod group)
F-Stop mod?
- They're working on it. He almost admitted to something but then cut himself off.
How will ammunition work in HLVR?
- Not sure. The ammo is "on your person." Manual reloading, maybe with an option for automatic reloading.
Will HLVR be overhyped?
Artifact was overhyped.
- Tyler is the only one talking about this game, so probably not.
- Artifact had a year-and-a-half-long hype cycle. Valve made a lot of mistakes. HLVR will be like 2 months from announcement to release.
Any clue about what was up with Valve's cancelled 2002 space marine game?
- Nope! It existed, though.
Steam Controller 2.0?
- Better haptics.
- Concave shoulder buttons.
- Index controller triggers and finger tracking.
- Built-in color screen a la the Dreamcast.
Orange Box 2?
Why did Tyler say HLVR is photorealistic.
- He was told it was. It's complicated.
Will HLVR have a visual\aesthetic change from previous
Half-Life games? Think style change from
Portal to
Portal 2.
- Absolutely.
- There is a different art team working on this game from the other HL games.
- A lot of look and feel stuff will be retconned.
- The gravity gun is a set of gloves now.
Would Tyler rather work for Black Mesa or Aperture?
- Black Mesa, as they don't experiment on their employees and aren't comically evil.
- He'd leave before the resonance cascade, though. :P
Will AAA devs invest in VR if HLVR is successful.
What is Tyler drinking right now?
- Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness smoothie.
- A spirulina-based smoothie with fruit, broccoli, spinach, artichoke and vitamins.
Is Tyler sad that Crowbar Collective is putting out Xen but HLVR will likely upstage it?
- Not really. Doesn't think one will overshadow the other.
How does Tyler feel about the incident where he was trolled over the phone with a fake leak during a livestream?
- He checked this troll with Gray and Gabe Newell personally debunked it.
What other VR games is Tyler excited for?
- Pistol Whip, Boneworks and Borderlands 2 VR.
- He wants F-Stop in VR.
How does Tyler feel about the Steam Controller?
- It's very niche, but it's very good at what it's good at.
If Gordon Freeman was a DLC character in
Smash, what songs would be bring with him?
- "CP Violation," "Triage at Dawn," "Hard Fought," "Hazardous Environments"
What is Tyler's opinion of
Full-Life Consequences?
- Had to refresh his memory LOL
- He loves them.
How will HLVR's launch change Tyler's content?
- Depends on what Valve does after the game.
- Expects a boost in view count once the game is out.
- HLVR's release opens a whole new world of stuff to report on, especially if modding tools are released.
- Likely will focus a lot on VR for a while.
- The game's release would also allow Tyler to stretch his legs and do other things
Will HLVR have any new weapons besides the gloves?
Will Valve ever do cross-promotional items again like they did with
TF2?
- Not with TF2. Maybe DotA, Underlords or Artifact.
Will most Valve games in the future be in VR if HLVR does well?
- No, but there will be more.
Tyler said that Valve mostly finishes things when they are obligated to. Has Tyler\VNN helped created a sense of community obligation, especially since HLVr is an open secret that's been reported on for years?
- No.
- If community pressure motivated Valve, there would be a lot more Half-Life games.
- HLVR is fulfilling an obligation to the industry and to VR as a medium.
Will HLVR be free for Index owners? What will it cost?
- Free for Index owners? Maybe. Who knows.
- Probably will cost $60.
- DLCs? Who knows?
- Paid sprays? lol probably not
At this point, Tyler receives some information in his email that he didn't know, mulls it over, and says "that is video material."
HLVR paid mods?
- Paid mods are indistinguishable from indie games when sold correctly ;)
HLVR ARG announcement?
- Please don't. Just announce it normally.
HLVR Game Awards announcement?
- Possible. Gabe and Geoff are friends. Geoff has played the game.
Will HLVR require a beastly PC?
- Yes, to get the most out of it. There will be graphical options.
Pls say "Where are my VR games?"
What was the F-Stop mechanic?
- Imagine you're in a test chamber. There's a cube and a button. You have a camera. The cube is separated from the button by a door. When you pick up the cube, the door closes. You can't get the cube through the door, but you need to in order to get it on the button. How do you do it? You use the camera, and take a picture of the cube. While looking at the picture, you are place the cube on the button. Later in the game, scaling is introduced. You take a picture of the cube, you back up really far, then you place the cube, and because you're really far back... because the perspective has changed, the cube is really big. Or you look close at the ground, and the resulting cube is very small.
- Cut, copy, paste with a magic camera that can scale objects.
Will HLVR's tools be polished?
- They'll be the tools used to develop the game. Who knows.
Tyler is the only one talking about this game, talking and leaking details left and right. For all we know, it's all BS. What do you say about that? How is Valve okay with this?
- 90% of what he discusses is sourced directly from leaked game code.
- He's not the only one talking about it, but he's the only one doing investigative legwork for it.
- The 10% from anonymous sources takes forever to verify.
- No idea how Valve feels.
Another leak. I find it kind of suspicious he receives two leaks in his emails after talking about getting trolled with a fake leak during a livestream. He verifies this stuff with multiple sources and smartly doesn't just read whatever leaks gets on-stream, though.
How does Tyler feel about the recent SteamLabs experiments?
- He loves the communication they enable.
- Valve wants to help devs, but discovery improvements may or may not improve it. Valve seems to think it will.
How will gamebreaking exploits affect HLVR's experience, and how long will it take to find them.
- Crazy movement like ABH will make people sick or pass out in VR.
- New Day of Defeat?
Probably not, check out Day of Infamy.
HLVR multiplayer\deathmatch?
Does Tyler play
Dota 2?
Has Tyler ever tried to make a map in Hammer?
- Many times. Made his house once, and tried to make a machinima when he was 12.
- Not good at it.
Valve rep in
Smash?
Is there evidence of Valve doing anything with the
TF2 IP besides the main game?
What can Tyler say about
TF2 Classic,
Vintage and other restoration mods?
- There's a lot of great work.
- Video about them in development
- Fighting between projects.
- Tyler has played a lot of these mods and is happy with all of them
What is the closest Tyler's been to Gabe?
- Like a foot and a half away, was dumbounded.
- Gabe smells like he takes showers.
Why does Tyler dislike Portal 2?
- He'll talk about this eventually.
