It's been in development since last year and still WIP. It looks playable enough for me, should be probably fine for a story mode playthrough.
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Half Life Alyx non-VR mod is shaping up nicely
- Thread starter texhnolyze
- Start date
Oh man, that looks great! I own a Rift CV1 but have hardly ever used it due to lack of space, so this may actually get me to play Alyx!
Um, so that people who don't have the money or living space for VR can play the game?
Um, so that people who don't have the money or living space for VR can play the game?
Shouldn't that be obvious? Not everyone can use or afford a VR kit.
I played it on a CV1! I honestly had a really good time playing it seated, definitely give it a shot.
Looking at that it could be cool for those that just want to experience the story, but it also seems like 100 times easier.
Like a singe enemies actually feel like a much bigger threat in VR, but here in the video the players deals with all of them extremely fast.
They also have to automate many processes that you do manually in the actual game, which is really core to the experience.
This will never be as good as playing the gamenin VR or a game designed for non-VR from the ground up.
Like a singe enemies actually feel like a much bigger threat in VR, but here in the video the players deals with all of them extremely fast.
They also have to automate many processes that you do manually in the actual game, which is really core to the experience.
This will never be as good as playing the gamenin VR or a game designed for non-VR from the ground up.
Really can't be fucked to do the whole setup again, and even back when I had made space for it I would still bang my hands into the desk or wall. And now I have my OLED TV within arm's reach of my desk, so no way am I risking it ^^'
Maybe in a few years once we've moved into a house, but not before.
And to add to the others, not everyone can handle or likes VR.
I get why this gets made (because you can, and therefore, someone will), but I don't understand why you would want to play this. You might as well watch a let's play of the VR version and perhaps have a vicariously immersive exoerience through the streamers eyes and reactions.
The game is Half Life: Alyx, though? This isn't "Half Life: Alyx Skyrim total conversion mod" it's just changing the control method.
But the control method and is the core experience in this game. In fact, if you look at the game from a "flat gaming"-perspective, it's a pretty tame shooter with much too small encounters.
In VR with the added immersion and interactivity, it really changes the game. Yes it may be Half-Life: Alyx and you can enjoy the story. But it will be a completely different game...
Can't wait for people to play it this way and then claim how it's not that great. Totally missing the point of why this game was made in the first place. A total waste of time to deliver an indefinitely worse experience IMHO.
I get why this is being made. Not everyone can handle VR and not everyone can afford VR. The first thing sucks, but it's just like people who can't handle rollercoasters. It sucks, but not everything is made for everybody. VR will get more affordable in the future. We are already at a point where a standalone VR headset is cheaper than any current-gen console and even the Switch.
And Half-Life: Alyx will most likely be ported to other systems as well. This will be a VR evergreen. So there is no rush in experiencing it now.
I get why this is being made. Not everyone can handle VR and not everyone can afford VR. The first thing sucks, but it's just like people who can't handle rollercoasters. It sucks, but not everything is made for everybody. VR will get more affordable in the future. We are already at a point where a standalone VR headset is cheaper than any current-gen console and even the Switch.
And Half-Life: Alyx will most likely be ported to other systems as well. This will be a VR evergreen. So there is no rush in experiencing it now.
The VR experience was interesting but I never found a spot where it didn't look annoyingly blurry in Quest 2.
Very nice to see progress on this. I did play roughly a third of the game at a friend's place and enjoyed it immensely, to the point where I can't see myself liking a non-VR version as much. It'd be akin to playing Wii Sports with traditional controls.
Once this works, however, it'd be cool if they could mod it to have longer and more involved combat encounters.
Once this works, however, it'd be cool if they could mod it to have longer and more involved combat encounters.
Yup.
Or not understand when folks say "The game was built for VR" that you can't just flick a switch to make it flat and it's still the same game.
There is a major difference between VR and on-VR. For example, quite literally every enemy in the game is designed around VR.
Yeah it obviously would have the same level layout and enemy placement, but even if the damage numbers of the weapons are the same, the actual game mechanics itself would be totally different.
The levels are designed extremely small in this, that I could see people walk away very underwhelmed by this.
One of the coolest gun fights you have early in the game is against like 3 Combine soldiers, which felt extremely thrilling in VR, but I can see you deal with them in seconds with the extremely steady aim you have with a mouse.
Also the whole panic of remembering how to reload the weapons while an emey is right in front of you is probably totally eliminated as you most likely just press R.
I will also go with why? I know people want to play it but it will be a very crappy game in non VR. Everybody is going to be disappointed and it's going to be their fault. The game won't work outside of Vr at all. Every encounter will be pretty poor and should be finished like in a couple of hours.
The whole game and experience is designed around VR. It will just play and feel poor with normal controls and you will miss a lot of little touches and details.
I suspect a lot of people who will play this will wonder what all the fuss was about, as a lot of the game is really built and designed around you being in the headset when experiencing this game.
Having said that, I would still recommend that people that don't have VR check this out, as if you are invested in HL lore and have somehow been not spoiled by the ending of this game, I'd say you will be very entertained by the story. Whether or not HL3 is in VR, the ending of Alyx is so significant for the franchise that I am certain that HL3's story will build off the reveals set out in the VR title.
Having said that, I would still recommend that people that don't have VR check this out, as if you are invested in HL lore and have somehow been not spoiled by the ending of this game, I'd say you will be very entertained by the story. Whether or not HL3 is in VR, the ending of Alyx is so significant for the franchise that I am certain that HL3's story will build off the reveals set out in the VR title.
OP
OP
I mean, people who use this would fully understand that they're not getting the full experience.
It's not that hard to imagine. Just let them be.
It's not that hard to imagine. Just let them be.
This is technically playable, in the definition of the word, but you're still not playing the same game. Playing HL Alyx this way will just be an incredibly bad to mediocre Half-life game. All the levels are too small and claustrophobic (in a bad way) to play this way.
Alyx's gameplay mechanics work BECAUSE the game is in VR. This mod automates a lot of the processes that ARE gameplay. Reloading is just pressing a button rather than taking ammo out of your backpack and loading it into your gun. Doing it in VR when you have 2-3 enemies coming at you can be thrilling and stressful (in a good way) and doing it with this mod loses all of that. There's a specific section later on in the game that's focused on horror that I can't see working quite near as well without VR.
I get that not everyone can afford VR, but that is the way the game is intended to be played. This mod would be like someone just making a mod of Mario 64 that makes all the levels two dimensions: you're not playing the same game.
Just watch a playthrough of it on YouTube and you'll get a better experience than this mod can possibly offer.
Alyx's gameplay mechanics work BECAUSE the game is in VR. This mod automates a lot of the processes that ARE gameplay. Reloading is just pressing a button rather than taking ammo out of your backpack and loading it into your gun. Doing it in VR when you have 2-3 enemies coming at you can be thrilling and stressful (in a good way) and doing it with this mod loses all of that. There's a specific section later on in the game that's focused on horror that I can't see working quite near as well without VR.
I get that not everyone can afford VR, but that is the way the game is intended to be played. This mod would be like someone just making a mod of Mario 64 that makes all the levels two dimensions: you're not playing the same game.
Just watch a playthrough of it on YouTube and you'll get a better experience than this mod can possibly offer.
Reading some answers in this thread, there are many, that don't fully understand...
Some people ITT say otherwise. And, this would be as close to the full experience as walking around the HLA maps while in desktop mode on vrc. As in, not at all close to the experience at all.
You will absolutely see some people being disappointed by it and comments like, "Game wasn't that special. I played the flat mod version and I'm actually glad I never forked out for VR in the end".
This is neat but it is fundamentally not the same game at all.
Kinda like trying to convert a 3D game into a 2D sidescroller.
Kinda like trying to convert a 3D game into a 2D sidescroller.
I just don't think Alyx will be half of the experience without VR. And not in a 'you won't feel the same' but in a 'most of the game is designed around being able to use your hands in a 3D space and quickly duck/move your head around in 1:1 space'.
This is like taking Super Mario World and saying 'well this controller here has no jump button so I've made a mod for the game that removes all of the enemies and pits so you can just run through it all'.
This is like taking Super Mario World and saying 'well this controller here has no jump button so I've made a mod for the game that removes all of the enemies and pits so you can just run through it all'.
"They were so obsessed with whether or not they could, they never stopped to think whether they should."
Honestly, I can't see people enjoying this much. It offers very little in terms of story (outside of the last 10 or so minute cutscene) and most enemy encounters are very small for FPS standards, they're only threatening and difficult to deal with because it's in VR. So I don't imagine gameplay or story will satisfye most. I guess puzzles are still fine, though some of the precision required in a few could be frustrating with limited controls. Honestly, outside if this being from a big franchise, I don't imagine it will be very fun or have much value with those aspects removed.
It's a game that's made and thrives on you being inside the world and being able to manipulate it realistically. You really think anyone is going to care about the liquid physics in random bottles, or drawing on glass when it's not in VR? A lot of what's cool in this game is the sort of stuff HL2 worked out 20 years ago, it's just that it was applied to VR for the first time now.
Honestly, I can't see people enjoying this much. It offers very little in terms of story (outside of the last 10 or so minute cutscene) and most enemy encounters are very small for FPS standards, they're only threatening and difficult to deal with because it's in VR. So I don't imagine gameplay or story will satisfye most. I guess puzzles are still fine, though some of the precision required in a few could be frustrating with limited controls. Honestly, outside if this being from a big franchise, I don't imagine it will be very fun or have much value with those aspects removed.
It's a game that's made and thrives on you being inside the world and being able to manipulate it realistically. You really think anyone is going to care about the liquid physics in random bottles, or drawing on glass when it's not in VR? A lot of what's cool in this game is the sort of stuff HL2 worked out 20 years ago, it's just that it was applied to VR for the first time now.
Or peripheral-less games. Time Crisis on a controller, Rock Band but you're on WASD. You can do it, but it really isn't the same.
These comparisons aren't hyperbole, they're spot on.
As a way to experience the story, I think a mod like this is pretty cool. But as a way to experience Alyx, it's completely compromised by the switch and I do think people will be disappointed.
I hope the general consensus on this game doesn't change over the next few years as people play the flat version. By all means mod the game to be playable non-VR, that's the beauty of PC and mods. Plenty of games have been modified to support VR when the game didn't previously and that has mostly been fine in terms of reception.