Live data from Hacker News

Half-Life: Alyx

half-life.com

131–140 of 444 posts

Re: Half-Life: Alyx

#131
post #109

As much as a Half-Life fan I am, VR is a gimmick. It's expensive and will not be a "thing" in the foreseeable future. This is such a wasted opportunity. A normal Half-Life 3 would have brought back a lot of goodwill for Valve.

Nope. It is not a gimmick and will definitely be a "thing" in the foreseeable future. So we have different ideas of the foreseeable future, interesting.

Re: Half-Life: Alyx

#132
post #38

This has got to be the most narrowly targeted game ever. I played through all of HL/HL2/Ep1/Ep2 IIRC, but I can barely even remember the story clearly it was so long ago. And it's such a blur maybe I never finished Ep2. I was 21 when HL1 came out but I didn't get to play it till I was like 24 maybe when I had gotten out of school and got a nice computer & some money. HL2 came out when I was 27.. still playing games b…

> Just seems like a small target of players who are old enough to fondly remember the original + still have time to play long form games + still have gaming equipment + have VR/are willing to buy VR.

Are they making playing the previous games a requirement? Games can stand on their own, even if they are best enjoyed when you already have some emotional investment.

Re: Half-Life: Alyx

#133
post #109

As much as a Half-Life fan I am, VR is a gimmick. It's expensive and will not be a "thing" in the foreseeable future. This is such a wasted opportunity. A normal Half-Life 3 would have brought back a lot of goodwill for Valve.

It is not a gimmick. It seems that you have not yet tried it. There are a few improvements required, such as resolution and the freedom of movement. Note that I did not mention price. It will come down – even more, that is. Also, they need Half Life 2 Episode III. The series ended in a cliffhanger.

No one tried it because it's expensive AF. And you need space. And there are so many of them. And the storefronts don't match. And there are no games. And you sweat. And they're heavy. And you need a monster PC. And it doesn't work. And and and.

It's a gimmick.

Alyx is a $2000 game for a normal gamer, counting an index and a sizeable PC upgrade.

Re: Half-Life: Alyx

#134
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The requirements to double-render also force a cartoony style in a game at this scale.

The graphics on the promo website are a lot higher resolution than Half-Life 2's graphics. HL2 was photorealistic not by having a high polygon count, but by having desaturated textures that approached the things you would find in a picture of a city. HL2 came out a long time ago.

HL2 wasn't photorealistic by any stretch of the word. Sure it looked great for the time, but go back and play it now.

Re: Half-Life: Alyx

#135
post #79
post #38

This has got to be the most narrowly targeted game ever. I played through all of HL/HL2/Ep1/Ep2 IIRC, but I can barely even remember the story clearly it was so long ago. And it's such a blur maybe I never finished Ep2. I was 21 when HL1 came out but I didn't get to play it till I was like 24 maybe when I had gotten out of school and got a nice computer & some money. HL2 came out when I was 27.. still playing games b…

The Oculus Quest I bought a few months ago is amazing. It's definitely not going to play this, even if it could support it (it can't on the hardware it comes with), but that's not to say in a year or two maybe there will be a relatively cheap system that can. At $400-$500 the Quest is more along the lines of a new high-end dedicated console, but it also offers an experience at that price point which I don't think can…

Facebook is going to release Oculus link soon so that you can connect your Oculus Quest to a PC like a normal rift. I think that might be able to play this.

edit: it looks like it's actually already out

Re: Half-Life: Alyx

#136

A criminally overlooked feature of this game is the release of the dev tools used to make maps and mods. Giving the tools away for such a powerful base game is what gave HL1 and HL2 it's incredible staying power.

Agreed. That helped also to make gems such as Black Mesa, a 100% fan made recreation of the first HL using HL2 engine and graphics. I wonder what would become of this game if they added a proper story, characters interactions, NPCs, subplots etc. (think Mass Effect style). Here's a full walkthrough for those living under a rock when it came out:*) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brFEN4x9Xao

Thanks for posting! Impressive.

By the way, back then I really liked the first stages of HL2 -- the dystopian intro absolutely rocks -- but eventually had to stop playing, partly because it was getting too long, and partly because of motion sickness. This really took me by suprise because I was a gamer, had enjoyed the original HL without problems... and suddenly there was a new breed of 3D games where I got motion sickness and had to quit.

I distinctly remember two games that made me almost throw up when playing: HL2 and Jedi Outcast.

I was wondering if it was simply a stage of my life, so I decided to watch your video and... instant motion sickness. I think it has something to do with the jerky point of view and the rapid motion, but also something about how the "lens" of the viewport deforms the image near the borders.

Does it happen to anyone else? :(

Re: Half-Life: Alyx

#137
post #27

Question to VR gamers: Why are the arms not animated?

I don't know what all these posters are talking about, VR simulates your elbow + arm position 100% with normal IK. If you don't believe me just load up Echo VR and look at your arms. Valve probably just doesn't want them blocking your view.

The same controller pose can correspond to different arm positions, so VR games/apps that do IK are making a guess that is generally going to be somewhat inaccurate. I do like the implementation in Lone Echo, though.

Re: Half-Life: Alyx

#138
On Tuesday I said:

>Due to some of the technical limitations with people (motion sickness does not make a popular game) I don't think this is not going to be an open spaces and free-movement heavy game like HL2. Not having some really good expansive panorama scenes would be a disservice to the VR tech but don't expect to be able to drive a go-kart around in them. I'm expecting a lot of semi stationary scenes where the player is free around a small space as the environment smoothly and steadily around them (like all the various freight elevator and rail car scenes in HL1). I expect that in typical Half-Life fashion there will be lots of object manipulation and head crab batting practice while the player remains nearly stationary.

So based on the trailer it looks like I was decently right. I think you're gonna spend a lot of time solving puzzles with one hand while defending yourself with the other. I really hope they nail the cinematic aspect of it like they did in HL2 since that greatly contributes to how immersive the game feels.

Re: Half-Life: Alyx

#139
post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. That helped also to make gems such as Black Mesa, a 100% fan made recreation of the first HL using HL2 engine and graphics. I wonder what would become of this game if they added a proper story, characters interactions, NPCs, subplots etc. (think Mass Effect style). Here's a full walkthrough for those living under a rock when it came out:*) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brFEN4x9Xao

Thanks for posting! Impressive. By the way, back then I really liked the first stages of HL2 -- the dystopian intro absolutely rocks -- but eventually had to stop playing, partly because it was getting too long, and partly because of motion sickness. This really took me by suprise because I was a gamer, had enjoyed the original HL without problems... and suddenly there was a new breed of 3D games where I got motion s…

It happens to a lot of people. Try adjusting the FOV.

Re: Half-Life: Alyx

#140
I just want to say that this is without a doubt the most exciting thing I have seen in VR so far, and I will definitely buy an Index for this. They got me. Full length game, brand new engine, Half Life story?? Holy s*it
Post reply on HN