[Official] Half-Life: Alyx! Discussion thread.

[R-T-B]

Come and join me Frogman~


Meanwhile

https://www.reddit.com/r/ValveIndex/comments/dyintj

I mean, I'll be frank. There is nothing on god's green earth that could get me into VR. Sorry.

Unless maybe you develop a new body alongside it...

 

[Mindweaver]

I still want to know where the mystery man(aka G-Man) got away to... maybe we will never know/maybe we will never play Half Life 3

The word is that we will see the G-man on tomorrows announcement.

I think valve is going to be underwhelmed by the sales.

Oh well, I will stream it at some point.

Remember when HL2 came out most people didn't have a powerful enough gaming rig to play it.

Come and join me Frogman~


Meanwhile

https://www.reddit.com/r/ValveIndex/comments/dyintj

Yea, I can't get over how many people are upset over it only being in VR. I kind of feel like they are going to have more to add with HLA. There is a whole team of guys working on HL2VR that we haven't heard anything from. It's a good possibility that it will release soon. Just think about having HL2VR until HLA releases.

 

[R-T-B]

Remember when HL2 came out most people didn't have a powerful enough gaming rig to play it.

This isn't a horsepower concern though. It's a real estate one.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Considering they actually made arguably The best vr equipment especially for this(i have a oculus ), i have very high hopes for this.

 

[moproblems99]

Highly doubt it.

Also @Mindweaver quite a lot of members here are ignorant of new technology who would rather live in their own delusional "Old way is best way" In a a sense they prefer everything backwards, like bunch of grumpy old turds. Just look at the reception of real time ray tracing on this forum. A wondnerful new graphic technology for monitor gaming, yet the predominant undertone here at TPU is "RTX is trash" or "RTX is gimmick"

There is little to be gained arguing with close minded person. Truth be told the older these type of people get the more they refuse to accept ANYTHING new.

Some people are fine with good enough. Some people don't care because they have other hobbies. Some people just don't want all the extra bulk.

Ray Tracing will likely be Wow! Someday. But it isn't now. We have watered down crap. From my experience (very limited) with VR, I feel the same way.

But, yes, you will always have a certain percentage of ignorance. That said, I would imagine some people didn't realize this was in the VR section if they came from the most recent section at the top of the forums page.

 

[Mindweaver]

It isn't always ignorance. Some people are fine with good enough. Some people don't care because they have other hobbies and don't need to tack on all this other crap. Some people just don't want all the extra bulk.

Ray Tracing will likely be Wow! Someday. But it isn't now. We have watered down crap. From my experience (very limited) with VR, I feel the same way.

But, yes, you will always have a certain percentage of ignorance. That said, I would imagine some people didn't realize this was in the VR section if they came from the most recent section at the top of the forums page.

I can agree that it's not always ignorance. I really don't care for that word or its use, but it works here.. I think @R-T-B correct and it's mostly real estate, but honestly, with the Rift S it's not a problem. it's really portable using it's inside out tracking. It's so easy to set it up and it will remember multiple rooms. It's only two plugs to use 1x displayport and 1x usb3. I've been super impressed with the Rift S. HLA should draw a lot more users to VR. I'm ready. lol

 

[metalfiber]

When it gets released to holodeck, holler. Did the VR thing in early 2000s and i got over it quickly. I'm sure VR is 100 times better now but the answer is still pass.

 

[Mindweaver]

Since we have a news thread about this I will turn this into the official discussion thread for HLA.

 

[Nuckles56]

My vive is ready for this already, I want to see what valve can do to top the best vr titles

 

[xkm1948]

This is good for the GPU tech. 200% Super Sampling would be amazing. Push the GPU makers to develop better products

 

[Hyderz]

well extra half life universe lore is a welcome

 

[windwhirl]

This is good for the GPU tech. 200% Super Sampling would be amazing. Push the GPU makers to develop better products

Not that I mind GPU makers making better products, but isn't Super Sampling like really freaking expensive to use?

 

[xkm1948]

Not that I mind GPU makers making better products, but isn't Super Sampling like really freaking expensive to use?

Which is the whole point of pushing GPU makers to come out with even better designs. After so many years GPU can finally do half-assed Real Time Ray tracing. Imagine doing that in VR with super high resolution? Gonna be REALLY heard. Basically a lot of the VR rendering tech these days still depends heavily on cutting corners like foveated rendering and such. Imagine having good dual 4K screen for VR without all the corner cutting while maintaining over 144Hz refresh rate, that would be the dream.


Lore wise, love to see the world when Combine is still actively curbing resistence. HLA might be more brutal and bloody than HL2. Would love to set foot during the bombing of Ravenholm.

 

[Mindweaver]

The trailer looks amazing! I can't wait to play it. I can only imagine how good it looks in VR. This should set the bar pretty high. I've watched the trailer 10 times.. lol I'm catching small stuff in each one like Alyx picking up one bullet and loading it. A fine example of finger tracking which the index controllers and the touch controllers can do, but by march I hope I have an index.

EDIT: I added the Trailer to the OP.

 

[biffzinker]

I will say, impressive graphics from the new Source 2 engine. A new Portal game with the Source 2 engine under the hood would be welcomed.

Some of the criticism in this thread about having an open space for the VR headset, and controllers might not be necessary.

Half-Life: Alyx is powered by the Source 2 engine, and there isn't any exclusivity when it comes to what VR headsets it will support. The game can be played on the Valve Index, HTC Vice, Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality, and basically any other VR system that needs a PC.

Adding to that, Valve isn't restricting the game to any VR play methods, with room-scale, seated, as well as sitting modes being supported. Meanwhile, in-game movement can be assigned to teleporting, shifting, or simply analog stick control.

Half-Life: Alyx is a full-length prequel to Half-Life 2, gameplay trailer released

Valve unveiled gameplay of its upcoming VR flagship title Half-Life: Alyx today. The Source 2-built title will be a full-length prequel to Half-Life 2, and will be playable across all PC VR headsets.

www.neowin.net

 

[rtwjunkie]

"PC Master Race Gamer" Console peasants are so pathetic, using ancient locked down hardware on consoles. Look at me I got so many cores on the CPU I dont even know how to count them!

Also "PC Master Race Gamer" Virtual Reality is gimmick! Why only make HLA VR?? Salty salt!

Stop insulting people who don’t share your over the moon enthusiasm for VR and you might get more converts. @Mindweaver would please stop allowing it? In any other thread in which you don’t have a personal stake it would not be ok.

 

[GoldenX]

12 years, 12 effing years, and I'm looking at a Half-Life trailer like a kid again.

 

[Vario]

Don't personally see appeal with HL never been a big fan but for those fans out there I am happy for them.

 

[Mindweaver]

12 years, 12 effing years, and I'm looking at a Half-Life trailer like a kid again.

I am as well! lol I've watched it so many times today.. lol

 

[moproblems99]

Don't personally see appeal with HL never been a big fan but for those fans out there I am happy for them.

Half life never stuck with me either. I don't think I finished 1 and likely didn't even start 2.

 

[xkm1948]

Here we see a regular headcrab. Sharp front claws and short hind legs. Definitely not Lamarr

Here we see the citidal in construction. Really cool to see a hunter chopper transporting a piece that looked like Citidal's panel. So I assume the material are manufactured elsewhere and transported to build the Citidal. Also Citidal is build from ground up

Civil Protection patroling the street. Super cool to see the reinforced Stalker with a commanding tower on top. Also in the background you can see Citidal is in it completed form.

So the license plate on the truck, translating from Russian alphabet gave you "rds-1195"
Have something to do with The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Basically some weird ancient shit. Feel free to dig around

Oxyrhynchus Papyri - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

These look weird. Their uniform bears no resemblance to ANY previous COMBINE overwatch issued armor. They look almost like regular civilian turned combine soldiers.

Here we see a barnacle eating a poison headcrab. 4 legs of equal length, big hairy chunky body. Yep, poison headcrab

Regular zombie and poison zombie

ANTLIONS! Also the background has the weird orange underglow, which is the main undertone of destroyed City 17

This is most likely a COMBINE overlord mothership

G-MAN. Look at his eyes glow. This dude is 1000% not human

Alright so here is my short theory:

Half Life Alyx IS NOT prequel, BUT the actual sequal of Half Life 2 EP2.

What we are seeing is the rebuilding of a CItidal under the direct supervision of Combine overlords. The Half Life 2 EP2 ending stopped Combine from coming over from their homeworld. But let's not forget the ENTIRE earth was under COMBINE control. So it is highly possible that other Citidal has come over to City17 and suppressed the resistance swiftly. Gordon is nowhere to be seen and Alyx is fighting alone.


Just my 2 cents!

 

[Mindweaver]

Man those images look amazing! That's going to be so creepy in VR! Going back to watch the trailer again for the 100th time! Also, I like your theory, but straight on HLA's steam page it says

Half-Life: Alyx is Valve’s VR return to the Half-Life series. It’s the story of an impossible fight against a vicious alien race known as the Combine, set between the events of Half-Life and Half-Life 2.

I don't think 3's release will be far behind Alyx, but not before a L4D game I would imagine. One of the things I'm most excited about is the fact they are releasing Source 2 and Hammer with HLA. Just think of all the great mods we will get.

 

[xkm1948]

Oh wait just figured out Oxyrhynchus is an Egyptian city! It was part of Great Egypt until it is conquered by the Greek, which had higher civilization (stronger military) than Egypt at that time. At the same time that Greek empire was constantly at war with other Greek nations.

Hmmmm.


So Oxyrhynchus = Earth civilization, Greek = Combine, Other Greek nations = GMAN?



Also monitor gamers don't need to worry. THERE WILL BE MODS that allow you to play this on a monitor I am also 1000% sure of that. Valve games have always been great for modders.

Man those images look amazing! That's going to be so creepy in VR! Going back to watch the trailer again for the 100th time! Also, I like your theory, but straight on HLA's steam page it says


I don't think 3's release will be far behind Alyx, but not before a L4D game I would imagine. One of the things I'm most excited about is the fact they are releasing Source 2 and Hammer with HLA. Just think of all the great mods we will get.

Dude this is Valve, they can pull a big story change at last minute~

 

[Mindweaver]

It will be hard to mod for pancake monitors, but if anyone can do it then it will be the modders. I feel like I need to update my R5 2600 to a 3600.. lol

Plus, there will be enough people streaming this for anyone without VR to enjoy the story until they can buy VR, hopefully.

 

[xkm1948]

It will be hard to mod for pancake monitors, but if anyone can do it then it will be the modders. I feel like I need to update my R5 2600 to a 3600.. lol

Plus, there will be enough people streaming this for anyone without VR to enjoy the story until they can buy VR, hopefully.

Nah I don't think it will be CPU bottlenecked. That 2070 will have plenty to chew on.

Have you looked at 2070 Step-up to 2070 Super? Just in case you need some additional boost without spending too much~