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

[xkm1948]

I wish I could, vr gives me motion sickness so unless they make a non vr version I'll never get to play it.

120 or 144hz from Valve Index does seem to drastically reduce motion sickness

 

[Mindweaver]

I wish I could, vr gives me motion sickness so unless they make a non vr version I'll never get to play it.

What all VR HMD's have you tired? My wife gets very motion sick as well. She couldn't use my DK1 for longer than a few minutes before she would get motion sick, but the Vive she can use for longer periods. She can still get sick from it but it's getting better. One thing I can't stress enough his just play in sessions and you'll start getting your "VR legs" and you'll get to play longer.

120 or 144hz from Valve Index does seem to drastically reduce motion sickness

Yea, the higher refresh rates is going to help vr a lot. I can honestly say though even with the Rift S's 80hz it feels good, but I can't wait to get something with a higher refresh rate. I want to buy an index but I may have to just settle with my Rift S for a while.. We just bought a new house so daddy's play funds are limited.. lol

 

[candle_86]

What all VR HMD's have you tired? My wife gets very motion sick as well. She couldn't use my DK1 for longer than a few minutes before she would get motion sick, but the Vive she can use for longer periods. She can still get sick from it but it's getting better. One thing I can't stress enough his just play in sessions and you'll start getting your "VR legs" and you'll get to play longer.


Yea, the higher refresh rates is going to help vr a lot. I can honestly say though even with the Rift S's 80hz it feels good, but I can't wait to get something with a higher refresh rate. I want to buy an index but I may have to just settle with my Rift S for a while.. We just bought a new house so daddy's play funds are limited.. lol

Tried the rift and vice at friends houses. Both make me sick within 10 minutes. I'm not going to buy others given the cost. If vr is the only option then I'll just read what happened on the half life wiki, and vr becomes a standard one day we'll I'll just play older games.

 

[Mindweaver]

WOW! I have to say this is by far the best VR game I've ever played! I'm just blown away at how good it is right from the start. I've only played a little over an hour. My time was limited yesterday.. We bought a new house (our signing was yesterday) and I made multiple trips taking stuff over to our new home. 9 times out of 10 when I would get done I would have just went to bed without playing.. but this is Half-life! lol I can't get over how you can interact with everything in the game. I mean it puts you on a balcony looking over the city with a Radio and you can turn the dial. It was amazing just looking out over the city and watching all of the stuff going on. It was so full of life compared to most VR games where it's just you in a world. The zen life on the walls is amazing. I can't wait to jump back in.

 

[Vayra86]

I have to admit I feel a little bit teased into buying an HMD now.

 

[Mindweaver]

I have to admit I feel a little bit teased into buying an HMD now.

Man, it looks amazing on my Rift S. I'm going to test out my Vive tonight to see how it looks. I would suggest getting even a cheaper Windows mixed reality hmd to play. It's that good.

EDIT: The windows Mixed reality HMD actually has a better resolution than the OG Vive. it just has a smaller FOV.

 

[Octavean]

Damn I want to buy HL:A. I might breakdown and buy it.

I have an Oculus Rift and an Oculus Quest. I wanted to upgrade the video card on my RyZen 3950X since its just an old GTX 970. However, I've heard that the GTX 970 can manage the game. The GTX 970 is about equivalent to the minimum suggested spec of a GTX 1060. With lower settings it should be OK.

Edit:

I was trying to wait for Ampere but also considered an RTX 2060 / 2070 Super. Just not sure now is a good time to upgrade the video card.

So no Ultra settings for me,....

 

[WhiteNoise]

I fired this up for the first time tonight. All I have to say is HOLY COW this is amazing. I've played some really awesome VR games but this has got to be the most amazing experience in VR yet. Just wow.

I read a lot of people having problems with motion sickness but I have none at all. Game is super smooth but maybe because I play a lot of FPS VR games so I'm used to it.

I have the old Rift and the Rift S. I only played it on the Rift S.

Tried the rift and vice at friends houses. Both make me sick within 10 minutes. I'm not going to buy others given the cost. If vr is the only option then I'll just read what happened on the half life wiki, and vr becomes a standard one day we'll I'll just play older games.

Not that this matters to you but when I first got into VR I suffered from motion sickness a lot. Some games were so bad that I would break out in a sweat and just feel sick to my stomach. I found that as I played more and more that I gradually adjusted to it and now I don't get sick at all and I do play a lot of free motion FPS games.

I'm not trying to talk you into it but thought I'd mention my experience.

 

[Octavean]

It's less common but some people can experience motion sickness from standard flat (pancake) games. Some people are just more susceptible to this then others.

Whenever this happens its important to discontinue playing at the first signs of discomfort. When it dissipates, continue playing. This tends to build up resistance in those that are prone to this so that they can play longer or eventually no longer feel the ill effects at all.

Doing anything else may reinforce susceptibility.

 

[Mindweaver]

I fired this up for the first time tonight. All I have to say is HOLY COW this is amazing. I've played some really awesome VR games but this has got to be the most amazing experience in VR yet. Just wow.

I read a lot of people having problems with motion sickness but I have none at all. Game is super smooth but maybe because I play a lot of FPS VR games so I'm used to it.

I have the old Rift and the Rift S. I only played it on the Rift S.




Not that this matters to you but when I first got into VR I suffered from motion sickness a lot. Some games were so bad that I would break out in a sweat and just feel sick to my stomach. I found that as I played more and more that I gradually adjusted to it and now I don't get sick at all and I do play a lot of free motion FPS games.

I'm not trying to talk you into it but thought I'd mention my experience.

I use to get sick playing my old Oculus Rift DK1 playing continuous motion games and some really badly made games. Then I bought a Vive and had zero motion sickness using teleporting or continuous. I have felt a little discomfort playing for long periods with some games using continuous motion, but on my Rift S I have had zero motion sickness with HLA using continuous motion. I do blame boneworks because that game gave me an iron stomach.. lol It's another amazing game.

But I can say that if you like half-life at all and don't have VR then this is the game to get you into VR. A lot of people have been holding out, but this is it. I've never been in a VR game that's had so much life everywhere. My youngest daughter loves watching me play. She doesn't like the bad guys, but when I get into a room with a lot of zen growth she loves playing around in the room with the Rift S. We like how everything reacts to us. I just can't say enough good things about the game.

 

[xkm1948]

Amazing non-spoiler review of Half Life Alyx

 

[WhiteNoise]

I finished the game yesterday. Clocked in right at 20 hours. I took my time searching every nook but my next playthrough I will push through faster. This was one fantastic experience!! I love this game. I do hope Valve gets off their butts this time and actually release another. They made the very best VR title to date.

 

[Mindweaver]

I finished the game yesterday. Clocked in right at 20 hours. I took my time searching every nook but my next playthrough I will push through faster. This was one fantastic experience!! I love this game. I do hope Valve gets off their butts this time and actually release another. They made the very best VR title to date.

I'm only 8 hours in and I am taking my time as well. So, I really don't know how far I am story-wise. I've stayed away from all spoilers.. haha I hope they are close to releasing the modding tools. I really thought I would play this using teleport, but I haven't got sick at all playing smooth locomotion. I really like the fact it has a mix of both where I can teleport long distances.

 

[WhiteNoise]

I typically hate teleporting in VR games so I was pleased this game offers both. Those Resins are in some odd spots so yeah i searched everything in this game to find them all. I didn't realize until maybe 4 hours in that i could open yellow chests. Figured they were just there so i know I missed a lot of resin those first 4 hours. Sitting here typing I just get all excited when thinking about this game. Started up my second play through last night.

 

[Mindweaver]

I typically hate teleporting in VR games so I was pleased this game offers both. Those Resins are in some odd spots so yeah i searched everything in this game to find them all. I didn't realize until maybe 4 hours in that i could open yellow chests. Figured they were just there so i know I missed a lot of resin those first 4 hours. Sitting here typing I just get all excited when thinking about this game. Started up my second play through last night.

Nice! yeah, I didn't know about the yellow chests until after a few hours myself... I know I've missed a lot of resin as well. It looks like we are close to getting the modding tools. When they release the modding tools that's going to be a game changer.

 

[Mindweaver]

I played last night and I stopped to go eat supper... It took me a minute to realize that I could not move my body with a thumbstick.. It felt really weird that I had to walk with my legs.. haha That's how real that game looks when you are playing it.

 

[Mindweaver]

I can't express enough how good this game is and how great it looks. I still just look and touch the Xen flora. My youngest daughter asked me if I was in the upside-down from Stranger Things. When you touch the flora it responds and moves and lights up.

Spoiler: no story

I'm at a part where this new flora blows stuff in the air and when you walk through it you need to cover your mouth... lol You actually put your hand in front of your mouth. haha

The level of detail is fantastic. If you have Index controllers you can crush bottles and cans by squeezing them. I'm 12 hours in so at the very least I have another 3 hours of play, but I'm taking my time so I figure I'll finish up around the 20-hour mark and the crazy part is that I know I've missed a lot in terms of just exploring.

 

[m6tzg6r]

It is a great game i really enjoyed it, i played through it twice. The only bad thing about this game is all the negative people complaining about it being VR only.

I don't think i have ever seen so many people freaking out about a game like this before due to VR exclusivity.

Across all media types there is content locked to one service or one piece of hardware and you take it or leave it. With Alyx people are losing their minds. Maybe they actually want to play it but don't have VR so they are bashing on it because they don't have the ability to play it.

 

[Mindweaver]

It is a great game i really enjoyed it, i played through it twice. The only bad thing about this game is all the negative people complaining about it being VR only.

I don't think i have ever seen so many people freaking out about a game like this before due to VR exclusivity.

Across all media types there is content locked to one service or one piece of hardware and you take it or leave it. With Alyx people are losing their minds. Maybe they actually want to play it but don't have VR so they are bashing on it because they don't have the ability to play it.

It reminds me of when we jumped from 2d gaming to 3d gaming in the mid-'90s. Half-Life: Alyx is like Mario 64 or Tomb Raider to me, because it really shows how good this platform can be and will be the future. I know and you know once the people complaining play it in VR they will love it and say it's the future... lol The biggest thing holding HLA back right now is that VR HMD Manufacturing has come to a halt.. Even the cheap Mixed reality HMD's are pretty much gone and scalpers are making a killing and have the means to buy up what is slowly popping up. Oculus seems to have a small batch coming in weekly, but it's all gone within hours.

Hopefully, they can figure out a way to build up stock at some point.

 

[Mindweaver]

I just finished it and holy crap it's amazing!

 

[Skywalker12345]

Cant wait! Just got my confirmation email that my Valve Index is shipping

 

[Mindweaver]

Cant wait! Just got my confirmation email that my Valve Index is shipping

I'm excited for you and can't wait to hear what you think of it and HLA! Will this be your first VR experience?

 

[Skywalker12345]

I'm excited for you and can't wait to hear what you think of it and HLA! Will this be your first VR experience?

Just got it yesterday, second time playing VR (last time was a Vive i think). Overall amazing experience, trying to get used to the adjustments for the head display as my glasses are getting in the way . Other than that zero complaints, Half Life Alyx is great as well! Super immersive.

 

[Deleted member 197986]

Just got it yesterday, second time playing VR (last time was a Vive i think). Overall amazing experience, trying to get used to the adjustments for the head display as my glasses are getting in the way . Other than that zero complaints, Half Life Alyx is great as well! Super immersive.

Consider https://vroptician.com/prescription-lens-inserts/valve-index/

 

[xkm1948]

Just got it yesterday, second time playing VR (last time was a Vive i think). Overall amazing experience, trying to get used to the adjustments for the head display as my glasses are getting in the way . Other than that zero complaints, Half Life Alyx is great as well! Super immersive.

Make sure to turn up that super sampling! Let your 2070S work!