So... how come no one talks about Half Life: Alyx anymore?

[JZStudios]

6 minutes ago, tikker said:

I must say physics does add a surprising amount to the experience (or detracts when it isn't there) and throwing around stuff is quite fun, but I felt the same in general. At some point you need something more besides physics. Regarding HL:A there is quite some nostalgia from the series of course, but I still think that was Valve flexing a bit to show what VR can do.

I don't know. I can throw shit around my room too, but it's never been that exciting to me. I mean, I enjoy stuff like BeamNG and fun physics sandboxes, but you never really mess with them for more than ~30 minutes max. And you don't even need VR for those.

Maybe Alyx is cool, but there's inherent problems I see with shooters in VR that I think would make it pretty boring. VR doesn't seem much past this point overall:

 

Even with more games like HLA, it still has these inherent problems I don't think will ever really go away without having to dress up and dedicate a room to it.

[Giganthrax]

5 hours ago, Heliian said:

What?  Compared to buying a ps5 or a good graphics card, it's like shooting fish in a barrel.  

 

Quest2 64gb and a Chromecast dongle for the tv was less than $500.  

You can actually go and buy one today at msrp from a retailer.  There is no barrier. 

Does that $500 include the price of the gaming PC you need to run smooth VR?

 

Dont kid yourself, thats a massive barrier to entry. I'd always rather purchase a console than a VR set that only really works with a few select games, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone.

[Sauron]

9 hours ago, Man said:

Alyx is still pretty much the "only" game worth playing on the $999 Valve Index, as far as most people are concerned at least.

There you go, maybe not that many people are interested in spending a grand on the Index (plus the price of the computer required to run it) just to play a single decent game.

[tikker]

1 hour ago, JZStudios said:

I don't know. I can throw shit around my room too, but it's never been that exciting to me. I mean, I enjoy stuff like BeamNG and fun physics sandboxes, but you never really mess with them for more than ~30 minutes max. And you don't even need VR for those.

Maybe Alyx is cool, but there's inherent problems I see with shooters in VR that I think would make it pretty boring. VR doesn't seem much past this point overall:

 

Even with more games like HLA, it still has these inherent problems I don't think will ever really go away without having to dress up and dedicate a room to it.

You don't have to clean up the mess after throwing it around but seriously I do find the interactability VR offers to be very different from that same interactability on mouse+keyboard or controller. It's also not the most interesting to watch often because of its nature. Things like The Room which they show in that video briefly heavily lean on the fact that you experience it. Horror and scary stuff works exceptionally well in VR I find, because of the inescapability. It's not a screen you can turn away from, the screen is glued to your eyes which makes it very real all of a sudden.

 

I will admit I'm not hard to entertain when it comes to tech like this. Give me a fun or interesting experience and I can be like a kid in a candy store. It is a niche, I do agree, and I think it will stay that way for a long time. You're just not going to see a DOOM Eternal in VR at the same level as PC as you'd have to get rid of wires and have to have god like moves in real life to slay that hard.

[LogicalDrm]

-> Moved to PC Gaming

[mr cheese]

2 hours ago, Sauron said:

There you go, maybe not that many people are interested in spending a grand on the Index (plus the price of the computer required to run it) just to play a single decent game.

 

2 hours ago, Sauron said:

Alyx is still pretty much the "only" game worth playing on the $999 Valve Index, as far as most people are concerned at least.

if you actually believe this you are out of touch to an embarrassing level. Again. The Quest 2 is cheaper than most Consoles and has VR Chat, Beat Saber, Rec Room, Virtual Desktop/Link/AirLink if you want PC VR, among a plethora of other games too. Alyx is not really the "only" game worth playing, VR is no longer a luxury product with a $1k price tag, and the year isn't 2018. I'm not trying to be toxic here either, it's just a mindset people are still trapped in that's simply not true anymore. There's more to VR as a platform than people give it credit for and that's mildly annoying to me from a tech adoption standpoint

2 hours ago, Giganthrax said:

Dont kid yourself, thats a massive barrier to entry. I'd always rather purchase a console than a VR set that only really works with a few select games, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone.

The Quest 2 is a cheap console that works with about as many "select games" as the average user actually plays and comes back to in their standard Steam/Console game library

[mr cheese]

2 hours ago, Caroline said:

It's an exclusive game. Only a few gaming enthusiasts can actually play something like this, not only you need a VR kit that's expensive af but you also need an, and being realistic here, ultra high end computer to be able to actually use the VR kit without the game running at 10 FPS or very low resolution.

The 1050ti can run a Quest 2 on Alyx with about 45 FPS at low-medium settings. Anyone with a 1060 or better can get a half-decent VR experience that'll average at least 60FPS on medium-high with Alyx. 

 

This is what I'm talking about. This isn't 2018, things are evolving and it's not all expensive and crazy, it's actually extremely entry-friendly as of late whether or not you have a crazy ass gaming PC or simple mid-range, and there's even a handful of Quest compatible games that can do a whole ass 120Hz if you only have a laptop. Again, it's a $300 standalone console, so you don't even need a computer at all to get into VR right now and you'd spend as much as a Series S

 

This video is from 4 years ago which just makes this even funnier

2 hours ago, JZStudios said:

 

 

[tikker]

1 hour ago, DaJakerBoss said:

Alyx is not really the "only" game worth playing, VR is no longer a luxury product with a $1k price tag, and the year isn't 2018.

I interpreted their statement more as Alyx being the biggest incentive to shell out $999 for an Index, not that it's the only game worth playing... As you mention the Quest is a bit cheaper and can run stuff like Beat Saber and what not just fine, but VR is currently still at an unattractively steep price point for the amount of content you get.

56 minutes ago, DaJakerBoss said:

The 1050ti can run a Quest 2 on Alyx with about 45 FPS at low-medium settings.

45 FPS in VR isn't exactly a great experience... I tune my settings to stay above 60 at minimum* and aim to get as close as I can or above the 90 Hz of the Vive's screen so that it stays comfortable. * Forgot reprojection kicks in if you don't hit it, so yeah I want to hit 90, because I definitely notice it when it drops.

[Donut417]

10 hours ago, Heliian said:

Quest2 64gb and a Chromecast dongle for the tv was less than $500.  

You can actually go and buy one today at msrp from a retailer.  There is no barrier. 

Doesnt that headset require Facebook? Not every one has Facebook. Or what if the Facebook Police dont like what you say and ban your account? You do know you will loose access to this device, as it requires an active Facebook account, at least as the last time I looked. The other headsets on the market are much more expensive. 

[JZStudios]

2 hours ago, DaJakerBoss said:

The 1050ti can run a Quest 2 on Alyx with about 45 FPS at low-medium settings. Anyone with a 1060 or better can get a half-decent VR experience that'll average at least 60FPS on medium-high with Alyx. 

 

This is what I'm talking about. This isn't 2018, things are evolving and it's not all expensive and crazy, it's actually extremely entry-friendly as of late whether or not you have a crazy ass gaming PC or simple mid-range, and there's even a handful of Quest compatible games that can do a whole ass 120Hz if you only have a laptop. Again, it's a $300 standalone console, so you don't even need a computer at all to get into VR right now and you'd spend as much as a Series S

 

This video is from 4 years ago which just makes this even funnier

 

I thought the minimum aim of VR was supposed to be 90fps? And of the Beat Sabers and VRChats the only thing remotely interesting I'd want to play would be HLA, and I've never played the predecessors so I couldn't care less about the franchise. Nothing about VR chat interests me, I'd very much rather actually talk to people in person. And isn't there a non-VR mode? Beat Saber is just a high effort rhythm game and I'm way too lazy for that.

 

And very little of what's shown in that video is irrelevant now. Sure, some stuff has gotten better, but if your major game seller is fucking VR chat and Beat Saber I'm not buying it. You still need a large room to play in, you still look like a dork, the interactions are fundamentally flawed... the list goes on.

 

19 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

Doesnt that headset require Facebook? Not every one has Facebook. Or what if the Facebook Police dont like what you say and ban your account? You do know you will loose access to this device, as it requires an active Facebook account, at least as the last time I looked. The other headsets on the market are much more expensive. 

Another reason to not buy it. I want nothing to do with Facebook.

[Sauron]

17 hours ago, DaJakerBoss said:

The Quest 2 is cheaper than most Consoles and has VR Chat, Beat Saber, Rec Room, Virtual Desktop/Link/AirLink if you want PC VR, among a plethora of other games too. Alyx is not really the "only" game worth playing, VR is no longer a luxury product with a $1k price tag, and the year isn't 2018.

Quest 2 or not you still need a powerful (and expensive) graphics card. And a console isn't that cheap... it's not really a good investment either if you only intend to use it for a couple of games. I don't know how many games are or are not worth playing on VR, I was just going off the OP - though the ones I have tried have been underwhelming, at best a novelty that's fun the first couple of times and no longer than that. Regardless I think we can agree that Alyx on its own wouldn't really get that many people to buy a VR headset.

[Kilrah]

13 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Quest 2 or not you still need a powerful (and expensive) graphics card.

You don't need anything since there's a ton of games that play standalone on the Quest itself. 

 

You've got the option of using it with a PC as well, but your post is like saying "well you bought a Nintendo switch, you paid $350 but you still need a PC and graphics card to play PC games"...

[Master Delta Chief]

19 hours ago, DaJakerBoss said:

The 1050ti can run a Quest 2 on Alyx with about 45 FPS at low-medium settings. Anyone with a 1060 or better can get a half-decent VR experience that'll average at least 60FPS on medium-high with Alyx. 

 

This is what I'm talking about. This isn't 2018, things are evolving and it's not all expensive and crazy, it's actually extremely entry-friendly as of late whether or not you have a crazy ass gaming PC or simple mid-range, and there's even a handful of Quest compatible games that can do a whole ass 120Hz if you only have a laptop. Again, it's a $300 standalone console, so you don't even need a computer at all to get into VR right now and you'd spend as much as a Series S

 

This video is from 4 years ago which just makes this even funnier

 

I've been looking lately at some HLA posts trying to find a reasonable working non-VR mod so I can experience some of the story at least on my own and almost every single time I see someone like you post this similar crap. A 1050 Ti may be able to run HLA, but it isn't the recommended specs for it plus 45 fps is NOT something you want to have in VR.  For a decent experience you need at least 90 or tops 120 fps without feeling motion sickness otherwise. VR Elitists seem to think that getting a good GPU is actually viable these days.

 

While the Quest 2 can be used standalone, it's worth noting that the majority of people would likely buy it for the purpose of playing it with a PC. That said though, it's likely the Oculus Store has a few popular VR titles that are also available on PC. 

 

Something else you should keep in mind is that not all VR headsets (primarily cheap ones) are easily purchasable worldwide. And when you want to get one from another country through import, you'd likely have to pay a lot more than what it is worth. 

[mr cheese]

10 hours ago, Master Delta Chief said:

For a decent experience you need at least 90 or tops 120 fps without feeling motion sickness otherwise. VR Elitists seem to think that getting a good GPU is actually viable these days.

Without a doubt I agree yeah, you are still going to need decent hardware and you're not going to want to nor enjoy a 45FPS experience, the point I'm trying to make is that there's a decent bottom-line. I actually have to redact my original FPS claim here, there's videos of the 1060 6GB pushing 90Hz with ultra settings with a Quest 2. You don't really need a monster for VR, the 1060 6GB can do it decently enough, other cards can too, to a somewhat reasonable extent. Good GPUs certainly aren't a thing many people can buy today but anyone with an RX 580/1060 6GB or better can get a fairly decent VR setup on now-mid-budget-tier hardware.

 

10 hours ago, Master Delta Chief said:

While the Quest 2 can be used standalone, it's worth noting that the majority of people would likely buy it for the purpose of playing it with a PC. That said though, it's likely the Oculus Store has a few popular VR titles that are also available on PC. 

It's actually worth noting that the Quest 2 was advertised as a family console for the house meant to be used standalone and the majority of "average users" this device is advertised to and those who consume it are actually just your average joe families with no computers. So I would actually counter with the fact that while inside our gaming bubble and knowledgeable corner people are buying it for the PC, the majority of adoption is happening way out of reach of SteamVR and until Facebook produces user metrics it's really not possible to tell the extent of that.

 

10 hours ago, Master Delta Chief said:

VR Elitists seem to think that getting a good GPU is actually viable these days.

also not sure why you're calling me a VR elitist?

[Kilrah]

14 hours ago, Master Delta Chief said:

For a decent experience you need at least 90 or tops 120 fps without feeling motion sickness otherwise.

And the "you can't do VR with <90fps or you get motion sickness!" is what VR "theoricists" say, was the old argument against VR but has been more than debunked over the past years.

 

Of course it's not what we would choose if we had the choice, but it's not a problem to be flying aerobatics in FS2020 in VR at 30-40fps.

[-ism]

Half-Life is a really special franchise for a lot of people and I would assume (perhaps incorrectly) that most of those people wouldn't want to spoil the game for themselves. This is why I haven't watched any content about it whatsoever.

[jones177]

It looked great and ran better on my system than the YouTube reviews I watched.

To me it turned out to be a "things that want to jump on your head shooter" so it got very old very quick. It also did not like the Rift much so death was usually by interface.

If I get a new VR setup or they made a sequel I would reinstall it and try to get through it.    

[GamerDude]

I think it's simply because it's VR only, not many have gone the VR route, my rig is more than powerful enough but I sure as heck haven't!

[QuantumSingularity]

Here is my take on the current situation with VR - it's till a gimmick. It's basically at the stage at which the laptops were in the late 90s and early 2000s - it's better than the first generation, but still with more negative experience than positive and many shortcomings, price being just one of them. Then we get into the technical part. Manufacturers can't even decide yet which is the best way to control your movement through the game. Their controllers are all over the place and make no sense whatsoever. Capturing the moves is still at least few generations away from being good enough. The games which one would like to play AND are currently VR compatible can be counted on one hand. Which brings us to the final reason - game engines. Graphics are at the level they were back in the mid to late 2000s. This simply doesn't cut it in a time when stuff like Ray Tracing is just taking the wheel in game development. Hitboxes and movement replication in-game are barely above miserable. The only games that at the moment could be easily converted to VR and have no problem with the movement tracking, hitboxes and engine are racing games. The problem there is most of them died off because studios made them into a a fast cashgrab with no entertaining value whatsoever. I used to play every single racing game that came along back in the mid to late 2000s. Now i don't even know if they make NFS anymore. Racing sims also require you to have a descent rig if you want to not be trashed completely when you go online and a good direct drive wheel base (that's just the motor w/o the actual wheel, pedals and shifter) starts from €1000. And when you add to all of the above the fact that VR requires a hefty GPU, the current shortage certainly helped driving one more nail into the coffin. VR surely has its time, it's just still far away. 

 

As for Half Life Alyx in particular - this was a PR stunt from Valve to advertise their VR set. They might've had the tiniest possible amount of interest in checking the soil for another half-life game (aka Half-Life 3). If the majority of gamers were willing to buy and entire headset just to play that one game, then maybe it's worth taking a shot with HL3, but i bet seeing the reception Cyberpunk had by the fans, they immediately scratched any plans they had about any possible continuation in the near future.

[dexterdj]

There is an easy answer to this question.  When Steam first launched, They had a gold plated box - Platinum edition which came with Half-Life: Source and all the other games were given the defined - "source" label.  I played many versions of Half-Life and I think that the story has been fully washed down with many colas.  I played the game, would spend time being confused or stuck, figure things out and by that time, I was tired of this story.  I like the games, but since the early 2000s, They have been really actively pushing the game franchise.  It's time to play something new.  

[Kilrah]

On 6/9/2021 at 7:08 PM, Master Delta Chief said:

While the Quest 2 can be used standalone, it's worth noting that the majority of people would likely buy it for the purpose of playing it with a PC.

One outlet has recently mentioned that the Q2 would have sold "3 times more units than all previous 6DOF headsets combined" so if that's any close to the truth when correlated with Steam data it would suggest that it's indeed reaching its target market and the majority of Q2s never see use with a PC. 

[GaroldCrash22]

I think it's because there are more interesting games. The industry isn't standing still and I think people are just interested in a different genre of games