It appears Valve are truly getting more serious about Virtual Reality as they appear to be making their own headset. On top of that, apparently a new Half-Life VR game is coming.
Leaked to an imgur album, which contains multiple shots of the new hardware. These includes shots clearly showing a Valve logo:
The uploadvr website has claimed they have had it confirmed by various sources that it is in fact real. As someone who really wants to try VR, I am hopeful Valve will be able to give it a decent price. The current price for most VR hardware is simply out of reach for a lot of people, myself included.
Even more interesting, is that Valve are apparently working on a new Half-Life which will be a VR title. That certainly could be one way to push adoption, I imagine that would turn a few heads that otherwise wouldn't have been interested. Could backfire too of course, if it's VR-only. To keep expectations in check though, reportedly it's a Half-Life 2 prequel and not Half-Life 3.
Valve News Network also have this video up about the Half-Life game which is interesting:
Direct Link
Considering Microsoft is making moves buying up more studios and making another attempt to fix up the Windows Store, along with some bigger players leaving Steam like Activision, EA, Bethesda with the new Fallout and all this together should make Valve at least a bit worried. Their current growth will only last so long, if others continue to leave and become exclusive to other stores.
Valve obviously need to make moves of their own and it looks like doubling down on VR is what they had in mind. The amount of people that currently own a VR headset as reported on the Steam Hardware Survey is still extremely low (lower than the Linux share) so Valve really will need a decent price on it.
It does make you think about Valve's future plans. They're doing this new VR hardware, some new games and pushing Steam Play to get more games on Linux. Would it be too far-fetched to consider a new Steam Machine? One continued to be powered by their SteamOS Linux distribution that allows VR support out of the box along with a huge back catalogue of previously Windows-only games.
That's a pipe dream of mine though really and I'm basically thinking out loud at this point, as I'm sure it's just different teams working on their own thing. However, if it did all come together, that could be amazing.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: lelouchNo, exactly not. You deny to understand what I actually wrote about gaming, software, hardware, the industrie working mechanism. And that I see also, by you not getting the meaningless of being a HL3 or a Pre-HL2 VR or both or whatever. So please stop trolling now, I made the points very clear. My sparetime is too expensive to me for talking in circles about things everyone should get by their own.
In the end, believe that you want. I explained the whole thing more than once. Get it or not. Troll or not. Do a bit sports outdoors for fresh air.
I accept your appologies in 3 years, after you saw what valve will be really doing in the end.
h.a.n.d.
I'm not trolling. It's not meaningless. It's important.
Take Star Wars. Everybody gets to watch Episode 9 next year. Nobody gets excluded, because everybody just has to watch the movie. People just want to see how the story goes on. (Star Wars haters not included).
But there are exclusive canon Star Wars experiences in other formats. Some are VR only. That's fine. They expand the universe and it's not required to understand the main storyline.
Releasing HL3 only in VR would be the same as releasing Star Wars episode 9 not in cinemas, but only as a VR experience. That would be a huge "fuck you" to the audience.
Quoting: kuhpunktYou're derailing my argument, because you speak so much about the hardware. I'm speaking about HL3. That was the only thing I brought up.
If you want to look at the software independent of the hardware, all half-life titles would have to run on 1998 hardware.
Or as an analogy: you liked the Legend of Zelda game? Well, then you have to adopt new base hardware for every other title. If you owned a NES, there are only two titles the box is able to run. Want to play A Link to the Past or Link's Awakening? Either buy the newer consoles or miss out.
Quoting: GoboQuoting: kuhpunktYou're derailing my argument, because you speak so much about the hardware. I'm speaking about HL3. That was the only thing I brought up.
If you want to look at the software independent of the hardware, all half-life titles would have to run on 1998 hardware.
Or as an analogy: you liked the Legend of Zelda game? Well, then you have to adopt new base hardware for every other title. If you owned a NES, there are only two titles the box is able to run. Want to play A Link to the Past or Link's Awakening? Either buy the newer consoles or miss out.
A VR headset is not a new console. A new console is the natural evolution.
Your analogy doesn't fit.
It would be like... you liked Uncharted 1-3 on the PS3? Great. Now we have the PS4 and Uncharted 4 will be on that, because the PS3 is too old. Natural evolution of hardware. Oh, you want to play Uncharted 5? Sorry, that's only on PSVR. Spend another couple of hundred bucks, so you will see where the story goes.
And even your newest "argument" is pointless. HL2 dates back more than a decade, of course players are expected to bring new hardware to run a new title in the series. You are contradicting yourself.
Quoting: GoboYou are derailing the whole discussion, the article clearly states that this is not about HL3.
I never said it's about HL3. I literally said I'm baffled by people who think that HL3 will be a VR title. That's what people (like you) argued against.
Quoting: GoboAnd even your newest "argument" is pointless. HL2 dates back more than a decade, of course players are expected to bring new hardware to run a new title in the series. You are contradicting yourself.
You can't compare an accessoire to a new basis. Sony didn't release God of War 3 exclusively for the Playstation Move controller.
I can't see any way VR won't always be a niche gadget.
Quoting: kuhpunktQuoting: lelouchQuoting: kuhpunktI'm still baffled how many people think that HL3 would be a VR game. That makes no sense and would be a very very dumb idea.
No, it wouldn't. Obviously Valve is waiting for the right time - VR is affordable for everyone in the future like it was for smartphones (2007) at some point, and the internet and computers in the past and so on ....
So? That's still dumb. That's like making 2 movies and then releasing the third part of the story as a card game.
No, it's like releasing the third part for IMAX-theatres, but not for normal ones.
Every first-person perspective game would be basically better with VR, unless it needs a lot of GUI. The Problem is that some people don't realize that most games want to be played from the couch, and not while standing up and walking around the room.
Quoting: linux_gamerWhy the heck print the Logo on the PCB of a pre-series device? To me that seems to be quite negligent. The project code name and the hw revision should be well enough as only the project team and suppliers need to know.
Fair point, although that's probably better for copyright protection. I know I always write it, or the name of the company. Plys, who knows? That could be a near-final run?
I'm thrilled about this. I've been waiting for the next generation of VR experience to jump in, that sounds more like it. And I always thought a game set in the seven hours war (other wiki of the Half-Life universe would be extremely interesting. I'd like to see Dr. Breen as the good guy, also, somehow.
Edit: about glasses, I am pretty sure most vision defects could be accounted for by the headset itself, by adjusting the focal point of the lenses, and the transform algorithm.
Last edited by MayeulC on 11 November 2018 at 4:50 pm UTC
Quoting: SeegrasNo, it's like releasing the third part for IMAX-theatres, but not for normal ones.
The only problem is that IMAX theatres are kinda rare, but the experience is still pretty much the same. Otherwise there are no other hurdles. You don't need to buy a 500$ accessoire to enter an IMAX theatre.
Quoting: SeegrasEvery first-person perspective game would be basically better with VR, unless it needs a lot of GUI.
That is far from the truth. Imagine Quake 3 in VR. How are you supposed to move? That just doesn't work. VR is its own thing.
Mountain Man Nov 11, 2018
Quoting: GuestOn a more positive note, in the niche market of flight simulators, i have seen people excited by VR.That's the one area where VR has a chance to shine. Otherwise, they have no mass market appeal. I anticipate that VR will always be a high-dollar niche product for the "hardcore" crowd.
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