Half-Life: Alyx, the first Half-Life title in far too long has now been officially revealed with the Steam store page for it now available and you can also pre-purchase. However, their email clearly stated that Half-Life: Alyx will be "Free for owners of the Valve Index VR headset".
This is a title built from the ground up for Virtual Reality, so only those with a VR kit will be able to play. Valve said it has "all of the hallmarks of a classic Half-Life game" including exploration, puzzle solving, visceral combat and a story that connects it all together with the Half-Life universe. Valve also said it will be compatible with "all PC-based VR headsets", it's powered by their own Source 2 game engine and it will release in March 2020.
You can see the trailer below:
Direct Link
From the press release sent to use earlier:
"Everyone at Valve is excited to be returning to the world of Half-Life", says Valve founder Gabe Newell. "VR has energized us. We've invested a lot of ourselves in the technology. But we're also game developers at heart, and to be devoting ourselves to a VR game this ambitious is just as exciting. For that to come in the form of Half-Life feels like the culmination of a lot things we care a lot about: truly great games, cutting edge technology, and open platforms. We can't wait for people to experience this."
If you end up buying Valve Index hardware before the end of 2019, Valve also said they will throw in a few bonuses which include:
- Explore environments from Half-Life: Alyx in your SteamVR Home space
- Alternate gun skins to embellish Alyx's arsenal
- Special Half-Life: Alyx-themed content for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2
There's also going to be a focus on community-created content as well, with a set of Source 2 tools that will be available with the game.
Some of the team at Valve had a chat with Geoff Keighley too, which you can see in this video.
Currently the Steam store page and the official site for Half-Life: Alyx only state Windows support. Since Source 2 and SteamVR do work on Linux, it might be that the state of SteamVR on Linux isn't good enough just yet. Hopefully they're working on it though! I've reached out to Valve to ensure it will see a Linux release too and will update you when I know.
Update 19:40 UTC: Valve press emailed back, they said "Right now we can only confirm windows for this product".
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Last edited by x_wing on 21 November 2019 at 6:24 pm UTC
No Linux support. Valve's VR doesn't support Linux at all, sadly.Yes it does, a number of our readers have a Vive and/or an Index and use it Linux. SteamVR works on Linux. They even have a GitHub tracker for Linux related issues.
The index controllers were already a game changer for me in terms of the level of immersion so I cannot wait to experience this with the full kit.
Last edited by drlamb on 21 November 2019 at 6:46 pm UTC
I'm not so much interested in the VR part
(simply because of the costs for the VR kit + capable PC),
but as a die-hard Half Life fan, this looks so fantastic...
I want a HL3 like that.
Last edited by sub on 21 November 2019 at 6:49 pm UTC
No Linux support. Valve's VR doesn't support Linux at all, sadly.Yes it does, a number of our readers have a Vive and/or an Index and use it Linux. SteamVR works on Linux. They even have a GitHub tracker for Linux related issues.
But this game won't support it directly, as far as it was announced.
Not sure what you're trying to say.No Linux support. Valve's VR doesn't support Linux at all, sadly.Yes it does, a number of our readers have a Vive and/or an Index and use it Linux. SteamVR works on Linux. They even have a GitHub tracker for Linux related issues.
But this game won't support it directly, as far as it was announced.
SteamVR works on Linux, Source 2 works on Linux.
Just this new game has so far only stated Windows and we're seeking confirmation.
It's a little bit confusing. According to its store page, SteamVR is Windows only. In reality SteamVR does run on Linux. It's advertised as Windows only because the Linux version of SteamVR is in beta. I know of one other application (Sven Co-op that does the same thing.No Linux support. Valve's VR doesn't support Linux at all, sadly.Yes it does, a number of our readers have a Vive and/or an Index and use it Linux. SteamVR works on Linux. They even have a GitHub tracker for Linux related issues.
But this game won't support it directly, as far as it was announced.
Half-Life: Alyx might launch with a Linux beta. We'll just have to wait for clarification.
Michael from Phoronix has anwsered me here that he has unofficial info, that it is in fact coming to Linux. Perhaps due to the beta state of VR on Linux, that's how it shows up?Ah yes, good old unofficial info that you're not confident enough to even mention in the article. I will wait for confirmation.
Michael from Phoronix has anwsered me here that he has unofficial info, that it is in fact coming to Linux. Perhaps due to the beta state of VR on Linux, that's how it shows up?Ah yes, good old unofficial info that you're not confident enough to even mention in the article. I will wait for confirmation.
I think it's very unlikely that it won't come to Linux.
It would seriously hurt their credibility of their whole Linux "strategy", won't it?
How would you convince other devs to bring your AAA flagship to Linux if you don't.
Then again, like Liam often and justified complained about Google's awful introduction of Stadia - why the h*ll would Valve be so amateurish to just forget Linux (and Mac) on the store page, if they were so serious about it? :/
Update 19:40 UTC: Valve press emailed back, they said "Right now we can only confirm windows for this product".
Ewww, as I said... This sounds worse to me than just a great game not being available as a native build for Linux. :/
Last edited by sub on 21 November 2019 at 7:44 pm UTC
This game will appear on linux. Other thing will be the performance. But it will show on linux.
Just guessing what could be a potential problem for Valve.
It's not just an announcement.
You can pre-order the game and pay real money.
That's why they feel pressured to put some systems requirements.
(Otherwise I'd say just leave it empty for now)
But judging from the specs of the Windows version,
the requirements for Linux will also be quite high.
While (I hate to say it) this won't be much of an issue
for Nvidia GPUs but the state of the current drivers for
the newer AMD Navi cards will have to improve over the next few month.
It might be that Valve didn't want to omit AMD just for a start
(they are stakeholders and contributing to the AMD Mesa driver, right?),
but also couldn't just yet definitely say it will work in March...(?)
Viktualius Nov 21, 2019
I'm going to buy this as soon as it's released for linux... If one company can deliver an experience I was hoping for with the new uprising of VR, it sure is Valve.
I can't wait...
.... I have to watch the trailer agein :D
This game will appear on linux. Other thing will be the performance. But it will show on linux.
Just guessing what could be a potential problem for Valve.
It's not just an announcement.
You can pre-order the game and pay real money.
That's why they feel pressured to put some systems requirements.
(Otherwise I'd say just leave it empty for now)
But judging from the specs of the Windows version,
the requirements for Linux will also be quite high.
While (I hate to say it) this won't be much of an issue
for Nvidia GPUs but the state of the current drivers for
the newer AMD Navi cards will have to improve over the next few month.
It might be that Valve didn't want to omit AMD just for a start
(they are stakeholders and contributing to the AMD Mesa driver, right?),
but also couldn't just yet definitely say it will work in March...(?)
Actually AMD gpu support for VR on Linux is better than Nvidia.
Nvidia doesn't support Async reprojection on Linux while RADV does.
Sil_el_mot Nov 21, 2019
and yes. i own a index and its working fine on linux. just most of the games doesn't :(
But with Proton getting better and better this will be solved soon, i am confident.
walther von stolzing Nov 21, 2019
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me