Half-Life: Alyx - Final Hours details lots of cancelled Valve projects

The good news is, Valve don't sound done with Half-Life and that they're "not afraid of Half-Life no more" and future projects might even be outside of VR for the rest of us.

I'd rather prefer the opposite happened, that VR became cheap, accessible and compatible so that everybody would buy one set and enjoy the immersion and gameplay additions it offers.

While that might be true, VR is not a replacement for games. It is a separate thing with separate games. One thing is very clear to me is that there is no way to have both a normal and VR version. One will suffer because of the other. And since most of us don't really want to be wearing a headset all of the time, we need both to be a thing regardless of the price of VR systems.

"not afraid of Half-Life no more"

I understand that fear. HL3 couldn't ever have lived up to the enormous expectations.

how did you get it to run on proton? it has broken videos for me.

The good news is, Valve don't sound done with Half-Life and that they're "not afraid of Half-Life no more" and future projects might even be outside of VR for the rest of us.

I'd rather prefer the opposite happened, that VR became cheap, accessible and compatible so that everybody would buy one set and enjoy the immersion and gameplay additions it offers.

While that might be true, VR is not a replacement for games. It is a separate thing with separate games. One thing is very clear to me is that there is no way to have both a normal and VR version. One will suffer because of the other. And since most of us don't really want to be wearing a headset all of the time, we need both to be a thing regardless of the price of VR systems.

You are right, VR is a separated thing, same as 2D games and 3D games are. 2D games still appearing, and the new VR technology won't stop 3D or 2D keep be released. But to be honest, i can not imagine that next GTA will be 2D as the first releases, since they jumped to 3D is hard to go back. For this reason i really hope new Half Life become VR.

how did you get it to run on proton? it has broken videos for me.

Try Proton GE.

While that might be true, VR is not a replacement for games. It is a separate thing with separate games. One thing is very clear to me is that there is no way to have both a normal and VR version. One will suffer because of the other.

I would say though, that Alyx is a remarkably powerful demonstration that VR games doesn't have to be that different from other games. Yes the "interface" towards the game is different but in regards to content itself, I would say it is a demonstration that VR can be a "replacement" for other games (if I understand you correctly). VR gaming is not restricted to just simple arcade action and concepts revolving around basic physics.

So yes - the games needs to be tailored for the VR experience. Absolutely. But I dare say that any genre game can work in VR. So in that respect one could replace the other.


Last edited by Beamboom on 10 Jul 2020 at 11:49 am UTC

a VR game made with original Kerbal Space Program developers.

Whaaaaat? That might explain the KSP2 débacle to some extent.

To be honest, looks like the Kerbal people knows their shit in physics (less so in graphics eventually) so yeah would have made wonders with the physics pioneering Source engine team. :D

Hopefully they finish polishing Source 2 and give it to us so we can start a whole new mod golden era again. I was missing Source forts, Zombie master, Dystopia, Neotokyo, Project Valkyrie and it just so happens that half of them are now open source AND built for Linux as well (played zombie master this week).
(While thinking at this, source forts might have been fortnite ancestor...)

Spoiler, click me

That said I'll have no rest until I avenge Eli and get the Gman syndicate down.

Last edited by a0kami on 10 Jul 2020 at 1:45 pm UTC

first attempt at a VR headset with an estimated eye-watering $5K price tag

I would say Index's €1K price tag is still eye-watering. I check regularly on their site but they won't budge an inch, it's always €1K, take it or leave it

If you want something well done, do it yourself... I think the community should develop HL3.

I check regularly on their site but they won't budge an inch, it's always €1K, take it or leave it

Considering the fact that they struggle with meeting the demands, it's likely going to stay there for a while. I believe it's still several months delivery time.

If you want something well done, do it yourself... I think the community should develop HL3.

How about letting the community finish this one first! Open source projects do tend to take their time.

How about letting the community finish this one first! Open source projects do tend to take their time.

The FAQ is missing an entry about Linux...

Not sure if it's even mentioned in there, but I really was looking forward to In The Valley of Gods, which more or less was abandoned after the devs got absorbed by other, possibly more exciting Valve projects. I'd rather have that than any Half-Life, though :-).

If you want something well done, do it yourself... I think the community should develop HL3.

So, like, a group-storytelling fanfic?

Well let's look at the full half of the glass: It's a success!
Unlike the Steam Controller (RIP, sadly), and Steam Machines (RIP but meh), this one is actually a huge success.

Oh absolutely! I am very thrilled by this, I want to see as many on the VR train as possible, for it to keep pushing forth!

In the abstract, I generally think VR is a good thing. But I can't see it improving the strategy games I mostly play very much. Like, how much would Stellaris or Civilization or whatnot get from going VR? I guess I actually like my games fairly abstract.


Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 12 Jul 2020 at 4:49 am UTC

[If you were convinced by this example, I would say that: never use the limits of your own imagination as an argument or a point.

He didn't though, he actually literally asked: "how much would Stellaris or Civilization or whatnot get from going VR?"

I'm still struggling with VR. :/
Alyx as a game and the immersion IS AMAZING.
Yet, even with getting somehow used to the Index and not facing
heavy motion sickness anymore, I can only use it for about 30 mins at max.
This is always so exhausting (for me) ending in headaches and at least slight sickness. :/

In the abstract, I generally think VR is a good thing. But I can't see it improving the strategy games I mostly play very much. Like, how much would Stellaris or Civilization or whatnot get from going VR? I guess I actually like my games fairly abstract.

So, your argument is: "I can't see (imagine) it improving the strategy games...". And as you can't imagine, you seem to assume a way to do it doesn't exist, it is not possible to happen.

Look at this game.

Let me just stop you right there. I like some RTS. I spent a good deal of time back in the day playing original Starcraft; it's fun. But, despite the word being in there, they are not strategy games, they are tactical action games. My claim does not apply to them. I am perfectly capable of imagining ways in which VR could be applied entertainingly to RTS games.

If you were convinced by this example, I would say that: never use the limits of your own imagination as an argument or a point.

You think you're being deep, but you are not. Nobody ever does anything else but use the limits of their own imagination as an argument. There is no choice, that's what you have to work with.
Luckily, imagination is extensible--as soon as you get an example of something you hadn't imagined, you can imagine it. That's how you learn. But, sometimes, one's imagination about a topic is accurate.

The internet is vast and there are smart and creative people who can get deeply in a framework of thinking and get birth to powerful ideas and new ways of doing things. In other words, they outsmart everything you (and me) can personally imagine.

That's all very fine, but not every tool is suited to every job. Just by the by, I also can't imagine how someone could use Microsoft Bob to improve strategy games, nor do I think a really good IDE for the computer language R would improve strategy games much. There may be smart and creative people out there who could show me for the foolish philistine I am on these topics; I am satisfied to remain deluded until they actually make a great strategy game incorporating an IDE for R.

I remember once I got a brand new 4X space game, and it looked very very pretty. And instead of a flat technology tree, it was like this three dimensional thing, which looked really really cool and you could navigate around kinda. It took me a while to realize that actually, it wasn't conceptually any different--they'd just taken a flat tech tree and curved it so it looked more like a tube shape, the net effect being that it was a bit harder to see all the tech at once and more cumbersome to select one. And actually, the technologies weren't very interesting, and actually, the game kinda sucked.

So for instance, with VR it would be easier to do a 4X space game with a genuine three dimensional galaxy, where you'd walk around the stars and stuff. But what I'm not at all sure of is whether that would actually make it a better game or if it would just be a distraction from the decisions that make strategy games interesting.