Half-Life: Alyx fully playable without VR even on Steam Deck thanks to a mod

That’s great, more people should play it. I wonder if it holds up without VR, however.

Ooh, excellent! As someone who's got exactly zero interest in investing in anything VR, I'd always wished there was a non-VR version of this so I could at least play the thing, even if I'm missing out on gimmicks. Seems like I might have to take the plunge soon, then!

I love Half Life Alyx and I'm glad more people will get to experience it but I'm expecting people to play it like any old flatscreen game and then dismiss it as a mediocre shooter.

The best part about Alyx is it's tactility. The fact you can rest your hand on a wall and it doesn't just phase through, that you reload by reaching for ammo over your shoulder and shoving it into your gun, hiding behind cover during firefights by physically ducking, the god damn gravity gloves. Just throwing stuff around and flicking your wrist to pull it back to you is so fun, I don't see how that can translate to a traditional gaming setup.

I really wish Valve would port Alyx to PSVR2, then it's be more accessible but in a way that doesn't compromise the experience.

I love Half Life Alyx and I'm glad more people will get to experience it but I'm expecting people to play it like any old flatscreen game and then dismiss it as a mediocre shooter.

The best part about Alyx is it's tactility. The fact you can rest your hand on a wall and it doesn't just phase through, that you reload by reaching for ammo over your shoulder and shoving it into your gun, hiding behind cover during firefights by physically ducking, the god damn gravity gloves. Just throwing stuff around and flicking your wrist to pull it back to you is so fun, I don't see how that can translate to a traditional gaming setup.

I really wish Valve would port Alyx to PSVR2, then it's be more accessible but in a way that doesn't compromise the experience.

Spot on. Alyx was one of the first games I ever played in VR when I first bought my Index and that feeling of "being there" kind of set an expectation that wasn't delivered in other titles. The way the hands move to hold things as you brush against them honestly had me nearly leaning on them and falling over! Incredible immersion.

Great that Alyx is getting a wider audience, but there's so much in this game that won't translate well on a screen - thinking mainly of pretty much every scene that involves Jeff. Or painting on the windows in the very first room. Or seeing the walker nearly crush you, or, or, or. The VR experience is just amazing, but so difficult to put into words.


Last edited by scaine on 11 April 2023 at 8:58 pm UTC

Half Life is Half Life, must play

I'm begging y'all to not play the game like this. I understand the point of this mod but the game is entirely built around VR amd stripping such a core concite of the game out reduces what makes it so good. The total immersion in the environment and manipulation of items directly cannot just be removed without the game becoming a shell of it's former self.

i dont like this idea of moding an game to work outside of VR.
dont get me wrong acessibility is cool and all, but there is an big issue here:
its not the same thing.

you cant know how good an DS game is, without an Nintendo DS, using an mouse instead of an touch screen is not the samething, using an resistive touch screen that sink with the pen/stylus pressure is much better than using an phone screen with your fingers, at least for DS/3DS games.

Using an Wii with an wiimote or an motion game for switch with their motion sensors, is better than using an generic controler in the same game.
not to mention other things like stering whells.

this generation is hyper focused on graphics, but forgot everything else when it comes to games, like the importance of the gameplay of an game or even the input devices.
(not that everyone play shit games, but the discussion is never about the gameplay of an game but it graphics, that anyone can see how good they are just looking gameplay video)

and in this case, the imersion of VR covering your entire view will be break too.

i dont know, i think many people will comit 2 errors here:
1)not trying the real experience even when they can afford it, because they dont think its worth their money, but without trying they have no idea what they are missing to do a properly judgment of if its was worth.
2)even if they manage to experience the game as is later on, it will not be the samething, because they will have to get throught the frustation of adapting to the controls again on the same game and they will have spoiled the entire story.

so... i dont recomend it.
try it if you want but keep in mind that you arent having the true experience.

I'm begging y'all to not play the game like this. I understand the point of this mod but the game is entirely built around VR amd stripping such a core concite of the game out reduces what makes it so good. The total immersion in the environment and manipulation of items directly cannot just be removed without the game becoming a shell of it's former self.

Many people don't have the money for VR. That simple, man.

i think valve need to open "Arcade Houses", Arcades are still alive and doing fine on japan, and in the rest of the world they could try to allow people to play for free by waiting on a quee , so they can experience the VR device and purchase it right after.
it probably wont be sustainable to keep the arcade house free forever as many people will quit the quee once they get too large and will like the experience but not enough to pay for it, but once people are convinced that its a worth while experience, then the arcade house can become bigger, but no longer be free to use.

people nowadays arent used to the concept of renting games, bux xbox gamepass proved they are willing to do that if its way cheaper, and VR devices are way to expensive, no one wants to pay this fee to know if its worth it.

i dont think VR will skyrocket unless someone do "test drive" areas in big cities.

I love Half Life Alyx and I'm glad more people will get to experience it but I'm expecting people to play it like any old flatscreen game and then dismiss it as a mediocre shooter.

That's because gameplay-wise, VR offers practically nothing new.
The ability to use the camera and (up to) two hands independently of each other while in first person, yes.
Everything else is really just more clunky - just press ctrl vs having to physically duck, aim within milliseconds using the mouse vs seconds using your actual hand + head (please don't try to match mouse speed, you'll hurt yourself), etc. And nobody can tell me the "walking" in VR doesn't feel extremely weird - kind of makes you a camera with arms on rails / teleporter.

I get it, it's more immersive, no discussion here and I realize for some that's all they need - but immersion through graphics and controls is only going to last so long for most gamers.
That "whoa" passes and then? You are left with games that are limited by what your body can do physically, which is (except for the mentioned independence of your limbs from each other) actually less than what the abstraction through a keyboard or controller offers.
Which is why all VR games that are "made to run" VR-free end up feeling so lame and mediocre compared to other games in the same genre - cause that's what they are, as they have to be to accomodate the limitations of our wobbly, slow little bodies.

This might sound like I hate VR, I don't.
I actually appreciate it for the use it brings - I use it eg as a workout device that is vastly more enjoyable than doing "normal" workout.
And have you ever used it to digitally visit a house (some property companies offer that)? Pretty amazing.
And as a "story" device for games like Alyx. Can't beat the story immersion of VR.
But for gameplay? Nah, that honestly just feels like a step back, not forward.

tl;dr: If you want to experience Alyx, please use a VR device if you anyhow can. Even if it means not playing it at all until you can eventually afford that VR gear.
Or watch a playthrough of someone doing that - but careful, you might get dizzy because of the camera movement. At least that happens to me (and I don't get dizzy when actually using VR), not sure if that's a common phenomenon.

I feel bad, because I know a lot of people put so much effort into that conversion.
But playing the VR-free version is just going to make you feel bad about it, VR and non-VR games are just made differently and you'll lose so much while not gaining anything, really.


Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 12 April 2023 at 6:29 am UTC

But playing the VR-free version is just going to make you feel bad about it, VR and non-VR games are just made differently and you'll lose so much while not gaining anything, really.

What people are gaining is the ability to play the latest (and let's face it, quite possibly the last) chapter in only the best game series ever. Apart from being willing/able to shell out money for a VR kit, lots of people are simply unable to use it, because glasses or nausea or other problems.

I fully agree Alyx without VR is bound to be a fraction of its glorious self, but if the choice is to never experience the brilliance or to experience its shadow on a cave wall, I'll say go for it and kudos to these guys for making it happen.


Last edited by damarrin on 12 April 2023 at 9:00 am UTC

FINALLY you can play it without VR, yeah i understand its not optimal and whatnot but: Since i will never own a VR System, simply because its too expensive also the only game which interests me is HL-Alyx. Also i probably have not enough space in my Room to set up such system with how many things you need to use it optimal.

As it seems there isn't a .dll or .exe within the script. Can anyone try it with the native version? I really want to play this one without VR nonsense natively.

I'm not trying to be an "elitist" here (I am one of those who live in an "undeveloped country", after all) and I don't want to diminish the community effort behind this project (I love messing around with game mods!), but I would highly advise against playing the game this way. Besides all the immersion and tactility that is lost going from VR to "pancake" (traditional monitor), the level design, enemy AI and difficulty curve were all specifically fine-tuned with VR in mind, which translates into much more compact levels with easier and fewer enemies that works great for VR (your movement is slower and you can get overwhelmed by enemies much more easily otherwise) but become too easy and very boring outside VR. Not to mention all the puzzles that require very precise motion controls, which would be either unplayable or awful to control on pancake with mouse+keyboard or gamepad controls.

It's also worth noting that HL:Alyx is very well optimized, so you don't really need some crazy rig to play it. My friend used his Dell laptop with a GeForce 1060 (which is slower than the desktop version) and a first-gen Oculus Quest with Virtual Desktop (to play wirelessly) and managed to beat the game without many issues while still looking very good. Compared to the Steam hardware survey, these specs should be covered by the majority of PC gamers nowadays. Now about the VR headset itself, if you can't afford a new or used one, you could try to borrow it from a friend (which probably hasn't used it very often these past years, let's be honest) or search for a place that can rent it for a week or so. Yes, second-hand headsets are not ideal, but considering how lackluster the offering of good VR titles has been, it might be a better idea to get a headset just temporarily (maybe the PSVR2 could help change that in the near future, though).

I'm probably very biased on this subject, since I'm a big Half-Life fan, but first impressions matter a lot and playing this game without VR will for sure make the experience considerably worse and taint your experience even if you manage to play it in VR later on, so if you're determined to not use VR, I'm almost inclined to suggest you to just watch a let's play of the game on Youtube. You won't get be benefits of playing in VR but you also won't get all the problems of the translation from VR to pancake.

As it seems there isn't a .dll or .exe within the script. Can anyone try it with the native version? I really want to play this one without VR nonsense natively.

I understand "I can't afford it", "I get nausea" and even, to a lesser degree, "I don't want it". But "VR nonsense" is, well... nonsense. I don't own a VR device, but having tried it, it feels like climbing into the monitor and being inside the action after decades of just sitting on front of it and watching it. It's not suitable for everything, but where it is, it's a new level of gaming, comparable maybe to the change from pure text to images and from those to moving graphics. But I guess there's been people complaining about these "moving graphics nonsense" as well...

But "VR nonsense" is, well... nonsense.

Are you seriously got offended by someone else considered a tech nonsense? I did not call out people who use it nonsense or using it nonsensical. I find it nonsense and that ends there. Like it? Cool, use it but please don't take a tech personal, that's what tech giants want you to do.


Last edited by rea987 on 12 April 2023 at 1:40 pm UTC

it's a new level of gaming, comparable maybe to the change from pure text to images and from those to moving graphics.

Pffft.

At best, it's a new level of immersion. I'd only call it an improvement even there, but whatever.
But game mechanics themselves actually suffer because they have to accomodate the restrictions of human head & limb movement as well as the restriction of having to be in first person. Alyx itself is the best example - game's a walk in the park when you remove the need to fumble around with your hands and get superior mouse aim movement instead.
So much so that people keep saying about this mod "please only use it if you have to, it kinda ruins the game".

Like the Wii games of old, "difficulty" here mostly just comes from an input method that is inferior to what already exists in many ways. Of course, unlike Wiimote, there are definitely some advantages to VR controls and some concepts that are not possible outside of VR.

If a game makes you think "this would be so much easier if I was just using a mouse", you know something's fishy.


Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 12 April 2023 at 2:18 pm UTC

Are you seriously got offended by someone else considered a tech nonsense?

Belittling something that people have paid money for, enjoy and want to defend or promote is insulting and offensive, yes.

If a game makes you think "this would be so much easier if I was just using a mouse", you know something's fishy.

This makes no sense.

Obviously, reloading a weapon is so much easier if you just press a button instead of ejecting the clip, taking another one and inserting it. If only soldiers on the battlefield could do that.

REVIII is obviously so much easier with a pad or k/m than in VR. You just press buttons and your character does things automatically. Still, the VR version exists and has very different mechanics and is great. If you want to just sit on the couch and press buttons go right ahead, don’t diss people who enjoy doing something else.

Like the Wii games of old, "difficulty" here mostly just comes from an input method that is inferior to what already exists in many ways. Of course, unlike Wiimote, there are definitely some advantages to VR controls and some concepts that are not possible outside of VR.

Wolfenstein 3D is another example. It's lot easier if you can strafe and turn (with a mouse) at the same time instead of being stuck with the strafe modifier key.