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

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.

Just in case you were wondering: We are talking about video games here.
Otherwise, we can start talking about how it doesn't really hurt when you get shot in an FPS... or any of the other things in games that are not actually like in real life.

Specifically, we are talking about a first person shooter.
Putting something in VR doesn't change its genre. It just changes the camera and/or controls.

Reloading in a first person shooter has been around for.. eh... 30 years?
Yeah, it's the press of a button. Got that figured out a few decades ago.
Introducing additions to the process isn't even something VR-specific. You could easily do that with a keyboard as well - and now comes the kicker: Why do you think that isn't done? Some food for thought.

You can argue it is done for immersion. And I'd even agree.
But that comes at a cost, which I described.

If you want to just sit on the couch and press buttons go right ahead, don’t diss people who enjoy doing something else.

I don't sit on a couch while gaming. Usually.
And I also didn't diss anyone.
Are you maybe projecting something here?


Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 12 April 2023 at 2:42 pm UTC

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.

Absolutely!

And once we had mouse aiming established, games became a lot more difficult because of it.
The player got "stronger" and the enemies had to follow suit or the games would have become too easy.
It would be a severe challenge to try and get through some later FPS without mouse aim - might be funny to try, though. Doom Eternal run?

Removing the VR from Alyx is the same thing - except I don't think the mod actually makes enemies more dangerous to balance the more powerful player, hence the game becomes a lot easier that way.


Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 12 April 2023 at 2:49 pm UTC

This was the one thing that made me regret not having VR, not being able to play this half life game. I'll probably get this now, just so I can see it.

I likely will never get a VR headset. Not only don't I like gimmicky devices, but I don't need that kind of stimulus, I have enough trouble without it. (for one example racing games, I mean actually trying, not just free driving, will wind up my nervous system).

Most devs don't bet the farm on it... they make their games playable without it. Exclusivity leads to limited sales (Valve has another trick... making games isn't where their money comes from, moreover, they worked with a tired old game engine for decades and their success was viable multiplayer, and mods, bling currencies and gamer friendly policies etc. that kept their games going).

OT, but that reminded me of this. The source engine (both versions) was so bad, loading thousands and thousands of little files from many SDK archives, that Valve started trying to market ramdisk software lol! (before SSD's were commonplace in consumers' hands). I thought WhyTF would Valve be spinning wheels on this for? Then it dawned on me... the source engine games would greatly benefit from this. That used to come up in my Store feed, I found it amusing. The Store page is still there for reference, but there's no buy buttons or anything.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/337070/Dimmdrive__Gaming_Ramdrive__10000_MBs/

If you want to just sit on the couch and press buttons go right ahead

when im in VR i am flying on my couch.

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.

It's not the cost that's keeping people away but lack of interest. VR is running into the same brick wall as 3D television: people simply don't care.

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.

It's not the cost that's keeping people away but lack of interest. VR is running into the same brick wall as 3D television: people simply don't care.

Exactly this.
If you can afford a PC that could run Alyx, you could affort a VR headset. Nobody needs a Valve Index to get into VR.
Hell, if you can throw the 60$ at the game, you could just not do that for a few months, save it up and afford a VR headset later.
It's still very much in the region of money people tend to throw at hobbies.

The "I don't have the money" in most cases really means "I don't care enough to save up the money", which is fair enough, of course - not blaming anyone.
People who really don't have the money aren't gonna spend their time worrying about VR to begin with, and, well... they are not the target audience, either, obviously.

A much more valid point is lack of space IMO.
In many countries, living space is nowadays not only an expensive commodity, but simply a rare one.
And for VR, you definitely need some space. I'm living in a pretty average sized flat for the country (2 peepos, 70m²) - and we can barely fit the space for VR, have to move our couch around each time someone uses it or would risk just bumping into stuff.

Maybe we just have a lot of space-intensive stuff (definitely have a huge space need for musical and sewing hobbies), I'm not sure.


Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 13 April 2023 at 6:01 am UTC

It's not the cost that's keeping people away but lack of interest. VR is running into the same brick wall as 3D television: people simply don't care.

Perhaps, but I suspect it's the cost. If it was a lack of care, I doubt Sony would be hyping their new VR kit, nor would Meta be hyping their shitty metaverse. Anyone who's tried (good) VR and didn't feel sick wants more of it, but the cost is still sky high.

If you can afford a PC that could run Alyx, you could affort a VR headset. Nobody needs a Valve Index to get into VR.

The price of the Index kit on Steam is still the same as I paid three years ago - £919. That's only slightly less than I paid for my (then) PC with its 32Gb RAM, AMD 3900X and Sapphire RX5700, a (then) top end spec. Don't know how much you earn, but that's way (WAY) outside of "hobby" funds for me.

So I'll say it again - it's the cost that prevents wider uptake.

Sony VR 2 is roughly £550 - still £75 more expensive than an actual PS5. So again, the cost will massively restrict the market.


Last edited by scaine on 13 April 2023 at 8:14 am UTC

In my opinion, the biggest problem of VR is that people do not image how good it is until they test it. The second problem is the lack of appealing titles for "casual" players, i.e. AAA titles.

Got this game for ages in my library and still have not played it. It might be time to finally mess about with VR in linux for the first time. I'm guessing my Vive will just work, if not I am taking my complains to Valve


Last edited by Holzkohlen on 13 April 2023 at 10:08 am UTC

It's not the cost that's keeping people away but lack of interest. VR is running into the same brick wall as 3D television: people simply don't care.

Perhaps, but I suspect it's the cost. If it was a lack of care, I doubt Sony would be hyping their new VR kit, nor would Meta be hyping their shitty metaverse. Anyone who's tried (good) VR and didn't feel sick wants more of it, but the cost is still sky high.

"If people didn't care, then the companies wouldn't be hyping it" is backwards logic. They're hyping it because they want people to care. That's the whole point of advertising.

I don't think VR will outright fail, but I do think it will always remain a niche product simply due to a widespread lack of interest. The best example of this was at my local Microcenter: When the VR hype first began, they had a prominent demo setup in the center of the store and several shelves dedicated to VR gear. If you wanted to try the demo, you had to get in line. A few months later, the line was gone, and the shelves of VR products had been reduced to a single shelf. A few months after that, the demo area was removed, and VR equipment was relegated to a couple of small end cap displays.


Last edited by Mountain Man on 13 April 2023 at 9:20 pm UTC

Anyone who's tried (good) VR and didn't feel sick wants more of it, but the cost is still sky high.

Nah. Plenty people tried at this point and it's just not something they care a lot about.

You could give it away for free and it still wouldn't become the next big thing (though obviously it would grow a lot).
Unless you somehow remove the need to have a big "thing" on your head, remove the need for extra space, remove the awkward movement solutions and bunch of other things that simply won't ever get resolved unless we enter Star Trek holodeck technology era and that aren't even really related to the quality of games, it will always remain limited (in how attractive it is to people).


Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 13 April 2023 at 1:37 pm UTC

Anyone who's tried (good) VR and didn't feel sick wants more of it, but the cost is still sky high.

Counterexample: I've demoed a Vive once or twice, and played through I Expect You To Die 1 and (most of) 2 on a friend's PSVR, which I would consider to be quite good VR games that take advantage of the format well. I have zero problems with motion sickness. (Like, ever; I'm currently considering getting into FPV drone flying, even.) I also have zero interest in getting any sort of VR system for gaming.

I don't have anything against it, or people who enjoy it. Good on yah, there's some interesting experiences it can provide that are difficult or impossible to get otherwise. But it's not the case that every person out there just needs a good experience with it to be instantly converted. Some will, some of us remain uninterested.

Or watch a playthrough of someone [playing Half-Life: Alyx] - 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.

Yeah, I don't enjoy watching feeds of people's views in VR* because it constantly jitters around all over the place as it tracks the normally imperceptible micro-movements of peoples heads (obviously it's fine for the person with the headset screen at a fixed location from their eyes). We need some sort of Rockstead/Reelsteady/Gyroflow for VR footage to smooth out all the micro-jitter and make it easier to watch for the people who aren't in the headset. 🙂 (Actually, I wonder if you could get the position information from the headset and put the footage through Gyroflow somehow? 🤔)

*Though I do it occasionally from various Youtubers I follow, and have actually watched something like the first 45 minutes of Half-Life: Alyx.

This is perfect for ppl like me who will never ever consider VR for gaming. IMO VR for only gaming purpose is degeneracy.
Just imagine seeing someone looking around at nothing for hours, in delusional world, touching basically the air and drowning in nothingness... being eaten alive by technology all that for a video game.. it is below human dignity IMHO and for me at least will be a no go for eternity :)
So I'm grateful for this mod!

IMO VR for only gaming purpose is degeneracy.

Let me just say that VR seems to be pushing buttons on some people.

Just imagine seeing someone looking around at nothing for hours, in delusional world,

I do that all the time. I call it "reading a book". I think you're overreacting.

"If people didn't care, then the companies wouldn't be hyping it" is backwards logic. They're hyping it because they want people to care. That's the whole point of advertising.

But they're hyping the second generation of their product. Clearly enough people did care or there wouldn't be a Sony VR 2, a Vive 2, an Occulus... whatever.

"If people didn't care, then the companies wouldn't be hyping it" is backwards logic. They're hyping it because they want people to care. That's the whole point of advertising.

But they're hyping the second generation of their product. Clearly enough people did care or there wouldn't be a Sony VR 2, a Vive 2, an Occulus... whatever.

Using marketing hype to gauge the success and popularity of a product is silly. You need to look at other metrics, and according to gameplay stats, VR playtime lags far behind traditional gaming, and interest in games like Half-Life: Alyx drop off quickly shortly after release.

I think VR gaming is established enough at this point that it's here to stay, but it's always going to be a niche because the majority of people simply don't want to play games that way.

because the majority of people simply don't want to play games that way

There's no evidence for this though, is there? I guess I'm doing the same - projecting my love of VR and optimism of how it changes gaming, as a counterpoint to your negativity on the same tech. I don't really have any evidence either, beyond the fact that the biggest game console maker in the world saw enough profit from VR the first time around to support a second iteration of that product.

It's still too expensive overall, but with Sony and Meta still pushing hard and Valve to a lesser degree, maybe it'll still take off one day.

Ultimately, these things are hard to predict. I remember walking around in the late 90's with my beloved Sony P90 and then latterly with my awesome sliding MDA and thinking that surely, this was it, this tech will change the world. But I had to wait nearly a decade before Apple launched the iPhone and it all clicked.

Will that happen with VR? Who knows. I doubt it has the same broad appeal. Maybe it'll be AR that breaks down the niche.

Edit: I still have that MDA! I lost its stylus, sadly, but otherwise probably still boots... if only I can find a mini-USB charger! He was such a chunky boi!




Last edited by scaine on 14 April 2023 at 2:37 pm UTC

because the majority of people simply don't want to play games that way

There's no evidence for this though, is there? I guess I'm doing the same - projecting my love of VR and optimism of how it changes gaming, as a counterpoint to your negativity on the same tech. I don't really have any evidence either, beyond the fact that the biggest game console maker in the world saw enough profit from VR the first time around to support a second iteration of that product.

It's still too expensive overall, but with Sony and Meta still pushing hard and Valve to a lesser degree, maybe it'll still take off one day.

Ultimately, these things are hard to predict. I remember walking around in the late 90's with my beloved Sony P90 and then latterly with my awesome sliding MDA and thinking that surely, this was it, this tech will change the world. But I had to wait nearly a decade before Apple launched the iPhone and it all clicked.

Will that happen with VR? Who knows. I doubt it has the same broad appeal. Maybe it'll be AR that breaks down the niche.

Edit: I still have that MDA! I lost its stylus, sadly, but otherwise probably still boots... if only I can find a mini-USB charger! He was such a chunky boi!

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The evidence is in the numbers. VR has been available to the masses at affordable prices for nearly a decade, but people simply aren't buying, and many who are buying are only dusting off there headsets every now and then to play the hot new "This changes everything!" game before putting it back on the shelf. I think the VR market is pretty well saturated at this point and Will grow very little in the coming years.

because the majority of people simply don't want to play games that way

There's no evidence for this though, is there? I guess I'm doing the same - projecting my love of VR and optimism of how it changes gaming, as a counterpoint to your negativity on the same tech. I don't really have any evidence either, beyond the fact that the biggest game console maker in the world saw enough profit from VR the first time around to support a second iteration of that product.

It's still too expensive overall, but with Sony and Meta still pushing hard and Valve to a lesser degree, maybe it'll still take off one day.

Ultimately, these things are hard to predict. I remember walking around in the late 90's with my beloved Sony P90 and then latterly with my awesome sliding MDA and thinking that surely, this was it, this tech will change the world. But I had to wait nearly a decade before Apple launched the iPhone and it all clicked.

Will that happen with VR? Who knows. I doubt it has the same broad appeal. Maybe it'll be AR that breaks down the niche.

Edit: I still have that MDA! I lost its stylus, sadly, but otherwise probably still boots... if only I can find a mini-USB charger! He was such a chunky boi!

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The evidence is in the numbers. VR has been available to the masses at affordable prices for nearly a decade, but people simply aren't buying, and many who are buying are only dusting off there headsets every now and then to play the hot new "This changes everything!" game before putting it back on the shelf. I think the VR market is pretty well saturated at this point and Will grow very little in the coming years.

True. But it's only been good for about 3-4 years. Also, mobile phones were around for decades before they caught on too.