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

Quoting: scaineAnyone 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

Quoting: scaineAnyone 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.

Quoting: TheSHEEEPOr 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!

Quoting: MangojuicedrinkerIMO VR for only gaming purpose is degeneracy.

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

Quoting: MangojuicedrinkerJust 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.

Quoting: Mountain Man"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.

Quoting: scaine

Quoting: Mountain Man"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.

Quoting: Mountain Manbecause 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

Quoting: scaine

Quoting: Mountain Manbecause 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!

To protect your privacy, external media requires approval to load. Source: i.imgur.com
View cookie preferences.
Accept & Show Accept All & Don't show this again   Direct Link

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.

Quoting: Mountain Man

Quoting: scaine

Quoting: Mountain Manbecause 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!

To protect your privacy, external media requires approval to load. Source: i.imgur.com
View cookie preferences.
Accept & Show Accept All & Don't show this again   Direct Link

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.