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Half Life Alyx - No VR mod is shaping good

R6Rider

Gold Member
If this is anything like the difference between playing RE 7 in VR and playing it in pancake mode... then a hell of a lot of the experience will be lost if you play Alyx in 2d. Nowhere near as good.
This is why I'm really hoping for an RE Village VR announcement tomorrow.
 

Romulus

Member
Maybe I don´t understand you then, are you saying that the game is not worth it without VR?????. or not?.

Imagine playing late early 2000s multiplayer twitch shooters with a gamepad instead of K/B mouse. Interface matters when it's built around it. And I empathize with gamepads, not analog sticks, that's how far back non-VR would go by comparison, even more really because the visual element connects to the hand inputs.
 
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Interfectum

Member
Let me help you, there are two scenarios:

A.- The game is not worth it without VR.
B.- The game is worth it even without VR.
The game was made from the ground up with VR in mind. Every decision made assumed you were using VR. Taking something out of VR isn't the same as switching screens or control method. It changes the fundamentals of the game going from a place you exist in to not.

So to answer your question, is a made from ground up VR game worth playing without VR? Probably not. That doesn't mean the game is not good or "forgettable" as it's a pretty unforgettable experience if you actually played it.
 
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If this is anything like the difference between playing RE 7 in VR and playing it in pancake mode... then a hell of a lot of the experience will be lost if you play Alyx in 2d. Nowhere near as good.
It's even more,much, much more than that.

Alyx is like Mario 64 all over again, thought this time the jump is even bigger.

Play it wirelessly with a bit of space to walk around and it's something else.

So much that I want to buy a gaming laptop to put in a backpack and go outside to truly play it without restrictions.

If people want to experience the way it's meant to be played better start saving up 299 bucks for a Quest 2.
 

KyoZz

Tag, you're it.
Do you not have insurance?
My life time:
I do have a house insurance, but they used a procedural flaw to only reimburse me for the break-in (approximately 200 euros)
As I was not at home, it was my best friend (who had a key) that noticed the burglary and call the police.
They told me I needed to come back to file a complaint which I was only able to do 4 days later because of the COVID. The insurance then told me that the complaint needed to be done maximum 2 days after the misdemeanor.

My house was ransacked, they emptied my own bottles of alcohol on the walls (yeah for real), stole my clothes, my PC and most of the electronics, destroyed my kitchen pipe (yeah for real again) and other stuff
I got completely fucked.
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
if you take away the novelty of the implementation of the interface, the game is forgettable.

Let me help you, there are two scenarios:

A.- The game is not worth it without VR.
B.- The game is worth it even without VR.

Both cannot be true at the same time.

Maybe I don´t understand you then, are you saying that the game is not worth it without VR?????. or not?.

You're using flawed reasoning to try to demonstrate that only games that are good without VR should be considered worthwhile or memorable.

If a game is built from the ground up to work with a certain system, user interface, or control method and cannot work with previous hardware, it does not make a game forgettable. Advancements in controllers alone point out the flaw in your thinking. Imagine saying that Mario 64 couldn't be any good because if you removed the joystick from the controller, it would be forgettable. Videogames entirely could be hand waved away because they don't require interfacing with tangible objects.

No true Scotsman indeed.
 
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TriSuit666

Banned
Let me help you, there are two scenarios:

A.- The game is not worth it without VR.
B.- The game is worth it even without VR.

Both cannot be true at the same time.
Flawed anaolgy.

Better comparison would be a game that can be played both ways, such as the aforementioned AC or Project Cars 2, both games become wholly more immersive in VR.

Whereas Alyx is designed for VR from the start, the devs have been very upfront about that in the game design from the very first moments, the balcony scene, they actually want the player to pause and view the city before moving into the greenhouse, which becomes an extension of the balcony.
 

Shai-Tan

Banned
Most of the fun in Alyx is picking up and looking at objects that they lovingly modeled, hiding behind cover while reloading, catching objects you flung towards yourself with the gravity glove. I don’t have a problem with HL fans without a HMD playing it with a no VR mode because they could always play it again if they ever got VR.

edit: that said I am one of those people who thinks it’s hyperbole that VR changes everything because Alyx doesn’t really have revolutionary gameplay. It’s just more fun to aim with a VR wand
 
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AJUMP23

Member
My life time:
I do have a house insurance, but they used a procedural flaw to only reimburse me for the break-in (approximately 200 euros)
As I was not at home, it was my best friend (who had a key) that noticed the burglary and call the police.
They told me I needed to come back to file a complaint which I was only able to do 4 days later because of the COVID. The insurance then told me that the complaint needed to be done maximum 2 days after the misdemeanor.

My house was ransacked, they emptied my own bottles of alcohol on the walls (yeah for real), stole my clothes, my PC and most of the electronics, destroyed my kitchen pipe (yeah for real again) and other stuff
I got completely fucked.
It is to late now, but I would change insurance companies and also file lawsuit as you were unable to meet the limitations due to extenuating circumstances.
 

SnapShot

Member
Interesting, glad to see they're also changing the way monsters behave without VR, this could be fun but not sure how much better it would feel without it.
 
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lukilladog

Member
You're using flawed reasoning to try to demonstrate that only games that are good without VR should be considered worthwhile or memorable.

If a game is built from the ground up to work with a certain system, user interface, or control method and cannot work with previous hardware, it does not make a game forgettable. Advancements in controllers alone point out the flaw in your thinking. Imagine saying that Mario 64 couldn't be any good because if you removed the joystick from the controller, it would be forgettable. Videogames entirely could be hand waved away because they don't require interfacing with tangible objects.

No true Scotsman indeed.

Nice Red Herring and straw man. My point is that VR games have several qualities like every other game, but if you guys are saying that if this game is not worth playing without VR, then the other qualities of the game must not be interesting enough to warrant a VRless gameplay. And since you refuse to answer a simple question it seems there is no point in arguing with you.
 
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mortal

Gold Member
Alternatively called, Half Life Alyx: Let's remove the most unique part of the experience so we can be part of the conversation mod

but seriously though, Half Life series has a tradition of always exploring new ideas and innovative tech in gaming. This mod feels very much not in the spirit of Half Life.
That's what great about PC gaming; you can virtually do whatever you want even if it's misguided.
 
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Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Nice Red Herring and straw man. My point is that VR games have several qualities like every other game, but if you guys are saying that if this game is not worth playing without VR, then the other qualities of the game must not be interesting enough to warrant a VRless gameplay. And since you refuse to answer a simple question it seems there is no point in arguing with you.
Troll
 

lukilladog

Member
Flawed anaolgy.

Better comparison would be a game that can be played both ways, such as the aforementioned AC or Project Cars 2, both games become wholly more immersive in VR.

Whereas Alyx is designed for VR from the start, the devs have been very upfront about that in the game design from the very first moments, the balcony scene, they actually want the player to pause and view the city before moving into the greenhouse, which becomes an extension of the balcony.

That was not an analogy, see, it is a simple question, is the story and other elements of the game worth experiencing without VR?. You guys seem to think that those "VR wow" moments are angular to the game and without them the game loses too much... and I agree that there is not too much left once you remove VR.
 
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Why are people so upset about this lol
Let them play it using a dance pad for all I care. What difference does it make to those who care for VR.
There are some incredible moments in this game that absolutely can only be done with VR and hand controllers. Without spoiling anything, taking the VR out would be like experiencing Wii Sports without motion controls.
 

mortal

Gold Member
Why are people so upset about this lol
Let them play it using a dance pad for all I care. What difference does it make to those who care for VR.
No one is stopping them from playing it though lol. No one is trying to have this shut down or anything like that.
People are obviously going to voice their opinions about a mod changing a game that was built from the ground up for VR.
 

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
I get this point, however there are a lot of people like me who have no interest in VR at all, but are huge Half Life fans who want to experience another part of the story, especially given the huge gap between Alyx and HL2:Ep 2!!
Have you tried getting an interest in VR?

Seriously this game is probably never gonna be real fun without VR, you should just watch a Let's Play if you're not into playing it.
 

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
You guys are confirming what I said before, if you take away the novelty of the implementation of the interface, the game is forgettable.
If you said you didn't want to play Symphony of the Night with touchscreen controls, would it be confirming that that game is forgettable without the novelty of a control pad?

You can't just staple a completely different interface paradigm onto a game that wasn't designed for it and expect it to be the same experience. It's going to be wildly unbalanced At a minimum and really a completely different game.
 
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lukilladog

Member
If you said you didn't want to play Symphony of the Night with touchscreen controls, would it be confirming that that game is forgettable without the novelty of a control pad?

You can't just staple a completely different interface paradigm onto a game that wasn't designed for it and expect it to be the same experience. It's going to be wildly unbalanced At a minimum and really a completely different game.

Does it need to be the same experience in order to be a worthy experience?. Do good adaptations don´t exist?. You are assuming too much.
 

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
Does it need to be the same experience in order to be a worthy experience?. Do good adaptations don´t exist?. You are assuming too much.
No but doing it right would be beyond the scope of the modding tools available, and it also wouldn't be the same game anymore.

Games are about their mechanics. The mechanics of HL:Alyx do not translate to a controller. You can make new controls that work but the level design, the AI, all of that is still designed around the old mechanics and being fun to interact with in that way.

To go back to my analogy, there are lots of great touch screen games, but taking a controller game and making it fun on a touch screen is pretty hard, and doing it well involves really redesigning it to work. So like Super Mario Run is a fine game, but playing New Super Mario Bros U on a touch screen with zero changes to the levels or design would be a nightmare.
 

Reindeer

Member
Alyx does nothing to further the plot. The experience is meaningless without VR so you're doing more harm than good by 'playing' through without VR.

Keep in mind the combat in Alyx is specifically tailored for VR. Reloading, aiming, enemy placement is all based around being in VR. This means there are fewer enemies compared to previous games but the tension in combat is much higher. If reloading is done via a single keystroke, you're circumventing the entire experience.

This is like playing Mario 64 modded to be a 2D snes game. Or an easy mode on a Souls game.
Are you a VR police or something? Let people play any way they wanna play.
 
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SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
Now we just need a mod that spawns more enemies so the game can be challenging without VR.
It's not just the amount of enemies, it's the AI. The game is really designed around teleport locomotion. Even in VR with full locomotion it's pretty easy, because the game was just designed that way. But aiming with a mouse is also easier than aiming in real life.
 

Reindeer

Member
It's not just the amount of enemies, it's the AI. The game is really designed around teleport locomotion. Even in VR with full locomotion it's pretty easy, because the game was just designed that way. But aiming with a mouse is also easier than aiming in real life.
It won't be perfect yes, but at least it's something for those that don't want to play without VR. Half Life community is one of the most creative around so we're in good hands.
 
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JayK47

Member
Damn. Guess I just need to get VR to play a VR game then. Isn't VR very expensive and very few games do VR right? Seems like a huge investment with little gain.

For those of us without VR, this mod sounds interesting. But yeah, it would be diluted big time without VR. But it is watered down beer or no beer for me.
 
S

Shodan09

Unconfirmed Member
If this is anything like the difference between playing RE 7 in VR and playing it in pancake mode... then a hell of a lot of the experience will be lost if you play Alyx in 2d. Nowhere near as good.
It's this x1000, like playing guitar hero or dancing games with a pad. The whole experience will be changed so much as to render it pointless.
 

TriSuit666

Banned
That was not an analogy, see, it is a simple question, is the story and other elements of the game worth experiencing without VR?. You guys seem to think that those "VR wow" moments are angular to the game and without them the game loses too much... and I agree that there is not too much left once you remove VR.
Completely forgetting the retcon ending, but for a lot of people it seems, yes - enough to attempt to actually remove the VR component.

QED.

As an aside, and personally speaking here, I'm increasingly finding going back and playing games in 2D only very boring (and yes, I've bought vorpX).
 
Ooooh trust me I know, I enjoyed my time so much with this game, playing with dead bodys and the physics.
The worst part is that I still have the two sensors and one touch because those freaking dumbass probably don't know what they stole. So I don't know if I wait for a true Rift 2 with a better resolution, or just buy back a Rift.
You can get headsets on eBay really cheap.
 

Robb

Gold Member
Cool, if it works out I wouldn't mind playing it even though I understand it was made with VR in mind. I'd imagine they'd have to make some pretty large changes here and there though.

VR is super cool and all but a VR headset is nothing I want to own in its current state.
 
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All I want to know is if the Quest 2 runs the game well, or can my 1660ti do VR well enough.

If neither questions results in a no, i'll probably play this modded if I feel desperate enough.

Though I very much rather play this with a VR headset.
I have a 1660ti laptop with 16gb ram and only an i5 and my rift cv1 works great with Alyx. High settings I think, I can't remember. Certainly medium.
 

Wonko_C

Member
You're using flawed reasoning to try to demonstrate that only games that are good without VR should be considered worthwhile or memorable.

If a game is built from the ground up to work with a certain system, user interface, or control method and cannot work with previous hardware, it does not make a game forgettable. Advancements in controllers alone point out the flaw in your thinking. Imagine saying that Mario 64 couldn't be any good because if you removed the joystick from the controller, it would be forgettable. Videogames entirely could be hand waved away because they don't require interfacing with tangible objects.

No true Scotsman indeed.
No need to imagine, it's just as bad as it sounds:

AK6KdIU.jpg


Moving with a dpad was a chore, it felt nothing at all like the real SM64. And don't get me started on the thumbstrap.
 
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