• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

I think it’s time to check out Alyx.

RPS37

Member
I have a pretty decent gaming laptop and I’ve decided it’s time i try out Half Life: Alyx.
What’s the recommended VR headset that I should get to jump in?

I had a PSVR for a while so I’m aware VR headsets have a lot of cords and stuff usually...?

Also, are headsets still hard to find? Could I just walk in to Best Buy and grab one if I wanted to?
 

Ogbert

Member
Pick up a nappy at the same time.

Fully admit I’m a big baby coward, but those headcrabs.....
 

RPS37

Member
In the off chance (high likelihood) my router is too ass to stream virtual desktop, does it matter which cable I use to plug in to my PC?
Do I really have to use the 80 dollar official cable (out of stock) or can I use like a 60 dollar Insignia (in stock)?
 

mxbison

Member
In the off chance (high likelihood) my router is too ass to stream virtual desktop, does it matter which cable I use to plug in to my PC?
Do I really have to use the 80 dollar official cable (out of stock) or can I use like a 60 dollar Insignia (in stock)?

No, you don't need a $60 cable either.

$10 USB-C cable works just fine.
 

TriSuit666

Banned
In the off chance (high likelihood) my router is too ass to stream virtual desktop, does it matter which cable I use to plug in to my PC?
Do I really have to use the 80 dollar official cable (out of stock) or can I use like a 60 dollar Insignia (in stock)?
No, you don't 'need' the official cable, by and large most USB 3.0 (it MUST be USB 3.0 and higher) will work. Just get one that is longer than you think you'll need, as most 3rd party cables are thick and heavy whereas the official one is braided and fibre connection.

Easiest way to check compatibility is look for cables which are tagged with photos of the Oculus USB cable check screen.
 
Hey I have a gaming laptop (GPU is a 1660ti) and I grabbed a used rift CV1 on eBay for £150 with two sensors and two of the controllers. It's awesome.
 

RPS37

Member
Bought It last night, grabbed a quest 2 and a cable this morning, plugged it in, went to run Alyx and steam said it couldn’t find steam vr.
Downloaded SteamVR, now it’s not detecting the headset. Just watched a YouTube video that says I need to deny access at first before the Occulus Link will work...
Currently downloading the oculus desktop app to see if that helps....
 
I have Quest 2 and Alyx is amazing, almost too real. Ended up playing No Man's Sky, sorry! :-D
Also if you have high IPD (68+) Quest 2 probably not for you, binocular effect (letterbox, when you see black edges around a screen) and huge halos on bright objects are terrible on Q2, also software is buggy. Just beware - it's FAR from perfect.
 

01011001

Banned
I have a pretty decent gaming laptop and I’ve decided it’s time i try out Half Life: Alyx.
What’s the recommended VR headset that I should get to jump in?

I had a PSVR for a while so I’m aware VR headsets have a lot of cords and stuff usually...?

Also, are headsets still hard to find? Could I just walk in to Best Buy and grab one if I wanted to?

headsets from best to decent enough:

-Valve Index (Super Expensive)
-Vive Pro (very expensive
-Vive (still expensive)
-Oculus Rift S (not as expensive)
-Oculus Quest 2 (pretty cheap)
-Samsung Odyssey+ (also pretty cheap but super hard to find... they all are I guess)

the entry level products here are the Quest 2 and the Samsung Odyssey+, which are both plenty good enough and especially the Quest 2 is also a really great standalone system. The drawback of the Quest is that the image quality isn't perfect due to it running over USB3 not HDMI, and it has a slight input lag, but not bad, worse than the Rift S tho.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
Really one of the best games of the last year and needs to be played by anyone at all interested in VR in the context of gaming.

I should play it again now that I have a more powerful PC. Still just the original launch Oculus Rift headset, though.
 

Romulus

Member
I was really hoping to like this one when I picked up my Quest 2, but I found it horrifyingly boring.

What did you like on Quest 2? I've demoed it several times and it was incredibly intense everyone that tried it.
 
Last edited:
I got it to work!
Oculus app said my 1 USB C port was only 2.0, but it still seems to work perfectly.
Just as impressive, if not slightly more than PSVR.

Something you can try....

There's an option for you to do a bandwidth test and it will then decide again if it's a USB C or 2.0 - try unplugging the USB C from your computer, tuning the plug 180 degrees and plugging it back in. After doing that, it recognized it as max bandwidth USB C ( for me )

Having said that, you play around with both, USB C and wireless for a while. I bet you'll stop using that cable pretty soon. Being able to wirelessly play Alyx is just SOOOO much better.

Wired is still fine for seated experiences like racing games.
 
Last edited:

RPS37

Member
Something you can try....

There's an option for you to do a bandwidth test and it will then decide again if it's a USB C or 2.0 - try unplugging the USB C from your computer, tuning the plug 180 degrees and plugging it back in. After doing that, it recognized it as max bandwidth USB C ( for me )

Having said that, you play around with both, USB C and wireless for a while. I bet you'll stop using that cable pretty soon. Being able to wirelessly play Alyx is just SOOOO much better.

Wired is still fine for seated experiences like racing games.

Yeah, that seemed to work the last time I was having issues.
Registered as USB 3.0 this time too. 🤷🏻
Going to try out Virtual Desktop next.
Terribly unconfident, but hoping to be proven wrong.
 

TriSuit666

Banned
Something you can try....

There's an option for you to do a bandwidth test and it will then decide again if it's a USB C or 2.0 - try unplugging the USB C from your computer, tuning the plug 180 degrees and plugging it back in. After doing that, it recognized it as max bandwidth USB C ( for me )

Having said that, you play around with both, USB C and wireless for a while. I bet you'll stop using that cable pretty soon. Being able to wirelessly play Alyx is just SOOOO much better.

Wired is still fine for seated experiences like racing games.
Seems to be a bug with the latest v27 firmware and the app, it’s downgraded everyone’s link speed unless they’re using the official cable.
 

Ceadeus

Member
As suggested above, I would also recommend a quest 2.

If you want to wait for a PSVR2, the wait time is undetermined and you might also run across shortage trouble. Scalpers ruining the fun once again.

Anyway, just make sure your laptop has a compatible port.
 

Buggy Loop

Member
Yes, I’ve been playing it for a while now, my PC struggled, but I rebuilt it entirely (well, with old GPU) from a 1600 to a 5600X and it plays much smoother now.

I think you could be surprised at your router speeds too, my “Bell” hub which I thought for sure would be a bad experience, actually saturates the Quest’s 2 bandwidth (866MBps) and latency is good. Playing wirelessly is a game changer.

Half life Alyx, even if I have not finished it yet (taking my time), is easily the most impressive game in the past 5 years. Nothing like it.
 

Romulus

Member
Most of you have played HL2, but for those of us that played it at launch. Remember the beginning part where you first jump on top of the moving train and the music kicks in to start a gunfight. It felt like a new level of gaming had arrived. Alyx has this same next level moment, the music, the clever build up. Felt like a complete badass too.
 
Last edited:

Boneless

Member
It's funny how I didn't really get the deal about Alyx until it gave my synapses a real suckerpunch when finally playing it (with a Reverb G2) myself. It's now one of those monumental gaming moments of my life.

When reverb g2 quality is at quest 2 pricing, I will get VR.
 

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
When you’re done with Alyx, do yourself a favor and get Boneworks!

tenor.gif
 
Top Bottom