Half-Life Alyx |OT| The right woman in the right place

[wafflebrain]

I think this is a great foundation for Half Life in VR but there are definitely improvements they can make from here. It probably doesn't help that they started designing that foundation while VR was still pretty new. I think things will be pretty different the next time around.

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Yeah that's something I kind of glossed over, this began production basically right after the Vive and The Lab were released, definitely early days of experimenting with tracked controllers in VR.

But hey one of Valve's initial goals with SteamVR was to see what indies could help create and innovate on in the medium and I think the fact we've seen some things that go above and beyond Alyx's mechanics is testament that their gambit for crowd sourced innovation in VR has paid off. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see some of these ideas incorporated into their future games.

I am judging the game design from an objective perspective.

I know it's a different game at a different pace, and I'm by no means comparing the movement to HL2 in a direct manner. I am however, criticizing how unresponsive it feels.
Even if the game is ultra slow paced, you can't deny that both jumping up and dropping off feels extremely unresponsive. It works, but in a wonky way.

I'm also not comparing the combat DIRECTLY to HL2, but I'm just saying that I can see a lot of punches being pulled for the sake of VR.
The headcrabs sometimes just stares at you, for seconds, and when they finally leap towards you they miss and flip over like a stupid turtle.

There's a lot of wonder, but (without playing the game) I just don't see how it's a game that I would want to play over and over again. Everything feels either slow or loose, like you get this awkward moment when facing headcrabs like ''are we good or am I in danger...?''

You don't need to play the game to criticize all the multi-tool mini games.
You don't need to play the game to criticize how there's only three guns.
You don't need to play the game to criticize how all the weapons are being forced down to pistol size to accommodate VR gameplay.
With Alyx it works but It makes me worried about the weapons in future Half-Life games. Will the shotgun in HL3 be the classic pump action SPAS, or just another pistol sized shotgun? Will all the weapons be present or will they cut down on the variety?

Half-Life Alyx is no doubt a top tier VR game, but even without playing it I can already see tons of gameplay compromises.

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There's absolutely a difference with the feel and pace of combat when you're in VR vs just watching someone stream it, Alyx's combat with the Combine is tense even if their numbers or range of maneuvers are pared back compared to the old titles. The first time just a single heavy gunner Combine came plodding into my view was intense and scary. The scale of the npc was imposing, this feels completely different to the umpteenth practically cannon fodder Combines you mow through in 1 and 2. Just one feels lethal enough and I believe that plays to Alyx's strengths, this is clearly going for something completely different in feel and tone and well it makes sense they'd design it differently to accommodate for VR's strengths.

I do agree that teleporting as the sole retreat or "run" feels a bit awkward. I think they were too hesitant to implement a smooth locomotion run out of fear of making others sick.

I hope some classic Half-Life mods get the VR treatment, like "They Hunger" and "Poke646". I'd love to see those two in particular re-imagined in VR.

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Heh I was just thinking about They Hunger earlier today while playing Black Mesa. Loved that to bits, it was impressive how well done and fully fleshed out that campaign was for a mod/total conversion back in the day. And legitimately scary too. Would love to see a modern update of it in VR.

 

[Chairmanchuck (另一个我)]

My point is that VR is amazing and it creates more potentials, but we shouldn't lose or compromise to avoid any possible frustrations. This shouldn't be a tech demo.
They intentionally dumb down the combine AI so players don't get absolutely destroyed, but really that's just unnecessary. Why not keep the full next gen advanced combine AI and really challenge the player?

Which brings me to my main critique, VR games needs to play tighter in order for the games to really challenge the player. We are not there yet.
Right now my biggest issue with VR is that games are often way too easy, even in more advanced ones like Boneworks.

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The game is not a tech demo and I played on hard and enemy encounteres were already hard...
And it challenged me quite a lot. Not sure what playthroughs you watched, but on hard the game is challenging and I died over and over again.

 

[Blade Wolf]

I do agree that teleporting as the sole retreat or "run" feels a bit awkward. I think they were too hesitant to implement a smooth locomotion run out of fear of making others sick.

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Totally my biggest issue with VR right now, the devs gives too much shit about motion sickness.

There're people right now who still can't play FPS games cause they get motion sick, that didn't stop devs from making fast paced FPS like Overwatch & Apex Legends. At one point we need to make sacrifice, ditch the motion sick minority and go full progress.

I'd rather have a VR game that makes me motion sick but feels incredibly free & advanced than a VR game that doesn't make me sick but feels restricted and confined.

Basically I'd rather have a Doom VR that plays like a real Doom game instead of a Doom VR that plays like Doom VFR.
I don't care if I puke all over the floor, I want VR to go full throttle and unleash all the potential.

That way I see it , VR is still stuck in the early Wolfenstein stage and I am still waiting for the Quake moment that lets me jump, shoot and strafe all over the place like a god.

 

[Trisc]

Heh I was just thinking about They Hunger earlier today while playing Black Mesa. Loved that to bits, it was impressive how well done and fully fleshed out that campaign was for a mod/total conversion back in the day. And legitimately scary too. Would love to see a modern update of it in VR.

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I think it could be super exciting. Enemies like those headcrabs-as-hands leaping at your face would be super unnerving, and being forced to use a flashlight to navigate dark corridors could make some particular segments (like the asylum in Part 2) really creepy.

Totally my biggest issue with VR in general, the devs gives too much shit about motion sickness.

There're people right now who still can't play FPS games cause they get motion sick, that didn't stop devs from making fast paced FPS like Overwatch & Apex Legends. At one point we need to make sacrifice, ditch the motion sick minority and go full progress.

I'd rather have VR games that makes me motion sick but feels incredibly free & advanced than VR games that doesn't make me sick but feels restricted and confined.

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The "fuck you got mine" approach is definitely not the way to go. See: Boneworks. VR is still quite niche, and while I've got my VR legs from playing PSVR over the past two years (prior to buying my Rift S), I know many people who need things like teleporting and snap turning. The only tech I've found that's actually negligible is vignetting; most people I've spoken to find it's irritating or makes their VR sickness worse.

 

[BarryFishFinger]

After watching several playthroughs, I have to say I'm slightly mixed on this.

The presentation and world building is top tier, this is without a doubt the most alive Half-Life has ever been.
However, I feel like the overall gameplay is significantly downgraded, that's my issue with VR, it's both a blessing and a curse.

On one hand you get super detailed interaction with items and environment as well as close to real life FOV, but you're also heavily restricted in terms of how smooth or fast you can move in levels. In Half-Life & Half-Life 2 you can easily jump on a box and then jump on to another bigger box to reach some supply. It's smooth, responsive and intuitive. In Alyx it takes a lot more effort and in a very wonky, awkward way. Even something as simple as dropping off from a ledge feels inconsistent and weird, it just doesn't feel right. Like the player model itself aren't following any of the physics.

Most of the interaction are motion control based, such as storing ammo by dropping them into your backpack, and the issue with motion control is that they don't always work, even the most experienced VR player can't guarantee a 90% success rate in interaction. I've seen people dropping mags on the floor instead of their backpack countless times, even ''good'' players do that from time to time.

If you read the reviews then you'll see the phrase ''Best VR game ever made'' being used a lot but pretty much no one said ''Best Half-Life game ever made'' in any of the reviews. There's a reason for that.

Half-Life Alyx is a fantastic VR game, but it's only a fantastic VR game. Compared to previous Half-Life games it's missing a lot:
The combine have arcade AI (because of player movement restrictions in VR they can't make combines too smart or move too much), headcrabs all feels like they are old & sick compared to previous games (again for the sake of VR they can't make headcrabs too aggressive), zombies barely feels like a threat, level design feels restricted to avoid motion sickness, interaction with NPC other than key characters are non existent, lack of weapons in your arsenal and not to mention weapons being ''VR-fied'' (the shotgun & machinegun are both forced into pistol sized weapons so it plays well with VR)

Thanks to VR the ''world wonders'' have been increased but the player engagement level suffers.

This is a good VR game but it's nowhere near any of the Half-Life games, the combat is severely crippled and the puzzles are nowhere near Half-Life 2 which are mostly physics based environment puzzles instead of a multi-tool mini-game being reused 50 times.

If they want VR to succeed they need to figure out a way to make the gameplay truly responsive and tight, right now Alyx still feels fresh and the wonder of VR is still glowing. By the time HL3 came out it might not be the same, once the novelty wears off people will no longer tolerate the awkward movement and wonky controls.

You can only open a door awkwardly and unsatisfyingly for so many times before getting tired of how sluggish & wonky everything feels.
The player may not flat out say ''this sucks'' but it definitely affects their desire to replay the game on a subconscious level.

Purely from gameplay alone I don't think HL:Alyx have much replayability compared to HL1 & HL2.

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I think the bolded is fairly crucial here - it's a VR game, watching a playthrough is never going to give you the full impression of what the game feels like to play. I mean, that's true of standard 'flat' games, it's doubly true for VR stuff.

Genuinely curious how you can write so much about how the game feels to play having never played it.

I've not played it either, I wish I could but I don't have the kit. I've watched a few streams and I couldn't even begin to tell you how it feels to play. I can comment on the visuals and the levels and maybe some of the mechanics as they appear to function, but it's literally impossible for me to make any assumptions about how it feels to play.

 

[GrrImAFridge]

Do we have any news on Valve's planned release of the Source 2 engine for creators?

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Gabe was asked about that in the recent IGN First interview and said an SDK is still on the cards but the extent to which it'll be supported post-release will depend on developer engagement. My guess is that we won't see it until Valve releases a fully-fledged non-VR Source 2 game, or the presumably inevitable Source 2 port of CS:GO, as creating "standard" content is going to be the primary use case for at least several years.

 

[Blade Wolf]

Not sure what playthroughs you watched, but on hard the game is challenging and I died over and over again.

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All of them. I watched all of them, literally.
VNN, Jack, Cohh, PDP and even the Koreans.

 

[Ferrio]

Even if it looks and feels easy, it's stressful as hell. Something that you won't get unless you play it in VR. Most encounters I've had little to no chance of dying, yet each time I'm shitting my pants.

 

[Blade Wolf]

Even if it looks and feels easy, it's stressful as hell. Something that you won't get unless you play it in VR.

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No doubt it's a lot harder than it looks, but I just wish they didn't make the AI seem dumb or arcade. Seeing combine standing the open for literally minutes without even trying to flank just feels wrong.

For those who played the game: Is it possible for the headcrabs & combines to behave as smart & aggressive as possible without making the game too hard?

 

[BarryFishFinger]

I can hire a Vive Pro starter kit for a week for £192. Buy the game at £46 (ish). I have my super powerful work PC at home. Fucking hell I'm so tempted by this but dammit I don't have £192 lying around and I know that really, I'll never get to play this.

And that makes me genuinely sad.

Everyone send me £10 yeah. Crowdfund me, nice one. Cheers

 

[Trisc]

After watching several playthroughs, I have to say I'm slightly mixed on this.

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You're mixed on a game you haven't played?

The presentation and world building is top tier, this is without a doubt the most alive Half-Life has ever been.
However, I feel like the overall gameplay is significantly downgraded, that's my issue with VR, it's both a blessing and a curse.

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You haven't played it.

On one hand you get super detailed interaction with items and environment as well as close to real life FOV, but you're also heavily restricted in terms of how smooth or fast you can move in levels. In Half-Life & Half-Life 2 you can easily jump on a box and then jump on to another bigger box to reach some supply. It's smooth, responsive and intuitive. In Alyx it takes a lot more effort and in a very wonky, awkward way. Even something as simple as dropping off from a ledge feels inconsistent and weird, it just doesn't feel right. Like the player model itself aren't following any of the physics.

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How would you know if it "takes a lot more effort" and is "wonky" or "awkward"? You haven't played it.

Most of the interaction are motion control based, such as storing ammo by dropping them into your backpack, and the issue with motion control is that they don't always work, even the most experienced VR player can't guarantee a 90% success rate in interaction. I've seen people dropping mags on the floor instead of their backpack countless times, even ''good'' players do that from time to time.

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You haven't played it. The motion controls work perfectly fine, and almost all issues I had with them were my fault. Especially fumbling magazines and grenades.

If you read the reviews then you'll see the phrase ''Best VR game ever made'' being used a lot but pretty much no one said ''Best Half-Life game ever made'' in any of the reviews. There's a reason for that.

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And the reason is because the game just came out, and while people have had thirteen years to figure out which Half-Life games were the best among what we thought were the only ones we'd ever get, they've had less than a week to figure out where Alyx stands among them.

Half-Life Alyx is a fantastic VR game, but it's only a fantastic VR game. Compared to previous Half-Life games it's missing a lot:
The combine have arcade AI (because of player movement restrictions in VR they can't make combines too smart or move too much), headcrabs all feels like they are old & sick compared to previous games (again for the sake of VR they can't make headcrabs too aggressive), zombies barely feels like a threat, level design feels restricted to avoid motion sickness, interaction with NPC other than key characters are non existent, lack of weapons in your arsenal and not to mention weapons being ''VR-fied'' (the shotgun & machinegun are both forced into pistol sized weapons so it plays well with VR)

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Those concessions make for a better gameplay experience in VR, which you would understand if you played the game. Which you haven't.

Thanks to VR the ''world wonders'' have been increased but the player engagement level suffers.

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You haven't played it.

This is a good VR game but it's nowhere near any of the Half-Life games, the combat is severely crippled and the puzzles are nowhere near Half-Life 2 which are mostly physics based environment puzzles instead of a multi-tool mini-game being reused 50 times.

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How would you know? You haven't played it.

If they want VR to succeed they need to figure out a way to make the gameplay truly responsive and tight, right now Alyx still feels fresh and the wonder of VR is still glowing. By the time HL3 came out it might not be the same, once the novelty wears off people will no longer tolerate the awkward movement and wonky controls.

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If they want VR to succeed they need to keep putting out games that are this good. Right now, you haven't played it.

You can only open a door awkwardly and unsatisfyingly for so many times before getting tired of how sluggish & wonky everything feels.
The player may not flat out say ''this sucks'' but it definitely affects their desire to replay the game on a subconscious level.

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You haven't played it. Hell, you might not have even opened a door in real life.

Purely from gameplay alone I don't think HL:Alyx have much replayability compared to HL1 & HL2.

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You haven't played it. Also, I'm on my second playthrough and loving the game even more than my first. HL: Alyx does things no other game on the market, VR or not, does. I'm replaying it because I loved it so much the first time around, it spoiled me on the quality of other VR games. Nothing else comes close, and so it derives its replayability from its uniqueness. Not to mention there's a lot of subtle foreshadowing that's easy to miss on your first go-around.

 

[Blade Wolf]

You're mixed on a game you haven't played?

You haven't played it.

How would you know if it "takes a lot more effort" and is "wonky" or "awkward"? You haven't played it.

You haven't played it. The motion controls work perfectly fine, and almost all issues I had with them were my fault. Especially fumbling magazines and grenades.

And the reason is because the game just came out, and while people have had thirteen years to figure out which Half-Life games were the best among what we thought were the only ones we'd ever get, they've had less than a week to figure out where Alyx stands among them.

Those concessions make for a better gameplay experience in VR, which you would understand if you played the game. Which you haven't.

You haven't played it.

How would you know? You haven't played it.

If they want VR to succeed they need to keep putting out games that are this good. Right now, you haven't played it.

You haven't played it. Hell, you might not have even opened a door in real life.

You haven't played it. Also, I'm on my second playthrough and loving the game even more than my first.

You wrote an awful lot about a game you haven't played, that you genuinely cannot provide criticism of without having played it.

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All very fair, but to me it just doesn't look like a responsive game to play.

I'm seeing more frustration than fun, and when it's ''fun'' I'm seeing artificial fun like making a combine stand in the same spot for literally minutes for you to shoot.

 

[Trisc]

All very fair, but to me it just doesn't look like a responsive game to play.

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You should play it then and see for yourself.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

Totally my biggest issue with VR right now, the devs gives too much shit about motion sickness.

There're people right now who still can't play FPS games cause they get motion sick, that didn't stop devs from making fast paced FPS like Overwatch & Apex Legends. At one point we need to make sacrifice, ditch the motion sick minority and go full progress.

I'd rather have a VR game that makes me motion sick but feels incredibly free & advanced than a VR game that doesn't make me sick but feels restricted and confined.

Basically I'd rather have a Doom VR that plays like a real Doom game instead of a Doom VR that plays like Doom VFR.
I don't care if I puke all over the floor, I want VR to go full throttle and unleash all the potential.

That way I see it , VR is still stuck in the early Wolfenstein stage and I am still waiting for the Quake moment that lets me jump, shoot and strafe all over the place like a god.

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The people who don't get sick from artificial locomotion are the minority. What you are advocating (ignore the minority, cater to the majority) is basically WHY games are built around teleportation.

Regardless, they didn't ignore the minority, since the current VR design practices is to cater to both via toggle options.

And, regarding encounter time with enemies, their reaction speed was determined by focus testing with lots of players according to the developer commentary. Enemies react and move at the speed they do, because IRL people kind of aren't mercenaries who can mow down enemies. When you have to actually aim, even a handful of enemies is much, much tougher than pointing and clicking with a mouse.

Also, responsiveness is a trait that only the exhibitor can understand, since it's the relationship between their physical interaction and the virtual representation. If you don't perform the physical interaction, how on earth can you tell its relationship to the virtual representation?

 

[Blade Wolf]

You should play it then and see for yourself.

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I eventually will, but right now it doesn't look appealing to me, despite my love for the franchise.

 

[Rygar 8Bit]

No doubt it's a lot harder than it looks, but I just wish they didn't make the AI seem dumb or arcade. Seeing combine standing the open for literally minutes without even trying to flank just feels wrong.

For those who played the game: Is it possible for the headcrabs & combines to behave as smart & aggressive as possible without making the game too hard?

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They made the enemies bullet sponges. I wouldn't want smart bullet sponges. Hope they go back to enemies that can be killed in a head shot instead of a full clip to the head in HL3. That way we can go back to more enemies that are smart as well.

 

[Tankshell]

The people who don't get sick from artificial locomotion are the minority. What you are advocating (ignore the minority, cater to the majority) is basically WHY games are built around teleportation.

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Can you back this up with any actual studies? I hear people use this reasoning all the time without any proof. The vast majority of my social circle with access to VR are the opposite infact, preferring smooth/continuous motion.

 

[Blade Wolf]

The people who don't get sick from artificial locomotion are the minority. What you are advocating (ignore the minority, cater to the majority) is basically WHY games are built around teleportation.

Regardless, they didn't ignore the minority, since the current VR design practices is to cater to both via toggle options.

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Yes it has options but I feel like the game is centered around teleportation and locomotion can feel weird sometimes, like I said, jump/dropping off can feel wrong.

For example (no spoilers)

Haven't played the game so people can blast me all they want about how I have no rights to judge or criticize, but damn does it make me feel unsure about VR.

 

[BarryFishFinger]

Yes it has options but I feel like the game is centered around teleportation and locomotion can feel weird sometimes, like I said, jump/dropping off can feel wrong.

For example (no spoilers)

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What's the issue here? That you can't fall at full speed?

I dunno, the playthroughs I've watched have been smooth locomotion and they all seemed pretty good to me.

 

[Skyebaron]

All these posts judging VR gameplay based on what they saw on a stream go straight in the garbage.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

Can you back this up with any actual studies? I hear people use this reasoning all the time without any proof. The vast majority of my social circle with access to VR are the opposite infact, preferring smooth/continuous motion.

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Yes I can, but most are behind paywalls as they come from actual journals. here is one well cited study which claims a 60% public intolerance for vestibulocular disconnect, however. We did much research on this when developing VR applications at MD Anderson. I ran a VR Users group from Houston, Texas and demoed to hundreds of people every month. I am versed in this subject professionally.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

Yes it has options but I feel like the game is centered around teleportation and locomotion can feel weird sometimes, like I said, jump/dropping off can feel wrong.

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That doesn't feel wrong. Again, you haven't played it, how can you tell people who have that it feels off?

 

[Blade Wolf]

They made the enemies bullet sponges. I wouldn't want smart bullet sponges. Hope they go back to enemies that can be killed in a head shot instead of a full clip to the head in HL3. That way we can go back to more enemies that are smart as well.

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That's genius, making enemies as fast and cunning as realistically possible while making them easier to kill.

That doesn't feel wrong. Again, you haven't played it, how can you tell people who have that it feels off?

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It seems like you can't fall at full speed?

 

[Deleted member 12790]

That's genius, making enemies as fast and cunning as realistically possible while making them easier to kill.

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Lots of games like that already exist. For example, Arizona Sunshine and Robo Recall.

I would say the combat in HL:A blows both of those games away.

 

[Rygar 8Bit]

Yes it has options but I feel like the game is centered around teleportation and locomotion can feel weird sometimes, like I said, jump/dropping off can feel wrong.

For example (no spoilers)

Having played the game so people can blast me all they want about how I have no rights to judge or criticize, but damn does it make me feel unsure about VR.

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That's not a VR issue. That's a Valve issue. Again plenty of VR games have full speed falling. This is Valve thinking this is peoples first VR game and them wanting it to give people as little problem as possible.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

It seems like you can't fall at full speed?

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Falling at full speed feels "wrong." It makes people queezy almost universally. As in, even more so than lateral rotation. The speed you fall at in half life alyx actually feels, the important word here, right.

 

[Blade Wolf]

Lots of games like that already exist. For example, Arizona Sunshine and Robo Recall.

I would say the combat in HL:A blows both of those games away.

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That's good to hear, honestly.

That's not a VR issue. That's a Valve issue. Again plenty of VR games have full speed falling. This is Valve thinking this is peoples first VR game and them wanting it to give people as little problem as possible.

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No doubt that's the case, I guess I will wait for mods.
They are pulling too many punches (both in motion and in combat) here and for me that's just not the VR experience I want.

I don't play VR to have a pleasant smooth accessible ride, I play VR to shit my pants while sweating all over the place.

 

[ChrisJSY]

I'd rather have a VR game that makes me motion sick but feels incredibly free & advanced than a VR game that doesn't make me sick but feels restricted and confined.

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No you don't, not if you actually want to play the game.
It's taken me so long to go through Alyx because of it, but each day I'm getting better and better at dealing with it - was on it for a couple of hours last instead of 30mins so that's progress!

Also who gives a shit about falling seriously when you are 99.99% flat on the ground.

 

[DuppoloGAF]

Ok, im serious. Valve, modders, mummy, daddy, i need some post game activity. The first chapters and the need to search for items make this game not too good to replay many times in a row, so i need something to keep playing when i will finish it. Please. pretty please. pretty pretty little pretty please.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

No you don't, not if you actually want to play the game.
It's taken me so long to go through Alyx because of it, but each day I'm getting better and better at dealing with it - was on it for a couple of hours last instead of 30mins so that's progress!

Also who gives a shit about falling seriously when you are 99.99% flat on the ground.

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That guy doesn't know what really, really bad VR Sickness looks like. My sister in law is really susceptible. When I got my DK1, I put her in a some application and she turned pale, and was taken out for the entire rest of the day, and couldn't keep food down. It also induced a migraine.

As a developer, you only have to see that reaction once -- and it isn't uncommon if you don't account for it with design decisions -- for you to put in effort to make sure it never happens.

 

[Blade Wolf]

No you don't, not if you actually want to play the game.
It's taken me so long to go through Alyx because of it, but each day I'm getting better and better at dealing with it - was on it for a couple of hours last instead of 30mins so that's progress!

Also who gives a shit about falling seriously when you are 99.99% flat on the ground.

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That's kind of my issue with it, in order for players to actually play & enjoy the VR games some design compromise had to be made.

When Valve said they couldn't make a full Portal game in VR cause it would make people really sick I know it's not going to be the future for me.

That guy doesn't know what really, really bad VR Sickness looks like. My sister in law is really susceptible. When I got my DK1, I put her in a some application and she turned pale, and was taken out for the entire rest of the day, and couldn't keep food down. It also induced a migraine.

As a developer, you only have to see that reaction once -- and it isn't uncommon if you don't account for it with design decisions -- for you to put in effort to make sure it never happens.

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You're absolutely right I don't know what it looks like, which is why I'm on the fence about VR.

Correct me If I'm wrong but it feels like gameplay in VR is either too sick or too stagnant, like a Quake game will never be possible in VR.
For a VR game to really work the player has to be on the ground most of the time and enemies has to be slowed down considerably in order for players to deal with them reliably without making the game frustrating or impossible.

Does that make games worse? No
Does that make me excited? No

 

[Rygar 8Bit]

Those can all be fixed by adding them as comfortability options.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

Correct me If I'm wrong but it feels like gameplay in VR is either too sick or too stagnant, like a Quake game will never be possible in VR.

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Games like Sairento exist and are comfortable without making people sick, and they do all sorts of things you do in quake:

Sairento is one of the most popular VR games. It's full of extremely fast paced action where you jump and flip all around the map. It just does it in ways that doesn't make you sick.

 

[Blade Wolf]

Games like Sairento exist and are comfortable without making people sick, and they do all sorts of things you do in quake:

Sairento is one of the most popular VR games. It's full of extremely fast paced action where you jump and flip all around the map. It just does it in ways that doesn't make you sick.

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That's amazing. I hope we go down this route in the future.

I guess my issue is more with Valve that VR in general. Alyx looks beautiful but it looks like it plays too slow & too safe for my taste, I got so bored just watching someone waiting literally 12 seconds for a headcrab to do anything.

 

[sleepnaught]

No doubt it's a lot harder than it looks, but I just wish they didn't make the AI seem dumb or arcade. Seeing combine standing the open for literally minutes without even trying to flank just feels wrong.

For those who played the game: Is it possible for the headcrabs & combines to behave as smart & aggressive as possible without making the game too hard?

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No, I wish the combine were more aggressive. There should be more of them and more encounters. But I agree, they should die from 1-2 headshots, not 5.

The combat in HL: Alyx is absolutely fantastic, but it's hindered by too few combine encounters, docile AI, and a disappointingly limited weapon selection.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

That's amazing. I hope we go down this route in the future.

Alyx looks beautiful but it looks like it plays too slow & too safe for me.

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the things Sairento does that makes it possible to play without puking, are the things you are criticizing Half Life Alyx for (i.e. teleportation).

 

[Rygar 8Bit]

No, I wish the combine were more aggressive. There should be more of them and more encounters. But I agree, they should die from 1-2 headshots, not 5.

The combat in HL: Alyx is absolutely fantastic, but it's hindered by too few combine encounters, docile AI, and a disappointingly limited weapon selection.

Click to shrink...

I bet they wanted less enemies just on account of you being a less experienced Alyx. Hell even a

Spoiler

Strider

is a boss. So to make up for her fighting smaller amounts of enemies it wouldn't make sense to be able to dispense them easily like Gordan can. So you make them bullet sponges, and now that they can take a full clip of ammo no problem you wouldn't want them to be able to rush you down. Everything they did with the enemies in this game makes sense.

 

[Blade Wolf]

the things Sairento does that makes it possible to play without puking, are the things you are criticizing Half Life Alyx for (i.e. teleportation).

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no I criticize Alyx for being too slow and enemies acting like it's 5AM and they just got up.

as well as locomotion being broken in some places, the link I posted clearly slows that you can drop yourself from lethal heights with locomotion where with teleportation you will die from the fall, as intended.

 

[sleepnaught]

I bet they wanted less enemies just on account of you being a less experienced Alyx. Hell even a

Spoiler

Strider

is a boss. So to make up for her fighting smaller amounts of enemies it wouldn't make sense to be able to dispense them easily like Gordan can. So you make them bullet sponges, and now that they can take a full clip of ammo no problem you wouldn't want them to be able to rush you down. Everything they did with the enemies in this game makes sense.

Click to shrink...

That doesn't make sense. Gordon dispatched an entire company worth of HECU Marines, a legion of aliens, and a super natural being in another dimension. I know MIT degrees are worth their weight in gold, but God damn....

Not to mention, Alyx was raised in the resistance. She would have more experience amd training than Gordon did in HL1. In fact, as far as we know, Gordon never so much as held a crowbar before, let alone a gun before the Resonance Cascade.

 

[Rygar 8Bit]

She didn't have a gun. Not sure how much action she has seen pre Alyx.

 

[sleepnaught]

She didn't have a gun. Not sure how much action she has seen pre Alyx.

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That's because their place was raided. At the very least, it only puts her on equal footing with Gordon. But being raised in n the resistance, it would be silly to imagine she wouldn't have basic weapons training

 

[TheUnseenTheUnheard]

Hi guys. I've never eaten salad before but I already know I don't like it.

 

[Peter Ian Staker]

No doubt it's a lot harder than it looks, but I just wish they didn't make the AI seem dumb or arcade. Seeing combine standing the open for literally minutes without even trying to flank just feels wrong.

For those who played the game: Is it possible for the headcrabs & combines to behave as smart & aggressive as possible without making the game too hard?

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I finished it on Hard with Smooth locomotion and I honestly doubt you could make the enemies much more aggressive without making the game too hard especially for people without a lot of VR experience.
I remember being absolutely terrified during my first encounter with Combine soldier because I knew it would be a tough fight if they were as aggressive as they used to be in HL2.
Basic stuff like lining up pistol shots, healing and throwing grenades require a lot more effort to accomplish in VR and your speed can't be too fast because of the motion sickness issue so Valve seems to have decided to design this a lot like an old school Survival horror game.
A lot of the hallmarks of old horror games are there like smaller levels more claustrophobic levels, limited ammo and items and slower enemies that can kill you fast if you are not careful(at least on hard).

 

[Blade Wolf]

Hi guys. I've never eaten salad before but I already know I don't like it.

Click to shrink...

If I played the game and then criticize it you people will ignore it anyways so does it really matter?

The things I criticize are objective, is it not? Does combines not stand in the open for minutes like a paper target?
Do I really need to play the game to say ''wow only three guns, that's kind of lame''?

Also I never once said I dislike the game, If anything I KEEP SAYING that it needs to be improved cause I want it to be better.

I am willing to bet that this game will go through a drastic re-balance when it comes to the combat as well as the locomotion falling. Wanna bet?

There's nothing wrong with asking for improvements, even if you haven't played the game, slow zombies and brain fart combines works in Alyx but I doubt it's what people want in Half-Life 3. I know for sure it's not what I want.

With all the advancement in VR we should be getting F.E.A.R. AI at the bare minimum, not worse than Half-Life 1 AI.

 

[sleepnaught]

I am judging the game design from an objective perspective.

I know it's a different game at a different pace, and I'm by no means comparing the movement to HL2 in a direct manner. I am however, criticizing how unresponsive it feels.
Even if the game is ultra slow paced, you can't deny that both jumping up and dropping off feels extremely unresponsive. It works, but in a wonky way.

I'm also not comparing the combat DIRECTLY to HL2, but I'm just saying that I can see a lot of punches being pulled for the sake of VR.
The headcrabs sometimes just stares at you, for seconds, and when they finally leap towards you they miss and flip over like a stupid turtle.

There's a lot of wonder, but (without playing the game) I just don't see how it's a game that I would want to play over and over again. Everything feels either slow or loose, like you get this awkward moment when facing headcrabs like ''are we good or am I in danger...?''

You don't need to play the game to criticize all the multi-tool mini games.
You don't need to play the game to criticize how there's only three guns.
You don't need to play the game to criticize how all the weapons are being forced down to pistol size to accommodate VR gameplay.
With Alyx it works but It makes me worried about the weapons in future Half-Life games. Will the shotgun in HL3 be the classic pump action SPAS, or just another pistol sized shotgun? Will all the weapons be present or will they cut down on the variety?

Half-Life Alyx is no doubt a top tier VR game, but even without playing it I can already see tons of gameplay compromises.

I'm all for new Half-Life games going full VR, but I honestly think there're tons of improvements to be made. It needs to play tighter and enemies needs to react better.

Click to shrink...

I agree with most of your criticisms, but these are not inherently VR problems, but poor choices Valve made. Full sized weapons exist in a lot of VR games, like Boneworks, and they feel fine, until they get caught on your stupid physics body anyway.

Fall speed isn't really an issue. In that video above where that guy is jumping off insane heights.. it's suppose to trigger a player death, but seems bugged for whatever reason. I would like to see an option for regular fall speed. I understand comfort options for the easily sick, but every change like that should be 100% optionable. Same for the lack of sprint and forced teleport, I don't want these comfort options shoved down my throat.

 

[Dralos]

is there a way to stay mobile during fights while teleporting? i always end up closer to the ennemy than further away...

 

[Deleted member 48434]

I've just started playing.
I took my headset off for now, when I saw the headcrab fall from the ceiling
Those fuckers are HUGE
And the fangs....
I took a close look at one I shot off a zombie
I REALLY don't wanna see one lunge at my head

 

[eonden]

So I just finished the game and... holy shit.

HOWEVER, I'd like to share one of the most amazing examples of solving a problem in an unorthodox way that I've ever experienced. It's something that could literally never happen without VR.

Basically in a later Chapter I had to get down to a lower floor in the building for a key item. After doing some exploring I came across a broken-down elevator shaft with a ladder in it that went down to said floor. However, at the bottom the only thing there was an opening to the room below lined with two trip-mines and an explosive barrel. To enter that way would be instant death.

The game had shown that you can safely trigger trip-mines with random objects before, but that wasn't the developer-intended solution as there is no easy way to throw an item to trigger those two trip-mines due to them being directly below the player and relatively far in to the room below. I also tried throwing a grenade down there to see if that did the trick but, nope, that wasn't it either. Shooting the trip-mine or hacking it were also out of the question. The level design clearly wanted you to find another way into that room and use the elevator shaft as a shortcut once you had disabled the trip-mines.

But I was having none of that. I thought that I could throw an item in such a way that it went back in on itself and through the door directly below me, triggering the explosives. At first I tried doing it standing up, but that wasn't working. Then I tried leaning over a bit and, nope, it still didn't work.

So in the end I literally had to get on my knees on the floor and slowly lean right over the edge of the elevator's shafts opening. I got a box from nearby, threw it in a curve below me and it actually worked! I was able to safely enter the room with no problem, all whilst skipping whatever the developer-intended solution was.. It felt like I was one of those crazy fuckers who managed to beat Shrines in Breath of the Wild with just a stick. It was amazing.

To make it more obvious I've whipped up a diagram of the situation. The arrow represents the direction of the throw and the rectangles at both the top and bottom of the elevator shaft represent the two openings.

It's crude but I hope it makes it clear lol

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The way was: "shooting the padlock from below, going up and shooting a barrel".

 

[Fishsnot]

Look, this may sound really cliche, but this to me is far more than just a game.
This game has to be experienced. When I first started it took me almost 30 mins just to get outside because I was in such awe at everything.
You literally live through this game.
Watching someone else play it loses everything, unless you have experienced it first hand yourself.
Probably the most amazing and impressive experience I have had in gaming, and I have been gaming for 40+ years.
This "game" is just something else entirely. Love it!

 

[s0l0kill]

I finished it on Hard with Smooth locomotion and I honestly doubt you could make the enemies much more aggressive without making the game too hard especially for people without a lot of VR experience.
I remember being absolutely terrified during my first encounter with Combine soldier because I knew it would be a tough fight if they were as aggressive as they used to be in HL2.
Basic stuff like lining up pistol shots, healing and throwing grenades require a lot more effort to accomplish in VR and your speed can't be too fast because of the motion sickness issue so Valve seems to have decided to design this a lot like an old school Survival horror game.
A lot of the hallmarks of old horror games are there like smaller levels more claustrophobic levels, limited ammo and items and slower enemies that can kill you fast if you are not careful(at least on hard).

Click to shrink...

Im entirely convinced people who complain about the game being too easy used teleportation, I played it with smooth and the fights were really hard haha