People who bought VR just for Half-Life: Alyx, please also play Lone Echo...

Zor · Mar 28, 2020

Now that Alyx has released and to all intents and purposes appears to be a success, I just wanted to flag that three years ago developer Ready At Dawn made a VR masterpiece called Lone Echo and if you value good writing, characters, immersion, and puzzle-solving, then Lone Echo is a truly incredible experience worth playing today.

It's an Oculus exclusive but you can use Revive to play it easily*.

I played it for the very first time in January this year, having only joined the VR-scape back in November when I bought my Quest (specifically so that I could play Alyx), and of the many, many VR games that I've played it was without question not just the best VR game, but one of the most engrossing experiences I've ever had within gaming.

It's a game that can give you dry-mouth from just gawking at how incredible everything looks, the sense of scale being utterly astounding in places. Where it can hit you on a grand scale with incredible vistas and environments, and the terrifying sense of endless scale that space brings, it can also hit you on a deeper level with some outstanding writing and drama too.

Half-Life: Alyx shows the worth of Virtual Reality as an immersive experience for sure; it's a stunning achievement for Valve and VR itself and I can't wait to replay Alyx this weekend. But there's no question about it: I feel like the awe and wonder of the medium first hit me hardest playing Lone Echo, above all else, and it remains my favourite VR experience along with Alyx...

*More info here:

Oculus Exclusive Games Finally Feel Truly Playable with Index Controllers & Revive

While it’s long been technically possible to play Oculus exclusive games on Vive and other SteamVR headsets thanks to an unofficial mod called ‘Revive’, the actual experience has always been decidedly clunky due to the significant differences between controller inputs. With Valve’s new Index...

www.roadtovr.com

FURTHER EDIT TO ADD:

TheUnseenTheUnheard said:
IF YOU DO NOT OWN OCULUS HEADSET:

LOOK INTO REVIVE

w00zey said:
Use revive. I've noticed that for this and Vader immortal you have to change the graphic settings for a stable framerate.

ghostcrew said:
Please play Lone Echo. It's amazing.

Lone Echo and Robo Recall are the next two games you should be playing if you got into PCVR just for Alyx.

Revive will get them working if you're on a non-Oculus headset.

Krejlooc said:
you can play any PCVR game on any PCVR headset. To play oculus games on Windows VR or Valve/HTC headsets, you need to install revive.

Walken said:
Very easy to play with Revive. Once again the beauty of the PC.

Nugnip · Mar 28, 2020

It's Oculus exclusive right? Is there an easy way to play this on an Index?

Iichter · Mar 28, 2020

Nugnip said:
It's Oculus exclusive right? Is there an easy way to play this on an Index?

Same question

Ganado · Mar 28, 2020

Not gonna buy a game that doesn't support my Vive out of the box.

Zor · Mar 28, 2020

Nugnip said:
It's Oculus exclusive right? Is there an easy way to play this on an Index?

Iichter said:
Same question

Sorry, yeah, I should have been clearer that it's an Oculus exclusive (I played it on my Quest using Link) but I believe the Revive app for Steam lets you play Oculus exclusives on Index.

Ganado said:
Not gonna buy a game that doesn't support my Vive out of the box.

Thumbsup.gif

TitanicFall · Mar 28, 2020

Its certainly a good game but kind of short. Though you do get a multiplayer game to go with it. If you want a meaty VR game then Asgard's Wrath would be my next choice. Maybe get Lone Echo when the sequel comes out since it may get discounted.

TheUnseenTheUnheard · Mar 28, 2020

IF YOU DO NOT OWN OCULUS HEADSET:

LOOK INTO REVIVE

w00zey · Mar 28, 2020

Nugnip said:
It's Oculus exclusive right? Is there an easy way to play this on an Index?

Use revive. I've noticed that for this and Vader immortal you have to change the graphic settings for a stable framerate.

KDR_11k · Mar 28, 2020

I'd rather point them at Walking Dead Saints & Sinners. Severely overlooked and available for everything, they're even making versions for PSVR and I believe Quest too?

ghostcrew · Mar 28, 2020

Please play Lone Echo. It's amazing.

Lone Echo and Robo Recall are the next two games you should be playing if you got into PCVR just for Alyx.

Revive will get them working if you're on a non-Oculus headset.

electricblue · Mar 28, 2020

Ganado said:
Not gonna buy a game that doesn't support my Vive out of the box.

yup, there have been many oculus exclusives that i don't bother with

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 28, 2020

Nugnip said:
It's Oculus exclusive right? Is there an easy way to play this on an Index?

you can play any PCVR game on any PCVR headset. To play oculus games on Windows VR or Valve/HTC headsets, you need to install revive.

Iron Eddie · Mar 28, 2020

Ganado said:
Not gonna buy a game that doesn't support my Vive out of the box.

Very easy to play with Revive. Once again the beauty of the PC.

Zor · Mar 28, 2020

KDR_11k said:
I'd rather point them at Walking Dead Saints & Sinners. Severely overlooked and available for everything, they're even making versions for PSVR and I believe Quest too?

I love Saints & Sinners bit I can't say it's ever given me an emotional experience or made me gawk at its environments or vistas like Alyx or Lone Echo. Awesome game though.

Crocodilelogic · Mar 28, 2020

I would love to buy tons of Oculus games but I'm not spending money on content that doesn't officially support my headset.

The fact that you have to install revive still is rediculous and games purchased can be made unplayable anytime.

Revive has worse performance and some games don't even work properly It's bullshit and people shouldn't be giving oculus money if they won't support other headsets.

When the oculus store works like steam you should make a new thread.

Zor · Mar 28, 2020

Crocodilelogic said:
When the oculus store works like steam you should make a new thread.

Um, no. But thanks.

ghostcrew · Mar 28, 2020

Crocodilelogic said:
The fact that you have to install revive still is rediculous and games purchased can be made unplayable anytime.

It has worked for four years at this point. I don't think you have to worry about Oculus suddenly going hard on blocking Vives/Indexes in 2020.

Bradford · Mar 28, 2020

For real, Lone Echo is a serious killer app and was the reason why I bought my oculus to begin with.

It's up there with Alyx. Love Echo 2 is one of my most anticipated games.

TheUnseenTheUnheard · Mar 28, 2020

Walken said:
Very easy to play with Revive. Once again the beauty of the PC.

Nah more like Oculus allowing it. They tried to block it multiple times.

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 28, 2020

ghostcrew said:
It has worked for four years at this point. I don't think you have to worry about Oculus suddenly going hard on blocking Vives/Indexes in 2020.

At the same time, they did this once after saying for years prior that they wouldn't. Like, when they did exactly this last time, it was preceded by Palmer Luckey himself personally promising they'd never do that just a week prior. And this is back when Luckey was a C-level exec at oculus.

ghostcrew · Mar 28, 2020

Krejlooc said:
At the same time, they did this once after saying for years prior that they wouldn't. Like, when they did exactly this last time, it was preceded by Palmer Luckey himself personally promising they'd never do that just a week prior. And this is back when Luckey was a C-level exec at oculus.

The fact that they walked back on it pretty quickly makes me fairly confident that they wouldn't do it again. And it was four years ago. Has been gravy since then.

Honestly, I'm surprised they haven't launched official support for non Oculus headsets at this point.

Zor · Mar 28, 2020

ghostcrew said:
The fact that they walked back on it pretty quickly makes me fairly confident that they wouldn't do it again.

Honestly, I'm surprised they haven't launched official support for non Oculus headsets at this point.

Isn't it a bit hypocritical of them to block Revive when their own headset with Link allows any PCVR games to be played on the Quest?

Crocodilelogic · Mar 28, 2020

ghostcrew said:
It has worked for four years at this point. I don't think you have to worry about Oculus suddenly going hard on blocking Vives/Indexes in 2020.

Or you know Facebook could do the right thing and make more money. Why should I invest in content that I have to use unofficial software to play no thanks .

Games also break all the time Vader immortal use to crash all the time and now it's supper dark in revive.

Vader Immortal - Black Screen · Issue #1467 · LibreVR/Revive

Describe the bug Trying to launch Vader Immortal Episode I from the revive dashboard launches to a black screen and stays there. Task Manager reports WKND is not responding. The app does not launch...

github.com

It's just a hassle and I'm not going to reward Facebook for its shitty policies.

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 28, 2020

ghostcrew said:
The fact that they walked back on it pretty quickly makes me fairly confident that they wouldn't do it again.

Honestly, I'm surprised they haven't launched official support for non Oculus headsets at this point.

It wasn't really very quickly that they walked back on it. They started blocking revive in march, then the new version of revive came out in april, then they blocked it again, then another version came out in may, then they blocked it again. And this continued until the end of june, when they finally gave in. By that point, HTC headsets had outsold Oculus headsets by a huge margin and the number of VR titles on steam dwarfed the oculus store by like a factor of ten, and nobody was buying games on their store, so they had to relent or they risked basically locking themselves out of the early ecosystem.

Keep in mind, when the quest link was announced, they wouldn't go on record initially to say if it would work with revive.

Not saying Facebook will ever again block revive, just saying the fear of them doing so isn't unfounded at all. They've literally done it multiple times in the past.

JahIthBer · Mar 28, 2020

Speaking of revive, this VR exclusivity garbage is lame for such a small niche market, Sony & Facebook are being dicks, you don't see Valve making Alyx exclusive.

ghostcrew · Mar 28, 2020

Crocodilelogic said:
Or you know Facebook could do the right thing and make more money. Why should I invest in content that I have to use unofficial software to play no thanks .

Just because there's really great exclusive software there that you're missing out on that you could easily play.

You don't have to though, obviously. Was just saying how easy it is.

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 28, 2020

JahIthBer said:
Speaking of revive, this VR exclusivity garbage is lame for such a small niche market, Sony & Facebook are being dicks, you don't see Valve making Alyx exclusive.

in all seriousness, valve really should let 3rd party sites sell steam keys for half life alyx. They've done so for all their previous games, so it sucks a ton that they haven't let 3rd party sites sell for alyx. That shit is anti-consumer and stifles the consumer market. Consumers lose when they can only buy games from one store, nobody should celebrate that shit.

ghostcrew · Mar 28, 2020

JahIthBer said:
Speaking of revive, this VR exclusivity garbage is lame for such a small niche market, Sony & Facebook are being dicks, you don't see Valve making Alyx exclusive.

It's exclusive to their store. You can't buy it and launch it anywhere else but Steam. Thankfully Steam supports all manner of headsets but then so does every other launcher with a mod.

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 28, 2020

ghostcrew said:
It's exclusive to their store. You can't buy it and launch it anywhere else but Steam. Thankfully Steam supports all manner of headsets.

yeah, but it shouldn't be exclusive to their store. In the past, valve has generated keys and sold them to other stores legally, like you can buy Portal 2 on Amazon.com right now. That's a very, very good thing for consumers. As is, right now, the only place you can buy Alyx is on the Steam Store, and, ironically, the non-legit 3rd party key selling sites like g2a. Because they don't get their keys legitimately, so the lack of valve legitimately selling keys to third parties doesn't affect them. This is bad for consumers, because inevitably people will buy a key from a third party site, and A) that is bad for customers as it directs them to shady sites, and B) it's bad for developers, because it steers customers towards sites that got their keys potentially through ill gotten means.

SteamVR is headset agnostic, that's great. but a large part of the problem with exclusive items to particular store fronts is the way it limits consumer power. Being headset agnostic is good because it lets the consumer shop around for the best value. For the same exact reason, the game itself should be store-agnostic.

Crocodilelogic · Mar 28, 2020

ghostcrew said:
Just because there's really great exclusive software there that you're missing out on that you could easily play.

You don't have to though, obviously. Was just saying how easy it is.

Oh for sure I really want to play multiple oculus exclusives . Medal of Honor will probably push me over the edge tbh.

I love VR and have two headsets already but I will probably get the next wireless oculus headset.

It's just frustrating that occulus doesn't officially support other headsets like steam. I would buy all the games. I own just about every steam VR game worth trying.

But it's hard to give my money to a company who could squash support for my headset of choice at anytime.

Suikodan · Mar 28, 2020

Lone Echo is a great game. It's so relaxing to wander around in space in a no-gravity environment.

craven68 · Mar 28, 2020

This game made me sick ! the way the charactere move, i can't really play it even if i wanted to play it :/
These are the games i want to buy but i m not sure if they are going to run great on revive and if they are going to made me sick too hahaha
So Asgard's wrath look amazing ! stormland too ! and the walking dead look really nice too.

ghostcrew · Mar 28, 2020

Krejlooc said:
yeah, but it shouldn't be exclusive to their store. In the past, valve has generated keys and sold them to other stores legally, like you can buy Portal 2 on Amazon.com right now. That's a very, very good thing for consumers. As is, right now, the only place you can buy Alyx is on the Steam Store, and, ironically, the non-legit 3rd party key selling sites like g2a. Because they don't get their keys legitimately, so the lack of valve legitimately selling keys to third parties doesn't affect them. This is bad for consumers, because inevitably people will buy a key from a third party site, and A) that is bad for customers as it directs them to shady sites, and B) it's bad for developers, because it steers customers towards sites that got their keys potentially through ill gotten means.

SteamVR is headset agnostic, that's great. but a large part of the problem with exclusive items to particular store fronts is the way it limits consumer power. Being headset agnostic is good because it lets the consumer shop around for the best value. For the same exact reason, the game itself should be store-agnostic.

I agree with you. I looked to see if I could buy it from all the usual third party sites before begrudgingly plonking down my £50 for it on Steam.

Crocodilelogic · Mar 28, 2020

Krejlooc said:
yeah, but it shouldn't be exclusive to their store. In the past, valve has generated keys and sold them to other stores legally, like you can buy Portal 2 on Amazon.com right now. That's a very, very good thing for consumers. As is, right now, the only place you can buy Alyx is on the Steam Store, and, ironically, the non-legit 3rd party key selling sites like g2a. Because they don't get their keys legitimately, so the lack of valve legitimately selling keys to third parties doesn't affect them. This is bad for consumers, because inevitably people will buy a key from a third party site, and A) that is bad for customers as it directs them to shady sites, and B) it's bad for developers, because it steers customers towards sites that got their keys potentially through ill gotten means.

SteamVR is headset agnostic, that's great. but a large part of the problem with exclusive items to particular store fronts is the way it limits consumer power. Being headset agnostic is good because it lets the consumer shop around for the best value. For the same exact reason, the game itself should be store-agnostic.

This is kind of wild considering valve is giving the game away for free to every one with index hardware.

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 28, 2020

also, regarding PSVR, A) the PS4 couldn't really run Half Life Alyx and B) I don't think the PSVR tracks well enough to play the game. But for PS5 and a potential PSVR2? They should totally support that. VR is still nacient, the supposed point of HL:A isn't to be a sales juggernaut but rather push VR as a medium. It should be in as many places as possible. An Xbox One X port would also be killer.

More people should play these games! They shouldn't be restricted due to arbitrary reasons!

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 28, 2020

Crocodilelogic said:
This is kind of wild considering valve is giving the game away for free to every one with index hardware.

Right? This topic actually made me shoot an email to gabe newell, pretty much repeating everything I said here. He's answered in the past and can be eloquent, here's hoping he replies.

Crocodilelogic · Mar 28, 2020

Krejlooc said:
Right? This topic actually made me shoot an email to gabe newell, pretty much repeating everything I said here. He's answered in the past and can be eloquent, here's hoping he replies.

So you are salty you can't buy 3rd Party keys ? I don't really understand what you are trying to say with this nonsense. Just buy it from steam.

I just find it funny you are complaining about not being able to buy keys third party for a game they are giving away to index users for free.

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 28, 2020

Crocodilelogic said:
So you are salty you can't buy 3rd party keys so valve doesn't get any money for the hard work they put into the game ?

valve makes money from 3rd party key sales. The way 3rd party keys work is that the company who makes the game generates them in bulk, then sells them at a price they determine to 3rd party retailers, who then sell it to the public. When you buy a 3rd party game like Portal 2 on amazon.com, Valve gets paid.

There is nothing about "salt" in any of my posts.

I just find it funny you are complaining about not being able to buy keys third party for a game they are giving away to index users for free.

I don't see what them giving away the game with purchase of their own hardware has to do with my arguments about consumer benefits of an open marketplace. For one, the majority of people playing Half Life Alyx over the next several years will not have gotten it from purchasing an index. Being able to shop freely at multiple storefronts is an overall gain to the entire PC market, not just for valve specifically with half life alyx, but for all developers.

Crocodilelogic · Mar 28, 2020

Krejlooc said:
valve makes money from 3rd party key sales. The way 3rd party keys work is that the company who makes the game generates them in bulk, then sells them at a price they determine to 3rd party retailers, who then sell it to the public. When you buy a 3rd party game like Portal 2 on amazon.com, Valve gets paid.

There is nothing about "salt" in any of my posts.

Sure but wouldn't valve recoup more money without the middle man? Especially considering how many free copies they have given away.

It just seems mad petty to complain about this when valve has given the game to anyone with index hardware past and present.

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 28, 2020

Crocodilelogic said:
Sure but wouldn't valve recoup more money without the middle man? Especially considering how many free copies they have given away.

Having been to their lectures, they talk often about short term loss for long term gain. For example, at Steam Dev Days 2014, they relayed a story during their keynote lecture about how they gave portal 2 away for free and still managed to make a ton of money from residual effects of introducing more players to the market. Valve's primary method of making money is through sales on steam, and they've said repeatedly in lectures that their view is that a rising tide raises all ships. That, for example, not buying technologies like SDL2 leads to their proliferation, which leads to more games eventually winding up on steam. Selling keys on third party sites is healthy for the PC ecosystem, which funnels back into valve because they thrive on a healthy PC ecosystem. Heck, gabe newell talks about this kind of stuff all the time.

PlayBee · Mar 28, 2020

Krejlooc said:
you can play any PCVR game on any PCVR headset. To play oculus games on Windows VR or Valve/HTC headsets, you need to install revive.

Does revive work that well, though? It's one thing to say you can, another for it to be a good experience.

Crocodilelogic · Mar 28, 2020

Krejlooc said:
Having been to their lectures, they talk often about short term loss for long term gain. For example, at Steam Dev Days 2014, they relayed a story during their keynote lecture about how they gave portal 2 away for free and still managed to make a ton of money from residual effects of introducing more players to the market. Valve's primary method of making money is through sales on steam, and they've said repeatedly in lectures that their view is that a rising tide raises all ships. That, for example, not buying technologies like SDL2 leads to their proliferation, which leads to more games eventually winding up on steam. Selling keys on third party sites is healthy for the PC ecosystem, which funnels back into valve because they thrive on a healthy PC ecosystem. Heck, gabe newell talks about this kind of stuff all the time.

They gave the game away for free with the index hardware lol. Anyways this is totally off topic.

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 28, 2020

PlayBee said:
Does revive work that well, though? It's one thing to say you can, another for it to be a good experience.

I don't use my oculus rift anymore, my HTC Vive with a deluxe audio strap has been my primary VR headset since... well, the beginning. The only game I used my Oculus Rift for extensively was Robo Recall, because early on the Vive touchpad was mapped to multiple buttons weird in revive. With the Index controllers, it's much easier to map in revive.

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 28, 2020

Crocodilelogic said:
They gave the game away for free with the index hardware lol

If you repeat yourself, it doesn't make you point any more salient. When you tell me they gave the game away for free, and I tell you that is immaterial to my argument, repeating that they gave the game away for free is pointless.

Crocodilelogic · Mar 28, 2020

Krejlooc said:
If you repeat yourself, it doesn't make you point any more salient. When you tell me they gave the game away for free, and I tell you that is immaterial to my argument, repeating that they gave the game away for free is pointless.

Not sure what any of this has to do with lone echo and you sound super petty. Like I said this conversation is pointless and totally off topic for this thread. Also the game is fucking free for many people 😂.

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 28, 2020

Nearly one full percent of your entire posting total in 3 years is in this topic telling me "they give the game away with the headset" because you are unhappy that I want the game to be sold in as many places as possible, but I am the one who is salty and petty. k.

Crocodilelogic · Mar 28, 2020

Krejlooc said:
Nearly one full percent of your entire posting total in 3 years is in this topic telling me "they give the game away with the headset" because you are unhappy that I want the game to be sold in as many places as possible, but I am the one who is salty and petty. k.

So again what does any of this have to do with lone echo? also Alex is free for people who own any index hardware.

Have a wonderful day I'm blocking you now since you refuse to stop replying after I asked.

Sorry op I can't speak for this guy but I will stop shitting up your thread with this nonsense.

Wow bringing up my post count are you 12 who cares.

Zor · Mar 28, 2020

Well... this thread turned out great :-/

KDR_11k · Mar 28, 2020

Don't worry about Revive, play Walking Dead!

XR. · Mar 28, 2020

ghostcrew said:
It's exclusive to their store. You can't buy it and launch it anywhere else but Steam.

Is this seen as a problem in this context? Compared to locking software to specific hardware that seems like a non-issue.

People who bought VR just for Half-Life: Alyx, please also play Lone Echo...

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