Half-Life: Alyx is more physically accessible than people realize

[DarthBuzzard]

I thought this would be a good thread to show exactly the kind of things that Valve are doing to make the game as accessible as possible, and in certain ways more accessible than previous Half Life games. Maybe someone appropriate stumbles upon it and understands that ah, they probably can play the game when they thought it wouldn't be possible.

• There are 3 movement options. Smooth locomotion, shift, and teleportation. The latter of which doesn't trigger motion sickness because there's no vestibular mismatch. There's likely to be a lower percentage of people getting sick than other Half-Life games because they can still trigger sickness via said mismatch.
• It supports seated play and was accommodated for it rather than just being something you can do without much care put into it.
• The game properly supports left-handed players.
• It actually supports the use of only one arm, or will do once it's finished before launch.
• You have automation options for reloading.
• The use of the Grabbity Gloves Gravity Gloves makes interaction a lot easier without having to move much.
• The horror elements are properly managed so as not to be so over the top and cause serious issues in most cases.

That's a lot of work on their part, and it's important more people understand just how much more accessible the game is than the internet generally portrays it.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

The horror elements are properly managed so as not to be so over the top and cause serious issues in most cases

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Can you expand on this?

 

[Moist_Owlet]

And is the cheapest option still a $400 quest with cable?

 

[samred]

• The use of the Grabbity Gloves makes interaction a lot easier without having to move much.

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They're officially called the Gravity Gloves. In their current default implementation, which I previously dubbed "point, clench, flick, catch," they require some wrist-flicking movement on a regular basis. Better than physically ducking/stretching to reach objects, but that may come with its own accessibility trade-off.

 

[zulux21]

And is the cheapest option still a $400 quest with cable?

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that's never been the cheapest option. The quest will need to be connected to a PC, so you will need a PC that can run it as well, and at that point you can also used the windows mixed reality headsets that go on sale for like $250.

The quest is just often recommended because it has solid inside out tracking (better than the current mixed reality headsets) and can be used as a stand alone headset for a number of great games that have native versions on it.

that being said the rift s has one extra camera over the quest for tracking, and has been on sale before, so can likely be found for cheaper than the quest, but obviously can't do the stand alone stuff.

 

[DarthBuzzard]

Can you expand on this?

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From the AMA: https://www.reddit.com/r/HalfLife/comments/esen9b/were_developers_from_the_halflife_alyx_team_ask/ff9kgf0/

"Tristan here, I admit I cannot deal with headcrabs in general, and definitely not in VR. If I'm testing the game, and I'm in an area where I know one of those things is around, I'll remove the head set and hold it off my face as I attempt navigate on the 2d monitor screen, to lessen the impact of headcrab discovery. Disappointingly for me, it seems that I'm the only one on the team who can't deal, we handle the scarier parts pretty well in terms of making the game accessible.

Horror is part of the franchise, and through playtesting, we feel like we've gained some confidence about where to draw this line. Some of our gorier visuals tend to evoke a grim fascination rather than revulsion or panic, and apart from myself, we've hardly ever seen anyone nope out of a playtest, even during the creepier sections. So among testers I still seem to be the outlier on horror tolerance."

 

[Jaded Alyx]

From the AMA: https://wwwreddit.com/r/HalfLife/co...pers_from_the_halflife_alyx_team_ask/ff9kgf0/

"Tristan here, I admit I cannot deal with headcrabs in general, and definitely not in VR. If I'm testing the game, and I'm in an area where I know one of those things is around, I'll remove the head set and hold it off my face as I attempt navigate on the 2d monitor screen, to lessen the impact of headcrab discovery. Disappointingly for me, it seems that I'm the only one on the team who can't deal, we handle the scarier parts pretty well in terms of making the game accessible.

Horror is part of the franchise, and through playtesting, we feel like we've gained some confidence about where to draw this line. Some of our gorier visuals tend to evoke a grim fascination rather than revulsion or panic, and apart from myself, we've hardly ever seen anyone nope out of a playtest, even during the creepier sections. So among testers I still seem to be the outlier on horror tolerance."

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Interesting.

 

[DarthBuzzard]

They're officially called the Gravity Gloves. In their current default implementation, which I previously dubbed "point, clench, flick, catch," they require some wrist-flicking movement on a regular basis. Better than physically ducking/stretching to reach objects, but that may come with its own accessibility trade-off.

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Have to say it's hard to keep a note on that name. The wrist-action is indeed a trade-off, but in terms of how it looks, it seemed very smooth and I'm surprised no one has done that mechanic before for telekinesis-grabbing.

 

[Alvis]

And is the cheapest option still a $400 quest with cable?

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What? The cheapest option are the Windows Mixed Reality headsets which can be found for like 250$

 

[samred]

Have to say it's hard to keep a note on that name. The wrist-action is indeed a trade-off, but in terms of how it looks, it seemed very smooth and I'm surprised no one has done that mechanic before for telekinesis-grabbing.

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Yes, agreed. Now imagine Valve-built puzzles that revolve around this mechanic *and* its limitations...

 

[DarthBuzzard]

Yes, agreed. Now imagine Valve-built puzzles that revolve around this mechanic *and* its limitations...

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I have to wonder if they won't just throw a button press in there as an option.

 

[LAA]

Thanks for the thread! I didnt realise there was a seating option and a lot of other features that seem to help me want it more.

 

[OrangeNova]

As someone who has gotten sick from point and teleport games, let me assure you it is not a cure all

 

[DarthBuzzard]

As someone who has gotten sick from point and teleport games, let me assure you it is not a cure all

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If teleportation is done right, there isn't going to be a vestibular mismatch for the inner ear to complain about. At that point, sickness results from either artefacts in the environment, or the perception of the headset's latency, or an incorrect IPD.

Didn't you play DOOM VFR though? That's a classic example of teleportation that isn't done right for accessibility.

 

[maximumzero]

This game's gonna explode whenever the Quest tech evolves enough that it can be played without needing to be connected to a computer.

 

[OrangeNova]

If teleportation is done right, there isn't going to be a vestibular mismatch for the inner ear to complain about. At that point, sickness results from either artefacts in the environment, or the perception of the headset's latency, or an incorrect IPD.

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I get sick from bad parallax In 2D games.

I've played several games with point at teleport. We don't know everything about how simulation sickness works, and some people are way more susceptible than normal.

 

[DarthBuzzard]

I get sick from bad parallax In 2D games.

I've played several games with point at teleport. We don't know everything about how simulation sickness works, and some people are way more susceptible than normal.

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The bad parallax can arguably fall under visual artefacts. What I'm saying is that the act of proper teleportation doesn't cause sickness, but other things may factor in, though those are very rare issues.

 

[tulpa]

yeah it totally is. I was super concerned pre-reveal and i was definitely expressing those concerns, but they've really put them to rest with their commitment to accessibility.

VR as a medium still has a long way to go on accessibility unfortunately. but Valve is doing great work in that regard

 

[DarthBuzzard]

yeah it totally is. I was super concerned pre-reveal and i was definitely expressing those concerns, but they've really put them to rest with their commitment to accessibility.

VR as a medium still has a long way to go on accessibility unfortunately. but Valve is doing great work in that regard

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I'm specifically excited to see their one arm mode because that's something VR could really use across a wide range of AAA games. It's not just like Beat Saber where it happens to work because the game naturally fits into a one handed playing style, but more based on the idea that you can create a large-scale AAA epic that still lets you play with one arm.

 

[tulpa]

I'm specifically excited to see their one arm mode because that's something VR could really use across a wide range of AAA games. It's not just like Beat Saber where it happens to work because the game naturally fits into a one handed playing style, but more based on the idea that you can create a large-scale AAA epic that still lets you play with one arm.

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yeah i think that's a fascinating and really admirable thing

 

[ClarkusDarkus]

Valve doing groundbreaking new things with VR for a Half Life game, Does not and will not get any better than this.

They will have covered all areas and bases.

Game will be exactly what VR needs.

 

[SoftTaur]

Can I play it without lifting and moving my arms? Otherwise its still inaccessible to me (not that I can afford a system that can run it)

 

[Kthulhu]

After playing Boneworks and loving it's seated mode I'm glad to see Valve will also use it.

 

[Crayon]

That covers as many people as possible. There's always going to be someone who gets sick or a headache, but there's only so much you can do.

 

[cakefoo]

As someone who has gotten sick from point and teleport games, let me assure you it is not a cure all

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You should talk to a VR expert about your experiences. I'm sure they'd be interested to hear about it, and maybe they could narrow down what's triggering the discomfort. If you've ruled out refresh rate and locomotion methods, it could be focal plane, IPD range or field-of-view related.

 

[Deleted member 4494]

Funny thing is, after playing Boneworks in room scale, the idea of anything *but* room scale VR for Alyx is unacceptable to me. Beforehand I would have been all about seated, since it's what I knew from PSVR-land, but things are very different for me now.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Where did you get the idea that it'll support one armed play? They said they made all the weapons one-handed because they made lots of instances where they want people to be doing two things at once.

 

[Mad_Rhetoric]

Im not worried about accessibility. If anything they may have focused too much on accessibility since they didnt even consider smooth locomotion until recently thanks to Boneworks. Kinda odd. Hope the levels and play spaces arent too small since they were designed around teleportation 1st. I like having both teleportation and smooth locomotion as options, but constantly teleporting around the entire game seems like it would get tiresome after awhile unless the environments were smaller which I hope not bc I plan on using smooth locomotion.

 

[Madjoki]

Where did you get the idea that it'll support one armed play? They said they made all the weapons one-handed because they made lots of instances where they want people to be doing two things at once.

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https://www.reddit.com/r/HalfLife/comments/esen9b/comment/ff9jekt

 

[VN1X]

That's nice but I wish it was more financially accessible.

 

[DarthBuzzard]

You should talk to a VR expert about your experiences. I'm sure they'd be interested to hear about it, and maybe they could narrow down what's triggering the discomfort. If you've ruled out refresh rate and locomotion methods, it could be focal plane, IPD range or field-of-view related.

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I believe they haven't tried 90Hz+ yet except on DOOM VFR which really isn't a great example.

 

[Deleted member 4494]

If anything they may have focused too much on accessibility since they didnt even consider smooth locomotion until recently thanks to Boneworks.

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This is based on a rumor from the VNN guy who -- while credible -- turned out to be wrong or at least misinformed about this. Valve in their latest AMA said they were done with locomotion implementation entirely which, if true, means they would have spent all of like a couple weeks on the feature if they had started when he suggested (it's not a small thing to implement properly). Even the VNN guy, when he read about this during the AMA, seemed incredulous and more than a little confused. The fact that it was inspired by Boneworks may be true (remember, according to the same person Valve was approached by SLZ a few times, and they were in contact during development, so Valve got to see plenty of Boneworks), but that still would have left Valve with plenty of time to implement locomotion. Based on the fact that they're keeping their date, I think it's safe to say that they did not miss TGA on behalf of locomotion, which was the original suggestion. To further enforce this, not a few days after TGA had ended, Tested got hands on play with HL:A and people can see their basically finished locomotion then and there.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

This is based on a rumor from the VNN guy who -- while credible -- turned out to be wrong or at least misinformed about this. Valve in their latest AMA said they were done with locomotion implementation entirely which, if true, means they would have spent all of like a couple weeks on the feature if they had started when he suggested (it's not a small thing to implement properly). Even the VNN guy, when he read about this during the AMA, seemed incredulous and more than a little confused. The fact that it was inspired by Boneworks may be true (remember, according to the same person Valve was approached by SLZ a few times, and they were in contact during development, so Valve got to see plenty of Boneworks), but that still would have left Valve with plenty of time to implement locomotion. Based on the fact that they're keeping their date, I think it's safe to say that they did not miss TGA on behalf of locomotion, which was the original suggestion. To further enforce this, not a few days after TGA had ended, Tested got hands on play with HL:A and people can see their basically finished locomotion then and there.

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I wouldn't call it finished locomotion when Norm himself said it was unfinished, and there is always a console open in every shot of him using it, and you still had to teleport up ladders. Valve just making statements contradicting reports that make them look bad doesn't necessarily mean much by itself.

 

[Asbsand]

Physically accessible for more money than the launch PS3.

 

[eonden]

I wouldn't call it finished locomotion when Norm himself said it was unfinished, and there is always a console open in every shot of him using it, and you still had to teleport up ladders. Valve just making statements contradicting reports that make them look bad doesn't necessarily mean much by itself.

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We had people that played the game with smooth locomotion like a few weeks after VNN said Valve was scrambling to figure it out. All things point towards Tyler being fed something wrong and him not checking up on it (which has happened several times).

The teleport up to ladders is likely a comfort thing, to avoid unnecessary wobbling of the head which could cause uncomfortable situations.

Edit: Heck, on that same AMA, we learned that despite him saying several times through years that Valve and the original HL writer Laidlaw were in bad terms, that was not the case at all.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

We had people that played the game with smooth locomotion like a few weeks after VNN said Valve was scrambling to figure it out. All things point towards Tyler being fed something wrong and him not checking up on it (which has happened several times).

The teleport up to ladders is likely a comfort thing, to avoid unnecessary wobbling of the head which could cause uncomfortable situations.

Edit: Heck, on that same AMA, we learned that despite him saying several times through years that Valve and the original HL writer Laidlaw were in bad terms, that was not the case at all.

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I really don't want to get into it here, but if there was bad blood they sure wouldn't confirm it during an AMA. If you want to get technical, Tyler had an email from Marc that contradicted Valve's narrative of Marc consulting on the story a bunch, when Marc claims he answered like 2 or 3 questions with no context.

But as i said I don't want to get into it here. I believe PR speak as much as Tyler's reporting. Meaning I don't take either as gospel.

 

[wafflebrain]

This game's gonna explode whenever the Quest tech evolves enough that it can be played without needing to be connected to a computer.

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This is doable now with a Quest, I just got done playing a PCVR game using the Virtual Desktop app, and the quality is surprisingly good over 5 ghz wifi. I played the entirety of Boneworks this way and it was a very smooth experience (though not as smooth as a wired connection admittedly). The future is now :P

I'll probably be playing HL: Alyx using Link though, that's one game I want to experience as minimal latency with as possible.

edit: If you meant hardwise wise as in being able to run Alyx totally standalone off a Quest like device then yeah that's probably a gen 2 type solution, but it's promising seeing what games are already possible on the Quest, the recently released Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners is getting a Quest version sometime later this year and that has some of the more complex combat and physics interactions we've seen in a VR game so far. Compromises and asset downgrades will obviously need to be made but it's a good sign for future ports if something like that can also be made to work on Quest standalone.

 

[Alvis]

If anything they may have focused too much on accessibility since they didnt even consider smooth locomotion until recently thanks to Boneworks. Kinda odd.

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Well thank fuck they did. I hate when devs ONLY support teleportation. Teleportation is an inferior way to play games, and the only reason it exists is because some people feel sick when playing with smooth locomotion. Sure, it needs to exist for these people since it happens to a LOT of people but they can't just remove the best way to play just because not everyone can handle it. It would be like the Celeste devs implementing the slow motion feature in the Assist mode and then removing the regular mode. I dislike Doom VFR because teleporting across the whole game makes the gameplay feel silly. It supports locomotion but only if you play with a regular gamepad????? Like smooth locomotion is already implemented but they won't let me use it with VR controllers because they think they know better than me.

I'll never buy a VR game that only supports teleportation, unless the game is clearly designed from the ground up for teleportation (ie it's a gameplay mechanic and smooth locomotion wouldn't work)

I don't even own a VR headset btw (my brother lets me borrow his headset from time to time and set Family Sharing on my PC so I can play his VR games), and smooth locomotion never made me sick even during my first day ever playing VR. I realise I'm incredibly lucky and most people would feel sick if their first VR experience involved smooth locomotion. But I don't see why my experience should be limited because of that. Just support both options! Make smooth locomotion have a super big red warning about how it will kill me, don't care, just let me enable it.

 

[Alvis]

Physically accessible for more money than the launch PS3.

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Why lie? The Windows Mixed Reality headsets are usually available from like ~250€. Just because Valve makes the best VR headset on the market doesn't mean you need to own that specific headset to play the game.

 

[snausages]

I think I would still find it a bit inaccessible, but it's good to see them make an effort at having the VR experience scale to all sorts of different requirements even if non-VR is impossible