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Off-Topic Discussion => Gaming Discussion => Topic started by: Bryan See on November 21, 2019, 12:15:37 pm

Title: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Bryan See on November 21, 2019, 12:15:37 pm

Valve has just unveiled their flagship title, called Half-Life: Alyx, two days after its announcement. I think it's worth the wait since the release of Half-Life 2: Episode Two in 2007.

EDIT: When Half-Life 2 started making its headlines before E3 2003, many people thought Alyx Vance is going to be the main protagonist. Now, Alyx is going to be such.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Scourge of Ages on November 21, 2019, 01:22:49 pm
Dang, beaten to the punch by Bryan.

I am excited! Hopefully it's actually a game and not just "an experience"
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: theperfectdrugsk on November 22, 2019, 05:39:49 am
Trying to decide if I'm excited for this...I loved HL1 and HL2, but I kinda lost interest with the "episodes." Hopefully it's not just an attempt to cash in on nostalgia.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: gevatter Lars on November 22, 2019, 10:13:19 am
I hope there will be a non VR version. I tried VR but with glasses on it becomes uncomfortable pretty quickly and without the glasses I had trouble seeing.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Bryan See on November 23, 2019, 02:30:05 pm
It's going to be a killer app for VR.

Maybe someone's gonna work on implementing full VR support (Valve Index, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift) for FSO.

If it does, I hope someone should start creating a space combat game set in the Half-Life/Portal universe, as Redditor japasthebass said that there's a lot of story left to be explored there during Gabe Newell's AMA in January 2017. For example, you want to explore how the homeworlds of the Nihilanth and the Vortigaunts are conquered by the Combine.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Det. Bullock on November 23, 2019, 04:00:55 pm
The killer app for VR will be a lower cost and easier setup.
Back in the day Half-Life 2 was fairly well-optimized and could run on my mid-range machine at 1280x1024 without issues, a VR game requires a high end machine and a VR visor with motion controls on top which is often a lot of money, if it uses roomscale then there is the fact that many people don't have the space for it.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: MP-Ryan on November 27, 2019, 08:35:44 pm
**** Valve and their vanity projects.

Finish HL2.  Finish the Portal-HL arc.  Then maybe I'll fork out money for advanced hardware to try your vanity title.

Jesus.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Det. Bullock on November 28, 2019, 11:27:26 am
The worst thing is that a spin off or even a sequel where you play as Alyx is a no-brainer for me but they have to put an entry barrier for it. :(
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Luis Dias on November 29, 2019, 04:31:44 am
I like their approach, they want to not just make half life games endlessly, they want to push the industry forward.

They were cowards by not doing a half life 3 with this though. They'd destroy the entire fandomuniverse with that move alone.

And LOL to everyone in here thinking HL2 was "accessible". No it wasn't. I couldn't play it for years.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: The E on November 29, 2019, 05:19:03 am
Quote from: Det. Bullock on November 23, 2019, 04:00:55 pm
The killer app for VR will be a lower cost and easier setup.

I don't think this is true. If it were, stuff like PSVR would be flying off the shelves.
The thing is, right now there are very few games that really use VR in ways that make a compelling argument that they can't be done just as well without VR.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Grizzly on November 29, 2019, 02:40:22 pm
What surprises me the most about this that people still care about Half Life.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: The E on November 29, 2019, 04:07:24 pm
Quote from: -Joshua- on November 29, 2019, 02:40:22 pm
What surprises me the most about this that people still care about Half Life.

He says, on hard-light.net
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Grizzly on November 29, 2019, 05:02:30 pm
Quote from: The E on November 29, 2019, 04:07:24 pm
Quote from: -Joshua- on November 29, 2019, 02:40:22 pm
What surprises me the most about this that people still care about Half Life.

He says, on hard-light.net

Yeah but

we're like 10 people.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: General Battuta on November 29, 2019, 05:27:40 pm
Quote from: Luis Dias on November 29, 2019, 04:31:44 am
I like their approach, they want to not just make half life games endlessly, they want to push the industry forward.

They were cowards by not doing a half life 3 with this though. They'd destroy the entire fandomuniverse with that move alone.

And LOL to everyone in here thinking HL2 was "accessible". No it wasn't. I couldn't play it for years.

As I recall it was pretty accessible hardware-wise, but if you couldn't get a stable internet connection, yeah, good luck.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Scourge of Ages on November 29, 2019, 05:32:41 pm
Quote from: -Joshua- on November 29, 2019, 02:40:22 pm
What surprises me the most about this that people still care about Half Life.

That's why I'm kind of confused about the rage about this (not here, other places): Everybody'd given up hope of ever seeing HL3; nothing is what we all expected. This is something. Something > nothing.
quick maffs
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Bryan See on January 06, 2020, 02:58:37 am
Quote from: Scourge of Ages on November 29, 2019, 05:32:41 pm
Quote from: -Joshua- on November 29, 2019, 02:40:22 pm
What surprises me the most about this that people still care about Half Life.

That's why I'm kind of confused about the rage about this (not here, other places): Everybody'd given up hope of ever seeing HL3; nothing is what we all expected. This is something. Something > nothing.
quick maffs
But Half-Life: Alyx is anything but HL3. If HLA is well liked, I am sure we'll get to see a VR-based HL3, which, according to Valve News Network's Tyler McVicker, has a lot to do with the future of VR/Mixed Reality.

With HLA's announcement, Half-Life lives once again. Don't tell us if it's truly dead or not.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Aesaar on January 07, 2020, 03:31:33 pm
Hasn't most of the original HL2/Ep1/Ep2 team left Valve anyway?  I know Marc Laidlaw doesn't work there anymore.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Col. Fishguts on January 07, 2020, 03:55:35 pm
Quote from: Aesaar on January 07, 2020, 03:31:33 pm
Hasn't most of the original HL2/Ep1/Ep2 team left Valve anyway?  I know Marc Laidlaw doesn't work there anymore.

Yeah, HL3 in its intended form will never happen, since none of the orignal team is there anymore.
If you need closure, just read Laidlaw's story outline and move on: http://www.marclaidlaw.com/epistle-3/ (http://www.marclaidlaw.com/epistle-3/)
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: CP5670 on January 09, 2020, 07:28:02 pm
This game could be interesting if it's designed for VR from the ground up, but I never liked HL2 and always found its maps repetitive and tedious. Unfortunately, this has dramatically increased demand for the Index VR headset. I was going to get one but they are heavily backordered now. The Index seems to be the best overall VR package right now, but has some issues and is outclassed by others in some ways. I think some of the best use cases for VR are actually vehicle or space games, like Elite Dangerous, Overload or Project Cars 2. Most of the regular FPSs that have come out so far have not been as good.

Quote
I hope there will be a non VR version. I tried VR but with glasses on it becomes uncomfortable pretty quickly and without the glasses I had trouble seeing.

You can get custom lenses for them, which is what I plan to do. They can get expensive though especially for strong prescriptions.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Bryan See on March 23, 2020, 03:50:09 pm
Half-Life: Alyx is out today. Have you got it and started playing?
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Scourge of Ages on March 23, 2020, 04:24:40 pm
Quote from: Bryan See on March 23, 2020, 03:50:09 pm
Half-Life: Alyx is out today. Have you got it and started playing?

Nope. Waiting for a sale.
Also not entirely sure my 1st gen Vive and midrange graphics card can do it justice.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Kiloku on April 04, 2020, 03:54:57 pm
Quote from: -Joshua- on November 29, 2019, 05:02:30 pm
Quote from: The E on November 29, 2019, 04:07:24 pm
Quote from: -Joshua- on November 29, 2019, 02:40:22 pm
What surprises me the most about this that people still care about Half Life.

He says, on hard-light.net

Yeah but

we're like 10 people.

Stop telling the truth, it's too painful!

Quote from: Col. Fishguts on January 07, 2020, 03:55:35 pm
<snip>
Yeah, HL3 in its intended form will never happen, since none of the orignal team is there anymore.
If you need closure, just read Laidlaw's story outline and move on: http://www.marclaidlaw.com/epistle-3/ (http://www.marclaidlaw.com/epistle-3/)

I'll forever argue that this is the plot to HL2:Ep 3, not HL3.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Ghostavo on April 04, 2020, 05:11:38 pm
Quote from: Bryan See on March 23, 2020, 03:50:09 pm
Half-Life: Alyx is out today. Have you got it and started playing?

It feels both like Half-Life 2 and like Arizona Sunshine. Compared to the latter one, they managed to improve pretty much everything.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Scourge of Ages on April 04, 2020, 06:01:43 pm
Quote from: Ghostavo on April 04, 2020, 05:11:38 pm
It feels both like Half-Life 2 and like Arizona Sunshine. Compared to the latter one, they managed to improve pretty much everything.

Oooh, and Arizona Sunshine was one of the best shooty adventure games I've played! I've heard only good things about Alyx, too. Can't (well technically I can) wait to play it myself!
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: manwiththemachinegun on April 04, 2020, 08:28:00 pm
I just can't believe they actually advanced the story, however minor. But that was a good twist.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Su-tehp on April 05, 2020, 12:19:25 am
Question: in terms of the sequence of events, isn't Half-Life: Alyx technically a prequel to the events of Half-Life 2 (as well as Episode 1 and 2)? That's the impression I got from the trailers I saw a few months ago.

I'm just wondering where Freeman is during Half-Life: Alyx.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Scourge of Ages on April 05, 2020, 01:00:48 am
Quote from: Su-tehp on April 05, 2020, 12:19:25 am
I'm just wondering where Freeman is during Half-Life: Alyx.

I've always assumed that immediately after the events of Half-Life 1 and immediately before Half-Life 2 begins, he's in some sort of magical G-Man stasis, and not actually existing in the world anywhere.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: theperfectdrugsk on April 05, 2020, 06:18:18 am
Quote from: Scourge of Ages on April 05, 2020, 01:00:48 am
Quote from: Su-tehp on April 05, 2020, 12:19:25 am
I'm just wondering where Freeman is during Half-Life: Alyx.

I've always assumed that immediately after the events of Half-Life 1 and immediately before Half-Life 2 begins, he's in some sort of magical G-Man stasis, and not actually existing in the world anywhere.

Yeah, that's always been my assumption as well. I remember they sorta hint at that in HL2 during one of Breen's rants at the prison too. He says something like "Freeman has been in a state preventing his learning combat skills, so why can't you ****ers kill him?"
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Su-tehp on April 05, 2020, 01:27:24 pm
So Half-Life: Alyx is an interquel taking place between Half-Life1 and 2, while Freeman is still in stasis? That's what I thought from the trailers. I remember between Half-Life 2 and Ep 1, when the Citadel was blowing up, the G-Man tried to put Freeman back in stasis and left Alyx to die in the explosion, but the Vortigaunts pulled a Big Damn Heroes and got both of them to safety.

Damn, it's been a loooong time since I played Half-Life 2 and Ep 1; I never got around to Ep 2. I own all the HL games on Steam but never got around to playing Ep 2 or replaying HL2 and Ep 1. I need to remedy that sometime.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: theperfectdrugsk on April 05, 2020, 01:46:17 pm
Quote from: Su-tehp on April 05, 2020, 01:27:24 pm
So Half-Life: Alyx is an interquel taking place between Half-Life1 and 2, while Freeman is still in stasis?

That's my understanding (haven't played it since I'm miles away from being able to afford any kind of VR), but I have watched a few 'let's play' type vids (and thus seen the big reveals at the end). It doesn't really advance the HL story or timeline at all.
Spoiler:
unless you consider un-killing Eli and having Stella Gordon get her groove his crowbar back "advancing the timeline". Really just altering the timeline, and not even in a way the necessarily says "we're definitely making HL3," since they could have easily done that and still had Eli deaded. Having G-Man be the prisoner was a really cool, if somewhat predictable twist though.
Still, looks really really cool, and I wish I had the setup to play it...but honestly by the time I can afford a VR rig to do it justice, there will probably be a billion other things on my play queue and I'll never get around to it.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: Mongoose on April 05, 2020, 10:40:14 pm
There has been word that some people have managed to hack together a mostly-playable 2D version of the game. If it gets to a polished enough state I might consider picking it up.
Title: Re: Half-Life: Alyx
Post by: manwiththemachinegun on April 05, 2020, 11:22:19 pm
There is a twist at the end of Alyx which is kind of a big deal. Especially if you've read Marc Laidlaw's draft of a potential HL2: Episode 3.