The work modders are doing to make Half-Life: Alyx not just playable but actually fun on traditional screens continues to impress, with the Half-Life: Alyx NoVR mod's latest animation upgrade out now. Still not done yet though, although this is a big step forward for the project.
Check out the update trailer:
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Here's the main additions in the update:
- Alyx’s animated arms and hands.
- Firing, idle, reload and holster animations for all weapons and grenades.
- Upgrades for all weapons that can be visually seen with each enhancement.
- Combine Fabricator changes for easier use by the player.
- Reflex sight upgrades highlighting enemy weak points.
- Dedicated inspect button.
- Additional toner puzzles added throughout the game.
- Enhanced flashlight.
- Updated HUD with 3 animated hearts (not available on Steam Deck).
- Fixes to the Jeff and Strider encounters for a smoother gameplay experience.
- Other bug fixes and updates throughout the entire game.
- Multi-tool (can be equipped and is animated but currently not functional).
More work is coming from their roadmap including making the full UI work on Steam Deck too. I haven't tested it for a while but even before this update is was massively impressive work. While playing it in VR is what it was designed for, and the best experience, that's simply not accessible to everyone.
See the announcement for more. Naturally you need a copy of the game from Steam to play the mod.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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slaapliedje Oct 31, 2023
This game was SO good in VR. Though I'm not sure if it was 1k+ good, but it was REALLY good in VR. Wonder how much of it is not as grand in scale on a pancake screen.
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hardpenguin Nov 1, 2023
It is pretty hilarious that the community provided this functionality instead of the game developers. 🤭
3 Likes, Who?
Quoting: hardpenguinIt is pretty hilarious that the community provided this functionality instead of the game developers. 🤭Not really? To me, this is like a fan-edit of a film; the "director's cut" is already out there as the original Alyx VR, and I'd find it odd if the creator of a piece of media in another form would feel the need to work on a version that doesn't reflect how they feel it's meant to be experienced.
1 Likes, Who?
slaapliedje Nov 1, 2023
Quoting: CybolicAgreed. This game is meant for selling the Index hardware. Wonder how many units this game sold the hardware for. I had my Index before the game came out, but this was really the first fully complete game that I played beginning to end.Quoting: hardpenguinIt is pretty hilarious that the community provided this functionality instead of the game developers. 🤭Not really? To me, this is like a fan-edit of a film; the "director's cut" is already out there as the original Alyx VR, and I'd find it odd if the creator of a piece of media in another form would feel the need to work on a version that doesn't reflect how they feel it's meant to be experienced.
The feeling of being able to hide behind some wall, and poking up your head to see how far you have to toss a grenade, then sitting back down to lob one over at the enemies... it's pretty hard to describe how awesome that was. The fights in it were absolutely amazing.
I think adding VR to the older Half-life games would be even more ambitious / awesome. Though as Alyx shows, there is a lot of things that would just require it to be something designed from the beginning.
2 Likes, Who?
I think this marks the denouement of the latest VR push... seems like it's going to stay an optional nice-to-have for supported games.
0 Likes
Quoting: CybolicI'd find it odd if the creator of a piece of media in another form would feel the need to work on a version that doesn't reflect how they feel it's meant to be experienced.
I hear what you're saying but that's a narrow view, history is replete with creators changing or recreating their work so more or different people can enjoy it.
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I somewhat resent that Valve made this game VR only. I bought the Half Life games and all the expansions and was thusly invested in it and I'd have liked another game. Especially after all that hype about Half Life 3, they come out with this and make it inaccessible to anyone that doesn't have the headgear. I don't ever plan to have a VR headset, I don't think it would be good for me.
Few games are "VR only", most devs realize that it's better to have a larger audience.
Enough resentment that I don't want to reward the game with a purchase, and use a third party mod so I can play it (that might be fragile come game update time, too)
So, I salute these guys for doing it.
Last edited by Grogan on 1 November 2023 at 6:15 pm UTC
Few games are "VR only", most devs realize that it's better to have a larger audience.
Enough resentment that I don't want to reward the game with a purchase, and use a third party mod so I can play it (that might be fragile come game update time, too)
So, I salute these guys for doing it.
Last edited by Grogan on 1 November 2023 at 6:15 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
slaapliedje Nov 1, 2023
Quoting: anewsonI think this marks the denouement of the latest VR push... seems like it's going to stay an optional nice-to-have for supported games.I suppose it's sort of akin to having a HOTAS setup for flight simulators. Sure, you COULD play it with a keyboard and mouse... but are you really getting the full enjoyment out of the game? Like I can't even imagine playing Elite: Dangerous with a keyboard / mouse, or for that matter a gamepad, though I've tried this on the PS4, it just doesn't feel the same.
This is one of the reasons I prefer real hardware over emulation; half the enjoyment is from using the original control scheme.
2 Likes, Who?
slaapliedje Nov 1, 2023
Quoting: GroganI somewhat resent that Valve made this game VR only. I bought the Half Life games and all the expansions and was thusly invested in it and I'd have liked another game. Especially after all that hype about Half Life 3, they come out with this and make it inaccessible to anyone that doesn't have the headgear. I don't ever plan to have a VR headset, I don't think it would be good for me.They said years ago that they were working on 3 titles for VR (I'm sure they actually meant 2 or 5 because they can't count to 3). But Alyx was a free game for those who bought the Index.
Few games are "VR only", most devs realize that it's better to have a larger audience.
Enough resentment that I don't want to reward the game with a purchase, and use a third party mod so I can play it (that might be fragile come game update time, too)
So, I salute these guys for doing it.
Curious why you say a VR headset wouldn't be good for you? I know a guy who only has one eye, so it'd be pretty useless to him, for sure.
1 Likes, Who?
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