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Valve confirm Half-Life: Alyx, a VR game being revealed on Thursday
- flamtap 7y agoNow this is going to sell some headsets.
- Accujack 7y agoInitially, at least. Valve isn't the same company they were back when they developed things like HL2. They've basically been sitting back and sucking up money for a long time. They're good at that, but there's no indication they're good at anything else at this point. I'll go out on a limb and say this game is going to suck, and after the initial hype people are going to hate that Valve did this.
- skinnymuch 7y agoI’m guessing it’ll be an okay game. But because it isn’t excellent, that’ll be enough of a blow. Yeah Valve has barely made any games this decade.
- swalsh 7y agoI've read somewhere that the flat company structure, which had an initial boost has started to be a detriment to the company.
- andai 7y agoSomething about, even though it’s supposed to be flat, human organizations just don’t work that way, so the hierarchy is still there but instead of explicit it’s implicit—kinda like high school.
- lukifer 7y agoA classic essay on this phenomenon: "The Tyranny of Structurelessness" https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm
- hobofan 7y ago> but there's no indication they're good at anything else at this point You mean apart from creating and still consistently updating CS:GO and DotA 2, which are both some of the most played games in the world? Their "The Lab" VR demo, which is a collection of mini games, is also one of the most enjoyable VR experiences, so I'm very optimistic they can make something great again if they put their mind to it.
- nimajneb 7y agoI've been playing CS:GO since 2001 and have no intentions in stopping :) (Almost) Best game ever!
- Impossible 7y agoCS:GO launched in 2012 so that's impressive :). You might have meant Counter-Strike (2000), Counter-Strike Source (2004) and then Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (2012), which are three different similar games in the same series.
- Accujack 7y ago>CS:GO and DotA 2, which are both some of the most played games in the world? Yes, I mean exactly those games, which are neither new nor ground breaking, and which were originally authored by outside firms/contractors, not valve. Since then, most of Valve's additions to the games are in the form of monetization. If you didn't notice the news articles, they even laid off almost all the people responsible for HL2 and its episodes, including the writer.
- Impossible 7y agoIt's a stretch to say DOTA 2 or CS:GO were initially made by outside firms. Sure they're based on community mods, but so is PUBG, TF2, all the autochess games. Outside of Half-Life and L4D (which was originally a Turtlerock game) all of Valve's games are polished commercial versions of mods or student games (Portal series), but with the exception of Counterstrike all of the originals were good ideas with fatal execution flaws. Valve has also released DOTA Underlords and Artifact in the two years. With HLA and Underlords Valve is actually releasing two games this year.
- shantly 7y agoIt'll definitely be good for some Let's Play views for a few youtubers.
- erikpukinskis 7y agoThis, plus Star Citizen in VR, might be enough for me to drop the $2500 to get an Index rig. So, not soon.
- WrtCdEvrydy 7y agoYes, I knew I died this morning!
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- kingbirdy 7y agoIt's been over 12 years since the last entry in this franchise. Outside the memes, I wonder if the name has enough weight to be a system-seller for Valve Index the way Half-Life 2 brought Steam into the mainstream (as much as people disliked it at the time, you can't argue they were unsuccessful).
- Shivetya 7y agoIt has been long enough and Valve quiet enough that delivering anything meets expectations. We aren't in one of those cycles which ended in disappointment like Duke Nukem or Battlecruiser 3000? which took forever to deliver and underwhelmed on all counts. the only way to alienate fans would be to use it as a platform to deliver a political message; many game players take offense at such and it horribly dates games that do much like music
- ekianjo 7y ago> enough weight to be a system-seller for Valve Index the way Half-Life 2 I doubt so. There are inherent issues with VR currently (stuck in a small environment, limited interactions), I can't see how they could make a first-person game extraordinary enough for people to suddenly open and empty their wallets and embrace VR just for one game. But I may be wrong.
- Hamuko 7y agoHow many VR first-person shooters are there where you can actually move? The last I heard, having your character move in VR while you are standing still is a fast pass to nauseaville.
- kipchak 7y agoNot calling it Half Life: 3 seems like a great way to temper expectations a bit. Curious how much focus is put on the knuckles/Index versus generic headsets.
- nsxwolf 7y agoI hope it remains generically SteamVR compatible and doesn't require Index or shut out the Rift or original Vive.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- MartianSquirrel 7y agoIt wouldn't surprise me if it was only compatible with more recent VR sets. They are giving a shot at an engine that could set the pace for the next decade, the same way CryEngine 3 and Unreal Engine 4 couldn't run on current generation average rigs when they came out.
- onepointsixC 7y agoVR sets are really just display and IO devices, there's no good reason for them to not work with older equipment. That's not to say that Valve isn't likely going to make best use of their Index Controllers to provide a unique and purpose designed experience which would just be represented by a button press on other sets. Just that they wouldn't be any good technical reason not to be compatible.
- cameronbrown 7y agoGabe Newell said that Valve was jealous of Nintendo being able to design their hardware and software together. Expect Knuckles/Index to be a major factor in the gameplay.
- nsxwolf 7y ago
- alunchbox 7y agoBut it's not HL3 is it?
- mojuba 7y agoIt's HL√3 (i.e. between 1 and 2 in terms of the story, as I understand it)
- blotter_paper 7y agoThat's a much better title.
- atemerev 7y ago“3” is a forbidden number within Valve.
- AsusFan 7y agoBetter wait for HL3.11 for Workgroups.
- psweber 7y agoDaily Half-Life 3 Update: Day 742 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJijEFKpKik https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJijEFKpKik
- curiousgal 7y agoHonestly, between this and the reactions I read on the Reddit thread following this news, I think people's obsession with HL3 is quite pethatic. I don't know why, out of all of internet's quirks and strange behaviours, this obssesion is the one that made me cringe.
- erikpukinskis 7y agoWhen you cringe it is because you feel shame. Shame is generally an indicator of un-dealt with trauma. Good to keep digging into those feelings and see the source if you can. Have you ever been that obsessed in the past? Did anyone say something about it to you?
- hatsunearu 7y agowtf is this channel? did he really make a video every day about half life 3?
- somehnguy 7y agoIt's pretty self explanatory. In fact you answered your own question.
- erikpukinskis 7y agoThey just narrated the response I think we all had.
- rvz 7y agoMore like Half-Life 1/3 confirmed.
- derefr 7y agoA thought: the Half-Life games have always essentially been explorations of the possibilities behind new technologies. • HL1 was an exploration of the possibility-space of having objects interact through emitted “energy” (i.e. by broadcasting messages that get attenuated by distance.) • HL2 was an exploration of the possibility-space of putting a dynamics simulation engine in a game (and also spawned Gary’s Mod to continue said exploration.) • The major offshoots of the series, Portal and its sequel, were explorations of the possibility-space created by combining “beams” of matter or energy (lasers, hitscan gunfire, tractor beams, paint), gravity, and wormholes. In other words, each major new entry in the Half-Life universe was essentially a narrative wrapped around the results of playing around with implementing some journal paper (or reimplementing some prototype) of a novel type of realtime physical simulation, that had obvious game-mechanical implications. I’m not surprised that we never got an HL3, because for the past 10-odd years, there hasn’t really been a big new obvious realtime physical-simulation tech to turn into game mechanics. I’m also not surprised that Valve would return to making games under the Half-Life brand in order to explore the implications of a new technology (even if it’s not a new realtime physical-simulation technology. Or maybe they’ve got one of those up their sleeves as well...)
- shantly 7y ago> • HL1 was an exploration of the possibility-space of having objects interact through emitted “energy” (i.e. by broadcasting messages that get attenuated by distance.) I played FPS games before HL, and I played all the original HL games including Blue Shift and Opposing Force, plus a bunch of single-player fan-produced games and even Gunman Chronicles, all using the engine, and I don't follow what you mean here.
- seminatl 7y agoYeah I thought it was about smashing facecrabs with a crowbar.
- wishinghand 7y agoThe big idea that the first Half Life explored was never breaking from first person. No cutscenes. Sometimes they’d trap you to focus your attention on something but they never took away the player’s control to look at what they wanted to.
- e1ven 7y agoSupposedly it's being designed around Valve's index controller, letting you grip and manipulate objects in the game. Ars describes a set of Magnet Gloves which can pull stuff toward you from across the room and adjust/use it. I've enjoyed quite a few VR games over the last few years, but part of why I'm excited about this one is that they are able to design the hardware and the software in conjunction. Hopefully this will lead to something which can really take advantage of that co-development, like we sometimes see when Nintendo or Apple are able to do both.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- dsfyu404ed 7y agoBack when I used to work as a VR developer "Half Life 2 quality cinematics and plot but in VR" was my go to example of how powerful of an experience VR could be if done right. I really hope they don't botch this. If they do this right you'll feel like you were there. Due to some of the technical limitations with people (motion sickness does not make a popular game) I don't think this is not going to be an open spaces and free-movement heavy game like HL2. Not having some really good expansive panorama scenes would be a disservice to the VR tech but don't expect to be able to drive a go-kart around in them. I'm expecting a lot of semi stationary scenes where the player is free around a small space as the environment smoothly and steadily around them (like all the various freight elevator and rail car scenes in HL1). I expect that in typical Half-Life fashion there will be lots of object manipulation and head crab batting practice while the player remains nearly stationary.
- stetrain 7y agoYep, I've been itching for a good example of this kind of long form immersive VR game. Budget Cuts and Apex Construct give a taste of it, but I find myself really wanting to just be able to play some version of Portal 2 that was somehow suited for VR and wouldn't make you instantly throw up.
- akhilcacharya 7y agoWhen I saw the news yesterday I thought I was dreaming. Never expected to see this, despite the many rumors of a HLVR. I'm excited to see what the release brings, but I'm expecting revolutionary VR mechanics. I hope it'll be as big of a leap forward as Half Life 1 and Half Life 2 were.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- gnode 7y agoI've been wondering lately whether Steam will be able to hold onto its large commission and market share, given the rise of competition like the Epic Games Store with a much more competitive commission rate. I can imagine these stores will have to increasingly differentiate themselves as technology platforms going forward (e.g. VR on Steam, or Unreal Engine licensing on EGS). In this way VR exclusive games make a lot of sense for Valve, to encourage people to buy into their platform.
- dleslie 7y agoMost likely is that Epic will eventually raise their commissions, or never reach feature parity with Steam. Steam's networking, workshop, et al aren't cheap to run.
- gnode 7y ago> or never reach feature parity with Steam To some extent this is intentional. Epic Game's market research culminated in a decision to include fewer social features, and less visual clutter than Steam. Epic Games seems to be competing more on the back-end, offering better rates and licensing to developers in return for distribution exclusivity, rather than the front-end with features for users. That said, as a user, I appreciate the minimalism of EGS.
- dleslie 7y agoThat decision was more than a little contentious; some developers hated the store-supplied user product reviews and forums, and Epic wooed them over by rejecting those features for allowing too much toxicity. As an old fart, developer and gamer, I don't feel much sympathy for those who are wooed by intentional ignorance. Personally, I will not buy products without reading user reviews; and I find that most professional reviews aren't worth the bandwidth to download.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y agoUltimately it matters a lot less what developers prefer, it matters where the audience is. Right now Epic is handling that by simply giving developers a guaranteed amount of money so they don't have to worry about actually selling any copies. That strategy will probably not hold out for very long though.
- liquid153 7y agoIt will sell like hot cakes for the first week then plummet. Then a non VR version will be made.
- criddell 7y ago> Then a non VR version will be made. That's what I'm hoping for.
- bni 7y agoAll great VR games are made specifically for VR from the beginning. Taking a flat game and do a VR version of it is almost never good (I cant think of a single example where they have pulled that off, outside of simulators perhaps). The reverse is also true.
- criddell 7y agoI've never played a VR game that I would call great. There are many that make for a great demo of the technology, but ultimatealy having to wear something on my face is kind of a deal breaker.
- bni 7y agoLone Echo is a great VR game. Makes having something on your face 100% worth it.
- erikpukinskis 7y agoYou are, by your own proclamation, outside the target market.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y agoSUPERHOT VR is the best VR game I've played and it was definitely better in VR than 2D. To date, it is the only game experience I've had in VR that I felt could justify the hardware.
- anfilt 7y agoI am not gonna buy a VR setup.... What work is has been done for taking VR only games and using not VR controls/interfaces? Even if it's not optimal.
- jobigoud 7y agoIt's not just "not optimal", it's a completely different thing. It's like reading a book and reading the script of the movie of the same story: you can certainly reuse some of the material but the way you convey things is designed from the ground up for the medium you are using. In VR-native content many things are just behaving in intuitive ways that can't be replicated if you need to go through a screen and keyboard/mouse.
- anfilt 7y agoI dont mind that.
- thdrdt 7y agoThis week it occurred to me that what is going on in Hongkong is the same as the story of Half-Life 2. This was what I always liked about HL2. It is a game but also a kind of protest against oppression.
- gd_092374 7y agoWe're living half life 3
- utf985 7y agoDespite once being my favorite game series and developer and I stopped caring about Half-Life and Valve sometime around when they made it obvious they only care about milking their vapid Dota franchise and they have no interest in developing any of their core IPs. I can't force myself get excited about this even if someone paid me to. The ship has sailed a long time ago.
- rocky1138 7y agoThe way I look at it is there was really no way to make Half Life 3 interesting while following their method of integrating emerging tech into it as a primary focus. Flat gaming on PC has been stale for a very long time. Now that we've got VR, there's finally a new and fresh thing to use in FPS games.
- nerfhammer 7y agothe real tragedy is we could have had like 10 portal sequels by now
- pugworthy 7y agoHowever, we'd be moaning about them rehashing the same IP over and over if they had done that.
- erikpukinskis 7y agoYou would?
- chihuahua 7y agoPersonally I find Portal so enjoyable that I'm happy that I have the original Portal and Portal 2. However, at a first glance it seems like it should have been relatively straightforward to create sequels that just have more levels. But maybe it's not that easy to actually do it.
- haunter 7y agoIt has to be the 10/10 best game ever to justfiy buying a dedicated hardware piece for at least ~$400 or so depending on the model I'm from Europe and it's especially bad in that sense cause for example HP and Lenovo has a generic budget headset with controllers for $150 but that's US only. You won't find anything that close in price here
- mrzimmerman 7y agoThis is actually a really hard part for me. I immediately began looking at VR hardware I could buy and I wasn't sure what to look at. Can I use non-Valve hardware? I assume with the headset, but I don't know about the controllers. What about the sensors that Valve sells? Do I need them? The controllers worry me the most since I don't know if they're required or if they need certain buttons I can map things to. So yeah, right there with you. I hope it's worth trying to buy it all, but it's a big hurdle in a lot of ways so the game has to be amazing. Lastly, since my life has changed a lot in the last twelve years, I no longer even have a real gaming PC (I assume I'm not the only one who lost that as they aged). So that's one more cost I have to factor unless maybe they release it on PS and I can buy that and it's VR rigging.
- redxdev 7y agoIf the game is SteamVR-compatible, most VR headsets will work but generally the most common options are some variation of Vive/Rift/Index. That said, we don't actually know the requirements yet - as far as we know it'll require full finger tracking or be straight up Index-only (as unlikely as I personally think that is, it's still possible). Definitely don't pull the trigger on anything until the full announcement on Thursday.
- mattlondon 7y agoAccording to https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey, just over 1% of Steam users have VR headsets, and that is trending downward. Anecdotally it feels like VR never really took off? From casual perusals of the steam store at https://store.steampowered.com/vr/ https://store.steampowered.com/vr/, there are very few VR games and the ones that do exist are fairly mediocre looking - things you've never heard of from indie developers self-publishing to steam. Seems like an odd move from Valve - I don't suspect that this on its own will be enough of a draw to lure people to purchase a VR headset for. Especially since this started out as an "exploration of VR" ... I am left wondering if this is basically going to end up being some glorified DLC or mod that adds a couple of levels with a few neat little VR-specific touches/gimmicks rather than a full-blown installment in the HL franchise? They may well prove me wrong and trigger a renaissance in the VR gaming industry and wow us with a huge and well-executed sequel to HL2 that will lure people in, but I remain skeptical for now.
- cameronbrown 7y ago"Seems like an odd move from Valve" This is exactly the move many of us in the VR community have been expecting. It may seem like a tiny percentage (because it is) but the VR numbers themselves have been growing massively since launch of Vive/Rift. The community is alive and vibrant, not what you'd expect of dead technology.
- OnlineGladiator 7y agoYou don't provide any data for your claims. He's saying less than 1% of Steam users have a headset and declining, and you're claiming that it's growing and vibrant. There may be some awesome VR experiences out there and a handful of people that enjoy them, but sales numbers don't lie - VR is not currently succeeding. If you compare VR sales to Kinect sales, it makes the Kinect look like a roaring success - and Microsoft abandoned it due to lack of consumer interest. I can find dedicated communities to restoring antiquated decades old computers - a niche does not make a growing vibrant market. Anecdotally (and I welcome people to provide real data instead) everybody I know that used to work on VR for a living has moved on with their careers, including several engineers who got acquired by Facebook.
- davexunit 7y agoThe episode 3 plot summary by former Valve writer Marc Laidlaw that this article links to is a great read for those that want to see where the story was headed. http://www.marclaidlaw.com/epistle-3/ http://www.marclaidlaw.com/epistle-3/
- jammygit 7y agoAnnouncement of an announcement
- ihuman 7y agoThe news of the announcement leaked, so Valve make an official announcement announcement to take control of the message, and prove it was real.
- shmerl 7y agoWhen are they going to replace SteamVR with OpenXR runtime? Valve are one of the major backers of OpenXR, yet their SteamVR still uses their pre OpenXR, so called "OpenVR" API.
- 013a 7y agoAnnouncing a new Half Life game the same week as Stadia's launch. Huge move.
- danielovichdk 7y agoI remember half-life 2 being delayed like for 5 years. Maybe even longer.
- yahwrong 7y agoI guess this is slightly better than it being a mobile app...