![[PC] Steam - Half-Life: Alyx $50.97 - VR @ Steam Store](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/20/633720.jpg?h=bdd5370d)
Half-Life: Alyx now 40% off $50.97 (usually $84.95). Cheapest it's been (for second time now)
It's a VR game so you will need a compatible headset.
[PC] Steam - Half-Life: Alyx $50.97 - VR @ Steam Store
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Danstar on 25/06/2021 - 08:39 store.steampowered.com (689 clicks)
Last edited 25/06/2021 - 13:27 by 2 other users
Last edited 25/06/2021 - 13:27 by 2 other users
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including Oculus
TBH, I'm too scared to play this!
Like most horror games, you get used to it, at first I was slowly opening doors and shooting every dead zombie incase they were alive, then after dying a few times I got used to it and much less tense now
That being said heart rate is always up when playing and occasional jump scare or tense moment still
its not scary.
Aliens isolation VR is what you want if you want to be scared
I'm scared of Aliens isolation as is, let alone VR lol. I'll need to buy some diapers before I consider trying it out.
Serious gamers get a commode chair
Or Resident Evil 7 Biohazard
RE4 apparently coming too. I'll also need diapers if I hear that chainsaw in VR.
Thx M8 - downloading it now!
I missed the sales on this game over Easter break, have been waiting for the sale. Now your comment has scared me, and am wondering if I should get it. How scary s it?
Not that scary. There's a few sections that are on the creepier side (Jeff) but I have to say I really enjoyed them.
I don't have any compatible headsets, damn. The only VR headset I have are the Google Cardboard ones lol
So you too is in my group :)
Grab an oculus quest 2 off Amazon prime and you can start playing tomorrow ;)
Does that work on it's own without a PC?
Yes but not for half alyx, need a compatible gaming PC
was there a prime day special? how much was it?
$419, $479 usual price still worth it
@smoothymcmellow: I somehow missed it :(
Guess I'll wait for the quest 3. Annoyingly the listing for the amazon us quest 2 has disappeared.
There's always the option to get a secondhand quest 1 + virtual desktop for wireless PCR
I tried once to setup my oculus wirelessly. I gave up as must’ve missed a step somewhere. Might try again to play this
I haven't felt amazed in the technological leap in graphics and experience this game brings since HL2. Incredible immersion (especially when using a wireless headset!)
Has to be wireless?
No. You can easily get used to a cable and you get to enjoy better quality.
Is it a sit at desk game like Elite Dangerous/Squadrons or stand up and move like BoxVR/FitXR?
Also, I've never been able to get used to any first person shooter style games in VR, I hate needing to use the sticks to move around, feels super unnatural and gives me head-spins/migraines if done wrong
Can you mix controls, like keyboard to move, but right-hand motion controller for grabbing stuff/shooting, etc..?
@Tavisophical: Its a full room scale game, but you can just stand and only move with the controller if you choose but you still need enough room for your flailing arms.
Its 100% VR and VR controller only.
The movement is done perfectly, as long as you have a proper VR setup and a good enough computer I don't think you'll have any issues.
VR issues happen when you try to dodgy a working setup or don't have a good enough GPU to maintain smooth gameplay.
@samfisher5986: Have you tried blade and sorcery?
Just curious as to what hardware you played Alyx on
@Tavisophical: I played Alyx with the Pimax 5k VR Headset, one of the highest end headsets you can get.
Its a great game.
@samfisher5986: How does the Pimax 5K compare to other headsets?
What GPU are you running and what framerates are you getting?
@Tavisophical: Blade and sorcery is amazing wireless (Quest 2) but you need a capable PC and a fair bit of room to move around.
I'm playing it more than GORN now, it's great stress relief.
@samfisher5986: It was fine with my 1070 on a WMR headset was fine to use (and I have a PS VR and Oculus go to compare, all seem about equivalent) I have a 3070 pc waiting here to try lets see how it goes :)
Would really like a decent cable free solution though
@Tavisophical: There are accessibility options allowing people to play seated. There are also multiple movement modes including snap turning etc.
It was originally designed for teleportation, and that works best for me in addition to standing and turning with my real body. Solves the problem of feeling sick/dizzy, and while it may be unnatural to move in jump cuts rather than walking, sliding through the world doesn’t feel much more natural to me (partly because it also encourages me to do everything with the sticks instead of moving my actual body).
@Sven Viking: I've got a Samsung Odyssey+ WMR headset and was playing VR with a RX5600XT which wasn't too bad, but my issues with Blade and Sorcery and any other FPS are the controls for moving around and jumping
If I'm standing in the same spot, or moving around and using my body it's not an issue, but if I'm pushing on a stick while standing still, that's when the headaches can start to come in
I've since upgraded my GPU to a RX6800 but have not had time to try out VR again, maybe the higher framerates will reduce/eliminate the headaches
@Tavisophical: I’m just saying you don’t need to move around and jump with the stick in Half-Life: Alyx specifically. By default it uses instant movement.
Try something like Valve’s “The Lab” (free on Steam), turning your body instead of using artificial turning, and see if that gives you any problems.
@Sven Viking: Looks like it'll be ok then, I'll have to grab a copy
I also tried blade and sorcery again now on the rx6800 and didnt experience any discomfort so looks like high and steady Fps is critical
@Tavisophical: That’s excellent. Blade & Sorcery can still make me feel sick after a while with all the movement. A lot of fun though.
I've played using both the Q2 and G2 and while being untethered genuinely is liberating you lose out so much with the Quest 2 when it comes to the visual experience. It's like watching a movie in a theater with the lights turned on and fingerprints smeared over the projector lens.
Based on reviews it's probably your wireless setup as the quest 2 can be better quality wirelessly than cabled
@[Deactivated]: Oh apologies, misread, Reverb G2 does seem a big quality uplift. I was referring to a cabled Quest 2 vs wireless Quest 2 setup
That first sentence I had to read a few times to figure out it was a positive statement 😅
Going to buy this today - finally something to use my HP Reverb G2 headset with!
Have this headset, whilst the visual quality is top notch, the controller's are just horrendous. Losses tracking when out view all the time which makes it frustrating when your trying to grab something out of view or shoot a gun out view. This headset is best for sims….
I have not had this experience at all, which is funny because I was worried about it Reading reviews. I have however had disconnecting issues which have been annoying - currently awaiting a call back from HP tomorrow to see what they can do about the issue. I think I need a new headset cable!
Wow, great timing. Just recieved my quest 2 that I bought on prime day. Now to see if my 1050 ti can manage to run it to a decent standard. Does anyone know if steam will issue a refund if my graphics cards isn't up to it?
I think you've got a few hours of gameplay. They've improved the refund policy after being sued by the ACCC.
Nice, thanks mate.
Details here. You've got two hours but can be beyond this if you provide more details.
You can refund if you've played less than 2 hours for whatever reason.
Better to say anything other than admitting you didn't check to see if your PC was compatible first.I played it on a 6gb GTX 870m on medium settings. you should be sweet with 1050ti. Depends on which processor you have as well… Good luck
I played it on my 1060 no issues. Didn't notice any stuttering. I think the game auto detects your card and adjusts the settings accordingly. Your 1050ti should run perfectly.
Be aware that HL:Alyx on Low graphics settings actually looks extremely similar to its Epic settings. Try on Low, and if it’s playable, try increasing texture quality as that makes the most noticeable difference visually and usually has very little effect on performance as long as you have enough video memory.
Waiting on the non VR version
That would be great if one is released
Its made for VR, it wouldn't be that fun without it.
If you don’t count mods, you’ll probably be waiting until you die. If you do count mods, keep an eye on this. You’d be much better off playing in VR if possible, though.
Recently bought a Quest 2. If i download this via Steam, will the game recognize the headset via Airlink or does it need to be bought in the Oculus store?
Download SteamVR in the Steam store (Free)
Then it will pick up the Quest 2 over AirLink, if you have it set up correctly.
I haven't tried it with Airlink but via Virtual Desktop works wonders. From VD, you can launch Steam VR and from there you can launch Steam VR games.
Yeah it’s really easy. You just need gaming pc and decent wifi. I’ve had no issues
Thanks OP!
I am still looking to buy VR don't know which to buy, is PS4 better or Oculus? don't know
You can't play this game with the PS VR headset. You'll need a Windows Mixed Reality Headset or Oculus etc.
Edit - much wider range of games on non-PS headsets
Not just this game but open in the market to get something good VR
Btw what is Windows Mixed Reality Headset? is this new
For PC, there are 3 mainstream marketplaces which let you play on SteamVR
- HTC Vive (Viveport)
- Oculus (Facebook)
- Windows Mixed Reality (WMR)
There's also a certain degree of interoperability between the 3 platforms
PSVR is limited to PS4/PS5 only, and the clarity/technology of the PSVR headset is generally not as good as VR on PC, which is reflected in its price-point
Also, all VR headsets are somewhat different, and you should get one that suits your head and eyes best
For example, some headsets have a fixed PD (pupillary distance), the distance between your two pupils, this includes the PSVR headset.
Other headsets allow you to physically adjust the PD between a range
@Tavisophical: You can get the PSVR running in Steam at 75Hz.
With iVRy driver and manually setting the .ini to 75Hz.Not played a game yet - only trial driver - need to fork out $20usd (I think for it)(Edit: On Special atm $17aud - I think I might try it tonight)
There is also the "Trinus VR" driver - but not sure how it works with Steam.
@naphman: Just warning people that this involves a lot of work for ultimately poor results compared to a compatible headset and controllers.
Definitely Oculus Quest 2 because you can play all vr games wirelessly.
Can anyone who has played the game comment on how motion sick you get with it?
None for me but I don't get it often
VR Motion sickness affects people differently. I don’t get it when I play Alyx but others may.
If you go with the teleport movement, you don't get it. For me anyway.
If you go with the stick/head movement, I definitely get it but it's nothing too serious.
oh .. so it has both teleport and walking type movement?
Teleport seems to be ok for me, but walking definitely makes me feel sickthanks for all the replies
I'm probably about halfway though the game. I don't get motion sickness very easily so I've had no problems with it. From what I've played so far, the game isn't super fast paced (as say some of the other twitchy shooters). It's a mixture of short battles and puzzles, so it's easy to take a breather.
Biggest issue for me is comfort. I have the Quest 2 plus the elite strap. I like this game so much that I play extended sessions (2+ hours). By that time, my face pretty much has goggle imprints from the headset pressing onto me!
This was my first real foray into VR. I had played RE7 before but only for 5 mins. I had to play in bursts of 10-15 mins. Otherwise, I would get sick. After a few small sessions, I was fine and played for hours without any dizziness.
RE7 VR felt so off, the scale seemed all wrong
Just like you, it made me feel sick if I played longer than 5 minutes, gave me massive headspin/migraine/headaches
I had really bad motion sickness when I first started playing VR but after a day or two it sort of just went away. Ginger works well to remove motion sickness.
Might try ginger
Motion sickness in VR is a complicated thing, but generally:
The higher the refresh rate the better, 120hz-144hz is best, not all headsets can do this.
The higher the FoV the better, currently only the Pimax and the Valve headset can do this.
Not going below refresh rate frame rate is a requirement, this means your computer needs to be able to render the game at 144fps if you are using 144hz.
Play only highly polished games where people take this sort of thing seriously, some people are lazy and the movement is uncomfortable.Having played Half-Life Alyx, most people should be fine if you follow the above information.
It has multiple movement modes and comfort options. It was originally designed for teleportation movement, and works well that way imho. Virtually nobody should get sick if using teleportation and turning their real body.
If it doesn’t affect you much I suggest enabling immersive ladder climbing which is off by default, though (and maybe Barnacle lift which doesn’t happen often anyway).
Edit: Oops, wrong comment.
i got my hands on a second hand boxed Quest 2, for this game but decided against using it
Due to my only getting the Quest 2 for HL:Alex, I decided to sell the quest 2 and get my money backMy Biggest thing was my and VR dont normally mix well (15min max and my body hates me) but i think the main reason was
i have heard that Half Life Alyx sets the bar too high for VR games and everything else seems bad, anyone found that to be the case?I might give Alyx a crack down the line when the quests drop again in price or the Quest 3 is released (assuming that will happen)
I'm a playstation VR enthusiast (well was it's now collecting dust since I built a PC and the library has slowed down).
But I gave mine a good workout and pretty much anyone that came to visit I'd show them VR too and it'd blow their mind so it was super bonding.
I'm looking forward to playing some of the PCVR titles, more than anything just on the Quest intself. Obviously HL:Alyx first! I've also got some anticipated hours I'll be sinking in:
1) Beat Saber with music mods (40 hours easily, I love music and beat saber is a great way to enjoy it. I also love the challenge.)
2) Microsoft Flight Simulator (probably sunk 40 hours into Flight Simulator so will be doing
3) Population One (unsure how much I'll enjoy this but I imagine 8 hours minimum)
4) Robo Recall (don't think this is long so maybe 6 hours)
5) No Man's Sky VR (about 40+ hours. I loved it on PSVR it was just too blurry!)
6) Skyrim VR - with the higher graphics than PSVR (realistically only a couple of hours, I did enough of this on PSVR).
7) Budget Cuts (a few hours)
8) Lone Echo (8 hours)
9) Minecraft VR (5 hours)
10) Project Cars 2 (20 hours) and I'll use my steering wheel!
11) Subnautica (20 hours) although it's not made for VR natively it's apparently amazing
12) The Forest VR (10 hours)
13) The Climb (4 hours)
14) The lab (4 hours)
15) The Talos Principe (20+ hours)There's also some old games that a developer has ported to VR such as Quake and the half-lifes that I will have a tinker and see what they are like.
There are also great other titles that I played on PSVR that are on occulus but I won't pick-up again but were really fun.
Superhot VR, Pistol Whip, Trover Saves the Universe, Vacation Simulator, Space Junkies, Moss, Job Simulator, Rec Room.Not to mention all the replayability with Half-Life Alyx and the mods such as Goldeneye etc.! And having it be wireless is going to be so much more immersive!
The quest 2 base refresh rate is 72hz, is that what you were playing on? That is a huge contributor for feeling uncomfortable in VR.
Newer updates have increased it if you select it but you'll need a computer that can handle it.
Did you try using teleportation for movement and turning your real body rather than using the stick? It was originally designed that way and works well imho — it should be extremely rare for someone to get sick that way assuming the hardware is working properly and framerate is OK.
Has anyone played this without playing HL1 and 2?
I bought it during the last sale and thinking to play through HL1 and 2 first, but I really can't get into it partly due to lack of time and the outdated graphics/gameplay.
You can play the first 1 in VR using HLVR if you wanted to? There's also Quake and a few others a developer does for free! (After you buy the normal version of the game).
In my option it is worth playing the other games just for the back story, but Half life alyx can definitely be played on its own. If you want the full experience play Black Mesa instead of HL1. It is a significant upgrade from the original. And there are mods for hl2 if you NEED better graphics but I think it still holds up well.
One of the best FPS series out there so worth the time.Agreed. My avatar pic is off HL 😃😃
I started playing it again when I got my gaming desktop. I still prefer to replay that and c-S over newer games lol
And aoe2
If outdated graphics/gameplay is a problem, get Black Mesa which is currently on special.
Also just adding that Half-Life 2: Episode 2 is actually the most directly relevant to HL:Alyx’s story, so if playing HL2 don’t forget the episodes.
Have you seen the black mesa game? It's a remake of hl1 that makes it a lot more playable. On special now too.
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Worth every cent!