# Valve announces new Half Life Game Called "Half Life: Alyx"



## SayoSenpaiPls (Nov 19, 2019)

A Flagship VR Game: I honestly do believe that if anyone can pull it off. It's them. What happens next...i don't know but im very excited for this Thursday.

I wholeheartidly never expected to hear anything from HL ever again

Reactions: Like 2


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## Swarmy (Nov 19, 2019)

Ah the game franchise that literally changed and shaped my childhood since I was 9...

Trust me a lot of people are and will be pissed that it's VR exclusive but they fail to realise that HL2 required an insane PC back in 2004, so how is this different? HL has always been about raising the bar (get the reference?) not pleasing "fans"!

HL Alyx is EXACTLY what VR gaming needs right now!


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## SayoSenpaiPls (Nov 19, 2019)

I completely agree with you. If there's anyone I believe in enough to change the face of VR from being a fun gimmick to being a competitive way of gaming it's valve. Sure some of their ideas failed like steam machines or their card game but they are not afraid of taking risks 

HL 1 caught me offguard with an actual story....HL2's physics engine and the gravity gun are things I'll always remember. I'm begging for a reason to buy a VR headset , let's hope this is it

Reactions: Like 1


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## Mickey Mouse (Nov 20, 2019)

Smells.......like Duke Nukem Forever.....


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## blakstealth (Nov 21, 2019)



Reactions: Like 1


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## αshɘs (Nov 21, 2019)



Reactions: Like 1


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## Deathbringerpt (Nov 21, 2019)

Next time, don't fucking spoil the trailer on the very post you link it.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Shiba D. Inu (Nov 21, 2019)

intrigued ..
still not buying a  helm

unless maybe this gets ported to the ~PS5 version of PSVR(2)


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## Deathbringerpt (Nov 21, 2019)

It looks pretty fucking legit for a VR game, that's for sure. Half Life in Source 2 is also fucking sweet, although the human models seem somewhat less detailed.


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## The World (Nov 21, 2019)

400 bucks for an occulus or vive.

Why wasn't I born rich?

Reactions: Like 1


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## sworder (Nov 21, 2019)

I’m getting a Quest soon, now I just need a better video card so I can play this on max settings

It looks amazing


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## Deathbringerpt (Nov 21, 2019)

Valve is also releasing Source 2 tools alongside the game, allowing people to make proper Source 2 shit. Anyway, I hope this game actually has something to justify its existence storywise if it's a prequel, although the trailer was dropping quotes from HL2 and the episodes so they might surprise us there. Especially since they got their amazing writers back for this game. 

Also, reloading needs to be perfect. Not shitty retarded wiimote Skyward Sword sword swinging, but fucking perfect.


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## Shiba D. Inu (Nov 21, 2019)

The World said:


> 400 bucks an occulus or vive.
> 
> Why wasn't I born rich?


$1000+ for Index which will play this best


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## Swarmy (Nov 21, 2019)

This right here raises more questions than I expected from a prequel...


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## Swarmy (Nov 21, 2019)

Can we all just appreciate how Valve managed to preserve the artstyle of Half-Life 2 that Viktor Antonov created? Just look at these new architectures and compare them to HL2 from 2004! Also I'm more than pleased to see that this game will be even more horror themed than both the original and HL2!
Few people know and realise that Valve intended Half-Life to be a horror game not just a shooter with a sci-fi feel!


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## Deathbringerpt (Nov 21, 2019)

The shit that was cut from Half Life 2 was absolutely fucking terrifying. Combine Earth is a used up planetary whore after they terraformed it. I don't remember half the shit they conceptualized. I hope Valve cranked up on the horror aspect, especially after Resident Evil 7 proved it's more than possible.

But yeah, I'm glad it's absolutely a Valve game visually in the current AAA times.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Swarmy (Nov 21, 2019)

Deathbringerpt said:


> The shit that was cut from Half Life 2 was absolutely fucking terrifying. Combine Earth is a used up planetary whore after they terraformed it. I don't remember half the shit they conceptualized. I hope Valve cranked up on the horror aspect, especially after Resident Evil 7 proved it's more than possible.
> 
> But yeah, I'm glad it's a absolutely a Valve game visually in the current AAA times.


Actually judging by most things you see in HL2 the Combine are still mining the planet for resources and using the converted citizens for labour off world!
Also yeah HL2 was a lot diffent earlier in development, it was more of a New York city themed cyberpunk noir dystopia, that was changed to the more eastern european style City 17 after Viktor showed Valve some photos of Prague and Sofia.
As far as I know the Cremators are going to appear in HL:A so many other beta concept might resurface as well!
I own Raising The Bar which has most cut content explained so I'm going to reread it these following days to see if I can make sense of the things shown in the trailer.


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## Deathbringerpt (Nov 21, 2019)

Yeah, most of it is implied and talked about but the story usually keeps Gordon at bay from the really nasty, fucked up shit which I would fucking love to see.

I should probably give that a read because cut content of a Valve game usually ends up a lot cooler than the stuff that sticks in the game, which ends up being really fucking cool anyway. I have no idea where you read that Cremators are in but if they are, I can only imagine the scenario where this game would introduce them. The more cut content they include in this, the better.


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## Swarmy (Nov 21, 2019)

Deathbringerpt said:


> I have no idea where you read that Cremators are in but if they are, I can only imagine the scenario where this game would introduce them. The more cut content they include in this, the better.


Honestly it's just a rumor right now, I've been following the HL community for years now and such rumors pop up all the time, doesn't mean it'll happen but so far HL:A seems very beta inspired.


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## SayoSenpaiPls (Nov 21, 2019)

I am super intrigued by the trailer. The physics engine once again looks nuts...i mean fuck, if you can interact with the world the way its being suggested here, i will definitely consider buying a VR headset for this. And you guys are right, even visually it stays true to HL 2. Man im so excited.

ON a serious sidenote tho, i have not expected this release date. They don't fuck around with all the hype inducing way too early announcements. March 2020 is great


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## Pilaf (Nov 21, 2019)

Well, shit. There goes my favorite gaming meme.


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## Nemesis (Nov 22, 2019)

Valve, if you want to go horror in this game then give us Ravenholm during the combine retaliation against it, let us see head crab zombification in real-time.  People screaming as they're being transformed.  All of it!


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## αshɘs (Nov 22, 2019)

Eli getting captured being a plot point again is funny though. Anyway, don't know which article, but this has been making the rounds:



The trailer having that Eli quote makes me think there's a chance the very end will flash forward to Ep2 ending.


Deathbringerpt said:


> Next time, don't fucking spoil the trailer on the very post you link it.



You're right, sorry about that.


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## Shiba D. Inu (Nov 22, 2019)

_Gaben counting_:  1, 2, Alyx, 4, 5 ...


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## αshɘs (Nov 22, 2019)

should have included Bloodlines too

Reactions: Like 2


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## Swarmy (Nov 22, 2019)

SayoSenpaiPls said:


> ON a serious sidenote tho, i have not expected this release date. They don't fuck around with all the hype inducing way too early announcements. March 2020 is great


Have you heard of Valve Time? 

I'm sure it'll be delayed at least 2-3 months...


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## Deathbringerpt (Nov 23, 2019)




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## Deathbringerpt (Nov 23, 2019)

So for movement options we have teleport, Alucard and normal walking. Neat.


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## dr_shadow (Nov 23, 2019)

It's literally been half my life since HL2 came out (expansions not counted).


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## Swarmy (Nov 23, 2019)

Seems we're getting A LOT of new headcrab types!


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## Mider T (Nov 23, 2019)

mr_shadow said:


> It's literally been half my life since HL2 came out (expansions not counted).


I specifically came in this thread to tag you.  I was relieved when I scrolled down the first page and you hadn't posted yet.  I got even more excited when I was scrolling down this one and it was free of you, then near the very end I see your name.

Now my day is slightly worse.


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## Swarmy (Nov 25, 2019)




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## Deathbringerpt (Nov 26, 2019)

The game itself isn't even close to Steam's Top 10 but Valve's most expensive VR set that's over a thousand bucks has been on the top spot for days now. Christ.


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## Jake CENA (Nov 26, 2019)




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## Abcdjdj1234 (Nov 26, 2019)

Imagine Ravenholm in VR


I still remember crawling through a bunch of grass in the middle of the night and attacked face on by a headcrab and screaming and waking the entire house up​


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## Nemesis (Nov 26, 2019)

Abcdjdj1234 said:


> Imagine Ravenholm in VR
> 
> 
> I still remember crawling through a bunch of grass in the middle of the night and attacked face on by a headcrab and screaming and waking the entire house ub​



Like I said give us the purge of ravenholm.  Survive the attack.


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## Swarmy (Nov 29, 2019)

Deathbringerpt said:


> The game itself isn't even close to Steam's Top 10 but Valve's most expensive VR set that's over a thousand bucks has been on the top spot for days now. Christ.


Mission accomplished!


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## Nemesis (Dec 31, 2019)

A new years message for you all from the G-Man

Reactions: Like 2


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## jesusus (Dec 31, 2019)

Cool


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## blakstealth (Jan 21, 2020)

All the half life games are free to play on PC via Steam until Alyx launches!


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## Swarmy (Jan 22, 2020)

blakstealth said:


> All the half life games are free to play on PC via Steam until Alyx launches!


Too bad I bought them all the moment I got Steam


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## Swarmy (Jan 22, 2020)

Also new screenshots!

One of them is definately NSFW btw!


*Spoiler*: __


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## αshɘs (Jan 22, 2020)

Valve held an AMA today:


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## Swarmy (Jan 22, 2020)

αshɘs said:


> Valve held an AMA today:


Yeah followed it, nothing major was revealed...


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## Deathbringerpt (Jan 23, 2020)

I disagree, there was a bunch of nicely revealing stuff about how they went about their work, the people involved (Guess the Mark Laidlaw rumours were either bullshit or outdated), Half Life 1 being looked at for combat AI reference, an awesome focus on horror elements.

Good shit.


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## Deathbringerpt (Feb 13, 2020)



Reactions: Like 1


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## Swarmy (Feb 14, 2020)

Ooooook... Now I really REALLY hate I can't afford VR... This is basically the kind of game and sci-fi as a whole that would have made younger me have a hyperactive attack and probably die...


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## Swarmy (Feb 14, 2020)

Seriously can we all just fucking appreciate how amazing and awesome the concept of Xen actually spilling into our world and infesting the planet is! And how freaking beautiful it looks in this game!


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## Deathbringerpt (Feb 14, 2020)

I'll never play this anytime soon so I guess I'll buckle down and watch let's plays because I really want to experience the bare minimum.


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## Swarmy (Feb 14, 2020)

Deathbringerpt said:


> I'll never play this anytime soon so I guess I'll buckle down and watch let's plays because I really want to experience the bare minimum.


I'm more interested in the story than gameplay so I'm fine with waiting another couple of years until I can afford VR


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## αshɘs (Mar 2, 2020)




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## Charlotte D. Kurisu (Mar 2, 2020)

Not gonna lie. Looks stupid and boring.


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## Swarmy (Mar 2, 2020)

αshɘs said:


>


Beat me to it! Then again I rewatched them like 3 times before logging in here 

First of all... DAAAAAMN! I can see now why Valve didn't want to release another HL game unless it can be groundbreaking! VR was a good choice it seems!

Also Xen infestation looks more epic than I could have ever imagined! I mean I've been dreaming of such a mechanic or concept since 1999!
Oh and the Xen grenade she stole from the worm alien was EPIC! My fav moment by far!


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## Swarmy (Mar 2, 2020)

Charlotte D. Kurisu said:


> Not gonna lie. Looks stupid and boring.


I hope that was sarcasm


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## Charlotte D. Kurisu (Mar 2, 2020)

Swarmy said:


> I hope that was sarcasm



It's not. Looks empty. Probably cuz too much action in VR settings can result in headaches and nausea.


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## Deathbringerpt (Mar 3, 2020)

The initial levels and headcrab confrontations are pretty basic and lame. But that Combine firefight section where Alyx walks around the arena, runs and guns, opens card doors for cover, digs for healing items in the shitter, all while throwing hostile grenades back at Combine completely shits on **anything** I've ever seen in any VR game ever. It's what VR games actually want to be - makes me wanna have a fucking set.


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## The World (Mar 3, 2020)

can't wait for them to reinvent every genre like farm simulator and dream daddy simulator


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## Deathbringerpt (Mar 3, 2020)

The World said:


> can't wait for them to reinvent every genre like farm simulator and dream daddy simulator



Exactly what I just posted about. If this isn't bullshit smoke and mirrors, this is a genuine leap in first person shooter core game design. And that's not something that games do nowadays, something that actually feels fresh.


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## αshɘs (Mar 13, 2020)

> *Are there loading screens?*
> _*Tri-slide:* Do the levels load seamlessly or is there a static loading screen? Or are there loading "rooms" you wait in while the next thing loads?_
> 
> *Tom:* There are loading screens, different visually but almost identical in function to those in Half-Life 2. Occasionally (though really not too frequently) you’ll reach a dead end or empty hallway where an overlay interrupts you saying it’s loading, and before too long it fades away and you can keep on trucking.



 Valve, it's the 21st century. Everyone is doing level streaming, there should be no reason you can't.


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## Swarmy (Mar 13, 2020)

αshɘs said:


> Valve, it's the 21st century. Everyone is doing level streaming, there should be no reason you can't.


I guess Source 2 is pretty much a heavily upgraded Source after all...


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## sworder (Mar 13, 2020)

holy shit I hadn't seen these clips, this looks INSANE

this is gonna be GOTY guaranteed. this shit is gonna be so immersive. i need a better graphics card just so my first experience with this is the best possible


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## The World (Mar 23, 2020)

If someone cashapps me 500 bucks I'll suck yo dick


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## sworder (Mar 23, 2020)

dammit my laptop only has a 1060, I wonder how well I can run it. still a couple of months away from building a pc

I wanna play this ASAP


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## Ren. (Mar 23, 2020)

The World said:


> If someone cashapps me 500 bucks I'll suck yo dick


Sorry I spent mine on stocks!


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## Doc Mindstorm (Mar 23, 2020)




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## Zaru (Mar 23, 2020)

Only a bit over an hour in so far because it's gotten late but this game is 

The announcement was the reason I got a VR headset and I've had some great fun in the meantime, but I can't believe it's actually out

The little details they considered, the graphics, this is a real effort by Valve. A shame it couldn't be with the story of Half Life 3 but I'll see where this Alyx spin-off takes us.


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## The World (Mar 24, 2020)

Zaru said:


> Only a bit over an hour in so far because it's gotten late but this game is
> 
> The announcement was the reason I got a VR headset and I've had some great fun in the meantime, but I can't believe it's actually out
> 
> The little details they considered, the graphics, this is a real effort by Valve. A shame it couldn't be with the story of Half Life 3 but I'll see where this Alyx spin-off takes us.


The one time Zaru resurfaces its during a global pandemic... figures


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## Swarmy (Mar 24, 2020)

*Spoiler*: __ 



So Half-Life 3 is confirmed.
It's interesting to see that the unforseen consequences Gman was refering to were actually about Alyx's choice rather than Eli... I'll be honest when I read the ending last night I hated it because it felt like a retcon and a soft reboot but now that I actually saw it properly it makes more sense and feels proper and not forced!


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## Deathbringerpt (Mar 25, 2020)

Suddenly Valve can't seem to shut the fuck up. Whoever's in charge of their communication should get a raise.


*Spoiler*: _About the ending_ 



I know G-man is essentially a self aware Deus Ex Machina but he never pulled shit that felt convenient contrivances to the DETRIMENT of the story. They were always used for tough choices that ended up having...well, unforeseen consequences.

This ending fucking sucked. Maybe something will happen in future games that'll be make this more digestible but this was about the worst way to handle the cliffhanger of Episode 2.


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## Swarmy (Mar 25, 2020)

Deathbringerpt said:


> *Spoiler*: _About the ending_
> 
> 
> 
> ...



*Spoiler*: __ 



Honestly I don't like how they handled the ending of Ep 2, basically they just showed a middle finger to all those fans that wanted to see a continuation of the story. Thing is this is done not only to clear the way for more HL games but because Marc Laidlaw (HL's writter) left Valve some time ago and the new writter in charge who worked on parts of Ep 2 wanted to make this HIS story. He wanted to ceremonially break and redone what Laidlaw laid out for the series, he essentially rebooted Half-Life...

I don't like reboots and I don't like time travel or alternate timelines, I believe that a franchise should try to follow it's own canon even if it fails sometimes... Alternate timelines are ok in a spinoff but not in the main story...


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## Deathbringerpt (Mar 25, 2020)




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## Swarmy (Mar 25, 2020)

At least it's not porn... Yet.


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## Swarmy (Mar 25, 2020)

I just realised Marc Laidlaw might have left Valve because he knew about the ending of HLA... I mean officially he left because there was no new HL game being made but now we know that's not the case since HLA was already in early development by the time he left!


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## Swarmy (Mar 25, 2020)

You know I'm gonna say it now although this will probably gather hate but I think Half-Life was better off dead... At least it would have died at it's peak and remain a legend in gaming... Now I feel like we're going to be seeing more and more "episodic" HL VR games and possibly a HL3 for PC who knows when... And don't get me started on where the hell the story will go forward now!

I mean you know it's weird when someone who's been a HL fan for 20 years finds Doom Eternal more exciting and revolutionary than a new freaking Half-Life game...


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## Deathbringerpt (Mar 26, 2020)

I mean, not every Half Life game had amazing plot, especially the expansion packs of Half Life 1.

Alyx still looks, sounds and feels like an Half Life game despite being a VR - that's more than a lot of series can say after years of  I honestly don't mind a shitty retcon at the end of the day if I can have more Half Life games. And even despite the dumb retcon, the way they actually ended the game was fucking hype.

Crowbar Science Boy is back.


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## Swarmy (Mar 26, 2020)

Deathbringerpt said:


> I mean, not every Half Life game had amazing plot, especially the expansion packs of Half Life 1.
> 
> Alyx still looks, sounds and feels like an Half Life game despite being a VR - that's more than a lot of series can say after years of  I honestly don't mind a shitty retcon at the end of the day if I can have more Half Life games. And even despite the dumb retcon, the way they actually ended the game was fucking hype.
> 
> Crowbar Science Boy is back.


The thing that bothers me about HLA is that it's way too lighthearted. Yes previous HL games were filled with ridiculous jokes and tones but they were at their core depressing horror games, HLA makes it feel like Alyx is just on some adventure and not like the human race is dying...

Also Gman's expressions are so out of character... In the previous games he was creepy because he was almost impressionless and alien, he was awkward and couldn't react like a real human! Now he acts like some hyperactive creep just for the sake of being creepy...

This game just shows how VR is still limited, enemies need to be dumbed down to the point they never engage you aggressively even if you throw a grenade at their feet. The movement is slow and the interactions while expansive are still pretty buggy and awkward.

I really hope HL3 will be a PC game so we can truly experience a HL game as it is supposed to be.


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## Deathbringerpt (Mar 28, 2020)

Swarmy said:


> The thing that bothers me about HLA is that it's way too lighthearted. Yes previous HL games were filled with ridiculous jokes and tones but they were at their core depressing horror games, HLA makes it feel like Alyx is just on some adventure and not like the human race is dying...
> 
> Also Gman's expressions are so out of character... In the previous games he was creepy because he was almost impressionless and alien, he was awkward and couldn't react like a real human! Now he acts like some hyperactive creep just for the sake of being creepy...
> 
> ...



See, that's just your personal beef with VR. And that's legitimate. But that still doesn't detract Alyx from its quality as a VR game, it's lightyears beyond any VR game out there as a complete product and it still has that incredible Valve direction. I wish I was rich enough to play this instead of watching let's plays.

The Jeff chapter is legitimately fantastic. A lot of horror devs could learn from that small portion of horror instead of harping about PT all the time. I actually hunted Valve interviews to see if they would say anything about it. Eventually, I read about the Valve devs that did that chapter and I found one of their answers to really encapsulate what horror needs to do.
You basically need to put the audience on a tightrope that they will never fall off of. Put them as near as possible to the spooks without ever pulling the trigger.


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## Swarmy (Mar 29, 2020)

Deathbringerpt said:


> See, that's just your personal beef with VR. And that's legitimate. But that still doesn't detract Alyx from its quality as a VR game, it's lightyears beyond any VR game out there as a complete game and it still has that incredible Valve direction. I wish I was rich enough to play this instead of watching let's plays.
> 
> The Jeff chapter is legitimately fantastic. A lot of horror devs could learn from that small portion of horror instead of harping about PT all the time. I actually hunted Valve interview to see if they would say anything about it. Eventually, I read about the Valve devs that did that chapter and I found one of his answers to really encapsulate what horror needs to do.
> You basically need to put the audience on a tightrope that they will never fall off of. Put them as near as possible to the spooks without ever pulling the trigger.


If Valve choose to make future HL games outside VR I wouldn't really care if they make some for VR but if they decide to make the entire franchise a VR exclusive yeah I would mind it a lot! Half-Life has always existed to break limits and redefine what a game can be BUT it was also always mainly a traditional PC game, HL is much like Doom or Quake, it's a legend among PC gaming and seeing become just a tool to popularise VR is just insulting to fans... And yes as soon as I can afford a VR set I will be buying HLA but I don't want the series to become tech demos for what VR can do!

I love Jeff's design overall, gotta appreciate the lore implications that Xen's "flora" can also create zombies now!
I hope I'm not the only one seeing a certain The Last of Us inspiration there though!


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## sworder (Mar 29, 2020)

Swarmy said:


> If Valve choose to make future HL games outside VR I wouldn't really care if they make some for VR but if they decide to make the entire franchise a VR exclusive yeah I would mind it a lot! Half-Life has always existed to break limits and redefine what a game can be BUT it was also always mainly a traditional PC game, HL is much like Doom or Quake, it's a legend among PC gaming and seeing become just a tool to popularise VR is just insulting to fans... And yes as soon as I can afford a VR set I will be buying HLA but I don't want the series to become tech demos for what VR can do!
> 
> I love Jeff's design overall, gotta appreciate the lore implications that Xen's "flora" can also create zombies now!
> I hope I'm not the only one seeing a certain The Last of Us inspiration there though!


this is a bad take because VR can and will be better than PC gaming. it's not a tech demo, VR is just beginning and once developers get better at understanding what works and what doesn't, it's gonna leave PC gaming in the dirt


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## Karma (Mar 29, 2020)

I feel the biggest restrictions to VR is movement.

Teleporting around is unimmersive and clunky enough to the point its a distraction to gameplay. It also hampers level design since developers know the players cant move around too fast.


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## Jake CENA (Mar 29, 2020)

VR is retarded why would you spend thousands of dollars just to play one game?


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## sworder (Mar 30, 2020)

Karma said:


> I feel the biggest restrictions to VR is movement.
> 
> Teleporting around is unimmersive and clunky enough to the point its a distraction to gameplay. It also hampers level design since developers know the players cant move around too fast.


Good thing you don't have to teleport if you don't want to


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## Deathbringerpt (Mar 30, 2020)

Swarmy said:


> If Valve choose to make future HL games outside VR I wouldn't really care if they make some for VR but if they decide to make the entire franchise a VR exclusive yeah I would mind it a lot! Half-Life has always existed to break limits and redefine what a game can be BUT it was also always mainly a traditional PC game, HL is much like Doom or Quake, it's a legend among PC gaming and seeing become just a tool to popularise VR is just insulting to fans... And yes as soon as I can afford a VR set I will be buying HLA but I don't want the series to become tech demos for what VR can do!



Well, Valve seems to agree with you there since according to leaks, it's internally agreed at Valve that playing as Gordon/major story advancing Half Life titles should only be in traditional formats aka no VR. Although apparently Valve's higher ups had 0 expectations for Alyx and it ended being really fucking successful for such a niche market so they're gonna be working with VR for a while now. A Barney expansion is said to be in the works.

If these leaks are true, I'd be pretty satisfied. As long as, you know, they actually make Half Life 3.


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## Swarmy (Mar 31, 2020)

Deathbringerpt said:


> Well, Valve seems to agree with you there since according to leaks, it's internally agreed at Valve that playing as Gordon/major story advancing Half Life titles should only be in traditional formats aka no VR. Although apparently Valve's higher ups had 0 expectations for Alyx and it ended being really fucking successful for such a niche market so they're gonna be working with VR for a while now. A Barney expansion is said to be in the works.
> 
> If these leaks are true, I'd be pretty satisfied. As long as, you know, they actually make Half Life 3.


That's awesome if true! Making spinoffs in VR while the main story continues in tradition format is the best way to go! VR is still in it's infancy and needs time to reach a proper mainstream stage.

I'm sure HLA's ending confirms HL3? Then again Ep 3 was also confirmed so yeah...


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## Deathbringerpt (Apr 1, 2020)




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## αshɘs (Apr 21, 2020)

Really enjoyed this, but it was definitely a compromised, toned down experience and a not revolutionary one as many HL fans foretold. Boneworks with its jank and puke factor was more ambitious than this, but fair enough those guys didn't care about VR newbs at all. Didn't know I wanted an RE like game with HL dressing, but it worked for me. Some of the scarier bits might have had a bigger effect on me on a flat screen, but here I just couldn't avoid, had to tackle them!  Story wise, I had a feeling they might reset the Ep2 ending. It's been 13 years, ending on the same note would been lame, also the post credits scene was super cool to experience! Valve said after this they're not sure where to go next, wether they stay VR or not, but they did set themselves up for HL3 for real this time. And an Alyx 2 too actually. So, maybe make HL3 flatscreen and continue VR with Alyx and then the two campaigns would intersect or something. Not realistic I know, but this could make both camps happy. 

Anyways, bit of ranting coming up, sorry: a new HL came out and barely anyone is talking about it anymore! Valve's first SP game in 9 years, the return of HL after 13 years, admittedly Valve's biggest ever project, "this is as good as we get", "we want to show the magic is still there", a cutting edge AAA VR experience people wanted for the medium....and silence. On one hand this shows VR still only has limited appeal, but I do recall games like Moss and Astrobot being more discussed than this. So yes, VR is still niche, HW is supply constrained, covid happened, but all the publications and lots of players played it for a VR game (it had like 40k concurrent? That's great!), but I'm seeing more discussions about Eternal, Animal Crossing or FF7R. More mainstream games, however Alyx is the highest rated of them all. So, on the other hand it doesn't seem it left a lasting impression despite its score. I remember when games like TLoU, TW3, BB, OW, BotW and GoW came out the press and players wouldn't shut up about them even months after release. 
I was hoping Valve's return would have a bigger bang. They spent the majority of the last decade on improving Steam, tinkering with their service games/economies, and doing HW while they struggled with their new engine and when they were finally ready for new games they showed up with a failed card game, a middling autobattler and now a super polished AAA niche game. I feel like they were a bit too focused on the very long term and their cyberpunk vision and lost track of the present and near future a bit. A lot of their audience moved on and a lot of their peers surpassed them.

Like Gabe Newell interviews used to generate much discussion, he used to be regarded as very thoughful and having a good understanding of current and future trends. After years of silence IGN and Edge published big interviews with him, but not many cared. He was talking about how the Matrix is closer than we think and brain computer interfacing. Maybe that's why...

Reactions: Like 1


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## Swarmy (Apr 22, 2020)

αshɘs said:


> Really enjoyed this, but it was definitely a compromised, toned down experience and a not revolutionary one as many HL fans foretold. Boneworks with its jank and puke factor was more ambitious than this, but fair enough those guys didn't care about VR newbs at all. Didn't know I wanted an RE like game with HL dressing, but it worked for me. Some of the scarier bits might have had a bigger effect on me on a flat screen, but here I just couldn't avoid, had to tackle them!  Story wise, I had a feeling they might reset the Ep2 ending. It's been 13 years, ending on the same note would been lame, also the post credits scene was super cool to experience! Valve said after this they're not sure where to go next, wether they stay VR or not, but they did set themselves up for HL3 for real this time. And an Alyx 2 too actually. So, maybe make HL3 flatscreen and continue VR with Alyx and then the two campaigns would intersect or something. Not realistic I know, but this could make both camps happy.
> 
> Anyways, bit of ranting coming up, sorry: a new HL came out and barely anyone is talking about it anymore! Valve's first SP game in 9 years, the return of HL after 13 years, admittedly Valve's biggest ever project, "this is as good as we get", "we want to show the magic is still there", a cutting edge AAA VR experience people wanted for the medium....and silence. On one hand this shows VR still only has limited appeal, but I do recall games like Moss and Astrobot being more discussed than this. So yes, VR is still niche, HW is supply constrained, covid happened, but all the publications and lots of players played it for a VR game (it had like 40k concurrent? That's great!), but I'm seeing more discussions about Eternal, Animal Crossing or FF7R. More mainstream games, however Alyx is the highest rated of them all. So, on the other hand it doesn't seem it left a lasting impression despite its score. I remember when games like TLoU, TW3, BB, OW, BotW and GoW came out the press and players wouldn't shut up about them even months after release.
> I was hoping Valve's return would have a bigger bang. They spent the majority of the last decade on improving Steam, tinkering with their service games/economies, and doing HW while they struggled with their new engine and when they were finally ready for new games they showed up with a failed card game, a middling autobattler and now a super polished AAA niche game. I feel like they were a bit too focused on the very long term and their cyberpunk vision and lost track of the present and near future a bit. A lot of their audience moved on and a lot of their peers surpassed them.
> ...


You put my exact thoughts into proper words!

HLA didn't feel like a proper HL game, it felt like a demo for VR and yes all HL games were essentially demos for the new tech at the time but they had some substance that set them apart from other games! Alyx's uniqueness is that it's a VR game... That's all!


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## Deathbringerpt (Apr 22, 2020)

As far as VR discussions go, and I really don't follow all that much, I never saw many articles for just about just about any VR game ever with the exception of Beat Saber which looked to be a perfect VR cause it was so simple and fun to play. Anything that tried to approach a "real game" never got much buzz, honestly. Alyx easily got more people talking about it but it just lost traction just like any other game. 

It was never going to stand a change in terms of longevity when it comes to AAA console/PC games, it's a losing battle in that sense. You can see Valve's own overpriced Index VR set close to its top 10 sales list so I'm still wondering how successful it was. They gotta be make a hefty profit with each set considering that retarded price. 

It's still more of a Valve game than all their other retarded experiments that no one wanted. Valve needs to stop aping Nintendo from the last 2 generations and making shit different for the sake of difference. I hope the teaser at the end of the game really leads to a core Half Life 3 game.

Oh and Doom Eternal coming out at the same time certainly didn't help.


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## Deathbringerpt (Apr 22, 2020)

Oh yeah. Valve should make a brand new horror IP. The Jeff level was al dente with that shit.


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## Karma (Apr 22, 2020)

Isnt left 4 dead technically horror?


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## Swarmy (Apr 22, 2020)

Deathbringerpt said:


> Oh yeah. Valve should make a brand new horror IP. The Jeff level was al dente with that shit.





Karma said:


> Isnt left 4 dead technically horror?



There was a proper Half-Life horror game being developed by Arkane Studios at some point that was all about Ravenholm. If Valve decide to resurrect that concept but in VR it might be cool...

But yeah Valve have always played with horror themes in almost all their titles including Dota 2 (if you dig into the lore) so I wonder why they never went full on Event Horizon.


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## sworder (Apr 23, 2020)

*Half-Life: Alyx performed modestly by the standards of AAA games but was a blockbuster by the standards of virtual reality (VR) exclusive titles. *A total of 860K gamers played the PC VR title in March. The game had a limited addressable audience, as there was an install base of fewer than 4M PC-compatible VR headsets at the end of 2019. Direct purchases of _Half-Life: Alyx_ generated $40.7M in revenue, and hundreds of thousands of free copies of the game were also bundled with devices like the Valve Index headset to boost interest in VR.



Nearly 1M sales in a month is incredibly good for VR. Doesn't help that the Rift S sells out in hours as soon as there's some available online and the Index currently has a 2 month waitlist before they ship.


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## Karma (Apr 23, 2020)

I feel like the sale of the valve index is more relevant tbh

I imagine it had a spike in sales 8n the last 6 months


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## Deathbringerpt (Apr 24, 2020)

sworder said:


> *Half-Life: Alyx performed modestly by the standards of AAA games but was a blockbuster by the standards of virtual reality (VR) exclusive titles. *A total of 860K gamers played the PC VR title in March. The game had a limited addressable audience, as there was an install base of fewer than 4M PC-compatible VR headsets at the end of 2019. Direct purchases of _Half-Life: Alyx_ generated $40.7M in revenue, and hundreds of thousands of free copies of the game were also bundled with devices like the Valve Index headset to boost interest in VR.
> 
> 
> 
> Nearly 1M sales in a month is incredibly good for VR. Doesn't help that the Rift S sells out in hours as soon as there's some available online and the Index currently has a 2 month waitlist before they ship.



That's actually insanely good for VR. It's the platform's defining game right now.


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## αshɘs (Apr 29, 2020)

Swarmy said:


> If Valve choose to make future HL games outside VR I wouldn't really care if they make some for VR but if they decide to make the entire franchise a VR exclusive yeah I would mind it a lot! Half-Life has always existed to break limits and redefine what a game can be BUT it was also always mainly a traditional PC game, HL is much like Doom or Quake, it's a legend among PC gaming* and seeing become just a tool to* popularise VR is just insulting to fans... And yes as soon as I can afford a VR set I will be buying HLA but I don't want the series to become tech demos for what VR can do!
> 
> I love Jeff's design overall, gotta appreciate the lore implications that Xen's "flora" can also create zombies now!
> I hope I'm not the only one seeing a certain The Last of Us inspiration there though!



Well, Valve themselves consider it a tool to fix problems and push tech forwards, which from my 20 plus years of following the franchise was always a fan driven mantra more so than a Valve driven one. But Valve has adopted it now. (In fact in a Geoff Keighley podcast from 5 years ago Gabe said all their franchises are just tools.) Similarly how in the Final Hours interview they acknowledged that working on HL3 is scary, because of meeting the crazy expectations. Now to me that was disappointing. A company like Valve shouldn't be scared. Hell, they followed up HL1 with HL2, so what gives? Luckily the rest of the games industry doesn't think like this otherwise the last Zelda would have been OoT and etc 



Swarmy said:


> You put my exact thoughts into proper words!
> 
> HLA didn't feel like a proper HL game, it felt like a demo for VR and yes all HL games were essentially demos for the new tech at the time but they had some substance that set them apart from other games! Alyx's uniqueness is that it's a VR game... That's all!



Actually from a presentation and pacing standpoint it's totally HL. The only things that were missing are vehicular and platforming sections. I think it's not necessarily VR that holds it back, but that Valve designed it as "beginner's first VR game". Slow combat aside, the first 4 chapters are one long tutorial. Hopefully for their next VR game they amp things up more and shorten the onboarding. Thinking about it, actually the campaign itself feels a bit outdated, like a shooter from the 00's. Which considering Valve's last shooter campaign comes from that decade makes a lot of sense  They should get with the times though.



Deathbringerpt said:


> As far as VR discussions go, and I really don't follow all that much, I never saw many articles for just about just about any VR game ever with the exception of Beat Saber which looked to be a perfect VR cause it was so simple and fun to play. Anything that tried to approach a "real game" never got much buzz, honestly. Alyx easily got more people talking about it but it just lost traction just like any other game.
> 
> It was never going to stand a change in terms of longevity when it comes to AAA console/PC games, it's a losing battle in that sense. You can see Valve's own overpriced Index VR set close to its top 10 sales list so I'm still wondering how successful it was. They gotta be make a hefty profit with each set considering that retarded price.
> 
> ...



Astrobot had a lot of buzz, even from VR skeptics, but you're right. TLoU2 and CP2077 will totally outshine it. And totally agreed with the Nintendo bit. Hearing Gabe being jealous of Nintendo for the last 5 years has been annoying. He said he hopes Miyamoto will try Alyx, but didn't he say he doesn't likes VR? Or was that Iwata?

I think Animal Crossing was a bigger factor. It's the perfect quarantine game. But the Doom overshadowing HL now ironic, if we look back at 2004. It was the opposite then. Doom 3 was seen as slow, dark, more horro focused whereas HL2 was faster, brighter, more varied. And now Alyx is low, dark, more horror focused whereas Eternal is faster, brighter, more varied

Reactions: Like 1


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## Deathbringerpt (May 28, 2020)




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## Swarmy (May 28, 2020)

Imagine getting drunk in VR...


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## Deathbringerpt (May 28, 2020)

Puke faster than shoving your finger down your throat.


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## Deathbringerpt (May 28, 2020)

I like how Capcom and Valve show how real immersion is pulled. Realistic food and booze.


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## αshɘs (Jul 9, 2020)

Geoff Keighley's  is out





> *Half-Life 3:* Created in the Source 2 engine and drawing some gameplay inspiration from Left 4 Dead, the project known as Half-Life 3 would have used procedural generation between hand-crafted story moments to create a more replayable game. For instance, the game would generate a building and an objective (such as rescuing a prisoner), then create a route through it and fill the building with enemies, meaning that section would always play out differently. The team went as far as scanning Frank Sheldon, the actor whose likeness was used for the series' G-Man. However the Source 2 engine was unfinished, and the project "didn't get very far" before it was dropped. It was in development for around a year between 2013 and 2014.
> *Left 4 Dead 3:* An open world game set in Morocco and potentially featuring featuring hundreds of zombies at a time, this was also deemed unworkable because of the unfinished Source 2.
> *RPG:* This RPG project was simply codenamed 'RPG', drawing inspiration from the likes of The Elder Scrolls, Dark Souls and Monster Hunter, and was envisaged as being released in small chunks, but "never really left the conceptual stage". After RPG was abandoned, experiments went into turning it into a single-player RPG based on DOTA character Axe, which were also shelved.
> *A.R.T.I.:* A light-hearted, voxel-based game that allowed for open-ended destruction and creation in the vein of Minecraft. One version included Half-Life 2 and Portal writer Erik Wolpaw voicing a character called King Kevin, who had to be broken out of prison using the game's tools. A.R.T.I. was later resurrected as a VR game, but was shelved as Half-Life: Alyx grew.
> ...

Reactions: Like 2


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## Deathbringerpt (Jul 9, 2020)

It hurts to read all of that. Fucking Borealis, man.


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## Deathbringerpt (Jul 10, 2020)

Start making those core games, Valve. Alyx is like the most successful VR game ever. People want your games.


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## Deathbringerpt (Jul 10, 2020)

Also, I would totally buy a Dark Soul/Monster Hunter/Elder Scroll mix from Valve.


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## MrPopo (Jul 10, 2020)

Deathbringerpt said:


> Start making those core games, Valve. Alyx is like the most successful VR game ever. People want your games.


No need to make new games when you can just make hats for dota2 and make even more money


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## Swarmy (Jul 10, 2020)

MrPopo said:


> No need to make new games when you own Steam and make even more money


Fixed


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## αshɘs (Jul 10, 2020)

After finishing this I feel the people who criticized Valve or were concerned about them the last decade can feel vindicated. As it turns out not everything was sunshine and roses, there was no masterplan. They didn't release games, because they didn't measure up to their high standards or they weren't important to make because digital storefronts, Linux and VR were more important battles to fight. No, they didn't release them because their "work on whatever you want, we have no bosses" mantra actually became a hindrance and Source 2 was a massive struggle. Valve devs were just as frustrated as fans regarding their sparse output. Some devs didn't even ship a game after joining Valve for years! Their writers said they were the highest paid blog writers in the world. This obviously wasn't normal. So we have to thank Robin Walker and Greg Coomer for intervening with the Valve mantra and being bullish that yes they really should make a fucking game and getting a big group behind them.


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## Swarmy (Jul 10, 2020)

αshɘs said:


> After finishing this I feel the people who criticized Valve or were concerned about them the last decade can feel vindicated. As it turns out not everything was sunshine and roses, there was no masterplan. They didn't release games, because they didn't measure up to their high standards or they weren't important to make because digital storefronts, Linux and VR were more important battles to fight. No, they didn't release them because their "work on whatever you want, we have no bosses" mantra actually became a hindrance and Source 2 was a massive struggle. Valve devs were just as frustrated as fans regarding their sparse output. Some devs didn't even ship a game after joining Valve for years! Their writers said they were the highest paid blog writers in the world. This obviously wasn't normal. So we have to thank Robin Walker and Greg Coomer for intervening with the Valve mantra and being bullish that yes they really should make a fucking game and getting a big group behind them.


Absolutely! We can only hope Valve keep this new attitude in the future!


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