34 votes

Why the liquids in Half-Life: Alyx look so dang good

24 comments

  1. [16]
    EmperorPenguin
    Link
    Half-Life: Alyx was one of the best games I ever played. I wish more people had the chance to play it, since it's currently stuck on the (sadly) least popular VR platform: PC VR. A PSVR2 port...

    Half-Life: Alyx was one of the best games I ever played. I wish more people had the chance to play it, since it's currently stuck on the (sadly) least popular VR platform: PC VR. A PSVR2 port would be very welcome, so that I'd finally have some more people I can discuss this game with!

    13 votes
    1. [7]
      underdog
      Link Parent
      I have the original Vive and I'm really eager to try it! There's one problem though: flying crabs to your face. I have a bad relationship with horror things in general, but VR is worse because it...

      I have the original Vive and I'm really eager to try it! There's one problem though: flying crabs to your face. I have a bad relationship with horror things in general, but VR is worse because it feels very real.
      I remember there was one game where you're like in an office room, and you have to escape. Nothing scary, right? Wrong! You lift a box and this massive spider jumps straight to your face. I remember throwing the damn VR headset so strong, luckily it landed in my bed or it would have broken into a million pieces.

      I definitely feel like I'm missing out by not playing Alyx, unfortunately don't think there's much I can do

      4 votes
      1. [4]
        redwall_hp
        Link Parent
        Super Hot was one of the few VR games I've had the chance to try, and while it was fun it caused some physical discomfortI wasn't a fan of. VR simulates that nasty uneasy feeling you can get when...

        Super Hot was one of the few VR games I've had the chance to try, and while it was fun it caused some physical discomfortI wasn't a fan of.

        VR simulates that nasty uneasy feeling you can get when you jump off of something, and the game requires that you jump out of a skyscraper window on one level, so it causes borderline nausea for a second when you do it.

        3 votes
        1. [3]
          Sodliddesu
          Link Parent
          Oh man, Superhot pre-'that update' was such a thrill. Having to shoot yourself, jumping off the building, I knew that I wasn't doing those things but my body still recoiled like it didn't want to...

          Oh man, Superhot pre-'that update' was such a thrill. Having to shoot yourself, jumping off the building, I knew that I wasn't doing those things but my body still recoiled like it didn't want to do those things.

          I mean, I've shot myself plenty in H3VR but something about the way Superhot just told you to and left you in a white room until you did - really got to the lizard part of my brain. Yeah, the game is still fun but the story is worsened by the removal of those scenes. Took it from a top five VR game down to just a should play.

          5 votes
          1. [2]
            Ember
            Link Parent
            Woah, what scenes were removed? Is there a video of it?

            Woah, what scenes were removed? Is there a video of it?

            1 vote
            1. Sodliddesu
              Link Parent
              As I understand, scenes that reference self harm were removed back in 2021. I don't know if there's video of the scenes but I doubt they'd actually be impactful just watching them. It's the doing...

              As I understand, scenes that reference self harm were removed back in 2021. I don't know if there's video of the scenes but I doubt they'd actually be impactful just watching them. It's the doing that makes it fun.

              4 votes
      2. [2]
        Gekko
        Link Parent
        yeah, Alyx is unfortunately a pretty tense and scary game in some places, but at least nothing gets right up in your face. I do think everyone with vr should try it, maybe if you play it in like...

        yeah, Alyx is unfortunately a pretty tense and scary game in some places, but at least nothing gets right up in your face. I do think everyone with vr should try it, maybe if you play it in like 30min chunks it isn't so bad?

        1 vote
        1. teaearlgraycold
          Link Parent
          …except the head crabs. I never have any issues shooting them off my face.

          …except the head crabs.

          I never have any issues shooting them off my face.

          2 votes
    2. [3]
      teaearlgraycold
      Link Parent
      I'm loving PC VR, but would be more than happy for Valve to spread their magic around to PSVR. The orange box was multi-platform. Why not Alyx?

      I'm loving PC VR, but would be more than happy for Valve to spread their magic around to PSVR. The orange box was multi-platform. Why not Alyx?

      4 votes
      1. [2]
        Comment deleted by author
        Link Parent
        1. teaearlgraycold
          Link Parent
          Fair enough. And do you mean killer app for the Index?

          Fair enough. And do you mean killer app for the Index?

          3 votes
      2. TheJorro
        Link Parent
        It doesn't seem like they're doing anything in the console spaces these days. I think even their last update to a launched console game was over seven or eight years ago. The last time they...

        It doesn't seem like they're doing anything in the console spaces these days. I think even their last update to a launched console game was over seven or eight years ago.

        The last time they released a game on consoles was CSGO in 2012, and that wasn't even developed by them really. That version has none of the extremely significant updates that came in the following years when they took over post-launch development.

        1 vote
    3. [5]
      OBLIVIATER
      Link Parent
      Wait PC VR is less popular than PSVR2? Do you have the stats to back that up? I don't know anyone who uses PSVR and the people who I do know say it's not great

      Wait PC VR is less popular than PSVR2? Do you have the stats to back that up? I don't know anyone who uses PSVR and the people who I do know say it's not great

      1 vote
      1. Jedi
        Link Parent
        Not speaking from experience here, but I’ve heard the PSVR2 headset is top-notch. I highly doubt it has more users than PCVR though.

        Not speaking from experience here, but I’ve heard the PSVR2 headset is top-notch. I highly doubt it has more users than PCVR though.

        1 vote
      2. [3]
        PetitPrince
        Link Parent
        According to Steam stats, there's 18 000 000 people online. Of which, 1.73% have a VR headset. That would make 311 000 people. According to a Sony business presentation, PSVR2 have sold about 600...

        According to Steam stats, there's 18 000 000 people online. Of which, 1.73% have a VR headset. That would make 311 000 people.

        According to a Sony business presentation, PSVR2 have sold about 600 000 units two months after launch.

        So er yes, it's also surprising to me, but right now PSVR2 seems to be roughly twice as popular as PCVR.

        There's many flaws in my methodology (the Steam hardware survey is an opt-in process for starters) but I don't think it can double the number of PCVR headsets.

        1 vote
        1. [2]
          OBLIVIATER
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          Wait, people online =/= total people does it? Surely there's a huge percentage of people who aren't online at any given time, you'd have to take the total number of people with steam and then...

          Wait, people online =/= total people does it? Surely there's a huge percentage of people who aren't online at any given time, you'd have to take the total number of people with steam and then extrapolate the headset data from there.

          Edit: was curious so I did some more research, in January of 2022 (18 month old data) there were 3.5 million VR headsets that connected to steam in a month, since its only per month and the data is a year and a half old I think that its fair to assume that number has broken 4 million if not more. A pretty far cry from the 300k estimate you gave.

          https://www.roadtovr.com/monthly-connected-vr-headsets-steam-survey-january-2022/

          5 votes
          1. PetitPrince
            Link Parent
            Ah ! A perfectly reasonable debunking of my back of the napkin calculation.

            Wait, people online =/= total people does it?

            Ah ! A perfectly reasonable debunking of my back of the napkin calculation.

            2 votes
  2. Trobador
    Link
    That was fascinating. A really good vulgarization, too. As much as I don't really like looking at media from major gaming news outlets like Polygon, I have to admit their YouTube channel puts out...

    That was fascinating. A really good vulgarization, too. As much as I don't really like looking at media from major gaming news outlets like Polygon, I have to admit their YouTube channel puts out some great stuff.

    2 votes
  3. [7]
    Jedi
    Link
    I just got a PC and headset to be able to play this and the GPU was dead on arrival. Now I’m waiting to replace it. Yay.

    I just got a PC and headset to be able to play this and the GPU was dead on arrival. Now I’m waiting to replace it. Yay.

    1 vote
    1. [6]
      teaearlgraycold
      Link Parent
      Oh no! I’m curious about the specs of the PC. What did you get?

      Oh no! I’m curious about the specs of the PC. What did you get?

      1. [5]
        Jedi
        Link Parent
        RTX 2060 w/ an i5-10400F. The computer flashes colors after mild use (just opening settings would trigger it), and eventually reboot. I took a video of it happening the other day.

        RTX 2060 w/ an i5-10400F.

        The computer flashes colors after mild use (just opening settings would trigger it), and eventually reboot.

        I took a video of it happening the other day.

        1. [4]
          teaearlgraycold
          Link Parent
          Do you have the opportunity to replace the whole computer or only the GPU? I'd replace the whole thing if possible as it could easily be a combination of things going wrong.

          Do you have the opportunity to replace the whole computer or only the GPU? I'd replace the whole thing if possible as it could easily be a combination of things going wrong.

          1. [3]
            Jedi
            Link Parent
            I’m fairly confident that it’s the GPU as I didn’t experience any issue (other than performance, of course) when I disabled it. But yeah, I’m probably going to just get a refund and figure...

            I’m fairly confident that it’s the GPU as I didn’t experience any issue (other than performance, of course) when I disabled it.
            But yeah, I’m probably going to just get a refund and figure something else out.

            1. [2]
              teaearlgraycold
              (edited )
              Link Parent
              I'm sure it's involved. I just didn't want you to get one part fixed only to find out that the PSU had fried the last GPU and then immediately fries the second one...

              I'm sure it's involved. I just didn't want you to get one part fixed only to find out that the PSU had fried the last GPU and then immediately fries the second one...

              1 vote
              1. Jedi
                Link Parent
                I did consider the PSU, but I didn’t think about it potentially damaging a new one. I’m considering just building one, but so far it’s come out pricier than similarly specced pre-builts.

                I did consider the PSU, but I didn’t think about it potentially damaging a new one.
                I’m considering just building one, but so far it’s come out pricier than similarly specced pre-builts.