Half-Life: Alyx

Stave

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ya, admittedly i am as hardcore of a halflife fanboy as they come but i was totally confused by the lack of an uproar over how amazing this game is. i mean yes it got gushing reviews but so did last of us 2 lol. i think it just goes to show how poor penetration vr still has in the wider gaming market, which is too bad. most story driven single player games i never play again once im done but this one i just hop on in various levels or check out some shit mod someone made just because being in this vr experience is so next level compared to everything else out there.


its also totally ruined basically every other vr thing there is for me. i was using my oculus a lot after i got it, toying with this or that stupid game. after alyx, the only thing i do is occasionally beat saber or pistol whip, then get bored in 5mins

Theres a couple problems with VR adoption. It's one of those things, that until you try it, you can't really understand it. Before I tried real VR, I just thought it was some lame nerd thing. "Look at these nerds spending $1500 on their headsets and giant backpacks for janky 1st gen tech! I'll just spend my $1500 on a new PC and be much happier" I didn't realize the quality and immersiveness of it now days. But how do you demo these to the masses in the post-covid world? 10 years ago every walmart would have had one hanging by a chord in the game isle, covered in stains and grease, waiting for Timmy to stick it on his head and see what it really is. And I think the whole stigma behind VR hurts it from mainstream adoption too. A lot of people look at them as kids toys. I know when I used to think of the word VR, I pictured some pimple faced teenager, with a giant headset on his head, with like 50 wires coming out of it, running down to a 100lb giant metal backpack, while he stumbles around punching at things in the air. VR really needs to get over that stigma.

And then the other big problem is up until Quest 2, there wasn't a decent headset for under $800+ and that didn't require setting up a room, lighthouses, etc. The cost of entry was way too high. Along comes Quest 2, for $299, but everyone just assumes its garbage because how can you get something for $299 be as good as something that costs almost $1k. I know I thought that. I never even looked at it because I thought it was some stand-alone headset that played some lame mobile games like the Galaxy Gear did. I didn't know it could play PC games. I didn't know it could even do it wirelessly. Hell, I didn't know the term PCVR. I had never even heard of the Quest 1. We get people dropping in the thread here all the time asking about Quest 2, because they just heard of it, and they are surprised when they hear it can do wireless PCVR. So where was this thing marketed? Considering I'm a huge gamer that spends thousands of dollars on games and hardware every year, why wasn't I marketed to? Word of mouth is like the only way VR can really grow it seems. Word of mouth and trying out a friend's headset. When I got mine, my wife scoffed at me like I was the biggest loser ever and had lost my damn mind. I had to convince her to try it. She finally put it on and tried Beat Saber, and 3 hours later when the battery went dead she finally took it off, drenched in sweat, and asking if she can get one too. If Oculus was smart, they'd pay some influencers and celebs to use it and promote it on their social media.
 
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Hateyou

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Breaking the news to my wife that I plan on getting one of those vr treadmills is something I haven’t yet mustered the balls for. I’ll definitely be pushing the ‘it’s good for my heart health’ angle so if there are any good fake websites out there that support my strategy I need to find them
I’d like to try out VR but I’m pretty sure my wife would never sleep with me again if she saw it.
 
  • 2Worf
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Hateyou

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Pffft, whatever man. Soon we'll have waifus IN VR!!
I’m in, PM me when that happens.

Also, I’m surprised that porn AR glasses aren’t a thing yet. You both put your glasses on and they deep fake you both into movie stars or whatever. Whoever makes that will be rich.
 

Soygen

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I’m in, PM me when that happens.
Miyagi GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY
 
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Cybsled

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I’m in, PM me when that happens.

Also, I’m surprised that porn AR glasses aren’t a thing yet. You both put your glasses on and they deep fake you both into movie stars or whatever. Whoever makes that will be rich.

Digital paper bags?

At some point maybe, but that would be a ways off. That would be on the level of an AR game making you and your friends look like you have weapons/look like game characters and can have realistic AR battles in real time. Sort of like in Cyberpunk 2077 when you play that AR cops&robbers game with River’s sister’s kids.
 

Hateyou

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Digital paper bags?

At some point maybe, but that would be a ways off. That would be on the level of an AR game making you and your friends look like you have weapons/look like game characters and can have realistic AR battles in real time. Sort of like in Cyberpunk 2077 when you play that AR cops&robbers game with River’s sister’s kids.
It seems like it would be pretty easy honestly. Just slap Snapchat filters into AR glasses. Changes their face, done. Probably be devastating to the cuck scene.
 

Cybsled

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I’m sure you could do a version now, but it would be janky as fuck. Mass market wouldn’t accept it until it was seamless and there was no uncanny valley shit
 

Blitz

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I’d like to try out VR but I’m pretty sure my wife would never sleep with me again if she saw it.
My gf didn't sleep with me for a bit after Alyx. It's fine. Alyx was well worth it.

Also, the entry price has to come down. And what retail is left you'd have to buy demo space and actively market the demo space for people to come try it.

It's sorta surprising how many people haven't played modern VR tech. I let 5 or 6 different friends play the intro of Alyx, and 4 of them bought a headset within the next week.
 
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Voyce

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Valve Knuckles just came in, definitely a step up over the Vive Controllers.

Just got to the Ant Lions, game is bananas, its really as close to a holodeck as anything has been.

Anyone get nervous when playing? When strapped in you're full on Helen Keller.

The lady could sneak up on me and get fresh without my consent. Being by yourself feels compromising.
 
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Janx

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Valve Knuckles just came in, definitely a step up over the Vive Controllers.

Just got to the Ant Lions, game is bananas, its really as close to a holodeck as anything has been.

Anyone get nervous when playing? When strapped in you're full on Helen Keller.

The lady could sneak up on me and get fresh without my consent. Being by yourself feels compromising.
Have you played phasmaphobia solo in VR? Shit makes me nervous as hell even though I know its a game.
 
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Stave

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Haven't beaten HL Alyx yet, but definitely checking this out once I beat it. Someone made a full campaign based in Bioshock world of Rapture. Apparently they got the permission from Bioshock to use assets and go hog wild with it.


 
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Voyce

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Have you played phasmaphobia solo in VR? Shit makes me nervous as hell even though I know its a game.

I've seen videos of it haven't gotten around to trying it. I plan on replaying Alien Isolation and trying RE7 with Vorpex at some point. I'm a Survival Horror buff, and whatever you'd call RE4.

Speaking of, I really enjoy upgrading weapons and customizing, so I really like the resin setup they put in, I wish there were more customization options, I'm getting to what I assume is the end of the game, and I've gotten pretty much everything that I think matters.

I skipped laser sight's at the beginning, because as I suspected it makes gun play trivial. I got to see if there's an achievement for never upgrading to lasers, I like having to line up the sights.
 

Voyce

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Finished the first playthrough last night, can't really compare this to other games, it just not even the same thing really.

Definitely a unique experience, doesn't exactly make sense to review it, other than to say, yeah play it.

I can make a good judgment on VR, in terms of what it needs to do to enhance its trajectory.

The current headsets (at least mine) are to bulky, and not particularly comfortable. Most importantly the ability to be in the game and then jump out of it, is not convenient. You can't just flip the eyewear up, you have to take the whole cumbersome thing off. I'm pretty casual with gaming at this point, VR drew me in because a lot of games have gone stale, this experience is much more riveting, but I don't want to be "stuck" in VR, I want to be able to jump in and out of it as I see fit.
 

Regime

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Loving this game. Got the supersampling maxed out via console commands since steamvr SS doesn’t work on the game. Beautiful on the 3090.