
Valve confirm Half-Life: Alyx, a VR game being revealed on Thursday - atemerev
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/11/19/valve-confirm-half-life-alyx-a-vr-game-being-revealed-on-thursday/
======
derefr
A 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...)

~~~
ykl
In the cases of Brave and Moana at Pixar and Disney Animation respectively,
the story definitely came before the tech was developed. I was an intern at
Pixar during the production of Brave, and I worked on Moana, and I can say
that in both cases, there was a mad scramble to develop the tech to catch up
with the story. We didn't really have the water on Moana working completely
correctly until like 6 months before the movie came out.

~~~
chuckdries
That's so interesting! I think the fact that they nail the tech so well makes
it intuitively surprising that it didn't come first. Not pixar but similarly,
when I saw the siggraph talk where Disney Animation showed off how they do
snow rendering in Frozen I wondered whether the tech came first

~~~
ykl
That's also a case where the tech came a while after the story. Our early snow
tests on Frozen looked pretty terrible until the MPM simulator [1] came online
later.

[1]
[https://www.disneyanimation.com/technology/innovations/matte...](https://www.disneyanimation.com/technology/innovations/matterhorn)

~~~
electricslpnsld
Did the MPM simulator get used in practice for Frozen? I talked to a few sim
TDs (or whatever the equivalent Disney title is) and they said it was too slow
at the start for practical use!

------
kingbirdy
It'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).

~~~
AnIdiotOnTheNet
Convincing people to install software that doesn't cost any money is quite a
bit easier than convincing them to invest in an expensive piece of hardware
and the even more expensive computer needed to work with it. Not to mention
overcoming all the other issues people have with current VR tech, like the
space requirements.

~~~
fetus8
But that's precisely why their first big AAA VR Experience is based on Half
Life. It's probably one of the few franchises that (could) force people to
jump into buying a VR rig. Yes, it's not exactly cheap, and it has some
requirements like space, but being able to experience a new Half Life game
after 12 years, is quite exactly the thing that will get people seriously
interested.

(This is all coming from someone who's probably going to jump back into PC/VR
gaming for this experience, depending on the reveal and pre-release
coverage...)

~~~
dx87
The space thing is what kills it for me. Even if the VR and computer were
free, I just don't have the space to use it. I'm not going to rearrange
furniture or lock my dogs outside just to play a video game.

~~~
fetus8
Given the previous history of the Half Life franchise, we're most likely in
for a FPS Shooter with lots of environmental physics manipulation through a
new VR control scheme, utilizing the Valve Index (and other VR controllers).

Given what other people in this thread have mentioned, you will not be moving
within a virtual space via VR inputs with full body mapping to in-game
movement, as that's a recipe for getting sick.

Given my experience with VR and playing games that required a fair amount of
movement, Superhot VR and BeatSaber, the space needed was just enough to stand
up, and move my arms around. I am really unsure of why this space requirement
issue keeps popping up. Unless you're doing full room mapping, which I highly
doubt this game will utilize, I cannot imagine that most people with an
entertainment center or with a desk dedicated to their PC, don't have enough
room to stand up and move their arms around...

~~~
dx87
The space requirement issue keeps coming up because not everyone lives in the
same sized house. Just because you have ample space to stand in your room
waving your arms around with a headset on doesn't mean everyone else does.

~~~
whatshisface
I'm having a hard time imagining a living situation where you don't have
enough space to stand up and move your arms. Could you describe one? At worst
it could only be a tiny number of people, maybe people living in their cars,
and definitely not the target audience of electronic entertainment.

~~~
usrusr
Standing up and moving your arms has much lower space requirements than
standing up and moving your arms while blindfolded and under a barrage of
industry-leading illusions engineered for maximum distraction.

~~~
nimajneb
There's boundaries that the VR will put a red wall on screen if you approach.
Setting them up is part of the installation of VR. I helped a friend setup
Rift Oculus a while ago in a very small living room. Like bedroom sized living
room. I've also played VR while sitting on a couch. Room is not an issue
unless you play in a closet.

~~~
squeaky-clean
In a typical users playspace you're always near enough to the boundaries that
they're visible. And speaking from experience, you do not want your VR setup
within several feet of anything nice, like your television or hanging wall
art, even if they're outside the boundary. As a good game of Gorn is
guaranteed to make you run past that boundary and punch a nearby object.

Yes you can play some VR on a couch, but not Superhot, not Gorn, not Space
Pirate Trainer. Very likely not Half Life Alyx.

I've used my VR setup from within cramped confines, but it's not something a
non-enthusiast will do.

Edit: Also were forgetting a very important point mentioned above

"I'm not going to [...] lock my dogs outside just to play a video game."

------
kipchak
Not 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
I hope it remains generically SteamVR compatible and doesn't require Index or
shut out the Rift or original Vive.

~~~
blotter_paper
I think that would be missing the point. With Half-Life 2, you could buy the
game as a disc but it still required Steam to play. They leveraged their
legendary IP to bring users into a system that is way more profitable for them
than selling copies of any particular game, even a Half-Life game. They've
been sitting on that IP for a while now, not tarnishing their repuation from
the release of a title that could potentially not live up to expectations. Now
they're launching a new platform, and they're leveraging the IP to get people
to buy into the platform. If they can own the best VR platform and get enough
people to buy in on it, the game sales that come after that will overshadow
whatever return they make on a new Half-Life game. Supporting other platforms
would hurt them, if I'm correct about their intentions. Years ago a friend
suggested to me that Valve might do a combined HL3/in-house-VR launch, and
I've been expecting it ever since; it makes too much sense as a business
strategy, and fits in with their prior method of operations.

~~~
nsxwolf
It just hasn't been their strategy so far. That's Facebook's strategy. Valve
has wanted to be the "good guys", if your device supports Steam VR you can
play.

~~~
blotter_paper
Platform lock-in to encourage adoptance was a strategy they used in HL2's
release, as I noted above.

~~~
squeaky-clean
Yes but that was 15 years ago, and they are referring to Valve's VR strategy.
Valve has made an effort to have SDKs available to anyone and have developed a
generic VR input system that allows you to play any SteamVR game with any
brand of device, Oculus, Microsoft, Valve, whatever. They've also stated in
response to the Oculus store offering hardware exclusive titles that they
would never create or publish a VR game specific to one platform.

Going back on those claims would ruin so much goodwill towards Valve among the
VR community.

~~~
blotter_paper
> They've also stated in response to the Oculus store offering hardware
> exclusive titles that they would never create or publish a VR game specific
> to one platform.

Sauce? I tried googling, didn't find anything immediately relevant. I'd be
curious as to their exact wording of that claim.

~~~
cameronbrown
Valves games are tied to OpenVR (which they created), an/the only
implementation of which is SteamVR. They are trying to do what Google did with
Android - create an open platform/ecosystem which OEMs jump into in order to
push consumer adoption.

~~~
blotter_paper
Seems I was wrong: [https://half-life.com/en/alyx](https://half-
life.com/en/alyx)

> Play on any SteamVR system

------
mattlondon
According 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
"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
You 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.

~~~
cameronbrown
1% of Steam users is still a lot of users. Considering that Steam itself is
still seeing massive growth, VR hovering at 1% is evidence of said growth.

There's many sites which report the proper number of headsets and their
absolute growth. Headsets are still doubling every year, even if it's a small
number.

People also tended to hate the Kinect, which only made sales due to marketing
bundles. I've never met a single person who's tried VR that doesn't like the
tech bar it's rough edges (display quality, PC requirements and long term
comfort) but these problems can be solved.

~~~
OnlineGladiator
> I've never met a single person who's tried VR that doesn't like the tech bar
> it's rough edges

The fact that you've never met someone that tried VR that didn't like the tech
shows your overwhelming bias. Most people I've met didn't enjoy it - many were
literally too nauseous to use it. It's extremely well studied that a lot of
people get sick from VR and yet you are claiming everyone that tried it loves
it. One of my friends at Facebook left because he didn't think they'd ever get
it so VR wasn't nauseous for too many people. Even Palmer Luckey, the poster
boy for VR, moved on years ago (not to mention Iribe and Mitchell).

~~~
cameronbrown
Was this mobile VR? Because that is horrible and nauseating and likely won't
ever be a thing in the next decade.

As long as you're using solid VR game design principles, the biggest being:
don't move the player using artificial locomotion, people do not feel sick.
The hardware is ready in that regard - motion sickness is a solved problem.

Many games ignore that and have you moving with a joystick - you can get used
to it, but it should always be optional imo.

My bias is simply from people I've showed my own hardware to, family and
friends, not tech people who have a vested interest. The excitement is there,
just not as a mass-market consumer product yet.

I admit the hardware is immature in every other respect: comfort, weight,
audio, cables and display quality.

~~~
OnlineGladiator
> Was this mobile VR? Because that is horrible and nauseating and likely won't
> ever be a thing in the next decade.

It wasn't mobile VR - it was a dedicated space with external sensors and
(usually) a complete Oculus headset.

Your experience differs from mine. As someone who used to love VR and
considered moving across the country at one point to work on it, I've since
fallen out of love. Ultimately I look at sales as my grounding data, and I
don't think VR is going to take off for years.

Of course as I type this, Valve is announcing Half Life for VR - which is huge
news. So maybe I'm wrong?

------
e1ven
Supposedly 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.

------
psweber
Daily Half-Life 3 Update: Day 742
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJijEFKpKik](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJijEFKpKik)

~~~
hatsunearu
wtf is this channel? did he really make a video every day about half life 3?

~~~
somehnguy
It's pretty self explanatory. In fact you answered your own question.

~~~
erikpukinskis
They just narrated the response I think we all had.

------
utf985
Despite 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.

~~~
nerfhammer
the real tragedy is we could have had like 10 portal sequels by now

~~~
pugworthy
However, we'd be moaning about them rehashing the same IP over and over if
they had done that.

~~~
erikpukinskis
You would?

------
haunter
It 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
This 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
If 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.

------
gnode
I'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.

~~~
AnIdiotOnTheNet
Ultimately 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.

~~~
gnode
> it matters where the audience is.

I don't think that strictly applies here; the stores don't play a predominant
role in marketing the games (at least for popular titles), so they don't have
exclusivity over an audience.

I think the relevant question is the extent customers decide not to purchase a
game because it's exclusive to an alternative store.

------
davexunit
The 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/)

------
dsfyu404ed
Back 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
Yep, 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
When 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.

------
liquid153
It will sell like hot cakes for the first week then plummet. Then a non VR
version will be made.

~~~
criddell
> Then a non VR version will be made.

That's what I'm hoping for.

~~~
bni
All 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
I'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
Lone Echo is a great VR game. Makes having something on your face 100% worth
it.

------
shmerl
When 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.

------
rvz
More like Half-Life 1/3 confirmed.

------
WrtCdEvrydy
Yes, I knew I died this morning!

------
jammygit
Announcement of an announcement

~~~
ihuman
The news of the announcement leaked, so Valve make an official announcement
announcement to take control of the message, and prove it was real.

------
yahwrong
I guess this is slightly better than it being a mobile app...

------
thdrdt
This 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.

------
013a
Announcing a new Half Life game the same week as Stadia's launch. Huge move.

------
danielovichdk
I remember half-life 2 being delayed like for 5 years. Maybe even longer.

------
flamtap
Now _this_ is going to sell some headsets.

~~~
Accujack
Initially, 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.

~~~
hobofan
> 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.

~~~
Accujack
>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
It'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.

~~~
redxdev
CS:GO was literally made by an outside dev (Hidden Path). It's definitely
unfair to say Valve's only additions have been monetization though, it seems
Valve took over development pretty soon after the initial release and there
have been a lot of major updates since then.

------
alunchbox
But it's not HL3 is it?

~~~
mojuba
It's HL√3 (i.e. between 1 and 2 in terms of the story, as I understand it)

~~~
blotter_paper
That's a much better title.

------
gd_092374
We're living half life 3

------
anfilt
I 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
It'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
I dont mind that.

