The graphics look great and that might be the most interesting bit - source brought up to modern standards. Might have to give it a try somewhere to see if I hurl before dropping money on an index and new gfx card
No, I was participating in a bit of hyperbole. I know the writer isn't, because I remember him leaving and releasing a "here's what HL3 would have been" script. I know several dev team members have moved on, and the actors who won't - or in some cases can't - reprise their roles have been mentioned. But "precisely none" is untrue, you're right. Still not buying a VR headset, mind.
Me neither. I won't be taking the plunge on VR until it is more mature, although recent developments suggest this may be sooner rather than later.
Honestly, all of Valve's previous VR stuff has been pretty surprising. Robot Repair is still one of the most detailed and polished experiences, if a bit short (it is a demo). The Lab is very fun for what amounts to little mini-games and concept demos. Aperture Hand Labs is fun, highly polished, yet exists only to show off the Index controllers. Moondust isn't even officially released in any real way, but it also a very nice way to show off the potential of the Index controllers. If HL Alyx maintains that level of detail and polish throughout an entire game, I think it's really going to blow people's minds.
I already own a Quest so this is going to be an obvious pick up for me. I think the reason a lot of people are unsure on this is either because they haven't yet tried VR or haven't been sufficiently impressed by the current crop of games to be won over by it, which is understandable given that most of them are quite gimmicky (the only VR games I keep coming back to are Beat Saber and to a lesser extent Superhot and Robo Recall, none of which really have any meaningful story content). But given their reputation when it comes to creating engaging game mechanics and story-driven content as well as the fact they are pushing the boundaries of what can be done on the hardware front with Index, I don't think anyone is better positioned to make a killer VR app that really shows off what can be done with the hardware. And that is why I'm excited for it, I couldn't care less if it was a HL game or not tbh, that's just a bonus. Now I'm just hoping that they haven't forgot how to actually make games...
Or can't afford it, or simply don't have room for it. My PC's in the office, and there's about two metres by a metre of space that isn't shelving, desk, or crap I really need to tidy away except the shelves and desk are full. Standing VR is simply not possible for me, and I can't justify the cost for seated VR. Couple that with the fact I get simulator sickness and, yeah, it ain't happening. Once upon a time, maybe, but now? The last actual game Valve put out was Artifact, and... well, check out the user score. I hope I'm wrong, and that it'll be lovely for people who can afford/have room for/don't vomit while using VR - but it ain't for me.
+1 for this... For me VR is a no go because. I can't afford it [£920 plus a pc upgrade to make it work... get in the ****ing sea...] I have more or less no depth perception, with-glasses 3d was an utter waste of time for me, this is no different. I have no space for motion control of any kind, stuff like the Wii and Kinect were non-starters too for this reason. Strapping **** to my face and flailing around is not, has not and likely never will be my idea of fun times. Even if it was, those things give me a blinding ****ing headache. It's 900 ****ing quid. I will agree with the sentiment of 'if this doesn't break VR out of it's current niche, more or less nothing will' though.
Well, it's £900 for the top of the line Index kit but there are less expensive ways into VR, the Quest is only £400 for the whole kit and for that you get both a wireless and now a wired PC VR solution. That's about the same as a new GPU which a lot of people upgrade every few years or whenever a demanding new game comes out, but if that's still too steep an entry price then that's understandable, hopefully the prices will come down a bit for the 2nd gen VR headsets.
Or potentially £400 for a Quest with no PC upgrade (or deferred upgrade, with Link). Here's the good news: VR is very different from TV (or even cinema) stereo. You could have but one eyeball and you'd get depth perception equal to the real world with a 6DoF tracked HMD. Stereo disparity is just one of the depth cues used by the brain for depth perception, and parallax is often the stronger cue. Fair, space is an issue for anything other than seated use (space and flight sims, though try getting any Elite player who's tried VR to go back to monitor use). Sadly requires a combination of proper hardware (Rift, Vive, Index, or the higher-end Window MR are the real only options for PC here, stuff like Pimax anbd the other cheap knockoffs aren't even trying to achieve orthostereo), and software that obeys best practices for minimising sim sickness. Even after using VR for many years, software that doesn't implement VR properly can give me a headache in very short order.
Lucky enough to have a Valve Index setup so I'm very much looking forward to this. If it manages to rekindle the sense of wonder I experienced during the Gravity Gun tutorial in Half-Life 2 playing catch with dog then I'm sold!
I could afford to buy a VR headset if I saved long enough. Do I want to? no, not really. It's a large sacrifice for something that would just gather dust. Just like my DK2 and PSVR. I find it bizarre that they would make a game for 5% of gamers, if that. It's a very odd decision.
Valve have placed a large bet on VR having a place in the future of gaming. It would probably be odd if they didn't release a few AAA titles for VR. I believe Gabe did promise at least 3 full VR games... fingers crossed on that one! The prospect of meeting G-Man eye to eye in Half-Life Alyx is a spooky one though!
I think £400 for the rift s isn't too bad really. It's definitely in the realm of an amount I would consider spending on a single peice of hardware. When we get the spare room back I'd have the space, but that's probably a bigger premium for most people. That would probably require a new house, touch more expensive than the headset What's allegedly so special about the index's controllers?
