*sigh* looks like I will finally need to buy VR gear - Half Life: Alyx formally announced.

Forums › Gaming › *sigh* looks like I will finally need to buy VR gear - Half Life: Alyx formally announced.

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#261347 22-Nov-2019 08:44

...and as suspected it is VR only!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2W0N3uKXmo

Annoyingly Valve still suck at Global distribution, so whilst I would love to buy a Valve Index, I doubt we will see it in NZ Officially any time soon...

Can't decide if next best option is Occulus Quest with cable, Occulus S or something from Vive, who seem to be falling behind the curve

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#2359138 22-Nov-2019 08:44

To add: It is coming in March 2020!

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#2359272 22-Nov-2019 11:44

Was that Rhys Darby?.... who appeared to be channelling his "psycho Sam" character from HFTW :)...

"The gun's not loaded.... bang... its not loaded now"...

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#2359278 22-Nov-2019 11:59

i hear @xpd is really keen on this HL3!

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#2359280 22-Nov-2019 12:03

wellygary:

Was that Rhys Darby?.... who appeared to be channelling his "psycho Sam" character from HFTW :)...

"The gun's not loaded.... bang... its not loaded now"...

Certainly sounded like it!

Edit: Confirmed by Rhys basically: https://twitter.com/rhysiedarby/status/1197640774852046848

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#2359281 22-Nov-2019 12:03

Total game changer. I’m so in. And Rhys Darby lol

This is the killer VR app I’ve been waiting for. Hope they release new hardware alongside it that has enough pixel density to do away with screen door forever

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#2359284 22-Nov-2019 12:07

wellygary:

Was that Rhys Darby?.... who appeared to be channelling his "psycho Sam" character from HFTW :)...

"The gun's not loaded.... bang... its not loaded now"...

It is indeed!

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#2359285 22-Nov-2019 12:09

gehenna:

This is the killer VR app I’ve been waiting for. Hope they release new hardware alongside it that has enough pixel density to do away with screen door forever

It is in partnership (free with!) current Valve Index HW, so nothing new from them at least.

If I could get one locally it would absolutely be the unit I would buy, but nope - as per OP, Valve still suck at HW distribution.

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#2359290 22-Nov-2019 12:18

It makes me curious how it will work in VR... resolutions, frame rates, response times , field of view, ergonomics ... all of these things can be improved.

Motion sickness however, seems intrinsic to the VR experience. Games can be designed around this to some degrees, but those restrictions always remove some of the fun.

I played around in Elite VR, and driving the vehicle made me quite ill. Games where in-game travel causes horizon shifts seems to trigger motion sickness for me. If the view point is stationary, but things are moving around you, that is fine for me. Bit weird.

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#2359298 22-Nov-2019 12:49

hio77:

i hear @xpd is really keen on this HL3!

XPD / Gavin

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#2359347 22-Nov-2019 14:45

They say it took so long the title half-lifed to 1.5 :)

On topic, seems you can buy just the index controllers and you’ll get it free. Great if you have or can obtain a OG Vive kit for cheap.

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#2381276 25-Dec-2019 20:39

I am a big Half Life fan, and considering getting into VR to play this game. However looking at what's available in NZ, it's pretty poor. I was going to get a Quest and use the 'Link' cable but have read that heavily compresses the data, so doesn't result in good quality.

Looking around there is a Rift (the original, not the S) on Trademe for $500, which seems like a good idea. A video card upgrade to a 1070 would give a me a decent enough platform. However, having no experience with PC VR, is buying a Drift a good idea?

The Drift S has inside-out tracking, which could be an issue with the 'over the shoulder' reloads in Alyx. And it's a lower refresh rate.

The Index is just not available here, and if it was, would be $$$$$

So what would people, especially those with PC VR hardware, recommend?

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#2381278 25-Dec-2019 20:45

I'll be building a rig and importing the Index. The folks at the Tested podcast got hands on time with the game on a number of headsets. Worth a look on YouTube. General consensus is it works on all the hardware but the index finger recognition takes it to the next level.

Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T54aGkkXfuc

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#2381346 25-Dec-2019 22:44

Original Vive would be second best option to an Index. A 1070 and recent gen ryzen would work well for VR

Rift is a bit awkward in my opinion. The original needed minimum two ‘cameras’ with usb plugged back to the pc. A third camera was highly recommended to avoid occlusion problems.

Vive etc. that use the basestation tech just need the two (or one if facing in one direction) with power points.

The all-in-one hmd’s that track themselves are a bit wonky in the accuracy and mileage may vary in getting a good experience.

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#2381413 26-Dec-2019 08:55

I'm hoping Valve will announce the Index for NZ & Australia early next year, but now that it's sold out for a few months in the US, I imagine that's even less likely. Valve doesn't give any advance notice when it's going to be available in order countries, it just is available one day.

If anyone does want to try VR though, I rent the Index, Quest (soon with Oculus Link cable too), Rift / Rift S, Vive / Vive Pro, HP Reverb and a few others. I've got a site up at http://www.virtualrealityrental.co.nz

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#2382245 28-Dec-2019 16:29

I could be keen to rent the index for a few days and see how it feels in my space at home. I'll check out your site.

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