Half-Life: Alyx Announcement Trailer

Nope, read my first post in this thread, that's not what I'm saying. It doesn't really matter, but if you read it you won't be asking me that question.

 

I did bro

 

Um, I think it looks quite stunning to be honest - as I mentioned in the other thread, it doesn't have that 'Disney Rendering' that nearly all games engines have got.

Source2 is pretty sweet. I know for a fact it is a subjective opinion, but the lighting is really the key, the 'softness' of the rendering looks far better for how light actually looks when it is passing through an atmosphere.

Disney rendering is essentially a way of calculating physical objects with light hitting them in a laboratory, with no atmosphere, and I have always thought it looks like junk...like plastic...like there is a layer of 'wax' over all of the surfaces. Disney rendering might look good for offline rendering of a cartoon CGI movie for kids, but sucks monkey balls when it comes to reality. Too shiny. Too reflective.

Source2 looks like it has real objects interecting with real lighting.

As an aside to your post, the game is going to ship with Source2 game engine for people to create their own VR experiences...what this (perhaps) might mean, is that the graphics of the original game can do a cut n paste of the graphics they re-worked of C17 in this.

I'll have to get one of my guys to take a look at the code when it launches.

 

Well, if it were the real deal it would have been much better, but since its just a VR then it's to be expected it won't look as good. Agree.

Imo it's just an attempt to lure more people into this VR.

"hey gotta sell the product somehow while we still can or it will be doa quick."

 

Ye i knows cheaper VR set exists, but if i was to buy a VR set i would gladly pay extra for a high end one.

The quantity and quality of VR games is another big set back for me, i dont see enough for me to justify expending that amount of money.

 

It's a chicken and egg problem. Not enough VR gamers to warrant AAA development, not enough AAA games to warrant VR. This game is essentially Valve laying a big fat egg. Hopefully other companies will do the same if it's successful.

 

I've thought hard on that comment, and I think you might be right, but also think it's more likely you are wrong.

If Valve release this and it is bad, the comeback would be too severe and they would lose an exceptional amount of respectability. The cost could be quite significant.

It's more likely they are getting back into the Half-Life universe and are slowly building up the recognition again, as it's been so long and, we've moved forward graphically. I would rather they test the water with a VR game that I do not care too much about, than releasing Ep3 and it sucking.

From the looks of things, they have recreated C17 with a new engine. This is a good thing. Also, they got new actors and actresses on board which is a lot of work to do, and I'm sure there will be easter eggs everywhere to strengthen the brand and gently lead us further into the Black Mesa universe.

These are all good things. Good things come before great things.

 

Yep, I think so too. Its been so long and expectations for a proper HL sequel would be very high for them to live up to. They would need a huge multi-million $ budget to come out with a proper AAA PC version that can live up to the HL name. The VR gamer base is miniscule in comparison, so no great burden of expectations to live up to there. If the 'great awaited' PC version were to ever come out, all eyes and critics will be upon it. They cant afford to screw it up and have a Duke Nukem type failure on their hands. I think they would prefer smaller, safer projects where hype and expectations are more easily manageable.

 

I actually do not think that is the case.

Most 'AAA' games need a hellalot of design work doing to them, but a lot of this work has already been done several times over the last 20 years. The history, characters, plotlines...they even built an entire city and military industrial complex! Then you got stats like health, armour, weapons and weapon balance. All this stuff is an exhaustive list of numbers and words that are very well documented.

All they really need to do is plot and level design, yet, will half step back here as I know they would have to set the stage for alien planet environment and the necessary art.

It would cost, but no where near as much as a 'proper' AAA game.

I think the big question is no longer whether episode3 will ever come out, but when.

In the interim, the fans will take these new source2 assets with the new source2 engine and re-create HL1 and HL2, because if they got updated assets, that is basically a find 'n' replace script in Hammer.

I'll just say it here again: they have recreated C17!!! Do you have any idea how much work that is for them to undertake?!? They are moving forward with Ep3, there is no doubt, no doubt at all.

 

I can't imagine the jump scares those sneaky head crabs are going to induce in VR, but the good thing is this is a Valve VR game so none of this locked to hardware nonsense Oculus and HTC have been pulling over the past few years with certain titles, because i would much prefer to play this on the CV1 which in my view has the best VR controllers to date, because they fit perfectly into your hands and take only one battery each which seems to last ages before you need to stick in the other two recharables, and they actually have a thumb stick which you really do miss when using the Vive wands.

So yeah Valve getting into VR is a win because this game is going to support every Vr headset out there on that platform, Index, Vive, CV1, Rift S, WMR, Quest, that is a win right there for VR owners of every HMD.

 

Ah, you're talking about Ep3. Something like that of course could be done much cheaper than a full blown new HL3. But tbh, an Ep3 with re-used assets would not have the same appeal to me (or others) now as it may have 10-12 years ago. Its almost 2020 and games have come a long way since then, and last thing I would want to see are re-used old assets or props from back in the day.

Only thing that would appeal or make sense to me at this stage would be a full HL3 with new story, maps, graphics, gameplay mechanics, etc. And that would require massive resources to be done to the high standards other AAA titles are known for. Therefore sad to hear if they are only moving forward with an EP3, which of course can not generate the same level of interest in most as a new HL3.

 

I didn't say reuse assets from prior episodes

 

It's not just that though. VR has a very high barrier to entry, not only because of the headset but also because of the high GPU requirements. It is basically a toy for rich people and beyond the reach of the average consumer. Valve making a headset priced like a 2080 Ti doesn't exactly help either - it only reinforces the image of VR as a luxury item.

 

I think it looks amazing, and will likely be the new benchmark for VR gaming.

 

Apologies, you didnt. Speed reading not good for comprehension .

 

....while watching the trailer again....one thing went to my ears...the VOICE of alyx......(i know alyx's voice better than my wife's one ..then googling around and found:

While Alyx was voiced by Merle Dandridge in previous games, in this prequel she'll be played by Ozioma Akagha, who you may know from TV's Runaways or prior voice work in Wolfenstein II and Mirror's Edge: Catalyst. It's been 12 years since we last heard Alyx in Half-Life 2: Episode 2, but it's still going to be a change we'll need to adjust to. "Casting choices are incredibly hard, especially considering the time gap," Coomer told us. "With the game being a prequel featuring an even younger Alyx, when we heard Ozioma's performance we knew we'd found the right Alyx."

Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/half-life-alyx-cast/

 

I wish them all the luck selling over 100 million copies!

 

The one thing all the VR haters don't understand is the level of combat you can have in VR... Boneworks shows you what VR can do.

 

We understand, but we don't want it.

We want a new Half-Life game that plays like the old days.