Half-Life: Alyx - Valve's flagship VR Title.

Is it possible to play this on an Oculus Quest, with a Link cable? Anyone had success doing that, and how was it?

Propagandalf wrote:

Is it possible to play this on an Oculus Quest, with a Link cable? Anyone had success doing that, and how was it?

I can't speak from personal experience as I'm using my Vive, but my coworker has reported no issues using the Quest with Link Cable. I believe Valve put a lot of work into making sure most, if not all, PC rigs should be compatible to play.

Good Luck!

Propagandalf wrote:

Is it possible to play this on an Oculus Quest, with a Link cable? Anyone had success doing that, and how was it?

I've heard this works fine. Jeff from Giantbomb is playing this way.

Another alternative could be using Virtual Desktop if you have a decent 5ghz router. I'm playing entirely wirelessly using Virtual Desktop and it's amazing. There's zero perceptible lag. From the comparisons I've seen it actually looks a little better image-wise than the link (though I've heard the link works fine).

Thanks for the info, can't wait to try it when my 10ft Link cable gets here (had to go with the Anker version, as the official hasn't been available for over a month now). I doubt my router is good enough for the virtual desktop option, so I'm going to wait for the cable.

I beat the game. I really liked how it all ended.

Spoiler:

The bait-and-switch of who was in the vault was unexpected but very cool. Rewriting the ending of Ep. 2 was neat and somehow didn't feel cheap.

Most importantly, I was Gordon Freeman. For a minute. And I had a crowbar. For a minute. And I loved it.

I really did love the game/ending but its pretty funny that after almost 15 years we have only moved 4ft closer to the Borealis.

How does this play with the Oculus Rift S? I want to play but not sure the Index is worth it to me for one major game.

Balthezor wrote:

How does this play with the Oculus Rift S? I want to play but not sure the Index is worth it to me for one major game.

Before my Oculus Rift stopped working with my USB ports, it was totally fine. My biggest problem was that sometimes I would get too turned around in-world, and the sensors were blocked by my body. If I had them set up for 360 degree tracking it would be perfect.

Atras wrote:
Balthezor wrote:

How does this play with the Oculus Rift S? I want to play but not sure the Index is worth it to me for one major game.

Before my Oculus Rift stopped working with my USB ports, it was totally fine. My biggest problem was that sometimes I would get too turned around in-world, and the sensors were blocked by my body. If I had them set up for 360 degree tracking it would be perfect.

I believe the Rift S uses inside-out tracking and shouldn't experience this issue, if at all. I played on the Quest (same style of tracking) and it was a great experience. You should have no trouble.

Workshop support has some stuff that looks fun. Someone made a bowling alley and this is giving me some serious nostalgia:

In Valve tradition, a commentary feature is up. Anyone replaying the game and listening? I fired it up for a few minutes and listened to the first few.

Agathos wrote:

In Valve tradition, a commentary feature is up. Anyone replaying the game and listening? I fired it up for a few minutes and listened to the first few.

I might just give it a listen on youtube. It's supposedly 3-4 hours of content and I can't imagine playing the whole game again so soon. I'm very interested to hear it all, though.

How crap Half-Life Alyx is great. I’m only in the 3rd chapter. The atmosphere is amazing. The UI is slick even if I get flustered trying to reload when enemies are encroaching. I find it a little difficult aiming the pistol too. Small problems though. For me VR is the first big game changer in a long time. Sure I love games like Hades and The Last of Us, but I really can’t explain how much being in the middle of it all in VR really makes a difference for me. Now, if the Quest 2 didn’t gouge into my nose after a couple hours that would be better. Sometimes it’s my forehead, sometimes my nose. It’s hard to keep it situated just right. I wish I had some kind of gel pad or something.

robc wrote:

How crap Half-Life Alyx is great. I’m only in the 3rd chapter. The atmosphere is amazing. The UI is slick even if I get flustered trying to reload when enemies are encroaching. I find it a little difficult aiming the pistol too. Small problems though. For me VR is the first big game changer in a long time. Sure I love games like Hades and The Last of Us, but I really can’t explain how much being in the middle of it all in VR really makes a difference for me. Now, if the Quest 2 didn’t gouge into my nose after a couple hours that would be better. Sometimes it’s my forehead, sometimes my nose. It’s hard to keep it situated just right. I wish I had some kind of gel pad or something.

The Elite Strap might help with this if you're not already using it.

As for Half Life, I loved my time with that game but that chapter 7 left a lasting impression on me. I'm excited that other folks around here are getting to play it.

I don't have the Elite strap as I was pressing my wife’s tolerance just getting the headset, and I knew I’d need to get some games too.

Here to shill for Beat Saber, if you haven't already purchased it.

It's so good.

r013nt0 wrote:

Here to shill for Beat Saber, if you haven't already purchased it.

It's so good.

That and Alyx should be the first two purchases for any new headset user. I can't think of two better examples that show the magic of VR.

But also.....I'm here to shill my Fitness GOTY list which is very VR-centric. Beat Saber is at #2 on that list.

I'll get Beat Saber. I enjoyed it when I got to play it during a demo. I'll get that from Oculus instead of Steam so I can be untethered from the computer. I don't have a Wifi 6 router (my Orbi is Wifi 5) so I don't think I could do the Steam VR over wifi thing.

Walkabout Golf tops my list. It's a pretty much perfect execution of minigolf that anyone familiar with minigolf can immediately understand. The courses also do stuff vertically that a normal minigolf course wouldn't be able to do. Oh, and only $15.

robc wrote:

I'll get Beat Saber. I enjoyed it when I got to play it during a demo. I'll get that from Oculus instead of Steam so I can be untethered from the computer. I don't have a Wifi 6 router (my Orbi is Wifi 5) so I don't think I could do the Steam VR over wifi thing.

Wifi 6 isn't required as long as your router can do 5ghz. I don't have any Orbi experience, so your mileage mat vary but figured I'd throw that out there.

Streaming worked great for me on my Orbi.

Phades wrote:

Streaming worked great for me on my Orbi.

Which model do you have?

Has anyone been able to stomach the continuous movement mode of a game like Skyrim VR or Half Life Alyx? I don't think I tried the mode in Alyx yet, but in Skyrim I immediately felt bizarre. I felt like I was going to lose my balance/ I never got nauseous, [probably because I didn't stick with it past a couple minutes. It would be so cool if there was a way to make continuous movement bearable. I'm glad teleport mode works as well as it does, but it isn't the ideal way to move throughout these cool worlds.

robc wrote:

Has anyone been able to stomach the continuous movement mode of a game like Skyrim VR or Half Life Alyx? I don't think I tried the mode in Alyx yet, but in Skyrim I immediately felt bizarre. I felt like I was going to lose my balance/ I never got nauseous, [probably because I didn't stick with it past a couple minutes. It would be so cool if there was a way to make continuous movement bearable. I'm glad teleport mode works as well as it does, but it isn't the ideal way to move throughout these cool worlds.

Yup.

It took a little while to strengthen my stomach to it, and some games are weirder-feeling than others (not sure why, perhaps my rig struggles to maintain framerate more on some than others?). I started out playing Alyx and Skyrim that way, but switched out to teleport as I found going without it made the game significantly harder.

robc wrote:

Has anyone been able to stomach the continuous movement mode of a game like Skyrim VR or Half Life Alyx? I don't think I tried the mode in Alyx yet, but in Skyrim I immediately felt bizarre. I felt like I was going to lose my balance/ I never got nauseous, [probably because I didn't stick with it past a couple minutes. It would be so cool if there was a way to make continuous movement bearable. I'm glad teleport mode works as well as it does, but it isn't the ideal way to move throughout these cool worlds.

I haven't played Skyrim but in most games I go for this option. It took me a few sessions to get used to it. Apparently people's tolerance varies person to person so I'd suggest playing and if you start feeling weird, quit. Do this until you can play longer sessions. Additionally, having a fan on and pointing at me really helps so you might give that a try.

I was able to play with continuous move in HL:Alyx for about an hour. At first I felt weird with every movement. Then I started to feel OK when moving straight and slowly. Strafing still feels weird, as does walking up steps when I'm kinda bouncing up and down. I'm tolerating faster walking speeds a bit better too.

After an hour (I know I long time when I'm trying to get used to it) I had a slight headache and just felt a little icky, so I stopped. But, I tolerated it much better than I expected and much better than my brief time with continuous move in Skyrim VR. When I play later today I may switch back to teleport just so I don't over do it.

It is more immersive than teleport, but it didn't make as big a difference as I was expecting. Easier to back up around a corner for sure.

If I had played this before the deadline it would have topped Hades as my GOTY. Just started chapter 8. Every aspect of this game is awesome. I love unlocking things with my multitool, fighting the baddies, exploring the environments. Being right in the middle of it all is such a big change in gaming.

I finished HL: Alyx today and it was glorious. I can’t wait for Valve’s next VR game. Either back to The Room VR, or time to start The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners.

robc wrote:

It is more immersive than teleport, but it didn't make as big a difference as I was expecting. Easier to back up around a corner for sure.

The additional speed of movement makes a helluva difference when you've got three headcrabs flying at your face.

robc wrote:
Phades wrote:

Streaming worked great for me on my Orbi.

Which model do you have?

It was an RBR50/RBS50. It was basically the launch model for the Orbi line. I bought it years ago. I've recently moved to a different router because I wanted WiFi6 support.