Those looking to play Half Life Alyx but don't have access to a VR headset might be able to do so in the near future thanks to a WIP mod from 'SoMNst'. The modder shared an new progress update in a YouTube video today which include new animations and a couple of fixes. The crafting station, although not shown in the video, is apparently working but requires some adjustments.

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You can find the full changelog of this new update below:

-New Viewmodel
-New Animations
-Camera viewpunch when firing
-Camera viewpunch fixed when zombies hits you
-Player speed has been fixed when player is ducked
-Player speed is being decreased on ads (also viewpunch is less violent)
-Zombies are not walking anymore, instead they are running (i increased the running speed aswell as the attack speed)
-Headcrabs are more aggressive
-Dot crosshair is only visible when the hand is equipped

It should be noted that while SoMNst is regularly sharing video updates of their progress, the mod itself is not currently publicly available. In any case, would you like to try Half Life Alyx without a VR headset?

SOURCE

 

[Vila_]

very cool

 

[Julie_Pilgrim]

Holy shit, i can finally play this game

 

[The Catboy]

Victory screech!

 

[AlexMCS]

Anything that moves people away from what people currently call """VR""" gets my support.

 

[BitMasterPlus]

For people who are too cheap to buy hundred dollar VR head sets, eat your heart out!

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Shame this basically negates everything that makes Half Life Alyx good in the first place. As a VR title it's good, but without the quirks and features of VR it'll basically just be a meh shooter.

 

[SkittleDash]

Honestly, Valve should've made it accessable without VR from the beginning. Espessially if it's Half Life.

 

[fluggy2013]

Don't think it would be much fun non-vr. Its the most basic, plodding, FPS i've ever played. I actually enjoyed playing it a lot on Oculus Link - played through it 3 times and its the immersion that VR brings that made it enjoyable. Theres not much variety, walk to crumbling building shoot same baddies, walk to other crumbling building etc etc. Theres also only about 3 NPCs in the entire game so theres very little interaction to drive the narrative forward besides a voice on a walkie talkie. Still, if your only option is to play on a flat screen and your a HL fan this might quench your thirst.

 

[leapingliger]

I honestly can't see why people would want to play this in non-vr. The puzzles are intentionally made with only VR in mind. Converting it to 2D only is pretty cool for maybe only the graphics. There is nothing innovative or new by putting it into 2D.

 

[mrcroket]

It's like play the house of dead with a gamepad. People pls don't do it!

 

[tech3475]

I honestly can't see why people would want to play this in non-vr. The puzzles are intentionally made with only VR in mind. Converting it to 2D only is pretty cool for maybe only the graphics. There is nothing innovative or new by putting it into 2D.

Some people may simply be unable or unwilling to use VR but want to play it in some form, especially if they’re HL fans.

 

[Deleted member 534570]

Looks cool. A great mod for people who aren't fans of VR.

 

[DoctorBagPhD]

Man, seeing all the people still upset HL:A requires a VR headset gives me heavy nostalgia. The exact same sort of people railed at the fact you needed a graphics accelerator (a graphics card) to run certain games back in the day.

I really hope everyone who really wants to play HL:A in pancake mode has a fab time but I don't see a lot of what made the game so great translating especially well to KB&M.

Anything that moves people away from what people currently call """VR""" gets my support.

"Stop liking things that I don't like"

 

[leapingliger]

Some people may simply be unable or unwilling to use VR but want to play it in some form, especially if they’re HL fans.

I mean at that point why wouldn't you just watch a gameplay video on YouTube? They'd be experiencing something pretty inferior in gameplay to even their older games.

 

[tech3475]

I mean at that point why wouldn't you just watch a gameplay video on YouTube? They'd be experiencing something pretty inferior in gameplay to even their older games.

There's a difference between playing and watching though.

Even as someone with a Rift S, I'd likely still check this mod out for casual gameplay (e.g. messing around with the dev console, presuming it's accessible).

 

[Avalyn]

I get that some people can't afford / don't want to buy a vr headset, but this completely destroys one of the most immersive games ever.

 

[Jayro]

I k ew this would happen eventually, thank goodness. And fuck valve for scalping their own VR hardware for $1K, how absurd. For that price there better be a fucking 3090 in the box with it.

 

[diggeloid]

I must admit this is a pretty clever implementation, but as far as I'm concerned this is a crime and these people need to be sent to video game prison.

This is genuinely one of the greatest games ever made. A pancake mod like this is going to ruin the experience for anyone who plays it like that for the first time.

The level design, the enemy AI and positions, the boss fights, etc were all designed for VR. You're supposed to actually duck behind cover, pick up random shit (using your real hands) and throw it at enemies, grab a barrel and use that for cover. You're supposed to panic when your clip runs out because you actually have to use your other hand to reload. A head crab jumping at you is supposed to look, sound, and feel so real that it activates that lizard part of your brain that makes you terrified.

JEFF IS SUPPOSED TO MAKE YOU SHIT YOUR PANTS. When I played the Jeff level, I instinctively held my breath so he wouldn't hear me, even though that wasn't actually part of the game. I've never been so terrified consuming media in my life. That whole part of the game was so well designed.


But a pancake version offers none of that. No suspense, no horror, no immersion. All you're getting is a really slow and awkward FPS with AI that feels slow and stupid. Like a really shitty version of Half Life 2 with less gameplay and shiny graphics.

A mod like this was inevitable, but do yourself a favor and don't spoil the game for yourself by playing this. Wait until you can afford a headset. You don't need the top-of-the-line stuff, an old Vive or even an Oculus is perfectly fine. Hell, buy it on Amazon, play the game, and then return the headset!

 

[shorty_bobert]

Anything that moves people away from what people currently call """VR""" gets my support.

??? Is there something "More VR" than a Valve Index and hand tracking? Where's the pretentious angle coming from?