A community effort to get the VR exclusive Half-Life Alyx fully playable in 2D and without the need for a VR headset is making strides. The latest release of the mod by the NoVR team now allows you to play the entire campaign from beginning to end in 2D.

While this is great for accessibility and will allow more people to experience the game without expensive VR equipment, keep in mind that the game was made exclusively for VR and the 2D version may be akin to playing Wii Sports without a Wii remote. Valve’s Robin Walker anticipated this happening back during the release of Alyx and is quoted as saying “As a result, what I’m confident will happen is that when people get that butchered version, and they’ll have lost all the things that we’ll have got from moving to VR, they will then understand very clearly why we made that choice.”

The mod is also a work in progress and the team have warned that future updates on their social channels may include indirect spoilers.

Change log

• updated gravity gloves - use on objects with E
• gloves can now grab any object from a distance including ammo and other pick ups
• gravity gloves sound effect added
• late game glove power added
• wooden planks can now be broken off doorways and doors with E
• the entire game is now playable from start to finish (no cheats or noclip needed for anything - bugs may still be present but a save reload will fix that - please post issues on out GitHub Issues board, some of these bugs are carried over from the original HLA release and can only be fixed by Valve)
• movement speed has been adjusted so you move a bit slower when walking with proper footstep sounds
• all cranks, doors, cabinets etc all now open by pressing E once or twice for some
• subway doors open more naturally now
• 33/42 steam achievements currently work (see section in the article on achievements for more details)
• combine fabricators are now functional
• various weapon upgrades can be selected for all 3 weapons (3 each)
• resin counter added to HUD
• stability fixes
• additional support for other mods (see section in the article for more details)
• and more!

Our biggest update yet is out now!

The campaign can now be completed from start to finish! Gravity Gloves are working, combine fabricators can be used to upgrade your weapons & much more!

Check the reply for the link that has all the details in an article and a download link! pic.twitter.com/rcxSMgO9Ew

— Half-Life Alyx NoVR (@HL_Alyx_NoVR) April 9, 2023

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Source
Official website

 

[Mama Looigi]

Whats the point>? its one of the standout VR games i have so many VR Games & trust its a bit like Wii Games alot are basic af ..but the good ones Half Life ..The Walking Dead Pavlov ect are amazing ... this just seems stupid

It is certainly a lesser experience by far because the game was made for VR, just like playing a VR mod for a non-VR game is a lesser experience. Some people just won’t invest in VR though or won’t wait so they’ll settle for ports that take a lot away from the experience, but it’s still the experience to an extent.

That being said, to the people who experience Alyx for the first time with this mod, keep in mind that Alyx was made for VR and had some differences from the rest of the series to accommodate. (Ex: There’s no long range weapons and every time you’re being transported somewhere, you’re boxed in a tiny room to account for motion sickness)

 

[Jayro]

It's expensive but I dunno if I would say over priced, it's expensive tech to produce

Things are supposed to get cheaper over time as they're made, and that's just not happening with VR, sadly.

 

[AmandaRose]

The point is that VR is not for everyone, and that mod was specifically made to address that situation.

The goal was to make the game somewhat playable without requiring the use of an expensive setup, or worse, a setup that would make a person feel dizzy, or uncomfortable, or just make any game unplayable in the first place.

Accessibility reasons, pretty much.

As someone who always ends up being sick every time I have tried VR I can finally get to play this game so I am super happy this mod is out as I am a huge fan of the series.

Also it's not just VR but 3d films and the 3d on the 3DS also makes me puke for some reason.

 

[x65943]

Things are supposed to get cheaper over time as they're made, and that's just not happening with VR, sadly.

Things tend to get cheaper as they are mass produced and production is streamlined

However they also tend to settle on a price and sit there. Sure cars were initially unaffordable for all but the richest, and then settled into a price point most people could afford and sat there. VR is the same way - VR headsets in the 80s and 90s were thousands of dollars (even 10s of thousands) and now most are in the hundreds range - which is even less now considering inflation

Between the R&D, the special lenses, the screens, the accelerometers it's amazing just how affordable these things are nowadays

 

[Armadillo]

Not surprised this mod has been made. Leave episode 2 on a cliffhanger, because you can't be arsed to finish the story, then 13 years later, finally make a new half life game and go "lol VR only", of course people who don't have VR (for price or just can't use it) will still want to play.

I might try it when it goes cheap. I would like to try in VR, but I don't have the room where my pc is (even in sitting mode, I'd end up whacking something).

Without going too off topic, are there any decent wireless solutions? I have room, just not where the pc is. Last I checked people said wireless streaming options (so pc playing it, and streaming over network to headset) were bad and had many issues.

 

[Daggot]

I just can't imagine this being good lmao

 

[VinsCool]

It is certainly a lesser experience by far because the game was made for VR, just like playing a VR mod for a non-VR game is a lesser experience.

I could not have said it better myself.

Why would something be done? Because it can be done, why not?

Anyone describing this mod as pointless or lesser experience missed the point entirely.

It would be just as obtuse to describe any mod, whatever it could be, as something pointless, if we follow the thought process of a few replies.
If it exists, there is at least 1 reason to justify it, even if it is just for fun or because it could be done, haha!

 

[codezer0]

Why not just play a game that's designed for 2d then?

SIR IF YOU DON--

... let me start, again, from my perspective.

I'm very much a self admitted half life fanboy. I would unironically want an HEV suit for a halloween costume if I could swing it.

I don't have the newest rig but a reasonably strong rig, and more or less did whatever I could to max out the games when they were new, as early as possible. That said, the 4K monitor I bought at the time, new in 2016, was $450. A valve index is $1200+tax+shipping.


At least as I type this, I've only experienced VR with a grand total of two methods: the original HTC vive on a store demo setup, and the PS VR. The Vive kiosk area used a half dozen room sensors... yet even with that, there was like a full second delay between how I moved my head and when it updated on the HMD. To say it was nauseating was hopefully understandable. For a device that was $700 usd for just the head unit, plus an extra $70 per sensor that apparently required at least as many as were in the kiosk area (6) to still perform like that, of course I was turned off.

Much later, I then tried out the PS VR. First in a store, then a curious Sony segment area in another mall. At least in the latter, I had more time to actually fiddle with and adjust the head unit to not be blurry as crap for me like the first time around. It was absolutely low resolution, but it was surprisingly very responsive. But of course, that won't matter if I can't use it on my pc. And Sony would literally rather thanos clap itself out of existence before allowing their peripherals to work so easily outside of their ecosystem. For $400 for the kit plus the cost of a console I otherwise don't care for, this also didn't appeal to me.

Given those perspectives, and the notion that the index needs a hecking 3090 to perform well, why would I spend all that, for a glorified head mounted monitor, for one game?
$1500 (closer to 2000 minimum during peak pandemic eff the gamers scalper pricing) for the GPU
$1200 for the index
$60 for Alyx
+ tax + shipping because of course they want their cuts too... Nevermind that I still don't even know IF the index would fit my huge noggin...

You seriously think someone should drop that much money for a single game on an ecosystem one isn't already sure of? It'd be different if I already had a vr headset already and was just adding it to the library. But as someone starting from scratch, that's an obscene amount of money to experience the closest we'll apparently ever get to a real Half Life 3.

A mod like this may well be my saving grace.

And before you start, I've disqualified the Oculus entirely because Zuck had to get involved, and continues to prove what an irresponsible brat he is at running a company, let alone making a product worth using.

 

[tpax]

Seems pointless. Playing Alyx in VR is one of the most intense gaming experiences I have had.

Why even build wheelchair ramps? I mean, the world was clearly made for people that can walk, amirite? Seems pointless. Walking is one of the most intense physiological experiences I have had.

 

[Avalyn]

I could not have said it better myself.

Why would something be done? Because it can be done, why not?

Anyone describing this mod as pointless or lesser experience missed the point entirely.

It would be just as obtuse to describe any mod, whatever it could be, as something pointless, if we follow the thought process of a few replies.
If it exists, there is at least 1 reason to justify it, even if it is just for fun or because it could be done, haha!

Well I can also potentially have someone piss me in my mouth; it can be done, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea or an enjoyable experience (although some people do like that stuff).

My point is, you are not playing half life alyx. You hare playing a botched, shitty version of it. If you want the story, just watch a youtube video of it.

Post automatically merged: Apr 12, 2023

Why even build wheelchair ramps? I mean, the world was clearly made for people that can walk, amirite? Seems pointless. Walking is one of the most intense physiological experiences I have had.

Wow what a shitty comparison - you do have eyes, don't you?
You can choose to play something else. People are not usually in a wheelchair because they want to be. But yet, why choose a shitty gaming experience?

And I totally get that some people can't afford VR. I just don't think that this is a solution that's fair to the gaming experience as it is truly amazing on vr.

 

[wurstpistole]

Most of us cannot afford VR, because they overprice the headsets as the same amount as the console/PC it's made for. It's ridiculous.

Well, but you surely can afford buying one and then selling it with little loss, can't you? That's what I did at least. Cost me maybe 30 bucks in the end.

Post automatically merged: Apr 12, 2023

Nonetheless, since I own the game on steam anyway and don't have a VR headset at the moment, I will probably still try this mod out. Just to see how it is. And I could still try some of the single player mod campaigns just to see what that's about.
Still, probably at least 80% of the appeal of Alyx is the VR component, since it's just perfectly integrated and plays so naturally, it was a great experience.

 

[RAHelllord]

Wow what a shitty comparison - you do have eyes, don't you?
You can choose to play something else. People are not usually in a wheelchair because they want to be. But yet, why choose a shitty gaming experience?

And I totally get that some people can't afford VR. I just don't think that this is a solution that's fair to the gaming experience as it is truly amazing on vr.

People don't chose to not have enough money to waste on a VR setup for a single game just as much as they don't chose to get sick from using one.

Also "not fair to the gaming experience"? The gaming experience is a not something that exists, nobody and nothing has to be fair to it.
Who cares about how people enjoy a thing, people that are wheel chair bound or can't afford a trip to the tropics can still experience tropical fish in an aquarium. It's not the same as literally being able to see them swim around oneself but it's still a pleasant experience for what it is. If the mod can achieve the same, and as a result allows more people to experience the story, it'll be a good thing for many.

 

[subcon959]

Are you guys worried the game will start getting bad reviews because of the mod? This kind of gate-keeping makes no sense, all that's happening is the game is now available to many people who couldn't access it before. Don't be so concerned with what other people do in their own homes.

 

[Thejax]

This might make me but Alyx.

All I have is a PSVr headset, but I lost the extra cords for it (I have a Kinect for the janky way) but this gives access to SF2M

 

[Jayro]

Alyx is only one good game out of a thousand shit games and tech demos made for VR. Hardly justifies a hardware purchase in my opinion. Once the software can start driving the hardware sales, then get back to me. Otherwise, were gonna need more VR-less mods like this for VR-exclusive games.

 

[fluggy2013]

After my first playthrough in VR I thought ... "meh". Bit dull, pedestrian, slow ... a walking sim with guns. On subsequent playthroughs (8 no less and over 100 hours) ive grown to love it and the world in VR is a great place to get lost in but that is completely due to the VR factor. As a flatscreen FPS it will be very, very dated, basic and plodding with very few weapons and a minimal choice of upgrades. Still, if your not into VR and this is your only option, its probably worth trying.

 

[wurstpistole]

I just tried the non-VR mod as someone who played through the VR original game twice, and my god, this is just not it.
It's made for VR. Accessibility yay or nay, but without VR, it's just a mediocre experience.
By any means, if you're somehow able to to access and manage VR, play it in VR. Don't play it any other way unless you absolutely have to. It ruins everything. It's the VR title.

 

[N10A]

Without going too off topic, are there any decent wireless solutions? I have room, just not where the pc is. Last I checked people said wireless streaming options (so pc playing it, and streaming over network to headset) were bad and had many issues.

I have a dedicated router set up with virtual desktop streaming to my quest 2. I get around 50ms of latency, but only about 2-3 ms of that is network lag, the rest is encoding/decoding lag from my gpu rendering the game, and then encoding that into a video stream that is decoded on the headset. If I had a more powerful gpu than a 3060, this would be lower, and when the quest 3 comes out, I expect the decoding time to decrease as well. Unfortunately, there will always be latency over wifi, but it is stable and it should only decrease. (that stability is dependent upon your network conditions of course)

 

[rcpd]

I just tried the non-VR mod as someone who played through the VR original game twice, and my god, this is just not it.
It's made for VR. Accessibility yay or nay, but without VR, it's just a mediocre experience.
By any means, if you're somehow able to to access and manage VR, play it in VR. Don't play it any other way unless you absolutely have to. It ruins everything. It's the VR title.

As someone with only one eye, VR doesn't work for me. I'd be completely unable to play this game otherwise. Mediocre or not, I for one appreciate it.

 

[k7ra]

It's sad to see the amount of people here failing to see that without VR, Alyx will be a mediocre experience at best. It's pinnacle VR and should by no means be experienced without it.

It's like ppl buy steam deck, when they should buy normal pc
Or buy switch game with reduced quality, when they can buy normal game
And VR not worth it right now. When controllers become gloves, then I would think about it.
I owned ps vr and oculus. It's stuck in moving head state, better play games on normal pc then. There no VR experience right now, only simulation.

Post automatically merged: Apr 14, 2023

Why even play anything? Go live life!
Who want it - can play it now, they doesn't care what you all think.
IF you don't want it to exist, then don't notice it.
It's simple as this
Any game can be enjoyable, if someone enjoy it