Half life source vr mode software#
Half life source vr mode professional#
Half life source vr mode windows#

Half life source vr mode windows#

Valve says that Half-Life: Alyx was designed to be played on its Valve Index headset, but it will also be compatible with the HTC ( OTC: HTCKF) Vive, Windows mixed-reality headsets from Microsoft ( MSFT 0.85%), and the Oculus Rift and Oculus Quest from Facebook ( META 0.49%).

There's a good chance the game and engine will have meaningful impacts on VR headset sales as well. Half-Life: Alyx and the VR-optimized Source 2 engine have real potential to drive improvements in the breadth and quality of available virtual reality content. This kind of open-ended invitation for skilled gamers to develop and modify their own content has dramatically expanded the life cycles of some of Valve's own properties, and it could turn into a big resource for third-party developers.

Half life source vr mode professional#

Half-Life: Alyx will launch with a VR-adapted version of Valve's new Source engine (dubbed Source 2), which will allow players to create new levels and additional content - and also provide a potential new framework for professional game-development studios. Half-Life: Alyx has the makings of a breakthrough moment for VR

There's a promising opportunity for Half-Life: Alyx's engine and design mechanics to support subsequent virtual-reality games and applications, and that could be a big catalyst for the medium. The game engine foundations for Half-Life 2 also went on to serve as the basis for other hugely successful games including Counter-Strike: Source, the Portal series, Team Fortress 2, and Left 4 Dead. Half-Life 2 is considered by many to be one of the best and most influential games ever made. A character says, 'If we can get this weapon working, it could change everything.' It's probably not a stretch to read this as Valve's commentary on what the game could mean for the broader virtual reality space. One notable line of character dialog early in the trailer might have a double meaning. Comments from the game development team suggest that the title's story mode will take roughly 15 hours to complete, another sign that this is the first big-budget VR game to hit the market. Half-Life: Alyx will debut at the $60 price point that's currently the standard for triple-A games, a strong indication that this is going to be a full-fledged experience and not the type of relatively pared-down experience that has populated the VR category. That being said, the game's video debut looked very promising, showcasing a high level of environmental interactivity and set pieces and visual fidelity that compare very favorably to other VR experiences on the market. We should always take game trailers with a grain of salt, as the promotional materials are not always indicative of the end product that will wind up in consumers' hands.

Half life source vr mode software#

Half-Life: Alyx is currently set for a March 2020 debut, and just days after its unveiling, it's safe to say that no other piece of VR software has generated comparable levels of excitement and anticipation.įor a look at the game's announcement trailer, click on the video from Valve's official YouTube channel below: That may be set to change, and probably sooner than many analysts and industry watchers were expecting.

Outside of some chat-focused experiences and a handful of games and apps that have delivered on elements of the display medium's potential, virtual reality has been short on the type of high-quality content needed to justify its consumer-level hardware costs. Half-Life is an ideal franchise for promoting VR