this post was submitted on 23 Mar 2025
342 points (100.0% liked)

Games

38929 readers
776 users here now

Welcome to the largest gaming community on Lemmy! Discussion for all kinds of games. Video games, tabletop games, card games etc.

Rules

1. Submissions have to be related to games

Video games, tabletop, or otherwise. Posts not related to games will be deleted.

This community is focused on games, of all kinds. Any news item or discussion should be related to gaming in some way.

2. No bigotry or harassment, be civil

No bigotry, hardline stance. Try not to get too heated when entering into a discussion or debate.

We are here to talk and discuss about one of our passions, not fight or be exposed to hate. Posts or responses that are hateful will be deleted to keep the atmosphere good. If repeatedly violated, not only will the comment be deleted but a ban will be handed out as well. We judge each case individually.

3. No excessive self-promotion

Try to keep it to 10% self-promotion / 90% other stuff in your post history.

This is to prevent people from posting for the sole purpose of promoting their own website or social media account.

4. Stay on-topic; no memes, funny videos, giveaways, reposts, or low-effort posts

This community is mostly for discussion and news. Remember to search for the thing you're submitting before posting to see if it's already been posted.

We want to keep the quality of posts high. Therefore, memes, funny videos, low-effort posts and reposts are not allowed. We prohibit giveaways because we cannot be sure that the person holding the giveaway will actually do what they promise.

5. Mark Spoilers and NSFW

Make sure to mark your stuff or it may be removed.

No one wants to be spoiled. Therefore, always mark spoilers. Similarly mark NSFW, in case anyone is browsing in a public space or at work.

6. No linking to piracy

Don't share it here, there are other places to find it. Discussion of piracy is fine.

We don't want us moderators or the admins of lemmy.world to get in trouble for linking to piracy. Therefore, any link to piracy will be removed. Discussion of it is of course allowed.

Authorized Regular Threads

Related communities

PM a mod to add your own

Video games

Generic

Help and suggestions

By platform

By type

By games

Language specific

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
342
Half Life: Alyx is Five Years Old Today (lemmy.ml)
submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
126 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I genuinely can't believe Half Life Alyx is five years old.

No other video game has felt the way Alyx felt. No one else has taken such a bold swing in what a video game can be. It's burned into my mind as my Half Life game, the one that came out at just the right time for me.

It was also my "pandemic" game. While everyone else was playing Animal Crossing or Doom Eternal, I was playing and replaying Half Life Alyx.

It definitely feels like it's somewhat doomed to be less remembered in the popular consciousness than most big games that come out, and indeed the rest of the games in the Half Life lineage. Cries of "Half Life 3 when?" still abound in spite of the very clear effort Alyx made to move the story forward. But to me it feels like a game that still hasn't been topped in the five years since it came out, not by a long shot.

Half Life Alyx received a Game of the Year win from GameSpot, and nominations from a few other publications. When it came to events like The Game Awards with a dedicated "Best VR Game" category, it won handily.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Still haven't played it, haven't bought a VR gimmick headset yet. Is there a 2D mode? I'll play it tomorrow if so.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago (1 children)

But what if you bought a real VR headset instead of a gimmick one?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

I tried with that cardboard one but I'm waiting until more controllers become available

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

IIRC no cardboard 'headset' ever had 6dof tracking. It's about as far as you can get from an immersive VR experience. I say this as someone who bought one before learning about VR and getting a real vr headset.

It's like VR with all of the downsides, even less apps, and the only advantage over a flatscreen being (limited) depth perception.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

What if I were to get the game to play on my 3D TV?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

IMO even a normal flatscreen is more immersive on average than a google cardboard, although that's partially because a flatscreen hides the flaws in the graphics a lot better.

HLA tho needs 6dof controllers for the intended experience. That mod tries to get around it, but that obviously involves some sacrifices.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

What is 6dof? 6 dads on fire? I only have Alexis on fire, I'm afraid. Will that be fine?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Degrees of freedom

3dof things usually just track rotation, because that's easier. But for a full VR experience, better depth perception, and more normal interactions, 6dof devices are used which track position as well.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

Nope. VR exclusive.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I think there's a mod for that iirc

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

The fit site release has a mod included for flat screen mode.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

There is, yes, but it's pointless. I think some people are missing the point of Alyx being a VR game, the game would suck pretty bad in pancake mode. It's the intricate interactions with the world you simply can't get with a mouse and keyboard that make it special compared to other Half Life games. They didn't just make a regular Half Life game and said "well we're just gonna force this to be in VR now", they made a VR game and set it in the Half Life universe.