Items tagged with half-life: alyx
Valve would be tickled pink if you plunked down a grand for its Index VR Kit to play Half-Life: Alyx, a VR-only game that raced out to rave reviews when it launched in March. It is playable on less expensive VR headsets as well. But what is a Half-Life fanatic to do if they don't own a VR headset? They can either buy one, or give a new mod a whirl, which makes Half-Life: Alyx playable with a traditional keyboard and mouse combo. This is the not the first mod of its kind for Half-Life: Alyx—there have been others that also make it playable without a VR headset. But as a game designed specifically for VR, the experience is definitely different on a keyboard and mouse, and certainly not as...
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Gamers all around the world were extremely excited when Half-Life: Alyx was announced. After many years, fans were able to get back into the Half-Life universe. The game has been updated recently to include Steam Workshop support along with a beta release of community development tools. One of the best things about the update for fans is that it brings a native version of the game for the Linux, and optional support for Vulkan on Windows. To enable Vulkan on Windows, go to the main menu, then Options > Performance > Advanced (gear icon) > Rendering API, and choosing Vulkan. While support for Linux is welcome, the big news is that the tools in the Steam Workshop update allow players to...
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Half-Life: Alyx has only been out for a few days, but many are already claiming that the game is a masterpiece. Many have argued that it is one of the best VR games to date. Unfortunately, many gamers will not be able to experience the game because it is currently only available for VR headsets. But where there is a will, there is a way. Gamers have already found a way to play Half-Life: Alyx with a keyboard and mouse instead of a VR headset. Tyler McVicker, the founder of the Valve News Network, found a few commands that allowed him to play the game without a headset. McVicker was able to enable several weapons and shoot with his mouse. He was thrilled with his findings and remarked, “I...
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Half-Life: Alyx launched a little less than 48 hours ago, but the game is already making a huge impact on the gaming community. Reviews of the game have been largely positive thanks to Valve's magnificent abilities at storytelling and the added interactivity that [mandatory] virtual reality hardware support brings to Half-Life: Alyx. Now, we're learning that gamers have responded quite impressively to Half-Life: Alyx. In fact, it has broken the record on Steam for concurrent players for a game title. According to SteamDB, Half-Life: Alyx hit a peak of 42,858 concurrent players shortly after launching on Monday. (Current player counts From VRLFG) To put that in perspective, the second-place...
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Those who have been waiting for a fresh Half-Life fix can now have it, though only if they own a compatible virtual reality headset. Valve's latest addition to the Half-Life world, Half-Life: Alyx, was designed from the ground-up for VR (and getting rave reviews), so it is not a game fans of the franchise can simply fire up and play on a flat-screen monitor. For now, anyway—it is only a matter of time before modders do their thing, and Valve is aware of this. Game designer Robin Walker, best known for co-developing the Team Fortress mod for Quake before later going on to co-create several Valve games, including Half-Life: Alyx, believes it is only a matter of time before someone mods the...
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Today is the big day; Half-Life: Alyx has been released. We had no idea that Valve was even working on the game until late last year, and once it was announced, the gamers around the globe lost their collective minds. Rather than being a traditional first-person shooter that is controlled using a mouse and keyboard like Half-Life and Half-Life 2 that came before it, Half-Life: Alyx leaps into the realm of virtual reality (VR). Hardware Requirements Being a VR-only game, the hardware requirements (to run the game as the devs intended it) are steep for this latest installment in the franchise, which arrives nearly 16 years after Half-Life 2 was released to the public. For starters,...
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HTC is giving gamers interested in virtual reality an added incentive to order its newly available Cosmos Elite VR headset. Anyone who buys a Cosmos Elite will get the much-anticipated Half-Life: Alyx VR title for free. That includes both new purchases and everyone who had previously placed a pre-order for the high-end headset. "There are few franchises that capture the hearts and minds of gamers around the world like Half-Life and we can't wait to show our customers what awaits them when paired with Vive Cosmos Elite," said Dan O'Brien, General Manager of North America, HTC Vive. "We know our customers are going to love the experience of playing on Vive Cosmos Elite from visuals to the ability...
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Late last week, we reported that the high-end Valve Index virtual reality (VR) headset would be back in stock this week via the Steam Store. More specially, Valve said that you would be able to order the Index on March 9th at 1PM EST. Well, the Valve Index is available to order now from the Steam Store, but just an hour after it was listed as back "in stock", shipping times are now listed at 8 weeks. Yes, you read that right: 8 weeks. Half-Life: Alyx launches on March 23rd, so even if you were to place an order today for the Index, you won't get it until May at the earliest, which is a bummer. At this point, we don't know how many Index VR headsets Valve has in stock,...
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Fans of virtual reality (VR) and the Half-Life franchise have been excited since the next game in the franchise was announced last year, Half-Life: Alyx. The game launches on March 23rd, but many fans have been worried because the required VR hardware to play the game has been out of stock. That will change on Monday, March 9th when the Valve Index VR system will be in stock again. Valve notes that demand for the Index VR system has been high and it expects the available stock on Monday to sell out quickly. Valve is planning to continue to take orders after all the available units are sold. It will fulfill the purchases in the order they were received as more stock becomes available. Valve says...
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The clock is ticking down towards the release of Half-Life: Alyx (March 23rd for those keeping count), and hype surrounding the game is growing. Long-time Half-Life fans became even more excited earlier this week when Valve dropped three new videos totaling around 10 minutes showing actual gameplay footage. Now we're learning that Half-Life: Alyx won't be the end for the Half-Life franchise. Instead, we can look at it as a rebirth or sorts. In an interview with Game Informer, Valve developer Robin Walker gave some insight both into why Half-Life: Alyx is exclusively a VR title and what will come next in the franchise. "Half-Life's set of mechanics was a surprisingly natural fit...
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The excitement surrounding Half-Life: Alyx is starting to ramp up as we get closer to the game's March 23rd release date. For those that haven't been keeping abreast of the game's development, it's a virtual reality-only title that takes place before the events in Half-Life 2. Valve today is giving us another look at what to expect with Half-Life: Alyx courtesy of three new gameplay videos. All of the things that you've come to expect from the Half-Life franchise are seen in the videos including those annoying head crabs, health stations, and various puzzles that you'll find along your journey. In the first video seen above, you start off on a subway car where you encounter...
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The launch date for Half-Life: Alyx is now set in stone. Valve announced today that the virtual reality-only title will officially launch on March 23rd, which is sticking with the developer's previous statements that the game would be available in March 2020. Hype for Half-Life: Alyx has been building, as this is the first installment franchise in over a decade. While everyone has been reading tea leaves, wishing on a shooting star, and hopping on one foot for the inevitable release of Half-Life 3, Half-Life: Alyx is no doubt the next best thing. Half-Life: Alyx, available March 23, 2020 https://t.co/NCOLWqSp3e pic.twitter.com/Q04EZwNfBt— Valve (@valvesoftware) February 13, 2020...
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Half-Life: Alyx is one of the most highly anticipated PC games for the H1 2020, and with good reason. Although it isn't the mythical Half-Life 3, it's the next besting thing, serving as a prequel of sorts to the groundbreaking shooter Half-Life 2. All of the excitement surrounding the latest entry in the Half-Life saga coupled with the fact that it’s a virtual reality-only title has led to a huge uptick in interest for the requisite hardware needed to run the game. According to tracking firm SuperData, sales of Valve's Index VR headset more than doubled from Q3 2019 to Q4 2019, climbing from 46,000 units to 103,000 units. Sales might have also been spurred by the fact that each Index...
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Valve has done something that anyone thinking about playing Half-Life: Alyx will want to take advantage of before getting into the new VR game. Valve has announced that ahead of the launch of Half-Life: Alyx, it is making the entire Half-Life series free to play on Steam for everyone. The Half-Life franchise is one of the most popular and beloved in all of video games. To play the games, you'll need a Steam account and to install the Steam software on your PC or Mac; both are offered at no cost. As for why Valve is offering the games for free, Half-Life: Alyx slots into the events in the series and will have some characters we are all familiar with. Valve has said Alyx is set before the events...
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Everyone who was into PC gaming back in the late 90s played Half-Life; it was such a revolutionary game that it still has fans today. Fans of the franchise have been clamoring for Valve to make Half-Life 3, but that has yet to happen. What Valve is doing is creating a VR game based on the franchise called Half-Life: Alyx. It's not the Half-Life we wanted, but it's the Half-Life that we are getting. Yesterday as the decade came to a close, we heard from an iconic character in the franchise who has remained silent for 12 years. These latest words from the G-Man come with the assumption that he will appear in Half-Life: Alyx. pic.twitter.com/2NtUlrx4XI — Mike Shapiro (@mikeshapiroland) December...
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Earlier this week, Xbox chief Phil Spencer ruffled a few feathers in the gaming world when he spoke his mind on the state of virtual reality (VR) for consoles. Spencer at the time lamented problems that he saw with VR technology, and stated his reasoning for not pursuing the technology with Microsoft's upcoming Xbox Project Scarlett gaming console. "I have some issues with VR—it’s isolating and I think of games as a communal, kind of together experience. We’re responding to what our customers are asking for and… nobody’s asking for VR," said Spencer in an interview with Stevivor. "The vast majority of our customers know if they want a VR experience,...
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Earlier this week, we first got wind of Half-Life: Alyx, the latest entry into the Half-Life saga. The original Half-Life -- which was a first-person shooter blockbuster, helping to revolutionize the genre -- blazed onto the scene back in 1998, and was followed up by Half-Life 2 in 2004. Half-Life: Alyx is what Valve calls a full-length, virtual reality addition to the Half-Life world. So, make no mistake, this won't be a glorified tech demo or some simple side excursion to divert your attention for a few minutes. Valve is hoping to sucks fans into the gameplay experience the same way the original and its sequel did. According to Valve, Half-Life: Alyx is set in-between the events of Half-Life...
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If you just built a high-end desktop (HEDT) configuration based on a Threadripper or Core-X processor, you may want to avert your eyeballs somewhere else. At the very least, brace yourself for some numbers to follow. Your system is still fast, mind you, just not as fast as a pair of EPYC 7H12 processors in a Cray Shasta supercomputer performing a Geekbench run. Before we get to the results, let's talk specs. AMD offers three EPYC processors with 64 physical cores and 128 threads of computing muscle, the EPYC 7H12 is the fastest of the bunch—it has a 2.6GHz base clock and 3.3GHz max boost clock, to go along with 256MB of L3 cache. Here's how it stacks up with a few other EPYC 7002 processors...
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We all know that the Ford Mustang is the quintessential pony car with an abundance of power, tail-happy handling, and a penchant for mowing down pedestrians at Cars and Coffee events. If the newly launched 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500's 760 horsepower isn't enough for you, then this one-off Mustang Lithium will surely blow your socks off. The Mustang Lithium isn't even powered by a raucous internal combustion engine; instead it gets its motivation from a 900 horsepower Phi-Power dual-core electric motor placed under the hood complete with dual power inverters. That engine is backed by an 800-volt Webasto battery system, matching the voltage of Porsche's new Taycan electric performance...
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