After years of development and through countless ups and downs, the developers of a virtual reality mod for the original Half life 2 announced that the public beta will begin next month.
Half-Life 2: VR has been in development for so long it Originally part of Steam’s Greenlight program in 2017and has actually been worked on by a number of people involved in the project ever since two thousand and thirteen. The slowness is mainly due to the fact that, Unlike Alyxthe the game is simply not designed to be played in VR, and as such, there are a lot of parts that are difficult if not impossible to port to a headset.
Excited by “the overwhelmingly positive feedback from our private beta testers” in recent weeks, however, the developers have established themselves and now believe “that the game as it is now can not only be fully completed from start to finish, but it is also very enjoyable to do so.”
Therefore, they announced that next month they will hold public beta showcases everything that has been working so far. Judging by the trailer below — which includes the car parts — is a lot:
By now you must have had some questions, especially about motion and vehicles, which the Developer FAQ section has answers for:
What motion options are there?
The mod features smooth motion where motion direction can be configured according to your head or any of the two controllers. Spins can be configured to be smooth or at fixed intervals (fast turns).
There is currently no teleport and it is unclear if it will become a viable option in the future.
How will you deal with vehicle segments? I don’t think I can stomach them in VR.
Currently, real driving requires powerful VR legs. However, there are a number of amenity options available to help you survive them. A classic motion vignette is available and can be activated to drive. While driving, the edges of the screen will be blackened, reducing the field of view and reducing the effects of motion sickness. Alternatively, you can choose to experience the rides from the perspective of a third-person camera. In this mode, the camera is closely following the vehicle at a distance and is not directly affected by the vehicle’s rapid movements and turns, which will significantly reduce motion sickness. However, it does make maneuvering the vehicles a bit more difficult.
In the future, we may implement an additional mode where the rides are displayed on a virtual 2D screen in front of the user so that everyone has a chance to pass the tracks in the game. This mode will of course be less immersive than the current modes as it will remove any 3D effects from the experience.
That virtual 2D display option sounds ideal for anyone feeling nauseous! You can read more about the project and see what areas they are still working on, at its website.
