Valve made new Half-Life: Alyx preview locations for SteamVR Home available those who own or have ordered a Valve Index.
You can view footage of the two environments embedded below.
The first location is set outdoors in City 17, “in the shadow of the under-construction Citadel”, with the second set in Russell’s laboratory. Russell is the Kiwi character seen in the initial announcement trailer, whose voice guides Alyx through the levels, as seen in the latest footage from Valve and IGN.
Valve did note that while these are preview environments of Half-Life: Alyx, they don’t represent the exact same level of detail, interactivity and graphic fidelity seen in the game itself, due to the lower capabilities of the SteamVR Home rendering technology. They do feel that the environments nonetheless are a “faithful enough translation to provide a fun VR preview of the game’s setting.” Russell’s lab also offers our first close up look at some of the glove technology you’ll be wearing in the game.
Valve encourages those who do not own a Valve Index but want to experience the environments to do so via a SteamVR Home session with a Valve Index owner, if possible.
In recent months, the Valve Index has been difficult to purchase in advance of the launch of Half-Life: Alyx. While the game will run on many headsets, the Index controllers offer exclusive interactions not possible on other headsets. The Index was unavailable after Christmas, and was recently further impacted by Coronavirus.
Valve recently announced that Valve Index will be available to purchase again on March 9. This may be the last chance for prospective owners to acquire a headset before the launch Half-Life: Alyx.
