{"id":81290,"date":"2020-03-23T15:56:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T19:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/df6be859bd85aedb6d58d65ddfcf2113"},"modified":"2020-03-23T15:56:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T19:56:00","slug":"half-life-alyxs-developers-on-vrs-chicken-and-egg-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gamespot.com\/articles\/half-life-alyxs-developers-on-vrs-chicken-and-egg-\/1100-6475050\/","title":{"rendered":"Half-Life: Alyx’s Developers On VR’s “Chicken And Egg” Problem","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The critically acclaimed Half-Life series making a return nearly 13 years later as the virtual reality-exclusive Half-Life: Alyx<\/a> was a shock to some fans. The VR medium is still a bit of a niche market in 2020, whereas Half-Life appeals to a wider audience. There are plenty of VR headsets available to buy<\/a> now, but there’s still the issue of affordability, accessibility<\/a>, and the type of open space requirements and commitment that only serious VR consumers may be willing to accommodate. And then there’s the issue that Valve level designer Dario Casali refers to as VR’s “chicken and egg” situation.<\/p>\n In an interview with GameSpot, Casali broke down some of Valve’s priorities when it comes to developing for VR, and how its choice to make Half-Life: Alyx a VR exclusive plays into that strategy.<\/p>\n “[When] we were working on the Vive and The Lab, we really believed in the VR platform,” Casali told GameSpot. “We looked around and noticed that a lot of the content that was available for [VR] was not as we would traditionally see as AAA, completely full games\u2026 how we would traditionally define a Half-Life product.”<\/p>\n For Casali, it comes down to two things: hardware and software. “We thought to push this platform, we need to have accessible hardware, but we also need to have the software that people want to buy the hardware for,” Casali explained. “And it’s this awkward chicken and egg situation.”<\/p>\n Before Half-Life: Alyx’s conception, Valve began experimenting with a few of its IPs to find what was the best fit for VR. Casali noted that Portal was more of an “academic exercise” in discovering VR’s limitations, such as motion sickness.<\/p>\n