We recently reported on the modding community's efforts to make Half-Life: Alyx playable without a VR headset. The first results were quick, but, to put it mildly, they looked choppy and only included parts of the game. Modder r57zone now wants to have it done: thanks to his project, Valves VR hit is now be playable completely with mouse and keyboard.
However, the mod is far from the smooth gameplay of the original – Half-Life: Alyx is now optimized for virtual reality. Still, it's at least an amazing technical feat. You can see what the No-VR mod looks like in this video:
The most important questions about the No-VR-Mod
How do I install the mod? Here you can find the necessary driver download. In a step-by-step video, the creator explains exactly how the rather complex installation works.
How does the control work? The official description of the mod explains which action you should put on which keyboard key. For example, movement no longer runs via teleport, but via arrow keys.
Can the entire game be created? According to the creator, yes. Among other things, he offers tutorials and help for difficult positions in Half-Life: Alyx on his YouTube channel. In some particularly crisp spots, he recommends using an immortality cheat.
more on the subject
Half-Life: Alyx is the culmination of VR evolution
Valve expected such mods
As he announced in an interview with Videogameschronicle, Valve designer Robin Walker expected that players would quickly build No-VR mods. He sees nothing bad about it, but believes that it only makes it clearer why Half-Life: Alyx was released exclusively for VR:
"(…) I'm sure what will happen when people get such a dismembered version and have lost all the things we did through VR is that they understand very clearly why we made this decision Part of me is really looking forward to people experiencing and realizing this experience, oh now I understand it, now I see everything that has been lost through non-VR broadcasting and now I understand why they did it at all . "
Many players seem to agree with him. Among the videos about the mod, the commentators are split into two camps: those who are excited about a new way to play Half-Life: Alyx, and those who find it will completely ruined the gaming experience. Even under our own article on the similar mod, the reactions were mostly negative.
A less controversial fan project: With impressive attention to detail, players recreated the entire City 17 in Minecraft.
