You Can Play Half-Life: Alyx Without A VR Headset - Here’s How

Want to know how to play Half-Life: Alyx

exclusive VR

without VR headset? You're in luck - someone has already figured out how.

It comes just a week after the official release of

Alyx,

what requires a VR headset

(either the Steam Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift or Windows Mixed Reality) to play. Well, that's what Valve originally intended, anyway. Knowing gamers, however, it was inevitable that a way around this would be concocted (one of the Valve devs

said it himself

), but it seems like record time in this case.

How to play Half-Life: Alyx on a budget

Unreal Academy

- a YouTuber who creates Unreal Engine 4 tutorials as well as other videos on game-related fixes and such - demonstrated a way to make

Alyx

playable using a mouse and keyboard. He published a

initial tutorial on march 27

, but since then he has published

an update on March 29

, showing more progress in making this modified version of the original as streamlined as possible.

(via YouTube)

As these videos show, it seems like all you have to do is know

the right set of debug commands

to enter the game console (which he provides in the descriptions of said videos). This allows the player to control Alyx using her mouse and keyboard, which means movement via WASD, picking up items with the E key, and firing weapons using the mouse. the

HUD's

Half Life 2

can also be activated

, allowing for weapon selection and an indication of Alyx's health.

You Can Play Half-Life: Alyx Without A VR Headset - Here's How

Half-Life: Alyx has fantastic accessibility options so everyone can get in on the action

However, there are still limitations. For example, Alyx's Gravity Gloves are not functional (although the

Gravity Gun can be equipped and used

). Also, at this early stage, the debug mode seems very stiff, very clearly feeling like a sub-optimal version of a masterpiece. The original game was optimized to be experienced in VR - down to the smallest detail - and while Valve recognizes the inevitability of a mouse and keyboard mod, they are equally confident that such a mod will only accentuate

why they made the ambitious choice to stick with VR in the first place

(Via: YouTube)

It is certainly not a wasted effort. Many fans of the franchise may not be able to get their hands on a VR headset - due to finances, a trend

to debilitating cybersickness

, or for any other reason. For these people, this could be the answer. And despite the current unpolished state of this mod, dedicated fans like the guy behind Unreal Academy are already working tirelessly to give those folks an experience that's as faithful to the original as possible.

Source:

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