Computer games.

dholliday · April 17, 2020

What to play: Black Mesa (now that Xen's finished) or Alyx?

Actually, I have no clue how to play Alyx. Got a GTX-970 with i7 and plenty RAM...will one of those Windows or Lenovo headsets be enough?

dholliday · April 17, 2020

EFCPaul said:
Played FFVII remake and it met my lofty expectations, the original is still my favourite game of all time.
[/SPOILER]

It's my number 1 favourite of all time too...so your recommendation for the new one is interesting! Might have to check it out after all. Can i switch to japanese voices with subs?

Dylan · April 17, 2020

dholliday said:
What to play: Black Mesa (now that Xen's finished) or Alyx?

Actually, I have no clue how to play Alyx. Got a GTX-970 with i7 and plenty RAM...will one of those Windows or Lenovo headsets be enough?

I think you will struggle. You need lots of VRAM on games these days. 4GB might be enough to scrap by, but remember you will be running high resolution and you will need to be at least at 90fps to not end up with searing headaches.

dholliday · April 17, 2020

Dylan said:
I think you will struggle. You need lots of VRAM on games these days. 4GB might be enough to scrap by, but remember you will be running high resolution and you will need to be at least at 90fps to not end up with searing headaches.

Does Alyx have resolution settings like normal games? So maybe going to 1280x720 and dialing down graphic settings would help my system get up to circa 100fps. I've never used VR so maybe it's all a different concept.

Dylan · April 17, 2020

dholliday said:
Does Alyx have resolution settings like normal games? So maybe going to 1280x720 and dialing down graphic settings would help my system get up to circa 100fps. I've never used VR so maybe it's all a different concept.

it renders that twice. One for each eye. So 1280*1440 would be the resolution for your example. But at a low resolution, it is going to look like dog-turd and that kind of defeats the purpose of VR. The idea is to feel like you are *in* the game. Not saying much for the screen-door effect. Though I don't know if that is present on a high-res display showing a low res.

dholliday · April 17, 2020

Dylan said:
it renders that twice. One for each eye. So 1280*1440 would be the resolution for your example. But at a low resolution, it is going to look like dog-turd and that kind of defeats the purpose of VR. The idea is to feel like you are *in* the game. Not saying much for the screen-door effect. Though I don't know if that is present on a high-res display showing a low res.

sounds like if my gtx970 system won't handle it properly, then it's all gonna be too much expense. And i consider the 970 to be a high-end card...crazy really to think that after 12 years of waiting for a new Half-Life to resolve that cliffhanger we get a prequel (groan) and we have to spend over a grand to play it (wtf??).

Black Mesa Xen will get a go, tho'.

Dylan · April 17, 2020

dholliday said:
sounds like if my gtx970 system won't handle it properly, then it's all gonna be too much expense. And i consider the 970 to be a high-end card...crazy really to think that after 12 years of waiting for a new Half-Life to resolve that cliffhanger we get a prequel (groan) and we have to spend over a grand to play it (wtf??).

Black Mesa Xen will get a go, tho'.

Ex-queeze me? Baking soda??

The 970 was upper-mid range when it was released in 2014. It is by no means anywhere near a high-end card, especially now. You can buy a GTX 1650 for $150USD and it will perform better than a 970.

Getting a current mid-range card will do you for V. A 1660/1660Ti will both yeild decent result. As will a 1070, 1070Ti, RTX 2060 (and up) or if you fancy AMD you can get a RX570/580 8GB for very reasonable money and they will both deliver good VR experience. It doesn't have to be expensive to play VR at all. Couple of hundred on a new GFX and a couple of hundred on one of the Windows Mixed AR/VR sets.........

Kenshin · April 17, 2020

Layne said:
I don't know, San Andreas worked almost perfectly. V just had crappy storylines and characters. It's the reason I hate IV. Niko keeps the cousin alive for no good reason. If Trevor was acting so ridiculously from the off when he arrives in the City then he'd have been killed quickly. The son should have been beaten or killed or left on his own, same for the whore wife. It's hard to play a game when the characters keep making decision after decision you can't justify.

Trevor is alive because of Michaels loyalty to him from the past.

Michael's wife isn't killed because Michael is an adulterer himself. So pot calling the kettle black there , plus he put his family in that position himself.

I'm not disagreeing with you, that's the context there.

Nymzee · April 17, 2020

Layne said:
Followed them on twitter a while back waiting on a free weekend that has yet to come. If they want to hook me they need to give a me a sample of the crack first.

If you’ve never played before you’ll never get hooked now it’s just not the same.

dholliday · April 17, 2020

Dylan said:
Ex-queeze me? Baking soda??

The 970 was upper-mid range when it was released in 2014. It is by no means anywhere near a high-end card, especially now. You can buy a GTX 1650 for $150USD and it will perform better than a 970.

Getting a current mid-range card will do you for V. A 1660/1660Ti will both yeild decent result. As will a 1070, 1070Ti, RTX 2060 (and up) or if you fancy AMD you can get a RX570/580 8GB for very reasonable money and they will both deliver good VR experience. It doesn't have to be expensive to play VR at all. Couple of hundred on a new GFX and a couple of hundred on one of the Windows Mixed AR/VR sets.........

helpful post, nice one. maybe time moves faster for graphics cards, i had a little look online and some have had joy with the 970 and Alyx.

if i ever try it out i'll report back.