Half-Life 2 (official) Rift support

Post by **Runbmp** » Thu May 09, 2013 7:46 pm

yay!

" We just shipped a beta for Half-Life 2 that includes Oculus Rift support. To get it, open the properties for HL2 in Steam, set your command line to "-vr", and opt-in to the SteamPipe beta. This should ship to everybody in a few weeks.

This port is a bit more raw than TF2 was when it shipped, so we would appreciate hearing about any bugs you find. Just like in TF2 this mode is experimental, so we really want to hear what you think.

A few known issues:
The zoom UI shows up in a quad in the middle of the screen instead of on the edges of the screen.
The HUD is dim and hard to read.

All of the convars are the same as they were in TF2 with two additions:
vr_viewmodel_offset_forward - Moves the viewmodel back so the elbows are harder to see and it feels more attached to your body.
vr_viewmodel_offset_forward_large - Same as vr_viewmodel_offset_forward, but for the Gravity Gun.

I find these convars to be useful in the game itself, so consider setting them:
hud_quickinfo 1
hud_fastswitch 2 "

https://developer.oculusvr.com/forums/v ... f=42&t=957

http://www.youtube.com/user/spankeey77 · Post by **drgroove101** » Thu May 09, 2013 8:18 pm

Oh man! Wait till adoral84 finds out... I can't wait to try this when I get my Rift, definitely want to try it with the HL2 VR Mod though cause the Hydra controls are sweet

Post by **ChrisJD** » Thu May 09, 2013 8:29 pm

drgroove101 wrote:Oh man! Wait till adoral84 finds out... I can't wait to try this when I get my Rift, definitely want to try it with the HL2 VR Mod though cause the Hydra controls are sweet

The most interesting stuff (for me) in adoral84s mod is the way he is doing the hydra integration in combination with the Rift. Hopefully he can combine the hydra stuff with the official VR mode (assuming the Rift support in his mod isn't better than the official support, it might be better).

Post by **Runbmp** » Thu May 09, 2013 8:59 pm

Its good to see Valve so active on the Rift implementation...

Now imagine if those headcrabs would grab on to your head unexpectedly and you saw it latcht onto your face. Then you'd have to shake your head or something to get it off... lol. The gameplay possibilities...

Its too exciting when you think about it... At least for me, my imagination tends to run wild...

Post by **mattyeatsmatts** » Thu May 09, 2013 9:07 pm

Runbmp wrote:Now imagine if those headcrabs would grab on to your head unexpectedly and you saw it latcht onto your face.

Haha if that actually happened im 99% sure I would instictively instantly punch myself in they face.

Post by **beavermatic** » Thu May 09, 2013 9:25 pm

hmmm... seems to be a tracking delay... I look down, it looks down a half second later... I look up, same difference?

Post by **supermike** » Thu May 09, 2013 9:53 pm

how do we get the tracking to work correctly? It seems to be off center? Any one got any commands to fix that?

Post by **beavermatic** » Thu May 09, 2013 9:55 pm

turned off vsync, tracking now works but seems offcenter, VR_CALIBRATION option isn't available in the cvars so everything is zoomed in and a lot of stereo convergence isn't merging due to no calibration, mouse control seems finicky...

Post by **adoral84** » Thu May 09, 2013 9:56 pm

I just tried this out for about an hour, it's definitely visually a big improvement over having to use the vireio drivers. As long as valve integrates this rift support into the mod sdk this'll really make the HLVR mod a much more immersive experience. I'd much rather spend my time on implementing tighter hydra integration and things like positional head tracking. If they don't that'd be a huge bummer as it'd prevent not only my mod from being able to leverage their work but other mods like Black Mesa that I'd love to try in VR. I'm not keen on going back to mouse/keyboard or gamepad control schemes after playing with a proper hydra integration.

http://www.youtube.com/user/spankeey77 · Post by **drgroove101** » Thu May 09, 2013 10:04 pm

ChrisJD wrote:The most interesting stuff (for me) in adoral84s mod is the way he is doing the hydra integration in combination with the Rift. Hopefully he can combine the hydra stuff with the official VR mode (assuming the Rift support in his mod isn't better than the official support, it might be better).

Yea his Hydra implementation is really good, I've played his mod for hours with my Hydra (it's so fun!) and I don't have a Rift yet. It's going to be amazing in the Rift though I can tell already! His mod only includes tracking support for the Rift, it won't do the stereo and warping, and I believe he said he said he wouldn't be implementing it, so you need to play it with Vireio.

Based on a post he made on the official developer forum, it looks like Valve may need to implement Rift support into the 2007 SDK for him to make use of it in his mod. Although I may be wrong on this ...

Post by **Ericshelpdesk** » Thu May 09, 2013 10:24 pm

Code: Select all

*__________*
   Portal
   Portal
   Portal
   Portal
   Portal
   Portal
   Portal
   Portal
   Portal
   Portal
   Portal
   Portal
   Portal
   Portal
*~~~~~~~~~~*

Post by **tbriggs** » Thu May 09, 2013 10:26 pm

If we could get the TF2 hydra support added in as well that would be sweet! Have to check this out this weekend! Thanks for working on this!

Post by **cybereality** » Thu May 09, 2013 11:09 pm

Nice!

Post by **LordJuanlo** » Fri May 10, 2013 1:51 am

The best possible news for this Friday. Thanks Valve!

Post by **Lilwolf** » Fri May 10, 2013 5:23 am

I kinda hope that one of they hydra options is for a head tracker for leaning ect.

WHEN WILL THEY SHIP THE 7K ORDERS? I'M HAVING TROUB...TRO...TROUBLES WAITING!

Post by **Bretspot** » Fri May 10, 2013 8:40 am

Can someone post a video of this soon.... BRUUUUUCE???

Post by **Lookforyourhands** » Fri May 10, 2013 9:52 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv9nqMPDeOs

Post by **korihor** » Fri May 10, 2013 12:55 pm

I could be wrong, but setting the interface to fov 75 seems to snap the fov into a 110 degree mode. I noticed that when set to 90, I actually had a 'smaller' fov and there was strange warping. I think they hard coded 75 to be a rift mode. Now I just need to fix my IPD. Good times!

Post by **Neil** » Fri May 10, 2013 2:51 pm

adoral84 wrote:I just tried this out for about an hour, it's definitely visually a big improvement over having to use the vireio drivers. As long as valve integrates this rift support into the mod sdk this'll really make the HLVR mod a much more immersive experience. I'd much rather spend my time on implementing tighter hydra integration and things like positional head tracking. If they don't that'd be a huge bummer as it'd prevent not only my mod from being able to leverage their work but other mods like Black Mesa that I'd love to try in VR. I'm not keen on going back to mouse/keyboard or gamepad control schemes after playing with a proper hydra integration.

While it's very good news that Valve took this step, I was a little saddened when I learned about it because Half-Life 2 support was a lot more interesting when it was the result of work put in by gamers and gamer hacks. It just made for a more interesting story.

However, something useful could be learned from this. I haven't tried the game out yet (I have hardcopy - will that work?). Can you elaborate on what makes the native version better than the Vireio Perception version? What are the big differences that makes it more successful in its native form? Some ideas may spring to mind.

Regards,
Neil

Post by **ShoNuff** » Fri May 10, 2013 4:13 pm

Yeah, uh, this is pretty incredible. I'm gonna play through the whole game this weekend.

Post by **Kilobyte** » Fri May 10, 2013 4:35 pm

korihor wrote:I could be wrong, but setting the interface to fov 75 seems to snap the fov into a 110 degree mode. I noticed that when set to 90, I actually had a 'smaller' fov and there was strange warping. I think they hard coded 75 to be a rift mode. Now I just need to fix my IPD. Good times!

I found the same thing. The first thing I did on loading it up was to up the graphics settings (fresh re-install, so AA was turned off) and the FOV to 90. I figured it'd be better than 75 as a starting point, and that I'd use the developer console to make the change to 110. Turns out you can't push the FOV past 90 on the developer console, but as you've said, it automatically runs at 110 if you set the FOV slider to 75.

Impressions so far are very good. Lamarr leaping at the screen was terrifying, the flashes of the floating City 17 cameras are blinding, and I felt much more inclined to avoid the Combine stunsticks. Seriously immersive. Some things don't work so well: ladders are fairly disorienting to climb, and the frozen camera during loading screens is slightly unpleasant. Overall though, an incredible experience.

I'm hesitant to play for long periods of time, as I'm getting the same problem with this as I am with TF2: when I take the Rift off after playing, my vision is split temporarily, with things at a distance appearing crossed. My eyes correc themselves after a while, but the effect lasts longer with longer play sessions, and no amount of IPD configuration seems to solve the problem. Of the dozens of demos I've played with, I've only had this issue with Valve's Rift integrations, so I'm not sure what the cause is. It's a worrying enough sensation that I'm limiting my time with TF2/HL2 Rift at the moment. Has anyone else experienced/solved this problem?

Post by **adoral84** » Fri May 10, 2013 4:46 pm

Neil wrote:
adoral84 wrote:I just tried this out for about an hour, it's definitely visually a big improvement over having to use the vireio drivers. As long as valve integrates this rift support into the mod sdk this'll really make the HLVR mod a much more immersive experience. I'd much rather spend my time on implementing tighter hydra integration and things like positional head tracking. If they don't that'd be a huge bummer as it'd prevent not only my mod from being able to leverage their work but other mods like Black Mesa that I'd love to try in VR. I'm not keen on going back to mouse/keyboard or gamepad control schemes after playing with a proper hydra integration.
While it's very good news that Valve took this step, I was a little saddened when I learned about it because Half-Life 2 support was a lot more interesting when it was the result of work put in by gamers and gamer hacks. It just made for a more interesting story.

I do plan to continue working on the mod, probably focusing on adding new features with the hydra and continuing to tweak the game to be more vr friendly. I hope valve opens the native rift implementation up to the mod community because I don't imagine valve wants to invest quite a bit more time working on VR specific controls ( which I doubt they will ) that I think make it a much more compelling experience. I've tried all the control schemes in TF2 and having played with actual 1 to 1 weapon tracking none of them really feel VR enough.

The only real issue I've had with vireio is around the distortion scaling, I always have to significantly reduce the distortion to get a comfortable view in HL2, but doing this also really reduces the FOV. I've also had some issues where new features I wanted to introduce caused issues with vireio but I've mostly worked around those things out at this point.

Post by **Lookforyourhands** » Fri May 10, 2013 5:57 pm

Neil wrote:
adoral84 wrote:I just tried this out for about an hour, it's definitely visually a big improvement over having to use the vireio drivers. As long as valve integrates this rift support into the mod sdk this'll really make the HLVR mod a much more immersive experience. I'd much rather spend my time on implementing tighter hydra integration and things like positional head tracking. If they don't that'd be a huge bummer as it'd prevent not only my mod from being able to leverage their work but other mods like Black Mesa that I'd love to try in VR. I'm not keen on going back to mouse/keyboard or gamepad control schemes after playing with a proper hydra integration.

While it's very good news that Valve took this step, I was a little saddened when I learned about it because Half-Life 2 support was a lot more interesting when it was the result of work put in by gamers and gamer hacks. It just made for a more interesting story.

However, something useful could be learned from this. I haven't tried the game out yet (I have hardcopy - will that work?). Can you elaborate on what makes the native version better than the Vireio Perception version? What are the big differences that makes it more successful in its native form? Some ideas may spring to mind.

Regards,
Neil

What makes it better is the 3d feels much more natural and there's not performance issues like there can be when using Vireio. Not to
mention I think you just answered your own question 'native' is usually a better option for a variety of reasons. The community here
is awesome but the Rift really does need the support of big software companies and big title games to make the kind of impact
we are all hoping VR does. Valve is awesome for being such early supporters. I tried using Vireio in all the games supported and it's
uncomfortable and doesn't feel right at all. Especially Mirror's Edge, which I don't understand because there's posts on the Oculus Forum
with people saying how amazing it is. Anyway, here's hoping Valve implements support for Left for Dead and Portal soon !!

Post by **Entroper** » Fri May 10, 2013 6:34 pm

Kilobyte wrote:I'm hesitant to play for long periods of time, as I'm getting the same problem with this as I am with TF2: when I take the Rift off after playing, my vision is split temporarily, with things at a distance appearing crossed. My eyes correc themselves after a while, but the effect lasts longer with longer play sessions, and no amount of IPD configuration seems to solve the problem. Of the dozens of demos I've played with, I've only had this issue with Valve's Rift integrations, so I'm not sure what the cause is. It's a worrying enough sensation that I'm limiting my time with TF2/HL2 Rift at the moment. Has anyone else experienced/solved this problem?

I noticed a similar effect after my first long session with TF2 -- my eyes felt all crossed up. Reading text on a screen was very difficult. I could only read at about 1/4 the speed that I normally read, because my eyes felt like they were tripping over each other while trying to scan the lines of text. I had to take a 20 minute break from looking at any kind of screen before I returned to normal.

During that play session, I could tell that I wasn't getting 60 fps at all times. The next time I played TF2, I turned the graphics settings down for maximum performance. I played for 2 hours straight, at 60 fps the whole time. When I took the Rift off, I had no discomfort at all, and could read text normally. I think the latency at the lower framerate was causing my eyes to compensate and look ahead or behind when scanning from side to side. With lower latency, I didn't experience this problem. I haven't re-tested at a lower framerate to verify; it could just be that I'm getting more used to VR, or that I was tired the first time, or something else, or it could be that the framerate makes all the difference.

Post by **pizzy00** » Fri May 10, 2013 7:09 pm

This is great news. I felt like this was just a matter of time. I can't wait to play it their way I had been using Perception driver, since early on.

Post by **Kilobyte** » Fri May 10, 2013 7:37 pm

Entroper wrote:I noticed a similar effect after my first long session with TF2 -- my eyes felt all crossed up. Reading text on a screen was very difficult. I could only read at about 1/4 the speed that I normally read, because my eyes felt like they were tripping over each other while trying to scan the lines of text. I had to take a 20 minute break from looking at any kind of screen before I returned to normal.

During that play session, I could tell that I wasn't getting 60 fps at all times. The next time I played TF2, I turned the graphics settings down for maximum performance. I played for 2 hours straight, at 60 fps the whole time. When I took the Rift off, I had no discomfort at all, and could read text normally. I think the latency at the lower framerate was causing my eyes to compensate and look ahead or behind when scanning from side to side. With lower latency, I didn't experience this problem. I haven't re-tested at a lower framerate to verify; it could just be that I'm getting more used to VR, or that I was tired the first time, or something else, or it could be that the framerate makes all the difference.

An interesting theory, and quite possibly the cause in your case, but unfortunately my PC runs maxed-out TF2 in VR mode at a smooth 60 FPS with little trouble. I might try fiddling around with the graphics settings though, could be that it's one of the other settings which causes the problem. Thanks for the suggestion

Post by **jack612** » Fri May 10, 2013 8:13 pm

This is the best thing on the Rift right now. I've played through this game so many times before but this is the most fun I've ever had with it.

Post by **unsilentwill** » Fri May 10, 2013 10:00 pm

People seem to agree...

plagiarize wrote: TF2 was obviously just for practice on Valve's part because it really didn't demonstrate what VR can do for a game at all, from the perspective of playing the final product. Doom 3 and Half Life 2 are both drastically improved by the addition of it though, and they're both almost 10 years old.

Doom 3 and Half Life 2 are the freshest things I've played this year, and while Half Life 2 remains one of my favorite games Doom 3 never really used to do much for me. I've always bored of Doom 3 before reaching Delta labs, aside from completing co-op on the Xbox version. The loop of 'nothing happening, hit blatant invisible trigger, action' never worked for me in single player, and only worked in co-op because it added a random element of a human that was going to hit triggers when I wasn't expecting it.

In VR though, Doom 3 works incredibly well, because I get drawn into just wandering around looking exploring the environments, and blunder into invisible triggers. The 'nothing' has become 'breathing room to take it all in'... and now that even imps can be intimidating the jump scares finally work on me. Opening a door or walking around a corner to come face to face with an imp didn't get me in 2D, but now that it actually feels like I'm face to face (or more accurately, face to chest... I feel like a ten year old kid bumping into a six foot tall bully) it has me leaping about in my chair and swearing out loud.

One other thing that has become incredibly fun compared to how it used to be is present in both Doom 3 and HL2. Namely, floating enemies that physically react to being shot. Fighting cacodemons or man hacks is something you have to experience yourself to see how much VR brings to those encounters, but I can't rave about it enough. They're another thing I didn't expect to feel particularly different in VR, but they're orders of magnitude better.

That's been one of the most interesting things about exploring new worlds with the oculus. All the unexpected things, whether they be good or bad. Things that feel horribly disorienting that I never would have predicted... it's a fascinating new frontier.

VR really is something completely new, and we've only just set foot on this Continent. We're only just burying our toes into the sand of an undiscovered land. I never expected that adding VR to an existing title would do so much for it, given all the talk about how the real show pieces will be things custom built for it. I almost don't dare to imagine what those type of experiences might be like.

If you already have the software, and you already have suitable hardware, and have any fondness for Doom 3 and/or HL2, I say spend the $300 if you've got it. Even considering the very low resolution of the headset, once you get a taste of settling in to play something for a few hours at a time like you can with Doom 3 and HL2... you'll never want to play a first person shooter any other way.

...and from http://www.pcgamesn.com/half-life-2-ocu ... incredible:

Then the doors open, and you step out onto the platform.

“...Hoooooo---ly fuuuuuu.”

I pretty much lost my poop at this point.

VR makes the spaces in a game feel right in a way videogames haven’t quite managed so far. City 17’s station’s cavernous ceilings feel so far away. You stop moving and just look, turning left and right. There is Breen, lecturing the city from the screens at the far end of the platform. A you watch, a hover-scanner gently drifts down, moves into your path, and waits.

You tilt your head, examining it. It gets closer, and blinds you with it’s photo-flash.

It’s the motion of it; the way it drifts above the air. You expect something weird and alien in a videogame now: that’s just what they’re about. But seeing this thing, this clump of metal hovering six inches from your face, taking your picture... I don’t how to describe it. It’s unreal? Hyper-real? It’s beyond immersive: it’s frightening...

Post by **ido** » Fri May 10, 2013 11:43 pm

I cannot wait to give this a try. Not sure what I am more excited about trying... The Razor Hydra's I have coming in or HL2 on the Rift.

Post by **cybereality** » Fri May 10, 2013 11:55 pm

The official HL2 VR mode is way better than with Vireio Perception. Mostly because of the way the input is handled. You have an actual VR style gun implementation, where you can move the gun aim without changing the camera angle, and also move the head (camera) without moving the gun. You just can't do that with injection drivers (or you could try, and it wouldn't be very good). The roll also works better, since the gun is not attached to your chin. I like 3D drivers as much as the next guy, but they can't compare to the control you have with the actual source code.

Post by **brantlew** » Sat May 11, 2013 1:19 am

HL2 in VR is completely awesome. Everything else so far has felt like tech demos - quick little toys and thrills and "tastes" of VR. Even TF2 (while being a real game) is pretty one dimensional. But with HL2 the immersive effects of atmosphere and plot and pacing really sink their teeth into you and draw you in. Very happy about this gift from Valve.

Post by **mrklaw** » Sat May 11, 2013 2:13 am

I'm very pleasantly surprised we hit this level so quickly. Tf2, HL2 with official support, and Doom 3 and minecraft with good enough mod support to be fully playable. Then so many great demos being put out there from everyone.

There is already easily enough intent to justify the cost of the devkit IMO

Post by **Unclebob** » Sat May 11, 2013 2:55 am

Anyone tried

http://cinematicmod.com/

I am thinking of getting this to work with the Rift as a first experiment

Post by **TheHolyChicken** » Sat May 11, 2013 3:00 am

I'm thrilled that Half Life 2 has support from the point of view that it's a superb showpiece for the Rift, and having support from one of the most influential and respected developers is a huge boon for the future of Oculus.

However, it was the fully independent weapon tracking (and various other tweaks) brought by the HL VR mod that got me most excited to actually play it for myself. I'm hoping they can include the required SDK adjustments so that this will be possible!

Post by **Laserschwert** » Sat May 11, 2013 3:04 am

Does the official Rift implementation fix the reflection (and shadow?) problems when rolling?

Post by **Neil** » Sat May 11, 2013 7:37 am

cybereality wrote:The official HL2 VR mode is way better than with Vireio Perception. Mostly because of the way the input is handled. You have an actual VR style gun implementation, where you can move the gun aim without changing the camera angle, and also move the head (camera) without moving the gun. You just can't do that with injection drivers (or you could try, and it wouldn't be very good). The roll also works better, since the gun is not attached to your chin. I like 3D drivers as much as the next guy, but they can't compare to the control you have with the actual source code.

Yeah, that's for sure. It's easy to take these nook and crannies for granted, but these points are very important because it ties into something else I have in development for the community (that I'm very excited about, of course!).

Regards,
Neil

Post by **unsilentwill** » Sun May 12, 2013 1:19 pm

Many thanks to Joe Ludwig, but I have to wonder who else has been working with him on this? It kind of seems like the's the only one. Maybe Valve is keeping other Rift work under wraps, or they could still be in the experimentation stage. Though it's always a bit of a silly exercise to imagine what Valve is doing.

Post by **Mark2036** » Tue May 14, 2013 8:17 pm

Glad to hear hl2 is great in oculus. I've been having a blast in tf2, and I am assuming the control scheme is the same?

Anyone know if the demo version also has oculus support, or do I need to buy the full version?

Post by **Libertine** » Tue May 14, 2013 11:17 pm

After over 1000 hours of 3D gaming with a high FOV screen and in-game FOV that caused me to have to move my head to look around, I really encourage people to edit the walking speed in HL and slow it down. Its so much more immersive to walk at a normal speed, for me at least. The HL "walking" speed has always been a genuine all-out-run, easy to see when you up the FOV. It makes sense that slower movement would be more immersive since more most of us, our speed of movement in our existence is at a walking pace 99.9% of the time, or stopped while sitting, and we're just simple used to things passing our vision at a given pace. For some a compromise will be best i'd guess, balancing out gameplay needs, fun/boredom level with aforementioned believability.

Post by **Ziggurat** » Wed May 15, 2013 12:27 am

Libertine wrote:After over 1000 hours of 3D gaming with a high FOV screen and in-game FOV that caused me to have to move my head to look around, I really encourage people to edit the walking speed in HL and slow it down. Its so much more immersive to walk at a normal speed, for me at least. The HL "walking" speed has always been a genuine all-out-run, easy to see when you up the FOV. It makes sense that slower movement would be more immersive since more most of us, our speed of movement in our existence is at a walking pace 99.9% of the time, or stopped while sitting, and we're just simple used to things passing our vision at a given pace. For some a compromise will be best i'd guess, balancing out gameplay needs, fun/boredom level with aforementioned believability.

Post this in the HL2 thread in the Rifted forum here. I do think the only way to do this is using the mod sdk, and VR isn't supported with that yet (only Vireio). That's why we do not have Adoral84's awesome enhancements to the official oculus rift version of HL2. He has done lots of VR enhancements to the game, and he sticks to enhancements and not game changing effects.

Now Valve if you are reading this, PLEASE update your mod SDK so we can have the ultimate VR experience ++ L4D and more without 3rd party drivers.