Half-Life: Alyx Ships With Community-Building Tools

Half-Life: Alyx, a Half-Life pre-sequel, will release for all SteamVR-compatible headsets in March 2020. Valve has released a new trailer for the upcoming VR game and also revealed additional details about what players can expect–including community-building tools at launch.

The Half-Life: Alyx Steam page reads: “A set of Source 2 tools for building new environments will ship with the game, enabling any player to build and contribute new environments for the community to enjoy. Hammer, Valve’s level authoring tool, has been updated with all of the game’s virtual reality gameplay tools and components.”

The Steam page also reveals that pre-ordering Half-Life: Alyx prior to the end of 2019 will unlock special rewards, such as alternative skins to customize the look of Alyx’s arsenal. Purchasing the game early will also unlock special in-game Half-Life: Alyx-themed content for both Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2. You get a discount for pre-ordering too, knocking Half-Life: Alyx’s $60 USD launch price tag down to $54 USD. A copy of the game comes for free with a Valve Index VR headset.

Prior to deciding on Half-Life, Valve considered basing their new VR game on other franchises instead, such as Portal. “Portal is so much about flinging yourself through space and through portals that we thought, ‘Well, we’re just going to make people sick with this game,'” Valve software developer David Speyrer said. “A full-on Portal game seemed challenging.” When the team decided to put their new VR game into the world of Half-Life instead, Valve refrained from titling the project “Half-Life 3” in order to avoid the “terrifyingly daunting prospect” of the name.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/half-life-alyx-ships-with-community-building-tools/1100-6471654/