Tag Archives: steam vr
Gabe Newell Reddit AMA – a singleplayer game and Half-Life 3
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So during the Reddit AMA, #Valve president Gabe Newell outlined that the company is #developing new #videogames. Since the most expected question being about Half-Life 3. Hence Newell made a joke about “the number 3 must not be said.”
Following a confirmation that Valve has one singleplayer game in the works. Then saying “yes” when asked if the company is developing “any fully-fledged single player games.”
Since asked in another thread if Valve would consider a new Half-Life or Portal universe. Hence Newell answered that it’s not Half-Life 3. So that is a confirmation, but it is a potential Half-Life type of game.
Of course Newell was a bit vague about Half-Life. So the anonymous source that said Half-Life 3 does not exist. Hence Newell joked: “I personally believe all unidentified anonymous sources on the Internet.”
Gabe Newell on Source 2 and VR games
So, as for what games are in development by Valve. Newell only outlined that they are, yet developed with the Source 2 engine and that VR games are in the works. Hence the Linux VR push at Steam Dev Days.
“We are continuing to use Source 2 as our primary game development environment,” explains Newell. “Aside from moving Dota 2 to the engine recently, we are are using it as the foundation of some unannounced products. We would like to have everyone working on games here at Valve to eventually be using the same engine. We also intend to continue to make the Source 2 engine work available to the broad developer community as we go, and to make it available free of charge.”
Yet in another answer, Newell pointed out that Valve is designing VR games with a “knuckles controller.” Since this is this likely a prototype from last October. Hence it seems like other Valve’s games, Team Fortress 2 and CS:GO, could be moving to Source 2. Since Newell said Valve wants everyone using it. Well those working on games.
Left 4 Dead 3
When asked about a Left 4 Dead game, Newell explained that new products at Valve usually come from the combination of new technology. So people interested in that technology and a game that feels like “a natural playground for that set of technology and design challenges.” Hence calling Left 4 Dead “a good place for creating shared narratives.” He confirmed nothing, but various leaks have pointed to Left 4 Dead 3 being in development in the past.
Also included in the AMA, Newell what’s been done to improve Steam’s customer service with a desire to improve it further. For all of those interested, check over the whole Reddit AMA.
What catches your interest in the AMA? What do you expect from this new singleplayer game?
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope and Linux?
The Linux #community seems to be all a-buzz over the recent #announcement of Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope and native VR support. Developer Croteam issued a direct post outlining support for SteamVR on Linux using the Vulkan API.
“Yes, seen that demo. We will be supporting SteamVR on Linux via Vulkan as soon as it becomes available.”
The coming release looks to be visually impressive, as seen in the trailer below.
The performance of Vulkan on Linux let alone SteamVR has us curious. What is the expected frame rate? What are the hardware specifications compared to Windows?
All of these details are yet to be answered, as the current instalment of the Early Access release for Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope looks interesting. Especially the system requirements below. While taking into considering the somewhat apparent hardware overhead typically associated with Linux games, at present. One must wonder if the suggested specifications will be the same or moreso on Linux?
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope System Requirements
- OS: Windows 7 64bit
- Processor: Intel Core i5 – 4590 equivalent
- Memory: 6 GB RAM
- Graphics: AMD R9 290 or NVIDIA GTX 970
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 10 GB available space
- Additional Notes: HTC Vive VR headset plus hand controllers
RECOMMENDED:
- OS: Windows 10 64bit
- Processor: Intel Core i7-6800 equivalent
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: AMD Fury or NVIDIA GTX 1070
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 10 GB available space
- Additional Notes: HTC Vive VR headset plus hand controllers
The recommended specifications show a six-core i7 6800 CPU with a GTX 1070.
How many gamers are running that sort of hardware right now, honestly? Unless you’re a hardcore gamer, chances are you will not be running the later hardware.
The minimum requirements are a bit more realistic, where a current i7 4790 CPU and a GTX 970 could have a decent advantage to test out some gameplay. We are aware the spec’s outlined a higher end i5, and AMD graphics may or may not play into the VR support factor on Linux.
So we can definitely outline, that to get the better experience for SteamVR on Linux there will have to be a hardware upgrade. Plus the price of the HTC Vive at roughly $799 USD on top of that. And Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope gameplay will have to be on par with your expectations after making your purchase on Steam.
One point we can be sure of here, Croteam have their work cut out for them. Depending on your CPU and system build, all these factors could vary, but Vulkan support will have to be on-point in order to keep up with similar hardware performance as the whole VR gaming experience on Linux is obviously still new. But our advice, WAIT!!
