Valve dev comments on mods removing VR from Half-Life: Alyx, progress already being made

Ever since Half-Life: Alyx was first announced as a VR-only title, long time fans of the series have been hoping that modders would add keyboard and mouse support to the game. Not only does at least one Valve programmer think that such a mod is inevitable, but support for keyboard and mouse has already been found baked into the game.

Dataminers have been quick to dig through Half-Life: Alyx's files, with ValveNewsNetwork showing off the game's hidden ‘developer mode' on Twitch, which does include keyboard and mouse input, so you can walk around the game world in flatscreen mode. However, there are notable issues, including the inability to jump, no sprinting and the fact that you don't see your hands or weapon model despite being able to fire weapons.

Obviously, Valve never intended for this to be a keyboard and mouse game, explaining its very limited functionality in the developer mode. However, as programmer Robin Walker predicts, it is only a matter of time before modders figure out a way to run the game without VR, an effort that should further showcase why Alyx is a VR-only game in the first place:

“What I’m confident will happen is that when people get that butchered version, and they’ll have lost all the things that we’ll have got from moving to VR, they will then understand very clearly why we made that choice”.

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KitGuru Says: I've had the chance to play some Half-Life: Alyx this week and it is an incredible game. There are certain mechanics that wouldn't translate to keyboard and mouse, but I also think that there are plenty of people who would be fine with a traditional gameplay experience just to experience the story first-hand. Have any of you played Half-Life: Alyx yet? Would you be intrigued by a non-VR version?

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