A developer has successfully ported the opening scene of Half-Life: Alyx to Unity, allowing it to run independently on the Quest 3 headset.
Currently, Valve’s critically acclaimed AAA VR title is exclusively available for PC VR platforms. However, a persistent question within the gaming community remains: when will it be compatible with standalone headsets, negating the need for a PC?
Determined to explore this possibility, developer Boris Novikov took matters into his own hands. He believed that the XR2 Gen 2 chipset housed in the Quest 3, which Meta claims has a GPU on par with the minimum specs of a 2016 Oculus Rift PC, was already capable of rendering the iconic City 17.
To bring this vision to life, Novikov extracted the 3D models and audio assets from Alyx’s initial scene and imported them into Unity. He tailored the assets for the new engine by employing custom shaders and processing scripts. By utilizing the Hurricane VR framework, he introduced hand-object interactions and simulated volumetric effects with the help of the MicroAVL package, successfully incorporating dynamic shadows for moving objects.
When running at the default resolution on the Quest 3, with 2x MSAA and fixed foveated rendering activated, the scene typically maintains a stable 72 FPS in certain areas, while experiencing noticeable drops in others. Novikov attributes these performance dips to the dense geometry in specific sections, suggesting that these could be mitigated by simplifying the 3D models in those regions.
This impressive achievement underscores the considerable power of mobile chipsets, hinting that it may be technically feasible for Valve to optimize Half-Life: Alyx for Deckard, its forthcoming standalone headset, which recent leaks indicate will utilize a chip similar to that of the Quest 3.
It’s essential to note, though, that the scene showcased is merely an introduction to Alyx. It lacks combat elements and weaponry, and the integration of such components, along with more intricate game mechanics, could considerably affect performance. Additionally, other scenes may feature such intricate geometry that simplifying them for mobile chipsets could severely compromise the artistic vision, making it less likely for Valve to approve such adaptations. Our anticipation is that Deckard will primarily focus on streaming gameplay wirelessly from your gaming PC, achieving higher frame rates, resolutions, and graphical quality than what is feasible with a mobile chipset.