May progress update

With the closed beta test well under way, much of our time right now is spent on squashing bugs. Thankfully, there haven’t been too many serious bugs, but our testers still uncovered a decent list of annoying issues that we are slowly working through.

We did find time for some new features, with the spotlight currently on adding additional comfort options. We finally added movement vignettes, and there is a new 3rd person camera mode for vehicle rides that might be easier to stomach for some people. We also added optional laser pointers for all weapons that can be toggled in the difficulty options for those who prefer an easier time aiming the weapons in VR.

We also added an alt fire mode for grenades where you can aim your throw with a visual aid. By default, grenade throws follow your motion controllers, so you throw them as you would in real life. However, as throwing in VR can lack some precision and since there are parts in Half-Life 2 where you need to be very precise with your grenade throws, the alt-fire mode is available as a backup to prevent any frustrations that might arise from the default throwing.

Finally, we are slowly beginning to overhaul the weapons. As a first step, both the crowbar and the pistol now feature hand poses. Other weapons will be updated gradually over time.

You can see the new features in action in the following short video:

We are working hard to get the mod ready for a public release. The estimated release window is July to December 2022, with the hope being to make it as early as possible. We are also working on getting our Steam page live, so keep an eye out for that :)