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Whether you are new here or a seasoned veteran, this post serves as a central hub to anything and everything you need to know about Half-Life's past, current, and future games.

1A. Which Order Should I Play the Games In?

1. Half-Life (Ignore Half-Life 1: Source. It's full of unpatched bugs)
2. Half-Life Blue Shift (Standalone Expansion - Optional)
3. Half-Life Opposing Force (Standalone Expansion - Optional)
4. Half-Life: Decay (Co-op Multiplayer Expansion Pack - Optional)
5. Half-Life 2
6. Half-Life 2: Episode One
7. Half-Life 2: Episode Two
8. Black Mesa (Half-Life Remake - Highly Recommended)
9. Half-Life: Alyx (Coming March 2020)

1B. The Half-life Series Now Free to Play until Launch of Half-life: Alyx!

Half-Life: Alyx is coming March 23, and we are celebrating early by making all games in the Half-Life Collection FREE to play for Steam users, from now until the day it launches! Half-Life: Alyx is set before the events of Half-Life 2 and the episodes, but the games share characters and story elements. The Half-Life: Alyx team believes that the best way to enjoy the new game is to play through the old ones, especially Half-Life 2 and the episodes, so we want to make that as easy as possible. From now until Half-Life: Alyx launches, all users on Steam can click on the links for the game page of each Half-Life game to play as much as you want, right up until the day Half-Life: Alyx is released! Learn More

2. Should I Mod Half-Life 2 Before Playing?

Although Half-Life 2 is plenty great without any modifications, I do recommend at least one mod that gives the game some higher resolution textures and community bug-fixes that subtly improve the base game but remain faithful to the stock game.

• Half-Life 2: Update A completely free and extensive community-developed update for Half-Life 2 featuring beautiful lighting, countless bug fixes, and a brand new Community Commentary Mode. With Half-Life 2: Update, there’s never been a better time to revisit City 17.
• Half-Life: Decay is the third expansion pack of Half-Life 1. It is a Co-op Multiplayer gamemode, and was exclusively made for the PS2 version of Half-Life 1. How To Play Half-Life: Decay in 2020: Option 1: Buy a copy of Half-Life 1 for the PS2. Option 2: Download the fan-ported version of the game. Go here and follow the instructions: https://www.steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=376774460

3. Half-Life: Alyx Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have a question? Feel free to ask it, and somebody will try to answer it as much as possible.

When will Half-Life: Alyx be released?

March 23, 2020

Will Half-Life: Alyx be VR-only?

Yes. Valve says the complex VR interactions do not translate well to keyboard and mouse. It is unknown if anyone will successfully mod Half-Life: Alyx to be playable without VR, but if they do, they are likely to prove Valve's point. Consider trying to play "Wii Sports" with a keyboard and mouse and you can get a better understanding of the issues translating input methods.

Listen to Valve's explanation: https://youtu.be/-9K0eJEmMEw?t=583 (timestamped)

Will there be a non-VR mode released?

It is unknown if Valve or anyone from the community will successfully modify Half-Life: Alyx to be playable without VR, but if they do, they are likely to prove Valve's point. Consider trying to play "Wii Sports" with a keyboard and mouse and you can get a better understanding of the issues translating input methods.

Listen to Valve's explanation: https://youtu.be/-9K0eJEmMEw?t=583 (timestamped)

Will Half-Life: Alyx require the Valve Index?

No! You Can Play Half-Life: Alyx with any SteamVR-compatible System Half-Life: Alyx supports a variety of play environments, locomotion methods, and input devices.

If you have VR hardware that works with a computer, then it works with SteamVR.

If you don’t yet own any VR hardware, now's the time. Headsets support different sets of features, so the experience will vary between them. Half-Life: Alyx was built hand in hand with Valve Index, which is the highest fidelity option on the market, but the game works great with Vive, Rift and Windows Mixed Reality too. Check out the different options to choose which one is right for you.

• Valve Index
• HTC Vive
• Oculus Rift
• Windows Mixed Reality

Learn more about compatible VR

Already own Valve Index? You'll get Half-Life: Alyx free.

Half-Life: Alyx will appear in your Steam Library March 2020. There's no need to enter a key or purchase the game. It'll appear in your Steam Library upon release, ready to play. No matter when you bought your gear Half-Life: Alyx is yours, whether you've had your Valve Index for a while, or are just about to take the plunge. …Or whether or not you have the whole VR kit: Owners of Valve Index controllers also get Half-Life: Alyx for free.

How long will Half-Life: Alyx be?

Half-Life: Alyx is a full-length game built from the ground up for virtual reality. It will be around the same length has Half-Life: 2.

4. Subreddit Rules

We have a few light rules to keep discussion upbeat and interesting, check them out below!

1. Submissions must be directly related to the Half-Life franchise. Important Valve and Steam news may be allowed per Moderator discretion.
2. Posts must be high quality. Low-value submissions that may detract from meaningful discussion are not allowed. Examples include: Low effort memes (e.g. image macros, "One-liner" jokes), streams, generic Let's Plays, reposts, spam, rants, etc. Please submit posts of this nature to to /r/HalfLifeLounge.
3. All posts and comments must follow Reddiquette
4. Please be respectful to others. Personal attacks, bigotry, fighting words, otherwise inappropriate behavior or content, comments that insult or demean a specific user or group of users will be removed. No personal information, in posts or comments. Stalking, harassment, witch hunting, trolling, brigading, ddosing, or doxxing will not be tolerated and will result in a ban.
5. No porn or gore. All other NSFW posts and comments must be tagged. Posting uncalled for materials may result in an immediate and permanent ban.
6. When posting fan generated content, try to credit the original artist and link to the primary source whenever possible. Do not pass other's work off as your own.

Disappointed that your meme got removed? Reminder that we have r/HalfLifeLounge for all your memeing needs!

5. Useful Resources

• Follow r/HalfLife Twitter - NEW!
• Half-Life: Alyx Announcement Trailer
• Need help building a PC capable of playing VR & Half-Life: Alyx? Requirements for Half Life Alyx and How to get into VR by OXIOXIOXI

Participate in the Discussion!

💬 Please leave a comment with u/Nobiting tagged or a DM if you discover any mistakes, or have any information you think should be added to this post.

And so, whether you are here to stay, or passing through on your way to parts unknown, welcome to r/HalfLife. It's safer here.

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