In carefully following this guide, you will be able to play Half‐Life: Alyx without needing an expensive VR set.

I would suggest reading up to and including the Chapter 1: Entanglement section of this guide to familiarise yourself with the mechanics and controls, afterwards you should just play the game until you get stuck.

In order to make this possible, you will need to download and install a mod by Unreal Academy. The mod can be found on his Patreon[www.patreon.com], which requires a ~$1 payment to access. Alternatively, he also offers a free version[drive.google.com] – although there may be slight differences I’m unaware of, as the following will be based on my experience using the paid version. If either of these links break, please let me know.

Bar occasional bugs that can be worked around, it would be fair to state from the beginning that, as of the date of this guide’s latest update, the final few minutes of the game aren’t playable. This is due to an inability to release the green orbs of the final level. You’re only forgoing a small section of combat and a final cutscene, so when arriving at the green orbs you can simply watch the rest on YouTube without missing out on much.

If you’re able to pass this section, please let me know what you did so that I can include it in the guide.

If you have any problems feel free to ask for help.

Naturally, prior to installing the mod, make sure you’ve installed Half‐Life: Alyx through Steam.

Once the game has been installed, run the mod installer. Make sure you download the latest version (as of the publishing of this guide), which will be called Half‐Life Alyx FakeVR Mod PEdition V2.exe - and not an earlier one.

Whilst progressing through the installer, navigate to the directory of Half‐Life: Alyx when prompted, making sure to click on the folder called 'Half‐Life Alyx' and not any nested folders.

CAUTION: The installer by default will choose a non‐existent directory within ‘Program Files’ – however most people have their Steam library contained within ‘Program Files (x86)’ – ensure that you select the correct game folder location.

Be sure to create a desktop icon when prompted, as this will allow us to modify the game’s resolution.

If you are struggling to reach this point, the mod won’t install, or the installer isn’t creating a desktop shortcut, watch this video for a visual display of the installation.

Once the installation has completed, right click on the desktop icon you have just created, click ‘Properties’ and append the following to the ‘Target’ box, replacing the numerical values with your desired resolution:




Keep in mind that we must always run Half‐Life: Alyx using this desktop icon, and not by clicking ‘Play’ in the Steam client.

As you should be aware by now, this game was designed to be played in Virtual Reality (VR) mode. As such, you will be playing with hands instead of the traditional weapon‐only gameplay ubiquitous in FPS games.

Controlling two hands virtually requires a different mindset regarding how we use our keyboard and mouse.

Unreal Academy, the creator of this mod, came up with his own set of bindings and controls that install by default. In my opinion, some of these bindings, controls and how they are explained aren’t done efficiently or clearly. I believe this to be the result of his working across multiple versions and in reaction to some early, yet significant updates by Valve – which changed how the mod functioned. In other cases it’s simply a matter of being more user friendly – for example I’ve co‐bound [F8] to substitute [MOUSE4], whereby more users who don’t have these mouse buttons can access this mod without issues.

As such, I would suggest following my own alterations and simplifications as they will be much easier for you to follow and with minimal confusion. If you wish to do so, download my configuration file[drive.proton.me] (if prompted, with password: YlpyBshy7F4K) and place it in the following directory: Half‐Life Alyx\game\hlvr\cfg - overwriting the default one, should it exist.

To change the subtitle language, add the following to the start of your ‘autoexec.cfg’ file. To find this file, navigate to Half‐Life Alyx\game\hlvr\cfg – if the file doesn’t exist, download the one linked in the Controls and bindings section of this guide.


Replacing ‘english’ with one of the following options:


It is not necessary to put this in your configuration file if you want English subtitles; English is only used here as a template example.

To temporarily remove your hands/gloves and hide the UI in order to take screenshots, push your gloves off the edge of your screen horizontally using [7] & your mouse’s [Scroll Wheel] – and enter the following command in the console:


If you haven’t already done so, as I will further explain later on, make sure you also disable the crosshair with the following command:


To return to default settings after you have taken your screenshot, simply press [1] in game, and type the same (first) command in the console, with a value of 100 instead of 0.

We will not need to re‐enable the crosshair.

The rest of this guide will be a list of difficult elements, puzzles & hurdles to navigate through and complete using our non‐VR version.

A full, non‐VR walkthrough of the first eight levels was made by the mod author and can be found in a playlist series. This series doesn’t include the last three levels and it has been attempted on an older version of the mod, so certain things such as movement and weapon controls are different. In the series he uses point‐and‐click movement, which I’ve been told by him is no longer possible due to subsequent Valve updates. As mentioned before, you will instead be navigating throughout the game using a flying, no‐clip movement, or as it’s named in the mod – the ‘FakeWalk’ mode. Personally this method feels far more natural.

I recommend using the subsequent level specific sections of this guide to address the most common obstacles of the game, instead of watching these walkthroughs, but here they are should you be interested. Chapters 9–11 will be links to a VR walkthrough.

Chapter 1: Entanglement
Chapter 2: The Quarantine Zone
Chapter 3: Is Or Will Be
Chapter 4: Superweapon
Chapter 5: The Northern Star
Chapter 6: Arms Race
Chapter 7: Jeff
Chapter 8: Captivity
Chapter 9: Revelations
Chapter 10: Breaking and Entering
Chapter 11: Point Extraction

If you do not wish to watch the entire series I have linked my own videos of the specific progression challenges in the following sections.

On launching the game using our desktop icon, wait for the Valve vignette to conclude before accessing the menu. We should be able to move around using the traditional [W, A, S, D] – move backwards and you should see the menu angled slightly below you. If you are finding the menu difficult to navigate through, you can zoom in using your [Middle Mouse Button].

Using the cursor dot, hover over ‘Addons’ and press [E]. If you can see ‘FakeVR’ then the mod installation was successful. Now you must enable it by pressing [E] on ‘FakeVR’ until the icon to the left is a horizontal bar. It should look like this:



Please take the time now to adjust your in‐game audio settings. I recommend lowering everything to around 50% and then making subsequent alterations, if needed, using the Windows Volume Mixer (or relevant system control) externally.

Once you’re ready, hover over and press [E] on ‘Start New Game’, set your preferred difficulty, leave the other settings alone, and select ‘Start Game With Addons’. If you are left‐handed you can attempt the ‘Weapon Hand: Left’ option, but it might not work with this mod and I haven’t tried it.

If you would like a visual display of the above, click here.

On loading the first level, and every single time you load a save or automatically transition into a new level you must press [F9] – or whatever your keybind is for ‘FakeWalk’ in ‘autoexec.cfg’. If you can’t move you either haven’t pressed this button at the start/load of a level, or you’re in Height Adjustment mode (which can be disabled with either [F8] or [MOUSE4]).

Before doing anything further, pause the game with P and open the console with [`]. Type the following into the console:


We are disabling the HUD crosshair primarily because it doesn’t actually align with where the bullets hit, and also because we will being using the guns’ ironsights and scope upgrades. If there was no crosshair for you, simply enter the command if it appears later on.

The crosshair mentioned here is that of a traditional ‘+’ shape, if you are seeing a larger, circle shaped crosshair – press [O].

Take the time in this initial area to familiarise yourself with the controls listed in the section above, though with no weapons or multi‐tool at the moment. See if you can operate the radio.

The basic concept to understand and remember is that:

• The number keys from [1–7] and [0], and the [Scroll Wheel] modify and control hand movement, rotation and position.
  
• The mouse, [Left Mouse Button] and [Right Mouse Button], modify and control the action of selecting and picking up items and using them.

If you press a number from [2–6] and start modifying either given hand, press that same number once more to change to, and modify, the other hand.

For example: if I press [2] I can now use my [Scroll Wheel] to move my left hand towards and away from me. If I press [2] again, I can do the same to my right hand.

If you want to keep the changes you’ve made, press [0] – although pressing [1], [R], [F] or [X] will reset any changes you’ve made, as will level loads.

For a video showing the basic hand movements and controls, click here.

The first obstacle of note is the headset Russell provides us with his drone, and picking it up. For this we can reach out with our right hand (using [2] to select the left hand, then [2] to switch to the right hand, then scrolling), then grabbing the headset by holding down the [Left Mouse Button] and using [2] + [Scroll Wheel] to bring it back to us. Bring the headset as close as possible to you while still being able to see your hand, as though it was almost inside your head - then let go of the [Left Mouse Button]. The headset should automatically equip itself.

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The second obstacle requires an explanation of the death mechanic in this game. If the game suddenly pauses itself with ‘PAUSED’ across the screen (and you aren't within a few seconds being auto‐loaded into a new map), that means you’ve died. If you aren’t sure as to whether the game did this, or you accidentally pressed P, try unpausing, and if you can see a screen full of blood, or you can’t move your hands/gloves anymore - then you’ve died. You must now press either [F3] or [F5] to load a previous save.

Having explained this, other than dying to NPCs or explosives, you can die by no‐clipping (moving) too fast into certain objects. This has only happened to me two or three times, and almost always while trying to squeeze through a small opening. Just take extra care when doing so, save your game with [F1] beforehand, and you’ll have no problems.

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Once you’ve finished planning with Russell, you’ll have to equip his special gloves. To do this place one hand in one of the slots, using [2] to move your hand forward, then use [7] to move your other hand in alignment with the other slot, then use [2] to move that hand forward. You may have to move your mouse to wiggle around a bit once both hands are in place.

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The final challenge of this level is regarding the gun Russell provides us with. It is not this tedious later on, but due to the game’s architecture we are unable to reload using, nor store, the magazine he throws us. As mentioned, this can all be done with ease later on – but here we must use a console command to give us ammunition.

After he throws us the gun, make sure you pick it up with your right hand. If you pick it up with your left hand by mistake, simply move both hands close together using [7] and the [Scroll Wheel] and grabbing the gun from your left hand, with the right hand, with the [Left Mouse Button] - remembering that you change your active hand with [Tab].


Immediately after we equip the gun in our right hand, Russell will throw us a magazine with which to load it. Normally this would be a simple matter of adding the magazine to our backpack and reloading, however for this quasi‐tutorial level Valve wants us to physically load the magazine into the gun. If you can pull this off using the various hand movements we've used so far – well done, it's extremely difficult! Instead, we will be ignoring his magazine and using the console to give ourselves some ammunition. After Russell throws the magazine, enter this command into the console:


Now that we have ammunition we need to make sure we switch our control back to the right hand with [Tab], then press [R] to reload. You should see a quickly moving, orange laser grouped in a circle somewhere to the left – when that ceases, press [E], then press [X]. You have now reloaded your gun. Please note that you are unable to reload if your current magazine isn’t empty. You can now aim by holding [X] and shoot using the [Left Mouse Button].


To pick up either resin or ammunition and store it in our backpack, we simply grab the item with our left hand, press [1] to bring the item close to your body then release the [Left Mouse Button]. If it isn’t working then you’re probably looking down at too great an angle and gravity is pulling the item away from you after you release it. To holster or switch weapons, click or hold down the [Right Mouse Button] whilst your right hand is active.

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For the light puzzles we simply use the multi‐tool to follow the electricity, using the [Left Mouse Button] to change the channel gates.

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Further along you will encounter some barnacles. If you walk into these you will have to reload to your last save. The mod technically has ‘B’ bound to kill them, should they grab you – but this has never worked for me on the latest version. Either steer clear, give them an object to grab, or shoot them.

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Towards the end of the level you will find the first hacking terminal. To hack, simply activate the terminal with your multi‐tool, then left‐click drag the blue points until they meet each other – without touching any red ones. You can also move the sphere around with your left hand to make it easier to position yourself.


Immediately after this terminal is a simple ring puzzle, it should be fairly straightforward to figure out – but if not, check Unreal Academy’s walkthrough.

For a complete walkthrough of this level, click here. Ignore everything he says about [T], height adjustment and the ‘impulse 101’ command – these pertain to an older version.

To use a medical syringe, simply hold [X] while holding it, then press the [Middle Mouse Button].

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To operate a weapons upgrade terminal you will first need to hack it. These terminals are different to the normal blue‐to‐blue circle hacks, instead we must align a central sphere of light so that all the spheres are being touched by a beam. This is demonstrated in the following video.

If you are struggling with any of these hacking puzzles you can simply enter the following in the console:


After hacking, we must place the gun we wish to upgrade into the terminal. It is not possible to select any upgrade options on the terminal display without switching to Height Adjustment mode. To do so press [F8] or [MOUSE4]. You’ll know you’re in this mode when you can move the camera freely whilst your hands are frozen in position. In this mode, you can now select an option from the terminal display and confirm an upgrade by pressing [E]. You can switch back to the standard mode by pressing [F8] or [MOUSE4] again.

You will now be asked to deposit the required amount of resin into the terminal. To do this, face away from the terminal, hold down [1], then hold down the [Left Mouse Button], then release [1]. Face back to the terminal and drop the resin into the tray under the display. Wait for the upgrade to finish and retrieve your gun.

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To store items in your wrist slot, whilst holding that item hold down [F] until you see orange beams emitting from your wrist, then release the [Left Mouse Button].

To retrieve an item, press and hold [F] until you see a green silhouette of your item, then click and hold the [Left Mouse Button], then release [F].


For a complete walkthrough of this level, click here. Ignore everything he says about [T], height adjustment and the ‘impulse 101’ command – these pertain to an older version.

To collect the shotgun, simply no‐clip (move) down and grab it with your right hand. You can find shells on the same body and also throughout the tunnels. To reload the shotgun, hold and drag the [Right Mouse Button] after pressing [R] to move between weapons. This is finicky but manageable. Shotguns require multiple presses of [E] to fully reload.

Once you’ve loaded the shotgun, shoot each brick archway once and wait for the zombies to break through.

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To equip the glove flashlight, place it above the left hand with your right hand. This flashlight is useless but you need to do this to trigger game dialogue. If you want to use a proper flashlight, press [C] – but keep in mind that if you leave it on prior to a level load trigger, the subsequent level will have a permanent flashlight enabled. Saving and restarting the game sometimes fixes this, but not always. It resolves itself if you progress through the next level load. To avoid this be careful when quickly moving into new areas.


For a complete walkthrough of this level, click here. Ignore everything he says about [T], height adjustment and the ‘impulse 101’ command – these pertain to an older version.

There isn’t anything particularly challenging in this level that you haven’t already encountered.

For a complete walkthrough of this level, click here. Ignore everything he says about [T], height adjustment and the ‘impulse 101’ command – these pertain to an older version.

There is a small section of this level which seems to ‘corrupt’ itself by de‐rendering and distorting many textures. This occurs at the top floor area right after solving the elevator’s electricity puzzle.

To deal with this problem, you’ll either have to load a previous save and try again – or simply no‐clip (‘fly’) to the next section at the bottom of the ground opening. I would suggest the latter as you aren’t missing anything and there’s no guarantee the problem will be resolved in a second attempt.

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To tackle the cable puzzle you’ll need to shoot with your right hand whilst pushing a lever forward with your left. This is possible without cheats, but I have enabled them in the video to avoid reloading & save time. If you would like to enable cheats for this section use the following:


Please bear in mind that enabling cheats may disable Steam achievement progression until you restart the game.

You’ll need to rotate the selector, push the lever forward and quickly shoot the corresponding transformer before it closes.


For a complete walkthrough of this level, click here. Ignore everything he says about [T], height adjustment and the ‘impulse 101’ command – these pertain to an older version.

There isn’t anything particularly challenging in this level that you haven’t already encountered.

For a complete walkthrough of this level, click here. Ignore everything he says about [T], height adjustment and the ‘impulse 101’ command – these pertain to an older version.

To cover your mouth from the spores, follow this video here – although you really don’t need to bother: the spores don’t do any damage and Jeff is easily avoidable. Not hearing Alyx constantly cough is the only real reason to do this.

To lock Jeff inside the cooler room, follow this video here. I personally found this quite difficult and would recommend you use the cheats shown here.

The command used in the video is:


Make sure to enter the same command, but with a zero, once you’ve successfully locked the door.

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By far the most infuriating and difficult part of the entire game is the distillery cave door at the end of this level. You need to pull a lever, eject, rotate and insert two cogs, then pull a final lever before the beeping noise stops – otherwise it will reset.

Patience is recommended.


For a complete walkthrough of this level, click here. Ignore everything he says about [T], height adjustment and the ‘impulse 101’ command – these pertain to an older version.

There isn’t anything particularly challenging in this level that you haven’t already encountered.

For a complete walkthrough of this level, click here. Ignore everything he says about [T], height adjustment and the ‘impulse 101’ command – these pertain to an older version.

For the light puzzle at the end of the level, if you haven’t touched it yet, interact with numbers 4, 5, 7, 3, 1 and 2 – in that order.

If you get stuck, arrange the nodes in the following layout before interacting with numbers 1, then 2.




For a complete (VR) walkthrough of this level, click here.

Most of this level is straightforward, however the cannon at the end may cause some frustration. Simply ram the slide back and forth; there is no need to reposition the gun.


For a complete (VR) walkthrough of this level, click here.

There is neither action nor puzzle to be worked through leading up to the green orbs, so feel free to play through and attempt to pass it yourself – if you can’t, you can watch the very short remainder of the game here.

For a complete (VR) walkthrough of this level, click here.

Current issues/bugs that I haven’t been able to fix:

• It isn’t possible to return to the main menu once you’ve loaded a level.
  
• You can only reload if your magazine is empty.
  
• Later on when you have multiple guns, starting the reload, and also after reloading, it will switch guns even if you were using a different one beforehand and wanted to reload that instead. Using the [Right Mouse Button] and dragging will let us choose our desired gun, both in and out of the reload mode, but this becomes tedious and difficult, especially in fights.
  
• Using your left hand to interact with something while a gun is in your right hand will fire the gun. Ironically this is needed for us to progress through one of the puzzles in Chapter 5.
  
• If you have the flashlight (not the automatic wrist‐light that Alyx finds) enabled prior to a level load trigger, that subsequent level will have a permanent flashlight enabled. Saving and restarting the game sometimes fixes this, but not always. It resolves itself if you progress through the next level load.
  
• It isn’t possible to progress past the green orb section in the final chapter. It is, of course, possible to no‐clip through the walls, but the NPCs won’t respond to you nor will the final cutscene trigger.

This is a very well made game and it’s a shame that many aren’t able to find that out for themselves. I can appreciate Valve’s eagerness in early adoption and pushing the boundaries – but for most, VR sets are simply not affordable.

I hope with this guide that more people are able to access the game, so please share if you found it useful.