Valve is working on a ‘Single Controller Mode’ among its accessibility options for Half-Life: Alyx so that players who can only operate one controller can complete the game in its entirety.

In an effort to ensure as many people as possible can play Half-Life: Alyx, Valve is working on a handful of accessibility options. One, which is not often seen in VR, is a ‘Single Controller Mode’ which will adapt the game to be played by anyone who can only operate one controller.

YouTube channel Valve News Network spotted the option in the Half-Life: Alyx Accessibility menu which was shown briefly during footage of the game which was released earlier this week.

Other Half-Life: Alyx accessibility options spotted in the menu include a height adjustment, a crouch-toggle option (so that players don’t have to physically crouch), a stand-toggle option (so seated players can reach standing height), and a light sensitivity option, which Valve News Network expects will adjust the game’s visuals to accommodate those with epilepsy.

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Valve has also confirmed that Half-Life: Alyx will have subtitles and interface translations for 10 different languages: English, French, German, Spanish-Spain, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish-Latin America, and Traditional Chinese. The studio says it’s considering dubbing the game in languages other than English.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • David Mulder

    Just noting that the developers touch upon this in the interview with Tested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRVXhA0-TI4

  • Isn’t this just typical game options? Some people like to play games seated and some don’t. It all seems like basic gameplay stuff that completely able-bodied people would find helpful as well.

    I did a height adjustment in my own game, QuestORama, but not because I was leading some crusade, riding upon a high-horse, waving a banner of moral superiority. It’s just good, basic, game option.

    • alboradasa

      Height adjustment isn’t the same as crouch/stand toggle. And how many games can you name that have epilepsy protection and one hand controls?
      How sad that you see efforts towards enabling disabled people access as “high-horse, waving a banner of moral superiority”.

    • nice

      Basic in pancake, it’s hard to do in VR. Height control is already a basic thing since it’s straighforward to do. One hand mode and compatibility with seated/standing_teleport/Standing_walking for a 15hr adventure game is really hard tho to implement and not compromise gameplay

      • mirak

        But you can play paintball with one hand and in a wheelchair if you want, so why a virtual reality game couldn’t do that ?

        They just have to think about things like holstering guns, or loading a gun standing on your lap, stuff that people with one hand are already doing in real life.

        You just need one person to play through the game with one hand, and fix what is blocking.

  • Bumpy

    Similar to the consolized disease countless times infecting our PCs, I certainly hope the full scope and ideal game design of Alyx is not compromised due to these accessibility options.

    • alboradasa

      The Valve team have stated that their work on accessability features came after finalising deisgn for the game. So don’t worry, those pesky disabled people won’t compormise your precious experience.

      • Clownworld14

        For someone who has a hearing disability, thanks for standing up for us. <3

    • NooYawker

      If they are off by default how would it compromise the game?

    • mirak

      People with one hand can shot guns and climb ladders in real life, so it would mean making Alyx even more realistic, not the contrary.

  • It’s very good they’re thinking about people with problems with these accessibility options

  • NooYawker

    One controller mode means easy port to flat screen for people without VR.

    • mirak

      I don’t see why.
      People can reload a gun, shot it, and open a door in real life.
      It would just mean making the game even more realistic.
      Like allowing to reload a gun by holding it between your knees, or on a flat surface.