Level designer Dean Tate tells me the gameplay concept for Jeff – or the “Blind Zombie” as they refer to him internally, as he started off using a standard zombie model – and the level around him came from playing with the idea of having some imposing entity in your personal space, figuring that concept “feels more interesting and heightened in VR versus 2D.” Brown says the biggest positive takeaways from early experiments were “the tension of being in the room and having to get close to this thing that people really didn't want to be close” – not just it invading your personal space, but you having to enter its space to progress. And while loads changed as playtesting reactions came in and overall story beats shifted, parts of what make this level so effective were clear from the start. “The germ of the idea came up very early on,” Brown explains, saying they initially stumbled upon the idea of a blind, unkillable enemy you have to avoid while progressing when they were still experimenting with what VR could do generally. Valve tells me Half-Life: Alyx was in development for roughly four years, and programmer/designer Charles Brown says they were working on Chapter 7 off and on for at least three of that.

After all the batteries are collected, find the ladder on the other side of the room and pull it down.If you haven't played Chapter 7 yet or need a refresher, you can watch it above. Avoid Jeff and walk around the room to find two distinct holes with lights shining out of them. The next two batteries are simply lodged into holes in the wall around the main room. Once the gate is opened a little bit, the cell will just roll out onto Alyx's feet when players try grabbing it. Take the crank, thread it with the other protruding rye bar, insert it into the slot and turn it right. Next to it is a crank that's hanging off a rye bar sticking out of the wall. The first battery is in the main room that's sealed by a gate. Before leaving this room, be sure to check out the red filing cabinets since one of them has a gas mask. There are plenty of bottles to find in this room to use, as well. Commence opening them up to find a resin and ammunition. The room has assorted 'red-handled' cabinets that can be opened.

Remove the chair that's barricading it and enter. Jump down to the room and head toward the white door. This room has a large vault in the ground that requires three batteries to unlock. Ultimately, players will end up in another room to leap onto a large vodka tank below. After this, just follow two wooden planks that lead outside. Here, it is fairly simple to stealth around Jeff because it's fairly large with many nooks and crannies to hide in. Just wait for Jeff to exit the elevator and enter the room. The door of the elevators will open back up. Thus, be mindful in connecting the cables as one wrong move will set off the speakers. Be sure to cover Alyx's mouth so she won't cough and give away her position.

When Alyx enters the room to continue repairs, there are spores riddled all over the walls. Carefully open it, let Jeff stumble out and bypass him in the dark. So, the door will need to be opened back up again. On an unfortunate note, players will need to re-enter the room that Jeff's in to be able to complete the repairs. Players will then need to use the 'multi-tool' to find sensors, fix the cables and restore the power. Go through the doors and there will be no power connected. With Jeff secured, go back to the wheel in the center of the room and turn it to fully open up the large door. As soon as Jeff enters, creep up behind, shut the door and lock him in. Then throw bottles into the freezer to lure Jeff in. Run into the freezer to pick up some resin and head back out. Alyx will quickly enter a kitchen-like area that has a wheel laced in barnacles in the center of the room.

Half life alyx jeff