Half-Life: Alyx’s gravity gloves ruined many other virtual reality games for me, because the fact that I was able to show and rotate objects in my hands solved many awkward maneuvering problems that are common in other games. After the elegance of the Half-Life system, it’s hard to go back to bending, sideways and grabbing the air to pick up items – or worse, if your hands do not clash with the world around you.
Import the mud. Specifically, import mud FlyingParticle, which released HIGGS VR for Skyrim VR. This is a mod that adds Skyrim interaction with the glove style, and it seems to work beautifully.
HIGGS stands for Hand Interaction and Gravity Gloves for Skyrim. VR-focused YouTuber Cangar made the video below to demonstrate the features of the mod, and it contains everything you would hope for from a mod inspired by Alyx:
You can point to items and wrap them in your hands. You can now use your hands to push things around on tables. Your hands in the game will grab models in natural positions so you can hold bottles, the tip or any point along the side, for example. You can now drop items over your shoulder to pocket it, a common feature in many first-person VR games. You can use this system to remove armor from defeated enemies. It even works with Skyrim’s theft system, highlighting objects in red that you’ll be branded as a thief to pick up.
There are some differences between this implementation and Half-Life: Alyx. For the first time, you point your palm at objects to pull it towards you, which I can imagine getting used to. However, an .ini file is included that allows you to configure some of the settings according to your preferences.
Instructions on how to install and set up HIGGS VR can be found on the mod’s Nexus Mods page. You will want to download the VRIK mod for the full experience seen in the video above, as this is what gives you a body and finger animation in the game to grab objects.