Cameron's Titanic Explorer CDROM

[Gilbert Soesbee]

One of the most interesting Titanic gifts I received for Christmas is the three-CD-ROM package of "James Cameron's Titanic Explorer." As a new member on the ET Message Board, I was wondering what everyone else thinks about this CD-ROM.

It seems to me that the three CDs have a wealth of information about Titanic, the sinking, the Gilded Age, and a lot of other related topics. I've also come across some scenes from Cameron's "Titanic" that were not in the film as it was released. The scene in Lifeboat 6 and the exchange between Molly Brown and Quartermaster Hichens about going back to the ship for more passengers is much closer to the truth, as I understand the testimony, than was the released version of Cameron's film. I also like the feel of the scene where Ismay boards "Carpathia" and has to face the eyes of all those orphaned children and widowed women. That scene should have been in the film.

I was also pleased to find most of Father Browne's photographs in a clear, digital format for viewing and inspection. The deck plans are a little hard to manipulate with the mouse, but the interactive Titanic tour does give a sense of perspective. And it includes transcripts of the American Senate hearings, but only summaries (and pretty brief ones at that) of the British Inquiry.

Anyway, the CD-ROM set seems to be a pretty accurate compendium. (But it doesn't hold a candle to the wealth of info here at ET. Phil, I'm still finding nooks and crannies of wonderful information in this web site.) Still, I'd like to hear from others about whether the information contained in Cameron's CD-ROM is accurate and believeable. In other words, is it a difinitive source of information for the average Titanic buff?

Hoping my questions are not too elementary,
Gilbert

 

[Cal Haines]

Hi Gilbert,

The CD is nice. My favorite feature is the VR tour. I just wish they had included more points. The whole thing suffers from a terrible user interface--the low resolution and lack of cut and paste capability seriously limit its usefulness for research. One item that I haven't seen elsewhere is the copies of Thomas Andrew's notebook for Olympic. It's difficult to read, due to the low resolution, but an interesting resource to techies.

Warm Regards,

Cal

 

[Mike Bull]

I love the tour feature, though I agree that bits of the package are cranky to use. The extra footage from the film and Cameron's real dive are worth it alone.

 

[Laura Jayne Gardner]

Anyone played Titanic:adventure out of time? Just wondered what peoples opinions were of that CD-Rom. Also has anyone got Titanic:An Interactive Journey CD?

Just wondered what opinions people had of these media?
Laura

 

[Gilbert Soesbee]

I have "Adventure Out Of Time," and I've spent many hours enjoying it. I also think I've learned a lot from exploring Titanic in this way. More than any other "interactive" media on Titanic I've come across, it gives you a feel of really being a passenger on the ship. And the graphics are as good as I've seen in comparable CD-ROMS.

The only difficulty I can report with "Adventure" is the silly art theft/detective story that is the conceit of the game. Some people think it trivializes the Titanic and the disaster and is disrespectful of those who lost their lives and those who lost family members in the sinking. I can understand that position, and have mixed feelings about the game myself. But I have enjoyed "Adventure;" it has given me a better perspective on the journals and books I read on the topic.

I'm not familiar with the "Interactive Journey" CD you mention, and I'd like to know more.


Gilbert

 

[Cal Haines]

Titanic--an Interactive Journey does not appear to be available by itself any more, but it can still be had as part of The Ultimate Titanic Collection, which includes Titanic--Adventure of All Time

Here's a review: Titanic--an Interactive Journey review, by Mark Kerr

I have it, but I've never fired it up.

Cal

 

[Laura Jayne Gardner]

I've learned alot from Adventure out of time, but I'm annoyed that you cannot get into some of the rooms, e.g the library and the 2nd class dining saloon. The Titanic is used as a setting for the game, like the 1997 movie Titanic was used as a setting for a love story.

The Interactive journey is an Informative CD split into three parts. The first is a timeline, documenting events before, during and after the sinking to the minute. You can click on names to see a picture of the named ship or person in the text which I found helpful (putting names to faces). The second part of the CD is concerned with 7 days after the sinking, in the forms of cinematic footage of the Titanic, and lots of animation. The information is relayed to the viewer via people, so you get a sense of their views, premonitions etc. There is alot of info about the building of the ship and the ideas behind it. There's too much to mention! The third part is the best, there is information about the dives to the ship. You can see the wreck, and move round it in your very own submersible. It best to use the 'autopilot' mechanism as it takes you round the best parts of the ship.

You should try it!
Laura

 

[Laura Jayne Gardner]

You should read the review......it explains it so much better than me!
Laura

 

[Gilbert Soesbee]

Both your enthusiasm and the review have convinced me that I must have "Interactive Journey." The search starts now. Let me know if anybody knows of an outlet where it can be purchased separately.

Oh, and Laura, I agree about "Adventure Out of Time." I've banged and banged on the library door hoping maybe this time around it would be open. Oh, well...


Thanks for the input,
Gilbert

 

[Laura Jayne Gardner]

Gilbert,

Trying to get in those rooms is frustrating, but not as frustrating as Georgia Lambert and Daisy Cashmore!

Laura

 

[Bill Sauder]

Laura Jayne Gardner wrote:>

Laura,

I was an architectural consultant for the development of that Cyberflix Adventure out of Time game and the basic problem with all those locked doors is simply the money ran out.

When I was initially contacted by Cyberflix, the president of the company kept saying that the entire ship was going to be open to exploration and interactive. Now, I didn't mind it if he just said it once or twice -- every company is entitled to "Puffery" as its known in the advertising business, but we were negotiating a contract and I felt he was just not incontact with reality in the matter so I sent him this small table that showed deck by deck the total number of inhabitable compartments on Titanic, and the total came to over 1,800. (By definition, an inhabitable compartment was one in which passengers or crew would reasonably enter in the course of a crossing. So showers and toilet stalls were counted as compartments, while closets, cofferdams, tanks, ventilation trunks did not)

Eventually the cost of animating so many rooms put a big dent in the budget and the scope of action of the game became restricted. I have never played the game (it makes my computer lock up and forget it has a CD ROM drive) but I understand that the work is quite good.

And unlike Cameron's Titanic, I got my name in the credits.

Happy, Happy; Joy, Joy.

Bill Sauder

 

[Bill Sauder]

Sorry about the previous post. The web site must have deleted Laura's quote because it confused it with HTML.

Bill Sauder

 

[Gilbert Soesbee]

Bill:

I'm pleased to know why all the doors don't open--I've wondered if it was a problem like you describe, or perhaps a computer memory problem since there are so many rooms. It's good to have it from a primary source; and I'll look for your name in the credits.

Nevertheless, I do enjoy playing the game. And the computer work is great!!!


Gilbert

 

[Laura Jayne Gardner]

Bill,
I'm sure going to look for your name now!I'm glad I know why I can't get in the rooms, but I also guess that the dining saloons wouldn't have been open that late at night. Or am I wrong?

Thanks, the graphics are amazing.
Laura

 

[Pedro Soares]

Hi everyone. I have the CD-Rom "Titanic-adventure out of Time", "James Cameron`s Titanic explorer" and "Titanic- an interactive journey". They´re pretty reasonable, but there´s some details about the ship in the #adventure out of time" that are a little different from the real Titanic. Anyway, does anyone have "Titanic-challenge of discovery"? What do you think of it?
Thank you
Pedro