Oceanliner Designs' Grand Voyage - Upcoming virtual museum Experience

[Milos Grkovic]

"R101: Kicking back at 1,500 feet

While most of the team plugs away at Grand Voyage's fleet of seafaring vessels, our resident airship guru Tino has been hard at work in the background making progress on the game's recreation of the airship R101. Check out these new views of the promenade area and the smoking lounge - a wild departure from the same areas found aboard ocean liners, and a hugely impressive effort on Tino's part!

You can see more updated views of the airship's interiors, including the lounge and crew spaces, on our Patreon.
patreon.com/grandvoyagegame

What are your thoughts on these areas and the R101?"

 

[Milos Grkovic]

 

[Milos Grkovic]

Copied from Grand Voyage Facebook page​

"A Snapshot In Time
No voyage would be complete without a scrapbok full of photos to show off to friends! Grand Voyage's Photo Mode allows you to capture the moment your way, with tons of options for filters, camera settings, frames, and more. Snap realistic photos to recreate historic moments, or go wild with artsy and unique combinations for something totally fresh! Whether it's for your socials, desktop wallpapers, or just for fun, we can't wait to see the memories you'll capture from your own voyage."

 

[Milos Grkovic]

"The Empress Under Construction
Grand Voyage's Shipyard level will allow the player to explore the exteriors of these massive machines in a way never before seen. Here we see Empress as she may have looked in drydock, and for the first time, you'll be able to get up close and personal with every inch of her towering hull. There's truly no better way to appreciate the immense scale of these beautiful ships!"

 

[Milos Grkovic]

 

[Milos Grkovic]

"Crowned with a stunning stained glass dome, these remarkable spaces were well-loved aboard the ship, with passengers gathering around the piano in the Music Room or getting cozy with a cup of coffee in the Cafe. Now in Grand Voyage, you'll be able to do the very same as you make your way through these meticulously recreated areas on board the Empress. Don't forget to look up!"

 

[Milos Grkovic]

Bringing Liverpool to Life​

Written By Sarah Brenneman​

Shared to Encyclopedia Titanica thread about Oceanliner Designs' Grand Voyage by @Milos Grkovic

"GRAND VOYAGE is all about the details. From our lovingly recreated versions of historic ships, to the scenic ports they frequented, our team has gone the extra mile every step of the way to craft an experience that feels more like a virtual time machine than a video game, and the historic port of Liverpool is no exception.​

We had a chat with 3D Modeler Vicente to learn about what went into recreating one of Liverpool’s most famous landmarks in a digital space, and some of the challenges he tackled along the way.​

Why don't you start off by telling us a little about yourself and your background with modeling?​

I'm a huge vehicle nerd. Ever since I was a kid, I've been obsessed with cars, trains, airplanes and ships. So all I used to do in my free time (apart from playing video games), was drawing.

Every single day at school during class and during recess, I would draw vehicles and landscapes and I think I could do it pretty well (I still draw from time to time) but I always felt like I needed more "control".

So when I was studying animation, I discovered that 3D modeling was the ultimate tool to be in full control of your creations. And it was great! Because if you didn't like how it looked, you could edit things and tinker with shapes and parameters until you got it right. No need to re-start or to erase your progress.

And since there are a lot of ways to do the same thing, you really get tons of alternatives to approach each challenge if one is not working.

How did you find yourself working on Grand Voyage? What was it about the project that spoke to you?​

Well I started watching Mike's videos during lunch breaks and became instantly fixated with ocean liners. And when he announced that he was making a game, oh my god, I really felt like I had to be part of it. Like it was the right thing to do since I always wanted to work in a video game. Sadly at that time, I already had a nice job and couldn't afford to leave it... yet. So I had to ignore the call.

I didn't really know it at the time, but when they kindly decided to terminate my contract and let me go, it was one of the greatest days of my life since now I was able to answer the call with all my heart!

So it sounds like it was meant to be then! Your first real assignment as part of the GV team was to remake the Royal Liver building if I'm not mistaken, which is an integral part of the Liverpool waterfront. Was this an intimidating first project, or did it feel like a natural way to show off your skills?​

Yes, the Royal Liver Building was my first task. And honestly, it wasn't hard at all. I was already used to recreating existing buildings at my former job so I could breeze through it.

The main difference now was that I could really unleash all my potential since I wasn't limited by a VR headset's hardware or a ridiculous deadline.

What was the biggest challenge you faced when working on this project? Did you find any facet of it particularly frustrating?​

The biggest challenge so far is working with little to no reference images. Don't get me wrong, you can still make magic with "just the one" picture, but it's still challenging.

It's like a puzzle you start putting together when you see, for example, pictures of the room next-door, and begin understanding the shape of things.

Recreating these historic places with very little reference material has been a challenge for this entire team for sure, but the results so far have been above and beyond. You definitely nailed the brief! Since modeling the Royal Liver Building, what other challenges have you faced while working on GV?​

Now that I finally got to work on a ship, It's been particularly challenging to fit everything into place.

You have to be very careful with the curvature of the decks in order to model spaces and if you add the lack of pictures into the mix, you have to really understand what's behind every wall if you want spaces to be coherent and well recreated.

One example would be a space I’m working with on Lakonia. We only have this one picture of the room. You can't see what's behind this piano, but according to the plans we have, there's what looks to be a wall, so I made a wall.

The thing is, later on, we came across a photo of what we assumed was that wall, only it turned out, it wasn't a wall, it was a balcony. Those are the things you discover on the go that can clear out a lot of questions but also add more work to the room!

All in a day’s work when dealing with so little reference material. One last question! What is something you'd like to say to all the players of Grand Voyage before they get their hands on the game?​

I want you guys to know that we're proudly and slowly cooking this masterpiece so you can enjoy playing it as much as we are enjoying making it!

---

Huge thanks to Vicente for taking the time out to talk a little bit about his work and creative process. Thanks to his efforts and keen eye for detail, Liverpool is shaping up to be an truly impressive part of the game that we know you’ll have a blast exploring. As one of the world’s most historic ports, it was so important to do these famous landmarks justice, and we really think he killed it! Look forward to seeing his work up close when GRAND VOYAGE releases - until then, keep your eyes peeled for more updates coming soon!"

 

[Milos Grkovic]

Deciphering History​

A Conversation on the Details and Design of Grand Voyage​

Written By Sarah Brenneman​

"
Sometimes it might be difficult to remember that we didn’t always know how the ships of Grand Voyage looked in reality. It’s taken a monumental effort on the part of our team to find, interpret, and analyze any and all existing historical references to these ships and recreate them virtually - and so much of it comes down to the tiny details. Grand Voyage’s Texture and Art dream team, made up of Historical Advisor Robin and Texture Artist Sylvie, are mainly responsible for the exquisite carpets, stained glass, paneling, and upholstery you will find in the ship’s interior spaces. We sat down and chatted with both Robin and Sylvie to find out a little more about how they bring these striking details to life, and some of the challenges they faced along the way.

Thanks for taking the time to chat, you guys! You've both been pretty fundamental to the way GV's ships have taken shape, especially with regard to the interiors. Can you describe a little bit about your process and how the two of you work together?​

Robin: Hey, thanks for being part of this interview! To create the interiors of these beautiful ocean liners, extensive research is needed when it comes to color and design choices. My main task is to research the specific vessels, especially in the sense of their interior designs. I analyze photos, brochures, paintings and color illustrations or builders notes to determine the colors and designs that come the closest to the specific sources. Sometimes there are many sources for one vessel and I have to collect all the information and evaluate which source makes the most sense. When there are only a few sources available I have to determine the colors and designs by looking at other known examples from different ships of the same era to get a pleasing result. When the main research is done, I send Sylvie any helpful references for the targeted object and guide her along the creation process.

Sylvie: Following Robin's guidance, I recreate the textures and surfaces of the interiors using a range of 2D and 3D tools. For the interiors, the texturing mostly consists of creating various types of woods, metals, fabrics, and stained glass designs. Many of the iconic stained glass designs and carpets featured are very unique, and have to be recreated from very old, blurry, black and white reference photos. My usual process begins with making 2D textures and designs from scratch, either drawing them by hand, or using procedural workflows. Along the way Robin advises me using his amazing expertise and extensive research to ensure the textures are as accurate as we can make them. I then ensure these textures fit the models and work as intended in engine, baking details, optimising, and fixing import issues.

That process sounds like it can involve some pretty in-depth coordination. I know for example you guys were able to work in tandem to recreate the intricate stained glass used for the backlit dome found in the Empress of Ireland's Music Room. Can you talk a little more about that process and how you two worked together to get the final result?​

Robin: The stained glass dome was indeed a very tricky object to make, since no source gave us any real color specifications. I was able to find recovered parts of the stained glass, raised from the wreck of the Empress of Ireland, which gave us a little clue how the general tone of the glass looked like. With this little evidence and the study of the greyscale in black and white photos of the dome, Sylvie created the color pattern we can see in our recreation.

Sylvie: Once Robin provided me with the references he gathered, I started by breaking down the dome's design. Each section of the circular dome had the same mirrored design, which allowed me to focus on a smaller section and repeat the design across the dome. I first started by doing a sketch of the design, then refining this sketch into a complete linework. Next, with Robin's guidance, I worked on implementing a color scheme. Finally, all that was left to do was set up a stained glass material in-engine, bringing the design to life.

And the end result is nothing short of stunning! Can you guys go a little more in detail about how exactly you determine things like colors and textures when all you have for reference is grainy old photographs?​

Robin: When we only have grainy old photographs and no other way to somehow gather the design, we try our best to analyze these grainy photos to see if we somehow can make something out. During our work, we encountered some of these photos and we had to go a bit back and forth sometimes to get a pleasing result. But so far everything worked out fine, which of course heavily depends on the information available for the specific ships. When it comes to colors it's a bit trickier, since we only have very few color photographs of interior spaces for ocean liners till the 1950s. In this case I put all written information into a spreadsheet (shown below) to have a general overview of every source we have. I then proceed to look how many double confirmations exist and if they somehow work with some of the illustrations. Sometimes you have the problem that the written sources and black and white photos contradict each other. For example, in almost all articles written about the Empress of Ireland’s 1st Class Dining Saloon, the authors mentioned that the wall is painted white, while in the photos you can see that the walls are too dark to be white. For colors we don't have any source we go for the best looking choice that matches the other colors of the rooms.

Sylvie: A tricky part of creating a lot of the texture designs was getting a detailed design out of some blurry, grainy photos. For example figuring out the design of the staircase dome, how it was all connected, symmetrical, and repeating designs was a challenge. All we had was a low detail illustration of the dome, from which I was able to make out the large scale designs and small details that made the design complete. It's a tricky process where I often had to use my best guess and try to interpret shapes in a way that made sense for the whole design.

That sounds like an overwhelming amount of work but we can see it clearly pays off. What would you say has been your biggest challenge you've faced so far when working on Grand Voyage?​

Robin: This is a hard question! The biggest challenge so far was indeed to interpret grainy photos. Next to texture work I also help the modelers with research as it's essential for them to have good quality photos and plans to model specific areas on the ships. Reading and understanding plans can be quite tricky and creates its own kind of interesting challenge, but sometimes it gives us a fair bit of surprises too and helps us understand the design choices behind these ships.

Sylvie: There have been many challenges so far, such as making surfaces like silk and glass in Unreal Engine react to lighting accurately. For this we had to experiment with many different techniques and shader workflows. The pattern for the Music Room couches was also especially difficult; it was one of the first designs we needed to make, and our references were blurry and confusing. Coming up with a floral design from such low resolution photos, where we could just about make out basic shapes, was tricky to say the least.

It definitely isn't easy work, but you guys kill it every time! Last question - in the course of working on GV, what has been your most interesting discovery?​

Robin: My favorite discovery I made is how the colors and the architecture play together in-engine. The moment when the rooms and the colors finally appear together after 100 years is just breathtaking and is my favorite part of Grand Voyage. Just to see the rooms and ships coming to life is the best feeling after the many hours of research, texture and modeling work.

Sylvie: Discovering just how many different types of woods, carpets, wallpapers the Empress of Ireland, and other ships of the time had. I can imagine the amount of time the original designers of these interior spaces spent on making lavish luxurious interiors, especially in the first class ship spaces. Recreating these beautiful spaces is truly incredible, and there's nothing quite like seeing them finally come to life.

GV has been such a memorable journey to bring to life and it's those kinds of surprises and discoveries along the way which make it so special to all of us. Thank you guys for all your hard work and for taking the time to chat! It's been a pleasure!​

Keep your eyes peeled for more of Robin and Sylvie’s work as we continue to bring you even more updates in the future. For now, we’d love to hear from you! What details in Grand Voyage stick out to you the most? Is there anything you’d like to know more about? Sound off in the comments!

And until next time… Bon Voyage!
"

 

[Milos Grkovic]

Update from the official Facebook page

 

[Milos Grkovic]

 

[Milos Grkovic]

 

[Milos Grkovic]

 

[Milos Grkovic]

 

[Milos Grkovic]

 

[Milos Grkovic]

Text copied from Grand Voyage Facebook page.
"First Look: Empress of Ireland First Class Staterooms and Suites

Our team has been making seriously impressive progress on the interiors of our ships, and we're proud to show you a glimpse of the newest area to be completed on board the Empress!
These comfortable and plush staterooms, located on the forward end of the ship near the First Class Entrance, were the most luxurious accommodations available on board the Empress of Ireland. Each cabin came complete with a double berth, sofa, table, and washbasin, and some cabins adjoined to create a suite that was suitable for families and larger groups. These cabins were designed in two variations: bright, airy white with salmon colored linens, or dark, rich woods with green linens. Which one do you prefer?

Tell us your thoughts on these cabins in the comments!"