Titanic VR

[VREducation]

Hi Titanica.org

This is my first post here so let me introduce myself. I'm David the C.E.O of Immersive VR Education Ltd and we are currently building a VR game / experience that will allow you to experience the sinking and explore the shipwreck.

The shipwreck exploration section will be out shortly with the sinking section out later this year. Here is a short development video



Some images below. Happy to answer questions where I can.

 

[Harland Duzen]

Welcome to ET! I looking forward to seeing and playing the game!

Just to ask, the 1st public demo you released, where the player sits in a small rowing boat as Titanic sails past, I presume was based off the near miss with a French Trawler. Will this appear in the final game?

if it does, you should change it to a larger boat that looks more like this:

Also the boat should be moved further away from the ship as while it looks epic and gigantic, a boat that size would have been capsized by the bow wave or turned to matchsticks in the propellers.

Forgive me if it sounds rude, and good luck! The imagery looks amazing!

 

[Rembrandt_fan]

A virtual reality look at the titanic?! Holy crap. WANT. Next best thing to being there in a submersible! Can't wait till it's out Fantastic images and video btw. And welcome to the forum!

 

[Kelly30309]

Hi David, looks exciting! I've just sent a note in on your website's contact page. I have a few questions about your product. Looking forward to hearing back from your team soon!

Kelly

 

[T.Johnson]

Looks beautiful, but that marconi room will draw a lot of criticism

 

[Harland Duzen]

How do you mean? Is it which way the switch that turns on the machine was found? In the 2005 Investigation James Cameron noticed it and it did draw into question when Bride and Phillips left.

 

[T.Johnson]

I mean the marconi room, not the silent room. It's depicted as almost intact when there is literally nothing left in reality, totally destroyed by flooding during the descent

 

[Harland Duzen]

They did say though that they would add furniture and other items into the wreck that normally would have rotted away so the player can see what would have been there and give them something to interact with. (e.g. the Piano in the D-deck Reception Room)

 

[T.Johnson]

Fair enough, although it looks unnatural, unrealistic and sort of out of place that's pretty understandable. But it definately takes a wreckspert like me out of the experience somewhat. But hey, I've been studying it inside out since it 2005 and I'm probably in a sad minority that cares about realism too much. Either way this is an exciting project, wish I had a VR machine to check it out.

 

[Harland Duzen]

Maybe they could add a function called "Super Realism" that when turned on removes all the added furniture???

 

[T.Johnson]

LoL ;P That won't be necessary, I just hope people will still be aware of the true condition of the Titanic and that this game is portraying the essence rather than the reality.

 

[VREducation]

Hi All. Sorry for the delayed response. The exterior of the wreck is quite accurate for 1986 as we had a large amount of data to go on. The interior placement of items such as furniture will look a little different from what is actually down their today as quite a lot of the rooms are currently shells with rotten material on the floor and great look rust formations with the exception of some areas such as the stunning Turkish baths area. We are building this both as an enjoyable exploration experience and a short game to inspire the younger generation on all things Titanic. Some of the rooms will be in a better state of preservation than currently recorded with others looking highly accurate. We feel we have made a balanced choice where possible and have ensured that the right items and furniture are in the correct locations with varying levels of decay. What you see above is only the first part of the end product. I think it will give people a good sense for what is down there and hopefully ignite the imaginations of the younger generation.

 

[VREducation]

Hi Titanica

We just released a virtual reality wreck simulation on steam where you complete tasks and explore the wreck site.

Titanic VR on Steam

This experience works both on standard desktop displays and VR devices. We do recommend using either the Oculus VR headset or HTC Vive for best experience.

Accuracy of Titanic VR Shipwreck

We have been asked many times via forum posts, direct emails and on reddit about the accuracy of the shipwreck shown inside Titanic VR. The model we created is based on the original plans used to construct Titanic and dive photos and videos over the years. We decided to show the shipwreck intact where possible using data collected during dives which were made soon after her discovery in 1985. The reason we decided to create the 85 wreck is that much of Titanic’s wreck has crumbled over the years and many parts of this once mighty ship are unrecognizable today. We wanted to ensure that users (kids especially) will recognize that this was once a mighty ship that carried passengers.


The superstructure of the wreck inside the game is quite accurate to what sits at the bottom of the ocean and anybody with knowledge of the ship will easily find their way around the miles of corridors and rooms as they are all located within Titanic VR where they should be. Some of the furniture inside some of the rooms is in a better-preserved state then it should be as most of the wood has disintegrated over the years. We could have removed all the furniture but again going through hundreds of empty rooms or rooms with piles of rubble would not make for a very interesting exploration tour for kids or many older folks for that matter. Other rooms like the Turkish baths and details like the wheel house are very accurate. One of the few details we have changed are the names on the plaques which we have replaced with kickstarter names and the names of our development team.


For the MIR sub the model of the exterior is accurate however the interior is not. In a real MIR sub you would need to lie down on the floor and look out 3 small windows that are only a few inches in diameter. Creating this as a 100% sim accurate game would not make for a compelling VR experience for 99% of people so we did take some artistic license here and there to ensure the best possible experience for most people. We do know tackling a world famous subject like the Titanic can open us up to criticism from Titanic fans/experts however this is something we decided to make as we love brining history to life and making it accessible to as many people as possible. Hey at least we didn’t add a love story in this version


By default Titanic VR graphic settings are set to low. If you purchase early access please go into the options room and kick the graphics up to high if your rig can handle the performance. The shipwreck is one of the largest models ever seen in VR so we had to really optimize everything to pass 90fps on a GTX 970. If you are running a 980 or above with a good cpu you should try checking performance on a higher setting. It really makes a difference with the overall look and feel.


We do hope you enjoy early access and please remember this is truly early access. We are still working day and night in the background tweaking gameplay, adding content and boosting performance. What you are seeing today is only part of the larger project to deliver something very special.


Finally, I have included a video here from a YouTuber called Spammels who is a lifelong Titanic fan. He is very knowledgeable on the subject and knows Titanic’s layout inside and out. I have added this particular video to emphasis the accuracy of the model layout as he seems to know where to go even though its his first time playing the game part of Titanic VR.

[DIVE VIDEO SPAMMELS!]

 

[Rembrandt_fan]

Nice! I got it, along with the apollo game Can't wait to try it out.

 

[Itsstillthinking]

New update
"
Hi backers!



We hope you all had a great holiday season and happy New Year! It’s been over a month since our last update, and a lot has happened in those weeks. In this update we’ll cover our progress with the PlayStation release, stern section, 1912 cinematic, and our regular Steam/Oculus version updates for the current release.

PLAYSTATION RELEASE
After much back and forth with Sony, we’ve realised we can’t release an early-access version for PS4 and PSVR. Unfortunately, Sony doesn’t allow them for VR games. This means we’ll have to wait until the full experience is finished before we can release on PS4 and PSVR.

We apologise for this confusion and delay in releasing Titanic VR to our PlayStation backers, and appreciate the patience you’ve shown. We can offer all our PlayStation backers a Steam key if you’d like to try out the early-access version on a PC. You’ll still receive your PlayStation key once the full version of Titanic VR is released on PlayStation, but a Steam key would allow you to experience the early-access version with either the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or just on a PC monitor (non-VR). If you’d like one sent through, please send an email to me ([email protected]), and I’ll reply to your email with your Steam key and instructions on how to download the game.

We’ll let you know once we’ve begun the submissions process again, but it’ll be mid-year when the full experience is ready for release.

TITANIC STERN
Titanic’s stern section is coming along well. We’re not ready to show screenshots yet as it’s still in the modelling stage, but we’re on track to have it completed for the mid-year release. This section of Titanic will be available to visit in exploration mode, and you’ll be able to find it to the south of the bow.

While Titanic’s bow is in very good condition and easy to explore, the stern is a huge mass of debris. Air pockets within the stern imploded as it went under the surface of the Atlantic, leading to extensive interior damage. While the bow glided to the ocean floor, the stern spiralled and violently impacted the ocean floor at 80km/h. Decks collapsed on top of each other as interior supports and the exterior hull gave way. The stern is messy and structurally unsound, making it difficult to explore and resulting in little photographs and footage existing. Our team of 3D artists have been working hard to source reliable reference images, to make this section as accurate as possible.

1912 CINEMATIC
Our animators are still working solidly on the 1912 cinematic, and have recently started checking their character interactions within Unity (the game engine). It’s important they review their work in the final medium, to see how the animation translates from the PC monitor into the 3D space. The characters were split evenly between the animators, so it’s interesting seeing characters come together and interact.

Our programmers are also now focussing on this section of Titanic VR, and have been improving the framerate using optimisation techniques (we’ve previously discussed some optimisation techniques used). Our Lead Programmer Bobby will be explaining character processes, LODs, and shaders in detail for next week’s update.

UPDATED VERSION ON STEAM AND OCULUS
We’re releasing new bug-fixed versions on Steam and Oculus, and will continue to do so on a regular basis. We’re currently working on improving the tutorial sections, the ROV menu and controls, and optimising the rusticles. These changes will be included in the weekly updates, and not saved for a large update. To see what’s changing between versions, you can read through the changelog available in the Recent Updates section of the Titanic VR page on Steam."