Whether or not you are a fan of James Cameron’s epic film Titanic, you have to admire the craftsmanship that went into that movie.
Coming out in 1997 and combining traditional Hollywood sets and props with some CGI, Titanic, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, recreated the doomed ocean liner with such loving fidelity that it started a sensation.
Already a historical curiosity for many who followed it, the Titanic attracts conspiracy theories as well as tales of romance and bravery well beyond the popular media – some of it historical, some of it fictional.
If you can’t tell, Titanic is a kind of litmus test for how far some people are willing to go to relive history.
You could book a voyage on the new ship being made in China.
Or you could save yourself a whole bunch of money and download the immersive Titanic VR game that Popular Science is gushing about.
Called “Titanic Honor and Glory,” this VR game is described as photorealistic by Popular Science but most of us would just say it has really really great graphics.
Created by a team of programmers called Vintage Digital Revival, “Titanic Honor and Glory” is a very detailed recreation of the ocean liner. The grand staircase, the woodwork, the lighting – all of it is here and rendered in amazingly elegant style.
The game’s story, or at least the premise behind exploring it, is that you are following a ship’s inspector on board to view the first, second, and third class areas on the new Titanic.
This both explains the lack of people on the ship and the leisure at which you can explore the ship. Games that feature an escape from a sinking ship are nothing new to video gaming, and many of those have drawn inspiration from the historical events surrounding the Titanic. Needless to say, that’s not on offer here.
What is probably of interest to Titanic history fanatics as well as game designers is how little information the team at Vintage Digital Revival had to go on for the Titanic. Many of the pictures that people associate with the unsinkable ship are actually pictures of the Olympic, a sister ship.
The team behind “Titanic Honor and Glory” did a ton of research, much in the style of James Cameron, including researching the White Star Line’s other ships and common manufacturers that outfitted the interiors of these ships.
But this isn’t all the team has planned for the game. Down the road, the devs hope to add passengers to the ship and let players live the stories of survivors and victims. Done with an educational slant, this addition will bring the reason for the game full circle as both the most immersive and educational experience about the Titanic out there.
Creative Director of Vintage Digital Revival Tom Lynskey is optimistic about the future of VR as an educational tool, telling Popular Science: “To experience places you can never get to—either because they’re too far, another planet, even, or something that’s gone, or something in the future—the possibilities are endless with virtual reality.”
