What is Grand Voyage?
“Is it a game where you drive ships?”
“Is it like (insert project here)?”
“Is it a video game, or a virtual tour?
We get these questions a lot. For those not in the know, it can be easy to see a screenshot from Grand Voyage posted somewhere online and assume it’s a neat collection of 3D models, or maybe a virtual museum. You might be tempted to draw parallels with other projects that also allow you to explore historic vessels, and while these projects all undoubtedly have their own merit and place in the community, the one thing we want to drive home is this:
Grand Voyage is different.
Not simply a walking sim, nor a virtual ship tour or museum, Grand Voyage is more of a “time machine”. Yes, we are recreating historic ships for the player to learn about and explore, but we wanted to take it one step further, allowing you not just a glimpse into the ships themselves, but the stories and careers that made them so much more than the sum of their parts.
When you open up Grand Voyage for the first time, you will be greeted with a choice. Which ship will you explore first? Maybe Empress of Ireland, or TSMS Lakonia, perhaps? Once you choose a ship, you’ll be offered a choice between levels - Drydock, At Sea, or one of various ports that ship frequented. If you’d like, you can follow the ship’s life starting in the shipyard, where the ship sits under construction, towering above you, a steel behemoth that you can explore in a way that very few people could during the ship’s time. Our advice? Take a moment to stand below the massive propellers and turn your gaze straight up - trust us, that’s a view you don’t see every day!
From here, you can make your way to the ship’s home port, such as Southampton or Liverpool, where the vessel stands ready for boarding. The environment itself is accurate to the time period it existed in, recreated with the same level of care as the ships themselves. You can explore this area to your heart’s content, picking up items along the way to teach you about the port or the ship’s owners. Everything is set up as it would have been on boarding day, and you’ll be able to feel the excitement in the air. You can board the ship at any time and wander the decks, snapping screenshots in Photo Mode, adjusting time of day, weather conditions, and even pausing time to just take it all in.
Ready to go to sea? The next stop will find the ship plying the waves, the ocean endless before you. As before, time of day and weather are all fully under your control. Want to simulate a rain storm, blizzard, or even a stunning aurora borealis as seen from the decks of the ship? It’s just a few clicks away. Peek inside the ship to explore life aboard and collect items such as authentic menus, postcards, letters, and more. Take a moment to relax in a lounge and even choose between some period-accurate music to listen to as you take in the ship’s various public spaces. If you fancy yourself a bit of a grease monkey, you’ll delight in taking a stroll through the ship’s massive and complex engine room. There’s no better way to appreciate the engineering that went into these incredibly powerful machines!
Once you’ve had your fill of life at sea, you can visit the ship’s next port of call, which could be early 1900’s Quebec or 1960’s Madeira, for example. Each location offers its own atmosphere, music, and opportunities for exploration. These are places actually visited by the ships’ passengers, and as such, offer a unique glimpse into what it means to delve into not just the ship, but her story as a whole.
The next stop is actually completely optional, and was rather tricky for our team to approach. While the game strives to represent the height of a ship’s glory days, we realize that just as important as a ship’s life is her loss, and we would be remiss if we did not touch on this in Grand Voyage. The player will have the option to learn about the ship’s sinking via what we call the “Snapshot Level”, which is almost exactly what it sounds like. The ship in this level is frozen in time, mid-sinking. The player is directed on a set course to one of the ship’s lifeboats and prompted to board, ultimately finding themselves at a memorial to the victims of the sinking. Here, they can learn about the aftermath of the tragedy, and pay tribute to those lost. After taking a moment to reflect, the player is prompted to “rewind time”, and when doing so, you witness the ship coming back to life once again, in all her splendor, ready to be explored once more.
For those that simply want to explore without story elements or any objectives, there will be an option for a “free roam” mode, where you can wander and and pass the time to your heart’s content. Perfect for chilled-out escapism after a long day!
This is of course just a general overview, and we wouldn’t want to spoil any of the surprises you will encounter along the way. We’re also coming up with ideas for new features all the time, so get ready for a truly unique, refreshing take on ship history when Grand Voyage releases. We’re so excited to share this project with you all, and we hope this gives you a better idea of what to expect when the game is finally in your hands.
Look out for more updates coming your way soon. For now, bon voyage!
~Sarah
