Hi all, another update for you as we make our way through December!
Alpha Updates
Work on the Alpha is going on two fronts: Modeling and programming.
On the modeling side, couple of remaining yard buildings are undergoing some polishing to higher quality to bring them to a higher standard and prepare them for use as display spaces for our objects. We're also preparing a few other objects to populate the yard and offices.
On the programming side, our programmer Tyler is working in the project on various elements. In addition to the basic UI/UX and gameplay stuff, he's also improving the NPCs.
Ship Updates
Our modeling team is still going strong as they make their way through objects from across the ship. Before continuing, it's worth noting the logic here...
We have a few ways to keep track of what's on the ship, like for furnishings and fittings. One is simply a reference archive with all the images or plans needed to make these things, divided into folders. Another is spreadsheets that list all of this stuff. And finally, our "Llama Board" which the artists use to select their objects.
Since it'll be a bit before we can fit rooms properly in the structure, and since one of the biggest hurdles of THG in the past has often been the small stuff, we're letting the modelers focus on making or improving/optimizing objects from all over the ship. Sometimes these are hero objects like a piano, and often they're objects used countless times across many rooms, like standard cabin fittings and furnishings. One of our goals has been to finish the items used in standard cabins which make up most of the accommodations on board. Once the structure is ready, we could put the paneling in place for those rooms and then quickly fill the spaces with those items.
Other items on the to-do list are just difficult ones we've always wanted to make properly. In the old days of THG, we had simple models made in Sketchup - or models made in otherwise low detail - of complex objects like the Lounge sconces. And carvings were always an obstacle. The Grand Staircase went ages without carvings around the half-landing panels, and even then some elements were still without such details into Demo 401. With our newer modelers on the team, these objects are much less of an issue. We can even do most of these carvings and fancy objects long before the rooms themselves are done.
With all that in mind, let's take a look at a few more things our people are working on - and remember to check out all of the images in the above slideshow!
Here we have the piano located in the aft 2nd Class Entrance. It's fairly simple, so it's a good first piano to make. All of the external details are there, and even a little bit of the internal harp for when the top is opened - a good practice run for when we have to do the big grand piano from the Reception Room.
Speaking of items used all over the ship, we also have these little wall-mounted cabinets that were common to the many bathrooms in 1st Class:
There's also the settee found in many 1st/2nd Class cabins, usually attached to the surrounding paneling as opposed to something freestanding:
While most objects being made are loose furnishings and fittings, we do have some stuff being made that will eventually be part of the general decor of various rooms. For example, this grating from the 1st Class Reception and Dining rooms:
In addition to the Grand Staircase capitals, our sculptor is also working on a few other carvings, such as these corbels:
Compared to previous versions, it's a massive upgrade!
Another thing worth noting is on the detail of these objects: Stuff like the carvings often has huge poly counts. Standard policy is to make objects as detailed as possible, so that we do not need to go back later and update them. If they're made as best as possible now, there's no need to touch them again. When implementing them in-game, we then have options to work with. For one, we can set them to lower poly counts to save on resources, on the fly. And should we go the route of baking details into a much lower-poly model, we will have that option easily available since the object is already fully-modeled.
Among those detailed carvings and decor elements are these bits from the 2nd Class Dining Saloon (top) and metal swag from the 1st Class amidships corridors (bottom), as well as this carving from the 1st Class Reception Room columns and pilasters:
In other areas, work is finishing up on the emergency cutter 25-foot lifeboat. The journey of making this lifeboat yielded a lot of interesting questions and findings on the many details found in these boats...
Aside from the usual smaller fittings that might often be ignored in such models, there's the more complex release system for letting the lifeboat loose from its falls after lowering, something that took a bit to work out.
Now that all of these details have bene worked out, the remaining lifeboat varieties should be easier and faster to complete. Big thanks to Sehba for his work on this thing!
We also have the finishing touches being done on the telegraph models, another category of hero model for the ship:
These are truly impressive models and will look great once "installed" on the bridge. Like many other objects, you'll likely get to see these sitting around the shipyard in the early Alpha!
In addition to all this, there are a variety of other things that have been made, these being some of those:
Moving on from the many objects being made for the ship, we have Freddy working in a totally different area, continuing his work on a reference model for essentially the entirety of the ship and its structure.
Some of the areas he's been exploring include the structure of the Reciprocating Engine Room and the layout of the D Deck Galley, as well as the structure of watertight and bunker bulkheads across the ship.
Oh, and one other thing...
Specially-Drafter Iron Plans NOW AVAILABLE from Titanic Deck Plan!
https://www.titanicdeckplan.com/ironplans
As mentioned previously, our resident architect, Diana, has been drafting our own versions of iron plans for the ship. This thanks to our research into how the ship was built and our detailed structural model, as well as existing plans giving us the ability to gather all this information into a nice, clean format.
The initial two plans available are just the Poop Deck and Forecastle Deck, but more are being worked on! Next up will be B-Deck, so here's a preview of that - albeit an in-house version that hews closer to the style of the original plans:
Again, you can find these and many other plans for digital purchase or physical prints at: https://www.titanicdeckplan.com/ironplans
Concluding Words...
And that's about it for now!
We're looking to have at least one more update by the end of the year. In the meantime, we're working at full tilt until it comes time for the holidays. As we get closer to the new year, we hope for great things in 2026, including something we're looking into and hope we can announce as soon as we can!
And we hope all of you have a great ending to 2025 and wonderful holidays! Thank you as always for your generous support as we rebuild Titanic! We know it's often been slow-going, and that things are being done in ways some may not totally agree with, but as Titanic researchers who love delving into the deepest aspects of this vessel, we want to do justice to the decades of research that countless people have poured into Titanic, as well as the men who built her. With the Alpha in 2026, we want people to be able to experience that process like never before!
Happy holidays from all of us at Titanic: Honor and Glory and Vintage Digital Revival!