The PS VR2 game Cave Crave is getting a detailed recreation of the Thai Tham Luang cave. Developer 3R Games is thus expanding its "Real Caves in VR" initiative.
Following the success of Nutty Putty Cave last year, the studio is now sending us to the site of the dramatic rescue operation of 2018. A purely tourist scenario without any artificial gameplay elements awaits us.
Real laser scans instead of level design
VR gamers can expect maximum immersion without compromise. The team is once again relying on real LiDAR scanning to map the cave walls centimeter by centimeter. Roo Walters, a scanning expert, and Vern Unsworth, who rescued the youth soccer team as a diver, are directly involved in the project. This ensures the necessary historical accuracy and respect for the actual site of the disaster.
Anyone who has ever worn a VR headset knows how oppressive absolute darkness can be. The developers want to digitally capture precisely this feeling of confinement and disorientation.
Diving in the dark
At the same time, the update delivers a gameplay mechanic long requested by the community: we can finally swim and dive. The flooded tunnels of the Tham Luang cave system now become a real test of endurance. Visibility is practically zero, oxygen is scarce, and there's the constant danger of losing your way in the labyrinthine passages. It's going to be incredibly uncomfortable.
3R Games is walking a fine line here between digital tourism and processing a real tragedy. The technical implementation using LiDAR data and the inclusion of eyewitness accounts show that the studio is taking the subject seriously. The new diving mechanics could transform the previously rather tranquil exploration into a truly psychological trip.
Do you believe that real-world disaster sites like the Tham Luang cave can be respectfully recreated as a VR experience, or does the whole thing leave a bad taste in your mouth?
