Explore the Blautopf cave system in southern Germany through a VR mystery adventure game. Players take on the role of a cave explorer searching for a missing research colleague deep within its branched passages, underground lakes, and vast rock halls. Photogrammetry scans recreate large sections of the caves for interactive discovery on PC with the HTC Vive.
Mission chief Karl guides players via radio with directions during the expedition. Encounters with the enigmatic figure Lau, a cave personification, shift based on player choices, turning her into an enemy or ally. This free-to-play simulation adventure targets VR enthusiasts ready for directed cave exploration.
The Blautopf cave system is one of the most spectacular natural phenomena of Southern Germany. Until now, the caves have only been accessible to a small number of scientists. But now, with BlautopfVR you can explore this hidden world through a Mystery Adventure Game.
Every year, over half a million tourist are drawn to the Blautopf in the historic village of Blaubeuren. What attracts them is a beautiful lake, shining intensely in mysterious shades of light blue colours. Underneath lies a broad and branched cave system with meter-high stalactites, underground lakes and huge rock halls, which hides behind the karst-spring. Yet none of the tourists have ever been underground, inside the cave. For over hundreds of thousands of years, this has been uncharted territory. Only in the 1980s, the cave system was discovered and has been successively explored ever since.
Blautopf VR makes it possible for a broad audience to interactively discover the fascinating inner life of the cave system via Virtual Reality. With the technique of Photogrammetry, big parts of the cave were scanned and then digitally rebuilt.
The creators designed the VR-Adventure Game BLAUTOPF VR – THE SECRETS OF LAU based on these virtual 3D-spaces. The player becomes a cave explorer, who is out on the search for his research colleague that goes missing. On his tour, the player is accompanied by his missions chief Karl, who gives him directions via radio signal. Deep inside the cave, the player meets the mysterious figure of the Beautiful Lau, a personification of the cave itself, who depending on the players’ decisions, appears to him as an enemy or as a helpful ghost. This VR-Game is produced for the high-end VR headset HTC Vive System.
A TELLUX NEXT/ SWR production in coproduction with KOHELET3 and IT MEDIA financed by MFG BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG and FFF BAYERN.
