He spent years touring the world placing himself in critical survival conditions so he may present us the best way to get out of them. Now, 6 years after his survival present, Les Stroud is at it once more — this time with a virtual-reality survival simulator.
Les Stroud has all the time admired artists who by no means cease creating. The ones who die nonetheless making their artwork, who develop and evolve and alter with their craft, with out stopping or giving it up. Those are his true position fashions.
“I love them. And I look up to those artists,” Stroud instructed GearJunkie. Adding, of his personal artwork, “I actually don’t need to cease.“
And he doesn’t plan to. With his soon-to-release virtual-reality (VR) survival simulator, the previous “Survivorman” tv star plans to proceed educating survival — though he’s been retired from his hit present for six years.
Stroud’s ardour for what he calls “edutainment” (schooling + leisure) hasn’t waned in any respect.
Meet ‘Survivorman VR: Into the Descent’
“Think of it like a simulator for helicopter flying,” Stroud mentioned of the “Survivorman VR” online game.
Appropriately, it begins with a helicopter crash on the facet of a mountain. You survive, however to remain alive, you’ll need to make use of classes from Stroud.
He shall be proper there with you (digitally) within the VR house. He’ll information you thru the steps, name you out if you do one thing improper, and have a good time with you if you get issues proper.
For gamers, it is going to be like they had been pulled straight into an episode of “Survivorman.”
And “Into the Descent” is simply the primary situation — the pilot, if you’ll. Stroud hopes that if that is profitable, he and his companions at Cream Digital will be capable to take this survival simulator to as many locations as his present, “Survivorman,” took him.
“Now that we’re really into it, I realized, ‘Hang on, we’ve got jungles, we’ve got deserts, we’ve got oceans, we’ve got forests.’ And it goes on and on,” Stroud mentioned. “The amount of scenarios are endless.”
This is Stroud’s method of constant his artwork, of rising and evolving with it. He will not be doing the TV present anymore, however he’s making a VR instrument for individuals who need extra of it.
It’s his newest manifestation of edutainment, and he’s clearly excited in regards to the potentialities. Fans of Stroud — or comfort-of-your-home survival challenges — can search for an early 2023 launch date.
Meet Les Stroud: Survivorman
Stroud grew to become well-known within the early 2000s for his hit Discovery TV present, “Survivorman.” Throughout eight seasons, he put himself into survival conditions most individuals solely expertise in nightmares. And that was solely half of the problem — as a result of Stroud was additionally his personal digicam crew and director.
“There was always two roads to walk. One was, I’ve got to survive,” Stroud mentioned. He needed to fear about toxic animals, bugs, and vegetation; he needed to feed himself; keep hydrated and heat; and, ultimately, escape the wilderness a method or one other.
“Then the second road was, ‘Oh, wait, right. I’m a filmmaker and I have to film this whole bloody story,’” he mentioned. “So I needed to actually use either side of my mind that method.“
Before capturing in a given space, he’d prepare with an area survival professional to actually find out about that particular area. Stroud would additionally watch YouTube movies, amassing any intelligent tips he may to carry out into the sector. The tips didn’t all the time work, he mentioned. But that also performed in his favor.
“[I’d] try to get a fire going with chocolate, a pop can, and sand in the Kalahari Desert,” Stroud mentioned, as a result of he’d seen another person do it on YouTube. “But for the very first time, does it truly work? Can you actually do it proper? It’s freaking laborious … I liked that as a result of [viewers] noticed me fail, and it was actual.“
That added a stage of authenticity to “Survivorman” that different survival exhibits merely couldn’t replicate.
Life After ‘Survivorman’
“Survivorman” took Stroud to among the most unique and unforgiving elements of the planet over its eight seasons. He survived at sea, within the deep outback of Australia, in Papua New Guinea, within the Grenada jungle, within the Himalayan foothills of India, and past.
But after 51 episodes, Stroud needed to cease. He’d taken the present far, he’d used his platform to teach and entertain a whole lot of 1000’s — probably thousands and thousands — inspiring younger individuals around the globe to get out into the wilderness.
He additionally impressed an entire new wave of spinoff survival exhibits and YouTube channels (Bear Grylls, “Dual Survival,” and so forth.).
But his ardour for educating survival abilities hasn’t light with retirement. He says he’s regularly drawn again to it. That’s precisely how and why he began working with Cream Digital on this newest mission, “Survivorman VR: Into the Descent.”
The sport launches in early 2023 on Meta Quest 2 and PC VR headsets. Visit the “Survivorman VR” web site for more information.
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