Introduction to Battle For Eire Virtual Reality Ride

Hello Lads and Lasses

Charmed to meet ya’. My name is Liam, and I’ll be your behind-the-scenes tour guide for Busch Gardens® Williamsburg’s virtual reality attraction, Battle For Eire™ - Action VR Ride, opening spring 2018.

Before your bravery and luck can be put to the test in this 360-degree virtual reality experience, there’s a lot of work to be done around the castle. Every month I’ll be reporting on the activity of the creative designers and engineers working hard to prepare for your journey.

Story Developments

The storytellers have discovered The Otherworld, a magical dimension connected to the Ireland that humans know and love. As the last fairy guardian to survive the evil forces at hand, our main character, Addie, will need all the help she can get to save both worlds.

Lately this team has been working diligently to lock in the details of the final script for your experience. There are a lot of details that go into determining who you’ll meet and how you’ll interact with the characters. That means picking the best dialogue, selecting the voice talent, and even finding room for a few surprises – I promised to keep their secret. Even though there are many details left to figure out, they plan on leaving the final the outcome of the story up to you!

Character Development

Speaking of who you’ll meet, Addie has been getting quite a bit of attention lately. There are some perks to being the main character after all. Her voice will be done by a native Irish speaker, and the modelers and animators are finalizing how she will appear in the VR head gear.

They are doing the same for the other magical creatures you’ll encounter in this quest next year, but you’ll have to meet them a little later.

Characters are starting to come to life in the developmental process. Here is an early rendering of the main character, Addie.

Note: This is behind-the-scenes information and details showing stage 1 of development of Battle For Eire. This is not the final production and changes are subject to be made throughout the process. Please follow along over the next few months.

The Technical Team

The current motion base simulator has been used to bring multiple adventures to life in your world (Europe in the Air) and many other fantastical places (Corkscrew Hill). This time around the team is reprogramming it to work simultaneously with proprietary head gear that will let you experience Addie’s home – The Otherworld – in an immersive experience that surrounds you.Preliminary testing of the prototypes for the headgear and its synchronization of the motion base are underway. It appears that this creative team is excited to continue the progress of these developments bringing you closer and closer to the final battle for our worlds.

Check back each month for further reports on the behind-the-scenes updates for the Battle For Eire, opening at Busch Gardens Williamsburg spring of 2018.