A'dam tower
vr ride

REMASTERED

in partnership with Extra-Axis

In 2021, together with our long-term partners from Extra Axis we launched a VR ride around Amsterdam. Since its start, the ride has been an extremely effective and lively venture that enjoys popularity and a regular tourist flow. The ride was successful from the financial point of view as well: it paid off during the first 3 months since it was released.

Challenge

However, 2 years is enough for the tech industry to evolve radically: we’ve witnessed significant upgrades in VR and video equipment; graphics have got more enhanced as well. All in all, the beauty standards of 3D are different now, — so together with the client’s team we decided to give the Amsterdam VR ride a glow up.

Before

after

Solution

Remastering does not imply any alterations to the ride’s plot. In our case, users’ feedback showed us that the ride is really engaging. Our idea was to polish up the ride’s visuals according to the up-to-date industry standards. Generally, our task was to improve textures resolution, upgrade the 3D models and spice it all up with some post production editing.

More Realism

First of all, we added more ‘big city life’ into the ride’s scenes. We’ve been creating VR rides for 3 years, and we know well how to achieve great performance alongside impressive visuals. So we made Amsterdam look even more realistic: with more people, trees, cars, etc.

Trees look more realistic and have a longer draw range

before

after

The daylight and the clouds are visually more natural

Tulips, the country’s symbolic flowers, are everywhere!

There are more buildings, benches, cafes and everything that makes the city so lively

Before

after

Technologies

Here are the tools and services that we implemented while remastering the VR experience.

before

after

DLSS technology allowed us to upscale the image resolution without sacrificing high performance.

Screen Space Reflections technology is used to optimize screen space data and calculate reflections. Thanks to it, the ride now looks more realistic and artistic.

We’ve also added motion blur to images for a more cinematic experience. This feature also ensures a smoother perception of speed for users.

More VFX

We’ve put a lot of creative energy into visual effects. Look what you can see if you take the ride:

Water and fire portals

Pigeons

Fireworks

Balloons

Dragon’s breath

Before

after

More Animations

Animation makes the ride more immersive and exciting. We added a couple of extra fun animated scenes into the plot.

We added an entertaining opening scene with NPCs, who then cheer the users when they finish the ride.

We’ve glammed up the dragons — now the magnificent creatures move more freely and smoothly, with more inertia through the tail movements.

Cart Upgrade

The cart got its true cyberpunk re-fashion. Now it features devices with animated indicators — and they really catch your attention.

The main dashboard has an electronic speedometer screen. You can view animated cart indicators, the route map and countdown at the start of the ride.

We also re-decorated one of the Easter eggs: the bobble head with our client’s face has a new haircut and outfit.

RESULT

All the remastering process — the concept phase, discussions, production & implementation — took just 3 months. As a result, for a relatively modest budget you’ll get a full-scale revamp of your VR entertainment.

This procedure makes sense if you want to benefit from all the technology advancements and stay ahead of the competition.