Tower of Terror Remastered

You may be looking for Tower of Terror: Untold Stories.

Tower of Terror Remastered

Located in Aurora

Builder(s)	GSK
Status	Obsolete
Class	Entertainment
Start Date	August 2016
Completion Date	January 28, 2017
Coordinates	2x -13z
Website	N/A
VP Suite	?

Tower of Terror refers to a series of thrill rides created by GSK. Tower of Terror takes place in an abandoned elevator located inside The Hollywood Tower Hotel, an elaborate façade created to house the ride and its operations systems. According to the back story, riders are placed inside a seemingly ordinary hotel elevator, from which people mysteriously disappeared under the influence of a supernatural element many years prior. Since 2013, the methods used to develop the attraction are collectively referred to as the TX ride system.

Tower of Terror: Untold Stories

Main article: Tower of Terror: Untold Stories

Tower of Terror: Untold Stories is an entirely new experience developed by GSK for Virtual Paradise. Whereas Tower of Terror Remastered was ported and upgraded in quality from ActiveWorlds, and had been in use since 2013 and therefore subject to that platform's restrictions, Untold Stories is developed exclusively for Virtual Paradise from the ground up. Untold Stories can be located in Airpark.

Tower of Terror Remastered

Tower of Terror Remastered is a port of the attraction from ActiveWorlds, where it existed prior to August 2016. For its move to Virtual Paradise, its lobby and show scenes were remastered in high definition to take advantage of Virtual Paradise's numerous benefits.

Tower of Terror Remastered won in the Best Build category in the 2017 Spring Awards.

Updates

Tower of Terror Remastered received regular updates that changed or refined the attraction.

Update 2: HD

Tower of Terror HD is the second major update to the attraction. Instead of introducing new content, this update consists of significant refinements and renovations to the attraction to replace all low resolution or outdated textures with high definition ones, including textures with normal and specular mapping, when appropriate.

Changes in Update 2

• Low resolution textures are being replaced throughout the attraction with high definition ones, including textures with normal and specular mapping, when appropriate.
• The hallway cutouts on the front of the building have been replaced with higher definition iterations, with textures that now include normal mapping.
• The scorch marks on the front of the building have been replaced with a higher definition "rust" texture.
• Some sections of the attraction's exterior that are at eye level now have textures instead of solid color.
• The bordering on the exterior queue has been rebuilt and is now more defined.
• The queue entrance now contains a front gate.
• The terrace decoration in the queue now has lighting and uses higher definition textures and normal mapping.
• The animated "Tower of Terror" sign on the front of the exterior has been removed.

Update 1: The Rectal Thermometer Battle Memorial Update

Tower of Terror: The Rectal Thermometer Battle Memorial Update was published on March 18, 2017; it includes several refinements and improvements to the attraction and one new ride track.

Major changes in Update 1

• Introduced a brand new show scene based on Chafeeville in Blizzard. This scene deviates from the attraction's main storyline and is presented as a side effect of "entering The Twilight Zone". This show scene is presented as a separate ride track, and can be accessed from the selection screen.
• The lobby has been rebuilt using assets from Blizzard.
• When a user begins the original ride track, a lightning strike will hit the front of the hotel prior to their first drop; this strike can be seen and heard by anyone in Aurora, as long as their visibility reaches the attraction.
• The loading level has been deactivated, and guests now proceed to a selection screen to select the track they wish to ride.
• Track sound is now loaded prior to ride start, so sounds are no longer delayed on first ride.
• Introduced an indicator that shows if the user's version of Virtual Paradise is out of date.

Minor changes in Update 1

• The exterior lighting is now more distinctive.
• There are now small variations in show scenes chosen at random when the user begins the ride sequence.
• Pavement outside the attraction now matches the standard pavement in Aurora's Town Square.

Canceled updates

The Trippin' Balls Update

Development on this update began on March 25, 2017. The update's title was revealed on April 13, 2017, and it was scheduled for publishing on April 20, 2017. The update was canceled on April 19 because its headlining features hadn't reached the desired level of quality in time.

Major changes in this update

• Introduced a brand new ride track that remixes the original track into an all-new and exhilarating "trackless" experience.
• The exterior lighting now contrasts better between the top and bottom sections.
• Some parts of the exterior now have a textured face (with normal and specular mapping) instead of solid color.
• The Hollywood Tower Hotel sign has been changed to say "The Hollyweed Tower Hotel" (until May 20, 2017).

Minor changes in this update

• Removed the random show scene variations.
• Improved lighting spread across the attraction's exterior.
• Minor refinements to all show scenes.