Six Flags New England 2016- Fireball and Superman: The Ride

[Paradox]

Tell me how abysmal the operations are lol

[Oscar]

slosprint will be at Six Flags New England tomorrow to cover media day on our behalf! He'll be bringing us pics, video clips and his review of the ride! Checkout this thread, our Twitter account and Facebook page for updates.

Thanks for posting the news.

[slosprint]

Am currently there. Was just interviwed by the daily planet. Miss Massachussetts is here. I got free fudge. Will post actual report later. Oh and based on the seats in the queue those uncomfortable ankle restraints are gone!

[Paradox]

slosprint wrote:

Oh and based on the seats in the queue those uncomfortable ankle restraints are gone!

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Oscar]

Superman the Ride Virtual Reality Coaster Stats & Fun Facts:

• Structure Coloring: Track is red and blue
• Train Coloring: Red and silver, blue and silver
• Height: 208ft (221ft drop)
• Speed: 77mph
• Capacity: 34 passengers with 2 trains
• Track: 5,400ft long track
• Ride Time: 2 minutes and 30 seconds

[slosprint]

Ok I'm out of the park headed home. The ride was much better than expected and overall I think that aside from waiting times the VR is a positive change. You can choose to ride without headsets still if you want (obviously), so the change isn't forced like the Bizzaro audio was and therefore you can still enjoy the ride in its pure form if you want. To clarify the ankle restraints ARE gone on Superman (yay!), but the legroom situation is still as bad as it ever was. Also the restraints hit me on my legs rather than my waist; which was slightly uncomfortable but not a big deal. I'll give a full writeup with details on the VR and pictures tonight.

[slosprint]

OK!

Let's get this started with some disclosure. The following is a complete account of what I received for free from the park; and while I hope it won't affect my review whatsoever, it's important I let you guys know what I got so you can decide if I'm a sellout. Free stuff is as follows:

• 1 Admission ticket to the park
• 1 Shiny red Superman cape
• 8 oz Birthday Cake Fudge, with a Superman sticker on it saying "This Changes Everything!" (Haven't eaten it yet, will let you know if everything changes.)
• 1 Media VIP lanyard with 2 interchangeable cards
• 1 Locker rental outside Superman
• 1 Brunch (2 strips of bacon and some sort of French Toast idk what it was)
• 1 Folder with a fact sheet, and a sheet with a bunch of corporate buzzwords
• 1 Evil glare from Miss Bay State

These were the first things I ever got for free from Six Flags.

With that out of the way; here's how the day went. I waited at the gate with a few other people; A radio crew, the 1%, an angry lady, Ms Bay State, her assistant, her mysterious glass box (more on them later), and a man with a ladder. The gates opened and we were given the full TSA inspection. Metal detectors, beeping wands, baskets for things. I must say they really did well with the airport theme for the front gates. The guy behind the detector asked me what was in the bag. I said fudge, a cape and a folder. He looked at me like I was crazy, looked in the bag, then let me through. The park was practically empty at that point, which made for a nice walk down to Superman.

Scream Tower, angry lady, and the 1%

Security guard with his cleanin' and beatin' stick

A deserted midway

Scream Tower being eaten by a tree

First glimpse of Superman

Paint looks great!

Missed a spot

Discount Stomp

Hope that glare doesn't leak through the VR. More on that later.

I have go out to dinner. I'll get into details on the VR and rides later on.

That "Superman VR" sounds marvelous!

[slosprint]

I'll finish this post soon guys. We had a bit of a tragedy and then a graduation in the family so I haven't really had time to get to the main text post.

[Oscar]

slosprint wrote:

I'll finish this post soon guys. We had a bit of a tragedy and then a graduation in the family so I haven't really had time to get to the main text post.

Thank you

[slosprint]

Sorry about taking so long to get the next part up. There is just so much I want to say that I've decided to divide it up piece by piece. This post will be dedicated to talking about the technology utilized for Superman VR, the pros and cons, and the way I see this technology changing moving forward. I'm going to try to make everything here understandable to anyone reading, tech savvy or not, and be as objective as possible in talking about the experience. There will be more pictures in future posts, this one will be a wall of text because it needs to be.

So, let's talk VR. Six Flags has entered a partnership with Samsung in order to bring VR to many coasters throughout their parks, Superman being the latest and greatest. There are challenges that this latest ride poses technologically, which I will go over in a moment, and some benefits as well; such as forces which are unparalleled by any other coaster currently utilizing VR, making the experience all the more intense. The VR headset the ride uses is the Samsung Gear, with Galaxy S6 Edges attached. What this means is there is a headset and phone working side by side, the headset feeding the phone precise rotational and movement readings, and providing the lenses for the phone to render and display the image through to the rider. There are several upsides to this method, including a completely wireless headset that can be separated from the phone, which is good for heavy use because when something breaks the entire unit does not need to be replaced. There are other benefits too; they are much easier to clean than other VR sets which is a requirement since each set must be cleaned after each ride.

The biggest downside I experienced with the gear was the inability to wear glasses underneath the headset. If you are nearsighted like me then you can expect a blurry ride. I wish they had more room for adjustment like the Vive, which comfortably fits over most kinds of eyewear. Another issue which may not appear on other coasters was the refresh rate, which is not advertised on the S6 Edge, but I would estimate it to be around 60hz (60 frames per second). I came to this estimate based on the advertised latency of the Gear, which is slightly less than 20ms (the time it takes from the motion input to the video output); which means 50hz is the absolute minimum which it could be, and 60hz is the standard and therefore most likely. The problem with this is Superman travels at 77 mph, meaning at its peak speed the rider will have traveled nearly 2 feet in-between frames. This results in a noticeable motion blur (The display is AMOLED, which produces an apparent blur between frames), and I think for a clear image at least 90hz if not 120hz will be a necessity. The third downside is rendering quality; which while good for a smartphone; cannot compete with a desktop GPU. The way the setup currently works is a large tracking system from the middle of the train relays the train???s position on the ride to the headsets; which take in the rider???s viewing angle to render and display the scene. The way I see this working in a few years??? time is the headsets relay data to the main computer(s) on the train (the box is big to house several full-sized systems), which then render and send video back to the headsets. A custom wired solution is feasible if the headsets were to plug into the cars. The final downside is the Gear does not feature actual positional tracking, which means a rider can???t lean to the side and look down on the way up the hill. This would add to the immersion immensely and could be easily implemented with trackers mounted on the rider???s car, which is stationary relative to them. Oh and one last thing, the animators didn???t take into account that trains could stack behind the station, meaning Superman just sits there holding your VR monorail train staring into your soul with cold, dead eyes for around 2 minutes at the end. It???s really creepy.

Enough of downsides though, this technology has nearly unlimited potential and I was pleasantly surprised with the overall experience. As someone who has ridden Superman dozens of times, and has the layout memorized; I was astounded to realize that within the context of VR, I had no memory or idea for was coming next. The surprises that only wooden coasters had given me in the past were constant throughout the ride, bringing me to the odd conclusion that the real future for the authentic wood coaster experience might just lie in this technology. I know that sounds like a crazy statement, but it???s honestly hard to quantify what I mean so all I can say is go ride it yourself, and see if you agree. The resolution was really good compared to other headsets (1,280 x 1440 per eye), with a high pixel-density in the center of vision. It was also very comfortable to wear for the duration of the ride, even under high-forces. The only comfort issue at all was the neck strap kept flying up and hitting me in the face, but you can always just tuck it in your shirt.

I guess in the end I found the ride confusing in the best way possible. I went in thinking the experience would be entirely different than it was, and came out unable to really put into words what I had just ridden. The feeling of riding a world-class coaster with the visual feedback of there being absolutely no track, regardless of what the scene displays is something I now want to try more of, and want desperately to know the limits to which it can be pushed. I think my ideal scenario would be a biplane in a WWI dogfight on a ride like Cheetah Hunt, or more interestingly a ride specifically designed to emulate the experience it displays. I know my list of negatives was long, but the whole so much outweighs the sum of the parts in this case that I cannot recommend this ride highly enough. Stop what you are doing RIGHT NOW and go ride it. I???m serious. Do it.

More parts to come, I will also do my best to answer any questions you may have.

[Paradox]

Strange you say that about the glasses. I have a gear vr of my own and it fits perfectly over my glasses.

[slosprint]

Paradox wrote:

Strange you say that about the glasses. I have a gear vr of my own and it fits perfectly over my glasses.

Different glasses maybe? idk, wouldn't comfortably go over mine and they are pretty average glasses.

[mkingy]

slosprint wrote:

Enough of downsides though, this technology has nearly unlimited potential and I was pleasantly surprised with the overall experience. As someone who has ridden Superman dozens of times, and has the layout memorized; I was astounded to realize that within the context of VR, I had no memory or idea for was coming next.

This so much, I was completely lost when riding Galactica, it's incredible the effect is has on you! Nice little report so far

slosprint wrote:

What this means is there is a headset and phone working side by side, the headset feeding the phone precise rotational and movement readings, and providing the lenses for the phone to render and display the image through to the rider.

Actually its the phone's internal Gyro sensor that reads the movement, its just 2 lenses on a phone.

[slosprint]

straightbanana wrote:

slosprint wrote:

What this means is there is a headset and phone working side by side, the headset feeding the phone precise rotational and movement readings, and providing the lenses for the phone to render and display the image through to the rider.

Actually its the phone's internal Gyro sensor that reads the movement, its just 2 lenses on a phone.

Not true, the Gear features an IMU for improved rotational tracking which feeds data to the phone via USB. The internal gyro is not precise enough for the purposes of VR (beyond that of google cardboard).

I stand corrected and apologize for my ignorance!

[Coasterkidmwm]

IDK I still don't like the whole VR thing. It seems dumb unless you're on a family ride.

^ I'm kind of curious about if the Giant Frisbee gets a VR device! That sounds pretty good, actually for repetitive swings for couple of minutes!

lol240 wrote:

^ I'm kind of curious about if the Giant Frisbee gets a VR device! That sounds pretty good, actually for repetitive swings for couple of minutes!

Or VR on a robot arm!

[Paradox]

I was able to ride this with VR today. It was pretty cool, but nothing too exciting. I like the ride much more without it. To give you an idea of how badly executed this is, I was able to ride Wicked Cyclone 10 times today in a 1 hour period whereas Superman had a 2 hour wait about a half hour after opening. The park claimed the wait was due to "popularity" but I'm pretty sure we all know it's because they understaff the ride greatly. There was absolutely no one to help adjust headsets and many people had theirs fall out or just not work at all.

Fireball is a pretty fun ride, but a bit nauseating. I couldn't ride it more than once.

Also happy to report that Wicked Cyclone's vibrations are non existent now.