Epcot's World Showcase & IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth - wolfpaw | Work In Progress

[wolfpaw]

If you've been an active member of our Discord server, then this should come as no surprise to you! I've officially begun production on my next big project - which is an exact and ultimate recreation of both World Showcase Lagoon and IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth from Walt Disney World's Epcot.

This is a huge project and will require many hurdles to overcome, but it is an important passion project of mine as this show holds a very special place for me. Ever since seeing this show in person, it has kickstarted and set a fire in me to be more creative... It was this very show that even got me into RCT3, pyro, and eventually into digital art. (Does this mean I have IllumiNations to thank for getting the professional job I have now? Maybe...)

I was extremely saddened to see Disney permanently remove this extraordinary spectacle and I feel the world needs a show/piece like this now more than ever. I've taken it upon myself to try and recreate this show as faithfully as possible to continue the legacy and remembrance that this show has left behind for so many people, myself included.

As I've mentioned before, if you've been a part of our Discord server, then you've probably seen me jumping on call and building out this massive project. I'm being extremely transparent with how I'm building this project from the ground up so I invite you to join us sometimes if you ever want to watch or just hang out and chat while I work on this! I've started with World Showcase Lagoon and have quite a good chunk of it completed already but I will begin rolling out official updates on this thread!

I hope you look forward to seeing both World Showcase and IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth come back alive soon! In the meantime, I'll leave you all with the first official update, direct from World Showcase Lagoon:

Kicking off our countries showcase, I've started with The American Adventure! 

I started with The American Adventure as it is situated directly in the center of World Showcase Lagoon. From here, it's much more manageable to create the surrounding countries to make sure it all lines up (and the Lagoon circle actually closes correctly)!

More updates to follow but I'm excited to be working on a new project and to finally publicly share it with you all!

[Gin]

I'm alive! Came back just to see this finally be posted on here.

For a recreation done on a 20yr. old game, well done!

You've always stated how much the original show (IllumiNations) was far better than any show at EPCOT since. I'm curious to see how you pull it off.

What are you using as a reference for the construction of the showcase pavilions?

 

[Anon-P]

As I remembering your IllumiNations of old, this is gonna be a treat.

[Aerick McCullough]

Looking forward to the completion of this project. I just gave him the video on behind the scenes that includes the full globe footage. Yesterday, I gave him an aerial overview on where the barges are located at, including the lasers and lights.

Edited October 1 by Aerick McCullough

[m00nkinftw]

Damn that looks awesome so far! Also thanks for the reminder that I need to check out Discord from time to time since I keep forgetting people post cool stuff there as well.

[Cody]

I am super excited for this version. It has been amazing following along your progress and even having really good discussions on how to approach different areas. All this for a firework show still baffles me, but that is dedication!

[RCT3fan23]

I'm really excited for this! I enjoy the progress streams & discussions.

[StickyGum32]

Oh nooo I've got to go hide before he finds me again...

"It's looking really good" is what I would say if I were here and not hiding, but I'm hiding and not here, so I shan't say anything at all.

- StickyGum32

[wolfpaw]

On 10/1/2024 at 4:47 PM, Gin said:

I'm alive! Came back just to see this finally be posted on here.

For a recreation done on a 20yr. old game, well done!

You've always stated how much the original show (IllumiNations) was far better than any show at EPCOT since. I'm curious to see how you pull it off.

What are you using as a reference for the construction of the showcase pavilions?

 

HI GIN! Welcome back! I'm using a mix of Google Images, 3D Google Maps, and memory to recreate World Showcase. Also, yes, IllumiNations Reflections of Earth is the best show ever and I am willing to die on that hill.

On 10/1/2024 at 5:59 PM, Anon-P said:

As I remembering your IllumiNations of old, this is gonna be a treat.

Thanks! It's fun to revisit this classic show.

On 10/1/2024 at 7:24 PM, Aerick McCullough said:

Looking forward to the completion of this project. I just gave him the video on behind the scenes that includes the full globe footage. Yesterday, I gave him an aerial overview on where the barges are located at, including the lasers and lights.

You've been a big help so far, thanks so much! Excited to see how this all turns out and hope you will enjoy the show!

On 10/2/2024 at 1:53 AM, m00nkinftw said:

Damn that looks awesome so far! Also thanks for the reminder that I need to check out Discord from time to time since I keep forgetting people post cool stuff there as well.

Thanks! Hope to see you on one of our build calls someday!

On 10/2/2024 at 4:39 PM, Cody said:

I am super excited for this version. It has been amazing following along your progress and even having really good discussions on how to approach different areas. All this for a firework show still baffles me, but that is dedication!

All of this for an IMPORTANT and GOOD show, yes  Thanks Cody, glad you've been enjoying the build calls we've been having recently!

On 10/3/2024 at 3:25 PM, RCT3fan23 said:

I'm really excited for this! I enjoy the progress streams & discussions.

Thanks for the response, glad to see you were able to join us for one night!

14 hours ago, StickyGum32 said:

Oh nooo I've got to go hide before he finds me again...

"It's looking really good" is what I would say if I were here and not hiding, but I'm hiding and not here, so I shan't say anything at all.

- StickyGum32

I need: IllumiNations Reflections of Earth torch properly scaled, a properly scaled Eiffel Tower, a properly scaled San Marco tower for Italy, and while you're at it lets just go ahead and you build the Port of Entry and some of the countries and I'll just plop them in there. Kthx

Thanks for all the wonderful comments so far everyone! Got the next country update for you all today - say hello (or I guess kon'nichiwa) to Japan! 

More official updates to follow!

[m00nkinftw]

Saw it on the RCT reddit, man it looks awesome! It's just such a shame that RCT3 doesn't add shadows to the custom objects. Fingers crossed they can somehow make that work in OpenRCT3