Techs’ Mechs: Leaving Reality Behind : Leisure: O.C. centers offer car racing, white-water rafting and high-flying jet fighting as computer alternatives to life as we know it.

Finding it hard to get a grip on reality? Virtual reality may be the next best thing. In fact, you can virtually check reality at the door at any of several new enterprises in Orange County.

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At these virtual-reality centers, junior executives can detox by doing battle on a faraway desert planet, harried moms can chill out behind the wheel of an Indy formula racer, stressed-out teens can break away from studying ancient history for a spell in the cockpit of a jet fighter, and even little kids can get a taste of rafting down treacherous white-water rapids.

Neophytes may be disappointed to find that virtual-reality experiences don’t involve headsets and goggles, take place in a wraparound IMAX theater or resemble “Star Trek’s” Holodeck.

But there will be no letdown for anyone who appreciates simply wreaking havoc, or just racing around, in computer-generated, total-immersement multimedia scenarios.

Virtual reality is still being defined. All such programs are computer-generated, all have participants seated before high-resolution video screens and all, though they might be found in arcades, feature high-quality simulations that make them a far cry from pinball and Pong games of yore.

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Some use individual screens, others large monitors shared by a group. Some programs are interactive, with pilots calling the shots with joysticks and as many as 120 manual controls, others are not. Some employ stationary single-seat cockpits, others benches and hydraulics to shake up the action.

No matter how it’s accomplished, the luxury of flight from an ever-more baffling reality, even for a few minutes at a time, into alternative realities where at least the program seems to make sense, is more and more at a premium. And who’s to say what’s real?

Some regulars find that it’s human contact, not escape into a solitary alternate reality, that is the real draw of virtual-reality centers.

“It’s the camaraderie that brings me back; I’ve built some good friendships here,” said Jerry Stuckenschneider, 38, who has completed more than 1,000 missions and achieved Master status at Virtual World in Costa Mesa. “Tomorrow night, a bunch of us are going out to dinner and going bowling.”

Virtual World--a digital mini-theme park that is one of 23 Virtual World locations in the United States, Japan and Australia--opened at Triangle Square in May. For now, its BattleTech (“No guts, no galaxy”) and Red Planet (“Velocity = Victory”) programs are at the forefront of interactive technology. Tim Disney, Walt’s grandnephew, is CEO.

Sega City, which opens at the Morocco-themed Entertainment Center at the Irvine Spectrum on Wednesday is modeled on VirtuaLand at the Luxor hotel-casino in Las Vegas. The centerpieces of the arcade will be virtual Daytona USA Special and Indy 500 formula racing, and two fighter-plane simulators, complete with 360-degree rotation.

McThriller, in a Buena Park McDonald’s, seats 14 in motion simulator offering more than a dozen adventure experiences, including white-water rafting, a Harrier jump jet flight and 90-m.p.h. downhill skiing. It’s been McThrilling kids for two years.

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On the front window outside Virtual World is the message: “New ideas are always dangerous, especially to the uninitiated, the uninformed.”

Inside, the decor is future grunge, like a set from “Mad Max” or “Waterworld.” Scattered about the Explorer’s Lounge are an Internet access station, Virgin Megastore listening posts (and a passageway into the Megastore itself), and a snack bar offering cappuccinos and Mandy’s fudge brownies.

Your biggest decision at Virtual World may be deciding which adventure to embark on.

Manning the reservations desk, Drachmar (technician Andrew White) described the two possibilities: In BattleTech, pilots control 30-foot-tall, 70-ton walking battle tanks called Mechs and race around “a big gladiatorial field of combat” in a free-for-all mission where everybody attempts to disable or destroy the others’ vehicles. In Red Planet, pilots race Hovercraft-like vehicles through the canals of Mars.

Individual missions range from $7 to $9. “We call them missions, adventures or encounters, never games,” explained Koy (marketing manager Jeff Ginsburg).

First-time pilots can book two missions, one of each, and choose the third for free. There’s a one-time $1 pilot’s fee for an official Virtual Geographic League card with your call sign, essential for keeping track of your missions.

All great adventures begin in the library, and Virtual World’s no exception. Behind harmless-looking shelves are briefing rooms where neophyte pilots watch backgrounder videos and learn about cockpit controls; from there you move to the Containment Bay, which holds three sets of eight pods, or cockpits. Each pod has more than 120 controls; beginners use four to six.

When cockpit time is over, the mission is reviewed on overhead monitors back out in the lounge. You can watch an aerial view of the battle or race, and follow damage status and score information for each player second by second--and take home a printout for bragging rights. Regulars keep their score sheets in binders.

Each mission, from briefing through debriefing, takes 25 to 30 minutes, and the wait for departure ranges from five minutes to one hour. Actual cockpit time is 10 minutes.

At Virtual World, 20- to 27-year-old males make up the majority of the clientele; 70% of customers are return pilots. The male-to-female ratio is 7:3.

“We’re working on improving that [ratio],” Koy said. “We’re coming out with new adventures that are less destruction-oriented.” (An Atlantis adventure, in which participants explore the lost city in submarines, is due in 1997.) Death and destruction at Virtual World are relative in any case; if your Barge or Thor V6 Mech is disabled, you’re immediately re-equipped near the point of disablement.

Statistical averages don’t tell the whole story, of course. On a recent visit, there was a smattering of kids and plenty of middle-age adults. Among the latter, regulars include a gynecologist who uses the call sign “Papa.”

“Sometimes he comes in in his scrubs,” said Eggman (general manager Ben Brigman). “This has replaced golf for him. In golf, you’re in a standard country club environment. Here, you see Papa talking with people you just know he’d never talk to in real life--a UCI engineering student, a captain of a fishing boat. . . . You meet all sorts of different types of people.”

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McThriller offers five of its 13 adventure experiences per day. Users can choose the experience, and each is two to three minutes long. Outside, it resembles a big blue van without wheels; inside, bench-sharing participants stationed before a large screen jerk, glide, rock and roll with the visual punches. The cost is $2.50 for adults, $1.50 for 12 and under. Business is seasonal: When the nearby amusement parks are busy, McThriller is busy.

The thrills are visceral but not interactive.

“The basic technology is the same as Star Tours at Disneyland,” said Bryan Carmack, a McDonald’s franchise co-owner. “The movement of the capsule is coordinated with the video to give the sensation of speed and motion. It was originally designed by Hughes Aircraft so pilots would get those sensations. You feel like you’ve done it, not like you’ve watched a video.”

Sega City, described by Sega USA’s director of site development, David Wilhoyte, as a 15,000-square-foot “high-tech, family-oriented interactive amusement operation,” will offer thrills that are visceral and interactive.

Sega’s racing software uses eight full-size racing car cockpits, each with its own 74-inch video monitor, all interlinked. Each participant competes against seven other drivers, and the cars move and shake interactively with the drivers’ maneuvers at virtual speeds up to 250 m.p.h. Cockpit cameras allow friends and family to watch drivers’ reactions. Two fighter-plane simulators, known as R-360s, are linked for combat, one person per machine.

When Sega City opens, games will be $2 to $4.

Virtual World offers few physical sensations but seemingly endless variety. Interaction is paramount, and according to Koy, the sensitivity of the program makes moving parts not only unnecessary, but unadvisable.

“You get the sensation of movement from watching the screen, and from the noises,” he explained. “You feel yourself moving and ducking. But there are no hydraulics. If there were hydraulics, they would be very hard to control, because the screen motion is so realistic. These digital joysticks are extreeemely hypersensitive. It’s push the joystick left to go left, right to go right, as usual, but if I were bouncing left and right, I wouldn’t be able to control it.

“What’s cool here is you can pick 40 different Mechs to pilot,” Koy continued. “The robots have different speeds, different armors, different strengths and weaknesses. You can choose different times of day, different weather conditions, different visibility, different terrains, and you’re always playing against real people, different people, so it’s never the same twice.

“It’s a never-ending universe--and it keeps getting larger as you get better.”

* What: Virtual World.

* When: Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 1 a.m.; Sundays, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.

* Where: Triangle Square, 1875 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa.

* Whereabouts: Take the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway south until it ends. Continue along Newport Boulevard and look for Triangle Square on the right.

* Wherewithal: Mondays through Fridays until 5 p.m., $7 per adventure. Mondays through Thursdays after 5 p.m., $8. Fridays after 5 p.m. through Sundays, $9.

* Where to call: (714) 646-2495.

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* What: McThriller.

* When: Sundays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays till midnight.

* Where: McDonald’s, 7861 Beach Blvd., Buena Park.

* Whereabouts: Take the Riverside (91) Freeway to the Beach Boulevard exit and head south.

* Wherewithal: Adults $2.50, 12 and under $1.50.

* Where to call: (714) 521-2303.

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* What: Sega City.

* When: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, starting Wednesday.

* Where: The Entertainment Center at the Irvine Spectrum.

* Whereabouts: The Irvine Spectrum is at the confluence of the San Diego (405) and Santa Ana (5) freeways. Exit from either freeway at Irvine Center Drive.

* Wherewithal: $2 to $4.

* Where to call: Phones had yet to be hooked up at presstime.