Why has that advert been banned, yet the Thirteen one was allowed to stand (although yes I know there was a different edit for post watershed/pre watershed or something like that)

The words more intense live action completely removes any hope I had for redemption in this ride and I highly suspect it means they are sticking a maze on the end.

As for the advert stupid jump scares were never going to be approved and I'm amazed Thorpe even tried to get it aired.

In all honesty, anything is better than the current ending - even a shoddy maze. At least we've got new VR content, which is presumably all the missing characters we saw in the behind the scenes video on BBC.

Trouble is, "live action" probably just means more people poking you whilst you watch the VR.

 

I hope they introduce some real entertainment to the train section.

You could argue the live action section already in the attraction is the best bit. Hopefully this lives up to that.

Call me a cynic but I'm 99% sure that "advert" was never intended for television use at all and the story was just created to try and re-build up some "hype" for the ride

On 22 December 2016 at 9:25 PM, MattyMoo said:

Call me a cynic but I'm 99% sure that "advert" was never intended for television use at all and the story was just created to try and re-build up some "hype" for the ride

 

agreed, even without that lame jump scare, an advert where you're made to count stuff would be really weird to see on TV. they definitely made this for online use then decided to get some publicity by attempting to show it on TV, knowing full well it wouldn't get approved 

Something I don't understand, if they spent three years creating the experience then surely they would have enough time to make the 2nd VR section high quality. For example, the demon looks horrifically rushed (the rendering is crap); was a last minute decision or something?

 

I probably should've said this back in the summer but I may as well mention it.

I believe a lot of the issue came down to Figment. Merlin loaded a relatively small company with both Galactica and Ghost Train. Such a small company that from what I know, they didn't start on Ghost Trains VR until Galactica was basically done and in testing. Especially as VR was a new thing for them too. It's a shame that with Galactica Merlin didn't use MackMedia as that would have been great!

Is Mack's mob even that good at rendering realism though? Like surely the point of the second VR should be to continue the well done portion in the first one?

 

Also, budget would probably dictate the options... Merlin do love a good deal but as in a lot of situations cheaping out on something centrally important to the concept can be a poor overall decision...

I don't know re Mack, but they could have done Galactica. As Figment clearly know what they're doing so if they had only needed to focus on Ghost Train we could have had part one quality throughout. Considering there were meant to be 2 endings from the get go, and Thorpe didn't use the second one as it was bad is concerning as what we got was no where near good. I've heard another problem is Merlin like the ride. Thorpe don't.

1 hour ago, 'Airtime Falcon' said:

Something I don't understand, if they spent three years creating the experience then surely they would have enough time to make the 2nd VR section high quality. For example, the demon looks horrifically rushed (the rendering is crap); was a last minute decision or something?

 

I probably should've said this back in the summer but I may as well mention it.

 

The three year thing shouldn't be taken so literally either.  

 

Major attractions will always take a long time to develop behind the scenes.  It'd be interesting to find out any more details about the timeline of the attraction's development tbh; when was Derren contacted, how long he took to get on board, when they decided to go for a dark ride, when they decided to go for VR, etc. etc.  I imagine after the perceived-failure of Swarm, 2013 was around the time they started to consider a non-coaster major investment, and there were first rumours of a Derren Brown attraction in 2014, so that gives a vague timeline, but nothing specific.

 

Certainly whatever happened, VR must have been later on in the process.  It seems plausible to say that the core idea was always going to be a 'ghost train', with the idea of moving scenes without you noticing, and as time went on, VR became a more viable solution to consider as a way to distract you from the movement.  So the time spent designed the VR is only a fraction of the 3-year time frame.

4 hours ago, Mitchada04 said:

I believe a lot of the issue came down to Figment. 

 

??

http://www.attractionsmanagement.com/detail.cfm?pagetype=detail&subject=news&codeID=329328

Interesting article about some new show tech that's been in the works for a while by Holovis (a dark ride/ simulation company), which, if it did become popularised, would make Derren Brown's nonsensical "headsets on & off" format completely redundant and outdated very quickly. Never wholly believe promotion like this one, but for Derren Brown's Ghost Train it's clear to see the concept could have been done so much better with simulation tech, but VR was used instead for the trend value.

1. I know this subject has long been forgotten but does anyone know the actual way the train works like any behind the scenes footage or pictures ? Only curious and if so don't post it on here send it privately don't want to upset anyone. 

2. What happened to the speculated like 12 different scenes and I know even thorpe park where on bored because when I tweeted them saying "so surely I would have to ride the ride over 20 times to be able to get all the scenes" they replied with "That is correct you know your stuff!" Surely they can't bring out a new scene every year? Or do you reckon they'll bring out a few new scenes this year ? Or just mainly focus on the extra add on? 

1. There are some diagrams a good few pages back which explain how the ride operates; it's a fairly simple 'simulator on a shuttle track' set up as far as I am aware. Or a shuttle track with a bit that can hold the train and acts as a simulator. The only bit that's particularly clever is the raising in and out of the shell train at the start in a way that is hidden from view, but even that is technologically simple. I don't think there are any behind the scenes pics out there yet.

 

2. These are already a thing; different headsets get different characters with slight variations. It might not have got up to 12 but the differences are so slight as to not really matter. The overall experience remains the same. 

59 minutes ago, pluk said:

2. These are already a thing; different headsets get different characters with slight variations. It might not have got up to 12 but the differences are so slight as to not really matter. The overall experience remains the same. 

 

 

Three characters all saying the same lines and 2 (I think) ghosts who say pretty much the same thing and move pretty much the same. Get's pretty boring... They could have been imaginative in the way they vary the telling of the story whilst still matching up to the in train effects.

 

Does my eye look okay to you?
Something Something Greed To Fuel Stuff We Don't Need

Charlie! Charlie! BARK

 

There were 'supposed' to be more alternative scenes but it never took off because they barely got the one version working for the ride to even open.

We'll probably never see them now as it's likely the whole CGI sequences are being remade by another company.. I think

Update coming 17th January.

 

ROTD = rise of the demon then 

Rip Off The Dimwits?

Really Old Train Design?

 

 

Really Odd temperamental dark ride?

 

Might make sense.

Rise of the dead?

Run Off This Dreck?