March 18, 20178 yr comment_248196 Abandoned themes are certainly the least attractive kinds of theme. At least the Victorian take was slightly refreshing - not like this scrapheap. Come on thorpe.
March 18, 20178 yr comment_248197 Its because it costs less to do 'abandoned', both in maintenance and in sourcing materials for it. Just paint the existing 'warehouse', clad with scrap materials easily sourced, then leave it. People think it looks cool, even though it doesnt really entertain or provoke any excitement, and then you realise the entire park now looks like that and is a miserable place. Shame they insist on using it absolutely everywhere. One of my favourite real-life places is a huge abandoned factory in the woods near some family relatives of mine, incredible detailed surreal place. Amazing vaults and creepy corridors. If they went for THAT kind of "abandoned" it would be amazing. But they go for steel rectangular boxes painted dirty instead.
March 18, 20178 yr comment_248232 I think the 'rise of the demon' idea is probably not perminant, perhaps after each season they change the theme to another experience as their way of developing the ride... just an idea
March 19, 20178 yr comment_248260 That would be a lot of continuous investment for a diminishing reward over time. What I suspect will happen is the rise of the demon will result in guest satisfaction going up slightly and them leaving it at that. I highly doubt it will be as successful as they had hoped and I suspect a fair few will still dislike it. The ride is a flawed concept which I don't think they are able to change now it's been built.
March 20, 20178 yr comment_248329 On 19/03/2017 at 0:57 PM, Project LC said: The ride is a flawed concept which I don't think they are able to change now it's been built. I disagree that the ride is a flawed concept. It is a unique experience when it works, it's just been executed so poorly. Everyone I know and those I've overheard are all saying that the last VR section was the weakest part of the ride. If they have addressed this and fixed the reliability issues, it will be a very good and positively received experience.
March 20, 20178 yr comment_248335 I strongly believe that VR will never be up to what they want it to do. The 1st generation headsets were never designed to be running all day playing the same thing over and over, and no generation of headset will be designed for that either. The graphics will age horrifically as graphics always do, the hardware will become tired and outdated faster than Merlin will be able to keep up with, it's got an IP of a man that in a few years will be completely irrelevant and the ride system is so under used and stuck as a VR tech demo that they might as well just use the chairs from angry birds and be done with it. It is possibly the single most short sighted investment Merlin have ever done and all the problems the ride is giving them they truly deserve. It could have been so much more and a fantastic ride but they had to go with every idea on the table and then throw in some VR so people think they are innovative. It's a flawed concept and a ride that will forever be stuck with the thought of it could have been so much more.
March 20, 20178 yr comment_248338 This ride isn't a flawed concept - or else it wouldn't be causing a divide in opinion because it'd be universally hated/never built. In regards to the IP, it's always been irrelevant to the ride in my opinion, but that doesn't effect it because you just assume "ok he's the one who made this". Looking at the graphics if what they've said about filming real life footage is true then the 'graphics' will simply be an enhanced video, of course the special effects will look slightly odd but that isn't a huge deal (at least for me but maybe I'm just easy to please), and there may still be some CG - albeit re-designed. I somewhat agree that the VR wasnt initially designed to run for that long, but evidentally it's capable of it - but Thorpe (and HTC to some extent) really need to keep on top of this. One or two headsets being off is fine - half of them is not. That being said if Thorpe truly want longevity in this attraction, which by all accounts they do, they'll continue to update it - I personally love the idea of the 'sequels' as the possibilities are quite literally endless. This ride is extremely opinion based, and I think people need to begin to accept that it's always going to be a love hate ride (although that's the case with everything). Whilst Project LC may despise the ride with every inch of their body (not saying that they do or don't), someone else may adore it and make it their all time favourite ride. I like to see myself as someone who accepts it's an amazing ride and it's very good until it's technical difficulties and second half ruin it somewhat. However, based on how enthusiastic and forward thinking the new boss man is I have pretty high hopes for the attraction, so we will have to wait and see...
March 20, 20178 yr comment_248339 1 hour ago, Owen said: I somewhat agree that the VR wasnt initially designed to run for that long, but evidentally it's capable of it - but Thorpe (and HTC to some extent) really need to keep on top of this. One or two headsets being off is fine - half of them is not. That being said if Thorpe truly want longevity in this attraction, which by all accounts they do, they'll continue to update it - I personally love the idea of the 'sequels' as the possibilities are quite literally endless. I see what you mean but this isn't really how the VR gear is built, it doesn't rely on the headgear like domestically and isn't anything to do with HTC or how long the headsets last. When a headset dies, it's like when a light bulb blows or a screen dies - a replacement can be bought and installed, as a standard part. The headsets themselves aren't what are causing the problem That's the 'front end' tech. In a theme park ride there's front end and back end. The back end design (which is all prototype and custom, done all by Figment and the other contractors I believe) is where the problems lie. Its all complicated but should have been far better considered & installed than it was. Also, there were some fundamental flaws in the technical principles of the ride working with VR on board, which means they had a real head scratcher in trying to get the whole thing to even work as a functioning ride. But I don't know the entire ins and outs. The flaws really should have been picked up way before construction, but Merlin were adamant on using VR just for the sake of VR while it was a hot trend. And so it was thrown together. Also they should have used higher grade contractors, or at least ensured more back end quality. Merlin are all about the front end though, they'd much rather show off their expensive HTC headsets than build a good VR control system that works behind the scenes.
March 20, 20178 yr comment_248340 Oh yes I'm aware of all that, I was specifically referring to the headsets having issues such as overheating etc. In regards to the headsets working seamlessly with the ride itself I can't say I had any issues, although I do have to admit merlin love taking on these hugely optimistic projects without always giving it enough time to work out the kinks. I stand by my opinion that Ghost Train was badly thought out and the ride should have had another 6 months of testing before even being thought about to open, and that choosing Figment may have been a mistake (although now it seems they're more confident and I'll reserve judgement). Hopefully they would have sorted this, as like I say they need to. I really do think and hope this years version of Ghost Train will be completely revived and actually manage to remain impressive, like I say the new boss seems to be doing a whole load of good so right now all we can do is have our fingers crossed for the next ten days.
March 20, 20178 yr comment_248341 41 minutes ago, Owen said: Oh yes I'm aware of all that, I was specifically referring to the headsets having issues such as overheating etc. I'm not a VR expert but it was the back end control tech overheating all the time which caused the units to die, which is to do with the technical design for the ride rather than the headsets they're using. As in, someone should have come along and made sure there everything had been considered for maintenance and health of the system, and efficient cooling should have been WAY up there. For whatever reason, probably because (as always happens) someone thought they could save some £1000s by just not building a cooling system in, or it was a total oversight. Not sure which is worse! But the overheating problem was far from the only issue with the ride too. Like you say, the whole thing should have been much better thought through and tested, but rides are rushed out with so much pressure and short time span to capitalise on in-the-moment trends by the company these days, regrettably. I also think its a Heath Robinson kind of attraction. So many different parts to it just to squeeze out less fun than you could probably have in your living room with VR. The greatest part of the attraction, the moving train & simulation between locations, is criminally sidelined by the VR and so much blown on licencing Derren Brown only for him to appear in an average Pepper's Ghost rambling on. I just, personally, didn't see any entertainment factor in it, and I went in with neutral expectations. Dare I say, it seems like a lot of money and a lot of convoluted ideas thrown at something in a desperate attempt to be hipster and trendy?
March 21, 20178 yr comment_248344 Possibly, like I say I didn't hate it but I can see what you mean. I'd say it's a mixture of oversight and possibly an expectation from HTC that wasn't fulfilled (which I suppose is some kind of oversight in itself) - it was after all brand new tech at the time so one has to wonder how much better organised the ride would be if they had waited a year. That being said they have had that year now, so I suppose it's just a case of wait and see now - something will have to be done because they can't keep having it playing up to the extent it did last year!
March 22, 20178 yr comment_248416 Is it strange that whenever I see Rise of the Demon, I think of this song Rise, like a demon!
March 23, 20178 yr comment_248424 10 hours ago, Stuntman707 said: Is it strange that whenever I see Rise of the Demon, I think of this song Rise, like a demon! I always think of Finn Balor
March 23, 20178 yr comment_248430 Thankfully it seems the queue tunnel will match the existing structure, will all wood added and I assume paint to come in the next few days. Credit to Scream Seekers.
March 23, 20178 yr comment_248431 I'm confused. Where on the building are we looking here? What's new, structure wise? Scrub that, got it... Similar positioned pic. What's this crap in front then? I thought the new building area was to the far left of the building as it is viewed here, beyond what would have been the till end of the shop?
March 23, 20178 yr comment_248432 As far as I can tell it's something not initially stated in the redevelopment plans. It could house something for the rumoured new scene or maybe is a relocated photo point, as previously Disabled and Fastrack riders were unable to get a photo.
March 23, 20178 yr comment_248439 It will hopefully organise batching into the building far better and set up the experience more. I think the dumbest moment of Ghost Train last year was the confused baggage window and sausage-machine style 'pushed through a small door' method of getting you into the building. It put most the public around me in a right bitter mood. And what a big missed opportunity that lame curtained door was, entering the building should be one of the most atmospheric parts of a dark ride surely!
March 24, 20178 yr comment_248490 Not sure if "nice" is the right word, but at least it fits in with the rest of the building now.
March 24, 20178 yr comment_248491 Very happy and relieved they have made the rest of the building now match the original. Hopefully the ride ride will have a better season than last year when it reopens.
March 25, 20178 yr comment_248534 He he I think this advert is great. Quite witty and to the point, I think this is a much better tone for the ride and if the redesigned attraction turns out anything like this.. great! Let's wait and see
March 26, 20178 yr comment_248537 Lets just hope that the attraction is actually better than the advert (or a correct representation of the advert), unlike last year...
March 26, 20178 yr comment_248538 Allegedly people have now ridden the ride, according to people at the resort yesterday. Whilst no reviews have have been given just yet, it seemed to go down very well, suggesting a significant improvement...
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