Ryan Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 I thought Air, sorry Galactica, was opening later? Not anymore. Ian-S 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 Great to see Galactica's opening earlier. At the end of the day it's Air mk2 so the ride system (bar the VR) will be exactly the same. I'm hoping the pushed date is as a result of being ahead of schedule rather a rushed theming job. Edit- actually I'm starting to reckon the reason they've pushed Galactica's opening forward may be due to the recent ongoing case with the Smiler which may as a result still be closed at the start of this season somewhat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glitch Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 I wonder if you can take the headset off mid-ride? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchada04 Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 Towers can open Smiler when they want, it's their/Merlins decision now. Not an external factor. But, they may not want to open the ride if your story was going to still be ongoing and into the courts. With a court date settled, they may want to keep Smiler closed till after that. There was no real reason for Galactica not to be ready for start of season, maybe they had always aimed for Easter weekend but were saying April as they were hoping to just get Smiler out the way in March. Maybe Galactica would have soft opened in March. I doubt we'll know till the 19th March whether Smiler is opening at the beginning of the year or not as we all watch the Facebook pages post updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L7123456 Posted March 9, 2016 Report Share Posted March 9, 2016 Don't know if this has been mentioned or not but Galactica's soundtrack is being produced by IMAscore [emoji322][emoji106] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyMoo Posted March 9, 2016 Report Share Posted March 9, 2016 AT released a preview of some of the VR on Galactica at midday today no one is evidently that bothered as it hasn't been posted on here https://www.facebook.com/altontowersresort/videos/10153815534356201/ Mer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted March 9, 2016 Report Share Posted March 9, 2016 Seems like a waste to not upload that video using Facebook's / Youtube's 360 degree video stuff. Looks alright, but it feels a bit too CGI to me at the mo? Like I was more wanting / expecting it to feel a bit more real? Obviously can't judge it without being there, but that's been the immediate though that sprung to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchada04 Posted March 9, 2016 Report Share Posted March 9, 2016 They could have used some of the Time Voyagers stuff! Merlin love to reuse everything they can, unless they somehow overwrote the video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted March 9, 2016 Report Share Posted March 9, 2016 Time Voyagers is best left on the cutting room floor... It looks like a video game, like REALLY like one... I shall remain unconvinced forever more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted March 9, 2016 Report Share Posted March 9, 2016 That actually looks pretty good, if you know the track layout you'll know that's coming from the left station right up to almost the top of the lift hill, I wonder how good the rest of it is. It is CGI yes, but then that's all VR is. Because if 'reasons' we only planned to return to Towers for the Smiler this year (it's a long trip for us in a 14 year old Micra), but I'm actually looking forward more to this than Smiler... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted March 9, 2016 Report Share Posted March 9, 2016 Doesn't go through enough just opening in time sliding doors for my liking. Tom and Ian-S 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraX Posted March 10, 2016 Report Share Posted March 10, 2016 Seems a shame to loose that awesome view of Nemesis below you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted March 10, 2016 Report Share Posted March 10, 2016 ^^ just pop the glasses up for a few seconds lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MachoMachine Posted March 10, 2016 Report Share Posted March 10, 2016 Nice little read! http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/family-kids-news/alton-towers-galactica-replace-air-11023240 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zach Posted March 10, 2016 Report Share Posted March 10, 2016 This is a multi-million pound investment and not just us grabbing headsets off a shelf and sticking them on people’s heads. Made me cringe slightly given how desperately Towers needs new rides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted March 10, 2016 Report Share Posted March 10, 2016 One thing which I think worth pointing out is that it's been mentioned that this is a "multi-million" pound investment in what Merlin have said is a low investment year. So it's reassuring to see that even low investments do have the backing they need to make them, hopefully, good investments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchada04 Posted March 10, 2016 Report Share Posted March 10, 2016 Think this and Rollercoaster Restaurant add up to 5 million in total. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted March 10, 2016 Report Share Posted March 10, 2016 Gotta wonder where that £5 million goes really... Merlin do not get value for money at all with their additions... Or they don't know how to use limited budgets to really push the boundaries of creativity... Either way.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zach Posted March 11, 2016 Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 Gotta wonder where that £5 million goes really... Merlin do not get value for money at all with their additions... Or they don't know how to use limited budgets to really push the boundaries of creativity... Either way.......... Yeah, especially when you think about parks like Paultons - £8 million gets them two rollercoasters and a load of dinosaurs, where as £5 million at Alton gets a load of consumer grade VR headsets (£600 each), and a restaurant (despite the fact that other food places around the park are being closed). MattyMoo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyMoo Posted March 11, 2016 Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 It's almost like they pull these costs out of thin Air. (pun intended) OldFarmerDean and Chaz 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted March 11, 2016 Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 It's the Merlin approach though. The price includes marketing, planning, removal of what was there before and basically anything that has related to the creation of Galactica & The Coaster Restaurant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldFarmerDean Posted March 11, 2016 Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 A higher cost makes it sound better... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted March 11, 2016 Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 No doubt if the £5m number is true, they've bolstered that as much as possible. I guess it depends on how much Figment Productions wanted for the video(s?) they've produced and whatnot too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Project LC Posted March 11, 2016 Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 The 360 animation will have cost a lot. All animation costs a lot because of the amount of work that goes into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zach Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 First direct "review" of the ride here from express.co.uk. While they manage to make it sound really good, if you read between the lines you can kinda see the negatives. Once the Galactica headsets have been wiped down, fitted and everyone has adjusted the focus to their liking – the ride starts. I'm sure throughput will be amazing then... The on-screen graphics look closer to a video game than a Professor Brian Cox documentary. But the experience is still pretty mind-blowing – especially if this is your first taste of virtual reality. Is that a nice way of telling us they are a little crap. Firstly, the virtual reality headsets do take away some of the thrills you'd expect from a 47 mph rollercoaster. Well Air never was that forceful, but maybe slightly concerning for a non-enthusiast to say that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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