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Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaurant

Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

I doubt this will work, but I had an idea of turning the VR system into a sort of video game-esque system. You put on the VR headset at the start of the queue, and the queue is recreated(maybe redesigned in VR?), and everyone's VR has a things that tracks where they're going, an broadcasting its location to everyone in the general area, sort of turning it into a multiplayer VR thing. The station is recreated, so nobody gets hurt by beams, and the actual VR starts when the coaster starts. Again, doubt it'll work, but it can seriously cut down queue and loading times.
 
Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

That sounds like an idea that's a bit too futuristic at the moment. If you were to walk with the headsets on you'd need a way to ensure you could still have some sort of live view of the world around you, even if it overlays some VR stuff (like the HTC Vive). But there's still issues of battery life, cables, using it in such a large space and more which VR headsets still have issues with.

Plus, would you really want to wear a headset in the queue for a long period of time?
 
Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

Nealbie - the impact on throughout from that would be minimal and they'd require additional headsets.

Having additional headsets would be the main throughput improvement. And would be cheaper than having multiple staff.

Any ride with complicated restraints is problematic for throughput - all the new seatbelts being added, fighter jet style harnesses like Tempesto's, even the two part top spin restraints.

Having an extra thing that needs putting on and plugging in will impact throughput substantially and there's no way to get round that.

There's potential solutions to speed things up, sure. Multiple sets of headsets, multiple loading stations, dedicated staff, allocated time slots, better pre boarding instructions, etc.

I'm in favour of your solution though - I suspect one issue is that you have to be "trained" to use the cleaning chemical wipe. (Sign a form to say you won't eat it.)

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Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

They could have instruction signs/videos in the queue?
 
Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

IMA Score have posted an official snippet of the area music, it's slightly different to the music from the game.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upXwzb4e5p8[/youtube]

Honestly think it's one of the best area soundtracks I've heard (I may be slightly biased) but yeah.
 
Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

I've changed my mind on the VR video, it's so bad.

Not the general visuals, etc, that's fine and looks great. But the way items just vanish when they get to the periphery instead of waiting for them to slide out of shot pulls you straight out the immersion. Appalling.
 
Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

The music really is amazing.

And that's all she has to say about that.

Everything else sounds absolutely awful.
 
Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

I knew this was going to be a problem, right from the start when I got slated for saying it would be a problem in the early pages of this topic.. :p
 
Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

It's a pity really because I love what they've done with the area (Ok, maybe excluding that crappy photobooth), as it really seems to have an energy about it which Air could never come close to. That music really is fabulous <3

But as for the VR, whilst it's a good experience I'd like to try once or twice, it's just such an operational nightmare that I highly doubt the virtual reality will remain compulsory until the end of the year. I wouldn't be surprised if they made it an upcharge next season. For the queue time to be an hour on a quiet day is ridiculous really. With their short opening hours, come high season, customers are just going to feel ripped off to be honest. With rides and shops closed, I'm really concerned Summer will be a disaster and put more guests off the park than the Smiler accident ever did.

TPW has a lovely, honest video about the opening day:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8xSX1JpOzA[/youtube]

Basically, they all loved the area, liked the VR, but most of them would rather ride it without the headsets next time. 7/10 was the general consensus.
 
Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

To be fair, I'd much rather ride it with the VR, it's makes the actually good, Air was a boring waste of space.

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Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

Really, you need a lot more headsets, like 4 sets of headsets for each train (presuming it's on a two train operation). Clean all the VR headsets properly whilst the train is doing the circuit, so they are continuously cleaning them rather than just before they're given out.
 
Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

owentaylor121 said:
To be fair, I'd much rather ride it with the VR, it's makes the actually good, Air was a boring waste of space.

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Click to expand...
Question - if the same quality experience was on a coaster you like, how would you feel about it?

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Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

Joey said:
owentaylor121 said:
To be fair, I'd much rather ride it with the VR, it's makes the actually good, Air was a boring waste of space.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Question - if the same quality experience was on a coaster you like, how would you feel about it?

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Good question really, I've not thought of it like that.
I'm not really sure, I guess I'd try it but I'm not sure I'd be too happy about it, personally I'm glad Alton did pick Air out of all their coasters though, it really had made what I found a boring ride into a fun experience.
 
Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

Not sure how true they are but I've been reading rumours that the headsets are not optional, so I sent a message to Alton Towers and the response I got basically said that you're expected to wear them unless there's a medical reason not to... Not quite what they were saying when first promoting the ride!

I'm going next week and wanted to ride without and then with the headsets, but it doesn't look like that's going to be allowed. Also I'm not sure I'd want to wait an hour for a second ride anyway...
 
Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

Witchfinder, any chance you could post those messages in here? "medical conditions" is such a crap excuse; if you have a medical condition then you shouldn't be riding full stop. If they are enforcing it, it's tempting to challenge them.
 
Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

Also, if Thorpe is getting VR plus an age restriction, why not here?

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Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

GuyWithAStick said:
Also, if Thorpe is getting VR plus an age restriction, why not here?

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Click to expand...
Because the age restriction has nothing to do with the VR?
 
Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

It's all over their Twitter and Facebook page that yes, it is now compulsory.

I can't see that lasting long at all, that will just lead to complaints.

They've said they want everyone to have the same experience.

This whole thing just isn't what they need after Smiler.
 
Re: Alton Towers' Galactica VR coaster/Rollercoaster Restaur

I'm picking up that the general consensus with the VR is that it's a bit underwhelming, so a good number of people would probably prefer to ride without the headset. I guess management have probably picked up on this and had a bitch fit, thus the apparent compulsory rule?

I do think Towers jump the gun with their gimmicks. If it's a badly produced VR experience, then that's the proof in the pudding.
 
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