I rode Sub-Terra today and I personally felt that the ride was very fulfilling, The themeing was great and there was a lot of suspense in main chamber where the egg is kept, I really enjoyed the whole experience and the staff were trying their best, it's obvious that they know the ride has had a lot of bad reviews, but I think people are being too critical, there are improvements that can be made, even if the leg ticklers and back pokers were working I believe that could add to the experience.
Also... Exit lift is WIN!
Nemesis: Sub-Terra Discussion (**contains spoilers**)
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Chris W
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- Location: Liverpool
I'm not convinced anything will be changed for tomorrow tbh. But if anyone can confirm that there have been changes tomorrow morning I'll head down to towers in the afternoon.W@LLI$ wrote: Is anyone going tomorrow who has already ridden?? I wanna know what the new effects are
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Blizzard
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Out of interest, how much would it cost them to install a few animatronic tenticales & some beady eyes in the lower cavern of the drop? Even just some eyes staring at you would do the trick? I'm sure that would make all the difference to the ride itsself wouldnt it?
Credit To SIMR for the signature & Avatar.
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Sazzle
I'll post a full and detailed review later in the reviews forum, but I'll keep it brief for now.
The concept for the attraction is excellent - being scared witless by god only knows what that's inside that egg? Hell yes!
...The execution fell flat on its sorry backside. My only single expectation (which isn't asking for a lot when all's said and done) was that there'd be SOMETHING at the bottom of that drop. I wasn't expecting the earth, but some tentacles or a monster face with strobe effects IN MY FACE was what I figured we'd get - not some inert, stationary mini-eggs.
I'm aware some effects aren't working, but its clearly never going to be good enough with just leg ticklers and a bit of smoke effect.
Those exit lifts need to be absolutely chaotic - loud noises, pitch darkness, smoke, red lights etc etc. They're far too tame as it is. I didn't even notice the panels moved until I was told about them!
With an extended ride programme (read: double drop), something (ANYTHING!) in the bottom chamber (preferably after the sought after second drop), and some tweaking to the final scene, Sub Terra could be verging on scary.
I've got many little niggles, but I'll wait to air them.
Quick note to TeamTerry: lifts don't go that fast without more noticeable force, so slow down the light effects on the doors, because the floors look too close together!
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk
The concept for the attraction is excellent - being scared witless by god only knows what that's inside that egg? Hell yes!
...The execution fell flat on its sorry backside. My only single expectation (which isn't asking for a lot when all's said and done) was that there'd be SOMETHING at the bottom of that drop. I wasn't expecting the earth, but some tentacles or a monster face with strobe effects IN MY FACE was what I figured we'd get - not some inert, stationary mini-eggs.
I'm aware some effects aren't working, but its clearly never going to be good enough with just leg ticklers and a bit of smoke effect.
Those exit lifts need to be absolutely chaotic - loud noises, pitch darkness, smoke, red lights etc etc. They're far too tame as it is. I didn't even notice the panels moved until I was told about them!
With an extended ride programme (read: double drop), something (ANYTHING!) in the bottom chamber (preferably after the sought after second drop), and some tweaking to the final scene, Sub Terra could be verging on scary.
I've got many little niggles, but I'll wait to air them.
Quick note to TeamTerry: lifts don't go that fast without more noticeable force, so slow down the light effects on the doors, because the floors look too close together!
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk
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Dormiens-Dave
Okay my review of Sub-Terra, i have tried to break it down into sections
The Queue/ Area
So we enter Forbidden Valley to Alton Towers new ride and as always first impressions are important, now the building itself is not really the best a theme park can and should be able to do. I like the fact they have aged the metal work and the stencils are fine but a few very simple alterations would have hidden the blandness of the building a little better than what has been done. The camouflage canvass seen on the plans would have been a welcome addition as would have some extra themeing elements on the borders of the building to hide some of the tin-shed. Leave plenty of it on view but cover some and the guests eyes would be drawn towards the theme and not the structure, that which remained would actually fit the theme, where as currently the building looks a little cheap!
The entrance feature is fun (though again the solution on the plans was much more elegant), the scaffolding is less noticeable on this attraction than Th13teen and fitted reasonably well. The queue line is a little basic but the vents add to the idea of going underground. The highlight of the outside queue is the queue-line TV screens which have a very high-quality video, i love the way the globe turns into the Phalanx logo and the various aspects of the presentation. My only gripe would be that i really wonder if they carry the story well enough without any further explanation in the ride, it barely mentions the nature of Nemesis.
The staff look great in their uniforms and at first i enjoyed the shouty style they used but a lot of people seemed genuinely upset by the comments made by staff and the more i think about it the more it doesn;t fit the theme. We are meant to be civillian guests not boot-camp trainee's. Maybe a cool clean yet un-emotional approach would work best?
The Ride
Now i know some effects where not working and i know what effects these where but i;m going to try and view this as if i was a guest who knew nothing...
1st Lift - The lift looks good, the monitor explaining a bit more is interesting and the whole LED moving effect looks good. The lift doesn't feel like its moving though (yes i know its meant to but it wasn't at the weekend). You exit the lift and into the subterrainian tunnel. Now this does look good, its genuine rock type theming and sets the scene.
The Ride - The theming in the main room is great, the egg looks good, the room is interesting and the lights and monitors add some drama. You take your seats, the lap-bar comes down and off you go. Now here is where i get negative, your rushed into some half-thought idea that the egg may be doing something odd then a rather pathetic drop happens, you see some more eggs, get sprayed with water and go back up... Rather well done is the now broken egg but thats it... quick get out emergency!!!
2nd Lifts - Okay so we get in... flashy red lights and yes... finally.... lifts that move.... thing attacks and some rather pathetic panels open and we shake more.... then we leave. Its a bit anti-climactic.
The Good
I can see where they are coming from with this ride, they have the ideas heading in the right direction and the theming is quite good. The videos do look good and the idea of theming staff uniforms is also great.
The Bad
okay.... i have tried to add some constructive ideas to my negatives
1) Staff: We are not on boot camp, aloof superiority would work better
2) The pre-lift and tunnel is under-used, to bulk up the experience why not have the lift releasing guests into the tunnel the moment the doors close after the previous group enter the ride chamber. Add some TV's and actually tell guests what the egg is.... the story is not told well enough!
3) The ride sequence is too short, yes throughput is an issue but get the ride coming back up and drop again and get some more effects in the damn lower section. Sacrifice throughput for experience, in 2 years it wont matter anyway.
4) The exit lift just needs more, get some loud bangs and darkness in there as well as smoke.... make it last longer.
This ride is a real disappointing one but it has potential, i know plans are afoot to make big changes but they need to happen fast as the parks reputation is dying here.
The Queue/ Area
So we enter Forbidden Valley to Alton Towers new ride and as always first impressions are important, now the building itself is not really the best a theme park can and should be able to do. I like the fact they have aged the metal work and the stencils are fine but a few very simple alterations would have hidden the blandness of the building a little better than what has been done. The camouflage canvass seen on the plans would have been a welcome addition as would have some extra themeing elements on the borders of the building to hide some of the tin-shed. Leave plenty of it on view but cover some and the guests eyes would be drawn towards the theme and not the structure, that which remained would actually fit the theme, where as currently the building looks a little cheap!
The entrance feature is fun (though again the solution on the plans was much more elegant), the scaffolding is less noticeable on this attraction than Th13teen and fitted reasonably well. The queue line is a little basic but the vents add to the idea of going underground. The highlight of the outside queue is the queue-line TV screens which have a very high-quality video, i love the way the globe turns into the Phalanx logo and the various aspects of the presentation. My only gripe would be that i really wonder if they carry the story well enough without any further explanation in the ride, it barely mentions the nature of Nemesis.
The staff look great in their uniforms and at first i enjoyed the shouty style they used but a lot of people seemed genuinely upset by the comments made by staff and the more i think about it the more it doesn;t fit the theme. We are meant to be civillian guests not boot-camp trainee's. Maybe a cool clean yet un-emotional approach would work best?
The Ride
Now i know some effects where not working and i know what effects these where but i;m going to try and view this as if i was a guest who knew nothing...
1st Lift - The lift looks good, the monitor explaining a bit more is interesting and the whole LED moving effect looks good. The lift doesn't feel like its moving though (yes i know its meant to but it wasn't at the weekend). You exit the lift and into the subterrainian tunnel. Now this does look good, its genuine rock type theming and sets the scene.
The Ride - The theming in the main room is great, the egg looks good, the room is interesting and the lights and monitors add some drama. You take your seats, the lap-bar comes down and off you go. Now here is where i get negative, your rushed into some half-thought idea that the egg may be doing something odd then a rather pathetic drop happens, you see some more eggs, get sprayed with water and go back up... Rather well done is the now broken egg but thats it... quick get out emergency!!!
2nd Lifts - Okay so we get in... flashy red lights and yes... finally.... lifts that move.... thing attacks and some rather pathetic panels open and we shake more.... then we leave. Its a bit anti-climactic.
The Good
I can see where they are coming from with this ride, they have the ideas heading in the right direction and the theming is quite good. The videos do look good and the idea of theming staff uniforms is also great.
The Bad
okay.... i have tried to add some constructive ideas to my negatives
1) Staff: We are not on boot camp, aloof superiority would work better
2) The pre-lift and tunnel is under-used, to bulk up the experience why not have the lift releasing guests into the tunnel the moment the doors close after the previous group enter the ride chamber. Add some TV's and actually tell guests what the egg is.... the story is not told well enough!
3) The ride sequence is too short, yes throughput is an issue but get the ride coming back up and drop again and get some more effects in the damn lower section. Sacrifice throughput for experience, in 2 years it wont matter anyway.
4) The exit lift just needs more, get some loud bangs and darkness in there as well as smoke.... make it last longer.
This ride is a real disappointing one but it has potential, i know plans are afoot to make big changes but they need to happen fast as the parks reputation is dying here.
Last edited by Dormiens-Dave on Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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mathmos
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I live near Blackpool and I went on the Extremis a week after it opened last year.Poison Tom 96 wrote: The lift at Blackpool feels like you are going down but you are actually going up.
It is brilliant
I have no recollection of the lift ever making you feel as tho it is going down while you are going up??
All I remember about the ride was you were ushered into the drop tower room through a Dungeon style door to be met by two rows of drop tower seats back to back, I am unsure of how many were in the line as it was dark and misty (I would say 10-15 in each row).
We were all secured into the ride by the staff in themed dress, the ride then rises up in the darkened room till you are face to face with a very large projection/LCD screen, slightly above you in front are several hangman's nooses.
The screen shows the judge and jury proclaiming that you are guilty of a crime and that you will be hung by your neck until you are dead at which point the lights go out and you are held in suspense until you suddenly drop very heavily for such a small distance (this was forceful, enjoyable but over very quickly) at the point of dropping the camera flashes to take the picture.
You are then released back onto the chamber floor and showed the exits.
Last edited by mathmos on Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Squiggles
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Which raises a very interesting point... why are there any floors at all? I've not yet fully brushed up on the queue line video... but are we not just two caves down? But caves don't have storeys, so what are those lights supposed to be representing... and has anyone actually been in a modern lift recently where you can see light coming in from outside of the liftshaft?Sazzle wrote:Quick note to TeamTerry: lifts don't go that fast without more noticeable force, so slow down the light effects on the doors, because the floors look too close together!
Edwardo..... move me!
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Dormiens-Dave
No but its a neat way of suggesting movement, when they get the motion platform working it should be a reasonable effect.
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Blaze
According to the queue video, there's several levels, and the ride takes place at the bottom, I can't remember each floor, but I think it was level 2 that was a lab, for example.
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Islander
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I saw them simply as lights in the lift shaft, not actual floors. Much like lights on the underground as you're travelling past.
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Adam James
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The lift at Blackpool is rather good, however this is partially down to some projected chains on either side of the lift, and being far too cramped to actually tell if you are going up or down.mathmos wrote:Apologies I missed that, he has a good memory tho I don't rember which way it went TBHDormiens-Dave wrote: He means the lift at the beginning of the Dungeons before the chapel scene
For those who visited the Tower before Merlin took over operations, the lifts in the Dungeon go from The original floor one to floor three.
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Chris W
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It's probably worth mentioning that the floor was moving in the entrance lifts today, in responce to Dave's review.
So things are already working better than at the weekend.
And the lift in Blackpool Dungeons just looked like a slightly themed normal lift with some not that great projections. Nothing special.
So things are already working better than at the weekend.
I thought it was pretty dark in there today when the monster attacked and the bangs were pretty loud.Dormiens-Dave wrote: 4) The exit lift just needs more, get some loud bangs and darkness in there as well as smoke.... make it last longer.
And the lift in Blackpool Dungeons just looked like a slightly themed normal lift with some not that great projections. Nothing special.
Last edited by Chris W on Tue Mar 27, 2012 1:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
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DiogoJ42
Thinking about it, the only time I have ever seen lights wooshing past a lift in in Star Trek. 
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thefatone
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There's none because they drop at different times. That means there'd be four huge balls of light shining up the main chamber and the pit beneath - showing everything they obviously don't want to show. Ruining it somewhat.Tom G wrote: Haven't come across specific discussion for this, but I'm sure it has been talked about.
Why is there no ride photography? Extremis takes a great photograph!
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aru
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I have not read the whole thread, but get the jist that most people are disappointed. Which effects are missing / not working? Could AT not do a Hex and revisit the sequencing and story to improve the ride?
It is terrible publicity to leave the ride as it is. Negative comments are all over Facebook and the internet, and that counts for a lot these days!
It is terrible publicity to leave the ride as it is. Negative comments are all over Facebook and the internet, and that counts for a lot these days!
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darkside
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The floor in the entrance lift was moving on Saturday, still crap though.
Really?! Them lights are awful, and so unrealistic. They're way too close together, way too bright, just so tacky.The lift looks good, the monitor explaining a bit more is interesting and the whole LED moving effect looks good.
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Dormiens-Dave
It wasn't moving on Saturday, you could feel vibration due to some sub-woofers under the floor blasting out some base but there was no platform movement.darkside wrote: The floor in the entrance lift was moving on Saturday, still crap though.
Really?! Them lights are awful, and so unrealistic. They're way too close together, way too bright, just so tacky.
And the lift LED effect was as interesting as most fake lift effects in theme-parks, the trouble here is that on Sub-Terra it accounts for 2 thirds of the experience where as on most other rides with them it barely accounts for anything.
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Nightfall
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Speaking of Star Trek at the point when you first enter they ask you to stand on a load of circles on the floor and the first response of the guy next to me was to shout "Beam me up, Scotty". Now that would be a dramatic entrance.DiogoJ42 wrote: Thinking about it, the only time I have ever seen lights wooshing past a lift in in Star Trek.
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