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Nemesis: Sub-Terra

I think at this point, it would be viable to operate the ride without the scare actor element at play. It already has a suitable pre-show video. All I'd do is dial down the shouting/military elements and switch the atmosphere more to a "you're visiting the facility" vibe. The random staff abuse never made any sense in the first place. We were being invited to view the egg, why are we being treated like scum?! Well, aside from that we're paying visitors to Alton Towers, that is.
 
I kinda thought the scare actor part was the best bit because of how claustrophobic it was walking between those cages with the strobes going off it was quite disorienting.
 
Matt.GC said:
Anyway, it'll be Scarefest preparations or storage or something. We've been here before with the whole testing speakers and queue board thing and it never amounts to anything.
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Scarefest prep doesn't usually start this early in the season though, so I think it's something else.
 
Just thinking about this whilst working, not to be a party pooper but could they just be testing the speakers and queue stuff to just ensure its safe whilst SBNO? I assume they have to do some tests every so often to ensure its safe for the public walking past and anyone who has to go in and do visual checks to make sure its not been broken into
 
Plastic Person said:
I think at this point, it would be viable to operate the ride without the scare actor element at play. It already has a suitable pre-show video. All I'd do is dial down the shouting/military elements and switch the atmosphere more to a "you're visiting the facility" vibe. The random staff abuse never made any sense in the first place. We were being invited to view the egg, why are we being treated like scum?! Well, aside from that we're paying visitors to Alton Towers, that is.
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The few times I did it, I don't remember the "military staff" being overly shouty or treating us like scum. Firm, yes and loud as you'd expect a stereotypical army officer (no idea on military ranks!) to be when ordering the troops. Maybe the ones who thought it was big and clever to shout back were treated worse - but lets be honest, they deserved everything thrown back at them!

If it did return along with the military staff, then I think they should tone it down for the preshow & batching and when entering the cave. But then when it all goes pear-shaped at the end and usher you into the exit lifts and beyond, then that's when they should get loud and shouty.

I've no idea whether they were ride staff told to act, or actors told be ride staff but if it was the former, maybe that explains why they sometimes went over the top? Maybe they should take a leaf out of the Dungeons (and scaremazes) and employ actors who double up as ride hosts? That way they'd have the skills to interact with the guests and not go over the top with their performance.
 
Steve74 said:
The few times I did it, I don't remember the "military staff" being overly shouty or treating us like scum. Firm, yes and loud as you'd expect a stereotypical army officer (no idea on military ranks!) to be when ordering the troops. Maybe the ones who thought it was big and clever to shout back were treated worse - but lets be honest, they deserved everything thrown back at them!

If it did return along with the military staff, then I think they should tone it down for the preshow & batching and when entering the cave. But then when it all goes pear-shaped at the end and usher you into the exit lifts and beyond, then that's when they should get loud and shouty.

I've no idea whether they were ride staff told to act, or actors told be ride staff but if it was the former, maybe that explains why they sometimes went over the top? Maybe they should take a leaf out of the Dungeons (and scaremazes) and employ actors who double up as ride hosts? That way they'd have the skills to interact with the guests and not go over the top with their performance.
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I agree with most of what you say.

I did find the people in military uniform too shouty, particularly as you say in the first part. That should all be able to run like Hex, that after batching, the narration invites you into the lift and then into the main chamber. Only after it "goes wrong" should they need some shouting to convey urgency.

I don't think scare actors are particularly needed at all, maybe some kind of animatronic alien near the exit on a strobe as final quick scare if they think something is needed.

The theory of the attrraction is pretty good, just needed more attention to detail on how ops would work and how it can be run with fewer staff. That thought went into Hex but not into Sub-Terra.
 
jon81uk said:
I agree with most of what you say.

I did find the people in military uniform too shouty, particularly as you say in the first part. That should all be able to run like Hex, that after batching, the narration invites you into the lift and then into the main chamber. Only after it "goes wrong" should they need some shouting to convey urgency.

I don't think scare actors are particularly needed at all, maybe some kind of animatronic alien near the exit on a strobe as final quick scare if they think something is needed.

The theory of the attrraction is pretty good, just needed more attention to detail on how ops would work and how it can be run with fewer staff. That thought went into Hex but not into Sub-Terra.
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I don't think ST is an experience that would work as well without staff at the beginning. In Hex, you can be left to your own devices somewhat because of the way it is presented - you're almost exploring what they have found. Therefore leaving guests to make their own way through the attraction adds to that experience. In ST, you're invited into a military facility. If you were entering one in real life there is no way you'd be left alone; you'd be escorted everywhere. So I think maybe just one "quieter" military person in the batching/preshow room who tells you what spot to go on, then when the lifts open tells you when to enter. Like it was just less shouty. When you get to the cavern, maybe someone to escort you to the main area - again as before (I think there was someone to greet you when the lifts open?) but less shouty and more calm. I don't think scare actors are needed at the start per se, just people who can act, stay in character and keep guests moving efficiently - that's why I mentioned the Dungeons' actors. Say what you like about it as an attraction but the actors in there are fantastic and I think that calibre of actor would work well in ST.
 
Steve74 said:
I don't think ST is an experience that would work as well without staff at the beginning. In Hex, you can be left to your own devices somewhat because of the way it is presented - you're almost exploring what they have found. Therefore leaving guests to make their own way through the attraction adds to that experience. In ST, you're invited into a military facility. If you were entering one in real life there is no way you'd be left alone; you'd be escorted everywhere. So I think maybe just one "quieter" military person in the batching/preshow room who tells you what spot to go on, then when the lifts open tells you when to enter. Like it was just less shouty. When you get to the cavern, maybe someone to escort you to the main area - again as before (I think there was someone to greet you when the lifts open?) but less shouty and more calm. I don't think scare actors are needed at the start per se, just people who can act, stay in character and keep guests moving efficiently - that's why I mentioned the Dungeons' actors. Say what you like about it as an attraction but the actors in there are fantastic and I think that calibre of actor would work well in ST.
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and it would need a batcher anyway and a ride host so to me those aren't additional roles, simply someone stays in the room until you load to the "lift" and then at the other side a ride host comes down to meet you.

My memory of the ride might be fuzzy, but it feels like it could run with 1x batcher host(maybe two on busy days), 2x ride host, 1x in ops room and 1-2 in bag store or assisting with lockers (if they replace the bags). The final section could be done without staff I expect?

Overall that would get it roughly to Hex levels of staff which must be more sustainable. Then the restraint issue just needs a resolution!
 
As far as I know, it's not because of the live actor element (which I remember always being very lame anyway) but the actual operations staff just to run it as an attraction. Only many of them doubled up as 'actors' but their main job was to batch the attraction

It's all possible to do with some kind of redesign, but it would cost a lot of money on an existing attraction that wasn't useful/entertaining to begin with. Although I liked it as a random filler, it really wasnt what the park needed.

So reopening it as a filler wouldnt be as easy as people might think unfortunately
 
OilyWater said:
As far as I know, it's not because of the live actor element (which I remember always being very lame anyway) but the actual operations staff just to run it as an attraction. Only many of them doubled up as 'actors' but their main job was to batch the attraction
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That didn't stop them taking the mintary-style theme too seriously and shouting at guests when batching though.
 
To be honest if you kept the Project 42 theming in the exit corridor (i.e. mutated bodies) behind the fences then there wouldn't be a need for actors in the finale as the theming would do the trick. I'd love for this to re-open.
 
OilyWater said:
As far as I know, it's not because of the live actor element (which I remember always being very lame anyway) but the actual operations staff just to run it as an attraction. Only many of them doubled up as 'actors' but their main job was to batch the attraction
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And that's why if it were to reopen it should be run more as an actor-led experience that has a ride finale rather than a ride with hosts pretending to be actors.
 
Using some of the P42 theming in the corridor would actually be a great idea! Utilising the rides pre-shows would decrease staff members but it'd still work well. This worked well as a filler ride, so having it back now would be perfect providing the restraint issue can be sorted.
 
I think it's imperative they reopen it in some form soon if they are planning a major refurbishment to Nemesis.

That area will be pretty woeful with Nemesis closed for refurb and NST still not open to soak up the queues. Galactica queue would be a nightmare.

Does anyone know for sure why it was closed? We heard lots of rumours about the restraints being the issue. Was this ever confirmed?
 
Benjsh said:
I think it's imperative they reopen it in some form soon if they are planning a major refurbishment to Nemesis.

That area will be pretty woeful with Nemesis closed for refurb and NST still not open to soak up the queues. Galactica queue would be a nightmare.

Does anyone know for sure why it was closed? We heard lots of rumours about the restraints being the issue. Was this ever confirmed?
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Restraints were overly restrictive due to safety issues and it just wasn't very popular I don't think.
 
I truly believe it would never have closed if the Smiler incident hadn’t happened, it was decently enjoyable and popular. This is the park that is also happy to operate Funk n Fly and those restraints are far more restrictive than ST ever was
 
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