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[2024] Nemesis Reborn: Construction and Speculation

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Trooper Looper said:
Hope not. I don't want nemesis to have more theming than it has already. Just a retrack and a rebramd, is that too much to ask? Don't "modernise" it merlin. What's wrong with it's 1994 form?
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Repeating myself a little from your Duel criticism here, but why does everything have to be just left the same? We upgrade our cars, our phones, redecorate our houses and update our wardrobe as time goes on.

Heck, we don't even have a "1994 form" as it is. The red falls have gone, the station lighting is completely different, half the queue line is no longer accessible and the surrounding buildings are completely different. The monster is in a right state again only a couple of years after it was painted, it clearly needs work doing to it. Even in the wider area, Thunderlooper has gone with Blade in its place, Galactica is now there and Ripsaw has also been and gone. Even saying Oblivion hasn't changed is incorrect - the station/queue line videos have been chopped and changed, some of the queue line buildings are rotting away and the exit shop no longer exists.

Forbidden Valley and the wider park has evolved over time, there's no reason why they shouldn't take an opportunity to further evolve Nemesis providing it still maintains an engaging theme. Alton Towers is a theme park not a museum, and it needs that evolution to continue engaging guests from the past, present and future.
 
Nemesis definitely has room for improvement and a revitalised theme done faithfully.

But Im convinced this Phalanx stuff is worse than when it opened, not better. The "evil Phalanx spokesperson" thing is so poor and cliched. Boiler suits and armed security doesnt embody the Nemesis theme, or even an escapist day out at a theme park.

It's almost an emporers new clothes situation where people are just going along with it. After all, everybody is just grateful that Nemesis is being celebrated and retained for the future and its too soon to judge what the revamped ride will be like.

At this point i feel like Im pouring cold water on people's fun. But if this were any other big theme park it would be called out for the lazy interpretation it is, but I feel like Alon Towers are appealing to an echo chamber of devoted fans here.
 
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As I said yesterday, I do definitely feel that Nemesis has some room for improvement theming-wise, if viewing it through the lens of a themed attraction rather than simply a roller coaster. What’s there is perfectly good, and I think they did a good job with the atmosphere of it, but I think there’s not a whole lot there in terms of actual theming and narrative-building tools.

I do think the narrative (as evidenced by the 1990s “Nemesis story”, Nemesis does have a narrative of sorts) could be conveyed a little more clearly for the first time rider, and in the form in which it closed in 2022, I do feel that it lacked some of the finer details that make an experience such as Wicker Man so delightful from a theming standpoint.

I’m not saying that they need to directly bung you into a preshow room and tell you a story, but I do think some extra little details theming-wise would not go amiss. The ride doesn’t really have any theming to speak of aside from the monster itself, and the queue line, or more specifically the bits up in the forest which are used increasingly often these days, is nigh on totally unthemed. Even something small, like the banners and lights you have lining the whole queue on Wicker Man, would go a way toward improving this, in my view.

You can build a clear narrative in plenty of ways without expressly telling people the narrative, and it’s those kinds of narrative-building mechanisms that I think would really strengthen Nemesis as a themed attraction, which it clearly aims to be.

I also think the station could use improvement; given that the outside of the station is the monster itself, I’ve always found it odd that you go into this relatively plain building with brown metal walls for the station. I reckon it’d be really cool if they used theming, lighting and smells to make the station as though you’re “entering the belly of the beast” so to speak, with things like mangled tentacles and such on the walls, maybe even a sound to simulate the beast’s heartbeat and breaths. Some darker themed lighting (think along the lines of something like Wicker Man) would also be a terrific addition, in my view.
 
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Rick said:
Why surely ? I'm not saying it isn't - I just don't understand why it would happen to co-term.

Nor, could I tell you hand on heart that the chassis are originals. On the B&M rides I have worked on (that were newer than Nemesis), at least one of them didn't have a completely original chassis.
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Makes sense. I think with them spending all this money one of the goals is to reduce maintenance costs, so a re track will do that for sure. I guess the question comes down to do they want to reduce them some more and any potential issues in the future with new trains. I guess they could get an extensive refurbishment by B&M themselves.
 
I love all of the Phalanx stuff personally, I think it's great that Alton Towers are developing the Nemesis theme and backstory rather than simply re-tracking it (which they could easily do). I criticise the park for not caring enough at times so I think credit has to be given where its due now that they clearly are caring.

As to what's next for Nemesis, I’d like to see some improvements made to modernise it a bit - perhaps on board audio?
 
Yesterday evening was great. All the actor added to the experience and made for a great end of season. They should do an end of season event like this every year.

Using the full queue line and seeing Nemesis from an angle you don’t normally get to see was very cool. I enjoyed the cheering and clapping as well. It was a great atmosphere in the queue.

I was glad we managed to get on the front row for our last ride. The crowd that stayed for the end shows how much people love this ride and I can not wait until it opens again in 2024.
 
I know this has been said before when the application for the certificate of lawfulness came out, but this was never going to be a simple re-track. Yes it stated "minor changes" to the station building, but they don't need to state any interior changes. There's also nothing to stop them putting future applications in for new structures if necessary.

As much as Nemesis needed this work doing, Alton were unlikely to really secure funding purely based on that fact. They have likely needed to show they can increase visitation and improve guest KPIs off the back of the work being done - you're not really going to be able to get that purely off a retrack. Based on the level of marketing we've already seen, it's almost certain we'll see a fairly substantial backstory and publicity being done over the coming year or so. Pretty exciting stuff!
 
Craig said:
Repeating myself a little from your Duel criticism here, but why does everything have to be just left the same? We upgrade our cars, our phones, redecorate our houses and update our wardrobe as time goes on.

Heck, we don't even have a "1994 form" as it is. The red falls have gone, the station lighting is completely different, half the queue line is no longer accessible and the surrounding buildings are completely different. The monster is in a right state again only a couple of years after it was painted, it clearly needs work doing to it. Even in the wider area, Thunderlooper has gone with Blade in its place, Galactica is now there and Ripsaw has also been and gone. Even saying Oblivion hasn't changed is incorrect - the station/queue line videos have been chopped and changed, some of the queue line buildings are rotting away and the exit shop no longer exists.

Forbidden Valley and the wider park has evolved over time, there's no reason why they shouldn't take an opportunity to further evolve Nemesis providing it still maintains an engaging theme. Alton Towers is a theme park not a museum, and it needs that evolution to continue engaging guests from the past, present and future.
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I meant through necessary changes, Duel is valid because of negative or mediocre reviews and the interactive Dark ride element being seen as tacky nowadays. Me wanting HH elements intact is just a personal preference I try to explain why I'd like to see that.

With Nemesis, it's been receiving high praise ever since its debut in 1994.

I just see trying to 'refresh it for a modern audience' as some have been trying to say here doesn't make sense. As much as I don't like Airs retheme into Galactica, it makes sense because it lacked so much teeming that most guests didn't know what it was supposed to be themed around.

But in the last month, people online have been starting to hate on Nemesis' theme from nowhere now, and I'm so bewildered why? People loved the concept and theme as it was for the last 28 years, but in the last month, now people have a big problem with the theme, and want the ride to have an Area 51 Phalanx like theme with the monster just because?? Thats just an incredibly cliche choice. The amount of times Are 51 stuff like theme has been done in parks around the world is almost as common as the Space Sci fi and cowboy theme.

Nemesis' lack of story yet enough to show the concept and makes you to think the rest is what (to me) makes it incredible. It doesn't try to shove anything in the guests face outside of 'Alien monster on earth, dare to ride.'

It doesn't try to do the typical 'This is what happened here (deep narrative), now go ride it.'

This is why I don't like Wicker Man's preshow, because it doesn't matter in terms of ride experience. I do like the carvings in the area though and the small hints. Theming does matter, but when you rely on it too heavily outside of indoor attractions, that's when the problem rises.

A good balance of Theming And Thrill is the Smiler even when it does lack in some aspects of theming elements, it's so close to concept and thematic perfection that you don't need a preshow or backstop to understand it, just the line 'Time to get corrected' and the soundtrack tells you more than enough of what could happen to you. Same with Oblivion. Its the thought of the lack of knowing is what makes these rides so great, they makes you think of the horrors they put their subjects through and what happens to them without ever seeing it. To us, the unknown is a terrifying concept, and John Wardley and the Desigbers of the Smiler did these so well. The rides tease you with the concepts and small hints. The same goes for Nemesis, I already explained how it does show hints to a small visual narrative in the area and its physical theming. It doesn't shove it in your face, but it tells you barely just enough to put the dots together while still not fully understand.

In terms of interior changes, I can see them attempting to put a light display in there when the trains dispatch, like what air did when it dispatched.
 
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Exciting yes, so why waste the potential for a great revamp with this naff Phalanx theme?

Could anyone explain to me what makes the Phalanx theme entertaining? I did Sub Terra, the most entertaining parts werent the Phalanx stuff. Neither is a moustache dude in a suit doing some A level drama "Evil politician" overacting.
 
Craig said:
I know this has been said before when the application for the certificate of lawfulness came out, but this was never going to be a simple re-track. Yes it stated "minor changes" to the station building, but they don't need to state any interior changes. There's also nothing to stop them putting future applications in for new structures if necessary.

As much as Nemesis needed this work doing, Alton were unlikely to really secure funding purely based on that fact. They have likely needed to show they can increase visitation and improve guest KPIs off the back of the work being done - you're not really going to be able to get that purely off a retrack. Based on the level of marketing we've already seen, it's almost certain we'll see a fairly substantial backstory and publicity being done over the coming year or so. Pretty exciting stuff!
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I agree. I think it’s likely that we will see at least a few minor things change.

An interesting precedent for a Merlin retrack, to give us some idea of what to expect, is Colossos: Kampf der Giganten at Heide Park. Colossos was arguably the flagship attraction at Heide Park, and it needed retracking (arguably more so than Nemesis, given that it spent 3 years shut on safety grounds). When Merlin granted the money for it to be retracked, they added the completely new theme with the Wicker Man-style statue, the entirely new brand and the little touches in the station, queue and such.

While I’m not expecting anything quite that drastic from this (I think things said in the certificate of lawfulness nigh on rule out any giant fire-breathing structures being added around the ride), I do anticipate some minor changes. For instance, I could see some new finer details being added in the ride’s queue line and around the area, I could see the station interior getting a revamp, I could see the soundtrack being changed (or maybe just remastered like what Thorpe did with Colossus and Nemesis Inferno, as Nemesis’ current track has a fair amount of love and arguably works fine as is), and I could even see the logo changing.
 
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For what it's worth, I have doubts that the whole Phalanx thing will really play a long term part in any sort of story to Nemesis when it reopens anyway. I'm not saying the ride should progress into a Phalanx-theme, just that it shouldn't be seen a positive to put it back to how it was in 1994.

Ultimately, I think the Phalanx thing is being used purely to introduce Sub Terra's probable return. Once Nemesis reopens, they won't really be referred to again, in the same way that they were only a reference in the comics previously. Maybe Sub Terra will stick around and they'll be a thing around the area, but I don't think their presence indicates they'll be a constant at Nemesis once it's rebuilt (aka: "contained" again).

Matt N said:
I agree. I think it’s likely that we will see at least a few minor things change.

An interesting precedent for a Merlin retrack, to give us some idea of what to expect, is Colossos: Kampf der Giganten at Heide Park. Colossos was arguably the flagship attraction at Heide Park, and it needed retracking (arguably more so than Nemesis, given that it spent 3 years shut on safety grounds). When Merlin granted the money to be retracked, they added the completely new theme with the Wicker Man-style statue, the entirely new brand and the little touches in the station, queue and such.

While I’m not expecting anything quite that drastic from this (I think things said in the certificate of lawfulness nigh on rule out any giant fire-breathing structures being added around the ride), I do anticipate some minor changes. For instance, I could see some new finer details being added in the ride’s queue line and around the area, I could see the station interior getting a revamp, I could see the soundtrack being changed (or maybe just remastered like what Thorpe did with Colossus and Nemesis Inferno, as Nemesis’ current track has a fair amount of love and arguably works fine as is), and I could even see the logo changing.
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I agree I'm not expecting anything really substantial. Funnily enough, when discussing it over the weekend, Colossos was the comparison I was making in terms of the changes made to the station etc and something I'm expecting here too.
 
Craig said:
I agree I'm not expecting anything really substantial. Funnily enough, when discussing it over the weekend, Colossos was the comparison I was making in terms of the changes made to the station etc and something I'm expecting here too.
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Colossos seems like a logical point of reference to use given that it’s a previous example of Merlin doing almost the exact same thing. I’d expect some elements of this project to be very similar to Colossos: Kampf der Giganten.

However, I don’t see any changes made to Nemesis thematically being quite as drastic as they were for Colossos. I very much predict that any thematic changes made will fine tune and enhance the existing concept rather than fundamentally change the theme like they did with Colossos.

And to be honest, I’d support that. I think much of what Nemesis already has theming-wise is very good, but I definitely think there’s a lot of potential to add in more little details in places like the queue line and station, and to enhance the theming and immersion-building to convey the theme more strongly to the first time rider.
 
Given how it is hinted of corruption within Phalanx, wonder if it might hint that Phalanx might actually be secretly being run by the Nemesis cult worshipers as from the early days of the ride in which in the run up for the ride's reopen will reveal who they really are.

This could work with Sub Terra in which might like the original it all seems the same as you are going down to see the eggs but the twist that it's all a trap by the cult worshipers who have hijacked the attraction and will use you as human sacrifices to Nemesis in which you drop into that pit and all the interaction happens down there.

Does make you wonder what else of the original Nemesis lore from the early days or that never got made in the first place might appear here?
 
AT86 said:
Just looping back to these colour codes that have potentially been hinted at.


E0B238C7-19DF-42CC-911C-D54455E424C5.png

The original 94 colour scheme included much more detailed painting on the supports than the all black repaint from 2016. If this does refer to paint colours, it could be for the supports.

AAA8DC83-3EC8-4794-8DA3-29380C78DCC0.jpeg
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Those umbrellas are hilarious. Really looks like RCT1 🤣🤣
 
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