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Galactica: General Discussion

I know the old system was fickle but the saying "don't fix someting that isn't broke" isn't an old wives tale, it has very good foundation, just ask BA about it.

Surely it would have been better to just take one train out of service and fit the new heasdsets to it and make sure they work first instead of ripping them off all thre trains long before the replacements have left the factory, these no-name Chinese manufacturers are notoriously unreliable with their target times.
 
According to ridetimes.co.uk Galactica currently has a 65min queue, so either the VR is in use again or they're running 1 train with 2 rows out of use.
 
Well someone let slip to me yesterday that VR was being tested as my 8 year old son noticed a guy on row 5 wearing VR headset. They said VR might be on yesterday afternoon but when we went back to to the ride it was stuck so I think they had other issues but looking positive that VR is on . My son will be miffed as he really wants to ride it with VR

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Apparently it is the same for now according to some riders who got a chance before it errr, broke
 
So all that testing worked what is all this fascination with temperamental VR technology? I went on DBGT earlier this week and was a bit disappointed definitely just a one ride experience don't think people will reride many times like nemesis, smiler or air

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I rode Galactica today and the VR was up and running all day. The queue times were very short, almost non-existstent, however the park was very quiet on the whole.

For me, the new headsets were much more comfortable and the experience was more pleasant, however the sound was not working on my headset and I still feel like the overall image quality is lacking. The headset also nearly came off during the inversion even though I had tightened it properly. The new headsets do have a much nicer focus wheel and velcro straps, and before riding the viewing angle is calibrated individually as you are instructed by a ride operator to momentarily look forward. I do feel like the whole VR experience is still a gimmick and unnecessary, however I was given the option to ride without.

I'm not sure how long these have been up, but on exiting the ride there are posters for around 5 new destinations coming soon.
 
I was also at the park today and rode Galactica with the newer VR system.

I am totally in agreement with TheUnknown in regards to the headset, and also experienced sound difficulties when riding.

Although the queues were short, I still feel that the turnaround of the ride is way too slow. At one stage it took us 25 minutes to get from the entrance to the station to actually getting on the ride. Without VR this takes 5 mins max.

Them posters mentioned have been up a while, however I've always been led to believe that they would change the VR to different destinations in the future. It'll be very disappointing (and somewhat pointless) if they are only for decoration.

Overall, it seems like the whole VR aspect of Galactica is a lot more trouble than it's worth, and I wouldn't be surprised if AT eventually scrapped it and reverted the ride to 'Air'.




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I thought the idea was to change the destinations to make it more reridable why would you want to go to the same destination time and time again? And I thought it would be quite easy to change the VR destinations on a computer system. I thought that was the overall idea of VR technology .

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themeparkfan said:
I thought the idea was to change the destinations to make it more reridable why would you want to go to the same destination time and time again? And I thought it would be quite easy to change the VR destinations on a computer system. I thought that was the overall idea of VR technology .

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My thoughts exactly. Surely by leaving the VR the same they will lose the re-rideability factor and guests will just get bored.

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themeparkfan said:
I thought the idea was to change the destinations to make it more reridable why would you want to go to the same destination time and time again? And I thought it would be quite easy to change the VR destinations on a computer system. I thought that was the overall idea of VR technology .
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But new scenes would also cost more money! And therein lies the problem. It's hardly been a hit and it's had tonnes of reliability issues, not ideal when making a case to Merlin for even more money!

:)
 
Rob said:
But new scenes would also cost more money! And therein lies the problem. It's hardly been a hit and it's had tonnes of reliability issues, not ideal when making a case to Merlin for even more money!

:)
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but they threw a load more money at Ghost Train? yea its still pants but o_O

ahhh maybe thats why they wont spend money on Galactica ..

I'll shut up :rolleyes:
 
Air as a brand was very very strong and it still is...a lot of the GP still refer to it as Air. After all, it was the "ride that could make you fly" and that's what the GP know it for, the flying experience since 2002.

Galactica just isn't strong enough and hasn't had the impact intended. With the VR we lose so many sensations that we would experience when riding Air. The dispatch sequence is never an experience for riders any more, there's no exhilaration whilst in flight and, the VR is pretty for one ride but then after that one time the ride just falls way before the finish line. It's embarrassing and the poor graphics, frame rate and black edges where the isn't a virtual world leaves guests underwhelmed and unimpressed.

Let's all hope they scrap Galactica sooner rather than later. But we know even Gardaland has been ploughed on with VR for the old Magic Mountain ride...I think they're going to flog this dead horse as long as they can. AR would be much better suited to rollercoasters if we had to have some form of digital experience.

I would love them to revert back to Air, but make some additions. So we'd keep Air Space Technologies as the airport/airliner and bring back the old Air swirl but with the "A" galactica logo and font, use the Galactica music still but bring back the old theme music to the boarding info video, keep the portal and give Air a futuristic airport style experience. Bring back the dispatch sequence, add lights to the tunnel (preferably more than that but we know it won't be), give the staff cool air host/hostess outfits (or pinbadges because you know, budget may not cover outfits), brand the queue info video as Airspace Technologies Boarding Info and bam, you have a cheap backtrack to Air. We get back a strong brand and an experience that made Air so popular.
 
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Vr seems to be the big issue with galactica

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I like some Galactica's additions but.. Why do Merlin insist on adding 'fictional organisation/company' briefing videos to every single ride they produce? This just isnt fun anymore and the videos always feel bereft of any humour.

The best use of this trope was Oblivion where it was a witty script, shot with some life to it and well acted, it was a part of the queue rooms and not just a po-faced 'company' with a corporate name stuck on a screen. Almost every single ride features screens in queues now. It feels like a game of 'what theme is on the screen on this ride' in Merlin parks now.


Galactica slightly improves this but prioritises all things the ride didnt really need to be honest, apart from the theme feature on the drop which is more like it. It needed all its intended design from 2002 to be built.
 
On the above point about DBGT I went on it last week and considering the money spent on it over two seasons was very unimpressed and don't feel I want to ride it again unlike swarm and saw

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