Secret Weapon 7 Discussion

[josht]

Will the new managers do anything to help Oblivion not look abandoned?

I've heard a good rumour that Oblivion might receive a lick of paint over closed season.

Could be worth doing it this year with them having lifting equipment on sw7 but it will be a major job considering they are building sw7 we will have to wait and see. Also I'm always got my eyes pealed when I'm around the Alton area with work for the track been delivered.

 

[Dave]

I've noticed the two shuttles in storage are looking very clean and fresh with orange restraints, wondering if they are planning on having a full compliment of good looking shuttles for next year. They really do need to look at cleaning up the whole of X-Sector for next year.

Also Blackhole has finally fully left Alton Towers

 

[Scott]

I've noticed the two shuttles in storage are looking very clean and fresh with orange restraints, wondering if they ate planning on having a full compliment of good looking shuttles for next year. They really do need to look at cleaning up the whole of X-Sector for next year.

The refurbed shuttles look fantastic with their clean and bright restraints. It's a shame the work hasn't been continued onto all the others as of yet.

I would like to hope that Merlin will use some of the ride's budget for some much needed X-Sector upkeep... Th13teen brought a (half-assed) retheme so hopefully SW7 will bring some pressure washing to the concrete alongside a lick of paint for Blivvy's track, fully refurbished shuttles and a fixed up station!

 

[djtruefitt]

Since yesterday there are alot more of the spray painted faces, There are some towards dark forest, monorail station and next to the ticket barriers. I wouldnt be surprised if we see more around the park over the next few days.

 

[Thomas]

Could we see the X Sector name being dropped? I can't see how this Ministry theme will fit well with 'X Sector', I've always seen it as very futuristic (I admit many people don't share this view, but with the vagueness of 'X Sector' I think creative license should be allowed) I can see Oblivion keeping it's name and theme, but I think X Sector will have a new name.

Of course, I'm only speculating, but I don't see how a Ministry can fit in?

One other point can I say thank you to both the team and users for providing some very high quality photos! Cheers

 

[Martin]

Probably the Ministry are the branch of government that set up (or have just taken over) and run X Sector.

I don't think they'll retheme it, it's a bit iconic for that, just work SW7 into it.

 

[BigAl]

Probably the Ministry are the branch of government that set up (or have just taken over) and run X Sector.

A Ministry of 'Joy' from our current Government? It is highly unlikely.

 

[GAGrathea]

I think "Ministry Of Joy" works fine with X Sector's theme - it's just as Orwellian as everything on the signs out front and if anything could give some more clarity to the very vague original theme of Oblivion!

Question is...how much will the fictional location of The Sanctuary itself have to do with SW7's theme?

 

[Sam]

Oblivion is iconic, X-Sector as an area is not.

If they want to change it, there's nothing stopping them.

 

[Dave]

I don't think we are losing X-Sector (in fact I'm certain) as maggie and Blaze has said the Ministry of Joy will likely be back story to X-Sector in order to link SW7 to the rest of the area.

 

[delta79]

Very well deduced Delta!! It'd make sense, looking at the other images with various cables strewn all over.

I don't know how to take that line ?

X Sector and Ministry of Joy. umm, it could have a simple linking back story like this

The Ministry of Joy peek out of the shadows with there latest addition to one of their site in Staffordshire, called X sector. The experiment call SW7 is ...... (SW7 back story)

 

[Islander]

The Ministry of Joy peek out of the shadows with there latest addition to one of their site in Staffordshire, called X sector. The experiment call SW7 is ...... (SW7 back story)

See, this is exactly what I think will happen, and I like it, but when you think about it, isn't this more or less the same as Sub Terra / the Phalanx?

 

[Dave]

I think SW7 and the ministry of joy will be more Orwellian than phalanx and Nemesis

 

[Jordan]

I love the idea of the Ministry of Joy being somewhat Orwellian.

(As long as there are no pretend security cameras on the outside of the building!)

 

[Sam]

If we follow Orwell's rules:

The Ministry of Peace deal with war
The Ministry of Plenty deal with rationing
The Ministry of Love deal with torture
The Ministry of Truth deal with propaganda

The Ministry of Joy deal with misery...?

The word joy has much darker connotations, especially when referring to government institutions. The Joy Division was allegedly part of Nazi concentration camps that were brothels, used by guards and co-operative inmates.

 

[delta79]

there is a difference phalanx and Nemesis biological entities (mother and offspring) that have been found.

Oblivion is a man made experiment, and I hope SW7 follows the basic theming cannon and is something made by the Ministry of Joy to experiment on guests.

Thank you Sam for the Orwell's rules, very interesting read.

 

[Rupert]

A rollercoaster themed to a sinister, dystopian, Orwellian organisation with a currently unknown motive could surely rank amongst the most genius coaster themes of all time. It would also give a plausible and intriguing back story to X Sector.

However, I am not too optimistic it will happen - it's almost too obscure. I end up being worried it will be something fairly trivial and not at all defined like 'Human experiments are taking place in a newly-discovered abandoned facility in X Sector. You must escape!' with no other explanation at all.

We've had discussions many times regarding how much backstory should or shouldn't be explicitly explained for a ride. I'm in rough agreement with the school of thought that would prefer not to have a fully mapped out storyline. However, I do think there should be a full context described for the ride and it's setting. In this case, all they need to say is what the organisation is (again in broad terms): 'The Ministry of Joy provide uniform and consistent well being to all citizens. Citizens will have negativity and dissent corrected.' The ride itself, and the reason for it being there, can be much more ambiguous - an interpretation can be made by each person of how it relates to its setting.

I think a key failing of Thirteen was that the vague theme that is there is completely unexplained. Not only is there no explanation for the ride itself (fair enough, we should be able to fill in the gaps right, as with Nemesis for example), the area itself has no explanation and so the actual ride has no context. There's no explanation of the Dark Forest, no reason not to 'go alone' and no backdrop to put the ride to. There's just loads of blue vines about. After the 'retheme', Rita also makes no sense - why are we escaping? Has the forest taken over, or is it the wraiths? Do they even exist anymore? It seems only statues are left - to anyone visiting for the first time with no prior knowledge, the place is even more vague.

I think Oblivion does it really well - there's some kind of experiment, and it's really terrifying and sinister. You decide whether to go through with it, and you can fill in the gaps around the interesting but vague commentary provided. The Swarm does it well too, with the TV news reports providing an explanation for why everything is burnt etc., even if no reason is given for going on the ride itself.

I hope SW7 is also provided with context, instead of the non-explanation we got with the Light Forest. It doesn't need to be explicit, but just provide a logical background and reasoning for the ride to be there.

 

[BigDave]

Im a bit iffy on all of this. Given their recent track records, Alton Towers always seem to come up with a load of great ideas, but fail to actually deliver. A part of me kinda hopes John and the team are given a fairly large budget to theme it and make a awesome back story for it, but Im scared that we will end up with a half done theme.

Im also still slightly skeptical about this ministry of joy idea. It seems a very odd choice for the park to make and I also don't see why Alton Towers would pretty much tell us what its all about right from the start. Im sure the theme of this ride will take many more twists and turns before we really know whats going on.

 

[BSwiss]

The stencil and Ministry of Joy name has a slight Brave New World feel to it. Keeping the masses ignorant by providing exciting and pleasant stimulus.

 

[Moley]

I hope SW7 is also provided with context, instead of the non-explanation we got with the Light Forest. It doesn't need to be explicit, but just provide a logical background and reasoning for the ride to be there.

A close-season slow reveal HHN style website would be ideal for a theme like this one.