Secret Weapon 7 Discussion

[Maya]

Reading the past few pages, I'm really starting to get excited now!
The faces are really creepy, it reminds me (as someone said) of hypnotism and a sort of Mad Sciencey experiment..
As well as the stencil over lap mark thingys,making it really look like a quick job, gotta do it as quick as they can, doesn't matter if they're making a mess, they're taking over sort of thing..
So yeah.. I'm really fan-girling right now!

 

[Dave]

The thing about the marketing for this ride is it will be our first look at the new Marketing Directors style. I think he probably arrived too late to make a huge impact on Sub-Terra and Ice Age marketing (certainly the broad campaign strategy anyway). Morwenna had a very secretive slow reveal style, we can only guess what the new chap will be like.

 

[CGM]

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.

Genius? Really? I mean as rollercoaster themes go it'd be a slight change but if SW7 were to follow this theme, it would be an idea lifted directly from 1984. That's not genius, that's using someone else's idea.

In fact I don't even think it would be particularly original, I would argue that what you just described has already been done with Oblivion.


I don't know, something about this supposed Orwellian theme doesn't sit right with me. I've always liked Alton's unusually dark themes for their coasters in the form of Nemesis and Oblivion. But recently, I feel that Merlin is beginning to push it with the sheer number of new rides across its parks with a bleak theme.

At Alton, the problem isn't necessarily with SW7, it's what came before it. What should have been family friendly rides with themes to fit have been given theming and marketing usually reserved for major thrill attractions.

Since Thirteen and the Dark Forest re-theme, I think that Alton has lost the balance of lighthearted attractions vs. darker ones that previously made the park so enticing and magical. Now it seems that every new attraction is trying to be more apocalyptic and doom-tastic that the last.

I feel that Alton is at risk of turning into Thorpe. Soon every area will be terrorised by some sort of alien, a natural disaster, sinister government organisation or malevolent plant life. For me, in a good theme park most of the rides and areas should have a family friendly atmosphere with a few areas further afield that feel much more dark and dangerous. This maintains a sense of adventure. Get it wrong and you end up with Misery World.

SW7 being in X-Sector, it pretty much has to have a bleak theme. I just wish Alton had planned Thirteen and N:ST around this. They don't seem to be good at considering how new rides will affect the atmosphere of the park as an overall attraction.

 

[Dave]

It's Th13teen really, N:ST was a thrill (sort of) experience and obviously came alongside Ice Age 4D which is very light and family friendly. Th13teen however, was the wrong theme for a family coaster. As you said SW7 has to have a bleak theme, it's an out-and-out thrill coaster and in X-Sector. We just are continuing to see the issues surrounding the poorly thought-out SW6

 

[BigDave]

Th13teens theme isn't really that poor, it was nearly entirely due to poor marketing. It was marketed as a thrill ride, all doom, but what we got could never live up to that. As a result, instead of getting an almost haunted wood type of theme, we were made to believe that this was something trying to kill us an "we must escape".

X-sector pretty much has to go with this scary theme, its what X-sector is!

 

[Dave]

But they missed the oportunity for a lighter theme with the family roller coaster which means they have not had a positively themed ride since spinball (questionable theming)

 

[EuroSatch]

You say the theme isn't bad, but the best you can describe it as is "an almost haunted wood type of theme"...

 

[BigDave]

and the problem with that is???

Its some kind of sinister forest. Clearly something is haunting it and you find yourself in it. Th13teen has a fairly decent story, which was told fairly badly. The only major problem with this ride is the poor marketing and trying to sell it has a scary ride with doom n gloom everywhere, when it should have had a more lighthearted haunted house type of marketing.

 

[Dave]

I completely disagree, they should have had a light hearted theme for SW6, LegoLand billund have proved you can do it with a drop track. However this is a topic on SW7 and they are aiming the theme in the right direction. This is likely to be the most thrill orientated roller coaster at Towers in 15 years so a darker theme is the only choice really.

And the hints so far are very good.

 

[siralgenon]

I completely disagree, they should have had a light hearted theme for SW6, LegoLand billund have proved you can do it with a drop track. However this is a topic on SW7 and they are aiming the theme in the right direction. This is likely to be the most thrill orientated roller coaster at Towers in 15 years so a darker theme is the only choice really.

And the hints so far are very good.

Not necessarily the only choice, Shambhala is the most thrilling ride Iv'e been on and it has the Everest theme, which doesn't effect the experience in anyway at all. Alton could have themed a ride on this scale to a much happier theme and it would still be as good, if not better. We have plenty of sinister themed thrill attractions which work well, it's time for a change in direction.

 

[Dave]

I completely disagree, they should have had a light hearted theme for SW6, LegoLand billund have proved you can do it with a drop track. However this is a topic on SW7 and they are aiming the theme in the right direction. This is likely to be the most thrill orientated roller coaster at Towers in 15 years so a darker theme is the only choice really.

And the hints so far are very good.

Not necessarily the only choice, Shambhala is the most thrilling ride Iv'e been on and it has the Everest theme, which doesn't effect the experience in anyway at all. Alton could have themed a ride on this scale to a much happier theme and it would still be as good, if not better. We have plenty of sinister themed thrill attractions which work well, it's time for a change in direction.

If they had gone for a light hearted theme for a thrill coaster in X-Sector this forum would have been furious.

 

[BigAl]

I completely disagree, they should have had a light hearted theme for SW6, LegoLand billund have proved you can do it with a drop track. However this is a topic on SW7 and they are aiming the theme in the right direction. This is likely to be the most thrill orientated roller coaster at Towers in 15 years so a darker theme is the only choice really.

And the hints so far are very good.

Not necessarily the only choice, Shambhala is the most thrilling ride Iv'e been on and it has the Everest theme, which doesn't effect the experience in anyway at all. Alton could have themed a ride on this scale to a much happier theme and it would still be as good, if not better. We have plenty of sinister themed thrill attractions which work well, it's time for a change in direction.

I agree that thrilling coasters don't actually have to have a dark, evil or sinister theme, but with SW7 being part of X-Sector, it's kind of inevitable.

 

[CGM]

Thinking about it, Black Hole despite its name didn't have a hugely sinister theme. The Jules Verne theming in the station made it seem quite the opposite, but it worked.

 

[BigAl]

Does anyone know if the Lord of Darkness will play any role in this new attraction? Of course, X-Sector will be "under new management", but if so, wouldn't that mean that we'd be saying goodbye to the videos of him in the queue for Oblivion, and the new leader/s in his place?

 

[siralgenon]

I understand X-SECTOR needs a sinister theme, but I meant on the whole Towers needs to move away from the sinister, dark themes. After SW7 is finished we'll have 2 attractions themed on monsters, 3 government facilities and 2 scary tree rides

 

[CupCakeMonster]

Just because SW7 is in X-Sector doesn't necessarily mean that it will be 'dark'. It could just be an experiment, they're looking for volunteers, and they will be rewarded with an insight to ... something... Or something along those lines. It's a new government thing, but it doesn't have to be anything evil or dark. it's mysterious yes, which is why they're trying to entice people in and they're keeping it mysterious, but it doesn't have to be anything sinister. The logo is just the new thing. The dark sections are where the something is.

 

[AstroDan]

Most major thrilling coasters I have done outside of Merlin parks aren't themed around gloom.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

[BigAl]

Just because SW7 is in X-Sector doesn't necessarily mean that it will be 'dark'. It could just be an experiment, they're looking for volunteers, and they will be rewarded with an insight to ... something... Or something along those lines. It's a new government thing, but it doesn't have to be anything evil or dark. it's mysterious yes, which is why they're trying to entice people in and they're keeping it mysterious, but it doesn't have to be anything sinister. The logo is just the new thing. The dark sections are where the something is.

But a mysterious organisation with a secret agenda and a logo (of some sort) that suggests a psychotic nature, my guess would be that this 'Joy' bunch will be very sinister indeed. They're looking for volunteers for what? What is the reward for volunteering? You get to remain alive?

 

[Dave]

Most major thrilling coasters I have done outside of Merlin parks aren't themed around gloom.

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True but Towers used to do sinister really well and quite unique, X-Sector was of that era so hopefully we will see something of a similar standard and it would look odd if it was fluffy and light.

 

[BigAl]

Most major thrilling coasters I have done outside of Merlin parks aren't themed around gloom.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

True but Towers used to do sinister really well and quite unique, X-Sector was of that era so hopefully we will see something of a similar standard and it would look odd if it was fluffy and light.

Fluffy and light? Fuji-Q Highland knows how to make fluffy and light creepy!