Secret Weapon 7 Discussion

[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.

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?

A mysterious government project that is keeping a secret from the rest of the world, and it is a major thing all around us, but we don't realise it? The reward is that we get to see what the secret is.
It can't be too sinister in my opinion, I mean it's not far from the family areas, It's a wander from Adventure land, and CCL. If it's too sinister on the outside, I think people would object, and if it doesn't look sinister on the outside I don't think it'll work properly.

 

[Islander]

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?

Don't think anyone knows, but I'm really hoping he does return - it'd make a fantastic tie-in between the two rides.

X-Sector doesn't have to be 'under new management' at all. We already know that the Lord of Darkness is from a sinister Government organisation, who created Oblivion - what's to say this organisation isn't the Ministry of Joy? We haven't been told much (indeed more or less nothing) about the organisation up until now, including the name - perhaps SW7 will bring more details to the forefront, and (fingers crossed, for me at least), the Lord of Darkness will be back to talk us through the new contraption.

 

[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?

A mysterious government project that is keeping a secret from the rest of the world, and it is a major thing all around us, but we don't realise it? The reward is that we get to see what the secret is.
It can't be too sinister in my opinion, I mean it's not far from the family areas, It's a wander from Adventure land, and CCL. If it's too sinister on the outside, I think people would object, and if it doesn't look sinister on the outside I don't think it'll work properly.

But for a white knuckle ride the secret will most likely be something bad. You only have to look at the giant spider thing to realise that whoever the 'MoJ' are, they probably aren't friendly.

And actual physical distance doesn't mean anything either. X-Sector is world's apart from Adventure Land and Cloud Cukoo Land.

 

[CupCakeMonster]

But for a white knuckle ride the secret will most likely be something bad. You only have to look at the giant spider thing to realise that whoever the 'MoJ' are, they probably aren't friendly.

And actual physical distance doesn't mean anything either. X-Sector is world's apart from Adventure Land and Cloud Cukoo Land.

If it were just for Scarefest then yes, but as a permanent theme? No, I don't think it can be that sinister on the outside. We have to remember that this isn't Thorpe, it is still in basis a family park. I mean no rides at Alton are particularly sinister when you think about it, there's a hint of 'darkness' but it's not all dark. With SW7 it seems if they go dark, it's going to be very dark. I just don't think the theme seems Alton enough. I don't know how the spider thing would be incorporated (i'm not very creative), but I still don't think it will be sinister. Mysterious yes, but sinister? No.

 

[adsyrah]

If it were just for Scarefest then yes, but as a permanent theme? No, I don't think it can be that sinister on the outside. We have to remember that this isn't Thorpe, it is still in basis a family park. I mean no rides at Alton are particularly sinister when you think about it, there's a hint of 'darkness' but it's not all dark. With SW7 it seems if they go dark, it's going to be very dark. I just don't think the theme seems Alton enough. I don't know how the spider thing would be incorporated (i'm not very creative), but I still don't think it will be sinister. Mysterious yes, but sinister? No.

Hmmm,

On a scale of fluffy happy sky ride (or whatever that Japanese ride was called) and sinister, I'd say Nemesis firmly sits on the sinister side of the scale!

I remember when it first opened being terrified by just looking at the ride.

EDIT:

Plus, when Oblivion first opened and the "don't look down" speakers at the top of the drop were on? Very sinister. Even the advert was pretty dark.

The only reason nothing recent has been sinister in Alton towers is because it's been a while since they built a proper white knuckle ride.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/asYKtWxLFy8[/youtube]

 

[LordOfDarkness]

Renny Krupinski (The actor who plays Lord Of Darkness) hasn't said anything to indicate he will be working with this project. He's either keeping this very down low or isn't involved at this point, surely they'd start running the marketing plan for adverts, que line etc by now? This processes started ages ago when making oblivion.

 

[Alastair]

Renny Krupinski (The actor who plays Lord Of Darkness) hasn't said anything to indicate he will be working with this project. He's either keeping this very down low or isn't involved at this point, surely they'd start running the marketing plan for adverts, que line etc by now? This processes started ages ago when making oblivion.

Why would he say anything? The whole thing's meant to be a massive secret, hence the codename. I wouldn't imagine, given his age, that he'd be the type likely to leak any kind of information anyway.

 

[LordOfDarkness]

Renny Krupinski (The actor who plays Lord Of Darkness) hasn't said anything to indicate he will be working with this project. He's either keeping this very down low or isn't involved at this point, surely they'd start running the marketing plan for adverts, que line etc by now? This processes started ages ago when making oblivion.

Why would he say anything? The whole thing's meant to be a massive secret, hence the codename. I wouldn't imagine, given his age, that he'd be the type likely to leak any kind of information anyway.

Fair point, but surely his involment as an actor wouldn't be 'sensitive' information.

In other news John Wardley tweeted this a few days ago...

John Wardley ‏@John_Wardley
Been an utmost pleasure working with Gerstlauer once again. The technology in this new contraption is beyond anything seen in the industry.

 

[willb]

That one tweet from John W has got me very excited!

 

[adsyrah]

In other news John Wardley tweeted this a few days ago...

John Wardley ‏@John_Wardley
Been an utmost pleasure working with Gerstlauer once again. The technology in this new contraption is beyond anything seen in the industry.

Oh how I love Alton for pushing the boundaries!

 

[Stevie]

Yeah because that Twitter account is definatley legit.

:

 

[LordOfDarkness]

Yeah because that Twitter account is definatley legit.

:

His tweets and mannerisms seem very Wardly-esque, I know you can't tell much from tweets but...

John Wardley ‏@John_Wardley
Disney are rather marvellous with renovation, a huge kudos to the imagineers in the US with their completed project.

He seems very knowledgeable, and I don't know what someone would get out of imitating a thrill engineer.

 

[CupCakeMonster]

Hmmm,

On a scale of fluffy happy sky ride (or whatever that Japanese ride was called) and sinister, I'd say Nemesis firmly sits on the sinister side of the scale!

I remember when it first opened being terrified by just looking at the ride.

EDIT:

Plus, when Oblivion first opened and the "don't look down" speakers at the top of the drop were on? Very sinister. Even the advert was pretty dark.

The only reason nothing recent has been sinister in Alton towers is because it's been a while since they built a proper white knuckle ride.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/asYKtWxLFy8[/youtube]

I'm still not sure of how sinister they were. I agree they were scary, and a bit 'dark', but as I said, I don't think they were the full-blown dark. Which is what SW7 would need to be for the ministry of Joy to work as a theme. If it's half hearted it will look like an utter disaster of an idea of a theme, it they put the full effort in though, it would probably be too dark for Alton. Which is what is making me veer away from the sinister side of things.

 

[Martin]

It's clearly fake.

His first tweet was a retweet of a certain website's tweet. Tweeting a parody Roper account. He's only followed by enthusiasts, no actual industry people. Some of his tweets give away he's really an enthusiast because he's speculating on things the real JW would almost certainly know.

 

[Tim]

I wasn't aware John Wardley had a Twitter account. He doesn't refer to it on his website and I never took him as a Tweeter.

In all honesty besides his work with Merlin I was under the impression he liked spending his free time not dwelling on Theme Parks.

Edit: Plus what Blaze said.

 

[delta79]

He seems very knowledgeable, and I don't know what someone would get out of imitating a thrill engineer.

To play coaster fans as mugs, just for the laugh. you never know.

 

[Martin]

Clearly LoD you're not familiar with the world of Twitter parodies and imitators.

Someone needs to do a fake Morwenna one if there isn't already.

 

[BigAl]

But for a white knuckle ride the secret will most likely be something bad. You only have to look at the giant spider thing to realise that whoever the 'MoJ' are, they probably aren't friendly.

And actual physical distance doesn't mean anything either. X-Sector is world's apart from Adventure Land and Cloud Cukoo Land.

If it were just for Scarefest then yes, but as a permanent theme? No, I don't think it can be that sinister on the outside. We have to remember that this isn't Thorpe, it is still in basis a family park. I mean no rides at Alton are particularly sinister when you think about it, there's a hint of 'darkness' but it's not all dark. With SW7 it seems if they go dark, it's going to be very dark. I just don't think the theme seems Alton enough. I don't know how the spider thing would be incorporated (i'm not very creative), but I still don't think it will be sinister. Mysterious yes, but sinister? No.

No rides at Alton Towers are serious?

What about all of the Dark Forest; a forest that's trying to kill you (hence the trapped man in Th13teen's queue, the destroyed van and the tagline "you must escape".)?

What about the top area of Forbidden Valley; a gigantic alien from another dimension that has had to be tied down with steal to stop it from eating everyone and smashing up the joint? Or the aliens in Sub Terra that have infected Phalanx personnel at the end of the doomed tour of the Nemesis egg. None of them seem friendly or light-hearted.

Then we move on to X-Sector. How could it not be intimidating or serious? Sure, the age of the area is showing (through no fault of the area, rather down to poor aesthetic maintenance) but the area remain more or less how was. It's a very cold environment with bleak buildings and queue-lines surrounded by large railings (to stop you from trying to escape your fate once you're in Oblivion's queue?) and CCTV cameras watching your every move. LoD talks of ride cars disappearing but says that doesn't put him off telling you and fellow riders that everything is perfectly safe. That doesn't sound very safe to me!

Just because something isn't smeared in blood like Saw, doesn't make it any less chilling. There are different, more subtle ways to intimidate, shock and scare people. Oblivion and all of X-Sector has always been about the colossal drop into the ground and the possibility of not coming out the other side. Of course, everyone knows that won't happen, but the scale of the ride, the screams of the people, the pit hidden in a cloak of mist. All of that suggests mystery and the fear of what's being hidden; what the people behind X-Sector aren't telling you.

What are their motives? Why are they testing a huge secret weapon on guests? The fact that we won't know about these elements is also part of the thrill of Oblivion.


Now onto SW7. The 'MoJ' are supposedly working their way into X-Sector to take control of operations and this new ride will be a new experiment of some sort (I assume ). You can immediately say the same questions that I mentioned above about these guys. Why are they here and what motives do they have that they want to perform tests on guests. What tests? Biological? Psychological? Physical!?

The ride is a huge twisting mess of dark navy steal with dilapidated-looking buildings and a giant mechanical robot spider thing at the heart of it all. Immediately upon seeing the ride, guests will know that it all means business. What is the robot for? Is it attacking people or are the tests on riders designed to aid in its creation?

We also don't know about whether or not the robot will interact with riders or spectators in some way, so perhaps a jet of flames may spew out as ride cars pass, or the TV screen things may have eyes on them that follow the riders or people walking around. That could be pretty unnerving!

The latest marketing is also probably a clue as to the unstable nature of the 'MoJ'. An insane smile with hypnotic eyes suggests a false façade of friendliness to lure people in, only to put them into a trance and wreak havoc with their secretive tests whilst they're entranced.

It's very Joker-esque, and we all know that the Joker isn't a very nice, stable character. So then imagine a large organisation of people who are potentially as insane and evil as the Joker, potentially backed by our very own Government. If they aren't nice once we're inside the station where the secret weapon lies, we'd have nowhere to turn. You can't get the authorities because this organisation is a part of that jigsaw, so you and the other riders are basically trapped and completely helpless.

Assuming this is all sort of correct, no matter how much people (including myself) may feel about the ride being a Gerstlauer with a load of inversions threaded together, as if it had been designed on RCT, you can't deny that the theme will most likely be excellent, and intimidating at that.

 

[Dave]

We have contacted John Wardley who has confirmed that twitter account is fake and he does not have a twitter account. Please ignore that account and spread the word that it is just someone who clearly has nothing better to do, wasting their time.

 

[stretchy]

OK really quick photos today. I was a dumb-ass and somehow left my camera on in my bag (playing a slideshow of 4000 pics so I only managed to get a few before it died. All are from the top toilets. There was a lot of work removing soil happening but not much more.