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Thorpe Park 2017: DBGT: Rise of The Demon

I totally understand why Thorpe went for a 'spectacular' ending as they did, but the graphics really aren't up to scratch. The ride needs to feel immersive, and believable in it's own fantastical way. I think that if the second half was re-fixed for next season to provide something more akin to the first, yet more climactic, the ride could be a minor classic.
 
I don't really know why they didn't try to continue a real life vr section for part 2... Sounds like it would've been a better option for all concerned... Not like they didn't have a demon puppet to use...
 
Plastic Person said:
I totally understand why Thorpe went for a 'spectacular' ending as they did, but the graphics really aren't up to scratch. The ride needs to feel immersive, and believable in it's own fantastical way. I think that if the second half was re-fixed for next season to provide something more akin to the first, yet more climactic, the ride could be a minor classic.
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This is something that often frustrates me. I've been on so many simulators / 4D cinemas / "screen" dark rides where animators throw the kitchen sink into the action sequences. I can't help thinking that if they showed some restraint and adopted a "less is more" approach, these kinds of rides would be much more believable and engaging.

On your standard simulator film for example, there are usually several unsurvivable drops, brushes with huge explosions and sections where you get bounced around the environment like you're the ball in a pinball machine. It creates this sense of weightless invulnerability, partly because the physics engine is probably a bit woolly but mainly because the motion base can't hope to produce anything close to matching the spectacle on the screen.

If the suspect physics aren't enough to break the illusion, they often feel the need to take you on a whirlwind tour of all the world's natural habitats and ecosystems. There's a jungle section, an underwater section, a desert section and at some point, you will inevitably find yourself miles underground floating in a sea of magma. It all happens slightly too fast to take in properly, as if they didn't quite have time to cram everything in but just left it in anyway.

I'm not saying that simulators have to be 100% realistic but when you reach a certain point and the CGI starts going mad, the suspension of disbelief is simply shattered. You just can't shake the feeling that what you're looking at was made in a computer.

If there's one simulator that I think has managed to tread the line between believability and fantasy well, it's Star Tours. It stays largely in the same setting, the action is thrilling but not over the top and it makes sense in the context of the story line. I went on the Paris version before the refit and it was a much better ride than many simulators I've been on that are 20 years younger.

I haven't been on DBGT yet so I can't really form a full opinion until I ride it. This is more a point about rides that feature digital media in general.
 
@CGM, if I could like your post more than once, I would!
But.... You left out the bit where the simulator rides on coaster track that loops round a whole planet without a single support. ;)
 
CGM said:
I'm not saying that simulators have to be 100% realistic but when you reach a certain point and the CGI starts going mad, the suspension of disbelief is simply shattered. You just can't shake the feeling that what you're looking at was made in a computer.
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Well, part of the overall lasting appeal of Brown's work this past fifteen years, is how he skilfully blends the mundane with the unusual, which is another reason I'm surprised he opted to do something so audacious.
 
I'm no gamer, I don't appreciate the fineries of whether PS4 graphics are better than X Box or Wii U (I'll be impressed if that's right!), but I know that DBGT kicked Galactica AND Europa's behind with this VR.

After seeing both AlpenExpress VR and Galactica, my expectations were on the floor for DBGT and I was more than pleasantly surprised.

I absolutely loved the attraction from start to finish, and I can't stop thinking about it today!

To note, when the VR sets do glitch slightly on DBGT, they seem to be able to recalibrate very quickly simply by looking around and then straight forward. Much better than "flying" on Galactica with your field of vision completely to one side!

I'm not even sure I can put into words my initial reaction when coming off DBGT, it was just... Totally different from anything I'd ever experienced. The questions started immediately and I'm still not 100% sure I know my own mind even having ridden it without VR.

Wow!
 
I'm at Thorpe tomorrow and I am assuming it will be very busy with it being MOS night as well. For those of you have been on DBGT, how are the wait times? Usually at Thorpe I go for Swarm first and Stealth second but what would you recommend if I want to avoid queueing forever for DGBT? Head straight to stealth and Nemesis inferno and hang around the entrance for 11? (maybe sneak in slammer or X but that is me being optimistic.)
 
DiogoJ42 said:
So based on that POV, the only thing that got any reaction from the riders was having their knees molested.
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Not on the runs I did! Some of the "things" you see are enough to make you shriek without any kind of touching. A lot of the VR is about building tension and suspense, which it does really really well.
 
Leah said:
I don't know. They probably feel very awkward running up and down touching people's knees with someone watching.
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I can't begin to explain what the VR does to your perception and state of mind during the ride, but I genuinely forgot there were hosts there and never linked them to the physical touching of my legs.

When I rode without the VR they genuinely seemed to be enjoying it and didn't mind being watched!

I cannot encourage people enough to "let go" and allow yourself to be immersed in the experience. If you go in with the thought of "this won't do anything, it's just videos and sets" then you won't enjoy it. Allow yourself to feel anxious, scared and thrilled and you'll see why it's received positive reviews!

Watching videos of people with headsets really doesn't do justice to the emotional state you're worked into by the whole attraction.
 
Sazzle said:
I can't begin to explain what the VR does to your perception and state of mind during the ride, but I genuinely forgot there were hosts there and never linked them to the physical touching of my legs.

When I rode without the VR they genuinely seemed to be enjoying it and didn't mind being watched!

I cannot encourage people enough to "let go" and allow yourself to be immersed in the experience. If you go in with the thought of "this won't do anything, it's just videos and sets" then you won't enjoy it. Allow yourself to feel anxious, scared and thrilled and you'll see why it's received positive reviews!

Watching videos of people with headsets really doesn't do justice to the emotional state you're worked into by the whole attraction.
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I had high expectations originally. I tried so hard to immerse myself into it, but I couldn't take myself away from the glitchy headset and the actors who seemed to have no idea what they were doing. This is probably because it was in rehearsal, so I'm excited to try it again next week now that it's fully operational.

Sazzle said:
Not on the runs I did! Some of the "things" you see are enough to make you shriek without any kind of touching. A lot of the VR is about building tension and suspense, which it does really really well.
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Agree. On the first section the "things" you see are amazing. Honestly some excellent graphics for most of the ride. You could believe derren Brown was in the room with you in the introduction, and the first be section is very good, though as I've said before, my headset had issues in both vr sections. The last section just felt like game footage. There was just no way I could immerse myself in it.
 
What I think it needs, is something more like the first train in the second train. What they should do is track the real staff and sync them with some virtual staff, so you don't quite know who's real or not.
The tech is impressive but not quite good enough yet. The resolution and graphics somewhat let the ride down. When you look at particle effects PC games have compared to the PS2 like green un-textured fog on the ride, it's just not quite there yet.
 
I agree with what some people have said on here. The first train was good. The middle was ok. The finale was poor.

If the finale is changed then I think it would be a good ride.

After watching that video above... When we went on it there was no staff member in the corridor between the pre show and the main warehouse, we just waited until the door was opened and we walked through.
 
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