X-Sector Developments (Including Oblivion)

[Ian]

Most of last season the rear arm spent its life in a million bits, which obvoiusly meant that for it to run work would have to be done. I believe that as Nat says both arms are now fully capable of running, just not at the same time (An issue which hopefully will continue to be looked into). Hopefully this should mean that if problems develop on one arm it can switch over to the other and continue to operate, which will be essential in a few months when it becomes one of the support rides for The Smiler. Both Submissions and Enterprise will need to spend the bare minimum of time down with issues.

 

[Bubblegum]

One thing that really does need sorting in X-Sector is the Rehydrator, it looked absolutely shocking yesterday!

The trees either side of it have grown far too big! And the whole thing is covered in rust/mould.

The pipes have slowly lost their orange colour, it's really faded now, and the fake concrete at their bases where they attach to the upper platform of the building have been smashed and worn away, they really do look terrible.

It really does stand out now that the rest if the area has been done up, apart from the shocking stake of the Rehydrator and the X-Sector entrance which just needs a good polish the rest of X-Sector is looking great!

I really wish they'd sort out the Rehydrator though, it just looks a mess.

 

[jmc]

Is the Oblivion mist now permanently redundant, or is it just off while The Smiler is constructed?

I haven't seen it in use this season.

I would have thought it had received some attention during the Oblivion refurb.

 

[Rob]

I'm hoping the only reason that it's off is because of The Smiler construction. It hasn't been on during any of my visits this season. Fingers crossed it comes back once The Smiler is opened, I feel that it does add something to the ride.

 

[Dave]

It was off due to the cold weather, don't know if that's still the case.

 

[Rob]

Oh yeah I forgot about the obvious reason of the cold weather! If that's all it was then hopefully they can get it back on soon.

 

[Rollercoasters4Life]

Is the Oblivion mist now permanently redundant, or is it just off while The Smiler is constructed?

I haven't seen it in use this season.

I would have thought it had received some attention during the Oblivion refurb.

I personally believe the reason for this is because The Smiler will tap into the same water source as Oblivions misters and will be used for either The Giggler, The Inoculator or both. Once that is complete I can see Oblivions misters coming back on. Just speculation on my part, mind.

 

[andyramone]

I've read today that the mist was back yesterday, heavier than ever. Haven't seen any pics or videos to back that up though.

 

[Wilsy]

The mist is back, exactly the same as last season.

 

[TPMC]

I've read today that the mist was back yesterday, heavier than ever. Haven't seen any pics or videos to back that up though.

taken yesterday - it is not that heavy/thick

 

[Rollercoasters4Life]

/\ Seems that the mist has been varied over the last few days since it was switched back on. When I went on Saturday it was very thick and was overflowing the metal caging around the hole - it also filled 3/4 of the tunnel with only the last 1/4 being visible. In all my years visiting Alton Towers I have never seen it like I did on Saturday.

 

[djtruefitt]

It often depends how often the shuttles are dispatched. With current crap throughputs the mist builds up quite thick.

You can often tell when Oblivion has broken down because the whole area will build with mist, but once the shuttles go through it, it starts to disappear.

 

[Wilsy]

I think the mist depends more on the weather than the time it takes between each shuttle.

I'm not really sure on the physics behind it but some days there is lots of mist and some days there is very little.

 

[Scott]

It's been windy lately, that probably won't help...

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

That picture saddens me - shows how they never bothered to replace the circular pattern on the paving around the drop zone when they relayed it. Bit lazy really.

 

[electricBlll]

Well it wasn't really that circular, the left side was all wobbly because the paving got too close to the tree. What slightly annoys me though is the weird faded paint on those pipes, did they not have some spare black paint? At least there is less bright orange in that area now the sponsorship has completely gone.

Anyway I love the way everybody is congregating around the fences to watch the shuttle fall. That's what Oblivion is all about...

 

[Poisson]

Re: Re: X-Sector Developments (Including Oblivion)

Anyway I love the way everybody is congregating around the fences to watch the shuttle fall. That's what Oblivion is all about...

I had an impression that Oblivion, as a ride, was mostly about riding it?

There really is that many mistakes in my posts?! Damn this Tapatalk milarky!

 

[electricBlll]

Well sort of, but when I was too small to ride, it seemed more exciting staring up at it and not knowing what was down there, or what it felt like.

And hearing that bang reverberate deep under the ground... Amazing! :twirly:

[/irrelevant post]

 

[Jon]

This picture illustrates a visual theme in X-Sector designers should really push for. Each of the four rides in X-Sector each use the same shapes and fonts but each has a distinctive colour which is used against black and grey. (The Smiler is yellow, Oblivion orange, Enterprise green and Submission blue.) While this seems obvious when you think about it, it might look a little undisciplined and cluttered. However, if they exaggerated this colouring theme, it would look more intentional, and simply better.

So Oblivion and The Smiler have their colours pretty much set; as big coasters there are plenty of opportunities around the ride area to have coloured features. The flat rides, less so. It's wishful thinking, but I think it would really pay off if just a little themeing was added around the areas of Enterprise and Submission. This could be a bunch of security cameras and wires which are coloured to their rides. They could also replace the sign at the entrance to X-Sector, the ones which give the phony brief on 'what you are about to face' and use these to show four distinct colour blocks.

I realise this is a very specific/geeky observation, but I think it would be effective all the same.

 

[electricBlll]

That's how it has always been, except it's less obvious/relevant now. Oblivion was black and orange; Enterprise black and green; Energizer black and yellow and Rehydrator black and red. Then when Submission opened it was black and blue.

Enterprise used to have green stripes across all their cars, but now they are individually colour-coded to help with batching (apparently). The flat rides also had their own logos, I believe.

The Smiler's use of yellow is an obvious reference to Oblivion's similar colour scheme, which I like. Only instead of using chevron patterns, they are using spirals. It's a great idea, it gives each ride an identity. But the dominating colour should always be black, otherwise it makes X Sector look like a horrible rainbow rather than sinister headquarters (see how garish those pipes are in orange).