The Swarm - Thorpe Park

What? When was the circut finished?

[TheArchitect]

This may sound lame, but i kinda wanted to cry a little bit watching that (with happiness of course).

ya feel me?

Here's a video showing the test runs.

that is awesome! Like the pacing, but (to me) it seems to greatly slow down during the second 0-g roll.

On a second note, lol at 1:22. Im buying it.

[gouldy]

This might not neccessarily be the final pacing, don't forget. This was one of the first test runs. They'll be experimenting for days with different compounds on the wheels and different combinations of wheel types, until they get the intended speed.

Looks great, though.

looks great indeed but overall its exactally what i expected, i cannot see the pacing being much quicker than it is now. im still liking it but it is abit to controled for the theme.

I see it speeding up, although I don't know what their wether is like, if it's winter there too; rides usually go slower when it's colder.

Oh my god the first drop is going to be sooo cool in the back. You finally make the slow flip and then you're being yanked quickly back down to the ground.

I have to agree. The ride looks real slow.

It was never going to have rapid pacing was it? Trains are far too wide. There will still be some pretty heavy lats on the drop with the seats being so far from the center of the track though. Cant wait to see the finished job either and it properly interact with the theming.

Its exciting!

outer seats will be best, and forceful enough when you take into account the strain that will put on the rider, that might be slow on a normal coaster, but that's gonna kick in with some serious Gs on the outer seats.

Here is a cool video of the roll over the station. You can see just how close these interactions will be.

Wow....will that be visible from inside the station when all is said and done? because that by itself seriously brings the whole "swarm" theme to life.

[gouldy]

Yeah, I can imagine feeling like a swarm of flying things is attacking from above. That's a very nice feature.

Wingriders are sexy. And that is no longer an opinion.

Oh my goodness! Im glad that was just a test dummy!
But I think its just a PR stunt... But losing both limbs I think is a little too much scenery interaction... Gosh. There is an article on this just so you know. Lnk is here: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-storie ... z1kOemXc9c

Here is another pic.

fearmongering assbutts.

rubbish PR stunt FTL, we all know this is checked out by a cage before the train even sits on the track

yet another rubbish PR stunt from thorpe and merlin in genral

[gouldy]

Is there any need for BS like this, really? Everytime I see stuff like this, I lose just a little more respect for Merlin. Why do they take this approach?

It's amusing to note that the actual test dummies (i.e the water tanks shaped in such a way that they happen to fit into a seat that's been design to seat a human), are on all the other rows in the train. Only the front row just has some shop window manikins made of fibre glass, obviously too weak to sustain any kind of shock force experienced on a coaster. Is anyone, enthusiast or otherwise, really going to look at this and be fooled by it? Or do I give the working class, teenage, benefit grabbing generation too much intellectual credibility?

I think it's funny and at least slightly clever. It's a good way to emphasize one of their design features. I approve...have a little fun guys, that's what coasters are for.

[TheArchitect]

They should've done it on the legs behind the bars for added gullibelieveability. On the other hand, did it really take a year to build the church? hmmm. Still, lookin' pretty fkn sweeeeet.

DCS221. yes have a bit of fun but this advertising just says "look we made it bloody dangerous"

but this just dosent work for good advertising and really does very little, you would of thought that merlin would of learnt from th13teen's failure in advertising but no.

It HAS to be a PR. Look at the dummy sitting behind the guy in the far left... he lost both limbs completely and the others didnt. Just another reason. And I agree DC, it is.

People are at a point where they trust rides at established parks. I'm sure most everyone will know it's not real, but it'll get people talking and it might be in their heads when they go to ride.

Also, one reason people like coasters is they enjoy perceived danger...exactly what you said people would see as a result of this little stunt.

[gouldy]

Originally posted by dcs221

People are at a point where they trust rides at established parks. I'm sure most everyone will know it's not real, but it'll get people talking and it might be in their heads when they go to ride.

Also, one reason people like coasters is they enjoy perceived danger...exactly what you said people would see as a result of this little stunt.

Your two posts are very well put and I think I was a little quick to jump down their throats.

But the quoted comment kind of touches on the point I was making. The idea behind this is to enhance that perceived danger, as you rightly say in the second paragraph. However, isn't that entirely negated by the fact that basically everyone can see straight through it? Rather than adding a more heightened sense of danger, does it not merely make a joke of any otherwised perceived danger, thus tarnishing it slightly?

Perhaps I'm reading way too much into it, but it's just that, for me; when Merlin do these things, it has the opposite of the desired effect and, in some ways, cheapens the ride. Like, they put a lot of effort into all the "War is coming", the dramatic music and the look of the theming and trains. Then to go against that effort to add drama, by making a joke of it, just seems as if that effort was pointless. Maybe most people would eat this stuff up and I just take things too seriously