8 minutes ago, themagician said:

@Locke Spoiler alert. The coaster is at its highest point (Unless you are counting the Joker head going on top)

I'm counting it to the top of the Joker Head, theming is all part of the attraction!

Something seems off about the way the train cycles through the first drop.. it seems like its falling into the track if that makes sense? like the wheels are floating over the track and fall back onto it halfway down. It's hard to explain what I am trying to say. Anyone else get what I mean? it also seems "rough" and not very smooth.

Edited August 24, 20179 yr by jack.c

6 minutes ago, Locke said:

I'm counting it to the top of the Joker Head, theming is all part of the attraction!

Like the Burj Khalifa, top is 829m, but highest habitable level is only 584m. They still claim 829m as it's height 

8 minutes ago, jack.c said:

Something seems off about the way the train cycles through the first drop.. it seems like its falling into the track if that makes sense? like the wheels are floating over the track and fall back onto it halfway down. It's hard to explain what I am trying to say. Anyone else get what I mean? it also seems "rough" and not very smooth.

I volunteer to ride it on the weekend to confirm or disprove your claim.

Now, could you arrange me a ride please?

 

In seriousness, this thing is so smooth and quiet, it's likely the absence of the sound of wheels on rails could be giving you that impression. There is no way that all the wheels aren't in constant contact with the track. There is no obvious variance in thickness of the tracks on any photo in this thread during the last few weeks of construction.

In the cycle 2 vid I posted on the last page, almost all coaster noise was from Green Lantern.

1 minute ago, Glubbo said:

I volunteer to ride it on the weekend to confirm or disprove your claim.

Now, could you arrange me a ride please?

 

In seriousness, this thing is so smooth and quiet, it's likely the absence of the sound of wheels on rails could be giving you that impression. There is no way that all the wheels aren't in constant contact with the track. There is no obvious variance in thickness of the tracks on any photo in this thread during the last few weeks of construction.

In the cycle 2 vid I posted on the last page, almost all coaster noise was from Green Lantern.

I know its not literally leaving the track, it just appears rough in a way. Maybe its the super fast twisting halfway down the drop that is giving me the illusion of roughness.

Remember with a coaster both the up stop and down stop wheels are not on the track at the same time. During air time moments the car is off the tracks by a few mill and the up stop wheels are touching the track. If the wheels had a death grip on the track you would go slow and not have much freedom for airtime. So when your going flat the car is resting on the main wheels and the up stop wheels are just below the track by a few mills.

This is not a hunk of crap old Arrow or Vekoma. Modern wheel bogies have been designed for years now to clamp the track at all times. 

Yes, wheel bogies are spring loaded which gives a good trade-off between maintaining kinetic energy and smoothness.

Just drove passed for the 1st time since the track has been completed. Wow that first drop is INSANE! Seeing it for the first time in person you really get to appreciate the incredible scale of how huge this thing really is. Pictures don't do it justice. So yeah, I'm super excited!!

The Joker head has been joined together and put onto stilts while the final works are completed. Mack officials are also throughout the site (particularly coming in and out of the station)

Just seen a news report on the coaster and they stated that the coaster is costing $30 million

14 hours ago, themagician said:

Just seen a news report on the coaster and they stated that the coaster is costing $30 million

Looks like it's worth every cent 👍

It seems that as you walk through the gates next to GL, you'll go around to the left, then that will be the start of the queue/theming area. And there will be more screens/walls just to the right too (Photo TPSN)

On 8/26/2017 at 5:14 PM, themagician said:

The Joker head has been joined together and put onto stilts while the final works are completed. Mack officials are also throughout the site (particularly coming in and out of the station)

 

I wish the Joker face was on both sides.  From inside the park it will look like a mess.

How so?

36 minutes ago, djrappa said:

How so?

 

Outside of park.

 

Inside of park

 

It does strike me as a lost opportunity to use it for the ride experience by having it facing riders as well. Maybe it's a little too close to what Arkham Asylum tries to do, but Joker music on the lift hill and the face lighting up to coincide with a Mark Hamill laugh as the train nears and crests the top. It justifies the existence of the head and gives the ride something of a theme without going overboard with an attempted storyline.

Spot on Richard.  I'm not asking for Super-Villains Unleashed Precinct level of theming for Rivals but this is a missed opportunity.

 

2 hours ago, Richard said:

It does strike me as a lost opportunity to use it for the ride experience by having it facing riders as well. Maybe it's a little too close to what Arkham Asylum tries to do, but Joker music on the lift hill and the face lighting up to coincide with a Mark Hamill laugh as the train nears and crests the top. It justifies the existence of the head and gives the ride something of a theme without going overboard with an attempted storyline.

This. This would work so well. Just something super simple, but adds to the experience a hell of a lot. Audio is a big element that changes the ride experience a lot for me. Audio should be present from the second the train leaves the station until at least the first drop. 

X2 at SFMM doesn't have a huge theme, however the audio on it going up the lift hill is perfect, something Rival needs IMO. 

Cause audio has worked and has been maintained so well on GL & AA. 

^ and across the road on Hot Wheels.

 

Superman is the only one that seems to work.

wouldn't be hard to retrofit a few speakers on the lift hill, rather than having on board audio systems. A simple IR beam across the base of the lift to trigger the audio playback, and have it timed perfectly to the lift chain speed... Imagine that Laugh booming out over the park?

 

Superman isn't on-board audio, which is why it works. On board systems are a lot harder to get right, and keep working on an Aus budget.

Edited August 28, 20179 yr by AlexB

5 minutes ago, AlexB said:

wouldn't be hard to retrofit a few speakers on the lift hill, rather than having on board audio systems. A simple IR beam across the base of the lift to trigger the audio playback, and have it timed perfectly to the lift chain speed... Imagine that Laugh booming out over the park?

Love the idea of music up the lift hill on Rivals. Mako at Seaworld Orlando IMO does the lift hill soundtrack really well. It builds great anticipation and excitement, and carries the atmosphere/theme from inside the station up the chain lift

 

2 hours ago, red dragin said:

Cause audio has worked and has been maintained so well on GL & AA. 

Who said anything about audio on the trains? I know I've been pretty vocal in the past about how pointless and poorly executed it is on the rides that have it in Australia, which is why I'd only opt for fixed speakers that actually serve a predetermined purpose. 

I was working more on outdoor vs indoor. There has been many complaints about the audio issues on Wild West too.