AceAstro
Well-Known Member
Stanza IX Tips & Trivia
Where in the World are Yensid and Figment?
MuppetVision?
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice Season 6: ODYSSEY
- Thread starter Pi on my Cake
- Start date
pix
Well-Known Member
Where in the World are Yensid and Figment?
Muppet Vision 3D Queue at DHS maybe? That's the only place I can think i have seen a key?
- In the Parks
- Yes
- In the Parks
- Yes
This team was a thing of beauty to watch come together! This project was over half done within 12 hours of the prompt being posted! Including a ton of original art from basically every player in multiple different styles! Players trying out new art apps, new styles, new everything! This team in this stanza represented exactly what this game is all about!!!!
But just cuz the team was amazing, does it mean the project was? Yes! Mostly. There are a few flaws I'll get into, but overall this was a truly great project and truly great team dynamic!
- The presentation was great! The idea of a fake blog post was really clever, same with the fake Twitter screenshot and the fake press badge. Those were amazing touches to give this a unique spin! Given more time, I could have seen this presentation evolving into a really great fake blog, but given the shorter nature of Act 2, the Docs post worked pretty well and easily got the idea across.
- It is clear a ton of thought was put into this project. From the ride specs and physics and blueprints down to the fake ads and sponsors for the blog! This was not something quickly thrown together and it shows how much care was taken with it! Even little details like choosing a font that feels more like Nintendo's style!
- I have some small questions about what the ride itself will actually be like. Sometimes it describes it sounding like an evolution of Heimlich's Chew Chew Train just with some fancier cars. Other times it talks about racing other guests, so is it sort of like a new take on Autopia? There's mention of it being like the old UFO ride, but I don't see how that really connects since those were basically bumper cars? For how much detail, care, and thought has gone into this project, it feels like the actual experience of riding it is not well described.
- Since this project really is so amazing over all, I'm gonna quickly get the other only real negative I have out of the way here so I can go back to just praising this: Is this a flat ride? At what point does it elevate from flat ride to just a regular ride? In fact, it sounds to be about what I'm expecting from the Yoshi ride which is supposed to be one of the anchors of the IRL Nintendo Land.
- BUT the thing I always love about flat rides that I feel make them special is the kinetic energy they add to an area. The way they enhance the visuals and tie a land together! At least, with good flat rides like Prince Charming's Carousel, WDW Astro Orbiter, and Dumbo. This ride would do so much to create an amazing Kirby mini-land that feels alive and really charming and beautiful! It would elevate the land the way a good flat ride should.
- This project is full of "plusses" which you all know I love! Things like the ride stats and the attraction poster and the SAU references are relatively quick things and add a lot. This project is full of things like that!
- The music also adds a lot! I love Nintendo music
- I've never played a Kirby Game really, but all the details in the queue sound super fun even for someone who hasn't played them. The pictures and the descriptions make them sound like they'd have broad appeal even to people who know nothing about Kirby.
- The picture showing the track layout is amazing at showing what the ride looks like! This is exactly how to communicate ideas visually!
- I love the ride! Like I said, I'm no Kirby expert, but it sounds like such a fun experience! Bright and colorful, visually pleasing. Simple storytelling. Easy to understand components. It's great!
- Chef Kawasaki's is an amazing choice to add to it! A small cafe with a lot of sweets and signature items that overlooks the track! It's a perfect addition! There has been a ton of great little cafes and restaurants added to projects this season! I love seeing all this amazing creativity added in to improve projects!
Overall, this Kirby ride was great! A wonderful presentation, fantastic fun details, and a charming experience! My only possible complaint is that the actual ride experience seems slightly confused and slightly too big scale. But these are small issues considering the quality of the rest of the project and the quality of the team work!
- In the Parks
- Yes
This was like the exact oppositte of Tomorrow in terms of team work. This team had next to nothing beyond a proposal for a fart themed ride until basically the last day. Then @D Hindley @gam3rprincess @NateD1226 and @Tux came together right at the end to make it come together! Despite the very rocky start, this project turned into something really special and fun! Way better than I ever would've expected from "Minion Fart Ride." Of course, one of my favorite projects I got to work on during Act 2 of last season was a poop themed bathroom with merch and an instagram wall. So, maybe potty humor should be used more often in imagineering lol. That being said, it isn't perfect. Naturally, something thrown together rather quickly is bound to have some flaws. But this one really came out of no where in terms of how good the final product is compared to how quiet it started. It really was a Silent, but Deadly Project.
- Usually Wednesday afternoons are when I go to the gym, but I wanted to get reviews out. So, I'm using this procrastinate! Luckily, there's a minion meme for that!
- I love the dedication to the Minion feel in the presentation. Constantly riding the line between fun/goofy and annoying. A great balance that makes this project extremely fun to read! The bright neon yellow, the comic sans, the weird autotune song, the funny titles for the slides! It was absolutely a blast!
- @gam3rprincess I remember you having a knack for presentations that were bursting with a lot of personality and color back during OLS. Things that are really subtle. I have been hoping all season to see some of that energy and personality brought into Sorcerer's Apprentice! I think you needed a really weird project to help get you back out of your shell.
- @NateD1226 the video is a great touch. Something relatively simple like this is a great "plus"
- The photoshop of Minion Park adding in the ride is really cool! It's not perfect, but it does a great job showing the facade! And as long as you don't look closely it looks seemless. I had to do a double take bacause I didn't notice what was changed at first!
- In any other context I'd say that the blend of disco night club and secret lab would be a cluttered mess. But with minions... It just works. Again, you guys capture the chaotic, goofy energy.
- This queue is maybe more than is needed for flat ride though. Like, queue times for flats after they've been open a few years tend to be super short. I feel like people will spend more times in half empty pre-shows than they will in the line (Much like E.T. in Florida).
- While I'm talking negatives, I'm gonna quickly throw the rest out now too. Get them out of the way.
- The intereactive game element is awesome and I'll talk more about that soon, but spinning rides have a max ride time of 90 seconds before they start to make people sick. Things like having shields and so many effects and stuff might be too much for a ride that short. BUT a lot of that is happening behind the scenes more than in peoples faces. The actual ride experience is a manic, crazy experience, I just worry it might be sliiiiiigggghhhtttlllyyy too crazy even for Minions.
- AS I mentioned in Tomorrow's review, great flat rides do a great job at improving the area. Being inside has some definite benefits in terms of the climate and the effects available, but it also hides it away. If any land needs the boost of kinetic energy that a flat ride could provide, it would be a Minion Land.
- That being said, I adore the concept of a shooter dark ride! That is such a fun idea!!
- So is having Minion figures in the ride vehicles! Something that could really help this ride feel even more fun!
- I love how well thought out the gameplay mechanics are! They might be a bit too complex, but it is really fun! Plus, it encourages re-riding! Like all the secret targets on Toy Story Mania!
- All the effects in the ride would be great! I love all of them! Again, fart smells and fast spinning may not be the best combo for people with motion sickness. But it would make the whole experience be even more chaotic and fun!
- The fun fact about durians is a good "plus" for the presentation
- The little victory celebration would be super fun! I like the idea of a "prize" for a game like this. But something like this is more attainable than a "high score of the day" board. And more engaging than just "Get this score and you get this rank"
- Stats for Nerds. Lol. Love it.
- Noticing now, finally, that this has a 60 second time instead of 90. That helps a lot for motion sickness and being too overstimulating. But might be too much happening in now an even shorter time. So, pros and cons.
In conclusion, farts are funny. This project is truly fantastic! But is it too crazy and manic even for minions? And does it add enough to the land if it is hidden away behind a fake elevator? Do little issues add up too much?
Brer Oswald
Well-Known Member
@Pi on my Cake Im just going to throw a line in the defence for the Yoshi camparison. Yoshi is supposed to be an indoor and outdoor omnimover with animatronics. A Dark Ride if you will. Air Ride, in practice, would be an Autopia style racer with the elevated tech. It’s a small track, most of it outdoors, and no animatronics, just “statues”. In all the discussion, I forgot to clarify, so I apologize for that.
PerGron
Well-Known Member
So first off, I want to commend you guys on your teamwork. Adding Space to this team as a surrogate was a great idea because I feel like they really helped unite you guys together as a team. While Team Tomorrow has been doing well in the game, you guys worried me as a team for a bit in the past, but this round, you guys crushed it in the teamwork aspect. I can't even really call anyone specific because you guys worked together so well, you were all stand-outs.
On the complete opposite end here, I've never played a Kirby game. I'm not familiar with the property and my knowledge of the character comes solely from Smash Bros. and while I'm sure the lore is very present to the fans, I have to admit, for a flat ride, I feel like you guys went a little too hard on the lore here. Reading through it, I just found myself asking "What?" quite a bit. Obviously it's on me to not be familiar with the property, I mean, Team Princes did a Bendy and the Ink Machine horror nights house and that game is far less popular than Kirby, but it's also up to you as the creator to make the ride accessible and understandable to those who aren't fans. It's what I really like about Flight of Passage and RotR and really don't like about Escape from Gringotts and Na'vi River Journey (I've never seen a Harry Potter film either since I'm just admitting things now).
As a ride, I also have to admit, I have the same issue as Pi: It's not really a flat ride. It feels like you tried to do a flat version of a dark ride, and while I suppose that geometrically the attraction is flat, I don't know that it would really count here. I too drew comparison to the upcoming Yoshi dark ride (that we don't know much about albeit). It also feels like there are a lot of things going on for a flat ride. Even if these are set pieces and not animatronics, the sheer amount of them lends itself to something more than a flat ride.
Other than that though, I do want to commend you guys on how detailed you were. While it may not be accessible to someone like me who's not familiar with the property, there's clearly a lot of love that went into this attraction, and the teamwork is once again, incredibly commendable.
I may seem to have gone harsh on you guys, but it doesn't mean this was a bad project at all. I just feel like it didn't really fit what the prompt asked for.
PerGron
Well-Known Member
I hate this idea. I hate this concept. And I hate that you guys made it work as well as you did...
I'm gonna give it to you, you guys took a joke concept that was 100% not a real idea and turned it into a really solid presentation. This is the Lavoratory Laboratory of SAVI, complete with bathroom humor afoot (also I believe that was the second to last round in the bar brawl too.) I don't think this was done intentionally, but it's funny how it all came full circle.
Anyway, about the ride, this was exactly what we were looking for when we talk about a dark ride. It's quick, it's simple, and it's fun(?). The queue itself is simple enough and ends up being something I can totally see at a Universal Park. As much as I dislike the minions, this queue feels very true to the characters.
As for the attraction itself, it reads like a blend between Mater's Junkyard Jamboree and the MIB Alien Attack. Combining those two attractions is a unique decision, but one I do think works in your favor. I'm a bit confused by the positive reinforcement thing and how that works and I definitely feel like a mix of banana and durian in an enclosed building will be repulsing to walk into, so I wish there were some notes about air ventilation.
Overall, a really solid project born from an awful idea. Congratulations, I hate you all.
NateD1226
Well-Known Member
That whole stanza was a big fun mess. We had a poop wall and a robot that watches everyone use the bathroom. Were we on something?
Brer Oswald
Well-Known Member
I’m honestly astounded how a simple race track around a Tree and through a tiny castle, could be interpreted as “too Lore heavy”. Sue me for trying to add a little bit of context to a handful of set piece, none of which are relevant to the plot of the ride (which was literally “Kirby gives out stars to make new friends”). I’m an Engineer, not an English major.
Don’t punish my teammates. I’m out anyways. I’m just dumbfounded how far my attempts to add context to a series clearly none of you have played, got misinterpreted for “Ride lore”. Boy will you guys be confused when Super Nintendo World opens with some of the creatures and setpieces you see there.
I’ve about had it with this place.
Cope and seethe.
Audios!
Don’t punish my teammates. I’m out anyways. I’m just dumbfounded how far my attempts to add context to a series clearly none of you have played, got misinterpreted for “Ride lore”. Boy will you guys be confused when Super Nintendo World opens with some of the creatures and setpieces you see there.
I’ve about had it with this place.
Cope and seethe.
Audios!
Brer Oswald
Well-Known Member
PerGron
Well-Known Member
I'm sorry that you feel that way, but we are the judges and we are judging as we see it. If you disagree that's fine, it was a very well put together attraction, but my issues with it stand. If you really want to pull out of the game we understand, but we do invite you to stick around.
Unfortunately, sometimes we don't agree with the reviews, but the thing is, @Outbound still hasn't reviewed so no decision has been made yet.
Brer Oswald
Well-Known Member
I disagree with how you people run these competitions. Always have. Honestly don’t know why I always get roped into them. The prompts suck. The judging sucks. End of discussion.
- In the Parks
- Yes
Thanks to everyone who participated in this challenge. After much discussion, The Agents of S.E.A. have come to a decision. We say this a lot, but this was a very close round. Probably the closest stanza yet. We were VERY close to declaring it a tie even though that is something all three hosts agreed months ago that we never wanted to do. But a final verdict was decided...
Team Yesterday
This team really came together and made something special and fun and goofy that was unlike anything else this season! It captured the spirit of Minions and Fart jokes! But it was quickly thrown together and the team didn't really seem to come together for it. It felt like there was a lot of resistance and people dragging their feet. Going forward, there should be a focus on team work and getting going early rather than last minute panic.
Team Tomorrow!
This team represented what makes this game special. They truly came together and built off of each other's ideas! They tried new things and created something really amazing. Going forward, my advice would be to be more careful in how the project fits the prompt. Being just on the borderline of fitting the stanza has been a recurring issue since stanza 1 where the five year plan overshadowed the entry land. Here the flat ride was very close to just being an outdoor dark ride. But in the end, the team won this and it was well earned.
Now, say goodbye Singapore as we head back to Disney Parks!
- In the Parks
- Yes
Let's do something a bit more fun, shall we?
While Act 2 - The Pacific Voyage has offered an opportunity for smaller projects & quick-thinking, sometimes those challenges can be too niche or outside of someone's comfort zone. To compensate, we present an additional, optional challenge on the cusp of the Fortress of Fate and Act 3!
We're in the home stretch of the game now! Only 5 more full Stanzas to go!
There's something a little odd that has become a bit of an accidental tradition in Act 2 of Sorcerer's Apprentice that we haven't covered yet...
Silly hashtags and Instagram Walls!
#PurpleWall
#BloodyWatermelonWall
#HippoSplatterWall
#BubblegumWall...
Both in the SAU and IRL Instagram walls are some good, old-fashioned, goofy fun!
As an entirely optional bonus mission, you will design a brand new Hashtag and Instagram Wall for any Disney Park (Real of SAU exclusive) anywhere in the world!
- This Wall doesn’t even have to be for a specific location if you don't want. It can be entirely Blue Sky.
- Anyone who wants to participate in this Bonus prompt can! Whether they are a player or not!
- This challenge is optional. You don’t have to complete this to move forward. (Though at the end of Stanza X and as we approach the final rounds, there will be a few pinch points, and players’ passion here might serve as a “tie breaker” if needed as we narrow down the cast to one final, eventual winner of the game.)
- This challenge is solo. It will consist entirely of your own work. (With that in mind, we don’t expect the same skill sets from each player. If you’re a talented writer but a poor artist, use your writing to your advantage! Alternatively, feel free to use this as a chance to practice the skills you feel are your weakest to help strengthen yourself before heading into Act 3!)
This Project (Which you do NOT have to do) will be due by the time Stanza X ends
Orange Cat
Well-Known Member
Suchomimus
Well-Known Member
Outbound
Well-Known Member
Eyyy I made it!
So I’ve been sick, and having to keep up with rl sick is pretty time-consuming. Hence, I haven’t had much time to review: I had finished Team Yesterday yesterday, but I wanted to post them together, so I just told Pi and PerGron to just post the reviews first. Now, here are my finished reviews for Stanza VII - On Her Majesty’s Secret Singapore!
MINIONS FART GUN FRENZY
The moment I saw this concept, I knew you were onto something. It is laugh-out-loud hilarious and fits the Minions perfectly. It also sounds like you took our nitpicking in Stanza 6 (do something crazy) to the extreme! Although actually, when you compare this to the VBB and Hippo Splatter Wall, Minions Fart Gun Frenzy is pretty realistic. There’s already fart jokes on the current Minions ride! So it is both crazy and realistic!
So let’s look at this project. First, the queue. Yes, the queue. What a queue. Indeed, more queue. Very fun.
Actually though the queue is great, love any artwork when I see it, and I found those titles amusing. Now for the ride.
I have always liked these interactive games! Buzz Lightyear and Toy Story are among my favorite rides just for the points system. My one concern is it might be a bit “much”. Just the way you can hit other players, it sounds like a strategy but with you already moving I wonder if it would become really hard to hit anything. Now, there is no way to clarify this so I really don’t know what I am talking about.
You guys took a while to get this thing going, and a lot of it comes down to @D Hindley . He was the person who really came up with the concept (though a good number of you did contribute -- this was very much a team effort). This worked out fine in this round, but in the future, a sudden burst of inspiration from one player might not come. Brainstorming early is your friend!
Last, your presentation works very well. Comic sans??? Very well.
I also liked those ride statistics at the end. Nice attention to detail.
Overall, a really good project that loses in my book for no reason other than the project it was competing against was really really good.
KIRBY'S AIR RIDE
This team was awesome to watch this Stanza. It reached the point we were 12 hours in and the project was done! From there, you went on and kept adding more and more, and I loved the extra details!
One of these extra details is the “trip report” way of writing. I really like this breaking from the mold. So many times do we see this “pitch meeting” style, especially in these smaller prompts. The trip report was last seen in Stanza V and it works again for Stanza VIII!
I also want to congratulate you on the artwork. Reference images are great, but there is something special about a real image. It elevates your project SO MUCH.
And I would also congratulate @Brer Oswald for his leadership in this round. I know you have a rocky relationship with this game. Please let me explain our perspective. We the judges have a tendency to nitpick seemingly random things, but the truth of the matter is besides maybe Stanzas 1 and 2 there really haven’t been any legitimate problems that we have with projects, so we have to resort to nitpicking to figure out who wins. You guys should all take this as a compliment, but if you feel we aren’t serving the competition in any way, please let us know. PM or public.
Reading this with fresh eyes, I do not agree with my fellow judges on the Kirby lore. I have never seen Song of the South, but it doesn’t keep me from loving Splash Mountain. Maybe the stars would be weird to a new viewer, but I assume they’d just go with it. If anything the attention to all the various Kirby characters adds points -- it shows you didn't just go down the list of Nintendo IPs and choose one that wouldn't be getting an attraction already.
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/attractions/
(Autopia is a flat ride, ergo, Kirby’s Air Ride is a flat ride)
Overall, this Team Tomorrow’s best showing yet, and I looking forward to what they’ll bring for the March for Red October. You guys killed it this round!
TheOriginalTiki
Well-Known Member
Going live tonight at 11PM Eastern/8PM Pacific.
Suchomimus
Well-Known Member
Update: Things have gone from bad to worse. All the Disney and Universal resorts are closed, the Disney Cruises are cancelled, and they’re theatrical films will be put on hold.