GB: New Horror Dark Ride Concept by Simworx & Katapult Promises Fearful Ride Experience

Just in time for the 2020 Halloween season, the British company Katapult (specialized in concept design & theming) and media-based rides manufacturer Simworx presented their newly developed concept for a new horror dark ride attraction. “Torchlight: Search of the Forest“ is designed to immerse visitors into a “creepy atmosphere of the top class” – in a scenery of a dark forest à la “Blair Witch Project“, staged by modern multimedia technology, riders are supposed to find out what kind of story is behind numerous missing persons that once disappeared in the mysterious forest. The dark ride is based on the trackless 3 DOF AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) track system by Simworx, that allows for omni-directional movements and a vehicle speed of 2.4 m/s.

Phil Higgins, Chief Creative Officer at Katapult, said, “[...] Torchlight is just one of two ride concepts that we have been working on to maximise the potential of the class-leading AGV technology. This project has also allowed us to experiment and push the boundaries in terms of what a dark ride can offer. We’ve put considerable effort into developing ideas for the ride’s queue line, car design, soundscape and photo opportunity too, to develop a hyper-realistic experience that guests continue to gravitate back to for more.”

Simworx’ CEO Terry Monkton adds: “As a dark ride concept, Torchlight ticks all the boxes of creating an exciting, immersive and globally unique experience. We have been really impressed with Katapult who have spent considerable time with our technical team to fully understand the unique performance capabilities of our AGV and they have subsequently developed a fabulous dark ride concept that fully utilises these. [...]” (eap)