Yooka Laylee & Shipwreck Creek. Part Four. Tonic Trouble Defined.

 In Part One, of the Yooka Laylee Tonic Trouble dark ride series, I introduced everyone to the Yooka-Laylee property, as well as an overview of my designs for the Shipwreck Creek area that holds the Tonic Trouble dark ride.  In Part Two, I went into detail on the vehicle design, ride entry signpost, and we entered the queue. In Part Three, we continued through the queue line and got on board the ride vehicle, and kept going through the Tonic Trouble dark ride storyboards. 

Now, the adventure truly begins as we discover why the dark ride is called Tonic Trouble, and move through some dynamic show scenes. I'll be going through a few storyboards today. Last time we had just gone through the maintenance area where all the other ride vehicles were plugged in and charging and asleep. There are pages floating in the air and hinting at something around the corner, so let's keep going and see what's over there.

Overview of the loading courtyard area and the first turn into the ride itself. 

Now we turn the corner to see (here's some groovy music for the upcoming scene)

This book melting effect is achieved very simply, with forced perspective. It looks like a big book until you start moving through the space and realize it’s an optical illusion. The pages are painted on the sides of the walls to look from the beginning of the tunnel, a certain way and there are floating pages above the ride vehicle as well.  As the vehicle enters the space, we begin to change to projection mapping transition imagery on the surrounding walls to completely bewilder riders before they’ve caught on to the effect. By the time the ride vehicle has begun to approach the corner, they’ve gone dark and crossed a jungle leaf and vine threshold into another scene.

The melting into the book sequence, explained

Here is some music for the next big scene as we emerge from the book transition into a lush jungle area: 

So this jungle area actually shares some space with an upcoming scene, I'll make sure to show you a diagram of how it is set up when we get there, but for now, just remember this map view and where the clouds are on the top right is actually not a floor-to-ceiling wall but a type of raised boundary with open space at the top.

We ascend into this cave from the jungle floor and continue to ascend after this scene deep in the cave

The blowing scene is handled by rotating the seat portion of the vehicle as it accelerates to stay parallel with the scene even as the base turns to follow the real track. The resulting effect will be the icy fan has blown us off course. The painted fake track on the floor that’s lit will sell the effect as well as tilting the seat portion of the vehicle slightly away from the blowing fan. As we continue out of the cave we emerge in a temple top surrounded by clouds! Huge puffy clouds!

Now it's this part on the clouds which actually looks down on the previous jungle scene I mentioned, as we are raised above it, yet occupying the same room. Here's a horizontal diagram cutout showing how it's set up:

I did it this way as a really awesome spatial feeling will be created.  When you can literally look down to your left and see where your vehicle was prior, as well as new vehicles ascending, it's really cool. Also, the giant scenery of puffy clouds surrounding the vehicle aren’t wasted, but used also as clouds in the sky for the previous jungle scene.

Oh boy. We just had to run into Capital Bee and his airship. And he’s not happy about anything we’ve been doing.

He throws us down a pipe towards certain doom. I know you’re eager to find out what happens next, so don’t forget we are rotating in the vehicle to watch Capital Bee and descending down this pipe backwards. Dangerous times!

Will Yooka and Laylee abandon us to our fate? Will Capital Bee keep the tonic he recovered for himself? Join us next time as we conclude riding Tonic Trouble and exit through the gift shop (of course).

-C