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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2009 6:16:44 GMT
After seeing an ad for a local haunted house, I was thinking of me and other swordsmen facing down ghouls armed with our favorite swords or other favorite weaponry, and the ghouls or zombies last fearful thoughts that their latest "victim" was instead going to destroy them I was thinking how about a haunted house where cardboard silhouettes popped out at you like in the police training, but instead of shooting them, you cut them up with a sword? ;D I think that would be a great way to celebrate Halloween, and get ready for that possible zombie apocalypse You could even yell something cool, like "I'm not locked up in here with you, You're locked up in here with me!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2009 7:11:54 GMT
Um cool idea but in the excitement, people running round in a house with sharp objects split second attacking cardboard silhouettes....need I continue?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2009 7:40:48 GMT
Perhaps separate the guests by some amount of time, or just one at a time, anyway, the cardboard silhouettes would have to be replaced and reset
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2009 9:45:45 GMT
Insurance is your friend.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2009 10:00:16 GMT
Insurance is your friend. Just make them sign waivers ;D
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2009 11:28:22 GMT
Hah, better make sure a really good lawyer makes them up. And even then...we love our lawyers we do..
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2009 17:07:51 GMT
Sounds like a lot of work to set up something that would be halfway decent for a few minutes of cutting practice. You're not actually thinking of inviting the public are you? With sharp swords??? If this is just for you and a couple buddies just set up some cardboard cutouts in your back yard. Give 'em pumpkin heads and go at it!
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Post by Kilted Cossack on Oct 24, 2009 17:20:55 GMT
Sounds like an arma blanca version of the Fun House at Gunsite or Thunder Ranch. Under sufficiently controlled circumstances, I think it'd be a hoot.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2009 18:28:26 GMT
Sounds like a lot of work to set up something that would be halfway decent for a few minutes of cutting practice. You're not actually thinking of inviting the public are you? With sharp swords??? If this is just for you and a couple buddies just set up some cardboard cutouts in your back yard. Give 'em pumpkin heads and go at it! I don't have the means to set up something like that, but obviously you would have to charge a lot more than you would normally for a haunted house, the rates would have to be closer to whatever they charge at the Gunsite or Thunder Ranch that Kiltedcossack mentioned. Maybe another less realistic way would be to do it with optics and low power lasers, guests would choose between several kinds of weighted sword hilts with lasers in them for the swords, then use some fog to make the lasers visible, and then the targets could be fitted with optical sensors to detect the "sword blade" so the cut or thrust would be detected. This would enable the targets to be suddenly lit up instead of needing the electromechanical equipment to swing out a target. Once the target was attacked, the lighting on the target could change color to indicate you had destroyed the "attacker" A more sophisticated system could display holographic targets This scenario with laser swords wouldn't be as realistic or fun as using real swords, but it would eliminate the liability problem with people using real swords, plus people who didn't own swords could go to it, and you wouldn't have all of those cardboard targets to replace constantly But I agree with Kiltedcossack, the version with real swords would be a hoot! ;D
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2009 19:49:59 GMT
OK, that sounds much more reasonable and even something I'd like to try. One problem I can see is how to control range. With the lasers you could be cutting targets from 20 feet away. No challenge there. How about some sort of magnetic or electrical relay that would require contact, or at least near contact? In any event it's probably too late to try it out this year with figuring out the details and procuring a place. Something to plan for next year though!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2009 21:25:08 GMT
That wouldn't be too hard to control, the targets would be hidden by the dark and the fog until they are suddenly revealed by the light, and until they were revealed, cuts or stabs with the laser would not be counted. Sensors would register the distance of the guest from the target, so the target could be revealed at the appointed time. Of course, it would also be easy to supply sound as the target was revealed and "attacked" the guest, and a sound to played as the guest "killed" the target
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2009 21:37:40 GMT
Be better to just use hard plastic swords and styrofoam targets.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2009 3:02:07 GMT
Use lasers for looks only, have the actual hit/miss determination done by something like RFID chips that let you wireless track the position and orientation of the hilt in 3 dimensions.
Why yes, I have thought about this before.
But balance will always be a probelm, it might be better to just use foam swords like RSW makes against very soft targets. Or maybe have the targets be images projected into fog and still keep the chip idea.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2009 7:45:21 GMT
....really guys? Lasers, smoke, RFID chips (Which are way too imprecise to do this by the way without a crazy system)...OR you just have bloody Styrofoam style targets and hard plastic swords...much like in strategy simple things are usually best..and actually possible without spending 10k.
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Post by sparky on Oct 25, 2009 8:05:34 GMT
My boys created a "haunted trail", not quite as elaborate as your idea swordmonger7 but still pretty cool. They have been collecting bones from the woods and have made skeletons. And they have hung rubber bats and bloody plastic swords from the trees. Which they plan to control with the miles of strings running through my back yard . So after setting all of it up they come to me and ask me for lighting. So now I have yard lighting that lights up their trail. It's funny because they when they checked it out in the dark with the lights on they came back in and said "man Dad it's really creepy out there". I'm going to try and get a fake human skeleton from a school and sneak it into their trail. ;D I figure I'm going to be paying for their therapy anyway......
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2009 8:12:18 GMT
One word: Video.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2009 8:18:10 GMT
I have difficulty enough cutting styrofoam with nice sharp steel swords, let alone hard plastic swords... Some sort of pool noodle material blanks with projected baddie images/animations might work. Ghosts glow, right?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2009 8:27:46 GMT
..ok, make the bad people out of Styrofoam cups.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2009 15:11:20 GMT
I'll try to make this sound on the most positive note, which is at least it's not as dangerous as it would be with guns.
But....
Moreover, the contingency plan for a zombie apocalypse seems pointless, because 95% of people will be zombies... probably including you. The people who will be fine are like Amish farmers and Kenyan shepherds.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2009 15:27:29 GMT
As long as you're going to have fog present then how about hologram targets? Styrofoam targets can be cut once. Then you have a big mess to clean up. Not good.
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