Vespertilio

## Description

Vespertilio is a Gerstlauer bobsled coaster located in Forthwind. The ride features a preshow and a vertical elevator lift.

## Preshow

The preshow of Vespertilio revolves around Hendriech Von Adolberg, who is jealous of his brother Arnoud's position as mascot of the FantasieCraft Resort. To make an attempt to steal this position from him, he invented a special machine that would be able to sabotage Arnoud's inventions. He still needs to test this invention and needs the help of the visitors of the attraction. Hendriech explicitly asks to not crash into caves or buildings, but this still happens during the ride.

### Show script [EN]

*"Is everybody here? Yeah? Ok. [Cough 2x] Welcome in my studio, where I make inventions that will change the world! I am Hendriech Von Adolberg, the brother of Arnoud. You must all help me with my project, because my brother Arnoud is always one step ahead of my success. That nasty traitor... I should have been the mascot! My plan is to eliminate him once and for all. Why are you so shocked? No! Not dead! I mean his inventions! Those must make sure he's not more than a worthless plumber! [Cough] Please follow me to the next room and take place in one of the 3 machines. I want you to be extremely careful, and don't crash into the caves and buildings. Thank you for your cooperation, I will see you on the other side."*

## History

Vespertilio was the second coaster of the FantasieCraft 3.0 map and it opened with the soft opening of the new park. The project has featured many different systems for its vertical elevator lift according to the available technology at the time.

### Vertical elevator lift

#### Version 1A

The first version of the elevator lift used the TrainCarts elevator sign in combination with regular rails, which simply teleported the train to its highest point. This version had a lot of technical issues and the ride never opened with this setup.

#### Version 1B

After the introduction of TrainCarts animations, the first version of the elevator got updated to an alternative method. This version also made use of the TrainCarts elevator sign and regular rails, but the trains had an animation which gave the visual impression that the train moved upwards gradually rather than abruptly.

#### Version 2

When TrainCarts Coasters got released, Vespertilio got a complete retrack which replaced all regular rails with TrainCarts Coasters track. Because animations were not yet a thing for the addon, the elevator made use of a vertical piece of track in combination with a train animation that rotated the train. This cancelled out the rotation caused by the change in direction of the track and gave the visual impression that the train moved up gradually.

#### Version 3

Finally, after the introduction of TrainCarts Coasters animations, the elevator system was replaced with a simple up and down track animation. Originally the platform, which was just for visual effect, was made on a seperate train that played at the same time the train of the ride itself was in the elevator. This got later changed to a rail object that represented the platform, which is locked onto the actual elevator track. This system is still being used to this day.