Wall-traversal amusement attraction
An amusement attraction features a wall structure, a respective set of illuminable handholds distributed over a wall surface of at least one upright wall of the structure, a floor surface residing adjacent to the upright wall on a side thereof faced by the wall surface, and one or more detection devices operable to detect landing of a participant on the floor surface during attempted traversal of the wall surface. A controller is operable to illuminate the handholds in different colour-coded patterns. Each pattern includes illumination of “authorized” handholds in a first colour, illumination of “prohibited” handholds in a second colour, and illumination of “targeted” handholds in a third colour. In a game-play session, participants are tasked with grasping of the targeted handholds while traversing the wall structure, with penalties applied for detected landing of participants on the floor surface and gripping of prohibited handholds.
1 . An amusement system comprising:
a wall structure comprising one or more upright walls;
a plurality of handholds on the one or more upright walls in positions distributed over a wall area of the one or more upright walls for use as hand grips by which at least one participant can support themselves on the one or more upright walls, and thereon traverse a course that spans from a starting point adjacent a first end of the wall area to an end point adjacent a second end of the wall area, of which the second end is of horizontally distant relation to the first end;
a floor surface comprising a penalty zone residing adjacent to the one or more upright walls on a side thereof faced by the wall area;
one or more penalty detection devices positioned relative to the one or more upright walls and the floor surface, and configured to detect landings of the at least one participant on the penalty zone during attempted traversal of the course via the plurality of handholds; and
a controller, connected to the one or more penalty detection devices, configured to execute a gameplay session, and therein:
execute a countdown timer;
monitor the detected landings of the at least one participant on the penalty zone;
in response to each detected landing, penalize a health point from a number of health points given to the at least one participant;
determine whether the countdown timer has expired;
in response to determining the countdown timer has expired, terminate the gameplay session;
in response to determining the countdown timer has not expired, determine whether the given number of health points are penalized; and
in response to determining the given number of health points are penalized, terminate the gameplay session.
2 . The amusement system of claim 1 , comprising:
a plurality of illumination devices, each connected to the controller and configured to illuminate a respective one of the plurality of handholds in a prohibition colour designating the respective one of the plurality of handholds as a prohibited handhold to be avoided; and
a plurality of sensors connected to the controller and configured to detect grasping of the plurality of handholds, wherein the controller is further configured to:
trigger illumination of at least one handhold of the plurality of handholds, by at least one illumination device of the plurality of illumination devices, in the prohibition colour according to the gameplay session, to designate the at least one handhold as the prohibited handhold;
monitor for detected grasping of the prohibited handhold; and
penalize a health point from the given number of health points, in response to each detected grasping of the prohibited handhold,
wherein the given number of health points penalized comprises the health points penalized in response to the detected landings and the detected graspings of the prohibited handhold.
3 . The amusement system of claim 2 , further comprising:
a plurality of indicators, respectively representing the given number of health points, each displayed in an initial state,
wherein, in response to each penalized health point, an indicator of the plurality of indicators, displayed in the initial state changes state, such that when the given number of health points are penalized, all of the plurality of indicators have changed states, and the gameplay session is terminated.
4 . The amusement system of claim 3 , further comprising a display that shows the plurality of indicators.
5 . The amusement system of claim 2 , further comprising:
a display connected to the controller and configured to display a status meter comprising a level that changes according to the penalized health points of the given number of health points, wherein the status meter is initially displayed at the level being full corresponding to the given number of health points,
wherein, in response to each penalized health point, the level of the status meter is decremented, and
wherein when the level of the status meter reaches zero, corresponding to the given number of health points penalized, the gameplay session is terminated.
6 . The amusement system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of indicators, respectively representing the given number of health points, each displayed in an initial state,
wherein, in response to each penalized health point, an indicator of the plurality of indicators, displayed in the initial state changes state, such that when the given number of health points are penalized, all of the plurality of indicators have changed states, and the gameplay session is terminated.
7 . The amusement system of claim 6 , further comprising a display that shows the plurality of indicators.
8 . The amusement system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a display connected to the controller and configured to display a status meter comprising a level that changes according to the penalized health points of the given number of health points,
wherein the status meter is initially displayed at the level being full corresponding to the given number of health points,
wherein, in response to each penalized health point, the level of the status meter is decremented, and
wherein when the level of the status meter reaches zero, corresponding to the given number of health points penalized, the gameplay session is terminated.
9 . A method for a gameplay session in an amusement system comprising a wall structure including one or more upright walls, a plurality of handholds on the one or more upright walls in positions distributed over a wall area of the one or more upright walls for use as hand grips by which at least one participant can support themselves on the one or more upright walls, a floor surface comprising a penalty zone residing adjacent to the one or more upright walls on a side thereof faced by the wall area, one or more penalty detection devices positioned relative to the one or more upright walls and the floor surface, and configured to detect landings of the at least one participant on the penalty zone during attempted traversal of the course via the plurality of handholds, and a controller connected to the one or more penalty detection devices, the method, executed by the controller, comprising:
executing a countdown timer;
monitoring the detected landings of the at least one participant on the penalty zone;
in response to each detected landing, penalizing a health point from a number of health points given to the at least one participant;
determining whether the countdown timer has expired;
in response to determining the countdown timer has expired, terminating the gameplay session;
in response to determining the countdown timer has not expired, determining whether the given number of health points are penalized; and
in response to determining the given number of health points are penalized, terminating the gameplay session.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the amusement system further comprises:
a plurality of illumination devices, each connected to the controller and configured to illuminate a respective one of the plurality of handholds in a prohibition colour designating the respective one of the plurality of handholds as a prohibited handhold to be avoided; and
a plurality of sensors connected to the controller and configured to detect grasping of the plurality of handholds; and
wherein the method executed by the controller further comprises:
triggering illumination of at least one handhold of the plurality of handholds, by at least one illumination device of the plurality of illumination devices, in the prohibition colour according to the gameplay session, to designate the at least one handhold as the prohibited handhold;
monitoring for detected grasping of the prohibited handhold; and
penalizing a health point from the given number of health points, in response to each detected grasping of the prohibited handhold,
wherein the given number of health points penalized comprises the health points penalized in response to the detected landings and the detected graspings of the prohibited handhold.
11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
displaying a plurality of indicators, respectively representing the given number of health points, each displayed in an initial state,
wherein, in response to each penalized health point, an indicator of the plurality of indicators, displayed in the initial state changes state, such that when the given number of health points are penalized, all of the plurality of indicators have changed states, and the gameplay session is terminated.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of indicators are displayed on a display connected to the controller.
13 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
displaying, on a display connected to the controller, a status meter comprising a level that changes according to the penalized health points of the given number of health points, wherein the status meter is initially displayed at the level being full corresponding to the given number of health points,
wherein, in response to each penalized health point, the level of the status meter is decremented, and
wherein when the level of the status meter reaches zero, corresponding to the given number of health points penalized, the gameplay session is terminated.
14 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
displaying a plurality of indicators, respectively representing the given number of health points, each displayed in an initial state,
wherein, in response to each penalized health point, an indicator of the plurality of indicators, displayed in the initial state changes state, such that when the given number of health points are penalized all of the plurality of indicators have changed states, and the gameplay session is terminated.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of indicators are displayed on a display connected to the controller.
16 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
displaying, on a display connected to the controller, a status meter comprising a level that changes according to the penalized health points of the given number of health points,
wherein the status meter is initially displayed at the level being full corresponding to the given number of health points,
wherein, in response to each penalized health point, the level of the status meter is decremented, and
wherein when the level of the status meter reaches zero, corresponding to the given number of health points penalized, the gameplay session is terminated.