The first step to building a megalopolis is to click on your small construction site and select 'Build a Megalopolis Construction Site'. Note: you aren't building the megalopolis yet. You're just building the construction site.
The megalopolis construction site consists of one central structure surrounded by 48 smaller construction sites. Each of these smaller sites will be used to build a piece of the megalopolis.
You are the owner of all 48 smaller construction sites. You can give them to different people individually, or make some of them guild owned, or even grant some to the public.
When all 48 pieces are finished, you will pass the test. Whomever completes a piece will pass the test along with you. Note that starting a piece doesn't count -- it is whomever finishes the piece that gets credit for the test. You yourself automatically get credit for the center piece, so you do not need to finish one of the 48 pieces yourself.
A single person can finish more than one piece. But of course, a single person cannot pass the test twice, so this is very inefficient. You would be wise to seek out a full complement of 49 players.
WARNINGS: from the time that the megalopolis construction site is built, you have one real-world week to finish the megalopolis. If all 48 pieces are not finished by the end of the week, the megalopolis will crumble to dust, taking all your labors with it. Because of this, it is wise to gather all the people and materials before you raise the construction site. Furthermore, the central structure cannot be salvaged, and there is no way to take materials back out of or tear down the other 48 sites, so do not put anything in until you're sure you can complete the structure, and have extra materials on hand if you intend to retry building the construction site for easier requirements overall.
The first step in the process is to build a small construction site, and click on Projects/Architecture/Megalopolis.
The last 21 Megalopolises that have been built will show up as waypoints in everyone's Navigation menu without requiring a Navigation skill slot.
A fair amount of typing has been done on the question of the plural of the word "megalopolis." Recent searches online have proved spectacularly fruitless. It may be proved that the English useage prefers "megalopolises," but at least two other perfectly acceptable variations exist. One could just as easily Latinize the word to form "megalopoli," or use the ancient Greek "megalopolites," where the emphasis is placed on either the fourth or fifth syllable. This discussion is largely moot, since any of these will likely be understood. Further diminishing this issue's importance is that fact that you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone in the game who dutifully spells out "m-e-g-a-l-o-p-o-l-i-s" every time one of the things is referred to. Usually, the building will just be called a "mega" or "megalo," and each of these brings up new and exciting arguments on its plural.
See Also: (Megalopolis Locations)
Images
Construction Site
