You know me as The Stranger.
In my day we were confronted by a particularly difficult challenge, approached in teams of forty nine hard-working souls. And when the challenge was complete, forty nine people at once would gain a new appreciation for the once noble Discipline of Architecture.
Though they no doubt have little understanding of the true meaning of this Discipline, descendants of those architects do now walk among you.
But, as is typical of Architects, that wasn't enough for some. I remember one Architect in particular.... She boasted that participating as one of forty nine in the challenge was not enough for her - she would complete it alone!
She succeeded.
And yet, none of her descendants remain. Quite a mark she made on our land!
I give you - The Test of the Megalopolis!
-- Gharib
When you start the test at the University of Architecture, you get this information: The test of the megalopolis is simple: you must build a megalopolis. When you finish, up to 49 people will pass the test.
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.
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.
When all 48 pieces are finished, the site builder 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.
Looking to join an ongoing Megalopolis project ?
Completing a Megalopolis upgrades the nearby chariot stop with a message board (multiple megas add additional noticeboards). Chariot stops with a message board upgrade are listed in completed projects.
One clicks on the Chariot and then chooses "Messages..." at which point they are presented with the option to either:
When posting a new message one is prompted to pick either an Event or Guild type message (as these are the two categories of messages) and then is prompted with the amount of paper to use (a minimum amount will be displayed by default). Note that the more paper one uses, the higher in the list of messages the new message will appear; no ink, however, is required.
The message composition window then opens allowing one to title and type the message body. Have not confirmed any maximum message size yet so if anyone finds out please add that here. When done composing one is prompted with an expiration window. By default the choice for the message to expire is "never", but one can choose how many hours and minutes before the message expires (entered in HH:MM format). If entering a time like 100:00 (100 hours and 0 minutes) try using 100:10 or so; that will work.
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. In ancient Greek megapolis means a large town. The plural form of the word have a different spelling, and a change in the empasis. 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 modern Greek "megalopolites," (which actually means the citizens of megapolis) 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. There is an ancient town, founded in 371 B.C, called megapolis in Arcadia.
Each Megalopolis can vary from 25% of the standard to 300% of the standard for each material. In the table below, section types are listed in bold, with the materials required for a single section of that type listed below it. Totals by material are given on Megalopolis Planning Template
| Central Structure | 1 |
| Rope | 600 |
| Canvas | 150 |
| Boards | 1800 |
| Brass Plates | 4 |
| Amethyst: Eyelet | 48 |
| Garnet: Corner Heart | 24 |
| Lapis: Bridge | 12 |
| Turquoise: Sprocket | 6 |
| Cut Stone | 360 |
| Ramp | 4 |
| Bricks | 5000 |
| Cut Stone | 500 |
| Concrete | 50 |
| Treated Boards: Pliable Hard | 400 |
| Nails | 450 |
| Tower | 12 |
| Concrete | 60 |
| Treated Boards: Rigid Rotproof | 300 |
| Nails | 120 |
| Cut Stone | 350 |
| Paint: Golden Rod | 500 |
| Paint: Orange | 500 |
| Paint: Dodger Blue | 400 |
| Paint: Saddle Brown | 250 |
| Paint: Sea Green | 100 |
| Wall Segment | 8 |
| Concrete | 100 |
| Treated Boards: Soft Rotproof | 400 |
| Nails | 200 |
| Cut Stone | 500 |
| Paint: Feldspar | 800 |
| Paint: Dodger Blue | 700 |
| Paint: Orange | 500 |
| Paint: Sea Green | 300 |
| Paint: Golden Rod | 150 |
| Bridge | 4 |
| Bricks | 5000 |
| Concrete | 60 |
| Treated Boards: Pliable Soft Rotproof | 2000 |
| Nails | 700 |
| Cut Stone | 250 |
| Iron Bars | 200 |
| Gate | 4 |
| Bricks | 10000 |
| Cut Stone | 700 |
| Concrete | 300 |
| Boards: Hard Rigid | 2000 |
| Nails | 700 |
| Lapis: Hexas Plate | 7 |
| Lapis: Choronzon | 7 |
| Lapis: Thistle | 7 |
| Lapis: Unity | 2 |
| Lapis: Dragyn's Eye | 2 |
| Paint: Tomato | 650 |
| Paint: Sea Green | 450 |
| Paint: Saddle Brown | 470 |
| Paint: Spring Green | 350 |
| Side Wall | 8 |
| Concrete | 1000 |
| Iron Bars | 30 |
| Treated Boards: Hard Rotproof | 2100 |
| Nails | 200 |
| Cut Stone | 350 |
| Paint: Sea Green | 1500 |
| Paint: Golden Rod | 1200 |
| Paint: Dodger Blue | 700 |
| Paint: Orange | 200 |
| Edge Wall | 8 |
| Concrete | 500 |
| Iron Bars | 15 |
| Treated Boards: Hard Rotproof | 2500 |
| Nails | 100 |
| Cut Stone | 200 |
| Paint: Sea Green | 800 |
| Paint: Golden Rod | 600 |
| Paint: Dodger Blue | 300 |
| Paint: Orange | 100 |