Overview
The Test of Bridges is the test of building bridges between people. One thing that makes running around take more time is that the Nile and other waterways have few bridges. Sometimes, to get to something on the other side, one must run many coordinates out of the way to get to a natural bridge or crossable area. I propose below the functionality not only for a test, but for citizens to have a way to cross water in a desired place without swimming.
Bridges
Mechanics
Steps to building a bridge:
- Stand facing water, if the bridge is to be built over water.
- Choose the build option, which will make the bridge appear in the same way a building built through a compound does.
- Move the bridge so that at least one end is touching land.
- Lengthen or shorten the bridge. This step could be combined with the previous one if an additional button is added to the normal moving interface. The position of the bridge cannot be finalized until both ends are touching land.
- Load materials, like any project building.
- The final step is that of "raising" the bridge. The bridge has to be raised at both ends before it can be used. This means that one character alone must run the long way around to the other end of the bridge before he can use it as a shortcut across the water. Another option, however, is to have someone else on the other side raise it.
Sizes
There could be three size ranges for bridges, each requiring a different set of materials to build. Each type scales the amount of materials it requires by its length, which could be displayed on its menu in the same way the size/height of Cartouche buildings or obelisks are displayed.
Footbridges
- Shortest bridges, spanning no more than a few coordinates.
- Materials: boards and nails, plus rope for the railings.
- Breaks after a certain number of people (possibly random with in a range, possibly dependent on length) have walked across it. It should not break while someone is actually on it though (nobody dies in Egypt, right?).
- Possible improvement/upgrade: rot-proof boards and metal cable instead of regular boards and rope.
- Effect of improvement: the bridge lasts as long as a Stone Bridge would if it were the same length
Stone Bridges
- Medium bridges: could span the Nile, but nothing much bigger
- Materials: cut stone base, iron handrails
- Lasts longer than a basic Footbridge, and depending on length, slightly longer than an upgraded Footbridge
Suspension Bridges
- Intended for the ambitious: architectural wonder of bridges
- Materials: lots of concrete, steel, and metal cable
- Could span an arm of the Red Sea if someone gathered enough resources to build it big enough
- Does not instantly break, but could act like a compound with a deterioration percentage.
- Can be repaired like a compound. If the percentage drops below 50%, then the bridge cannot be crossed (structural instability)
- If feasible, it could actually be a compound in the sense of being able to support buildings and equipment.
Techs
Bridge Building
- Allows building the Footbridge and the Stone Bridge.
- Research cost probably would include boards and stone and other things.
- Fairly early tech: early in the tale and fairly low level requirement, maybe 4 or 5.
Advanced Bridge Building
- Allows building the Suspension Bridge
- Research cost probably would include concrete and metal cable and lots of metal alloys (have to research which metals are strongest for bearing weight, perhaps).
- Much later tech and fairly high level requirement, maybe 14 or 15.
Other Notes
Positioning
Bridges are not very useful if they are built right next to another bridge. Therefore, there should be a minimum distance between any two bridges - 10 or 20 coordinates perhaps.
A bridge must have both of its ends on land, but nothing really precludes a bridge from being built in a place where there is no water. As in, a bridge could be used to span an empty canyon, or reach from one hill to another. This could be just as useful as a bridge over the Nile, in the right place. The two ends should be close to the same elevation though, and building on flat land is rather useless.
Toll Bridges
Because the smaller bridges take resources to build and do not last forever, the builder of them could be able to set a toll on them that someone who wants to cross must pay.
- Acts somewhat like a shrine: the toll is a small material amount like 5 boards or 2 cut stone.
- The material asked should be one of the materials used in the bridge itself (so that someone doesn't build a bridge and then ask for huge gems in toll).
- This would require an upgrade to the bridge itself to construct the tollbooth. Cost could be mostly boards and bricks, like a chest, plus maybe a few small gears for a movable arm to block the way.
Category
The spirit of improving society and the ease of traveling is what makes this intended to be a Harmony test. It is not supposed to be an Architecture test, but unlike most Harmony tests, it does require building. If it cannot be Harmony, however, then it should be a Body test, because it requires some traveling and knowing some geography.
The Test
The general idea is to build the most useful bridge, as in, the one that is crossed the most. It tests the player's knowledge of geography and travel patterns.
Test Bridge
- Lasts exactly a week.
- The person who built it would not be visible (like the Cartouche buildings).
- Only the person who built it can raise the ends.
- It cannot be given to a guild.
- No tolls can be asked.
- Gives a point to the builder for each person who crosses it (not including the builder or the builder's spouse).
- A single person can only give a point to the same bridge once in a certain amount of time (once in an hour, perhaps).
Passing the Test
As usual, there are several possibilities to vary the difficulty of passing the test. Some possible scenarios:
- A certain number of points must be gained cumulatively among Test bridges built, or
- The builder of the top scoring bridge during the week passes, so that there is one pass per week, or
- The top seven cumulative scores pass each week.
The first choice makes it a test anyone can pass with enough patience. The second makes it a rather exclusive test, but at certain times could be very easy to pass, depending on interest. The third is probably a more balanced choice, yet also makes it require patience, like the Thought or Art tests.
Comments
I believe that this is better suited as an architecture test because it centres around the building of bridges. -rwindmtg
I also belive this sounds like an arch test -nchanter
I think that this test has promise. However, although egypt is huge and there are lots of waterways, will it be feasible to have hundreds of bridges around? It does sound like an arch test - Khaemwaset
- to stop huge numbers of bridges, it could be like the test of megalopolis with groups working together with a short time limit (which would make sense for bridges). Passing the test could be a combination with obelisk, maybe number of people required is determined by the size of the bridge, and progressively larger ones are required to pass the test as a group. It would be interesting to see Egypt start with no bridges or only bridges that will soon deteriorate (ferries being much more important; more options would be needed). - FadenRa