Impossible world records

[fivecentfather]

I cry foul on the World Record numbers. On the first urban bridge it is reported that several  people finished the bridge with only SEVEN pieces. That won't even build decking, let alone any support structure. Either the record recording feature is bugged or has been hacked.

However, if I'm wrong, someone please post how to build a successful bridge with seven pieces.

[hassiba]

I am trying to complete all 48 scenarios before challenging the "globe"
I am currently stuck at scenario 24!

having said that, I have tried to get to top 10 in one of the scenarios but it was too hard. you must use advanced options to get close enough (managet to get to rank 12)

may be there is an expolitable bug that allows for such unrealistic records. I hope not.
I do not think the community would have cheaters/hackers like other kiddie games.

I am sure some of these "talented" designers will show up in the forums and explain their design.
thats if they have managed to get the "manual" forum account approval done!

[Fletch]

I just want to preface this post by saying that I was super excited when I heard that Bridge Project had been released. After trying the demo I was pretty underwhelmed by some of the changes, but I went ahead and purchased the game anyway. I think what the guys at Chronic Logic are doing is great, and bridge building games are some of my favorite. Supporting these developers will help make these games better, and ensure that they continue to be produced in the future.

I should also mention that I've been a long time player of the genre, and I used to take part in the competitions hosted by bridgebuilder-game.com. I've seen all the physics exploits used in previous games, and I recognize that in a simulation like this there will always be inconsistencies from run to run.

Now to the meat of your question which concerns the "world records." Yes the system is broken, and yes, there are physics exploits that allow for ridiculously cheap bridges. When I first began playing, I tried to build bridges like any engineer/normal person would, but after comparing my results with the world records I soon realized that there were fundamental problems with my approach. If I've learned anything from past competitions, it's that with enough time and patience, a bridge can be built cheaper. When you know where the physics model breaks down, bridges can be made cheaper still. I've spent some time working on my world record bridges, but I don't care enough, or have enough time to fiddle a great deal. If you're curious about my bridges, you can find me as "Fletcher" in the world records lists. I'll try to post some photos when I get home, so you guys can see what these bridges look like.

Below is a list of current issues with Bridge Project's physics model that I've seen. If you keep these in mind when building, then you too will find yourself easily breaking into the top ten.

•   Forces across the width of a deck piece aren't transferred properly. What this means is that you can often support a bridge using only one side of a truss.  You do this by disabling the "mirrored" mode, and building beams in only one plane. There is some deflection with traffic on the unsupported side of the deck, but not nearly enough.

•   When building a deck piece, the wood, iron, or steel that is built along with it can be removed with almost no detrimental effect. This includes the cross members, and beams that connect joints. What you end up with is a deck that's much lighter, cheaper, and which isn't dependent on the physical characteristics of the material which constructed it. All of deck piece failures that I've witnessed have come from joints failing, or vehicles improperly "colliding" with the edge of a decking piece.

•   This may or may not be a physics model issue, but you can often ignore conventional anchor points when building a bridge. Support beams can often rest directly on the ground. You will sometimes experience weird physics collision issues, sliding, and inconsistency from run to run, but in general, this is the cheapest method of bridge construction.

I'll follow up with additional information this evening when I get home. In the meantime feel free to try some of these exploits, and see where you end up on the records list.

I've attached some images below:

Canyons #2 Edit Mode


Canyons #2 Test Run


City #1 Edit Mode


City #1 Test Run


City #8 Edit Mode


City #8 Edit Mode


City #8 Test Run


City #8 Test Run

[fivecentfather]

Thank you, Fletch for "confessing" and letting the rest of us regular folk in on the "secrets" of the game. I knew it had to be something like this, but didn't realize how deep the problems were.

I had a feeling non-mirrored construction was important, but had no idea just how far you could take it. I agree that there is definitely a problem if you can have a bridge completely unsupported on one side. Let's see how that would work in the real world.

However, it's the second "issue" that really irritates me. There shouldn't even be a way to remove the support from under decking without the whole thing falling into the chasm. That's like building with slabs of unsupported asphalt. It's a completely ridiculous oversight that people are exploiting to appear smarter. I wonder if there is any difference in strength between decking built with wood and the wood removed vs. decking built with steel and the steel removed. Would be an interesting thing to test.

Like you said about the third issue, though, I don't think that is an exploit. In fact, I recall in the more challenging bridges in past games, laying the decking ON the road or having supports that simply touched the bottom with no actual anchor were absolutely necessary to even complete the bridges. I often thought such constructs silly because they would never hold up in "real life", but since it was a game, and these were fantasy scenarios, I forgave them the craziness of the physics involved. However, this "feature" combined with the exploits above make the whole world records thing a joke.

Since I don't really expect these things to be fixed, I'll simply ignore the whole "records" thing and just be satisfied with making bridges that look good and would actually work in the real world. I'll leave the glory to the "cheaters".

Thanks again for your candor.

[hassiba]

Thank you Fletch, I did not know how silly the exploits are
and I have to discagree with Fivecentfather. Those issue must be fixed by the developers. The word record is a huge advantage to this game. I love competition, I could spend hours on a single stage to perfect it and get into top 10.

but with the current issue and exploits, I would not bother. so i might just complete all stages and then dump the game.

I am optimistic that the developers will fix these issue. you always expect such flows in early releases, and I am sure they will will fix in future patches. at that time, they must reset the word record

[fivecentfather]

...and I have to discagree with Fivecentfather. Those issue must be fixed by the developers.

Well, I would LOVE that they got fixed, but I just don't see much hope of it.

...but with the current issue and exploits, I would not bother. so i might just complete all stages and then dump the game.

And how would that bother the developers? They already got their money. People are still "competing" for the world record slots, regardless of the stupidity of the bridges created. It simply doesn't behove them to do so financially.

We can always have hope, though.

[Chronic Logic - Josiah]

We are aware of some of the problems with the world records and changes are being made to correct them.  Hopefully they will be a little more realistic soon

[fivecentfather]

Woot!