Collapsing bridges!

[Csaboka]

- A bridge has a life limit, if it gets older, the chances are that the bridge collapse without a warning...

Try counting the bridges in an average game. I'm sure you will count dozens, if not hundreds. Now imagine that you need to check each of them regularly to avoid disasters. Checking one may be just a click, but multiply that by a hundred and you have to keep clicking for a long time...

- You can inspect the bridge time to time to make sure its good, this will cost you a bit of money to find out...

Again, how much time would you spend inspecting bridges? What if you forget one?

You could of course have a news message reminding the player, something like "Bridge XX is getting old". Then you just need to go there and rebuild the bridge every time you get the message. The original TTD handles old vehicles similarly, after all. We have the autorenew switch to get rid of that message and the monotonous manual replacing for vehicles, so why introduce the same thing for bridges?

- Awesome graphics... like if you destroy something, you see an explosion, but with bridges that collapse it will be lying there for a few months ( 6 months) if there is a train or something on it, it will crash with it, you lose cargo and have got dead people.

Who will draw those awesome graphics? Different bridges would collapse in different ways, so every bridge would need a new collapsed graphics. If you want an animated collapse, that means even more graphics to draw.

- A bridge can handle a amount of load, if the train is to heavy the bridge collapse under the amount of weight. So the train crash and you lose it then.
- Maybe something that you can reinforce the bridge, so it gets stronger, but till a maximum, so if it reach its maximum, you need to build a other bridge, or take the risk and let heavy trains go over the bridge that is not strong enough, and collapse and lose the cargo.

I think TTD has enough micromanagement already even without these features. When I build a bridge, I just expect it to stay there and do its job, just like it works with rail, depots, stations, etc. All these things need regular maintenance in the real world, but you just pay maintenance costs for them in TTD. You can imagine invisible guys regularly checking and fixing your bridges, just like there are invisible guys driving your trains, invisible guys repairing your trains when they are broken down, and invisible guys cleaning the station building. You can't see any of these people, but you still pay them.

I understand that it seems to be a good idea for first, but when you think about the long-term results, you must realize it would just annoy people.

[athanasios]

I understand that it seems to be a good idea for first, but when you think about the long-term results, you must realize it would just annoy people.

We can glean the good points and get rid of the rest. The issue is: who will make the code and the graphics. Something simpler? (no extra graphics, but new code - is it possible?) would be to add max weight for bridges. A heavier train wouldn't be allowed to pass from the bridge. So you will have to pay more to build stronger bridges. Yet this might be of little value. Only 'lightweight' steam engine is Kirby Paul Tank. In DBXL things are similar. This I assume from setting a limit of 50t, since newer vehicles (passenger/cargo) are slightly above (not for all cargo though). I suggest that only the heaviest car of the train taken into consideration (99% = the engine) . If we are to consider train weight and weight per axis on a bridge tile things will get complicated too much to worth the effort. Lightweight bridges could be cheaper and others more expensive than now. This could help player on begining of game.

[m3henry]

that wouldn't work, it would just look like painted rocks

[SHADOW-XIII]

Not to create another topic ...
Any chance to create dependancy on bridge length ?
The longer bridge the lower allowed maxmium speed (for example, displayed speed will be for bridge half of max length, if longer then speed lowers, so it reaches "half" of the max speed when bridge is the longest possible.

[m3henry]

that really depends on the height of the bridge the frequency and strength of the supports

[Sonicelo]

Well, then we come to the use of diffrent bridges. Use some cheap bridges, wich are suitible only as a short and low bridge, then expensier bridges, wich are suitible for long distances. And another type for hight bridges.

[Dave]

Er.

We do.

Girder Steel is only available four tiles long.

Only Steel Suspension is allowed after a certain length.

Height is different, but the default bridges fulfill two of your three requirements.

[krtaylor]

The trouble is that the easiness of it, is directly related to the coolness of it.

A "bridge collapse" disaster, with an animated collapse, a messy pile of rubble, and a smashed train lying in the midst, would be extremely cool, but also all but impossible to code.

A "bridge max weight" feature would most likely be feasible to code - but who wants to bother?

I'm afraid this is one for OTTD, if there.