Welcome to BCS contest 20, which is going to be very similar to contest 18. Everyone is welcome to enter. The full version of Bridge Construction Set v1.30 (BCS, formerly known as Pontifex II) is required.

Important note: The next BCS patch is close, but not close enough to be considered a real problem. However, if it will be released in the middle of the contest, don't upgrade if you want to participate.

The goal

For the uncertain, the goal is to build the cheapest, most original, best-looking or craziest bridge possible that allows the train to complete the level, while obeying the following simple rules ...

The task

This time the task is to build a bridge that rises high enough to let the ships pass underneath.

Just like in Contest 18, the 'clean' and 'dirty' categories are replaced by two different levels. The landscape is exactly the same for both levels, but the phases are different:

• A:
  1. Train passes from left to right.
  2. Bridge goes up.
  3. Ships (hopefully) pass underneath the bridge.
  4. Bridge goes down.
  5. Train passes from right to left.
  
  
• B:
  1. Height check. See the rules.
  2. Ships pass underneath.
  3. Bridge goes down.
  4. Train passes from left to right.
  5. Train passes from right to left.
  6. Bridge goes up.
  7. Ships pass underneath.

The rules

For both levels:

• The whole train has to reach the other side without any damage.
• The bridge must work (the 'test passed' message must appear) with any delay.
• The train may go through bridge material.
• Links may not break.
• The bridge may not have gaps.
• Bridge/ground contact is forbidden.
• The ships may not touch or penetrate the bridge.
• The train should remain dry.
• Editing the level is strictly prohibited.

For level A:

• The deck should be straight in edit mode, and connected to the lower anchor points.

For level B:

• The left and right tips (end of deck) of a bridge may touch the ground to let the train on and off the bridge in phases 3 through 6.
• To make it more difficult, the bridge should be at least about 16 GridHD units above ground level in phase 1. Watch out for the falling ships! :-) Remember, visible collisions count!

Artistic bridges

• Artistic bridges may be built in both levels.
• For artistic bridges there's one exception for editing the level: you may increase the budget and maximum amount of material if there's not enough.

Level submission

Save your bridge in a .pfb file. It will be located in your profile folder. Compress it with BZIP2, GZIP, RAR or ZIP (just zip it if you're confused). Then attach it to an e-mail and send it to macceraar@hotmail.com. Send multiple e-mails if you want to submit multiple bridges at a time.

The subject must be "LEVEL name:NAME cost:COST". Of course, LEVEL should be A or B. NAME should be your name at the BridgeBuilder-Game forums, or if you aren't registered the name you want to see on the results pages. COST should be the bridge cost (without any punctation or currency symbols), or completely omitted and replaced by ARTISTIC in case of an artistic bridge.

Examples:

A name:Jonathan cost:12345
B name:Jonathan cost:54321
A name:Jonathan ARTISTIC
B name:Jonathan ARTISTIC

You may send only one bridge per category (A, B, or artistic). If you submit multiple bridges in one category, only the first one counts.

The contest ends at 12:00 GMT on Sunday, July 4th. I take no responsibility for e-mail servers being too slow for your e-mail to reach me in time, etc. No automatic e-mail reply can be provided this time, sorry.

Any discussions about contest bridge costs are to be kept in this special sub-forum. For your own good, it is password-protected. To get the password, first read this. General comments on the level and the contest are welcome and should be posted here.

Breaking, bending or scratching any of the above rules will result in disqualification, and your bridge put in the 'additional' section (so if you just want to show it...). If you are unsure whether your bridge meets all the requirements, contact me for a clarification before submitting your entry.

In case of a tie, the first received entry will be rated better.

The prizes

Prizes are awarded, as usual, to the cheapest working bridge in each category. If either of these prize winners declines their prize, as has frequently happened in the past, their prize shall be awarded to the best newcomer in that category. A 'newcomer' is defined as anyone who does not appear in the Hall of Fame (except bridge artist titles). I should stress that handing down of prizes is totally up to the winners, however I'm sure most of the contest regulars would be happy to support the bridge-building community in this way. This means that even if you never entered a contest before, there's a really good chance you can win a prize this time! So don't be shy! Send in your bridges!

For the cheapest working A bridges:

Winner: Eternal glory and admiration, the title of 'Bridge General' and the full version of any Chronic Logic game!
1st runner-up: Temporary glory and admiration, the title of 'Bridge Major'.
2nd runner-up: Momentary glory and admiration, the title of 'Bridge Captain'.

For the cheapest working B bridges:

Winner: Eternal respect and awe, the title of 'Bridge Experts King' and the full version of any Chronic Logic game!
1st runner-up: Temporary respect and awe, the title of 'Bridge Experts Lord'.
2nd runner-up: Momentary respect and awe, the title of 'Bridge Experts Knight'.

Additional awards:

• The 'Bridge Artist' title for the best-looking entry.
• The 'Bridge Inventor' title for the most creative entry.
• Maybe additional additional titles. :-)

Many thanks to Chronic Logic for providing the prizes!
The winners will be announced soon after the contest ends. They will have the right to register on the forum completely free of charge and bear the best of their titles there forever. Their names will also appear in the eternal Hall of Fame.

The levels

Thanks to Guilderoy for creating the levels!

Unzip the files to the 'files' folder, then load them from the main menu using 'load level'.
contest20.zip (8K)

Some hints

I strongly recommend you to read the manual (especially in the drawbridge section), and to study the record bridges and previous contest winners in case you're not very familiar to the common bridge building techniques.

If the ground colors look ugly, you have to calibrate your monitor.

Good luck!