Bridge building game is a very interesting game that is aimed at testing the ability of an engineer to construct different bridges given a limited budget and materials. As you begin to play the game you learn that each level is made up of different sections of land such as Chosms and rivers and a track that is aimed at showing the starting and ending points of the train. There also exist, anchors, where the player is supposed to anchor the bridge ("Build a Bridge", 2017).
As you advance with playing the game you realized that bridge builder allows the player to use a variety of materials, varying strengths of materials used and to some extent can apply the use of hydraulics in constructing the bridges. One challenge about this game is that the player is constrained by a given budget which presents the player with a challenge of making use of the maximum available materials but still manage to pass a specific level.
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However, despite the challenges that the player is presented with, there exist no penalty on failing a particular level. The player is given the opportunity to try and test infinitely a number of designs before landing on one which succeeds. The testing part of the game involves ascertaining whether the bridge was properly designed. For a poorly designed bridge, it breaks immediately when the player begins to test it which means it is unable to stand its own weight. The stress on each side often represents both the compressive and tensile stress. Through the game whenever the stress turns out to be too great, then that sections end up breaking and affecting the entire structure ("Build a Bridge", 2017).
Interactive Engineering Labs
The interactive Engineering Labs is one of the most educating parts in the game; it entails the Forces lab, the material lab, the Loads lab and the Shapes Lab. As you go through the Forces Lab you come across diverse types of forces which include squeezing, bending, stretching, sliding and twisting forces. In the materials Lab, I came across different types of materials used in bridge construction which include; Wood, plastic, concrete, steel, cast iron among others. The load's Lab introduced me to the forces that affect structures and what exactly you need to know, is the kind of force that affects a particular structure. The different loads include; the weight of the structure, temperature, wind, vibration, earthquake among others. Finally, the shapes lab made me understand that the shape of a structure always affects how strong it is. In studying the shapes I learned how different weight affects different shapes such as the rectangular, arched and triangular shapes (Haupt, 2013).
Images Showing My Bridge Building Results
Repeating the game meant I had another chance to try and become more efficient, more tactful and helps me avoid the mistakes I did during my first attempt. I applied all the knowledge that I gathered in the Labs which made me come up with better results within a short period.
Conclusion
My perception about engineering has greatly changed with the conclusion of the game. I have learned that construction is not only about putting up structures but it's all about coming up with quality structures taking into account all the principles that one is ought to know. Understanding the different forces and how they will affect the structure under construction. I have understood better why I need to be more accurate and make a sound judgment (Issa & Flood, 2014).
References
Barnes, T., Richter, H., Powell, E., Chaffin, A., & Godwin, A. (2016, June). Game2Learn: building CS1 learning games for retention. In ACM SIGCSE Bulletin (Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 121-125). ACM.
Haupt, H. (2013). General theory of bridge construction (1st ed.). New York: D. Appleton & Co.Issa, R. & Flood, I. (2014). Computing in civil and building engineering (1st ed.). Reston, Va.: American Society of Civil Engineers.
Build a Bridge. (2017). Pbs.org. Retrieved 20 January 2017, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/build-bridge-p1.html
