Monorail! - Expanded Edition

See the world via high-speed monorail! As part of an international engineering firm, it's your job to build bridges across valleys, lakes, ravines, and gorges.

Monorail is the successor to the very popular Link! bridge-building game. In Monorail, your resources usage is limited only by your budget, which varies from task to task. Each project has different resources available, too. By combining them in creative ways, you must build a stable, low-stress bridge.

Your score is determined by how much money you have left in your budget, as well as by how well your bridge reduces stress. Your construction materials may weaken or break during crossing, and in later crossings heavy trains may create additional challenges to creating a stable bridge.

Monorail uses some of the principles of civil engineering to create stable structures. Creating bridges using randomly-connected girders, cables, brick, and stone will probably not turn out well. Instead, you'll need to think like an engineer

* Will a rectangular or triangular girder structure provide less strain on the girder joints?

* Does it make more sense to attach rope near the beginning and end, or near the middle?

* How can you use logs, which are similar to wood girders but fixed-length, to best support your girders and track?

* If you stack too many stone or brick, will they begin to crumble under the weight?

You should also consider the physical properties of the construction materials, and how the sheer and tension caused by the weight of your rail cars affects your construction. On some crossings, rope (which is cheap) may provide additional support from above, but if there are limited number of connection points it may be better to use steel cables (which is stronger than rope, but more expensive). Some materials, like brick and stone, are stackable, but each object in the stack puts pressure on those below it, which may cause the bottom brick or stone to crack or crumble.

Several user controls are available, including zoom in/zoom out, grid overlay toggle, show/hide bottom controls, reset the entire level, undo, and delete (the "X" icon). This should be fairly obvious based on the icon. At the far right, bottom corner is an up/down arrow to toggle the bottom control bar display. A similar control is available at the top right corner.

Many of us have built bridges with toothpicks in school projects, or created a sturdy structure with a limited number of tools and materials. We all know how challenging - and rewarding - this can be. Now you can have that kind of fun in your pocket or purse all the time with Monorail!

If you believe that you have achieved an optimal bridge for the level, please take a screenshot of your bridge (or just a normal camera picture!), and post it to the Gold Rush Facebook wall at:

https://www.facebook.com/monorailgame

A quick demo video for Monorail can be viewed at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATBu-H5vEKo

If you're having difficulty finding a good solution for a particular level, check our Facebook page for ideas and comments from other Monorail users. Also checkout "Link!" and "Gold Rush", which are Monorail's sister games.

Get ready... let's build!

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Developers! I'm now making 100% of the source code for this app available at the following URL:

http://www.sellfy.com/digitalmeme

This app was created using the Corona SDK.

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