👷‍♂️ I was replaced with AI and you didn't notice...

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Hello Fellow Engineers!

Welcome to Real Civil Newsletter - the only newsletter where we master logistics in Cargo Simulator 2025, fight earthquakes using ancient samurai engineering, and perform CAPTCHA tests stricter than real building regulations.

This week we’re giving away logistics chaos, exploring Tokyo’s seismic party trick, watching Paddy attempt thermal management in hot-dog form, and reviewing a bridge so Australian it probably drinks its coffee upside down. There’s also gaming news, cool links, and my ongoing war against architects, which, as always, I am winning.

Strap in, grab your hard hat, and prepare to question your humanity and your parking skills.

Let’s dive in 👇

We’re giving away TWO copies of Cargo Simulator 2025! ⚙️🛰️

If you’ve ever wanted to manage logistics and juggle deliveries this is your game. Load crates, overload trucks, and overload your patience, all in the name of “efficient engineering.”

And now, the moment you've been waiting for… 🥁

🏆 WINNER: harrisonfp76 🏆
🏆 WINNER: jessevdaalst 🏆

Check your inbox for your key and prepare to misjudge turning circles like a true haulage hero. 🚛💨

Missed out? Don’t worry,more giveaways are on the way.

Want a shot at the next one? Vote for a bridge in this week’s poll! 🌉✨

👷‍♂️ Truss Me, I’m an Engineer…

Tokyo Skytree’s Giant Shock-Absorbing “Samurai Spine”

If you’ve ever wanted to see a building pull off ancient martial arts against earthquakes, look no further than the Tokyo Skytree,a 634-metre broadcasting tower with a hidden secret.

That secret is a hidden structural feature inspired by traditional pagodas: the shinbashira, a gigantic central pillar that moves independently to absorb quake energy.

Yes, Japan’s most futuristic megastructure is secretly using a 1,400-year-old engineering trick.

🧠 The Engineering Flex

• The inner core is a 375-metre reinforced concrete column acting as a counterweight.

• It sways out of sync with the steel frame to cancel out motion,like the building is doing anti-earthquake tai chi.

• The system reduces seismic vibration by up to 50%, according to the tower’s official engineering overview.

• Architects reportedly described the tower as “beautiful,” which is adorable considering the elegance is 100% engineered and 0% curated by someone with a scarf and a sketchbook.

🚀 Final Verdict

Tokyo Skytree blends ancient seismic wisdom, advanced structural dynamics, and absolutely zero useful architectural input.

10/10
Would trust during an earthquake.
Would not trust architects anywhere near it.

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⚡ Cool Links

⚙️ Engineering & Infrastructure

🧪 Inside The $3.5BN Mega-Lab That Will Change The World
DEEP in the south of Sweden, 13 nations have come together to build one of the biggest science projects in world history. It’s a multi-billion-dollar mega-lab that acts like a gigantic microscope.

💥 London’s Indestructible Nuclear-Proof Tower
On the eighth of October 1965 a single telephone call changed the history of London and the United Kingdom forever. Over the last few years an enormous cylindrical tower had taken shape on the city’s skyline - taller than anything else in the entire country. It was designed to withstand a nuclear blast.

🚀 NASA's ESCAPADE Mars mission lifts off
A NASA mission to study the effect of solar weather on Mars has launched from Cape Canaveral on a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket.

🎮 Gaming & Indie Update

🤑 Steam Machine Pricing Will Be 'Really Competitive' with Building a Similar PC Yourself, Says Valve
Following Valve's trio of hardware announcements (the Steam Machine, the Steam Frame, and the Steam Controller), the biggest question users were left with was pricing. However, speaking to IGN, Valve's Hardware Engineer Yazan Aldehayyat did not shy from sharing a few things about the pricing of the Steam Machine, stating that it will be very competitive with building a PC with similar hardware.

👀 The Indie Game Awards Set To Return In 2025
The Indie Game Awards are set to return on December 18, as the indie community once again comes together to celebrate the talent throughout the industry, following a successful first year in 2024. Blue Prince better win game of the year, it was most certainly mine as you can probably tell from the fun I'm having with the Patreon series right now!

🐕‍🦺 Paddy’s Corner

Hot dog cooling off!

Don’t worry - this was recorded back on the hottest day of the year this year, I don't just force Paddy to drink and swim randomly in November! 🥵 

👾 Indie Game of the Week:

This week’s Indie Game of the Week is I’m Not A Robot, where I spent two hours proving I’m human by losing to a CAPTCHA that an architect could probably fail faster. The game made me identify stop signs, park cars without a reversing camera (barbaric), and even assemble IKEA furniture,the ultimate Turing test. At one point it told me I “sounded like an architect,” which is the most offensive thing an AI has ever said to me.

🤖 I was replaced with AI and you didn't notice...

It’s time for a Bridge Review!

This week we’re heading Down Under to the ANZAC Bridge, Sydney’s 805-metre cable-stayed flex stick that looks like it’s ready to clothesline a passing architect at any moment. Its main span hits a solid 345 metres, which is basically Australia saying, “We could’ve built a boring girder bridge, but we also like showing off.”

Engineering highlights? The pylons are 120 metres tall, the deck supports eight lanes of traffic without complaining, and the cables were designed to survive both heavy winds and tourists calling it “just like the Harbour Bridge but pointier.” Meanwhile, architects tried to claim credit because it’s “sleek and sculptural,” conveniently ignoring that it only looks good because engineers made it stand upright in the first place.

Final Score: 9.3 / 10
Loses 0.7 points because an architect probably tried to suggest “adding colour-changing LEDs” during a meeting.