🏗 Ultra-Juicy Rare Card Reveal...

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Hello Fellow Engineers!

Welcome to Real Civil Newsletter, the only newsletter where bridges are judged harshly, engineers are trusted with nap-based combat stats, and architects are gently (but consistently) bullied.

This week we’re diving into Norway’s $50B mega-tunnel flex, revealing a rare Puppy Paddy card (yes, it bites), reviewing a bridge that definitely wouldn’t pass code, and playing an indie game where cannibalism is just another design choice.

Oh, and there’s a video of Paddy attempting an Olympic-level high jump over an Amazon box. 10/10 commitment.

Let’s dive into it 👇

This week, we’re giving away FIVE copies of Islands & Trains! 🚂🏝️

Love logistics? Like trains? Secretly wish you were stranded on an island but with a well-run rail network? This cozy sanbox builder is your dream. Lay tracks, build islands, and become the transport tycoon your civil engineering heart always wanted to be.

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

🏆 ian.wheeling200710 🏆
🏆 matoral1 🏆
🏆 ashtraddis 🏆
🏆 piruraheja 🏆
🏆 jakob.kleiman 🏆

Check your inbox for your game key and get ready to lay down the most efficient (and totally overengineered) rail system known to mankind! 🛤️💼

Missed out? Don’t worry, more giveaways are rolling in soon.

Want a shot at the next one? Vote for the next super secret trading card to be revealed in this email! 🌉🔥

👷‍♂️ Truss Me, I’m an Engineer…

E39 Coastal Highway Project

This week, we’re heading to Norway, where actual engineers (not just sketchpad-swinging architects) are building what can only be described as a world-class flex: the E39 Coastal Highway Project. Picture this, replacing seven ferry crossings with a continuous highway that slices 8 hours off your road trip and adds zero awkward “sorry, we can’t dock yet” announcements.

🔧 What’s in this $50 billion mega-sandwich of engineering?

• The Rogfast Tunnel: a 27km underwater tunnel diving 392 meters below sea level.

  • That’s four Statue of Liberties deep, folks.

• Water pressure? About 40 times what your shower delivers, unless you're rich or accidentally installed a fire hose.

But wait, Norway wasn’t done flexing. They’re also testing floating tunnels that dangle 30 meters below the surface. That’s right, floating. tunnels. Because Norway looked at normal bridges and said, “Cute. Hold my rebar.”

Meanwhile, architects are still trying to figure out which shade of taupe best reflects the "soul of the space."

Moral of the story?
Leave megaprojects to the engineers. Let architects keep redesigning the office break room.

⚡ Cool Links

🤯 Laser tech smaller than a penny
Japanese engineers built a tiny laser that could revolutionise LiDAR, self-driving cars, even gravitational wave detection

💪 Self-healing robot "muscles"
Engineers have developed robotic actuators that can detect damage and automatically repair themselves. Yes, even better than duct tape engineers use!

🏗️ Japan’s earthquake-proof marvel
A mind-blowing video (by TheB1M) shows how Japanese engineers benchmark seismic tech. If architects didn’t ruin it with their silly columns, this’d be poetry in motion!

🛠️ RoadCraft has arrived
A hardcore disaster-recovery sim: you drive 40+ heavy machines to rebuild bridges, roads, and infrastructure post-catastrophe, co-op supported! If you’ve got a keen memory, you’ll remember me and my editor, thesuitedbird, have already played it! Check those videos out HERE!

🏙️ Thrive: Heavy Lies the Crown 
Full release is June 18 on Steam! A city-builder meets RTS… your kingdom, your rules (benevolent or tyrannical)

🤫 CLASSIFIED SECTION

There’s been pawprints on my blueprints. Bones under my drafting table. Suspicious amounts of fluff clogging the plotter. Which can only mean one thing...

This week’s rare card reveal is here: 🐶 Puppy Paddy Engineer

Voted for by you, built by me (with some strong opinions from a puppy in a hard hat), this full-art rare is a tribute to nap-first, ask-questions-later engineering.

🖼️ Here’s the final card in all its glory:

💡 Design Process Breakdown:
Some of you might remember the sketch sheet I shared months ago – I was torn. So naturally, I did what every engineer does: chose all the things.

• Head from concept 1 (maximum squish factor)

• Workspace and blueprint from concept 3

• Then we dialled in the lighting: a sunset, because let’s be honest, Paddy naps whenever.

I also insisted the attack reflect the image. “Bite” is the perfect move, followed by a well-earned break. Truly powerful nap-based gameplay.

✨ Yes, a holographic version is planned. Expect glimmering pawprints and blueprint sparkle, while Paddy stays gloriously matte.

What’s leaking from the vault next? 👇

🐕‍🦺 Paddy’s Corner

The Dog High Jump Championships 2021 - Paddy represents Great Britain!

🚨 Throwback alert! Watch baby Paddy rep his nation at the 2021 Dog High Jump Championships. Spoiler: the Amazon box never stood a chance 🐶📦

👾 Indie Game of the Week:

This week’s Indie Game of the Week: All Will Fall , aka “What if Waterworld had physics and cannibals?” 🌊🔧

It’s a post-apocalyptic builder where bad engineering gets you eaten by a fish and bad leadership means selling your Patreons for snacks. Yes, you can build bridges, shame people for electricity, and unlock the all-important Cannibal Hut. Architects? We hung them upside down in the intro.

🎮 Open beta is out now! Go test your survival (and moral) limits here: https://tblink.co/RCEWillFall

📺 Or just laugh at my chaotic colony here: Watch the video

It’s time for a Bridge Review!

Ah yes, the inaugural engineering attempt in All Will Fall: a proud six-block plank across a flooded ruin, forged not with architectural flair, but with raw structural willpower (and mild panic over food shortages).

Structural Integrity?
✅ Supports? None.
✅ Handrails? Absolutely not.
✅ Risk of collapse? Constant.
✅ Still standing? Miraculously, yes.

This bridge bravely carries workers, proving that true engineering doesn't need unnecessary curvature, weird tension cables, or an architect hovering nearby saying, “Can we make it look more like a leaf?”

Points deducted for lack of safety rails, mild disregard for gravity, and the unsettling creaking noise when more than three people walk across at once.

Bonus points for actual functionality, zero architect involvement, and surviving its first high-priority food mission.

Final Score: 6.4/10

Would not pass code, but it does pass fish-infested floodwaters.

🏗 r/realcivilengineer Spotlight

There’s ALWAYS a relevant xkcd.

🤔 Thoughts from an Engineer