No big deal.

In CTP-2 "the Gaia Controller opens the door to a true world utopia, free from want, conflict, scarcity, and strife".

Yet they don't have the channel tunnel as a wonder, which is the first tunnel of its kind.

I'm not going to say any more, last time I mentioned that the original was too US-centric I had right-wing Americans who thought the entire world was made by their country on my back, claiming I insulted the States.

I wouldn't consider a tall building to be a wonder or sydney oprah house to be a wonder, or a massive bridge

a wonder is something that seems impossible to complete

by giving not-so-impossible tasks as a wonder to build, then you are degrading the meaning of a wonder, so you are lessening the feeling of completing something great

quote: Originally posted by red_jon on 11-11-2000 09:40 AM I'm sorry, but classing this building as a wonder is laughable. There are plenty of buildings bigger than the Empire State. Yet they don't have the channel tunnel as a wonder, which is the first tunnel of its kind.

The Empire State building WAS the first skyscraper, and was the tallest building for quite a while. There have also been other long tunnels, too, and one day there may be longer ones than the channel tunnel.

As I recall, us Americans did not blast you, most of us agreed that we are over-represented. However, it is important to note that the game designers are from the United States. I think the discussion came too late in the development phase for them to change their course. The game is definitely too focused on American advances and wonders, but then again the U.S. has been one of the leading powers in the modern era.

Maybe everyone ignored my info on what USA wonders there were, but they are only in 1 Age. 2 ages are more advanced and do not include any USA wonders. 2 ages are way before the USA was even formed(thus no USA wonders).

You could say that the modern age is dominated by the Americans, but guess what? As far as technology and military power, it is. This is not to disparage other countries, but one of the reasons it is like this is the fact that it is much easier to start a business or sell your ideas in the USA. Most other 1st world countries are more socialist in nature than the USA and make it much harder to become successful if you have not been born into it. What does this mean? The USA is dominant due to the influx of smart people from all over the world, into the USA.

quote: What other wonders were created around the same time as Corporations? Just wondering.

That doesn’t answer what the Empire State building has to do with the corporation.
I still think the empire state building is far more connected to architecture.

quote: You could say that the modern age is dominated by the Americans

The industrial revolution did start in Britain and until the first war Europe was clearly the economic and political centre of the world and British navy and the German army were larger. After WW2 USSR co-dominated militarily and EU and Japan economically.
Most of the technologies in the modern age were European too.

But maybe that’s not how history is taught in US.

Now, suppose you see a baseball game and all the teams in it are Japanese or Cuban, would you buy it? Or how about a book about the history of the global automobile industry that only mentions the French, German and Japanese?

Erecting the building -- from first demolition of the Waldorf Hotel to topping it off 102 floors and 1,252 feet up in the air -- took only 11 months. Nobody in Europe or anywhere else has ever come close to that. Further more, the tallest building in the world for most of the 20th century stands perfectly plumb to within 5/8ths of an inch. This was accomplished not with the aid of computers, but with paper and pencil by a guy standing on another building across 34th street.

Beams were rolled off the mill in Pennsylvania, trained over to New Jersey, then ferried to the 33rd St. dock where they were taken individually by truck -- many of them STILL WARM -- to the sight for immediate hoisting, connecting and rivetting. Contractors Starret Bros. & Eken were so exacting in their time scheduling that if one truck were more than 10 minutes late, the driver was pulled from the line and told to come back the next day. Enough phone cables were installed in the Empire State to wire most of rural Europe at the time. Further, BECAUSE of this grueling pace, architects Shreve, Harmon & Lamb worked with the contractors to innovate building methods that revolutionized the engineering and construction industries. Their use of natural light in its design has likewise been copied around the world. To ensure enough Belgium marble would be ready when it was needed, an entire German quarry was purchased by the contractors, the marble extracted, cut, finished and shipped all in under a year. Enough electrical wire was laid in the building to wrap around the earth several times. I could go on and on.

But the point is, ALL THIS was done. And to this day the Empire State Building holds all speed records for construction, before or since. All of the technological advances that have followed have yet to produce a feat of greater magnitude in terms of speed and innovation, or its impact on construction around the world.

quote: tallest building in the world for most of the 20th century stands perfectly plumb to within 5/8ths of an inch

You mean it sways by only 3cms. Or due you mean straight on average to within 5/8ths of an inch?