Sitemap :
- See also Construction
- See also Rapture_City_Layout
- See also Defining_Rapture
- See also Maps
- See also The_Ruins
- See also TechnicalDrawings (Diagrams)
- See also Design_Spec_index
- See also Depth
Rapture is Supposed To Be A "City", But Is Really A "Town"
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Manhattan Skyline - looked alot like it did at the end of the 1920s/early 1930s when the Crash happened and slowed/stopped alot of further building ( The Empire State Building was called the "Empty State Building" throughout the Roosevelt Depression ), and then WW2 shut down most new non-war building.
Some of Rapture was built to resemble that New York City cityscape, but in 1946 it would be as described above and NOT with the later changes of the Post-War boom.
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Rapture, November 5 1946 - "One Man's Vision, Mankind's Salvation" :
Officially "completed" on November 5, 1946 ? The date on the little Commemoration Display cases you see in various places in the game, but those only show a handful of towers (symbolic). Maybe the core of Rapture was completed by that date, and it began accepting immigrants, but then construction continued on the rest of the city taking several more years. Already existing would be the infra-structure to transfer down the huge mass of materials needed to build and fit-out the city ( dock adjacent to the Lighthouse Island ). This would have been used to transfer luggage and large amounts of the possessions of arrivals ( Bathyspheres could hardly serve this function ). There must have been some Citizen's Residences operational at that time ( not just the 'Hotel Monseñor' ).
A city takes time and materials to build, and MONEY. Ryan would have got not just the richer people to fund construction and take ownership of properties ( even being a billionaire, Ryan couldn't pay for something as large as a fraction of what the various pictures show ). Additional people kept coming to Rapture through 1951, including new 'investors' ( as well as additional money coming from existing Rapture inhabitant's worldly holdings being gradually sold off so as to maximize their monetary conversion. )
If you look at a Rapture Timeline, you see that Ryan didn't completely disappear from surface contact till sometime around early 1952 ( around when Lutwidge (SitS) sent him a complaint about the planned shipments of steel being left to rust ). Ryan then would have been receiving steel until then ( and other things you couldn't make in Rapture ), making the completion date more like late 1951.
There are multiple "Rapture: Established 1946" on posters around the city (in BioShock 2). Does one say "Nov. 5. Established" means 'sufficiently started'/ 'viable' - the cornerstone being laid ??
Makes me wonder how disjoint the development staff was ( on coordinating story details, etc ... ), and if they had anyone checking for discrepancies like this ( and IF found it costs time/money to change the '3D' asset, so the 'deciders' may have simply let it slide ).
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DEDICATION : "Rapture Established 1946 (Nov 5 1946)" :
(Note- not city is NOT 'Finished') probably was laying the keystone(?) ceremony when the first Building/City-section was completed or operational. Likely the Hotel Monseñor at Welcome Center ( so many staff/workers could get out of those crowded construction camps into better accommodations ) -- the transportation (Trams/AE Trains) was well enough developed to move workers between City sites by then ( and needed to move the huge amounts of construction materials ).
^^^ check novel 'fact'
Should have a Flashback scene of this portrayed ( and documentary footage in B & W for the City Archives )
Stanley Poole on his first assignment ???
Various key personnel involved in the constructions and organization present, and with various celebrities ( and 'Movers and Shakers' ) pointed out in the crowd ( Newsreel[1] footage style - TV styles are just starting at that time ).
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Real Buildings That Look More Rapture-ish Than Any We Saw in Rapture :
Art Deco was easy to copy as a style. Other styles would have taken more work and had fewer example to make use of ( and also would not be logical if they were from later ).
Setbacks on Skyscrapers (The Part You Can't See in Rapture's Cityscape Views) :
Rapture's Cityscape mimicked New York City Manhattan, with its very tall (thin) buildings..
In the Real World, Skyscrapers were regulated in design shape to keep cities from becoming dark canyons of buildings, blocking out sunlight and the sky ( not a problem in Rapture ). The regulations changed from earlier having height maximums for occupied floors to be under limits like 150 feet.
Later (like in the 1920s/30s), buildings ordinances specified the building portion nearest the street had to be lower (the setback) so as to not block sunlight from reaching the adjacent street, and then that One Quarter of the land area ( away from the building edge ) could have any height ( allowing those very tall 'Towers' - some eventually to over 1000 feet ). Often the Towers were 'stepped' as well.
BioShock's distant views and closer adjacent buildings (seen through windows) have the view disappear downwards ( so the gamemakers didn't have to detail the seabed, and the caricatured buildings could be simplified ).
A (more) realistic modeled cityscape ( like the MMORPG would have ) WOULD detail the lower parts of buildings, the foundations, the seabed, the 'Streets' interconnecting (the somewhat shorter) buildings.
Setbacks really aren't required (there being no sunlight) and it would be a needless structural complication ( more monolithic is better ). There can still be 'height', but not the absurd floor counts many of the window backgrounds showed.
The 'Set Back' of Art Deco Period Tall Buildings :
All skyscraper/tall buildings were mandated within building ordinances (in modern cities) to NOT be a solid block taking up all the property, they were to be 'stepped back' as they ascended, so that the sun might still reach the ground. In the Real World, they built with height to maximize the interior space for the least amount of expensive ground real estate ( in big city downtown areas ).
There is no reason for this in Rapture - no sun to be blocked - and the building area isn't that restricted ( not by the externals we saw ). Tall thin buildings are an ineffective way of building in the high-pressure sea environment. Ground space wasn't as big an issue - Rapture could SPRAWL. As mentioned elsewhere, water absorbs light over only short distances, so there is no reason to build em 'tall' for show ( the tops of buildings would only be seen murkily at best - even if well lit ).
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CityScape The Players Have Seen :
- Observing the cityscape visible thru the BS1/BS2 windows ( or from in the water outside using a Cheat ) at various points, at least some locations are surrounded by dozens of tall buildings. Buildings sitting on tall foundations far below.
- Unfortunately other locations that should be on the edge of the city show the same 'Skybox'/'skydome' view. The developers saved the effort of creating additional 360 degree views, but it give us no help in trying to judge the layout of the City for the MMORPG.
- So, making allowances for what is shown, some locations do have many tall high-rise buildings -- A few 40+ stories tall and more ~30 stories and many more ~20 stories ( not counting the foundation many are sitting on ).
- Many 'short' building are built on rocks elevated well above the Foundation/seabed of nearby high-rise 'Surface Scrapers'. The terrain in the city is not flat and there looks to be many ravines/valleys and ridges interspersed in parts of the city. ( Some locations apparently were located for 'the view'. )
- Atlantic Express structures ( elevated tracks supported on towers ) running across the seascape.
- Cables with lights suspended to illuminate outside areas ( otherwise at the depth would be very dark out there ).
- Lots of lit signs and buildings illuminated by large lights.
- Wreckage on some buildings ( some with large chunks torn out of them )
- Various wreckage littering the Seafloor.
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Rapture Cityscape Diagram :
- 'Street'-ways interconnect different sections of the City ( with their [trolley lines] used for mass transit )
- Scale on left edge shows depth with Street level at about 600 feet below the Ocean surface.
- Building heights stop at a depth of ~100 feet to avoid small Ice floes that got past Mt Ryan ( which protects the City against icebergs which can extend many hundreds of feet down from the surface ).
- Concrete Foundations used to support buildings and other structures are dug into the seafloor sediment and embedded in the bedrock.
- Plazas/squares sit in middle of Cluster of several taller High-Rise buildings ( directly connected to them or by viaducts ). They are at 'street' level (and often well above the seafloor ).
- Crosswise main Streets intersect in the Plazas to transfer traffic to other sections of the city, and other Street intersections elsewhere.
- Atlantic Express lines run below the Street level in various directions connecting major plazas.
- Hills/ridges have smaller buildings built into the contours. Many of the locations the player traveled thru in BS1/BS2 were sprawling complexes of connected buildings like this.
- Underground tunnels and caverns used as a 'cheaper' construction technique for farms, manufacturing, industrial and warehousing facilities.
- Perpendicular 'Streets' form blocks of low-rise shops and residences.
- Secondary Metro trolley lines run independent of the 'Street' system, often following ridges and tunneling thru hills to remain relatively flat.
- All buildings have a seafloor airlock for maintenance.
- The Lighthouse Bathysphere descends thru a tunnel in Mt Ryan and then emerges to head to the Welcome Center.
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Perhaps if Rapture's Skyline was a bit more limited like this, it would have been better ( If you look at a BIG city like NYC[2], you will find it STILL has a vast majority of 6 story buildings ). Consider that most of the building interiors, we were inside in the game, were irregular horizontal sprawls.
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You think of Art Deco Modern Construction 1920s/30s/40s :
Real World Skyscrapers/buildings - Steel supporting girders inside, brick/stone curtain walls exterior, slab reinforced concrete, with plain geometrical external surfaces with glued on repetitive abstracted decorations.
BUT Rapture has special requirements - With that 280 lb/sq-in external pressure trying to drown everyone inside.
So it is more expensive/complex than building ANY surface buildings (but not impossible) using mass reinforced concrete. Wales' Architecture "leaking" is actually pretty good IF that's all the problems they had ( though still a drag on anyone who owns such a leaky building ).
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High Res Cityscape Picture :
Lotsa nice names on Signs, even if some of them are only Semi-Canon
- City Center
- Tattoo
- Soho
- Silver Cocktail Bar
- Clifton
- Night Club Casino
- Big Dipper
- Cabaret
- Paradiso Cafe
- Radio Action
- Elizabeth Music Hall
- Coffee Bar
- Restaurant
- Cadillac Hotel
- Finley
- American Dream
- Robertson's Tobaccoria
- Theater
- Aladdin
- Fleet Hall
- Cohen's Collection
- Hotel
- Casino Blackjack Roulette American Dice
- Open Plasmids
Generally placed on buildings in the 'window' cityscape of a type we never got to be inside of ( in-game we were in those sprawling irregular messes used for the 'levels' )
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Consider that because of the rate which light is absorbed over distance through water, that these signs had to be VERY bright to be seen from building just 100 feet away ( so you wouldn't want to have a window near them unless you liked things blindingly bright ). A good reason for the excessive building (and distances between them) sizing to be merely 'artists license' of game developers who haven't a clue about reality. Big signs outside seen by virtually nobody, versus ones that people walk right past ...
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Rapture Buildings Should Have Had More Curves ??? :
Curves distribute forces better ( needed to hold out massive sea water pressure ), but they are hardly used in the game despite their common use in Art Deco architectural styles.
Possibly it was a computer graphics issue -- It is generally easier to make square edged/straight edged '3D' Assets than ones with curves.
Alot of the Game Concept Art showed far more Curves than are present in the Finished Game
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Rapture's Seismographic Station (and Substations) :
Rapture can't exactly be evacuated, but warnings/alerts can be sounded to watch for damage and to instigate immediate inspections/repairs in the City. The nice emergency gong (heard in The Thinker's Core) would be an interesting feature - with such events occasionally happening ( and public announcements about preparation for such events ) in the MMORPG's Rapture ( with damage control teams and various role playing ). "Emergency Instructions can be found in the Front Pages of your Rapture Directory ..."
Fortunately Rapture's Sea Mount location was a 'dormant' volcano.
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Concrete Is The Thing :
Reinforced Concrete was what Rapture was built of (IT HAD TO BE if it wasn't to be pure Fantasy) :
Yes there was metal, mostly in the form of reinforcing bars and the heavy structures around windows and airlocks and utility seals.
Several kinds of Concrete would be used, all of it salt-water resistant.
- Prefabricated structural components built on land - slabs and struts made economically without the difficulties of in-water construction. Reinforcement rods ( Rebar itself made corrosion resistant ) being well embedded, and pre-stressed when possible.
- Prefabricated Sections assembled and built first at the ocean surface, where normal diving gear and above surface machinery could be employed. Water setting Concrete, welding other concrete and metal together. Buildings and structures to be set into place down below.
- Sealing/and Filling concretes designed to fill-in and seal between building sections and to fasten/anchor the structure into the excavated seafloor. Much coarse aggregate was used for the filler to economically fill up the voids and grip the rock of the ocean bottom.
Decorative concrete added later, mold formed to be fastened to plain structural surfaces ( typical Art Deco repetitive cast motifs ). In-water external decoration do not hold pressure.
Patching concrete ( and other materials like epoxy plastics ) used to repair cracks and fissures which eventually would form as the buildings settled.
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Hotels in Rapture ( those which weren't a fancy name for Apartment )
The Rapturite needs a reason to go there 'just to get away' - Like being next to some attraction and it being convenient ( immediate access instead of accessible requiring a transit trip to get anywhere in the city ).
Adonis Spa (making sense for there to be a 'hotel' attached)
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So Much More of Rapture Is Out There :
We only saw a tiny part of the city ( including all of the games ) and likely Atlas led us (Jack) through the worst of it ( areas Ryan didn't much control ). Other areas could have huge numbers of unaffected people still living ( where did all the food for the semi-crazy Splicers in the areas WE went through come from ? ), and quite a bit less destroyed.
The Player saw so little of Rapture (the insides), and even the buildings you walked through you saw little of what was within them ( floors above/below, blocked doors, utility areas - lots and lots of hiding places ).
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This Cylindrical shape ( instead of squared/flat walls ) allows better distributing of the inward pressing Water Pressure (like an arch). Rapture would have had more building of this design. Of course, this shape is more complicated, so game rendering the models for the simplified secondary-priority cityscape views thus would not likely be done if the gamemakers had even considered using them (See Concept_Ideas).
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Rapture WAS A City, Columbia was a Kludged Together Mess
What point is there to having chunks floating so far apart ( except to not be reachable by the Player, and distant enough to NOT have to detail and populate it all ) ?? I would add the explanation for the Size and Irregular/Hodge-podge nature of Columbia being due to it being Quantum "Merged" through the efforts of Comstock and Fink ( utilizing tapping into Elizabeth's strange powers ).
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- ↑ Newsreel - https://www.thefreedictionary.com/newsreel
- ↑ NYC (New York City) - specifdically the Manhattan part ...
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End of : *** Rapture Cityscape ***
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Fantasy ? ? ? I Andrew Ryan Reject This !!!
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Final Disclaimer : I am aware that various Fanbois think any kind of negative or different comments about BioShock makes me a "Poo Poo Head" ( in their minds ), and they feel fully justified in their 'Being So Offended' by my contrary ideas, and for their fervent wish to Silence anyone talking/thinking expressing such things ...
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