Mountaintops

 It's been a while since I played with Suno. I listened to Affluenza and S(k)in Condition a lot during the New Zealand trip, but needed some time to sit down with the next sermon and pull together some lyrics. 

Mountaintops is based off a sermon I prepped a few times to reflect on Jesus' transfiguration and that Moses and Elijah had their own mountaintop experiences, and they are talking to Jesus regarding the next big mountaintop, Golgotha. 

Another long journey to work through the lyrics, probably closing on 10 hours rather than 5, but still very enjoyable digging deep into the theology and tweaking rhymes. Probably another 3 hours inside Suno playing around with the different styles. Was expecting to keep the same style as the last 2 so there's continuity on the playlist, but opening it up with a cleaner male voice helped clarity. 

Mountaintops on Suno

[Verse 1: Mt. Takilberan]

Pimple rock, an outcrop near Takilberan's top,

Looking over the world from a sheer mountain drop.

It’s a wide-open view of the canvas God drew,

Floating like a bird to see the landscape anew.

But a sudden wind blew and I started to sway,

As the fear of the edge took my balance away.

On my hands and my knees I was driven to crawl,

Shaken deep by the wonder and fear of the fall.

[Chorus]

Pull me close to the brink where the human heart shrinks,

At the peak where the meek and eternity links.

Lord, transfigure our hearts till Your glory shines through,

And we walk down the mountain reflecting only You!

[Verse 2: Sinai]

Moses climbed Sinai’s peak when the Lord chose to speak,

Dropping down to his knees in a spirit so meek.

Drawn so close to the sight of God's glorious light,

He returned to the camp with a face burning bright.

[Verse 3: Carmel]

Then Elijah stood high underneath the dark sky,

Watching false prophets fall as their promises die.

As the fire came down to consume the whole ground,

Every eye saw the truth and their hearts turned around.

[Chorus]

Pull me close to the brink where the human heart shrinks,

At the peak where the meek and eternity links.

Lord, transfigure our hearts till Your glory shines through,

And we walk down the mountain reflecting only You!

[Bridge - Part 1: Transfiguration & Golgotha]

Transfigured on the summit with a glory sublime,

Jesus spoke to the prophets of the hill He must climb

...

On the hill of the skull where the glory felt dead,

A crown made of thorns was pressed on His head.

No blinding white garments, no fire from above,

The power that held Him was nothing but love.

A sacrifice made for the debt we couldn't pay...

He Broke from the grave to drive darkness away!

 [Triumphant Chorus]

Pull me close to the brink where the human heart shrinks,

At the peak where the meek and eternity links.

Lord, transfigure our hearts till Your glory shines through,

And we walk down the mountain reflecting only You!

[Bridge - Part 2: Mount of Olives]

On the Mountain of Olives where the final words ring,

We carry the light of the King of all kings!

 [Final Chorus]

Pull me close to the brink where the human heart shrinks,

At the peak where the meek and eternity links.

Lord, transfigure our hearts till Your glory shines through,

And we walk down the mountain reflecting only You!

[Outro]

Reflecting only You...

Only You...

Ruling Grade - Map 2

My best effort (16,742) for map 2 in Ruling Grade.

Generally downhill, but has a ridge line to clear 1/2 way through the map. I found out that you CAN pull the max of 40 cars as long as the grade doesn't get above 1% incline. This leads to an annualised ROI of about 1.2 years. That seemed unrealistic, but the elements of operation (construction costs, land purchase, rolling stock, payment per car, turnaround time) have been kept within 1900's era numbers. I just checked what railway companies could make and a 1-2 year ROI was actually on the cards so it'll do for now.

A whole bunch of tweaks coming, including:

•  Ruling grade marker
• Proper GIS data for more realistic maps
• Ghost mode for downloaded tracks
• Global highscore

Ruling Grade

 Sandy and I had a trip to New Zealand, and while driving through the steep terrain with many windy sections I reminisced about the great days of early railroad building games like Railroad Tycoon where you really had to spend time laying the track. As the genre evolved it became easier to just draw lines between the 2 stations and be done with it, but it lost some of the charm and excitement of picking a low-grade way through a mountain chain or choosing to go through rather than around. 

Enter Ruling Grade, a game focusing solely on the challenge of building an efficient track between stations. 

You take on the role of a locating engineer in the early 1900's. Rail has proven to be a far better way of delivering goods, and many companies are wanting spurs off the main line to pick up and deliver their industrial resources to town (or the next processing plant). You are charged to find an efficient route through the terrain to maximize the return on investment for a 20-year contract. Other players can submit competing track layouts to find the best engineer. 

The game is currently pre-alpha. The mechanics are in, but graphics and gameplay is pretty raw. Feedback definitely welcomed.