Brickonicle Island Size

The TTV Channel Brickonicle
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Hello everyone on the Boards!

On the recent TTV Podcast, the cast had a discussion about the size of the island setting for their Brickonicle project. During the discussion, Kahi mentioned for people to give their input on the matter, so here I am.

Now, I really like math, so this is going to be a math heavy topic. If you don’t like math, please cover your eyes and ears and skip ahead, and also get your priorities straight because math is awesome. :stuck_out_tongue:

So, the TTV Cast mentions in the Podcast that the proposed time it would take for a Toa to walk from one edge of the island to the other would be about 2 weeks, or 14 days. So, let’s do some basic math to find out how large the island would have to be to take that long to walk across. The TTV Cast also had another criterion for their island, that being they wanted it to be smaller than the island of Mata Nui, so let’s see if that checks out as well.

First off, let’s convert days to hours:

14 days * 24 hours = 336 hours
336 * 3600 = 1,209,600 sec

Okay, so we have how long it takes, but how fast are the Toa going? Let’s assume the Toa have identical physiology to humans and therefore will have similar hiking speeds. Yes, I said hiking, because the journey from one edge of an island to another isn’t a straight walk, it also involves traversing some difficult terrain. Doing some research, the average hiking speed for a human comes out to be about 3 miles per hour (1.43 meters/sec) in the high range.

So, assuming a Toa can travel at this pace for 336 hours total, we can calculate the length of the island in miles:

3 miles/hour * 336 hours = 1,008 miles
1.43 m/s * 1,209,600 sec = 1,729,728 meters

Therefore, an island that takes 2 weeks to cross would be roughly 1,008 miles long, or over 1 million meters.

How long is that? Well, 1,000 miles is roughly 1/4 the length of the Great Wall of China, half the length of the Oregon Trail, three and a half times the length of the Grand Canyon, 15 times as long as the English Channel, and about 200 times the height of Mount Everest (measurements from The Measure of Things site).

To compare it to a state, the closest state to the size of the island would be Alaska with a coastline length of 1,060 miles (1,705,905 meters) as cited here.

So to imagine that, take Alaska, draw a line along its coast, then draw the island along that line.

Fun Fact: On the island you could walk 500 miles, then 500 miles more just to be the Toa who walked 1,008 miles to fall down right at Makuta’s door! :stuck_out_tongue:

Okay, so we’ve found the size the island would have to be to take 2 weeks to cross, but TTV stated they wanted it smaller than the island of Mata Nui. So how long would an island of the proper size take to cross?

According to BS01, the island of Mata Nui is 357 kio long, which comes out to be 303.91 miles or 489.09 kilometers, or roughly 30% the length of our first island. Let’s do two estimates in a conservative and extreme range.

Conservative Island 2 Length: 3/4 Mata Nui’s Size

303.91 miles * 3/4 = 227.93 miles
489.09 km * 3/4 = 366.82 km

Extreme Island 2 Length: 1/4 Mata Nui’s Size

303.91 miles * 1/4 = 75.98 miles
489.09 km * 1/4 = 122.27 km

Using these lengths and the hiking speed we researched earlier, we can find the time it takes to cross the island:

227.93 miles = x hours * 3 miles/hour = 75.98 hours / 24 = 3.17 days
75.98 miles = x hours * 3 miles/hour = 25.32 hours / 24 = 1.05 days

I’m skipping the SI calculations for this one, they come out to about the same.

So, we can see that even at the conservative 3/4 Mata Nui size, the island only takes a mere 3 days to cross, although this is just a rough calculation.

Here’s the complied data for the actual island, the ideal island, and the average island I calculated offscreen (average being 8.5 days to cross and roughly half the size of Mata Nui).

Actual Island:

  • Length: 1,008 miles (1729.73 km)
  • Travel Time: 14 days
    Ideal Island:
  • Length: 228 miles (366.82 km)
  • Travel Time: 3 days
    Average Island:
  • Length: 612 miles (984.919 km)
  • Travel Time: 8.5 days

###REVISED CALCULATIONS:
Actual Island:

  • Length: 588 miles (946.294 km)
  • Travel Time: 14 days
  • State Equivalent: Nevada
    Ideal Island:
  • Length: 228 miles (366.82 km)
  • Travel Time: 7.6 days
  • State Equivalent: Pennsylvania
    Average Island:
  • Length: 255 miles (410.383 km)
  • Travel Time: 8.5 days
  • State Equivalent: Montana

Well, that’s about all I have! Just a fun little experiment I’ve been dying to get the answer to! Please feel free to check my math, especially the SI units, there probably is a thing or two wrong somewhere.

As always,
Comment and Discuss!

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These are some really good calculations. I would, however like to point out the fact that people do not actually walk for all 24 hours of a day, its something more like 10 hours counting necessary sleep and resting. (Unless, the numbers you are using already account for that)

That being said, I think an 8-day-long island makes much more sense, as then you are beginning to approach the size of real countries, like Italy.

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Sleep is for the weak

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Oh yes, of course, that’s a given. I didn’t factor that in as I was looking for the ideal time frame, that being an estimated size from non-stop walking. One could argue that since the Toa are biomechanical then they don’t have to necessarily rest or sleep.

It would of course take longer than the estimated time taking into account resting, sleeping, climbing, and fighting, as I expect the Toa would do. I can do a quick calculation to find the real time:

14 days * 10 hours = 140 hours

336 hours - 140 hours = 196 hours of actual travel time

196 hours * 3 miles/hour = 588 miles

So in 2 weeks on the proposed island, the Toa would only get about halfway. Running the calculations on the other islands gets the same result, about half the distance when only travelling for 10 hours a day.

So taking into account stopping while travelling (10 hours total travel per day), the calculations come out to be:

Actual Island:

  • Length: 1,008 miles (1729.73 km)
  • Travel Time: 28 days
    Ideal Island:
  • Length: 228 miles (366.82 km)
  • Travel Time: 6 days
    Average Island:
  • Length: 612 miles (984.919 km)
  • Travel Time: 17 days
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Well I’m really bad at math so I’m glad someone else did it for me.

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See kids! Being a Bionicle fan can help you with math!

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Nice :smiley:

Honestly though, the ideal island size is good, your maths is correct but what it doesn’t consider is the terrain which is what I find kinda exciting. From what we know of Bionicle and the island is that it certainty won’t be as simple as this. Factor in things such as hills, cliffs and mountainous terrain as well as forests and jungles, it will not be a straight line. So from this we have the upper bound on the size but we have to work on the island to narrow down the size further.

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Ok, I really respect that you took the time to do this (this is the sort of thing I really like to do myself).

But, I think you misunderstand the measurement system. “A days travel” includes the realistic rest you would have to do during the journey. That being said, I still think eight days journey long is a more realistic size.

So, TTV’s purposed size is actually quite smaller.

(14 days * 10) = 140 hours,

(3 mph * 140 hours) = 420 Miles,

For a frame of reference, that’s about size of the country of Greece, so it’s still really big.

Now for the more conservative length:

8 days * 10 h = 80 h,

3 mph * 80 h = 240 miles,

About the same as the “ideal” island you mentioned earlier. I think this is a much more reasonable size.

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The math is correct, but what that equation implies is that a day is only 10 hours long.

Assuming the Toa travel for 10 hours straight for 14 days, your calculation would be how far they would make it in that time frame, about 40% of the way, not the length of the whole island.

Perhaps it’s better to think of my original calculations as a wheel that’s rolling at a constant speed across the island (assumed flat for simplicity). Assuming it starts and ends within the time frame of 2 weeks specified by TTV, my original calculations estimate how far that wheel traveled, which would be a rough estimate of the length of the island.

I did do a recalculation that factors in travel for only 10 hours of a full day, which is done by subtracting the total time elapsed by the time spent travelling. It comes out to require twice as much time to cross, for each case island.

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I don´t really care about the size, I just want it to provide interesting scenery and plot. I mean, your calculations should work for absolutely flat land, but several hazards in the environment can make the journey longer, and I´m talking about those hazards. I want to see jungles/rainforests, rocky deserts, caves, volcanoes, sea! Every detail will make the joruney more interesting IMO.

Not to say this shouldn´t be discussed, though. I believe whatever the TTV cast thinks is right should work. It´s their project, after all.

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Of course, I agree.

I would like to clarify that this is only simplified for the sake of math. Factoring in all kinds of terrain would complicate things unnecessarily.

Of course the island isn’t flat, it’s just a simplified model.

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I understand, but this is a representation of the colloquialism. When a TTV member says that it would take two weeks travel, they don’t mean a full 24 hours per day, but a more realistic expanse of time, per day. (They actually went over this on the podcast when they were trying the calculate the length of Okoto, but that was years ago)

So yes, a “travel-day” is only about 10 hours long. (Maybe 12 if you’re moving in full military discipline, but ten is more realistic for an individual.

That’s why he is using hiking-speed, to account for uneven and moderate obstacles. Moving on clear, established roads, you can get an average speed up to 5 mph (which makes a big difference in the long-run).

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Our Toa/Matoran are essentially humans in armor. They eat and sleep. The biomechanical aspects does mean that they are enhanced humans in a sense, so maybe a little faster walking, but not by much.

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Yea, I kept the calculations within human limits. There wouldn’t be too much of a difference either way, and of course these are very rough estimates of the relative scale, not an exact measurement.

Okay, I understand your viewpoint now! It’s two weeks of proper travelling long. :laughing:

Revising my perspective, my recalculations were correct, but the conclusion is different.

14 days * 10 hours = 140 hours

336 hours - 140 hours = 196 hours of actual travel time in 2 weeks

196 hours * 3 miles/hour = 588 miles

The above still assumes a normal day to be 24 hours long, but it measures the time spent actually travelling (“travel day” of 10 hours) and then calculates the size the island would be to have reached the end of it within 2 weeks.

So the actual island is a little more than half the length I originally calculated. Going back and doing the other island calculations over again we get:

Actual Island:

  • Length: 588 miles (946.294 km)
  • Travel Time: 14 days
  • State Equivalent: Nevada
    Ideal Island:
  • Length: 228 miles (366.82 km)
  • Travel Time: 7.6 days
  • State Equivalent: Pennsylvania
    Average Island:
  • Length: 255 miles (410.383 km)
  • Travel Time: 8.5 days
  • State Equivalent: Montana

Again, extremely rough estimates, but it helps to get an idea of the size range even if the numbers are a little off.

Although: [quote=“Drfredrick, post:9, topic:35222”]
So, TTV’s purposed size is actually quite smaller.

(14 days * 10) = 140 hours,

(3 mph * 140 hours) = 420 Miles
[/quote]

I like this better…:laughing:

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Ok. :thumbsup:

Sorry if I was unclear earlier.

I’m not sure about this part of the equation. It looks like you are calculating the difference between your original number, and mine.

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You’re right, I’m dumb…:laughing:

I somehow didn’t realize subtracting total time from travel time gets you time spent not traveling…

Therefore, your calculations were correct, and the island, much to the appeal of the meme community, is 420 miles long!

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Holy crud. I´ll refrain from making that joke for now.

Also, thanks for clarifying accordingly to my post.

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:thumbsup:

The sad part is, its not the first time I’m made the joke by accident…

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Hey. I don’t know of this is the right place to put this, but I’m just halfway through listening to the TTV Podcast 240, where you’re discussing what form of quick transport could work for your G3. I just want to lay out the idea of something similar to what G2 which was introducing the creatures. Instead of attaching to their backs, they would be more of a full sized animal the minifig Toa could mount.

Year 2 could revolve around the Toa taming their elemental creatures and that would be a good excuse for them not having anything of the sort in Year 1.

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Mounts are a good idea. The Elemental Creatures have already been reworked into the Elemental Gods.