A couple of bugs in the physics engine...
1) If a box has every possible vertex connected, then it self-destructs.
2) If you hang an object from a long cable, then it seems to have a LOT of force exerted on it for no reason. Try building a large tower, then hanging a cable with something on the end of it. Usually the object on the end of the cable will break.
I think all these problems are caused by the fact that short (1 default unit) lengths of ANYTHING are incredibly weak. A bouncing suspension line will break them. If you look at the stresses in a single segment, they are stressed before anything else happens to them. My guess is that the initial lengths of the connecting rods don't take 3D into account, so short "diagonal" sections are immediately under tension. Am I right CL? Giz a job? ;)
I agree that these are annoying, but we must give the CL guys a hand for getting the game this good in such a short amount of time. I'm sure they'll acknowledge these bugs and correct 'em!
Remember that a long cable has to support its own weight as well as the weight of the object its carrying. Its probably not totally a bug that the cable breaks. The bug with the box exploding though isn't nice.
The problem isn't that the CABLE breaks, it's that whatever is on the end of the cable breaks. ASCII art time!
| ^long cable
|
|
/\
/_\
in the above example, the two beams on the sides of the triangle will stay attached, but the bottom will just bust right off. This is ordinarily the strongest shape in the game, but it does not stay together when it is suspended off of a large cable.
It's not really something that you will run into while playing the game, but it's a bug nonetheless