Get access to all the hidden bricks in LDD

[Bojan Pavsic]

Wow, took me like 10 mins just to read through the posts that gathered over the night.

@Scorpion

Don't worry, i had fun checking out the lif files and making the first mod. And if it actually helped superkalle to convince TLG to open up the LU mode, there was no second wasted.

@wmanidi & mr. lego_bildur

You can actually change the color of the bricks on the palette from red to any other color, but they'll all be the same color. It's done with the button Color Palette just above the bricks.

@alienwar9

Use the menu option View / New Themes

About pieces in my mod that aren't in LU mode. I think the pieces are the same. Why? Because there is no palette for LU mode, which means the piece list is nowhere stored. All the items are in 1 color... These facts bring me to the conclusion that LU mode just uses every possible brick in db.lif and the colors are unlocked because no list of valid colors exists (which was controlled by the palette files in other modes).

Regards,

Bojan

Edited April 14, 2010 by Bojan Pavsic

[General Armendariz]

Questions shows your age

Quote from first post:

"Lego is making LU-mode available to us LDD fans as-is. There is no support at all and you use it fully at your own risk. And naturally, bricks used in LU-mode are not possible to buy through DesignByMe or Pick-A-Brick. "

I had no time to read this post, I had to take a shower but I just read it.

EDIT: So what if it shows my age? Don't just judge people on just one post/question.

Edited April 14, 2010 by General Armendariz

[Superkalle]

Hi everyone

Glad you all like the LU-mode. I'm really happy that Lego decided to give us this. They listen to us fans!

Also don't forget that if you have any requests for future LDD versions - be sure to add them here: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?...c=35736&hl=

Bug reports for the current version of LDD - add them here: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=40785

LDD Index thread: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=39841

Now to some of the questions:

This is great! Finally something for us. The only thing I dislike about this is that every part in the parts catalog [the thing on the left of the screen] is red,

Just like Bojan writes you can change the base color of the brick palette. Just use the color button next at the top of the palette. The only bad thing is that you have to do this everytime you start LDD - to my knowledge there is no way to keep this setting between sessions.

This is really cool! I'm really digging the expanded possibilities here, though I'd like more versatility with technic half pins. Like this:

That won't ever be possible in LDD since it's an illegal building technique. Read more here:

http://bramlambrecht.com/tmp/jamieberard-b...stress-bf06.pdf

Now on a side note, do you guys know if there are any pieces in the un-lock mod from Bojan that are not in the Universe mode?

Just like Bojan (aka SuperBojan, ha ha) writes - it's the same pieces in as in his mod.

can we BUY the stuff we make still? This is amazing.

You can only buy the stuff you make with DesignByMe-Bricks (in the DesignByMe mode). If you have designed a model in LU-mode and still want to check which bricks can be bought, use the Toolbox > Check Buyability tool. The buyable bricks will semi-transparent.

Edited April 14, 2010 by superkalle

[JopieK]

On Mac OS the instructions don't always work like that. You can right click the application bundle (in my case in /Applications/) and then select "Show Package Content", then go to Contents/Resources/Assets/ and open that preferences.ini in the text editor (make sure you save it as plain text, that is why I used Smultron as texteditor). Add that line (file was empty before) and save the file.

Restart LDD and Voilà

[Superkalle]

If you can't find the preferences.ini, it may be because that folder is hidden.

To view hidden folders, you have to first enable this setting:

Edited June 10, 2010 by Superkalle

[Holodoc]

That's great news for everyone virtually building MOCs and a big gift for all AFOLs.

I prefer 'real life building' though.

Does anyone have an idea why they left out lime green?

[not-in-use-anymore]

That's great news for everyone virtually building MOCs and a big gift for all AFOLs.

I prefer 'real life building' though.

Does anyone have an idea why they left out lime green?

I agree, in LDD you can't have the bricks with you unless you want to pay alot for them, and even then, there are some un-buyable bricks.(I'm hoping they make some more buyable parts... ) Does "most of the bricks ever made" mean Bionicle parts too?

Don't know about the lime green, maybe Power Miners overused it? They found it had poison? That screaming kid on the back of instructions doesn't like it?( to all of those) I used to like lime green, but after Power Miners and a PAB cup full of studs...*put that isn't in lime green here*

Edited April 14, 2010 by indianajones

[Superkalle]

I prefer 'real life building' though.

'

Oh, but so do I. It's just that LDD is great way to make a mockup of your design and try out different color schemes. When that's done, I order the parts and build

So I agree completely - only digital building is not for me either, but I guess everyone is different.

But I have to say that building with LDD actually gives me the same feeling as with real bricks - looking for those great solutions, turning and twisting the bricks and so forth. After working with LDD for some time it sort of becomes "one with you" (oops, that sounded a bit scary ) and you actually get all into the creativity part. That's what sets LDD appart from the other Lego CAD-tools - it's so easy to get started and completely fluent when using it.

Just my 5 cents off course...

[Bojan Pavsic]

Yea, i totally agree with superkalle. Right now i'm working on a Trial Truck and i made a live axle design in LDD. After that i made it from real bricks, noticed some structural "failures", repaired that in LDD and real bricks again. Rock solid now. If i'd be doing that only with bricks, it would take me ages to get everything fit together and i'd be putting stuff together and apart all the time.

LDD is easy to start with and once you "master" it, it's really really really helpful. It has it's flaws, but when you're using it on daily basis, you find out how to get around most of those flaws.

[NecroViolator]

@ Bojan Pavsic !

I liked you MOD better because you could chose any color before picking out the piece :)...

Now this is great on the side of LEGO !!!

THANK YOU LEGO !!! And Bojan Pavsic for making the mod :)...

[Bojan Pavsic]

@ Bojan Pavsic !

I liked you MOD better because you could chose any color before picking out the piece :)...

Well, you can still do that Just change the color of the bricks before selecting them... It takes just a click longer, but the option exists :)

[ADHO15]

Do you need an internet connection in able to get it? I use LDD on my laptop which isn't connected.

I'm sure I've followed the instructions correctly, but I cannot get LU.

[Bojan Pavsic]

Do you need an internet connection in able to get it? I use LDD on my laptop which isn't connected.

I'm sure I've followed the instructions correctly, but I cannot get LU.

It worked with the old version and it works with the new one. No internet needed.

[J4ke]

This is absolutely brilliant, the sheer volume of pieces is truly spectacular. Many thanks indeed to the LDD devs.

[NecroViolator]

LOL...

Oman, found a piece missing but was in the Mod Bojan made... :(

[TheAllSeeyingGuy]

If you really need lime green in Lego Universe do this:

Open LDD, make a new file in DesignByMe, then only put a lime green brick in the field and save it.

Then make a new file in Lego Universe, import (don't load it) the file with the lime green brick and take the colour from it, leave the brick somewhere in you're creation incase you'll still need it.

[Makuta Plasmix]

1. I can't get to the extra parts,

2. LDD Isnt loading correctly, the graphics are messed up.

[captaincreek]

Thanks for this. Looks great, I think I'll check this out now.

[-JD-]

Thanks for this! The features are awesome!

[Shroud]

Ur a god, best thing to ever happan..like ever

[Aanchir]

I've been very impressed so far. A few problems I've encountered include the lack of lime (Bright Yellowish Green) mentioned in the first post, the inability to create dual-injection (blended) parts, even though they often are listed separately from the single-color parts, and the inability to print patterns on anything but a few tiles and minifig parts. Another flaw is that dark silver (Dark Grey Metallic) is rendered as regular silver, even though it is listed separately in the color pallette.

I'm very impressed that some multicolor painted parts like the Rock Monster, most parts of the giant troll, and Dr. Inferno's hair piece can be colored in any combination by using the paint tool on the individual surfaces. Also, minifig faces can be printed on the front, the back, or both. Although the back of the head is limited to faces that appear on the back of actual dual-sided fig heads, the front and back are not required to match. Not sure what good that'd do.

The number of BIONICLE fig parts included is curious-- one wonders what those would be used for in LEGO Universe. The head/mask pieces could certainly make some pretty surreal greebles. Curiously, the arms from 2007 BIONICLE figs don't seem to be there, which is a pity because, while not as versatile as the Exo-Force robot arms used previously, they provide variety for robot fingers, etc. They probably make great thumbs.

Also, a lot of collectible minifig parts are included, including the face prints for many of them as well as the pom-poms. Unfortunately, the pom-poms cannot be painted in multiple colors. Still, I'm sure people will find a use for them.

[Bojan Pavsic]

@NecroViolator

You are probably comparing my mod BEFORE the april patch and the LU mode AFTER the patch. My file still works, but it's basicly useless now... The data for the bricks is stored in db.lif. The updated file has some parts (around 13) deleted and new ones added. You can't get the old ones with the new db.lif either in LU mode or using my palette file.

@Aanchir

The decorations are defined as images... again in the db.lif file. The graphic files that contain the bricks, contain the info where a texture can be added (the UV coordinates for the vertices). Not all of them contain this info. So the triangles where the decorations can be put on are already defined when the brick was designed. Which brings us to the example of a 1x1 brick, which can have a decoration only on one of the four sides (if you understand what i wrote here - from the 3D graphics view - then you'll understand why that's like that).

About the minifig front and back deco. From my understanding LU mode doesn't use any palettes, but works plain on the brick definitions found in db.lif. Before the different heads were defined in the palette files (brick number, color, decoration etc..) so the right front and back was defined there. In LU mode you got free access to all the bricks but that brings us to the point where LDD doesn't know in what color each brick in reality exists. All that was defined in a palette before. This is the main reason why the multicolor stuff (PF, NXT etc... parts) have to be colored by hand and all colors are available to all bricks.

The error in textures (like pizza) is because these UV coordinates are set wrong (which means the 3D vertices are mapped to wrong XY coordinates of the texture). Same thing is with the road baseplates. The pizza error requires recalculation of the UV coordinates on the brick, but the road baseplate could be fixed in 2 ways, rotating the texture image or recalculating the baseplate vertex UV coordinates.

Regards, Bojan

p.s.: Some stuff in this reply is assumed from my knowledge that i got from decoding the *.lif files and common knowledge about 3D graphics so it might not be 100% correct, but i think it's pretty close :D

[NecroViolator]

Thanks Bojan...

Found that the piece, it was there...

Need glasses... It was the wrong edit, was Designed By Me, instead of universe...

Edited April 14, 2010 by NecroViolator

[Toa_Of_Justice]

Thank you, LEGO, for this amazing gift to your fans!

I've been very impressed so far. A few problems I've encountered include the lack of lime (Bright Yellowish Green) mentioned in the first post, the inability to create dual-injection (blended) parts, even though they often are listed separately from the single-color parts, and the inability to print patterns on anything but a few tiles and minifig parts. Another flaw is that dark silver (Dark Grey Metallic) is rendered as regular silver, even though it is listed separately in the color palette.

I'm very impressed that some multicolor painted parts like the Rock Monster, most parts of the giant troll, and Dr. Inferno's hair piece can be colored in any combination by using the paint tool on the individual surfaces. Also, minifig faces can be printed on the front, the back, or both. Although the back of the head is limited to faces that appear on the back of actual dual-sided fig heads, the front and back are not required to match. Not sure what good that'd do.

The number of BIONICLE fig parts included is curious-- one wonders what those would be used for in LEGO Universe. The head/mask pieces could certainly make some pretty surreal greebles. Curiously, the arms from 2007 BIONICLE figs don't seem to be there, which is a pity because, while not as versatile as the Exo-Force robot arms used previously, they provide variety for robot fingers, etc. They probably make great thumbs.

Also, a lot of collectible minifig parts are included, including the face prints for many of them as well as the pom-poms. Unfortunately, the pom-poms cannot be painted in multiple colors. Still, I'm sure people will find a use for them.

Actually, I found the 2007 BIONICLE figure arm under the block with the antenna picture. When you first open it, there's coins inside, but when you scroll down a bit, you'll find a piece called "Arm W. Ø3 18 Hole" right in between the minifig power drill and the dual lightning piece. Screenshot

Speaking of drills, has anyone found either the Power Miners drill bit or the one from Rock Raiders? Curiously, the other Power Miners giant wheel/drill elements are available in LDD under the wheels category and the gears category.

Aside from the lack of some pieces and colors, I propose a toast to LEGO for sharing this vast treasure with us. Perhaps a future update will fill in the gaps...who knows...

-Toa Of Justice

P.S. Here is a picture of what I did so far with this seemingly boundless new palette.

P.P.S. At the end of the TECHNIC connectors category, notice the name given to some of the BIONICLE elements: "Voodoo arm" and "Voodoo foot."

Edited April 14, 2010 by Toa_Of_Justice

[Superkalle]

If you really need lime green in Lego Universe do this: Open LDD, make a new file in DesignByMe, then only put a lime green brick in the field and save it.

Then make a new file in Lego Universe, import (don't load it) the file with the lime green brick and take the colour from it, leave the brick somewhere in you're creation incase you'll still need it.

Excellent idea for workaround!

An even easier way to get Lime then is to just switch over to DesignByMe mode (View > New Themes) when you need it, add a Lime Green Brick and then switch back to LU mode and pick the color from that Brick. No need to import etc.