Lego Universe (the game) and LDD

[Superkalle]

Just noticed there was some new movies out on the Lego Universe site. Here's hort intro video that show the play concept: http://universe.lego.com/en-gb/media/default.aspx?category=195292&section=148275&contentid=200328 There is also a video that shows more of the building too.

It's obvious that the game has used the LDD "connect to studs" concept platform. But have the LU game developers applied some new and innovative approaches to digital brick building?

One thing that seems cool is the behavior editor. Could a similar thing be useful in LDD? I'm thinking animation here Then there is the ongoing question if LDD models will import into the game (or vice versa). And what about all those brick errors we've found here at the EB LDD forum - will they appear in the game too?

Comments anyone?

[DLuders]

My son and I pre-ordered the Lego Universe game in April, and can't wait for it to be released on October 12, 2010. I looked at the four in-game videos and have these observations:

1. The digital brick-building parts pallette window seems QUITE SMALL compared to the LDD parts pallette, so I hope one can easily see the different part shapes in the real LU game. The last 1/4 of the "In-Game Video: Build" shows how to assign a "behavior" to your bricks via Lego MINDSTORMS-type program blocks. One can save various creations within the game (for later use), and invite others to visit your creations.

2. It sure would be nice to be able to import LDD LU creations into the game (like the official sets folks have already made in http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=41226&view=findpost&p=727293 ) . However, I did not notice any way of importing (or exporting) a model into or out of the LU game. Nevertheless, the video on-screen resolution is too small to be able to read the "fine print" on the various menus so those features COULD BE there.

3. The "Battle" video shows how the players' minifig avatars can chop-up the enemy into their component pieces. I wonder what would happen if they encountered a huge Bionicle creature? The fourth ("Play") video shows a Lego Racers racecar scene, but it is not clear whether the cars "break up" into their Lego pieces when the crash, or just bounce off obstacles and keep going.

4. The videos show elements of these popular Lego themes: Space, Castle, Western, & Racers. It would be nice if they had features of ALL Lego themes (at least the current themes being marketed) so that they really do encompass the entire "Lego Universe"!

[Aanchir]

As I said in another topic, a discussion of LEGO Universe at the E3 convention said that LDD would be the building platform, and that you would upload your creations to LEGO Universe from LDD. They described it as something you could "download for free", so I'm certain it will be the same LDD program we're familiar with (although it will probably be a new version where LEGO Universe mode is available by default).

As for the video you linked to, it seems to be evidence that there will also be "in-game building", which was also shown at E3. The in-game building only requires that you've collected bricks within the game's world, and the bricks you collect automatically assemble into pre-built "modules". This is the format many challenges within the game will take--for instance, the first challenge which we've been told about, building an escape rocket on board a crashing spaceship, will require you to assemble modules for the front, middle, and back of the rocket (which can take many forms depending on which parts you collected). The car being shown seems to require many more modules, but the system remains about the same.

I believe the point of this system is to make sure the pace of the game remains consistent-- after all, having to build something with an LDD interface each time you needed something you didn't have on hand in the game would be tiresome, especially for young builders who take more time to build even official sets.

Overall, I like the building system in place for LEGO Universe. It's not too much more complex than the "quick-build" actions of LEGO Star Wars and similar games, but it takes that one step further by making you collect parts during your adventure (kind of like the LEGO World Builder puzzle game from LEGO.com).

[Superkalle]

To both of you: what is the main difference in the building experience if you compare LDD with Lego Universe. I'm now talking about the free-build that was shown in one of the videos (a micro-scale castle that was built). Are there things you can do in LDD that you cannot do in Universe. And the other way around, are there any cool features in Universe that could actually be useful in LDD?

[DLuders]

Things that can be done in LDD but not in Universe:

Using a ROTATION TOOL on specific elements -- It may be there in the low-resolution LU video, but is too small to notice.

Cool features in Universe that could be useful in LDD:

1. BEHAVIOR -- For Lego TECHNIC elements, this would be very useful to bend hoses so that they can form curves. A flexible Lego element may be able to ACT FLEXIBLE. If the LU programmers can make a minifig dance, they can possibly make a Hose or Chain bend. If adopted in future LDD updates, the LU programming blocks may also allow for SPECIFIC rotation angles (like can be done in MINDSTORMS).

2. ASSEMBLIES -- the ability to "quick-build" a wooden fort with pre-built modules. LDD 3.1 has the "Clone Tool", but one must build something to "clone" from scratch.

3. CHANGE PERSPECTIVE -- In the "Build" video, I saw a Watch Tower being lifted by a minifig and the surrounding landscape could be ROTATED while the tower stayed stationary. In LDD, a lifted part rotates to the same degree as the entire model does.

4. NO "COLLISIONS" or "ILLEGAL TECHNIQUES" to worry about -- Universe seems a lot more "foregiving" about bricks passing through each other, connecting with ease, etc. Bricks just float through the air; making flying "birds" in LDD is impossible right now.

Edited July 17, 2010 by dluders

[messiah1]

making flying "birds" in LDD is impossible right now.

I'm new, so forgive me if this is stupid. Couldn't you just build up a "tower" of bricks to the height you want, put a bird on it and then remove the "tower"? I mean, when I've tried to rotate an arm, it moved but left the unconnected hand where it was...incidentally showing me that my hand was unconnected. But if "flew" there...or is that not what you meant?

[clagreco]

I agree with messiah1, you can place bricks mid-air just building them on top of a support structure and then removing it. This is actually a quite boring feature of LDD, since you cannot disable it: it does not implement any physics, so you cannot check if your cration will actually stand up or fall into pieces...

[Superkalle]

I agree with messiah1, you can place bricks mid-air just building them on top of a support structure and then removing it. This is actually a quite boring feature of LDD, since you cannot disable it: it does not implement any physics, so you cannot check if your cration will actually stand up or fall into pieces...

Hi clagreco

Welcome to the LDD forum.

Firstly, I'm not sure I fully understand your post. What do you mean "you cannot disable it"? I'm guessing that you mean you can't disable the hallmark LDD snap-to-stud feature, i.e. you want to be able to free-place bricks. But can you do this in Lego Universe game? Otherwise, I'm not sure how this releates to the game? Normally when you bump an old topic, it's because there has been some new development in that area, not just that you want to agree with another poster.

[private_lego]

I agree with messiah1, you can place bricks mid-air just building them on top of a support structure and then removing it. This is actually a quite boring feature of LDD, since you cannot disable it: it does not implement any physics, so you cannot check if your cration will actually stand up or fall into pieces...

If I understand you correctly, you want the bricks to fall down if you remove the supporting bricks below?

Or even make MOC's fall over if they are not in balance?

This will be a challenge to get this in the program.

I don't know any program with this function.

[JopieK]

If I understand you correctly, you want the bricks to fall down if you remove the supporting bricks below?

Or even make MOC's fall over if they are not in balance?

This will be a challenge to get this in the program.

I don't know any program with this function.

Well, if you don't know any program with that function, you better think about games. Also tools like Blender support this using in that case the Blender game engine:

http://www.ingiebee.com/tutorials/Blender%202%20tutorial%20The%20Blender%20Game%20Engine.htm

Adding physics to 3d models is often very important and even almost necessary to make a game with it.