LDD 4.1 Released

[Aanchir]

Just upgraded to LDD 4.1, and here are my observations:

The Good:

1) DesignByMe mode has a number of new parts, including a lot of Hero Factory parts, as well as 8x16 and 16x16 plates.

2) There are new printed parts. A printed horse appears in DesignByMe mode, along with new face and torso prints. There are also printed Hero Factory parts.

3) Additionally, leg prints are now available. In DesignByMe mode this includes an armor print from Kingdoms, while in Universe mode it makes a number of Collectible Minifigure Series 1 leg prints available that were previously programmed in, but unable to be used since the legs had no printable surfaces.

4) The color interface is a lot simpler in both Universe and DesignByMe modes. Colors are reduced to those which are currently in use, which may be bad for some, but notably other colors still work effectively, and bricks in those colors still show their full details in files where they're already used.

5) Color details have been added for several colors: notably 11 Pastel Blue (Maersk Blue), 114 Tr. Pink Glitter, 117 Tr. w. Glitter, 129 Tr. Bluish Violet (Glitter), 284 Tr. Reddish Lilac, 297 Warm Gold, 298 Cool Silver, drum lacq, and all six of the new colors for this summer: 321 Dark Azure, 322 Medium Azure, 323 Aqua, 324 Medium Lavender, 325 Lavender, and 326 Spring Yellowish Green.

6) Two new colors are available in LEGO Universe mode: 309 Metallized Silver and 309 Metallized Gold. As far as I can tell these correspond to Chrome Silver and Chrome Gold, respectively.

The Bad:

1) "Creator Mode" is no longer available. The only modes are DesignByMe, Mindstorms, and Universe.

2) Universe Mode has received many, many downgrades, it seems. Many parts have been removed, even some that appear in DesignByMe mode like the horse.

3) New torso and face prints in DesignByMe mode are not available with the decoration tool in Universe Mode.

4) New parts in DesignByMe mode are not available in Universe Mode. Notably, the Hero Factory category which includes almost all of this year's Hero Factory parts in DesignByMe mode is not present at all in Universe Mode.

5) As mentioned before, non-current colors are not in either palette. This means they can only be accessed from files that already contain those colors or by rewriting the raw code of an LXFML document.

6) A lot of problems in the last version have not been fixed for this version. The horse's head still does not have access to the full range of angles. Additionally, prints continue to have odd shading, and some of the new prints in DesignByMe mode are rendered badly (Jake Raines's head, one of the new DesignByMe face prints, has white where it should have transparency, making him look like his face is covered in greasepaint). Many of the most obscure colors are also still rendered badly-- for example, the aforementioned 129 Tr. Bluish Violet (Glitter) is still not transparent at all.

Overall, though, I'm sure most of the problems with this version will be worked out in time. I'm very impressed with the improvements I've seen. Any observations you've noticed? Share your thoughts!

EDIT: One more observation: the starter model interface is beautiful, and notably even LEGO Universe mode has starter models. They seem like they may correspond to actual LEGO Universe content.

[Superkalle]

Good that you starterd this topic. Just got info about Extended Mode. Please read about it and then edit your post with first observations.

[Paulski]

Good that you starterd this topic. Just go info about Extended Mode. Please read about it and then edit your post with first observations.

Is extended mode the same as LU mode?

[Superkalle]

Is extended mode the same as LU mode?

Read in this topic

[Paulski]

Read in this topic

Thanks! :)

[DLuders]

I took the leap and downloaded the 126 MB LDD 4.1 "patch". I followed Superkalle's instructions on how to access the LDD Extended Mode, and the program runs fine. Many of the Technic pieces that were in the old "Universe Mode" have been moved to the "LU Extended" mode (like the Power Functions XL motor).

[Lalror]

Wow, looks great!!! I am installing the update now, looks good!

~Lalror

[legolijntje]

Wow, looks great!!! I am installing the update now, looks good!

~Lalror

Be sure to acces the "ldd extended" mode

Edited April 4, 2011 by legolijntje

[Fugazi]

Thank you for the heads up Aanchir! Quick question, is this a typo or both colours have the same material ID?

6) Two new colors are available in LEGO Universe mode: 309 Metallized Silver and 309 Metallized Gold. As far as I can tell these correspond to Chrome Silver and Chrome Gold, respectively.

[Man with a hat]

Thank you for the heads up Aanchir! Quick question, is this a typo or both colours have the same material ID?

I think it is a typo. I just checked and it is 310 metalized gold.

But I feel it may also correspond to bricklinks' Metallic Gold. But please correct me if I am wrong.

Apart from this I just noticed that the part # 52036 plate 4x12 w.bottom 2x4x2/3 now can fit part # 4079 seat 2x2x2. That means my 8402 sports car is now complete in LDD!

[Whiteagle]

Oh great Brick Sages, I beseech thee to impart thine wisdom upon me!

Ok, so I downloaded the new patch today when I got some inspiration for a drider mech but... it didn't work!

So, I downloaded it directly from the site...

...Still didn't work.

Finally, I uninstalled it and re-installed it...

STILL DOESN'T WORK!!!

Nothing comes up, and the only sign that anything is happening is that there's a spike in CPU usage and the program shows up in the process tab of the Task Manager.

I'm running Vista Home Premium on an Intel Core 2 Quad CPU, 6 Gigs of RAM, and a NVIDIA GeForce G210 graphics card.

HELP!!!

[headlessroland]

I MUCH prefer the new colours layout. I moaned once before about the old layout - my mouse hand seems too twitchy these days, slip off the colours popup and it would close, so it would take a few attempts to select one. No more popup menus, they're all laid out together.

The road plate decorations have been corrected! :)

On the negative side, it won't load my 20,000-odd-piece model - the progress bar goes almost all the way then LDD just closes down. Went back to v4, deleted some superfluous junk left to one side, and now it loads in 4.1. I wonder if it's an extension of the problem found in this post: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=49709&st=0 - alienwar9 said the pieces limit dropped from v3 to v4, I wonder if it's dropped further in 4.1? (I hope not!)

Edit: ok, I've just experienced a seriously weird bug. I copied a selection of 52 bricks, and pressed right-arrow to rotate it. It flipped upside down - I thought I'd pressed the wrong key, so I pressed down, and tried all 4 of the cursor keys. Every one of them was just flipping it upside down and the right way round again, no rotation at all. Then as I pressed one of those keys, it crashed to desktop. Reloaded LDD and the same model, and the cursor keys are working as they should. What the hell...?

Edited April 4, 2011 by headlessroland

[Solidbrick]

It appears that LDD crashes after trying to move a 6x8 grid composed of 1x1 flat tiles. Haven't tried if it does so too with other combinations.

For the rest, I really like the new colour palette. I hated the previous one as it kept closing while I was trying to pick black or light grey. More flexible tubes are a plus too.

On a side note. You need to import your old models in a new LDD Extended or otherwise you won't have the newer bricks.

Edited April 4, 2011 by Solidbrick

[J4ke]

Mine's buggered too.

Opened up LDD, did the whole update thing, when it tried to open the new version, it went straight to "Not responding".

Clicking the tray/desktop/menu icons does nothing, and running it in Admin mode doesn't help either.

Running Vista on a Dell inspiron 1525 laptop, can't remember anything else techical. It's not good enough to use the best-looking LDD rendering though.

Help would be greatly appreciated, I haven't tried a full uninstall because I recall someone trying and finding that LDD is installed in multiple places. I'd like to know where all of these places are so that I can uninstall them all before I try a reinstallation. Thanks.

[Aanchir]

I think it is a typo. I just checked and it is 310 metalized gold.

But I feel it may also correspond to bricklinks' Metallic Gold. But please correct me if I am wrong.

Apart from this I just noticed that the part # 52036 plate 4x12 w.bottom 2x4x2/3 now can fit part # 4079 seat 2x2x2. That means my 8402 sports car is now complete in LDD!

Nope. Bricklink's Metallic Gold corresponds to 299 Lacquered Gold/Warm Gold. At least, in those instances where warm gold, sand yellow metallic, and other parts are mislabeled as Metallic Gold (something Bricklink tends to do with any and all pearl or metallic colors at some point down the line).

On a side note, there are four colors that still do not render at all, but which now have their names listed if you select bricks in those colors. Those are 132 Black Glitter, 299 Lacquered Gold/Warm Gold, 301 Silver (not sure what this is-- I think it's another type of chrome silver), and 306 Defused Copper. Nice to see the LDD techs going the extra mile and getting those colors ready for a possible future addition of these colors.

Edited April 4, 2011 by Aanchir

[Superkalle]

It appears that LDD crashes after trying to move a 6x8 grid composed of 1x1 flat tiles. Haven't tried if it does so too with other combinations.

For the rest, I really like the new colour palette. I hated the previous one as it kept closing while I was trying to pick black or light grey. More flexible tubes are a plus too.

On a side note. You need to import your old models in a new LDD Extended or otherwise you won't have the newer bricks.

How do you mean 6x8 grid. You mean laying out 48 1x1 tiles in a 6x8 pattern and then trying to move them. If so, it works fine here. Odd issue though.

And you don't need to import into LDD Extended. All you have to do is open the files, and then goto View > New Themes > LDD Extended and it will switch over to Extended Mode.

[cambookpro]

Is everyone upgrading to 4.1 or 4.1.6? I seem to have 4.1.6...

[headlessroland]

Yep 4.1.6 here.

I've just experienced a seriously weird bug...

Wow ok, it's getting its rotation plane confused.

Try this. Start a new build. Select any piece. Keep constantly pressing right-arrow to rotate it, and while you're doing it, spin the view around (including up and down) by holding the right button and moving the mouse. Keep stopping and look at which way that right-arrow key is now rotating the piece! If it doesn't mess up straightaway, keep at it, it doesn't look consistent to me.

When you've put the view back the way it was, mostly the rotation plane is back the way it was, but sometimes not. It's as though they tried to make the rotation plane depend on the camera view, but left a bug where it sometimes sticks.

(Edit: AAARRGGHHH another CTD, all I did was place a brick. It's not really usable if it keeps crashing out. Returning to 4.0 now )

Edited April 4, 2011 by headlessroland

[Toa_Of_Justice]

Is everyone upgrading to 4.1 or 4.1.6? I seem to have 4.1.6...

I have 4.1.6 as well.

-Toa Of Justice

[Brickdoctor]

4.1.6 here as well, and Brick Version 372.1. But I'm pretty sure that Version 4.1.6 is just a minor revision of version 4.1, so everyone who says Version 4.1 should still be correct.

Edited April 4, 2011 by Brickdoctor

[Superkalle]

4.1.6 here as well, and Brick Version 372.1. But I'm pretty sure that Version 4.1.6 is just a minor revision of version 4.1, so everyone who says Version 4.1 should still be correct.

Yes, from what I gather, it should 4.1.6

[cambookpro]

Okay, thanks

[Superkalle]

Yep 4.1.6 here.

Wow ok, it's getting its rotation plane confused.

Try this. Start a new build. Select any piece. Keep constantly pressing right-arrow to rotate it, and while you're doing it, spin the view around (including up and down) by holding the right button and moving the mouse. Keep stopping and look at which way that right-arrow key is now rotating the piece! If it doesn't mess up straightaway, keep at it, it doesn't look consistent to me.

When you've put the view back the way it was, mostly the rotation plane is back the way it was, but sometimes not. It's as though they tried to make the rotation plane depend on the camera view, but left a bug where it sometimes sticks.

(Edit: AAARRGGHHH another CTD, all I did was place a brick. It's not really usable if it keeps crashing out. Returning to 4.0 now )

This actually sound like a serious bug if you can make LDD crash like that. Is there anyway you can track you steps and make it repeatable? I'm sure the LDD Team would like to have a look at this.

And you are right that the rotation plane changes with view angle. Looking at the brick very much from the top and using the different arrow keys, rotates the bricks differently then if you look at them from the side

[Mr Hobbles]

Nooooo! I was about to order the pieces to build one of my MOCs next week, but it looks like the available parts list has changed, in both LDD and PaB. :(

[Superkalle]

I put together a small quick guide to the most common metallic colors in LDD Extended Mode. Hope you like it.

LEGO Metalic colors ExtendedMode2.pdf