minchellabrick

Future of LDD: Next Lego Digital Designer Update?

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Not sure what to believe anymore either. I have made a lot of use of LDD but it is frustrating that such a useful tool with so much potential is being left behind as a low priority for TLG. I would be in favour of paying for an up-to-date version if necessary.

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I miss when we got updates thrice a year, and the last one was in 2014. LDD is really dead right now.

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Not sure what to believe anymore either. I have made a lot of use of LDD but it is frustrating that such a useful tool with so much potential is being left behind as a low priority for TLG. I would be in favour of paying for an up-to-date version if necessary.

I'm all for that at this point. LEGO Worlds is paid, so why not LDD? TLG hasn't been making any kind of revenue off of this since its inception, if I am right. Heck, if nothing else, have both a basic free version and a paid one!

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I reckon LDD will be updated more regularly in the future - you heard it hear first! :D

Edited by nine09nueve

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No problem for that! it's fully documented (http://www.melkert.net/LDCad/tech/meta) and it's actually pretty easy to extend the library.

Yes, the antistud is an issue... but again defining a new connectivity if it's missing is not difficult.

Yes, library is documented. And copyrighted. So you can't "easy to extend the library" - only with author's permission.

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Yes, library is documented. And copyrighted. So you can't "easy to extend the library" - only with author's permission.

I released all LDCad (packaged) things with the 'non commercial use' limitation. But this does not mean you can't add your own information under a different license, unless you want to donate it to me so I can include it in the next release. The whole point of the human readable format is so people can extend it how ever they want (Like LDraw itself) without having to recompile the program.

Hope this sheds some light on it. If not feel free to contact me through pm or start a loose thread on it (as this is very offtopic).

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Coming up to the first birthday of this thread, I have decided to ruin it with my presents. There were times when I wanted to ruin it much earlier, but I procrastinated so much that eventually the reason for my intervention got banned, whoops. I shared in that reason's frustration even if I didn't share the reason's methods of expressing it. My own choice of expression at the time would not have been useful AT ALL, so I refrained.

Now we have this nice situation where the sense of relief is like being recumbent on a hot beach deckchair, sipping an exotic drink out of half a coconut. The holiday will probably end sooner than expected, but I want to post my booking information anyway.

six months ago[/i],"]

I first discovered LDD when my second "dark age" ended in 2012, and since then I've been using it regularly to test out ideas before building, refining my designs while working with physical bricks, and exporting renders when a design is complete. I understand that the software was originally created to integrate with the "Pick a Brick" service (which I missed out on by a hair), and that it only continued to be updated as a gesture towards those who enjoy using it, but it has still been immensely useful to me.

Lately there has been some anxiety that development on LDD has stalled, and many worried users such as myself have been emailing about the future of this much-loved software. Unfortunately the responses so far have been mixed, and have possibly only heightened everyone's concerns. At this stage I believe it's only fair that the digital building community should have a definite, official statement on what will happen. If the software is indeed fated to be discontinued, knowing this would at least offer some sort of relief.

Of course, I would very much love to see LDD continue to receive new part updates, and although I haven't the slightest idea of how much work goes into the software, I believe that it's an extremely important part of LEGO's range of services. I cannot stress enough how important it is to the community - some of us (including myself) would even welcome a subscription model to keep the developers topped up with coffee as long as it keeps the software alive.

I would appreciate it if this message could be passed on to those involved with LDD so that we can finally stop speculating (and worrying!).

Thanks!

Here's my confirmation that my plane will be taking off at some airport somewhere in the world, and it might land somewhere else.

Dear [Gnac],

Thanks for getting in touch with us.

It is very easy to help that you have a passion for LEGO® Digital Designer. [Gnac], I know that I am one of those that loves to use the program to plan out my creations before sitting down to actually build them. LDD is one of those programs that has been a huge hit with many fans like yourself and they are all wondering what is going to happen with it. For the time there has been no plan or announcement on if it will going away so you can rest easy. I am of course passing your comments along to the team in charge of that area. If you need anything else please let us know.

We want to make sure we're doing a good job for you, so you’ll always find the link to a four-question survey in our emails. Please tell us how we did today:

LEGO Survey link

Please let us know if you need anything else.

Kind regards,

Shane

LEGO® Service

Names (and some stilted sentences) have been edited to protect The Gnac and his shame. Shane did nothing wrong.

Edited by Gnac

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