Powered up hints, tips and requests thread

[HectorMB]

For me, TLG in terms of everything related to programming is a dead end. It's a real pity that they end like that, but as you pointed out, it's just impossible to move forward. The retirement of the Mindstorms line was just the signal to move into Pybricks. They're still limitations, but it way better way to program your stuff. 

[Andman]

@recklessGlitch, long overdue official basic documentation for the code blocks of the powered up app:

https://www.lego.com/en-us/service/help/Power_Functions/LEGO-Powered-Up-programming-blocks-kA06N000000g04eSAA

The website doesn't seem to show all of them, but there is a link the a pdf file with possibly more explained blocks.

https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/service/assets/blt5e2546716d484ba8/PoweredUp-ProgrammingBlocks.pdf

@kbalage, any chance that you can update your guide with the new code block design?

Source was the following video (not my channel/content): https://youtu.be/SY6RCxOAC78

[kbalage]

@Andman honestly I don't know at this point. LEGO has published their own guide, and it seems to be, shall we say, "inspired" by my version, because I found some descriptions that match 100%. I have mixed feelings about this, and I'm not sure if I want to do uncredited free work for the company going forward. 

[recklessGlitch]

@kbalage It's such a shamefull thing - again!
TLG didnt manage to do a documentation for 4 years and then finally they do one by ripping you off?
And that "documentation" is a pdf document exported from Mircosoft Word (the filename says so, they didn't even manage to change that)
The images look like screenshots made directly from the powered up app. Sometimes they are even blury because of a low resolution. They made the app so they should have the original coding block texture assets, no? Probably even as vector graphics.
And they use your texts without even asking? You made them up after contacting the LEGO support, if I remember correctly. And these texts were super cool when YOU provided them but they are far from perfect. There are some blocks that I just don't understand what they do from the description (sorry, it helped a lot though)
TLG should be more accurate, understandable. It's their bloody software, they should know how it works, no?
 And they should tell us even more, like which motors work with which coding blocks (Moto speed doesnt work with medium linear motos for example.)
What a speed or power of 100 means, etc...  

What a lousy backyard trash toy facility is LEGO? Oh just the biggest Toy corporation on the damn planet, right?
Obviously TLG is run by a bunch of greedy scum bag capitalists, who don't give a crap on hiring people who know what they do and how to produce user friendly.
No, judging from the app they hire Amateurs. The coding blocks are "explained" by unreadable, unclear and much too small hieroglyphs in the new coding block design. The app design is rediculous - some interface elemets are so small, I not only have difficulty to read them, but to touch them, and my fingers are rather small!  Amateur mistakes!!! There are databases on button sizes or Icon sizes from Google and Apple. Any proper app designer knows that.
But no, obviously TLG hires mediocre programmers and amateur graphics designers with no education in interface design or user experience design and probably keep staff to a minimum with no experts, but a bunch of interns researching farting sounds for the powered up app.
I would be so embarrassed if I owned TLG.

I wonder if you could sue them for IP infringement, since they did use your intellectual property.

Edited August 23, 2023 by recklessGlitch

[Toastie]

18 hours ago, recklessGlitch said:

Obviously TLG is run by a bunch of greedy scum bag capitalists

OK, I have to admit, I read your post with some - no with a lot of joy. But I would rephrase that piece of text as follows:

Obviously TLG is run by a bunch of greedy scum bag capitalists. 

Why? "Obviously" becomes obsolete, as "greedy" + "capitalist" is like a "black rap". "scum bag" is well, again a black rap in this context ...

Other than that: Yes. I agree.

Don't know about IP infringement rights in this case, the internet is essentially "open source", I do know though how low, how very low TLG's approach on this documentation really is.

@kbalage: Your website was so much better. In every regard.

Best,
Thorsten

Edited August 23, 2023 by Toastie

[kbalage]

I have no intention of taking any steps regarding their guide, I made mine to help the community. At the time I used a draft as a basis that was sent to me by LEGO customer service, but I also made that clear on my website. If TLG had done the same, that would have been perfectly fine.

I don't think TLG employees should be criticized for their skills. I see two problems: first, the overall concept of Powered Up, which still relies heavily on programming skills without providing comprehensive resources to learn and understand the system, and second, the severe lack of resources dedicated to Powered Up development over the years.

[allanp]

44 minutes ago, kbalage said:

I have no intention of taking any steps regarding their guide, I made mine to help the community. At the time I used a draft as a basis that was sent to me by LEGO customer service, but I also made that clear on my website. If TLG had done the same, that would have been perfectly fine.

I don't think TLG employees should be criticized for their skills. I see two problems: first, the overall concept of Powered Up, which still relies heavily on programming skills without providing comprehensive resources to learn and understand the system, and second, the severe lack of resources dedicated to Powered Up development over the years.

From someone on the outside looking in, this feels most accurate. It's not that they can't do it, they just haven't. The resources you mentioned are surely human right? These things aren't being developed by AI as far as I know. Is the team they have working on it really really small? It feels like they are drip feeding us with not very much happening, like the individual members of the team could be very talented, but they need more talent in the form of more members on the team? It seems an odd choice not to hire more talent when it is available (I can even recommend someone if they want!) and not doing so is having a detrimental impact on their product. 

I also agree with your concerns over the reliance on programming in PU. Lack of documentation is of course problematic, but there's also many that just don't want to program even if they did have full documentation, and would prefer a system that can be as simple as PF with separate battery boxes and receivers, while there are others that, now they have tasted from the tree of PU, would see it as a regression if they went back to PF. My "lets fix powered up" thread is an attempt find a solution to this, but it is very difficult to even come up with the right concept before it's even designed and prototyped, so I certainly have some sympathy for TLGs current position, but I think I might have hit on the solution, probably.

Edited August 24, 2023 by allanp