[KEY TOPIC] LDD 4 Bugs and brick errors

[suenkachun]

Recap and updates: Here's an error related to the Fabuland Broom (Part 4322). As shown in this image, I turned the Broom upside down and placed it into a round plate with a hole. However, the first time I did that, I inserted the Broom until it could go no deeper, and it was removed the next time I opened the file. Simply speaking, placing the Broom too deep will cause it to be removed. Next, this Mini Head (Part 3626) has two tiny extra bits of printing on one side. Lately, I've built this thing in LDD which is a Plate 2x2 W 1 Knob below, two Tube W. Knob 1 2/3, Metalized in between, two Plate 2x2 Round on top and an upside-down Stick 6M W/Flange placed through the build with the shorter end on top. I could insert the Stick and save it the first time but it would be removed the next time I opened the file as it was then classified as a brick placed illegally. Therefore just like the Broom placing the Stick too deep will also cause it to be removed.

[StarWars8Spoiler]

A funky issue concerning the 2x1 curved slopes and the 1x1 w/ side bracket pieces. When attaching a curved slope to one of the brackets, part of the slope disappears. This does occur at any angle the piece is placed at. Larger slopes do not have this issue, only the 2x1 part.

[Zerobricks]

Yeah, it seems LDD gets confused and thinks the whole bottom is covered and hides the details, to save on GPU?

[BrokenEye]

I don't know if this has been reported yet, but the hat piece called "SMOKE HELMET PROTECTION" cannot be placed on a minifigure's head. As far as I can tell, it doesn't looks like it can be placed anywhere else either.

[Superkalle]

I don't know if this has been reported yet, but the hat piece called "SMOKE HELMET PROTECTION" cannot be placed on a minifigure's head. As far as I can tell, it doesn't looks like it can be placed anywhere else either.

Being your first post, welcome to Eurobricks and the Digital Desing forum!

The helmet protection can be placed on 3838 Oxygen Tanks, which can then be placed on a minifig body. Then place the head and finally the helmet. (in that order).

But I agree, it should be possible to put the 6158 Smoke Helmet Protection directly on the body+head without the use of the oxygen tanks as an intermediary. Thing is though that then you wouldn't be able to put the oxygen tanks on, since the head would be pressed all the way down. So I guess the solution in LDD is the best overall?

Here's a picture with the whole assembly for reference: http://www.bricklink...ic.asp?S=6459-1

PS: You first posted in an old bug report topic dating back to LDD 4.3.6 and in the process bumped a 3 year old topic. I moved to this more recent/current topic.

[vl_cn]

Studs facing sideways on part 44728 is slightly off to the side.

It isn't that obvious at first, but with heavy amount of SNOT building this becomes really bothersome.

[Superkalle]

Studs facing sideways on part 44728 is slightly off to the side.

It isn't that obvious at first, but with heavy amount of SNOT building this becomes really bothersome.

Incredible that this has never been seen before! Well spotted!

I'm not sure it will/can be fixed though, because moving connection points on a brick will break any models in which the brick has been used (i.e. bricks will be removed when opening LXF-file). Only way to fix it would be to handle this in code (a new version of LDD would be required).

[Classicsmiley]

Wow, that's subtle!

I remember back when there was an error with the Erling/headlight brick. LEGO did fix that one, and I don't remember any models breaking.

[Lyichir]

Incredible that this has never been seen before! Well spotted!

I'm not sure it will/can be fixed though, because moving connection points on a brick will break any models in which the brick has been used (i.e. bricks will be removed when opening LXF-file). Only way to fix it would be to handle this in code (a new version of LDD would be required).

Would that really break all the models, though? I know I've made models where the connection points are slightly misaligned (usually to compensate for boundary errors by hinging a part slightly before attaching it) and it didn't cause any problems. I had assumed that LDD allowed at least a little bit of give between connection points before removing the parts outright.

[Superkalle]

@Lychir and ClassicSmiely

Your reasoning sound logical, and suddenly I feel I'm not sure anymore. I know that hinges that are not centered, and then gets re-aligned, will brake the models. If this is also true for nudging stud-connections, I can't swear on.

[SylvainLS]

The shift is very very small. It’s smaller than the difference between a “proper” SNOT brick and a technic brick with a 4274 peg w/ stud, and that construction is used in official sets (even with bricks on top, which should be forbidden).

I think you need a tortuous mind to manage to use a lot of them in a way that compounds the shifts sufficiently to have a problem.

With 16 of them in a “row,” the shift is visible but I still can bridge the gap (the red tile):

Or, in less words, I’d really be interested in an example.

[vl_cn]

It's nothing, since LDD allows a small margin of errors I can complete my model with no problem.

Just a visual thing, a small bump in one of my walls.

And it still manages to hassle me.

Edited January 20, 2016 by vl_cn

[DraikNova]

Yeah, I've noticed that too recently. I think it's just a memory glitch that happens if you save and it stores the brick slightly too far in one direction or another.

[StarWars8Spoiler]

Another glitch concerning the 2x2 flat tile with studs on top and the 8x8 plate with the grate pattern. If you stick the studs from the 2x2 into the grate of the 8x8 plate and view the assembly from the top, the 2x2 becomes invisible.

[Superkalle]

Another glitch concerning the 2x2 flat tile with studs on top and the 8x8 plate with the grate pattern. If you stick the studs from the 2x2 into the grate of the 8x8 plate and view the assembly from the top, the 2x2 becomes invisible.

I can't replicate. Can you show a screenshot? (I suppose you mean a 3022 under a 4151)?

[StarWars8Spoiler]

Sorry, I meant to say the center of the piece, not the grated detailing around it.

Edited January 29, 2016 by ChristopherLee

[suenkachun]

The connections between the different types of rails in LDD is quite confusing. Currently, there are two main types of 16 M rails: Rail 16M With El. (Parts 74746, 74747, 75541 and 75542) and Rail 16 M (Parts 53400 and 53441). Apparently, you can connect both types to each other! As the new 16 M rails are connected via a holder and a round joint, connecting the old type to them will make the holder and round joint "melt into" the end of the old type. Also, if one type of rail conducts electricity and the other is just plastic, should they be given a connection with each other at all (although RC Trains are still compatible with the old 9V rails)? Anyway, here's a summary of what should be done in LDD in relation to the rails.

1. After a closer look at the old 9V rails, I discovered that they are also connected via a holder and a round joint (check the 9V sub-theme on Bricklink here). Therefore the 9V rails in LDD are actually inaccurate as they all have a straight end. In this case I'm not so sure about whether the two types of rails could be connected or not, but all the 9V rails in LDD should at least be updated to have the holder and round joint at each end.

2. While this rail confusion is still going on, please add the following parts into LDD in order to better separate the two types of rails.

Old 9V rail: Train, Track 9V Crossing (Part 32087).

New Plastic rail: Switch Left (Part 18612 and Part 53406), Switch Right (Part 18596 and Part 53403) and Train Rail Crossing (Set 7996, Part 57794).

If someone can clear all this up thank you in advance!

[tripletschiee]

Found a bug with the cross-axle pin and the linear actuator holder:

EDIT: just updated the permissions of the pic on Flickr.

Edited February 23, 2016 by tripletschiee

[suenkachun]

Aside from the different bugs I've found in LDD, something else happened to LDD on my laptop today and I'm hoping that I've posted in the right place for some answers. I opened LDD on my laptop and the display was super weird. I've been using LDD on my laptop since it was on Windows 8.1, and back then due to limitations of my Intel® HD Graphics 4400 I switched over to the NVIDIA GeForce 840M and set it as the default graphics card. Since then, everything was alright (although I still failed to open one of my previous large models). When I upgraded my laptop to Windows 10, the Intel® HD Graphics 4400 was magically fixed so now I could use either, but I stuck with NVIDIA anyway. When things went wrong today, I immediately opened the NVIDIA Control Panel (GeForce Experience) and sure enough, the Control Panel soon updated itself and afterwards I also updated the NVIDIA driver to version 362.00. However, after both updates the same issues still existed! To make a long story short, this image clearly shows that the display has gone mad after opening one of my models (it also went wrong in the welcome page and when building a brand-new model)! Also, this image clearly shows that the Control Panel has gone mad as well! I've tried opening LDD using the Intel® HD Graphics 4400 and it kinda worked (still a bit unstable when opening large models), so it must have been NVIDIA going wrong. Can someone tell me what to do at this stage or should I just wait for NVIDIA to fix the issues? Thank you for everyone's attention!

EDIT: Thank goodness I couldn't set Firefox to run on the NVIDIA card by default, as it crashed when I tried to, and other programmes have also crashed when running the card!

Edited March 2, 2016 by suenkachun

[ncx]

Has anyone had problems importing .lxf files from saved models. I recently re-installed Windows 10 and LDD, i just tried to import and open my saved models and it just causes the software to hang.

I tried re-installing LDD and it did not help. I did manage to get it to import the file, but when it does import it, the model shows up but then LDD freezes. I am hoping my files are not corrupt because these are the only files I have of my models.

If I have to uninstall LDD and reinstall, does anyone know how to save templates already saved within LDD?

ALSO, I recently upgraded my GPU to an Nvidia GTX 980 Ti from an AMD 7870HD x2. Does that have anything to do with it?

Aside from the different bugs I've found in LDD, something else happened to LDD on my laptop today and I'm hoping that I've posted in the right place for some answers. I opened LDD on my laptop and the display was super weird. I've been using LDD on my laptop since it was on Windows 8.1, and back then due to limitations of my Intel® HD Graphics 4400 I switched over to the NVIDIA GeForce 840M and set it as the default graphics card. Since then, everything was alright (although I still failed to open one of my previous large models). When I upgraded my laptop to Windows 10, the Intel® HD Graphics 4400 was magically fixed so now I could use either, but I stuck with NVIDIA anyway. When things went wrong today, I immediately opened the NVIDIA Control Panel (GeForce Experience) and sure enough, the Control Panel soon updated itself and afterwards I also updated the NVIDIA driver to version 362.00. However, after both updates the same issues still existed! To make a long story short, this image clearly shows that the display has gone mad after opening one of my models (it also went wrong in the welcome page and when building a brand-new model)! Also, this image clearly shows that the Control Panel has gone mad as well! I've tried opening LDD using the Intel® HD Graphics 4400 and it kinda worked (still a bit unstable when opening large models), so it must have been NVIDIA going wrong. Can someone tell me what to do at this stage or should I just wait for NVIDIA to fix the issues? Thank you for everyone's attention!

EDIT: Thank goodness I couldn't set Firefox to run on the NVIDIA card by default, as it crashed when I tried to, and other programmes have also crashed when running the card!

That screenshot looks like "artifacts" Meaning there is something wrong with the hardware (in this case the GPU)

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=gpu+artifacting&FORM=HDRSC2

Edited March 7, 2016 by ncx

[Zerobricks]

You can find the templates here:

C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\LEGO Company\LEGO Digital Designer\LibraryGroups\LDDExtended

[Saberwing40k]

I found a problem with several panels in LDD, where the bricks will be inserted at weird, non 90 degree angles. Normally, in the LDD brick palate, you can rotate the bricks to get better views of them by right clicking and dragging and it will no affect how the parts are inserted, but with these certain panels, most of the new Technic panels, rotating in the selection box will affect how the parts are inserted, even if it's a new file that has just been opened. The parts will insert at weird angles by default, and the only way to do anything about it is to rotate them in the selection box. Also, the 14 long gear rack and holder do not connect together by default.

[suenkachun]

Not sure if this is a bug but whenever I'm trying to attach bricks to the top of a large plate it wants to prioritize attaching it to the bottom of the plate instead. Even when the camera is looking directly above the plate. I have to add a baseplate or an inverted tile to keep it from doing that.

I have to quote this old post again as this bug has become increasingly annoying for me lately. My current project is a house were each level is being built separately but when necessary I'll attach parts of the level back to the lower level to make sure that it fits. As a result trying to attach bricks on top of the "floor" (one or more layers of plates) of each level is sometimes extremely difficult. I can add a Baseplate beneath each level but with the current brick count of abut 18,400 bricks (and much more to come) LDD occasionally crashes even when doing the most simple tasks (e.g., hiding/selecting bricks, painting bricks in LDD extended, etc.), which makes adding/moving a large Baseplate can make me loose much of my unsaved work. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my more powerful NVidia Graphics Card has cracked up and now I rely on the Intel Card which just meets the minimum system requirements of LDD. Therefore either my Laptop has to be fixed (which makes the manipulation of large Baseplates much easier) or LEGO has to try harder to avoid such issues.

P.S., The "Select Tool" is sometimes buggy, at least for me. Occasionally when you click to select a brick it is being dragged out instead. This is especially annoying when you are trying to select a large number of bricks then your operation is suddenly interrupted by a brick being dragged out, meaning that you have to start over. My observation is that when you move your mouse to select the next brick, LDD thinks that the movement of your mouse is so great that you're trying to drag the brick out, not select it. As a result this tool's accuracy has to be improved.

[Toa_Of_Justice]

P.S., The "Select Tool" is sometimes buggy, at least for me. Occasionally when you click to select a brick it is being dragged out instead. This is especially annoying when you are trying to select a large number of bricks then your operation is suddenly interrupted by a brick being dragged out, meaning that you have to start over. My observation is that when you move your mouse to select the next brick, LDD thinks that the movement of your mouse is so great that you're trying to drag the brick out, not select it. As a result this tool's accuracy has to be improved.

Is it possible that your pointing device's drag sensitivity needs adjustment? If you don't already have a utility for that, perhaps you could try Dragsens or something like that.

[suenkachun]

Is it possible that your pointing device's drag sensitivity needs adjustment? If you don't already have a utility for that, perhaps you could try Dragsens or something like that.

Thank you for your reply. I'll check it out later as for now it only happens once in a while.