vynsane

WOOT!!! Thanks, Superkalle (PM sent, btw), for organizing such a unique and fun contest, and thanks to everyone who entered and voted. This was my first contest ever, so I'm ecstatic to have won second place! I look forward to participating in more in the future.

The analogy works, if you take into account who the customer is. In my case, my stingiest customer is me. I have a limited amount of pieces. I don't want to estimate what parts I need, I want to KNOW what parts I need. In the case of my entry to the LDD Design Challenge, I owned maybe 1/4 of the pieces necessary to build. If I just estimated what I needed and ordred from BrickLink willy-nilly, I would've ended up paying a lot more and not necessarily getting everything I actually needed. Planning the design out in LDD helped me get a solid cost and materials analysis, allowing me (the customer... and my wife, the accountant) to know exactly what I was getting into. If neither of those parties signed off on the proposed cost, I would've ended up entering the LDD Only class ;) Bottom line, LDD (especially with Universe Mode enabled) is a bottomless bin of LEGO elements that can be used as a proof-of-concept vehicle before you incur any expense what-so-ever (not including the cost of the computer, I guess). While I agree there's nothing like sifting through a pile of physical bricks, as a low-cost alternative, I'm glad it's available. Secondly, it's also a space-saver - I have a rather small house that I have to share with my wife and daughter. LDD lets me design outside my physical living space (in the virtual world) so I don't encroach into their comfort zone. Thirdly, it's portable: I can play with LEGO on the train, commuting to and from the city! I would be nervous of dropping real pieces on the floor and losing them.

While I'm disappointed in the apparent ending of the Space Police III line, I hold out hope that the new CITY Space sub-theme is a sign of a forthcoming new Classic Space-like theme. The logo used on the Shuttle Adventure set (which seems to share minifigures with the new CITY Space sets, according to Klaus-Dieter's post) has a spaceship outline fairly reminiscent to that of the original Classic Space logo, complete with exhaust streak trailing around a planet. Hopefully we can see the CITY Space sub-theme transition into a new SPACE theme in its own right. I also like the idea of a futuristic CITY theme, maybe "CITY 3000" or something, with flying cars, alien citizens, etc. That might be a good name for a new MOC fad...

If you have the bricks. Personally, my collection isn't that huge, so it helps me build something virtually, then order the pieces I need to build it for real. Um... ask the thousands of architects and engineers out there whether they think planning something out virtually (in a CAD program) is a better way to start than to just mash some random steel girders together.

WOW - I'd never heard a flea infestation having a lethal outcome! I'm so sorry to hear that Col. Brik. We have four cats, but we had a flea infestation last summer before we got the fourth. None of them are outdoor cats, but there is a rather large stray cat problem in my town, and one notorious stray (whom we dubbed "half-tail") hung out on our front porch all the time. Anyway, our infestation was HORRIBLE - we gave all three cats two flea baths each in the span of a week, sprayed the entire house and did 23 loads of laundry (basically ever piece of fabric in the house) and they started to attack us again after we got back home! It so happens that they can reproduce very quickly and in great numbers. The new attackers were the babies hatching from eggs laid by the ones who were killed by the first flea bath (that's when they got the second bath. The fleas can also go into a hibernation state if there is no food present in which they can live for up to 18 months! They had gone dormant in our living room rug (probably the same deal as the rental car in the post above) and as soon as we set foot in the house they became active again. We finally got rid of the rug and that took care of it. We'll never let our Advantage treatments lapse again.

The 40% off a single item sale pertains to any LEGO sets that have the attached 'Toys and Games' image to the right of the name of the set. All the PoP sets have it - in fact, I just ordred 'Fight for the Dagger' @B&N.com for $17.97. I added 'Desert Attack' to the order to bring it back up above the $25 threshold for free shipping (don't know if Australia gets that offer).

That may very well be - I had a few pieces that it didn't recognize when I output the list for my contest entry (which used Universe Mode), but it was maybe 5 out of 450 or so, so it's not that bad. It's better than nothing.

One point each to Designer: Captain Blockbeard EntryID: 108 Name: Golden Gander SteamPunk Airship This was the first one that intrigued me enough to download the file. Believe you me, this one will help inspire me as I venture into SteamPunk builds - good job, Capt. Blockbeard! Designer: Bossk EntryID: 102 Name: UCS Scaled Anakin's Starfighter The scale of this build is pretty intense, and the shaping is spot-on. I have to admit, I didn't give this one a fair shake at first, but after downloading and inspecting the file this one won me over, especially how the S-foils fold down and fit perfectly into the wings. My only gripe (and the only reason this one didn't get all three of my points, I have to add) is that it feels unfinished - it needs a cockpit canopy. I understand that there are no proper solid LEGO canopy pieces that would fit this scale, but even an open-air canopy made of bars like on the UCS MF would have made this a much more finished piece. Designer: Odyssey EntryID: 120 Name: H.M.S. Endeavour The interior details on this one are what set it apart from other builds. After downloading and taking the side off, seeing how the different compartments all are designed to suit different roles is very cool. It also looks like what real spaceships will look like in the future. Honorable Mention goes to Designer: greenskull139 EntryID: 121 Name: Troop Transport This one was only slightly edged out by the others. I don't really know why, I think it was due to the fact that I pictured the front engines setting the back engines on fire when it went into full-on forward thrust mode. Good job everyone and good luck!

The current LDD design challenge was the first time I used LDD expressly to plan out a MOC, now that 'Universe Mode' is enabled. I have to say, if you have a specific vision in mind of what you want to build and are pretty sure you don't have all the pieces to actually do it, LDD/UM is the absolute BEST way to go. I've played around with other LDraw-based programs and always found them a bit wonky. The full rotation connection sticking in LDD really beats out other programs. Of course, I'm on a Mac, so my options are limited. That said, having a pile of bricks to just play around with and put together is a fun thing to do as well. For those of us on Mac, you can use Brickhelper (scroll down the page a bit). This is what I used to generate a parts list for my LDD design challenge MOC, and it worked like a charm.

Diggin' it - it looks pretty spot-on compared to the source material. At first I found it reminiscent of the Cylon Raider from original Battlestar Galactica (not the new pointy ones, the more disc-shaped ones from the oldschool show) but that's not your problem, it's the problem of the original designer ;)

Very inspirational - great concept AND execution. I may have to do something like this (someday...)

Mmm... well met - I was so entranced by the detailing, I hadn't noticed, but now i agree - tiles or just another (smaller) baseplate in a different color would do wonders there.

It's hard to tell how good it looks amidst the clutter of the background - I would suggest getting some large pieces of posterboard - white, or maybe blue (maybe some light blue for sky, dark blue for water!) and isolate the model from the background. That way the exposure settings of your camera will be more focused on the model than everything around it, resulting in not only a less cluttered pic of the model, but a more well-exposed one. Additionally, finding the most shaded area of your front porch might reduce the amount of harsh sunlit/shadowed areas. Reflected natural light (off of anything, a wall, the floor, what-have-you) is the best.

Wow! Nice building! The ornamentation is spectacular all around, with very inventive use of parts, and the interior details are fantastic. I also really like the tree outside - I've wanted to build a LEGO bonsai and there's some inspiration to take from that.

HA! So it begins... you began this topic unsure of whether or not you're even going to buy the IFS, and now you're buying it along with four Pirates battle packs ;) For the record, my brother and I had a LOT of Classic Pirate stuff as a kid - the Barracuda, Caribbean Clipper, Forbidden Island, Eldorado Fortress etc... it's a REALLY fun theme.

Heh, yeah, I didn't complain either, as the smell did dissipate. It's just the principal of the thing - if you're packing something up, don't smoke WHILE doing so. Wait the 3 minutes (max) it will take to package the thing, THEN light up ;)

I've bought only three sets from ebay - 6890 Cosmic Cruiser, 6941 Blacktron Battrax, and 5935 Island Hopper. Of the three, only the Island Hopper was complete (in face, it included the box as well as instructions, extra parts and other inserts.) The Battrax was missing a few slopes and hinge pieces, but it DID include two Blacktron minifigures instead of one! They both, however, were missing airtanks. The Cosmic Cruiser was complete for parts, but the two antennae at the rear were light blue-gray instead of old gray. It also smelled, as if the seller was smoking a cigar while packing and intentionally blew smoke INTO the box, so I would get a nice stale cloud upon the opening. I've made 11 orders on Bricklink since then, and haven't had an issue other than one case of slow shipping. From now on, I am going to avoid ebay in lieu of Bricklink. As others have said, not only are they mainly fellow FOL's, but they're more apt to make you happy.

We got my 3.5 y/o daughter the small $10 'Bricks and More' sets from 2009, which are comprised of Fire Fighter Building Set, Pirate Building Set and Castle Building Set as well as the 2010 House Building Set, which I think gives her a pretty good feel for some of the mainstays of LEGO themes. She likes to play with my Space Police 3, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Classic Space, Adventurers and World Racers sets as well. While she loves the figures from all of them (it's awesome to see a knight, firefighter, alien, stormtrooper and pirate just chillin' with each other or chasing each other around in the roadster from 'Shanghai Chase', Luke's Landspeeder, and the bad guy's car from 'Wreckage Road') it seems like the castle was her favorite actual building, as it's the only one still standing. She's into Disney princesses like crazy somehow, even though we avoid watching those movies that often. Of course, she asks why Princess Leia isn't on the princess backpacks and stuff, so at least it's not a complete brainwash ;)

I just build in the most visible colors and use the paint tool to change the colors in the model to avoid this problem, but I agree it's a problem that should be addressed.

Well, MacOSX already has print-to-pdf functionality integrated, so ostensibly the Mac-compatible version of LDD could use that to generate PDF instructions. Windows users without Acrobat Distiller or one of the free PDF generators available would be out of luck, though.

The HTML instructions are rather sad. There's no reason why it can't generate a PDF document of the instructions. I also like an easier way to get the piece count than to create the bloated HTML instructions. Someone else said something about it and the response was "just generate a building guide" which is kinda ridiculous. There should be an option to make the right-hand column a useful info display as opposed to some annoying animated thing or other useless info. The piece count should be displayed right there, including other info like number of each color.

My entry for the LDD + RB is the 2278 Phoenix Corp. Fireball, a four-seater flying car! Phoenix Corp. does it again with the 2278 Fireball, an instant classic flying car with room for a driver and three passengers. With a X/K-11 Dark Energy Emitter on anti-grav duties and dual Hurst Matter/Anti-Matter colliders on forward propulsion, the Fireball gets you there fast, in style AND comfort. At an altitude of 3,000 metres the patented ForceShield windscreen extends to a bubble canopy for high-altitude and space flight, where the air purifier can pump the gaseous mixture of your choice into the cabin. 456 bricks, four minifigures, and four briefcases. More pics in my Phoenix Fireball Flickr Set