bemuser

I think it's a shame the Tente bricks weren't marketed more and didn't become more popular. I second the nice space sets. Standing in Woolworths as a kid, looking at Lego classic space and Tente sets adjacent, it was really difficult to choose between the two!

I think it's a "tricky trick" ;)

I'd like to group some sets of pieces together for my reference (to save me having to sort out the pieces myself) but it only seems possible to have one bag per order? Is this right or am I missing a button I need to press?

it was very slow for me earlier, but is fine now.

Maybe I'm missing something, but isn't this basically importing the mesh contained in the obj, stl, and then manually adding materials to each brick by hand? Isn't that incredibly time consuming? Is it not possible to automate that somehow. The modo renders look amazing. I'm assimung that's manual too.

go for it! http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=107841 - they're old, but just knowing where they're from / what name / date would be appreciated!

lots of useful information - thanks. I have lots of reading to do!

I don't have any of the games installed - but what about a resource editor? Would something like this work (this is what I used many moons ago) http://www.resedit.net/

I'm confused by all the different Lego building applications there are! Which is generally considered the better one, or rather, which would be better for me - I'd like to be able to: - build models - render in high resolution, add a surface layer to add some sort of realism - import / export different formats - I'd rather not have to import into 3dSMax / Blender to render high quality. - I'd like to be able to import LDD and LDRAW files if I can, this will allow me to break them apart and rebuild how I want them. - I'd like to be able to print instructions from the model (preferably PDF) rather than have to work it out myself! I don't particularly want to have to group things together just to build the instructions. These are the options I've found! - LeoCAD, allows to render to POV Ray tracer (I remember this from the 90s!) Can export to obj? - Lego Digital Designer - from what I can see this was a commercial venture to capitalise on AFOL's and allow them to order the pieces they wanted. Low quality rendering, not all pieces present - LDraw? - ? Is there a silver bullet which will meet all my requirements?

Some research: I found Betta Bilda - a UK Lego clone - the top of the windows are round, but the bottom "hooks" of the windows look similar - so maybe it's an early form of it? http://www.historia.com.pt/legos/clones/texts/bettabilda.htm

Yep, I too was disappointed with that "Lego Clones" search! Trying to think of alternatives didn't produce anything useful either

Few questions and observations that I'd expect to be solved. First I didn't know about existing lighted bricks, so I'm taking this at face value - That's a huge battery pack for a few LED's. You should be able to cut the battery needs down by <insert huge amount> - That huge battery pack makes these bricks useless in the context of a complex lego build, e.g. I want my small 1977 police car to have working lights... (nee naww, nee naww) but how on earth is it going to give chase with that huge battery pack? - With the wire wrapped around the bricks knobby bits, how are you stopping the wires from becoming unwound / coming off when connected / disconnected 1000 times - Are these safe for children / what's the minimum age realistically? - Who's the target audience? Adult brick builders? If so, you've just reduced your potential audience down to maybe 10%? Of the adult audience, I'd guess a good proportion are loyal to The Lego Group official Lego only. - What can you build with them other than a few crappy houses? (cruel to be kind?) Where would you use them other than a house requiring lights? They have a very niche audience. - And here's the kicker - if I'm to use non-official Lego bricks, why couldn't I / shouldn't I print off some bricks on a (maybe my) 3D printer and insert my own LED's? Thus removing the need for your project? I'm not knocking your project, but I'm wondering is it a viable commercial product, is it sustainable, and could you develop your idea further?

Didn't give it a thought, just tried the studs with Technic, and no joy. These are slightly too big for Technic.

This just reminds me of Southpark and "Super Fun Land"!

Wow, thanks for the information. It's a fascinating history