kbalage

I don't think there's anything to be reported here, I'm sure it was designed this way on purpose. Steering angle was limited (further) to avoid any scenario when the wheel can touch some parts, I assume that's the ladder at max steering angle/max articulation.

Thank you Jim for the detailed review, really enjoyed it! I couldn't count how many times I thought I finally managed to have a real "missing piece case", just to find my building mistake a few steps later or the part on the floor :D My only small concern is the blue background this time, but this might be totally subjective. I really like the final photos, but the ones made during the assembly seems to be a tiny bit washed out with all the bright parts against the colorful background. I still perfer your good old setup :) I agree with your conclusion regarding the pricing, although I'm still waiting for the Control+ profile to see if there's any added value there that could improve the playability of the set.

Yes, we noticed it too. With a custom profile in the PU app the steering angle is actually better, even with a stock build. Apparently the Control+ profile for the set limits the steering angle at a certain percent.

Personally I really don't care :) And I'm almost sure that the orientation in the instructions is totally random, or it only depends on the software they are using to produce them.

That's TLG's current problem with their targeting. Technic is supposed to be the nerdy theme, but it's already way too niche and different for the majority of LEGO fans, so making it complex again like in the "good old days" would alienate most customers. Hardcore fans are vocal but from a purchasing power standpoint they are neglieable. We have to consider ourselves lucky to get at least one classic set this year (42128). Afaik TLG stopped doing this because there were too many customers calling Customer Services for instructions. I'm wondering if the app will feature the X-ray view and mechanism demonstrator function of the Zetros profile, that'd be cool and educational. We'll see in 2 days if everything goes well.

The modules in the instructions are about the building process and not the disassembly. It only says that you build similar subassemblies and put them together like the real one is built. You can go backwards in the instructions and separate the main builds but there are several smaller pieces that have to be removed meanwhile, so it's not an easy modular deconstruction.

@technicmath you are right, my bad :) One reason why I shouldn't do the review in the middle of the night :) @1gor thanks for the suggestion. I did not have much time to create an additional blog post with photos and information, but for me video content has the priority. For photos and written text I really suggest to wait for @Jim's review, I couldn't compete with that quality anyway :) @syclone the building experience was definitely better for me than the Liebherr. Apart from the bottom section, with that set I had a feeling of building empty boxes with motors in them, that's all. I'm not sure if it is worth to call out the way the instructions are made every single time. There are expert builders and there are novice builders, and the set should be buildable by all of them. I don't see how "too detailed" instructions could ruin the building experience, there are simply more steps that's all. @gyenesvi it'll be interesting to see how the Control+ app will handle the function switching from a speed and reliability perspective.

Here is my detailed building review of the 42131 CAT D11(T) Bulldozer. I tried to show all interesting parts of the building process, then a demonstration of the functions without the official Control+ profile. Access will be only granted to that one on the 15th, I will of course post another video with that. Without the profile this is not the full picture yet so I did not draw any final conclusions, but I'm interested to read your thoughts about the set!

15:00 CEST. Prepare your F5 button ;)

BuWizz 2.0 works perfectly fine with BrickController 2 and game controllers. Hopefully the BuWizz team will have time soon to share the details of the protocol used for 3.0 and it can also be included in the app.

Don't want to derail the topic, happy to continue the discussion in another one. I can only speak for myself but I don't get every set from TLG, I buy way more LEGO than it'd be considered "healthy" and the way of obtaining the set does not influence my opinion. I'm an adult, I also see the price tag and can perfectly evaluate that factor as well and take it into consideration in the review. Of course you don't have to believe me in the age of "only negativity can be trusted", but then I wonder if you are watching any reviews online about electronics, cars, etc. because 99% of them was not purchased either by the reviewers.

Thanks for the great review Jim! I totally agree with your view, the 18+ label, the lack of 4WD and the price makes it really hard to like this set. If it'd be a plain simple Ford F-150 with a 12+ label and a 99 EUR price tag then the whole picture would be different. That still would not make it a particularly interesting set with lots of features though, but at least a playable one for an acceptable price. About the black background, I still like the end result but yeah it is a challenge for the building shots and sets with black parts. The orange pops on it but the fender flares and the wheels can disappear. Based on my experience it works best if you have a colorful bright model (e.g. the Sián) and you don't want to have a uniform background, that way you can put the model in a spotlight and have a vignetted look fading to black on the sides.

Ah ok yeah, that's slightly bigger :D TLG should really work on these icons and labels, apparently people get false hopes. Or simply releasing a proper controller might help :)

If you mean the photo in the bottom left corner, that is a custom controller setup created in the Powered Up app, most probably for the testing of the prototype build that can be also seen on the photo.

Interesting, I don't have the set with me but if I recall I could tap on the previous steps to do them again. On Android devices you can delete the app's data, that will practically reset it. Or you can reinstall and that'll have the same effect.

You go to the profile, tap on the menu button (top left), then on the settings icon (bottom right with the sliders), and there you have an icon with gears and a magnifying glass. That's the testing.

Luckily someone else though about it ;)

I checked and my cheap Android tablet is 64 bit so it runs the latest PU app version, but the RedMi 7a phone does not since it has a 32 bit Android version. I'll try to reach out to the PU team for further details about this change.

I would raise the question in the ROBOTMAK3RS Mindstorms community. Some members there certainly have direct channels to the Mindstorms developers and often get access to experimental features so they might know where to look for information or who to ask.

You cannot tell based on the photo only, it was marked with a sticker previously but not nowadays. But it is pure logic - if some gets a review sample then that set has to be opened and built. Selling it on Fb leaves you with nothing to review :) @Dylan M if someone had a review sample and choose not to be "very loyal" to TLG then next time there would be no more review samples to talk about. Do you think this choice is that difficult to make?

Whoever gets an early review copy of the set would certainly not share any key details in advance like the number of hubs and motors, since that is also a breach of embargo. But don't forget, the photos we've seen came from a Facebook marketplace ad that was definitely not a review sample. If there was one set out in the wild then there could be more, so there might be people who've seen or even built the set already. One thing for sure - since the set is not for sale officially, actually it does not even exist officially, don't expect anyone to provide proof by sharing photos that might be followed by some uncomfortable questions from TLG.

I agree with @howitzer, I don't think there's a need to be able to configure the controller on its own. All other similar environments require in-app configuration, like BC2 or SBrick. Pybricks obviously needs some coding before installing the configuration on the hub, and the LEGO VM solution would also require a similar (visual) configuration of the motors and/or other items in the app, so the controller setup can also happen there. Advanced settings like the mentioned endpoint setup for actuators or the stepper configuration for the gearbox should be made in the app anyway. I don't think the goal is to have a completely app-less system for the setup, since the smart motors require some setup anyway. The aim is to give users the ability to download and run the completed configuration to the hub and to be able to play with the remote without the constant need of the smart device acting as a bridge between them. Of course the app could provide some ready made configurations to download for the official sets to use and to tweak for the inexperienced users.

Not sure why an x/y axis selector in the configuration would make things even more complicated. The current PU remote requires to define the behavior of 3 different buttons per side (+/-/red), this one would have an x/y axis selector for A and B joysticks. I would not call this one more complicated for sure. Joysticks are totally common and intuitive to be used with only one axis being active, e.g. throttle left Y axis and steering right X axis. Additionally it gives people the freedom to choose the left/right assignment for throttle and steering, and also provides flexibility for other use cases where more channels are required, or if people prefer a single handed control with both axes used.

If that is $100 per set then TLG has the best paid coders on the planet

A real life RC vehicle is not a video game :) You don't see any RC car controllers with triggers. There are 2 big camps, first is controllers using sticks (joysticks) and the other is the pistol grip style with a wheel for steering on the side. When I was a kid we had mostly stick controllers, but nowadays the pistol grip is more widespread for cars. For anything that flies or needs more channels, the stick controller is still the way to go. A pistol grip controller has limited number of channels so it is not universal enough to cover most LEGO RC vehicles, that's why I'd go with the classic controller with 2 joysticks. Throttle and steering can be separated with this configuration and sticks are convenient for precision control. Front triggers could be added for the video game generation if they really prefer throttle and brake control there, otherwise they can be useful e.g. for tracked vehicles as additional channels. Well that shows how frequently I use these controllers in video games :) The RC excavators I've seen either use buttons on the front or extra levers to control the tracks. I think front buttons are more convenient since that way it is possible to drive and operate the sticks the same time. Based on my experience motion control it is far from being precise. If someone prefers it then it is already available in the PU app and can be used with a smart device.