Whup

I just saw the Black Pearl at the Noarlunga BigW. It didn't have a price on it yet, so I can only assume it's the price that was previously mentioned in this thread ($147 or so I believe). I hope I haven't broken the rules of the thread (since it's not technically on sale - just cheaper than RRP), but if your local Target is sold out it might be worth checking your local BigW as well.

Haha, I'll shut up now to save spoiling any potential surprises, then. Don't the rest of the states use punt as well? I'm a fellow South Aussie, so I've got lot's of fond memories crossing at Wellington, Mannum, Morgan etc... It really is great to see some local businesses represented though. I really love the way you've done the exterior of the post office too - I haven't got a photo to compare to handy, but I'm pretty sure I would have recognised it as an Australia post building even without the stickers.

I can't remember what type it was - the one I'm referring to sits at the end of the main street overlooking the river. I've read the plaque on it and remember thinking 'if the bad guys have come this far I don't think one cannon will hold them back'. I've never seen a Lego ferry, either. That might be a cool little construction, actually. A motorised ferry that moves back and forth across the river on some steel-cable/string...

You've done a great job of making a South Aussie town! It's all great, but for some reason the protruding 'Police' sign really captures the look of driving into an Australian town for me. I guess its because just about every main street you drive down on a cross-country trip has one of those. So will New Mannum get an old solitary cannon at the end of the main street to protect it?

It looks like the new Millennium Falcons are pretty popular (or at least at Myers price, anyway). I told my wife they were under $200 and she said she'd think about it... she had a look at the two local Myers (Southern Adelaide) but came back empty handed! Damnit - I thought I had one...

Either that or us Aussies are just really stingy... *joking* Actually, all jokes aside it probably does represent how Aussies feel about the current pricing. I had a look at a few of the new Star Wars sets at BigW last week - every single one of them had a "you've got to be kidding" price attached. I certainly won't be buying any at full price...

No need to hide! I don't really keep up with what's available and where - I just figured I had a bit of factual information to add to the conversation! This thread would be a lot less fun if people held back on posting anything until it had been 100% scientifically proven and verified... a big part of the fun has been the rumoured bargains - especially when they turn out to be accurate .

I've picked up and held a Millennium Falcon at BigW. It was about $230 though, so my wife made me put it back down again. It's the last of the really iconic Star Wars models I'd need to complete the set (I've got an X-Wing, TIE Fighter, AT-AT), so I'll probably end up getting one eventually.

Hey guys, I don't think this has been mentioned here, but Series 3 Minifigs have turned up at the Laygo store in Morphett Vale for all those that are after them!

I think I can arrange that.

Righto, back from a busy day ready to answer these questions properly! First up, there are currently no plans to integrate Bricasso with LDD or LDraw. It's way beyond the scope of what I had originally planned for Bricasso, and I think it would be very tricky to do properly. It's also tedious to share data between an iPhone/iPad and an application on your PC. Everything ends up needing to be stored online for example. It's not that I don't think it's a good idea, it's just too ambitious a project for me to tackle on my own at the moment. The goal with Bricasso was something that kids (and big kids like me) can have a bit of fun with when they've got a few minutes spare and feel like building with Lego. The lack of Save/Load was actually a design decision that I could be talked back into I suppose. For me, the beauty of Bricasso is being able to build something spontaneously and take a photo to keep! Allowing people to save a model that really only takes a few minutes to build is discouraging that spontaneity in a way; people might be more inclined to fuss around perfecting a model rather than jumping straight in and creating something fresh. That's a personal thing though, so I wouldn't be surprised if others felt differently. I was also trying to keep the menu system as uncluttered as possible, but if you guys honestly think a save/load feature is necessary I'll enable it for the next update (the file format is already defined and the work mostly done). Adding new parts is also easy. The tricky part is making it easy for the user to browse through them all. One idea was to have five categories across the top of the piece selection screen; each category would contain 25 different pieces for a grand total of 125 available parts/pieces. I've built the definitions for wing pieces, cones, the corner slope shapes (so that you can do an 'L' shaped roof for example), but I really wasn't sure what other pieces to add. The only colours that aren't available on all pieces are the transparent ones, and that was just an attempt to prevent models being built that clearly didn't represent anything made by Lego. Again, if you guys would rather just have all colours for all pieces I'll flick the switch and you can have it in the update! The iPhone 4 support will come after the next update which will focus on the iPad version (no, it's not far away). Baseplates bigger than 12x12 are tedious to use without modifying the interface on iPhone, but the iPad is much happier with bigger baseplates. I might even post some iPad screenshots if you guys are interested...

Thanks for the support guys! Once again, I'll have to address questions properly when I'm at my laptop later. One idea I had for building underneath would be triggered by turning the device upside down. Would that be cool or annoying? Thanks again everyone!

You're right, the images are aliased (ie, jaggy lines for those not familiar with aliasing) but it was a trade off I had to make on my iPhone 3G to keep the interface really fast and fluid. If I can sell a few copies my wife will let me get an iPhone 4 and I'll be able to set up a higher quality rendering path. It does look lovely all smooth and anti-aliased though. The only limit in number of bricks is how many before things slow down past useable. My iPhone 3G handles a couple of hundred bricks fine. At this stage it is not possible to import models from other apps. That's a good idea regarding the video - I'll put one together on the weekend and make a bit of a description on my website. Oh yeah, iPad version is not far away at all, and should be submitted to Apple within a couple of weeks! I'm glad you like the look of it! And yes, dimensions were carefully taken from actual pieces. Actually, some of the bricks were just guessed (such as the slopes), but when I sat down and actually measured them I realised I was spot on anyway. I guess you look at those little bits of plastic for long enough and you just know. And yes, iPad version is on the way (it will be included with the iPhone3 version). I'm not 100% on the iPhone 4 version since I don't have one yet, but I'd definitely like to! Thanks very much for the constructive feedback Kyphur. I've got to head to work for now, but I will respond to your thoughts as soon as I can! Thanks everyone!

Hi everyone, My Lego building app, Bricasso has just been released onto the iTunes app store! It's not a free app, but I've got a few free copies to give away if anyone is interested. You can take a look at it on iTunes here: Bricasso on iTunes And here are a couple of screenshots: Thanks guys, Wade Perry Lemur Software

Hi again guys, I've just this morning checked the last item on my pre-beta check list! What a great feeling! For those of you that were interested, I'll need the UDID for your device (whether it's an iPhone or iPod Touch). The easiest way to get hold of this number is to connect your device to your computer and open iTunes. When you select your device under 'Devices' in iTunes, you'll see a little summary of the device (next to a photo). One of the list items is 'Serial Number', but if you click the serial number it should change to 'Identifier UDID'. It's a 40 character alpha-numeric number that uniquely identifies your device, and I need it before you can install the game. As far as I know there is no reason to keep your UDID secret, but I think it would best for you to PM it to me just in case I'm wrong. Thanks everyone!

No offense taken - I know what you mean and I wanted to be absolutely clear on what I'm aiming for so that nobody is disappointed. I'll be interested in what you think of it in the end, but I'm also pretty confident my app can coexist with 'Blocks!' without getting in each others way. As for beta testing, it will be pretty informal. I can add a limited number of devices to a list of people allowed to use the app (which means I need a type of serial number off of each participants iPhone/iPod to identify them). I'll then make the app available to download from my website, and participants can download it and install it on their device using iTunes. It might sound a little complicated (and at my end it is a little bit), but Apple have set things up this way and it's just how everyone does it. Once people have played around with it for a bit, I'll ask them some questions and invite all the comments and criticisms! I would expect your kids to be the perfect age (although I may be proven wrong). My six month old isn't much of a guide yet, but if you're interested I'd love to know what you and your kids thought of it! Thanks everyone!

I'll get in touch with you soon, Fuzzy! Thanks! In regards to your questions, Brickdoctor, it will be a paid app, but with a free version to support it. I try and release all my apps alongside a free version; it's not ideal, but it let's people try before they buy! The difference between what I've done and the excellent Blocks is the interface. I've tried to make something a bit more kid friendly, at the expense of a few restrictions. To be honest, the Eurobricks community is probably better served by an app like Blocks, but I think mine will suit the more casual Lego fan. Don't let that put you off though, I can honestly say I'm having a lot of fun building models on my phone! :)

Hi everyone, For the past few months I've been working on a Lego building app for iPhone. It isn't official, and I've been careful not to reference Lego in any way in the app. The app is nearly finished, and I'd love to get some feedback from you guys. If you're interested in testing the app with me, please let me know via PM. You'll need an iPhone or iPod touch, and probably an iTunes account. You will NOT need to buy the app to test it! Please note that the app is geared more around recreating the building experience than giving you lots of pieces or allowing huge constructions. It certainly isn't LDD for iPhone, but it does let you build something small in a realistic (and hopefully fun) way. Also, I'm only looking for a few testers. Hopefully I'll get a few offers, but I can't guarantee that you'll be involved just because you've asked to be. Likewise, work may suddenly get busy and I'll be months away from testing again! Thanks for reading, I hope this sounds interesting to some of you! Whup Lemur Software

I've got my card filled in and ready to go! I've been meaning to pop by all week and pick something out but haven't had the chance yet - maybe tomorrow with a bit of luck! I think thats a great idea offering a 10% straight up anytime. Considering the best the big stores offer up is about 20% a few weeks per year anyway, being able to get 10% anytime will save me the hassle of watching out for sales.

Congrats! I rarely bid on ebay, but put a bid on that ship (I thought it would make a nice addition to my pirate fleet). I'm very happy to lose to someone that is so happy to get it! There were a few (used) Imperial Armada ships on ebay last week. I was very tempted to put a bid on one, but never got around to it. There was one in Adelaide with a starting bid of $99 that didn't sell. For that price though I think I'd be just as happy picking up another Brickbeard's Bounty and try my hand at some mods!

I popped into the Laygo store again in my lunchbreak today - lot's of new stuff in! The two different train sets were there for anyone having trouble finding them, as well as some new Star Wars stuff and a good range of everything else as well. I get the impression the shipment that was meant to arrive in August arrived a month early...

'On Stranger Tides' is the name of a pirate themed novel - it probably gives some good clues as to the story. I've never read it, but it was apparently the inspiration for my all time favourite computer game, Monkey Island. Any pirates is better than no pirates in my opinion. I'd love to get a few more ships to add to my fleet, and it'd be great if they did a Tortuga or something with a few mid sized ships as well (like the old Imperial Trading Post). It's a bit of a shame we'll have to pay the Disney tax (maybe not as high as the Star Wars tax if Prince Of Persia was anything to go by). Actually, the Prince of Persia stuff all looked pretty good to me - it definitely bodes well for the next Disney franchise...

Hi guys, I was heading past the Seaford (southern Adelaide) BigW and stopped by for a look - they had four Wind Turbine Transports left for $29 (actually, only three left now!). A couple of the boxes were bashed up a bit but they didn't look opened. They weren't there a week ago, so perhaps they've just been discovered squashed in a corner somewhere... Nothing else of interest that I could see, definitely no Luke's Landspeeders (I would have liked one of them). The turbine transports seemed popular though, so hopefully its helpful to someone!

I started building my flagship last night, the box was impressively full compared to recent sets I've bought. My baby girl was screaming on my lap though while my wife got some sleep so I didn't make much progress. When my wife discovered how cheap the flagship was she suggested I get another; as she pointed out it's hard to have much of a pirate battle with one ship! To make things even cuter she dressed my girl in a pirate outfit for us to pick it up! Glad to hear most people got what they were after, and huge thanks to those of you that gave me a heads up regarding the flagships! I'd thank you all via PM but I'm viewing the mobile Eurobricks site on my phone and can't figure out how...

I'm very happy to have picked up a Flagship! Can't wait to build her! I put the ship on hold Sunday, which technically expired last night. The lady was good enough to keep it aside for an extra day, or I think I would have missed out. I walked in at 9:05 and she said she'd already sold lots! Wow! There were still a few cargo trains that I could see though, so if you're after one down south of Adelaide give Colonnades Myer a ring!