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LEGO® Digital Desginer Review
I got to playing around with LEGO® Digital Designer 1.0 (LDD) this weekend, and
thought a review is in order. This is from a college student standpoint. I am
not a programmer by trade, but fairly adept at learning to use software. I
don't have any 10 year olds to test the program, which I believe is TLC's target
demographic (or in the middle of it, at least).
I'll go through a point by point summary, with comparisons to MLCad, which is my
preferred LDraw editor.
PARTS LIBRARY
LDD's parts library is apparently limited to those pieces used in the Designer
series sets (Robobots, Wild Collection, etc. Not the Advanced Designer sets,
like the Air Blazers). The piece selection is therefore limited to the 199
parts used in those sets. The parts libary is stored in a 3MB LXF file. A XML
file accompanies this file.
The parts library display has no names, just pictures of the parts. Not all of
the categories are obvious; some of the wedge bricks show up in the same
category as the 2x2 round brick. You may have do some searching to find the
pieces, but with the small library, it doesn't take long to find the part
library. The display is a drop-down window, so you can hide it while placing
parts.
Customizing the library is much more difficult than in MLCad. Instead of a
filter system, the LDD has an assignment listed for every element. The
assignments are in the XML files in the database\bricks folder. The options to
edit or the MainGroup and the MainGroupIcon. The MainGroupIcon is the element
used to symbolize the category. I did not try to find out if editing the file
to have two or zero icons would crash the program.
The color palatte is quite extensive. The palatte is not customizable, to my
knowledge. However, the transparent color selection is limited, as some common
transparent colors are not available.
BUILDING INTERFACE
When LDD first starts, you'll be in Build Mode, and you're presented with a 20 x
20 plate to build on, although you can build outside this space, to roughly 40 x
40. Simply click the part you want to add and then click where you want to
place it. You can rotate and zoom the viewer with the numeric keypad, and the
nonnumeric arrow keys rotate the part. The paint tool works similar to the fill
tool in MS Paint. Just click the color you want, then click the part to change
its color. There are also select multiple, select all, paint all, copy (clone),
and eyedropper tools. The learning curve is quite fast.
AUTOMATIC LEGO CONNECTIONS
This is by far the most intriguing feature of LDD. Automatic LEGO Connections
(ALC) does exactly that: parts snap right to where they should be. This
includes wheels, axles, etc. After selecting a part for placement, the part is
shown shaded until in a proper position. Then the part appears solid, and can
be placed. ALC can be turned off, which allows for additional rotation angles
(15° when ALC is off, 90° when ALC is on). Not all connections are permitted:
I tried placing the Space Gun handle in an axlehole, but I found it impossible,
both when ALC is on and when off. I don't know how many users will try this
connection; it's not a very good one, but it is valid.
ALC makes LDD far more useful than MLCad to the beginning modeler. However,
there are some drawbacks. To build wheeled vehicles, you either have to build
it on top a support structure, and delete the support after you're done, or turn
off ALC to place the first wheel. The help menu does offer advice on this
matter.
HINGE TOOL
This is the other feature that makes LDD interesting. After connecting hinge
bricks together, you can move the entire structure around the hinge point in 15°
intervals (which corresponds to the set positions on the click hinges). In the
event of multiple hinges, you can select which side you're going to rotate. The
parts that are going to move are enclosed in boxes, so you know ahead of time
which parts are going to use.
I must say I love this feature. This is a difficult task in MLCad, using
submodels and custom rotation points. And near impossible to do with multiple
hinges connected to each other.
VIEW MODE
View Mode is just that. You can view the part without the baseplate. An
animation function animates the bricks flying in and out to build the model.
Entertaining, but not very useful. There is not a building step functionality,
so the animation is the only way to see the innards of a model after building
it. You can also take snapshots of the model at just about any angle.
HELP SUPPORT
The Help function works similar to that of Windows. Click on the Help button,
and then click on what you need help with. The help menu also will pop up tips
with a task you are working on. Tips can be turned off. Very handy.
OTHER COMMENTS
LDD operates in fullscreen mode. The first time loading does take some time,
but subsequent loading times are short (15 sec on my system). LDD comes with a
web publishing feature. I don't have home access to the Internet, so I don't
know how it works. And as hard as I've tried, brick overlap is not possible.
SUMMARY
LDD is definitely geared towards kids, with the animating flying bricks and ease
of use. However, the ALC and Hinge Tools make LDD a worthwhile look for all
modelers. It's largest shortcoming is the inability to make instructions. It
appears very stable and reliable, and it's rather easy to learn. All in all,
fun to use, but limited in functionality and part selection.
Submitted by John Riley
FOR REFERENCE:
My system specs:
667MHz Pentium III
256MB of RAM
NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS graphics card
MS Windows XP Home Edition
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | LEGO Digital Designer
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| LEGO Digital Designer 1.0 has been released and you can download it at: (URL) has many more bricks than the beta, a new placement mode that doesn't stick to connections, a hinge tool and built in help. Try it out and let us know what you think. -- (...) (21 years ago, 27-Jul-03, to lugnet.cad, lugnet.lego.direct)
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