Future of LDD: Next Lego Digital Designer Update?

[Qahne]

I find it very unreasonable to assume that LDD won't be receiving any more updates, since their big new product, LEGO Worlds, touts LDD compatibility as a selling point. They wouldn't have made LW compatible with the LXFML format if they didn't honestly intend to keep it around. You can already import models into LW from LDD, but only ones made with basic bricks. More advanced, interact-able bricks, like windows, doors, treasure chests, furniture, requires some tricks to get working. My guess is that they're working on a larger update to make modeling for LW easier (perhaps a dedicated LEGO Worlds mode). LEGO Worlds is due to release to retail in the not too distant future, so I don't think an LDD update is too terribly far off.

[obsidianheart]

LEGO Worlds is due to release to retail in the not too distant future...

Which makes me wonder if Digital Designer 5.0 isn't due to hit retail in the not too distant future.

[Phoxtane]

Which makes me wonder if Digital Designer 5.0 isn't due to hit retail in the not too distant future.

I'm sure that'd go over well with about nobody - if anything, they likely wouldn't be selling it as LDD 5.0, but under a different name. I can't imagine that they'd be selling the 5.0 update, but rather a new piece of software, which WOULD explain the lack of updates on LDD.

Meanwhile:

[kangmingjie]

In my opinion, it would be in TLG's best interest to keep LDD free of charge to act as a gateway drug (forgive the poor comparison) to LW.

"Enjoy building models, kids? Now imagine if you could run around in them with your own character! Have you heard of LEGO Worlds...?"

For years now, I've seen suggestions for what LDD 5 should include and having a working physics engine where a user could "play" with the model always pops up. TLG has delivered on that, just in the form of LEGO Worlds which is a great game! Whatever they have in store for the future of LDD, I'm sure it's going to be something with which all of us can be pleased.

Edited December 1, 2015 by kangmingjie

[DAVESLEGO]

Superkalle

Unfortunately the last email I sent them got deleted but I sent them another so here is what I asked them:

Dear LEGO,

I sent you an email the other day about an update for LDD and I was told there won't be anymore is this true?

Here's what they said:

Dear David,

Unfortunately that is correct. For the time being, there are no planned updates for Lego Digital Designer. You can still download it for free. Hopefully someday in the future we will have an even better software that you can use.

For now I will pass your comments onto our software design teams. Thank you for letting us know!

Kind regards,

Brian

Lego Service

[Darking]

Well stop the world then I wanna get off.

But seriously, that's a real bummer /:

I guess it's better to finally get a precise answer, though.

[xlib]

I guess it's better to finally get a precise answer, though.

Since when company's (any company) customer service is tasked in answering question about future plans? Those plans usually are confidential and customer service doesn't comment about them. Phrase "there are no planned updates" means exactly that: no updates was announced.

[SylvainLS]

Phrase "there are no planned updates" means exactly that: no updates was announced.

Plus, again, what does “update” mean?

If it’s about LDD 4, the software, well, we already knew or assumed that (apart from hopes for an LDD 5 because of Worlds).

If it’s about the parts, well despite the fact that they haven’t been updated in a while and our hope is dwindling, objectively, we still don’t have any unequivocal/unambiguous answer.

[anothergol]

you know what that means? Petition to get Lego to publish parts of the data format, so that new parts can be added by third parties.

[___]

you know what that means? Petition to get Lego to publish parts of the data format, so that new parts can be added by third parties.

I would be second that for sure...agree fully with something like that (if anything of that kind ever happen at all in the first place, of course )!

[RoxYourBlox]

Since when company's (any company) customer service is tasked in answering question about future plans? Those plans usually are confidential and customer service doesn't comment about them. Phrase "there are no planned updates" means exactly that: no updates was announced.

Agreed about improbability of confidential information being disseminated by customer service.

However, "There are no planned updates" does NOT mean "No updates have been announced." The former statement closes a door, while the latter would leave it open.

[ThorsHammer9999]

Superkalle

Unfortunately the last email I sent them got deleted but I sent them another so here is what I asked them:

Dear LEGO,

I sent you an email the other day about an update for LDD and I was told there won't be anymore is this true?

Here's what they said:

Dear David,

Unfortunately that is correct. For the time being, there are no planned updates for Lego Digital Designer. You can still download it for free. Hopefully someday in the future we will have an even better software that you can use.

For now I will pass your comments onto our software design teams. Thank you for letting us know!

Kind regards,

Brian

Lego Service

I Love how everyone keeps skipping over that phrase, "For the time being..." which simply means they're not offering an update currently or for the foreseeable future add in that it's beyond unlikely that a customer service rep would have access the that sort of information and that we have had people post previous and very varied responses from customer service that all said different things all you got was a very fancy, "I don't know" and that's pretty much it....it's still ambiguous..."For the time being" could just mean they're working on finishing Lego Worlds and/or updating Lego Universe and are otherwise too preoccupied to worry about LDD...it doesn't mean NEVER like you're trying to play it off as...they have a lot in the works right now and I doubt something that earns them nothing would take priority over software that actually has earning potential, "For the time being..." literally just means for right now.

[obsidianheart]

... and/or updating Lego Universe and are otherwise too preoccupied to worry about LDD...

Um. I have some bad news if you're holding out hope for an update to LEGO Universe.

[Zorkalorp]

Ok, ok. I know this is stupid, and please don't list the many reasons why it is. I know, ok?

But why don't we do a petition. Yeah Lego's unlikely to respond or act, but there's still an extremely small chance if enough people sign right? So what does anyone say?

[RoxYourBlox]

Ok, ok. I know this is stupid, and please don't list the many reasons why it is. I know, ok?

But why don't we do a petition. Yeah Lego's unlikely to respond or act, but there's still an extremely small chance if enough people sign right? So what does anyone say?

That is an excellent idea.

I thought about making one giant collage of before (LDD) and after (real Lego) images of my creations to drive home the point that when LDD is not updated to be optimized let alone compatible with the latest OS's, it literally kills the hobby for some of us. I could contribute such a collage to a petition topic in the ambassador forum... Or whatever petition sites there are.

[ThorsHammer9999]

Um. I have some bad news if you're holding out hope for an update to LEGO Universe.

Sorry...meant to say Lego Dimensions

[The Mugbearer]

Okay so. There's been talk about the petition. Did anyone actually attempt to create one?

[Logan McOwen]

Guys, a pretty interesting LDD contender has arisen, so even if TLG does pan it, not all hope is lost. But still, it's pretty sad to hear LDD is being outmoded. It's a beautiful utility, and it's a shame it'll be left to go stagnant.

[Lyichir]

Guys, a pretty interesting LDD contender has arisen, so even if TLG does pan it, not all hope is lost. But still, it's pretty sad to hear LDD is being outmoded. It's a beautiful utility, and it's a shame it'll be left to go stagnant.

Unfortunately, like many other fan-created Lego CAD programs, Mecabricks tends to lack a lot of parts from less traditional themes. Very little Bionicle, for example. The great thing about LDD is that it updates fairly promptly with new parts (or at least, it used to...) and did not tend to overlook more specialized or atypical parts. LDD was pretty much the best at what it did, and I'll be deeply disappointed if it is completely abandoned.

[Umbra-Manis]

Unfortunately, like many other fan-created Lego CAD programs, Mecabricks tends to lack a lot of parts from less traditional themes. Very little Bionicle, for example. The great thing about LDD is that it updates fairly promptly with new parts (or at least, it used to...) and did not tend to overlook more specialized or atypical parts. LDD was pretty much the best at what it did, and I'll be deeply disappointed if it is completely abandoned.

Well actually, Mecabricks currently is limited in Constraction because nearly all the parts in the workshop were modeled by Scrubs (Creator) who doesn't own many constraction pieces. However anyone is welcome to model parts and send them to him for addition to the workshop. So if you can find constraction fans who can 3d model parts effectively, they could be added quickly. And the renders just put LDD to shame.

[The Mugbearer]

Yeah, heard about Mecabricks on a multitude of occasions. Still prefer LDD because it's way easier to use.

[Renderbricks]

Yeah, heard about Mecabricks on a multitude of occasions. Still prefer LDD because it's way easier to use.

Honestly I think that MECABRICKS is the better editor compared to LDD. I am not talking about the library but the handling and workflow. I use a method to capture LDD data for rendering in MODO and did not test Bluerender yet. I don't prefer LDD for this because the bricks are low-poly and the textures are extremely low-res. There's an option to save in LDR for LDRAW what is an alternative for me but the workflow to bring bigger LDR creations to my 3d software is slow and needs patience,

Edited December 24, 2015 by virtualrepublic

[___]

Well, if this was done completely inside Mecabricks then I can say it is looking very "real-life-like"...ehm, at least to me.

[Umbra-Manis]

Well, if this was done completely inside Mecabricks then I can say it is looking very "real-life-like"...ehm, at least to me.

Mecabricks exported to Blender via the template Scrubs made. No other software though.

[Dornbi]

There are some indications that LDD as we know it may not be a supported product in the future. What made me thinking:

- The LDD El Capitan issue mentioned in this topic. Some users got the response from LEGO that "we do not really support this app any more".

- LDD did not receive any updates for a while. The version I use is 4.3.8 and that was released about 2 years ago. This was also noticed in the LDD update topic.

It is hard to assess what the actual situations is. There are also some responses from LEGO along the line of "our engineers are aware and working on it". However, the El Capitan problem is known since at least October and nothing visible has happened so far.

I personally use LDD almost daily to design my new models, so to me it would be a big blow if I could not use it any more. I know there are other tools like Mecabricks, Bricksmith and so forth, but so far I found LDD the most versatile and easiest to use for my needs.

I also think LEGO may underestimate the affect of LDD on the community and the popularity of the product, but I admit I do not really have any data to support this claim.

So my question is: am I alone seeing support gone as a big risk? Should we try to do something about it?

- Try to collect some data about the effect it would have on the LEGO community?

- Try to contact LEGO as a group of builders rather than individuals?