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THIS IS THE TEST SITE OF EUROBRICKS!
THIS IS THE TEST SITE OF EUROBRICKS!

RIP LDD...

Philo
Philo
in Digital LEGO: Tools, Techniques, and Projects

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It's now been four years since any kind of official update and the version they've had up for download on LEGO.com for a while not only has a broken, incomplete parts library relative to prior versions, but has an installer that hasn't worked since December 2020 because it checks for Adobe Flash Player before installing anything. (I have no idea why it ever did this.) I am not surprised to see it finally be put out of its misery; if the good people in the "Custom LDD Bricks and Fixes" thread hadn't figured out how to keep the program up to date themselves, I think I would have been forced over to stud.io a couple of years ago.

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    Well, I honestly don't know what to do. I have tried studio and don't like it / understand it, and converting all 5,540 LDD files I have is impossible. I thought 2022 would be better for me than 2021 and 2020, and now I have lost something I've used since 2005.

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    No surprise and given that LEGO offered the botched 4.3.12 version on their website showed for a long time how much they cared - not a tiny bit. 
     

    Anyway. People should make copies of 4.3.11 and host it somewhere, so there exist a backup of this abandon ware 

    Edited by M2m

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    3 hours ago, Murdoch17 said:

    Well, I honestly don't know what to do. I have tried studio and don't like it / understand it, and converting all 5,540 LDD files I have is impossible.

    Hmm. Why not conserving everything as it is? This what I am doing: Whenever this happens - or I fear it may happen (and it only has happened twice to me) I have a serious look at my hardware. It appears as if hardware needs to live or go with operating systems - at least in the Windows World I am living in. There are now three laptops I did not ditch: One is running Win98 - the version fully compatible with DOS 6.X. The other one is running WinXp ... and everything else in on my Win10/11 laptop. Well, there are basically uncountable nerds out there - old people ;) - who just don't accept the phrase: It does not work anymore in Win XYZ. Actually DOS6.X is doing fine on this laptop.

    So ... what does it mean to you: TLG announces this, and than that? They can announce the end of The World and I would simply not believe it; "so what", I'd say. Lets see.

    Just keep on doing what you are doing and try to either conserve or try to carry over the impossible. Which, as time goes by, seems to become less impossible with time ;)

    And do think about what to do. Not with 5k plus files. Conserve them carfully.

    Best
    Thorsten

    12 minutes ago, M2m said:

    Anyway. People should make copies of 4.3.11 and host it somewhere, so there exist a backup of this abandon ware

    @M2m: Totally. You summed it up nicely; I was just trying to find words. Yes. This is the way to go. I like the "Anyway" bit the most.

    Best,
    Thorsten

    Edited by Toastie

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    1 hour ago, Jason C. Hand said:

    Question: The custom LDD part updates will still continue, right?

    Why not ? It’s not like the recent lego decision changes much. Lego didn’t support LDD for years and removing the botched version from their website is actually for the better. 

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    52 minutes ago, M2m said:

    Why not ? It’s not like the recent lego decision changes much. Lego didn’t support LDD for years and removing the botched version from their website is actually for the better. 

    👍

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    It just officialized something we already all knew, anyway.

    I wish Studio had an "LDD workflow" option, because IMHO it's a great tool, critical for at least renders & manual, but it just can't beat the speed of the LDD as long as the things we spend the most time on, take a lot more time than in the LDD.
    And it's mainly about moving around your model, which the LDD does a lot better because right-click re-centers. Some stuff, like rotating parts that goes backwards, the very different sorting of parts, the different part snapping, the tube bending even more broken than it is in the LDD, one may argue that it's not bad, just different & annoying for LDD users.
    Anyway, LDD forever for me.

     

    Something that bugs me about Studio btw, and it's the same think with Bricklink, Lego now owns both, and yet it's still the community that maintains models & part inventories. Lego owns high-res models of every part, but can't bother making them available in their own tools?

    Edited by anothergol

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    5 hours ago, M2m said:

    No surprise and given that LEGO offered the botched 4.3.12 version on their website showed for a long time how much they cared - not a tiny bit. 
     

    Anyway. People should make copies of 4.3.11 and host it somewhere, so there exist a backup of this abandon ware 

    Is version 4.3.11 for Windows currently available anywhere?

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    7 hours ago, Graupensuppe said:

    Is version 4.3.11 for Windows currently available anywhere?

    https://web.archive.org/web/20190622153357/https://lc-www-live-s.legocdn.com/downloads/ldd2.0/installer/setupLDD-PC-4_3_11.exe

    setupldd-pc-4_3_11.exe

    SHA1SUM: b5b6ce195c6e579bd91c5da37a1482c0d4bf786b

    SetupLDD-MAC-4_3_11.zip:

    SHA1SUM: cab24d575ba4a62672c2e7a7ce45c8a55cd3bf3a

    setupldd-pc-4_3_12.exe (botched version)

    SHA1SUM: caca02f468c26c26efe4af19d43a824ab38f62a4 

     

     

    Edited by M2m

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    What does the 4.3.12 version do?

    Isn't the 4.3.11 version the "bad" one, basically the same as 4.3.10 (which might make more sense to share), but with a failing online check at the beginning?

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    16 minutes ago, anothergol said:

    What does the 4.3.12 version do?

    Isn't the 4.3.11 version the "bad" one, basically the same as 4.3.10 (which might make more sense to share), but with a failing online check at the beginning?

    4.3.12 has a bad parts library and is missing a lot of parts.

    You can see from the file sizes:

    setupldd-pc-4_3_11.exe: 326.6MB

    setupldd-pc-4_3_12.exe: 163.9MB (50% less)

    The thing is, its only the installer which is name 4_3_12. After intallation it reports 4.3.11, but with a different parts library version.

    To make things worse, a simple uninstall of the botched version and re-install of the good 4.3.11 will not help, as the 4.3.12 uninstall will keep files and also messing with the install of the good version.

    Steps to solve:

    1. Uninstall Lego Digital Designer

    2. Delete this folder also (otherwise a reinstall will not work):
      C:\Users\<YOUR USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\LEGO Company\LEGO Digital Designer

    3. Get the setupldd-pc-4_3_11.exe version of LDD

    This botched update certainly did confuse / drive away alot of LDD users and Lego didn't care :damn:

    In my personal experience 4.3.11 is the best version - definitely not 4.3.12.

    If you are interested in other versions:

    Edited by M2m

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    And no one knows why Lego remove parts?

     

    22 hours ago, M2m said:

    In my personal experience 4.3.11 is the best version - definitely not 4.3.12. 

    Are you sure that 4.3.11 isn't exactly the same as 4.3.10, but with the added online startup (failing) check, thus one more button to press at launch?

     

     

    Edited by anothergol

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    I'm so sad Lego decided to do this. I love the simplicity of LDD, Studio runs like terrible on my PC, and it's just not as much fun, for lack of a better word. Wish we could somehow have the best of both worlds (good interface with new parts). Luckily some people have been adding new parts to LDD on this very forum, this saves us for now...

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    I'm new to all this but FYI I just installed LDD from the official Lego site and it is version 4.3.11 (and Brick version 777 whatever that means).  The page had links to the BrickLinks offering.  LDD installed with no problems on my Windows 10 laptop, with some message about not having access to some online resource, but it didn't seem to matter,  When I started it, it said it couldn't find the Flex licence so you have to manually navigate to the install directory to find the .LIC file.  Once that was done I could load an .LXF file i had downloaded from Rebrickable and run through the build steps, which was the reason I wanted to install LDD in the first place.  I haven't tried to do any design work with it. 

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    @idlemarvel

    Brick Version 777 is installed with 4.3.12, so you have the 4.3.12 even though the about panel displays 4.3.11.
    Unluckily .12 is a very bad version, with a reduced brickset, you could have problems to open bricks coming from     Rebrickable or other sources.

    So don't hesitate to completely remove it and install the true .11, you should easily find a link and instructions to install it here in the forum.
    Note that this community is active in supporting LDD and add new bricks and decorations. You can install these extra brick if you are interested.

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    • 2 weeks later...
    On 1/19/2022 at 2:21 PM, Calabar said:

    @idlemarvel

    Brick Version 777 is installed with 4.3.12, so you have the 4.3.12 even though the about panel displays 4.3.11.
    Unluckily .12 is a very bad version, with a reduced brickset, you could have problems to open bricks coming from     Rebrickable or other sources.

    So don't hesitate to completely remove it and install the true .11, you should easily find a link and instructions to install it here in the forum.
    Note that this community is active in supporting LDD and add new bricks and decorations. You can install these extra brick if you are interested.

    Thanks for the tip @Calabar, I'll reinstall the true .11

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    11 minutes ago, idlemarvel said:

    Thanks for the tip @Calabar, I'll reinstall the true .11

    Just be sure to do the following - otherwise a reinstall will not work!

    • Uninstall Lego Digital Designer

    • Delete this folder also (otherwise a reinstall will not work):
      C:\Users\<YOUR USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\LEGO Company\LEGO Digital Designer

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    20 minutes ago, M2m said:

    Just be sure to do the following - otherwise a reinstall will not work!

    • Uninstall Lego Digital Designer

    • Delete this folder also (otherwise a reinstall will not work):
      C:\Users\<YOUR USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\LEGO Company\LEGO Digital Designer

    Thanks @M2m fortunately I had already done that and the true 4.3.11 has been installed successfully.

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    If this works this is a god send! I'd been so frustrated with them borking the latest download. So utterly confusing and unprofessional that that happened.

     

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    LDD , for me, is the best: easy to use, working perfectly (in the most cases) with the flexing/rotating parts...
    and with the awesome work of the community, updating the part list with new models, and with the usefull help of @M2m i can continue to use that old, but awesome software!

    Stud.io for me has a lot of potential (better graphic, incorporated render system), but until the interface and the usability will not change (becoming easy as LDD), i continue to dislike it.

     

    P.S.:
    i dont know if the following thing is possible or not...
    but, if Lego would share a freeware license of LDD, maybe the community would update and share more easly the custom versions...

    Edited by Rustinidiel

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    On 1/13/2022 at 3:13 AM, Murdoch17 said:

    Well, I honestly don't know what to do. I have tried studio and don't like it / understand it, and converting all 5,540 LDD files I have is impossible. I thought 2022 would be better for me than 2021 and 2020, and now I have lost something I've used since 2005.

    You can import into Studio and Im sure someone will create a batch converter

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    On 1/13/2022 at 3:13 AM, Murdoch17 said:

    Well, I honestly don't know what to do. I have tried studio and don't like it / understand it, and converting all 5,540 LDD files I have is impossible. I thought 2022 would be better for me than 2021 and 2020, and now I have lost something I've used since 2005.

    You can continue to use LDD - thats what I do. It works on Windows 10 (and I guess 11) without issues. On macOS you are more in a pain (I am), because you can't upgrade your OS without loosing it. It does work with Wine however.

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