Eurobricks' 2nd LDD RCB

[Brickdoctor]

I finished my part! Thanks, guys, for letting me help!

Thanks for your contribution! I love the idea of the stage.

[KotZ]

It was a little shout-out to some friends who are in theater. And I know a thing or two about it

Edited January 30, 2011 by KingoftheZempk

[Brickdoctor]

It was a little shout-out to some friends who are in theater. And I know a thing or two about it

Ah. I like that, too.

Although I'm not sure how many banks your average MMV had... Banks can be traced back to A.D. 3, but Medieval people for the most part didn't trust other people with their valuables. Not that your average serf had anything to put in a bank anyways. Oh well, we'll say that this is an advanced city.

[prateek]

This looks very promising, considering the first turn. Great job Zempk

[KotZ]

Ah. I like that, too.

Although I'm not sure how many banks your average MMV had... Banks can be traced back to A.D. 3, but Medieval people for the most part didn't trust other people with their valuables. Not that your average serf had anything to put in a bank anyways. Oh well, we'll say that this is an advanced city.

They're in Florence, Venice, or Genoa then!

This looks very promising, considering the first turn. Great job Zempk

Thanks Prateek!!

[Brickdoctor]

They're in Florence, Venice, or Genoa then!

I might be wrong, but I think the architecture may be off by a little bit.

Ah well, I personally like the idea even if it isn't historically accurate.

[Sir E Fullner]

Here is my part, all finished. It can be found by clicking here.

[Brickdoctor]

Here is my part, all finished. It can be found by clicking here.

That's the thumbnail image. I need the .lxf file. Click on that image to get a page of written gibberish. Link me to that. The URL should end in '.lxf'

EDIT: Wait, I think I extracted the proper URL: file

EDIT 2: Yup, that's it. Thanks.

Can you describe what you've added, please?

Edited February 1, 2011 by Brickdoctor

[Sir E Fullner]

Can you describe what you've added, please?

I added a top story to the bank and an Arab perfume stand, not to mention starting work on a bakery.

[Brickdoctor]

I added a top story to the bank and an Arab perfume stand, not to mention starting work on a bakery.

Nice. I just wasn't sure what the perfume stand was.

Looks like I was wrong; this only took two builders to complete a building. That means we could have ten buildings when finished!

[Aanchir]

I encountered this on Brickshelf, and it seems like people are going to have to be a lot more careful with colors. There have been a lot of mistakes so far:

• The top floor of the building uses bricks in 283 Light Nougat (Light Flesh) where I believe the builder meant to use 5 Brick Yellow (Tan). Brick Yellow appears as the seventh item in the "brown" category.
  
• Several parts appear in color 109 Pc Black Ir. (an obscure black color; not sure what it was ever used for) where I believe the builder meant to use 26 Black (regular Black). Black appears as the last item in the "white" category.
  
• Several parts appear in colors 127 Gold (Pearl Light Gold) and 189 Reddish Gold (Copper) where the builders probably meant to use 297 Warm Gold (Pearl Gold). Warm Gold cannot be obtained in LEGO Universe mode using the regular color options-- you have to switch to DesignByMe mode, add a Warm Gold piece (a gate or a goblet) to the scene, and use the eyedropper tool to select the color.
  
• The baseplates are both in 103 Light Grey (Very Light Gray) where the builders again certainly meant to use a different gray color: probably either 2 Grey (Light Gray) or 194 Medium Stone Grey (Light Bluish Gray). All Grey colors can be found in the White category.
  
• A Crown Knight's torso appears in 27 Dark Grey (Dark Gray). The builder intended to use 199 Dark Stone Grey (Dark Bluish Gray). Dark Stone Grey is the seventh item in the White category. There is also a revolver in the perfume shop in Dark Grey, but since the revolver existed in both Dark Grey and Dark Stone Grey I can't be totally sure whether the builder used the color they actually intended.
  
• The aforementioned Crown Knight's helmet appears in 148 Metallic Dark Grey (Pearl Dark Gray, but not the same Pearl Dark Gray used in Kingdoms... more on that in a minute). This helmet never existed in this color. The builder may have intended to use 316 Titanium Metallic (Pearl Dark Gray for all sets in summer 2010 or later), 298 Cool Silver Drum Lacquered (Metallic Silver used in Fantasy-Era Castle and Agents), or 315 Silver Metallic (Metallic Silver used in Kingdoms, Pearl Dark Gray used in Hero Factory 2010, Flat Silver used in Hero Factory 2011 and Atlantis 2011... you can probably tell by now that Bricklink is terrible at identifying metallic colors correctly). All these colors can be found in the Metallic White category, besides Cool Silver Drum Lacquered which must be either hacked in or downloaded in an LXF file (I recommend my Complete LDD Color Chart for all LDD LEGO Universe mode users).
  
• The oven/kiln appears in 2 Grey (Light Gray), a color one of its parts doesn't exist in (specifically part 48336). The builder probably intended to use 194 Medium Stone Grey (Light Bluish Gray). However, on the same note part 30350, also used in the kiln, never existed in Medium Stone Grey, only appearing in Grey. No idea which way you want to change the rest of the kiln, but either way some of the kiln's pieces are never going to match.
  
• The flame/feather piece 64647 appears in 193 Flame Reddish Orange (an obscure solid color-- no idea what Bricklink color it corresponds to). The builder definitely intended to use 47 Transparent Fluorescent Reddish Orange (Trans-Neon Orange). Transparent Fluorescent Reddish Orange is the second color in the Transparent Red category.

All in all, this model is coming along beautifully but people have to be a lot more careful about color accuracy. The most complete resource for identifying what LEGO color names and numbers correspond to the known Bricklink color names is the Color Reference section of Superkalle's LDD Manager. For those who don't want to download LDD manager, Peeron's color chart is the next-best cross-referencing tool. I recommend everyone keep at least one of those charts open whenever working with LDD LEGO Universe mode.

[Brickdoctor]

Thanks, Aanchir. I'll make the changes soon.

• Several parts appear in color 109 Pc Black Ir. (an obscure black color; not sure what it was ever used for) where I believe the builder meant to use 26 Black (regular Black). Black appears as the last item in the "white" category.
  
• The baseplates are both in 103 Light Grey (Very Light Gray) where the builders again certainly meant to use a different gray color: probably either 2 Grey (Light Gray) or 194 Medium Stone Grey (Light Bluish Gray). All Grey colors can be found in the White category.

Isn't that the color of the window for IR receivers and transmitters from the PF line?

I did that. I intended for it to be Old Light Grey, since I was sure it existed in that color. (I have it sitting next to me)

EDIT: Okay, I fixed everything to the best of my knowledge, save the Warm Gold issue. I decided to leave that because I'm sure it'll come up later in the build, and it would be an inconvenience for builders to have to import to DbM to get that color every time. Plus I'm sure if I tried to implement a rule concerning it, there would be someone who forgot or didn't do it, and then the pieces wouldn't match and I'd have to track them down.

Edited February 2, 2011 by Brickdoctor

[Flare]

I tried to open the file but LDD crashed on me. Its not working for me now. I think I'm going to try to reinstall LDD...

[Superkalle]

File works here, so I guess you have a problem on your computer.

And like Aanchir says, colors are not correct in a few places. Use the Peeron lookup chart as pointed out in his post. And as a final control, run the LXF in LDD Manager, and it will spot if the parts have been produced in the colors you chose.

I don't know what you guys say, but perhaps it would be good if we use current colors and fairly recently produce bricks as much as possible. I'm thinking that if someone ever want to build this lovely thing with physical bricks, its easier if you haven't used ultra rare colors & bricks. But that's just my 2 cents - no biggie.

[Aanchir]

Thanks, Aanchir. I'll make the changes soon.

Isn't that the color of the window for IR receivers and transmitters from the PF line?

Yeah, that's gotta be what 109 is. I can't believe I couldn't figure that out on my own.

Recent Power Functions sets, though, tend to use Transparent Bright Bluish Violet for the transmitters and receivers as far as I know. The receiver in 8183 uses it for certain-- you can clearly see the purple color when you hold it up to the light. PC Black IR is not on any 2010 palette I've encountered, so you won't be seeing it in any current sets.

EDIT: Okay, I fixed everything to the best of my knowledge, save the Warm Gold issue. I decided to leave that because I'm sure it'll come up later in the build, and it would be an inconvenience for builders to have to import to DbM to get that color every time. Plus I'm sure if I tried to implement a rule concerning it, there would be someone who forgot or didn't do it, and then the pieces wouldn't match and I'd have to track them down.

Technically, if you fixed the Warm Gold now, people could just use the eyedropper tool on the Warm Gold parts that have already been placed in the scene, saving them the trouble of switching modes. It's something you really only have to do once per model.

The Warm Gold issue is really pretty inexcusable, since it's a color that's still on DBM mode and on the 2011 LEGO palette. Other colors that were omitted tend to be obscure colors that aren't used too often. I hope when the DBM palette gets updated in Spring, they'll also update LDD slightly to fix interface errors of this sort.

What I typically do when I check for parts in the wrong colors is I use the "color selection" tool to grab everything in a certain color, then 1) make note of any errors that jump out at me and 2) check Bricklink for whatever parts I'm unsure about. Once I've checked each color I hide everything in that color so I can see the other pieces more clearly.

[Brickdoctor]

I see. I've already sent the PM to private_lego, so I'll wait until he's done to fix the Warm Gold.

[private_lego]

I see. I've already sent the PM to private_lego, so I'll wait until he's done to fix the Warm Gold.

Hi, I'm done.

Here is my addition to the MOC Turn 3

Hope you like it.

I used a lot of small pieces, so it is not cost effective, but its LDD, so nothing to worry about.

Peter

[Brickdoctor]

Hi, I'm done.

Here is my addition to the MOC Turn 3

Hope you like it.

I used a lot of small pieces, so it is not cost effective, but its LDD, so nothing to worry about.

Peter

Oh no, this use of many small pieces like in the MMV was what I envisioned for this RCB. That SNOT technique you used for the walls is utterly perfect.

EDIT: aaaand the Warm Gold cup has been added on the perfume stand and all gold bricks to the best of my knowledge corrected. Guys, remember to copy the color of the cup whenever you make something gold.

Edited February 4, 2011 by Brickdoctor

[private_lego]

Oh no, this use of many small pieces like in the MMV was what I envisioned for this RCB. That SNOT technique you used for the walls is utterly perfect.

Thanks for the complement.

Normaly more is possible with constructions inside the building, if only the outside counts, but this was not the case.

I wanted to add a fireplace on the first floor, but I ran out of bricks.

It was fun to build this one.

Peter

[Aanchir]

Just checked the latest updated to the RCB again on Brickshelf. There are still a number of errors:

• Three windowpanes (30046) are still 189 Reddish Gold which should be 297 Warm Gold. Now that there are Warm Gold bricks in the scene this should be easy to fix using the eyedropper tool and paint bucket tool.
  
• Three 1x1 round plates (6141) inside the bank/money-changing house are in 127 Gold. This is perfectly OK if 127 Gold is meant as a substitute for Chrome Gold, which has no Material ID and thus cannot be rendered in LDD. But if they are intended to match the other gold parts in the scene, this ought to be changed. It's a matter of intention, and I can't really say whether or not it is a mistake.
  
• Two windowpanes (30046) on the bank, a window frame on the bank (60594), the Exo-Force robot hand holding the torch (48729), a hair piece (62810), and a minifig waist (73200) are all still colored in 109 PC Black IR. They should be colored 26 Black. The hair piece and the minifig waist are both on the unshaven brown-clad gentleman on the stage.
  
• Two 1x1 tiles (3070) are correctly colored 192 Reddish Brown, but not on all surfaces. Their top (smooth) surface in each case has not been painted and remains in its default color of 21 Bright Red. Both of these tiles are built into the upper story of the baker's house.
  
• The crownie knight's torso (76382) is colored 26 Black. Based on its print it ought to be colored 199 Dark Stone Grey.

I'm loving the building designs so far! Most of the errors now are slight oversights rather than instances of real carelessness. Keep up the good work, everybody!

[Brickdoctor]

Okay thanks, Aanchir. I'll edit those once the next update comes in; I'm still waiting for CallMePie.

EDIT: All fixed, except I can't find the 1x1 tiles in red...

Please be more careful with colors, guys.

Edited February 6, 2011 by Brickdoctor

[CMP]

Okay thanks, Aanchir. I'll edit those once the next update comes in; I'm still waiting for CallMePie.

Sent.

[Aanchir]

EDIT: All fixed, except I can't find the 1x1 tiles in red...

They're still there, along with a newly-added one. They're not completely in red (just the top surface), and to my surprise don't get selected when I click on another red part. But when you use the shape-selection tool on all the 1x1 tiles, click "invert selection", and hide everything that isn't a 1x1 tile the ones that have this error stand out-- it's 3 out of the 4 1x1 tiles in the model.

The error itself, by the way, seems to stem from an error in LDD's programming. My best guess is that when the decoration surface on the top of the tile was programmed, it was mistakenly programmed as both a decoration surface and a printing surface-- so that the top surface can be painted a different color than the rest of the piece. Alternatively, it could have been deliberately programmed this way to accommodate for parts like this one. In any event, it causes a lot of people to make mistakes on LDD and brings about amusing consequences if one of the surfaces is painted a transparent color (the top surface will be transparent from one side and opaque from the other).

[Brickdoctor]

They're still there, along with a newly-added one. They're not completely in red (just the top surface), and to my surprise don't get selected when I click on another red part. But when you use the shape-selection tool on all the 1x1 tiles, click "invert selection", and hide everything that isn't a 1x1 tile the ones that have this error stand out-- it's 3 out of the 4 1x1 tiles in the model.

The error itself, by the way, seems to stem from an error in LDD's programming. My best guess is that when the decoration surface on the top of the tile was programmed, it was mistakenly programmed as both a decoration surface and a printing surface-- so that the top surface can be painted a different color than the rest of the piece. Alternatively, it could have been deliberately programmed this way to accommodate for parts like this one. In any event, it causes a lot of people to make mistakes on LDD and brings about amusing consequences if one of the surfaces is painted a transparent color (the top surface will be transparent from one side and opaque from the other).

Thanks. I'll try that when I get home.

EDIT: Fixed. Thanks.

Edited February 7, 2011 by Brickdoctor

[private_lego]

[*]Two 1x1 tiles (3070) are correctly colored 192 Reddish Brown, but not on all surfaces. Their top (smooth) surface in each case has not been painted and remains in its default color of 21 Bright Red. Both of these tiles are built into the upper story of the baker's house.

That's my mistake. I thought I had them all fixed, but I seems to have forgotten the ones with the invisible surface.

Peter

Yes, although the buildings aren't going to be folded together (and don't necessarily have to be connected or hinged either). The idea of this build is that it'll have two sides: A street side and a back side that's a cutaway of all the buildings. Should the builders decide to build a square or the like, the inner side would be the street and the outer side would be the cutaway.

If you follow these rules, the roof on step 4 will not fit if you fold the houses together.

I sticks out of the boundry on the backside.

So the wedges will have to be replaced by bricks or something else.