Discuss LDD Extended mode here

[Aanchir]

Open a new blank model in LE mode and Import the LU model.

It's actually waaaay easier than that. Open an LU model and click View>New Themes>LDD Extended. Then make a couple changes, save the file, and it'll open in LDD Extended mode the next time you open it.

[Brickdoctor]

It's actually waaaay easier than that. Open an LU model and click View>New Themes>LDD Extended. Then make a couple changes, save the file, and it'll open in LDD Extended mode the next time you open it.

Or that. Thanks, I'll remember that.

[alan_muhl]

It's actually waaaay easier than that. Open an LU model and click View>New Themes>LDD Extended. Then make a couple changes, save the file, and it'll open in LDD Extended mode the next time you open it.

Yes, thanks, that works very well.

[Aanchir]

Or that. Thanks, I'll remember that.

It's also a good tool for getting certain decorations that are only available in DesignByMe mode (particularly minifigure decorations or Hero Factory parts with decorations). Just switch to DesignByMe mode, put the decorated piece on the scene, and switch back to LDD Extended mode. Then you can continue building with LDD Extended Mode's parts, or even recolor the decorated parts from DesignByMe mode.

[Bart]

just a thank you, for posting this so soon,

at first I didn't even notice that the new LU was different from the old one, until I tried to find the Microfig.

Bart

[JaseTJ]

It's a hidden folder, you can either spend ages mucking around with Explorer settings to show hidden folders or you can just type %appdata% into the Explorer address bar (or Start menu search box) which will automagically open the right place.

FYI, this was the most helpful piece of info yet... this should be in the directions. Thanks Andy! :)

[Superkalle]

FYI, this was the most helpful piece of info yet... this should be in the directions. Thanks Andy! :)

Good point - I'll add it

[alienwar9]

And so my search for removed bricks starts again

I love the new color selection format. Much better; I was always so impatient waiting for the drop-down colors to come up, I just used the color picker most of the time

@Superkalle: The 2x8 brick wasn't in there before? ....huh

EDIT: ahhh, no idea they made a new 2x8 brick, cool!

I do have a question, so now that universe mode is public, does that mean that a ton more bricks are now "supported" by Lego, and the few that are only within extended mode (plus colors) are not?

Edited April 8, 2011 by alienwar9

[Superkalle]

EDIT: ahhh, no idea they made a new 2x8 brick, cool!

I do have a question, so now that universe mode is public, does that mean that a ton more bricks are now "supported" by Lego, and the few that are only within extended mode (plus colors) are not?

Yeah, it seems the new 2x8 has internal bracing in the LDD. That's the only difference I can see.

About suppport, I suppose you're right that all LU Mode bricks are now supported (whatever that means - the digital quality of the bricks has improved a lot now (many brick bugs fixed) so they thought it was now OK to release them, but I really don't know.

[captain jari]

I was trying to enable extended mode on my mac but I can't seem to find the preferences.ini file. I have searched my mac's (both have ldd) and neither have the Lego Company folder any were. I was wondering if any one knows why this is the case. (I am using ldd 4.1.7 and snow leopard 10.6.7)

thanks

[treeboy]

Thanks this works great just what I was looking for! One issue, however. When I add a brick that wasn't visible before activating the extended version I get a warning that if I use said brick the model won't be able to be uploaded and I can't check the price. Is this correct? Thanks again to all for this extended functionality.

[Brickdoctor]

One issue, however. When I add a brick that wasn't visible before activating the extended version I get a warning that if I use said brick the model won't be able to be uploaded and I can't check the price. Is this correct?

That is supposed to happen. It's LDD telling you that you can't buy the LE Mode pieces using PaB. After the first brick you add with LE Mode, click okay and you won't get the message again.

[mrbiggles]

@ Superkalle: I downloaded the LDD 4.1.6 vs. LDD 4.0.2 Parts Comparison ZIP file you mentioned here, and when I imported it into LDD 4.1.6, I got this error message:

"FLEXnet License Finder -- Your application was not able to obtain a license because the FLEXnet license server manager could not determine where to find the licensing data it needs. Please choose one of the following:

o Specify the License Server System

o Specify the License File"

When I select the first choice and press "Next", I get this message with a blank box in which to enter the information:

"Enter the Computer Name of the License Server (Contact your System Administrator if you don't know this)."

Well, I am the "System Administrator" for my own home computer, and I don't have any idea on what to do. So, I backed up one step and tried the second, original choice. Here's what popped up next:

"Your application was not able to find a license file or server for the FLEXnet License Server Manager. Choose the filename you want to use for a license file." I see a blank box in which to type something, but I don't know what to do.

I just pressed "Cancel" to get rid of the error message, and this is what popped up:

"There is a problem with the license for the Vortex toolkit. No license was available to enable feature : mcd. Please contact support@vxsim.com or visit http://www.vxsim.com : Cannot find license file. (-1, 359.2 "No such file or directory") I pressed the "OK" button to acknowledge the message, and then I can see the various LDD parts on the LU Extended Mode screen.

The error messages above SEEM to have no adverse consequence, but I honestly don't know what they are trying to tell me. So, I'm going to ignore them. Is this a bad thing?

I had the same problem on Windows 7 64-bit. When you get to this part:

"FLEXnet License Finder -- Your application was not able to obtain a license because the FLEXnet license server manager could not determine where to find the licensing data it needs. Please choose one of the following:

o Specify the License Server System

o Specify the License File"

Select "Specify the License File", then browse to C:\Program Files (x86)\LEGO Company\LEGO Digital Designer (or C:\Program Files\LEGO Company\LEGO Digital Designer if you have a 32-bit version of Windows), select the license file which is named "RL278-131.lic", open it, and click Finish. This should load the license file.

-Ben

[Lummox JR]

I just upgraded from 4.0.2 to 4.1.7 and I'm now getting a very strange error:

"LDD could not load some required assets. Try restarting. If that fails, try reinstalling LDD. See the 'read me' file for help, or go to http://ldd.lego.com/support/"

I haven't found any information about this error. To be safe, I tried again by uninstalling and doing a full reinstall.

I've emailed Lego tech support already, but I was wondering if anyone else is aware of what this error means and how to fix it.

Edited June 19, 2011 by Lummox JR

[fgiorgi]

I just upgraded from 4.0.2 to 4.1.7 and I'm now getting a very strange error:

"LDD could not load some required assets. Try restarting. If that fails, try reinstalling LDD. See the 'read me' file for help, or go to http://ldd.lego.com/support/"

I haven't found any information about this error. To be safe, I tried again by uninstalling and doing a full reinstall.

I've emailed Lego tech support already, but I was wondering if anyone else is aware of what this error means and how to fix it.

Don't try to load more then one LDD.exe

[Superkalle]

Don't try to load more then one LDD.exe

Hm, not sure I understand that reply. It's really good that you try to help out, but please try to be a bit more clear in your post. Thanks!

(and BTW, welcome to the forum )

[Lummox JR]

Don't try to load more then one LDD.exe

If you mean running more than one instance at a time, that isn't the issue. No other instances were running. This happened even with a fresh installation after a full uninstall.

[Superkalle]

What you could try is the following:

1) Uninstall LDD, and then delete all LDD files in two places:

a) C:\UserName\ApplicationData\Lego Company\Lego Digital Designer\)

b) C:\Program Files\Lego Company\Lego Digital Designer

4) Re-install LDD and start.

[Lummox JR]

What you could try is the following:

1) Uninstall LDD, and then delete all LDD files in two places:

a) C:\UserName\ApplicationData\Lego Company\Lego Digital Designer\)

b) C:\Program Files\Lego Company\Lego Digital Designer

4) Re-install LDD and start.

I gave that a try but no luck. After it failed I tried once more just to be thorough, but LDD is still giving me the same error after the reinstall. It's a shame too because I thought you were on to something there when I saw the data directory was still present from before. The only thing I've let stay around is the LEGO Creations directory in my documents, which I assume is okay; I did try renaming that and LDD just created a new one when I tried to start it.

If it helps clarify anything, I'm running Windows XP (32-bit). Version 4.0.2 did not give me this issue so it's possible I guess that something new has come up in the software that is misbehaving.

[Superkalle]

The did change physics engine from 4.0.x, and also they added the edge outlines (if I don't remember incorrectly). So updated graphcics driver might do the trick.

Please try everything in this topic: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=48663

[Lummox JR]

The did change physics engine from 4.0.x, and also they added the edge outlines (if I don't remember incorrectly). So updated graphcics driver might do the trick.

Please try everything in this topic: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=48663

Setting CompatibilityModeLevel finally got it to start. I haven't updated my graphics driver yet (will do so at a better opportunity) but it looks like DirectX is up to date. Presumably the driver update will take care of any remaining issues, but if not at least safe mode seems to be doing the trick. Thanks.

[Cy-Gor]

Is there a way to change the default color for extended mode?

[Aanchir]

Is there a way to change the default color for extended mode?

What do you mean? If you mean the gray color used for the interface, then no, there's no way to change that. If you're referring to the color of the bricks in the brick palette, that can be changed the same way as in Universe mode-- click the button at the bottom of the palette in the same place the "Filter bricks by color" button would be in DesignByMe mode.

[Cy-Gor]

What do you mean? If you mean the gray color used for the interface, then no, there's no way to change that. If you're referring to the color of the bricks in the brick palette, that can be changed the same way as in Universe mode-- click the button at the bottom of the palette in the same place the "Filter bricks by color" button would be in DesignByMe mode.

I am talking about the brick palette.

Yeah I know you can do that, but every time I launch LDD it reverts back to red. Its not a major issue, just thought it would be nice if you could change that to something else.

[Aanchir]

I am talking about the brick palette.

Yeah I know you can do that, but every time I launch LDD it reverts back to red. Its not a major issue, just thought it would be nice if you could change that to something else.

No, it'll always start out as red when you launch LDD. It's never caused me any problems since I tend to place parts in red and then recolor them with the paint bucket tool, but I can see the reasons why having a different default brick color would be useful.