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Two years ago, a day after RRU's 6th anniversary and 9 days before my birthday, I first shoved my ugly mug 'ole in the general direction of this site, and joined because - Well, actually I've never said on here the real reason why I joined in the first place. Mainly because it was so downright silly. I joined to look at... a topic with a nyan cat mod for racers. Really. When I first navigated my way here as a member of the LMBs (that stopped very soon after), I was a bit of a n00b to be honest. Okay, I wasn't as extreme a n00b as some members (jamesbrick and delle come to mind), but I wouldn't exactly call my early posting habits outstanding, to say the least. To be honest, my posting didn't really become decent until the beginning of 2014, when I started drawing again for a community project that sorta went nowhere (and I still kinda doubt it would, but I'd be interested to see it go somewhere). It was a bit weird picking up my pencil again after so many years of not drawing, but now I'm really happy that I'm back to drawing again - And yeah, I've sorta gone off on a weird tangent of talking about my history here on RRU, haven't I? Yep, I should do that less. Anyways, I guess the main reason I wanted to make this post was to thank all of you for making the last 2 years of me being here so enjoyable. Yes, every single one of you. Even the spambots and the n00bs and the 20 different accounts that were dellepack. All of you have contributed in your own unique ways to my online life, and helped me gradually through my real one. I've made a ton of mates through here, and hopefully I'll make more over the next umpteen years here. So yeah, here's to another infinity years here. You ain't getting rid of me that easily - Ayliffe/Jay/Bayleef/Mr Phoenix

UPDATE: It turns out that LDCAD is actually what I'm looking for, believe it or not. While trying to design a 1997 UFO themed MOC, I ran into an issue. Particularly, the fact that LEGO Digital Designer is missing several parts needed for the build, such as the 14x14 quarter-saucer segments that make up the hull of the Alien Avenger and the prow of the Interstellar Starfighter. I can't even begin to understand why TLG doesn't include older bricks in LDD. I know LDD is intended for designing models to then purchase the parts for and build, but the thing is a lot of old parts are still available on the resale market. So, I did what any sensible person would do and downloaded the full LDraw suite... only to rediscover why I don't use LDraw. Pretty much every CAD program that uses LDraw is either broken (I might address that in a future entry) or has a very clunky interface that I can either barely use or can't use at all (if there is an LDraw program that lets me move and rotate bricks without having to constantly switch between tools, please let me know). I really don't get why software developers pay so little attention to the usability of the GUI. I'm not talking about GUI complexity, and I don't care how many widgets are on the toolbar. What I take issue with is when you're forced to use every single tool and option to do something as basic as placing something in the workspace. EAGLE, a program for making circuit schematics and PCB blueprints, doesn't force you to do this. Autodesk Inventor doesn't force you to do this. Sony Vegas doesn't force you to do this. So why do the developers of LeoCAD, MLCAD and LDCAD think it's ok to force the user to go through the entire interface in order to get anything done? My bottom line is that there isn't a LEGO design program that can really be considered a viable option, at least for me. I'm sure that other people can relate.

You're never going to spell that word right are you. HAPPEY ANNEEVERSAREY BAYLEEF

Hollis made a gif featuring the quality character animation of LEGO Island 2. I thought it deserved to be shared. Bonus: https://gifsound.com/?gif=i.imgur.com/OOsnYwA.gif&v=3qeIwSkzR3k

Bayleaf: voted most likely 2 year old to write the weirdest blog post title 2015

Bricksmith is no better.

I brought champaign, so, to 2 years of being on RRU and a massive, sometimes insane, --BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP--. *Pops off cork, only for it to jam in my throat, leaving me to choke to death whilst everyone enjoys a glass of champaign*

community.brickpicker.com/topic/14669-possible-2016-set-list/ reads like an incomplete copypasta from some technical internal document. Lots of stuff to look through. Is that a new 'Display Team' theme I spot?

Amazing, what influence a meme can have (new book idea: "How internet memes influenced the world", although I doubt, that it will contain events like you joining RRU (only if it helped you on your way to world domination ))

People are claiming Bingzak isn't in the later chapters so he's probably a minor character. Although if G2 does a similar Toa of Light thing, I would love a Toa named Bingzak. Edit: First Bingzak moc I've seen (with bad grammar, of course.)

Awesome reply! This sounds familiar somehow... Oh yeah! Saffire and BIONICLE: The Legend of Mata Nui. I get the feeling LEGO Media didn't really know what they were doing. I see why the outsourced with TT.

Guys! I got an email back! I guess posting the whole email is the best idea! Hi Kevin, I’ve collected together answers (they are in answered order rather than asked order) – we struggled with some as it was a long time ago, and slightly humbled that people are still playing and modding! I am trying to get you source code to some of the tools to fill in any gaps in your knowledge; it’s proving tricky! Here are my own recollections / additions: Why did ATD go out of business? Partly due to the cancellation of LR4 - we never really reached agreement as to what the vision for LR4 should be with the Lego Digital team, impossible to achieve milestones when you can’t agree what it should be (we were aiming for something where you could design your own vehicle and then race it - Banjo & Kazooie did something similar with Nuts & Bolts). Were there any other Lego games that were cancelled; yes, several in various stages of production (more Lego Soccer, etc.) – I think the cancellations were a result of less-than-stellar sales of the games, leading to the closure of the digital group that handled them. The break-out title was TT’s Lego Star Wars in 2005… Cheers Fred Were there any other planned areas/worlds for the game? Not that I can remember, sorry - we were led pretty strongly by the toy ranges LEGO wanted to feature, so I think we settled on those pretty early. Why the change in weapon system from LR1? I realise it was a different company, but surely you would have analysed LR1 for inspiration. It was mostly due to wanting to build on lessons learned about power-ups on Rollcage and Rollcage Stage II. Who was Nod? Lyndon Sharp, nicknamed Nod - biggest petrol-head on the team! jamesster We've heard that ATD's first collaboration with LEGO was Rocket Racers, an attraction at LEGOLAND Windsor. Rocket Racers is obviously based directly on the original LEGO Racers, and going by video footage, it seems that it may even use some of LEGO Racers' textures. LEGO Racers 2 also recycles some minifigure face textures from the original LEGO Racers. So, what was the relationship between High Voltage Software and ATD? Was ATD given more than just textures? Honestly unknown. I doubt ATD got more than the textures - the game was built very much on the Rollcage engine, so it's unlikely that we took much in the way of code. But I could be wrong. In certain versions/languages of the game MPH is used, and others KPH. Was this simply just a text edit, or did the speedometer actually change between versions? If it is just a text edit, which speed measurement is most accurate to follow? (My note (Kevin): The MPH/KPH is probably a region/language specific thing) Almost certainly - the number had no world relevance, so we probably just changed the KPH/MPH tag. Not sure if this is a question to ask Kevin, but: What/when/why was Rocket Racer's design altered in LEGO Racers 2? An early trailer for the game has FMV clips featuring the original design, concept art for the game's box shows the original design, and the ice statue of him in the Arctic foyer in-game even uses his original design... It seems to suggest the redesign didn't come until later in the game's development. I seem to remember the new Rocket Racer look being connected to Xalax, so the old design being used to represent his previous incarnation in Lego Racers. (a looong time ago so memory's a bit fuzzy) What happened with the Xbox port for Drome Racers? Either it was never released, or it's incredibly rare. I'm fairly sure that Drome Racers was our first X-box Lego game. Why was Professor Voltage replaced by Sparky? Sparky was seen as being easy for children to associate with. Going by certain developer comments in the scripts, I take it you guys had a fun time making this game? Certainly did. It was the first game made with a new game-engine and proprietary tools. Loads of challenges but loads of those magic moments. I remember the first time Rob came out with his water effects. I had an absolute hoot scripting the conversations on Sandy Bay.. suffice to say that most had to be shelved. (Why did you use visible objects like curbs for ambient sounds and not an invisible one? ) We assigned different sounds, grip and drag to different textures on the worlds. We needed ways of defining tracks in certain areas, without those paths confusing the route in other races using the same world. Rather than change the whole world, it was much more efficient to mark them out with a few separate objects. Quisoves Pugnat 1. As indicated by an unused piece of dialogue, the character of Captain Geoff was originally intended to be a regular in Sandy Bay, as opposed to merely a passenger in a mini-game. Furthermore, he is named in the files as "Lighthouse Keeper." No lighthouse appears in the final game, however. Can you elucidate us concerning this scrapped building? I based all the characters in Sandy Bay on members of the dev team (Geoff was our AI guru, amongst other areas). Some of those minifigs didn't make it into the final game and others had to be relocated to fit the game's flow. I remember us having a lighthouse but it not being close to Captain Geoff's location; I thought it was near the caves but I guess I need to go and look at the game. 2. While most of the AI racers are extant minifigs with ties to one of the in-game worlds, a few are entirely original. They are, I believe, the wild-orange-haired, red-suited, Barron Rosso and the bald, tuxedo-wearing Franky-Solido. What was the reason for their existence? I seem to remember us being given those boss characters by Lego Digital. 3. How were parts chosen for the character creator? Good question. I think that was down to Captain Geoff (see above) I completed the Xbox port of Drome Racers after Rob had laid the groundwork, and we delivered it to EA unlocalized. It was my understanding that EA had decided to take on the cost of localization themselves. I don't know why EA didn't proceed to full production, my guess would be the untimely demise of ATD probably caused licensing and ownership issues with LEGO and the liquidators. Were there any substantial features cut from the games? Yes, network multiplayer. I believe there were issues with determinism and syncing everything up. Not sure if the code stayed in or was never committed. --- Wow! The fact that he wants to give us some source tools... And cut out network multiplayer! :o

How dare you say something like that. We are almost the most posted topic on the forum you you say that! (Way big image) I'm sorry for changing my preferences. Sheesh. I never said I HATED ponies. I just kinda sorta hate the community now. Listen, when you go to school with a kid who literally wants to do some very questionable things to Fluttershy (my most hated pony), you'd grow away from it too. Also Facepunch has a huge anti pony complex going on, must've rubbed off on me. Don't get me wrong I don't hate the show, I just don't like the ultra annoying and very vocal 25% of the fanbase. You sort of fit into that in my opinion... *Cough*