LEGO has announced that LEGO Digital Designer (LDD), the company’s proprietary virtual building program, will no longer be updated. New parts may occasionally be added, but LEGO is officially defunding the platform. Yesterday Kevin Hinkle, Community Manager for the Americas, posted the following announcement on the LEGO Ambassadors private forum. “Good Afternoon everyone, I’ve just touched base with one of our Digital Product Specialists within the Consumer Services team. A business decision has been made to no longer allocate resources towards the LDD program / initiative. For now, the program will continue to be offered to anyone interested in utilizing it but please do not expect any updates regarding functionality, the adding of new LEGO elements or glitch fixes. We have decided to pursue other digital experiences. Although this may not be the answer you were hoping for, I hope this information will be of use to your RLUG members. Thank you for your time and continued support for the LEGO Brand & hobby.”
Although it’s been clear that LDD has not been a priority for the LEGO company for some time, with the latest version update to 4.3.8 in December 2013 and the last parts update in fall of 2014, this announcement sent shock-waves through the LEGO community. The online community was quick to respond as fan websites were inundated with upset LDD users. It was clear that LEGO had kicked the LDD ‘hornet’s nest’ with the sudden announcement. A second announcement from LEGO’s Community Support Senior Manager, Tanja Friberg, quickly followed. This announcement sounded slightly more positive but perhaps does not entirely remove confusion. “Dear Ambassadors, I hope this will help clarify a bit of the confusion and misunderstanding from our end regarding LDD. TLG will remain committed to digital building going forward, in regards to LDD, this means that we will continue to support the current functionality. We will not be doing automatic updates on elements, however elements will continue to be added from time to time.
Unfortunately we cannot ensure that all elements are made available. I can see that the message has spread widely in the community since Kevin’s statement and I hope that you will assist us in spreading this message as well. So, to summarize: LEGO will allow LDD 4.3.8 to continue functioning but will no longer automatically update LDD. The addition of new parts remains uncertain aka “time to time.” Given that LEGO has stated that they are “committed to digital building,” it does seem likely that LEGO has another digital design program in the works, and that this is simply a case of poor product release management by announcing the cancellation of support for the old product before the new product is announced. We’ll be sure to bring you the news if we get confirmation of any new programs. Meanwhile, perhaps it is time to try out the other options… There are alternatives available but these tend to have a higher learning curve. Most of the alternatives do not have the ‘click fit‘ that LDD users found particularly useful as this resembled actually building with bricks.
Some programs are operating system specific but most downloadable software utilise the LDraw library. The good news is that LDraw team continues to release regular updates, with the latest core software update on November 22 and the latest parts update on December 30. This is not an exhaustive list, but these are some of the better-known programs in the LEGO fan community. Bricksmith – Bricksmith allows you to create virtual instructions for your Lego creations on your Mac. LDraw – A freeware program which can create Lego models in 3D. Mecabricks – Mecabricks is a web service to publish and display 3D models made with LEGO bricks. No need to install any plugin or software. MLCAD – MLCad (Mike’s Lego CAD) is a powerful CAD system specifically designed to create LEGO building instructions by reading and writing LDraw compatible files. SR-3D – A free program for LEGO building which specializes in the ability to replicate complex pieces, such as LEGO Mindstorms cables, flex tubing, shocks, etc.
Tell all your friends! With LEGO Digital Designer MINDSTORMS mode you have access to hundreds of virtual LEGO MINDSTORMS and Technic elements. You can design your next robot model from scratch, or document your creation and share on the NXT Log! BUILD FREELY OR REBUILD You may build using a wide array of MINSTORMS and Technic elements, or choose to filter your element choices to a specific LEGO set. LDD counts the amount of pieces available to you so that you can challenge yourself to redesign a set! LEGO Digital Designer MINDSTORMS mode includes all of the MINDSTORMS elements that you need, including a virtual NXT Intelligent Brick. Wires are color-coded so that your plans may be clear to all. (NOTE: virtual brick is for construction only, and does currently not contain or emulate NXT software.) SHARE WITH THE WORLD When you are finished with your amazing creation, you can upload your LEGO Digital Designer file to the NXTLog. Other LEGO MINDSTORMSfans around the world will have access to your instructions to build your cool robot!
You can also read comments and feedback. Join the community and share your designs!A list of all the parts that were and still are available for LEGO Digital Designer. Pages in category "LEGO Digital Designer parts" LEGO Digital Designer 4.3 >> For Mac OSX << Minimum system requirements for Mac Operating system: OS X 10.10 or higher CPU: Intel processor Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce 5200/ATI Radeon 7500 or better RAM: 1 GB Hard disk space: 1 GB LEGO Digital Designer 4.3 >> For Windows PC << Minimum system requirements for PC Operating system: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 10. CPU: 1 GHz processor or higher Graphics card: 128 MB graphics card (OpenGL 1.1 or higher compatible) Hard disk space: 1 GB LEGO Digital Designer version 4.3 is not available on PowerPC Macs To allow PowerPC users access to their models, we have made a special version of 2.3.20 available exclusively for that architexture.
However, this version is no longer supported by LEGO. It can be downloaded here: LDDMacInstaller.zip LEGO Digital Designer version 4.3 is not available on PowerPC Macs. To allow PowerPC users access to their models, we have made a special version of 2.3.20 available exclusively for that architecture. This version can be downloaded here: LDDMacInstaller.zip Disclaimer The LEGO Group of companies (LEGO) is providing LEGO® Digital Designer (the Software) at no charge. Any commercial use of the software is strictly prohibited. The entire risk arising out of the use or performance of the software remains with you. The software is provided as-is without any warranty of any kind. The entire risk arising out of use or performance of the software remains with you. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall the LEGO Group of Companies (including LEGO Systems A/S) and its suppliers and licensors, be liable for any damages arising out of the use or inability to use the software.