The kind wonks at Lego recently rolled out a new version of their Lego Digital Designer (LDD), a free, CAD-like program for PC and Mac that lets you drag-and-drop virtual Lego bricks. Completed models can be uploaded to Lego’s website to share or sell, and you can get a list of the physical Lego bricks needed to build the design.
This is the first I’ve heard of the program, although it’s been around in less-powerful versions at least a year. I’m reminded of Douglas Coupland’s 1995 novel, Microserfs, my favorite book of his.
It’s about a group of young, overeducated, overworked and sarcastic Microsoft programmers. Some of them are working on Oop! (short for Object Oriented Programming), “a virtual construction box of 3D Lego-type bricks that runs on IBM or Mac platforms with CD-ROM drives.”
The base of this fictitious program does just what the real LDD does, although Oop! has additional features, some of which seem inspired by SimCity. An Oop! brick can be customized to have from eight to 8,000 bumps, custom colors and surfaces, and structures can be destroyed by earthquake, fire, decay or kicking (“elder sibling simulator”). Properly built kit models result in rewards; for example, King Kong will scale a successfully built Empire State Building and plant a flag on top. Maybe Lego can pick up on some of these ideas for the next version of LDD!
Coupland presaged or inspiried at least one other Lego-related development. In February 2000, he wrote on his website that Lego should make a “‘Fluffer’ Amateur Porn Movie Set.” That didn’t happen, but take a look at the lawyer-friendly named Block Structure Porn, posted in 2002 by Drew, the guy behind the Toothpaste for Dinner cartoon.