Brick Labs

The Source for LEGO Robotics and Educational Materials

Brick Labs header image 1

LEGO Universe – First Impressions

March 12th, 2010 · No Comments · Reviews

OK, the private beta went out yesterday. The first beta period ended at 9 PM EST. Next game period is on Saturday, and then again on Sunday. Both the weekend times don’t work for me, so it will probably be a bit before I can play again (next Thursday I believe).

First Impressions:

1) Nice graphics. Reminds me of the other LEGO games (Indiana Jones, Star Wars, etc), but not quite as much detail in the landscape. However, that’s common of some MMOs.

2) Game Play – Decent. Seems to us fairly standard controls (WASD keys, right-click mouse to look around, etc).

3) Content – Hard to say, since I’ve only played a grand total of 1:42 minutes. But for the starting area, it’s nice. You start learning how things work pretty quick.

All in all… I liked it. There are some things that could be done better. Some sort of Quest journal, and quest beacons would be nice. So I can locate whoever I need to talk to. Ability to run around a bit faster… character seemed to move too slow for my tastes.

And a better chat system. You get almost the entire UI for the screen, but the chat box is in the lower right, it’s opaque, and to me, seemed a bit clunky. It was also hard to tell in the chat window what was “System” messages, and what was other players.

→ No CommentsTags:··

LEGO Universe – Closed Beta Invites are going out

March 11th, 2010 · No Comments · News

I just got my invite. WOOHOO!!!

LEGO Universe Preview

Anyone else get in?

→ No CommentsTags:··

LEGO NXT Building Animals Ideas

December 24th, 2009 · No Comments · Reviews

Fay Rhodes has done some excellent work with both her books regarding building LEGO NXT Animals.
The first book, is the Zoo Book. You can buy it at Amazon.

Here is a Rabbit from the Zoo Book:

Next up, is another book from Fay Rhodes. Robots Alive! Endangered Species

Here is a frog from the Endangered Species book:

Both books are great. They are all built from LEGO NXT kits, with some extra parts. You can see the Endangered Species parts list (pdf download), and the Zoo Book parts list to see what other pieces you need.

→ No CommentsTags:····

It’s Christmas Time

December 18th, 2009 · 1 Comment · General

OK. It’s Christmas time… and that means… time for making a list right?

I have two Christmas requests this year.

1) An Amazon Kindle DX.

2) Amazon Gift Certificates. Any amount… $5 is great…

3) A LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 (8547) (ok, so I can’t count)

So… what’s on YOUR wishlist?

→ 1 CommentTags:

Amazon sale – LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2 – Best Price

November 30th, 2009 · 1 Comment · News

Amazon has a sale going right now. $227 US for the LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2 kit. Seems to be the best price around right now…

→ 1 CommentTags:

Mimicking Life – Animals in Motion

September 4th, 2009 · No Comments · Building Techniques

You often see people trying to mimic animals.  Especially in how they move.  I’ve seen robots that crawl, walk with 2 legs, walk with 4 legs, swim, slither and now… run.

Robert Full shared some ideas on TED way back in February 2005.  He shows some great research that was done in how certain critters can move so fast over such unstable mediums, such as screen, gravel, or vertically up a wall.

It’s definitely worth watching… maybe someone will create a running robot with some LEGO parts and some ideas from this video?  If you do, send me a link!  :)

→ No CommentsTags:···