Oh man, Lego Island... there's a childhood memory from the 90's.
I remember being super-disappointed as a kid that it wasn't a free-build type game. There was building, but it was rather guided and there was a story.
I wanted something more like Lego Creator but in first-person. Lego never really produced something like that but sometime in the mid-2000's someone cranked out Blockland which scratched that itch and then Minecraft came along and I was addicted to that in the early days before it became a big smash hit and was sold to Microsoft.
Edit: Also the multiplayer aspects of Blockland and Minecraft put anything LEGO ever created to shame... they just couldn't grasp the online/community thing and I'm not sure they wanted to handle the moderation for it either.
I had the same feeling. It’s so weird how companies can miss such an obvious thing. The core fantasy of lego is engineering - “you can make anything you can imagine”. Even if you aren’t good at designing things, that’s still the core aspiration.
Minecraft fulfils that fantasy far better than most (all?) of the video games lego has made. I wonder if it’s just that, like banks, software is outside of lego’s core competencies. When it comes to software, their leadership has no taste.
One of my very first PC games was the Lego Racer 2. Although the racing was not as good as in the first game, it still had some interesting elements.
I was completely blown away that I could build my own car and race in it. Furthermore, you could free-roam the world with your car, exploring the tracks, finding shortcuts, discovering secrets, and completing missions.
I felt very disappointed that I could not build my own house, but I was still amazed by the (limited) creativity that the game provided.
Funny how just a bit of freedom to create and explore in a game kicks off the fantasies in a child.
I vividly remember Legoland[1] the video game, where you can manage a park and build it from the ground up. It's very similar to the rollercoaster tycoon games from back then.
"Lego Creator: Harry Potter" had something like this. If there is more than one piece of software with that title, the one I'm talking about was published... early 2000's? A little bit after the first movie, at least.
online interaction back then was kind of a big no no. Nintendo took a long time to implement it.
Anything targeted towards children was basically not a good candidate for online collaboration because of the fear of predators.
I think we have a good model now of how to do it correctly and what sort of safe guards are expected in the software to protect end users so it's less of an issue now.
Minecraft also did a good job of separating public/private server (or at least it did back in the day).
I'm unsure if MattKC (the last person to edit that file) is the main person behind this tool. But he is a youtuber and Lego Island fan. He has some great videos on changes he's made to the game such as this one: https://youtu.be/2CmqbccCqI0
As soon as I saw the title I came here to recommend that video of his, as well as the HD Music[0] one. There's also lots of other great gems on the channel not related to Lego Island.
I haven't heard the words "Lego Island" since I was very small. I dimly recall playing it as a kid (though I played much, much more of Lego Racers [1].) I'm glad to know there is something of a mod scene for the game.
[1] For a first-grade "write a book" project, I presented a Lego Racers strategy guide. Marked for geekiness from a young age...
I have a completely vague memory of a (classic) MacOS lego game that came on a CD and featured an underwater submarine base. Does anyone have any idea what it might be?
[+] [-] voidfunc|4 years ago|reply
I remember being super-disappointed as a kid that it wasn't a free-build type game. There was building, but it was rather guided and there was a story.
I wanted something more like Lego Creator but in first-person. Lego never really produced something like that but sometime in the mid-2000's someone cranked out Blockland which scratched that itch and then Minecraft came along and I was addicted to that in the early days before it became a big smash hit and was sold to Microsoft.
Edit: Also the multiplayer aspects of Blockland and Minecraft put anything LEGO ever created to shame... they just couldn't grasp the online/community thing and I'm not sure they wanted to handle the moderation for it either.
[+] [-] josephg|4 years ago|reply
Minecraft fulfils that fantasy far better than most (all?) of the video games lego has made. I wonder if it’s just that, like banks, software is outside of lego’s core competencies. When it comes to software, their leadership has no taste.
[+] [-] ajmurmann|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] _Donny|4 years ago|reply
I was completely blown away that I could build my own car and race in it. Furthermore, you could free-roam the world with your car, exploring the tracks, finding shortcuts, discovering secrets, and completing missions.
I felt very disappointed that I could not build my own house, but I was still amazed by the (limited) creativity that the game provided.
Funny how just a bit of freedom to create and explore in a game kicks off the fantasies in a child.
[+] [-] op00to|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tjungblut|4 years ago|reply
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legoland_(video_game)
[+] [-] codeulike|4 years ago|reply
Classic Space trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqTpW4wQznQ
[+] [-] Varriount|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] virtue3|4 years ago|reply
Anything targeted towards children was basically not a good candidate for online collaboration because of the fear of predators.
I think we have a good model now of how to do it correctly and what sort of safe guards are expected in the software to protect end users so it's less of an issue now.
Minecraft also did a good job of separating public/private server (or at least it did back in the day).
[+] [-] tasogare|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] city41|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] terinjokes|4 years ago|reply
[0]: https://youtu.be/uP328LYl8eo
[+] [-] spijdar|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xwdv|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Scaevolus|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ahaferburg|4 years ago|reply
> Infamously, Mindscape fired the developers of LEGO Island the day before release to avoid paying bonuses and continued salaries.
Holy crap that is disgusting.
[+] [-] maxwelljoslyn|4 years ago|reply
[1] For a first-grade "write a book" project, I presented a Lego Racers strategy guide. Marked for geekiness from a young age...
[+] [-] azalemeth|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] meibo|4 years ago|reply