alt="Voila!" src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92239">Making
your own LEGO creations in LEGO
Universe
is potentially far more
complicated than simply snapping a few bricks together and calling it a
day. Even if you've mastered the basics (link to previous article)
there is still an entire world of UI mechanics and tricks to learn in
order to get your creations snapped into the configurations you're
aiming for. And then, after all of the bricks are assembled, you can
bring them to life using the Behaviors editor!



In this guide, I'll share a few advanced builder tips on style="font-style: italic;">LEGO
Universe's Brick Build system that can help you bring your
imagination
to life in impressive ways. And I also have an example to share with
you that was made with my own two (virtual) hands, and will illustrate
several of these tips and tricks – a working Slot Machine!



Well, mostly working...


Grab A Handful

During the process of bringing your vision to life, there are likely to
encounter a number of instances where you will need to select more than
one of the bricks you're working with. If you are like me, you find the
“click and drag to highlight” functionality a bit inconsistent to say
the least. Downright frustrating and aggravating is a more accurate
description, to be honest.



Fear not, Brick Artiste, for there is a much simpler way. Simply hold
down shift and click individually on each brick you wish to highlight.
Ta-da! Total control.



Of course, this won't allow you to highlight any bricks that may be
hidden behind others, and some click-and-dragging may still be
necessary at times.


style="width: 451px; height: 295px;" alt="selected"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92235">



Becoming a pro at selecting small portions of your creation can ease
the stress of searching for additional bricks in your bottomless brick
storage bag, by way of the Clone command. Press and hold shift to
highlight several bricks, press Clone and viola! An exact duplicate of
the bricks you had highlighted. If you had the right bricks rattling
around in storage. No more searching for that elusive brick that you
swear you saw somewhere in this messy jumble of pieces, when there's
one already present elsewhere on your creation. Just click and clone!


style="width: 566px; height: 330px;" alt="cloned"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92236">


Creating Models, aka Saving Your Progress

Let's face it, only the most well-planned and/or simple project will be
finished in a single sitting. There's always going to be something you
have to stop building and log off for – a chore, a lunch break, a
sudden zombie invasion. Count on being interrupted, and plan
accordingly, by learning how models are recognized by the game when
built using the Brick Build interface.



The Brick Build system will separate any models that are not physically
snapped together, even if they were built at the exact same time, even
if they are touching one another.



To illustrate this point, I've created a wall. I know it's exciting,
please try to contain yourself. This wall is four bricks wide, and four
bricks high.


style="width: 400px; height: 347px;"
alt="Elegant and functional!"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92232">



The first time it's built, I assemble it just like that – 4x4 using a
total of 16 identical blocks. One might think that's sufficient, but
watch what happens when I attempt to edit this model by re-entering
Brick Build mode and clicking on it.


style="width: 400px; height: 345px;" alt="color palette fail"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92233">



Lo and behold, I'm only able to edit a single column of the structure.
This is because the additional columns that make up the wall are in no
way physically linked to the one that was clicked on. To overcome this,
I would need to build the wall in a manner that attaches each section
to the next, like so:


style="width: 400px; height: 333px;"
alt="Staggering: It's not just for drunks"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92234">



The way individual models are recognized is important for larger
projects that will take several sittings to complete. So plan ahead,
and always make sure that each brick component of the masterpiece you
are constructing is physically snapped to the rest of the structure.



One Behavior To Rule Them All

The way LEGO Universe
recognizes models is extremely important when
assigning behaviors to your creations. You see, all behaviors attached
to any particular model will affect every last brick of that model.
That may seem like common sense, but it's a fact that I actually
overlooked when first crafting my One-Armed Bandit.



On the first pass, I snapped the sucker together with quite a bit of
care and attention to detail. I even spent close to an entire hour
searching for the perfect wheels-and-axle setup that would emulate the
spinning of the wheels within a real-life slot machine.



And upon completing my masterpiece, I was excited to set it in motion
using Behaviors.



So the very first thing I did was attempt to assign a behavior to the
handle that would allow me to pull it down toward me, and have it snap
back up into place.


style="width: 438px; height: 78px;" alt="handle behavior chain"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92238">



Behaviors assigned, and....



oops! src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92240">



… Hmmm, I don't gamble a lot in real life, but I'm pretty sure that's
not how it works.



You see, the commands I was attempting to have apply to only the handle
of my slot machine ended up instead applying to the entire model. It
was at this point that I realized I had to go back to the drawing board
and make sure that each moving piece of this machine would be a
separate model that would work in tandem with one another, but not
actually be attached.



alt="new handle!"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92237">So
out came the wheels and I began brainstorming a new solution that would
allow them to behave separately from the body of the machine, as well
as create a separate handle that could perform the actions in the
previous example without tilting the whole thing on its head. But not
just that, I also had to assign a separate model piece for the
prize-giving portion of the machine as well, since assigning a prize
behavior to the machine as a whole made the items pop out of its top
instead of the hole in front. The prize hole, if you will.



One creation. Six models.



It's less complicated than that might make it sound, but I could've
saved myself some headaches if I'd thought ahead about how behaviors
affect their host models, and how those models are identified.


Chain Reactions

One of the necessary pieces of my particular creation, is that each
action causes another to happen. Pulling the handle causes the wheels
to spin, and when they stop a prize appears. And so, I had to come up
with solutions to making chain reactions of Behaviors with one reacting
to the one prior to it.



Fortunately, the Behavior editor in style="font-style: italic;">LEGO Universe is
relatively easy to
understand. It's best to think of it as a series of complicated If/Then
statements. That is to say, each behavior brick is basically either a
Cause or an Effect. One leading to the other.



Here's the example again from earlier, of the behavior I used to
animate the handle of my One-Armed Bandit:


style="width: 438px; height: 78px;" alt="handle behavior chain"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92238">



The translation
is:




When I press Shift to interact with this object, it will tilt forward
60 degrees, then tilt back and say “Here we go!” and then reset itself.
 



The timer brick you see in this example is used to set the speed of
each tilt movement on a scale of 1-30.  In this case, I've
used it to make the handle move forward slower than it snaps back into
place. Doing so is completely unnecessary, but I'm picky like that.
Don't judge me!



Now, the most important part of this particular set of commands is the
fact that I've told the handle to say “Here we go!” when I interact
with it. The reason this action is so important is that I've set up the
wheels of the slot machine to start spinning whenever they hear that
particular password.


style="width: 585px; height: 142px;" alt="wheel behavior chain"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92245">



This also means that I could activate the spinning wheels by speaking
this password out loud while near the creation. But that ruins the
illusion. Why would I do that when there's a perfectly good handle
right there to do it for me?



When the last wheel is done spinning (they spin for different amounts
of time), it then whispers another password, “bingo” which the player
cannot hear. This is the password for the next behavior to begin, which
hands out the prize. I could have used this same silent speech behavior
for the handle instead of having it say “Here we go!” out loud, but
chose to keep the speech bubbles in place for a fun effect.


style="width: 270px; height: 97px;" alt="prize behavior chain"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92242"> style="width: 360px; height: 167px;" alt="everybody wins!"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92241">



Ok, so it's not exactly a jackpot, but it's all I've unlocked yet. And
look, you can't lose! “Everybody wins!” So stop complaining!



Using other behaviors, it's possible to create items that destroy or
build one another. They can chase players or each other around your
property, appear and disappear when magic words are spoken, and move
with incredible agility (if you're careful).



With the right combination of behaviors working off one another, it's
even possible to set up riddles that will reward players for correct
answers and spawn monsters if they are incorrect.



The possibilities really are impressive, and NetDevil has already said
that the behavior system is ripe for additional content so keep your
eye out for new and interesting behavior bricks to be added in the
future.


Be Mindful Of Bugs

alt="My name's Bruce!"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92244">All
good products must submit to a series of quality tests, and LEGO
creations should be no exception to this rule. So make sure you
thoroughly play with your own creations before flagging your property
to be public and unleashing them upon the world.



In my particular example, I found that that “Speed” behavior that I
mentioned earlier does not function correctly the first time a
particular behavior is activated. I'm fairly certain this is a bug
within the game itself and not a flaw in my creation. I think.



Based on this testing, I placed a talking shark on my property to warn
folks of this improper functionality. A little forewarning goes a long
way toward people enjoying your creations in style="font-style: italic;">LEGO Universe, so
always
be sure to offer a word of explanation to new visitors on how best to
enjoy your property. Especially if it doesn't always work correctly.


It's A Kid's Game, Dummy!

Sadly, my particular creation was not allowed to go public. Despite
being nothing more than a fun example of chain reaction behaviors, it
also depicts gambling. And that's a big no-no for kids.



That's another speedbump I hadn't thought ahead about. And one that,
sadly, I'm not able to work around. It's a slot machine for Pete's sake!



So, when crafting your next LEGO masterpiece, remember to carefully
examine your creation's subject matter if you intend to offer your
property up for public viewing. Even relatively benign subjects are
still off limits when you're making content in a game for minors. Think
of the children!



(Update: My property was
reviewed again, and this time approved for public viewing! Don't ask me
how or why, but I'm not one to look a gift-horse in the gaping maw of
doom.)



Share Your Creations!

It's a pretty simple process to flag your property for public viewing.
Simply walk up to the control panel located near the rocket pad, and
click the radio button next to Public. You'll also want to name your
area something witty and brilliant.



alt="It wasn't me! It was the one-armed man!"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92243">



If you find yourself in a situation like mine, and your property gets
rejected for one reason or another but you still want to show it off,
please do so! You can attach images to forum posts in response to this
article, or target="_top">post video examples on YouTube and show the
world your
brilliant creativity. There is no greater joy in LEGO than
sharing your
imagination with others. And who doesn't love bragging, right?



To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our LEGO Universe Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

A longtime fan of competitive gaming, Jeremy got his first chance to work in the field as a writer for eSportsMax. Now eSports Editor for TenTonHammer, he looks to keep readers aware of all of the biggest events and happenings in the eSports world, while also welcoming new fans who aren't yet sure where to go to get the most relevant information. Jeremy always looks to provide content for new fans and veterans alike, believing that helping as many people as possible enjoy all the scene has to offer is key to its growth.

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