Lego strategy game
Daniel LaLiberte
has very simple rules, but the game is fairly complex. It is an
interesting game because it keeps you wondering what it is you haven't
figured out yet, and the end result of a game is, depending on your
esthetics, architecturally pleasing.
Before I reveal how it works, I'd like to find out whether I could
make some money on it. Can one resell Legos commercially? How about
if I say "Lego blocks" instead? I suppose I could sell only the
instructions via mass marketing in game magazines, and only mention
Lego generically. But what are the chances anyone would be
interested?
Dan LaLiberte
lib...@cs.uiuc.edu
(Join the League for Programming Freedom: l...@uunet.uu.net)
Nate Smith
>I've created a two player game that uses Lego blocks as the parts...[]...
>
>Dan LaLiberte
you know - i've always wanted to make a kind of Twixt game with them,
only you can build over the top. the colors should also come into play.
- nate
Karl Stiefvater
[...]
> Before I reveal how it works, I'd like to find out whether I could
> make some money on it.
> (Join the League for Programming Freedom: l...@uunet.uu.net)
Hmmm...
Phydeaux
>has very simple rules, but the game is fairly complex. It is an
Gee... he starts out okay...
>Before I reveal how it works, I'd like to find out whether I could
>make some money on it. Can one resell Legos commercially? How about
...
>Dan LaLiberte
>lib...@cs.uiuc.edu
>(Join the League for Programming Freedom: l...@uunet.uu.net)
Some people just don't get it...
reb
Seth J. Golub
I've been thinking about making a lego chess set (or a few zillion
different ones). Alas, my lego is far from here. I considered
designing the whole thing with autocad, but that'd put me way ahead of
my geekness quota.
I think the biggest problem would be making a board. I'd want the
pieces to be large, so the board would also need to be pretty big.
I'm not about to use any of those fiendish specialized pieces. Maybe
a few slanted ones, but otherwise just bricks.
Seth Golub
mi...@ll.mit.edu
>
>Before I reveal how it works, I'd like to find out whether I could
>make some money on it. Can one resell Legos commercially? How about
>...
>Dan LaLiberte
>lib...@cs.uiuc.edu
>(Join the League for Programming Freedom: l...@uunet.uu.net)
qa...@wuecl.wustl.edu (Karl Stifvater) writes:
>
> Hmmm...
>
and r...@Ingres.COM (Phydeaux) writes:
>
>Some people just don't get it...
> reb
Uh, Karl, exactly what were we supposed to get out of your post? The mere
juxtaposition of two lines from a previous post isn't really very useful.
We aren't psychic; are we supposed to know what you're thinking, just by
your completely uninformative "hmmm..." ???
And - "reb" - Some people don't get *what* ?? What is your point?
There is nothing inconsistent with the Daniel LaLiberte's desire to embark
on a capitalistic venture, and his support of the LPF. Perhaps one of you
could enlighten us all as to exactly what you're trying to say here, because,
to be perfectly honest, I find this sort of coy innuendo to be offensive and
not at all informative.
The League for Programming Freedom seeks to provide an environment in which
people can freely write their own code without fear of legal harassment. It
targets large companies that can afford to launch frivolous lawsuits as a
means of intimidating and bankrupting smaller companies who don't have the
resources to mount a proper defense or engage in a sustained civil suit.
I don't recall anything in the LPF charter that objects to people coming up
with unique ideas and trying to make a profit from them.
Now, either speak your minds clearly and unambiguously, or shut the f**k up!
Thank you.
-- Mike Maciolek The opinions expressed in this article are my
mi...@ll.mit.edu own, and not necessarily those of my employer.
Daniel LaLiberte
Hmmm...
In case there is a misunderstanding, there is no contradiction here.
There is not even a contradiction with my involvement in the Free
Software Foundation, which is a completely different organization.
The LPF opposes software patents and look-and-feel copyrights.
Neither organization is opposed to people making money on things,
software in particular. How you make money and what restrictions you
place on the software are the issues.
I will probably distribute my game instructions with a copyleft.
Dan LaLiberte
lib...@cs.uiuc.edu
Allen Warren
>In article <LIBERTE.93...@ebony.cs.uiuc.edu> lib...@cs.uiuc.edu (Daniel LaLiberte) writes:
>>I've created a two player game that uses Lego blocks as the parts. It
>>has very simple rules, but the game is fairly complex. It is an
>Gee... he starts out okay...
I disagree. How can a game be fairly complex, yet have simple rules?
The two don't mix.
>>Before I reveal how it works, I'd like to find out whether I could
>>make some money on it. Can one resell Legos commercially? How about
>...
>>Dan LaLiberte
>>lib...@cs.uiuc.edu
>>(Join the League for Programming Freedom: l...@uunet.uu.net)
>Some people just don't get it...
> reb
You said it all and boy do I agree.
allen
Bill Seurer
|> r...@Ingres.COM (Phydeaux) writes:
|>
|> >In article <LIBERTE.93...@ebony.cs.uiuc.edu> lib...@cs.uiuc.edu (Daniel LaLiberte) writes:
|> >>I've created a two player game that uses Lego blocks as the parts. It
|> >>has very simple rules, but the game is fairly complex. It is an
|>
|> >Gee... he starts out okay...
|>
|> I disagree. How can a game be fairly complex, yet have simple rules?
|> The two don't mix.
Easy! A game that has all kinds of strategy in it can be very complex
yet have a relatively simple set of rules. Look at chess. Extremely
complex strategy yet the rules are very simple.
Compare this to some older megagames that have extremely complex rules
but limited strategies.
--
- Bill Seurer Language and Compiler Development IBM Rochester, MN
Internet: BillS...@vnet.ibm.com America On-Line: BillS...@aol.com
The Wizard of Pen and Ink
(Daniel LaLiberte) says:
>
>Before I reveal how it works, I'd like to find out whether I could
>make some money on it.
>
Lego and imagination what it is all about?
David Karr
>
>I disagree. How can a game be fairly complex, yet have simple rules?
>The two don't mix.
They do mix. Examples are chess and go.
-- David Karr (ka...@cs.cornell.edu)
David Gibbs
>
>>In article <LIBERTE.93...@ebony.cs.uiuc.edu> lib...@cs.uiuc.edu (Daniel LaLiberte) writes:
>>>I've created a two player game that uses Lego blocks as the parts. It
>>>has very simple rules, but the game is fairly complex. It is an
>
>>Gee... he starts out okay...
>
>I disagree. How can a game be fairly complex, yet have simple rules?
>The two don't mix.
It is quite possible to have a complex game with simple rules -- for
instance Go. A complete and clear set of rules can generally
be easily described on one side of an 81/2x11 piece of paper.
They can probably be completely described in under 10 sentences.
So the rules are quite simple, but the game is definitely very
complex, in fact in is probably one of the most complex games
commonly played in these times. (The complexity is one of
options available and strategies.)
-David
(dag...@quantum.qnx.com)
Nancy A. Zimmerman
>
>>In article <LIBERTE.93...@ebony.cs.uiuc.edu> lib...@cs.uiuc.edu (Daniel LaLiberte) writes:
>>>I've created a two player game that uses Lego blocks as the parts. It
>>>has very simple rules, but the game is fairly complex. It is an
>
>>Gee... he starts out okay...
>
>I disagree. How can a game be fairly complex, yet have simple rules?
>The two don't mix.
>
Have you ever heard of "Go"?
Bill Seurer
|> I would probably make one up myself then to buy someone elses. Isn't
|> Lego and imagination what it is all about?
And (no slam intended) it would probably be a lousy game. A few people can
create interesting games. Most people will create terrible games if they
ever tried. That's why some people are game designers and the rest of us
buy their games to play.
It disturbs me that everyone here slams people who like to build sets
following some sort of instructions (except Technics sets of course, THOSE
are OK for some reason). Legos can be used for many purposes other than
what YOU (high and mighty though you are of course) think that they are
intended for. Some people might like to put models together and for them
using Legos is just another form of model building.
So there. Nyah!! "Lego and imagination is what it is all about." I think
I will be ill if I see that statement again. Legos are for whatever you
want to use them for.
David Karr
>In article <93050.133...@psuvm.psu.edu>, The Wizard of Pen and Ink <SRC...@psuvm.psu.edu> writes:
>|> I would probably make one up myself then to buy someone elses. Isn't
>|> Lego and imagination what it is all about?
>
>And (no slam intended) it would probably be a lousy game.
I agree. My first reaction to "make one up myself" was, "Wow, another
brilliant writer from PSU, and it doesn't even give its real name on
the 'from' line." (Yes, slam intended :-)
Building original objects out of LEGO is a kind of mechanical design
process. Creating a good game is an entirely different thing. The
fact that the pieces are made of LEGO doesn't change this.
>It disturbs me that everyone here slams people who like to build sets
>following some sort of instructions
I guess I am part of "everyone" in this case, since I expressed utter
amazement that people bothered to follow instructions that came with
any kit. But that's not because I consider this to indicated
inferiority of mind--it's just that as a child, it never even crossed
my mind that I *could* build models according to some instructions.
In fact, I don't even know if the sets I got came with instructions or
not. I vaguely recall some color photographs of models; do those
count?
>(except Technics sets of course, THOSE
>are OK for some reason).
I saw the recent pieces with the rods and little gears and whatnot
only last year, in the context of an AI project in mechanical design
at Cornell. Again, I never saw the "instructions" for these parts
so I don't even know if there are any. (Perhaps these are Dacta
rather than Technics? Does it make a difference?)
> Some people might like to put models together and for them
>using Legos is just another form of model building.
I used to assemble those little plastic airplane and boat models too.
In that case you had to follow the instructions exactly, or the pieces
wouldn't go together. I also followed the painting instructions as
well as I could and used the "right" set of decals. But the resulting
models were infinitely more lifelike than anything I ever saw in LEGO
at that time.
Now I see that there are a whole bunch of LEGO models that are almost
lifelike but not quite--like a space shuttle with curved surfaces in
most of the right places but these funny knobs protruding where they
shouldn't. Probably these are a lot of fun for kids to play with, but
it's so far outside my experience that I don't really understand
it--similarly, I suppose, to the way my parents couldn't understand
how my LEGO building continued on into high school and even college
years.
(Once again, this is an example of what I call the LEGO "generation
gap": I'm 31 years old and got my last set apparently before most of
the people on this group got their first.)
> Legos are for whatever you
>want to use them for.
Precisely--which was why every new set got dumped into the two big
bins with my old bricks to supplement whatever I was creating at the
time, regardless of whatever the LEGO company thought I was "supposed"
to be doing with them.
-- David Karr (ka...@cs.cornell.edu)
Karl Stiefvater
: In case there is a misunderstanding, there is no contradiction here.
: There is not even a contradiction with my involvement in the Free
: Software Foundation, which is a completely different organization.
: The LPF opposes software patents and look-and-feel copyrights.
: Neither organization is opposed to people making money on things,
: software in particular. How you make money and what restrictions you
: place on the software are the issues.
My mistake. I assumed you were looking for legal protection of your idea.
(Bad assuption, I know.)
My apologies,
- Karl
Ralf Muhlberger
>I've created a two player game that uses Lego blocks as the parts. It
>has very simple rules, but the game is fairly complex. It is an
>interesting game because it keeps you wondering what it is you haven't
>figured out yet, and the end result of a game is, depending on your
>esthetics, architecturally pleasing.
Sounds great, I'd be keen :-)
>Before I reveal how it works, I'd like to find out whether I could
>make some money on it. Can one resell Legos commercially? How about
>if I say "Lego blocks" instead? I suppose I could sell only the
>instructions via mass marketing in game magazines, and only mention
>Lego generically. But what are the chances anyone would be
>interested?
Have you tried writing a letter to your local Lego rep?
>Dan LaLiberte
Ralf
---------------------------------------+---------------------------------------
___________ |Ralf Muhlberger, B.Inf.Tech.Hons.
| POST | |Computer Science Department
| NO | |The University of Queensland QLD 4072
| BILLS | |AUSTRALIA
----------- |Tel: 61 +7 365 1195 Fax: 61 +7 365 1999
|Internet email: ra...@cs.uq.oz.au
ste...@ibmpa.awdpa.ibm.com
>Before I reveal how it works, I'd like to find out whether I could
>make some money on it. Can one resell Legos commercially? How about
>if I say "Lego blocks" instead? I suppose I could sell only the
>instructions via mass marketing in game magazines, and only mention
>Lego generically. But what are the chances anyone would be
>interested?
You could also try marketting the game with generic "interconnecting bricks"
and note in the instructions how a supply of Lego brand bricks could enhance
the game. There are several companies making Lego compatible bricks so
it can't be TOO hard to do.
Also, Lego does not seem to be too anal about things. Make a game prototype
and see if they'd sell you the bricks you need at resale. I'm sure they'll
insist that the Lego logo is put on the box somewhere, though.
Stephen.
----
Stephen D'Angelo -- IBM Personal Systems Multimedia
ste...@ibmpa.awdpa.ibm.com *or* dan...@netcom.netcom.com
The Wizard of Pen and Ink
(Bill Seurer) says:
>
>In article <93050.133...@psuvm.psu.edu>, The Wizard of Pen and Ink
><SRC...@psuvm.psu.edu> writes:
>|> I would probably make one up myself then to buy someone elses. Isn't
>|> Lego and imagination what it is all about?
>
>And (no slam intended) it would probably be a lousy game. A few people can
As I have said in an earlier post I have made up rules for Lego and it was
NOT a lousy game.
Philip Miesle
<1993Feb19.1...@tessi.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: chiltepe.gac.edu
In-reply-to: al...@tessi.com's message of Fri, 19 Feb 1993 16:37:42 GMT
Xref: news.gac.edu rec.games.abstract:697 alt.toys.lego:815
In article <1993Feb19.1...@tessi.com> al...@tessi.com (Allen Warren) writes:
>r...@Ingres.COM (Phydeaux) writes:
>>In article <LIBERTE.93...@ebony.cs.uiuc.edu> lib...@cs.uiuc.edu (Daniel LaLiberte) writes:
>>>I've created a two player game that uses Lego blocks as the parts. It
>>>has very simple rules, but the game is fairly complex. It is an
>>Gee... he starts out okay...
>I disagree. How can a game be fairly complex, yet have simple rules?
>The two don't mix.
Okay, lesee...Abalone, shogi, English chess, Othello...
You stand corrected.
>>>Before I reveal how it works, I'd like to find out whether I could
>>>make some money on it. Can one resell Legos commercially? How about
>>...
>>>Dan LaLiberte
>>>lib...@cs.uiuc.edu
>>>(Join the League for Programming Freedom: l...@uunet.uu.net)
>>Some people just don't get it...
>> reb
>You said it all and boy do I agree.
What do you not get and agree to? He argues that cheesy copyrights,
such as the one Macintosh has on it's OS, are stupid. He isn't
against copyrights for new ideas.
Some people just don't get it.
Phil
--
Phil Miesle --Gustavus Adolphus College-- phyg...@hermes.gac.edu
Technophile, Pythonite, Physicist: Nice Guy, or Just Plain Nuts?
Likes: UNIX, NeXT Step Dislikes: OS/2, Windoze, OS/400, DOS, Macintosh
Gamma rays are really neat: they are filled with photon meat!
George M. Berberian
>In article <1993Feb19.2...@rchland.ibm.com> BillS...@vnet.ibm.com writes:
>>In article <93050.133...@psuvm.psu.edu>, The Wizard of Pen and Ink <SRC...@psuvm.psu.edu> writes:
>[About someone's invented game:]
>
>gap": I'm 31 years old and got my last set apparently before most of
>the people on this group got their first.)
>
>> Legos are for whatever you
>>want to use them for.
>
>Precisely--which was why every new set got dumped into the two big
>bins with my old bricks to supplement whatever I was creating at the
>time, regardless of whatever the LEGO company thought I was "supposed"
>to be doing with them.
>
>-- David Karr (ka...@cs.cornell.edu)
>
David...David David David. Your 31 yrs. old and STILL playing with LEGOS?
I've been buying LEGOS for about 10 years and am only sorry that
I didn't catch on sooner. Their, simply put, GREAT!
It was just today i was passing though the local CVS store and
low and behold, staring right in my face, a "had to have", LEGO
set.
In more detail:
THE FLAME CHASER
Model number: 6531 cost: $3.99
RSQ911-Helicoper
So far i've made a snowmobile,helicoper,plane,car,windmill and every
piece being used. Just great amusement.
Oh, my 4 year old boy is going to love it. I know i do.
One more thing Dave before i go. Don't feel bad about playing with LEGOS
at thirty-one. Hell, i'm 41 and thank god i've got a little boy to give
me an excuse to buy them. My wife hit the roof when i bought that 45.00
castle for my little 3 yr old.
Does the president play with LEGOS? Sure
Stephen R. Phillips
Allen Warren (al...@tessi.com) wrote:
: I disagree. How can a game be fairly complex, yet have simple rules?
: The two don't mix.
Ever play GO? How about chess? These have simple rules.
Cyberman
Fuzzy Fox
>As I have said in an earlier post I have made up rules for Lego and it was
>NOT a lousy game.
I think part of the problem people are having is that what you
essentially posted (initially) is, "I have made up the rules for a
wonderful little game, but I'm not going to tell you anything about it
yet."
This begs the question: Why did you post?
--
#ifdef TRUE | Fuzzy Fox fu...@netcom.com
#define TRUE 0 | (a.k.a. David DeSimone) f...@rei.com
#define FALSE 1 | "...A power outtage at the local mall
#endif | trapped 20 people on the escalators..."
Ralf Muhlberger
>lib...@cs.uiuc.edu (Daniel LaLiberte) said:
>>Before I reveal how it works, I'd like to find out whether I could
>>make some money on it. Can one resell Legos commercially? How about
>>if I say "Lego blocks" instead? I suppose I could sell only the
>>instructions via mass marketing in game magazines, and only mention
>>Lego generically. But what are the chances anyone would be
>>interested?
>You could also try marketting the game with generic "interconnecting bricks"
>and note in the instructions how a supply of Lego brand bricks could enhance
>the game. There are several companies making Lego compatible bricks so
>it can't be TOO hard to do.
>Also, Lego does not seem to be too anal about things. Make a game prototype
>and see if they'd sell you the bricks you need at resale. I'm sure they'll
>insist that the Lego logo is put on the box somewhere, though.
Which would probably enhance the sale value anyway!
>Stephen.
Ralf
----------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Ralf Muhlberger, B.Inf.Tech.Hons. | I wonder if other people can hear
Department of Computer Science | voices in their head. I certainly
The University of Queensland | can. I can hear one now. It's saying
Brisbane Qld 4072 Australia | "I wonder if other people can hear
Tel: +61 7 365 1195 Fax: +61 7 365 1999 | voices in their head. I certainly
Email: ra...@cs.uq.oz.au | can. I can hear one now. ..."