Michael Silverman

Having two coders debugging stuff at the same time produces some interesting stuff:

I was working with Daniel on some more aesthetically pleasing lighting models:

Now with electrolytes - Its got what plants crave!

Graphics coding always produces such weird errors:

If anyone is willing to help out, we are looking to have playtests for our IGF submission game "Kid the World Saver"

Anyone who is interested, please let me know a few times you are free in the next two weeks and we'll see if we can make one of those times work. Just e-mail mlsilver [AT] usc (DOT) edu. Even if you can only do a few minutes worth of playing we'd appreciate it.

For Tracy's course I've been analyzing the formal elements of Lego. I decided I would try to convert them as well as I could into a digital format. The result is Desktop Bricks. The game is for Windows Vista and XP and includes an uninstaller.

Left click moves bricks, right click detaches them, and escape closes the program. If you are interested in the design decisions I made you can check out the write-up I submitted to Tracy.

I'd appreciate any feedback anyone has to offer. Also I'm always looking for new features. A way to save your brick configuration is one I'm thinking about starting to work on. Also a way to copy and paste your bricks into a chat window to share them with other people might be fun too.

After talking to friends and family about legos I've dug up some more resources on the internet. First, there's a lego set repository:

The link image is the set I spent most of my time with as a kid. I hope I still have it somewhere.

Also, I've been directed to some building systems similar to lego. There's "American Plastic Bricks:"

I never got to play with American Plastic Bricks but I'm told they had a "snap" when connected that was much nicer than the lego counterpart. And finally there's Girders and Panels:

I actually have a faint memory of having something like girders and panels.

My favorite resource is one I found while looking for the height to width ratio of a lego block. (The ratio is 6 to 5) Its a book called The Unofficial LEGO Builders Guide. It is essentially a reference text about how to play with legos. It even explains how to make lego building tools out of legos. I'll have to see if I can get my hands on a copy at some point.

There's a good deal of fun to be had with this kind of toy even without a way to win, high score, or shooting people. Thinking about the formal elements of LEGO is an interesting project indeed.

For CTIN-541 I'm analyzing the formal elements of LEGO. This should be an interesting project.

As I sit here with a few lego creations scattered around my desk I've been pondering perhaps the most ingenious part of their design. When your legos are floating about they are attractive to play with. Putting them away, however, is somewhat unpleasant. These little things are all over the place. (Don't worry I haven't lost any.)

The game doesn't force you to play, but it encourages you to leave the game in its most playable state. Was this by design?

A friend offered a counter point that I hope he won't mind me posting. He incorporated the process of cleaning up his legos into the play. As his models "died" he put them away until the battle royal winner was finally also stored.

I wonder if anyone else has had that kind of experience with legos?