LDraw.org 2013-02 Parts Update Now Available

[Chris Dee]

The 2013-02 LDraw Parts Update has been now been released. This update includes 869 new files in the core library, including 570 new parts and 61 new primitives.

The optional installation library of Alias parts has been dispensed with - all aliases are now in the main library, but identified with a "=" prefix to their description, and all previously released alias parts have had their descriptions updated in this release.

Of note is the inclusion of a new /p/8 sub-folder to hold low-res versions of stud (and potentially other) primitives. This should be the preferred location for tools to find low-res primitives, but to satisfy the needs of MLCad, we will continue to maintain stu2* versions of the stud* primitives in the /p folder. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the discussion on how best to implement this.

A major component of the update is most of the Mindstorms EV3 parts, for which massive thanks are due to Philippe Hurbain (Philo) for their creation and to our enthusiastic reviewers for checking them so soon after this product release. Thanks are also due to the other part authors who created or corrected parts for this release and to the reviewers who have also played an important role in making this release happen.

You can preview the new parts in 2013-02 and download the update by going to the Latest Parts page.

Once again, no new "Physical colour" parts are included in this update as we develop plans to move these to a separate section of the LDraw file structure, to more closely fit with the "DesignID" vs. "ItemID" concept.

[Michael Heidemann]

Thanks Chris for this really big update

[Tim Gould]

The optional installation library of Alias parts has been dispensed with - all aliases are now in the main library, but identified with a "=" prefix to their description, and all previously released alias parts have had their descriptions updated in this release.

LDMakeList users note that you can exclude all the alias parts identified by their part description from Parts.lst by using

Code:

LDMakeList -a

or excluse all alias parts identified by "=" by using

Code:

LDMakeList -h=

or an extra safe exlusion using both together

Code:

LDMakeList -a -h=

NB. Check your help to make sure you have the "-a" version. If not, get the latest version from here

[Max Martin Richter]

Thanks Chris! What a Christmas present... ;-)

/Max

[Magnus Forsberg]

Wow.

Cristmas comes early this year!!

Thank you all for reviewing my parts. I'm glad to see all the Iron Man parts in this release.

/
Magnus

[Steffen]

Thank you very much, Chris.
I've just installed the update here and spotted no problems.
I also diffed it against a clean complete.zip installation.

[Jude Parrill]

Wow, thanks Chris. Great to see my first parts officially released!!

I know I've been absent the last few months... work has been crazy and I haven't had much free time. A big thank-you to the authors who helped polish/finish my reinforced bricks and other parts. I wish I could have done it myself, but alas, it was not to be. Still, I'd rather see them released then languish on the PT, so thanks again.

[Santeri Piippo]

44937 turned from an official part just submitted to the PT into an official part in 3 days. Feels a little phenomenal IMO. :p

Thank you Chris once again for a successful parts update.

[Roland Melkert]

Great update, thanks to all involved.

[Steffen]

with this update, the amount of parts sitting on the parts tracker has been greatly reduced again.
following http://www.ldraw.org/cgi-bin/pthist2.cgi?h=10&i=15 , the amount is now down to the
amount from around 2003-11-20. you can see the waves of official parts releases on the right
side of the diagram.

[Jude Parrill]

Indeed, Steffen. We're now below 300 parts held and significantly fewer parts needing more votes, but, of course, there is always more work to be done.

That's one of the things I've discovered as I've begun to wade into the world of part authoring/fixing/reviewing: I tend to be better at fixing other people's parts than I am at creating new ones from scratch. As such, there were a few parts that had been on the PT for some while as a fix that I managed to make certifiable. I actually find it pretty satisfying when I'm finally able to make part good enough to first no longer be held, and then good enough to be certified. There was a boat plate (forget the number) that I remember spending a fair deal of time and effort fixing, and it was eventually certified and now re-released in it's updated form.

I'd love to keep working on parts like this, but sometimes I run into people taking offense that I've modified their parts. To those who do: I don't ever mean to offend you. There are a lot of parts on the PT, and it is my stated goal that, some day, after a release like this, there will be 0 (or very close to 0) parts left on the PT. Perhaps it's a pipe dream, but I still think it's something worth pursuing.

So, if work settles down and I get some more time in the coming year, look for me to continue fixing and updating whatever parts I can.

[Roland Melkert]

As long LDraw puts out more parts in updates then LEGO creates new ones, we should at one point reach zero

[Steffen]

I share this dream with you, and I appreciate so much your effort
to help held parts get born officially. Solving their problems should never offend anyone,
especially not if they're hanging around there already held for months.