So, for school, we had/got (
) to write a compare and contrast essay. I chose the topic of LEGO and Blockland. I don't think the essay is too bad, and I thought some of you might find it interesting, so here ya go!
I realize it doesn't cover a lot of things, but hey! There's a lot to cover. I'm in 8th grade, so you don't think I'm some college student who can't write.
The biggest difference between Blockland and LEGO is that Blockland is virtual. When playing Blockland, you need an internet connection to play with other people. LEGO, of course, does not require a computer to play with other people. You just need the people.
When building things in Blockland, you don’t need to worry about running out of bricks. You do, though, have to find creative uses for pieces, because of the limited variety. But, if you get too many pieces, your computer will start to “lag” – the framerate will go down, making everything short and choppy. Speaking of pieces, the ones in Blockland have square studs, while LEGOs have circular studs. To move around bricks, you use the keyboard. The laws of physics don’t apply in Blockland. For example, you could build a large overhang that would fall over if it were built of LEGO bricks.
Unlike Blockland, you have limited pieces when building with LEGO. There are hundreds and hundreds of different LEGO pieces, the only problem is that you don’t have an infinite amount of them.
With both Blockland and LEGO, many practice customization. But, of course, there are some major differences between LEGO customization and customization in Blockland. In Blockland, customization can be extremely difficult and time consuming. Let’s say you want to make a new hairpiece. First, you’d want to get the model made. The model is made in a 3D modeling program that can range from free to several thousand dollars, for professionals. Once the model is done, you’ll need to “script” it. This involves using Torque Script – the programming language Blockland uses – to mount your newly modeled hairpiece on your player’s head. Scripts can be very complicated, and are very time consuming to make. Now, with LEGO, you might not need a programming language, but things can still be complicated. Let’s say you want to make a custom LEGO hairpiece. It’s much simpler, in theory, but can take many years of practice to get good at. I’m not as familiar with LEGO customization, but I’ll give this a try. To start out, experiment with some clay to get the general shape of the hair down. Once you do, perfect it, and then get a mold made of it. This is the part I’m not sure about. You can get someone (or, rather, some company) to make injection molds of your custom pieces and mass produce them. There are several people who do this, my favorite being the runners of BrickForge. They have been at practice for many years perfecting their art.
The topics I’ve covered include the actual building processes, and customization processes of LEGO and Blockland. They have some very obvious similarities, and some very obvious differences.
