New feature: alternate builds
Posted by Huw,
As you probably know, Rebrickable is a site that shows you what models you can build -- both official and MOCs -- from parts in your collection. You can also hook up to it from here and keep your set collection in sync between the two sites.
Anyway, Nathan at Rebrickable has recently provided a feature that exposes MOCs that can be built using parts from just one set and he and I thought it would be cool to show them here. So, on set details pages, you will find a new tab 'Alternate builds' that displays them and provides links back to Rebrickable from where you can download instructions.
Not every set has them of course, so there's an indicator on the tab to show whether there are any available or not. If you don't see it, refresh the page with ctrl-F5 to grab the latest JavaScript code.
Here are a few sets that you can test it with: 30187, 31017, 6866, 4916, 42004.
I hope you find that useful...
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37 comments on this article
Seems like a great idea - looking forward to seeing more of them.
Can you imagine if they tried to do this with the Mixels?!
Excellent - this is something that's long been missing from LEGO themselves.
Awesome idea - much more fun for kids. One of the best news lately.
Great idea! As a kid I really loved to build the alternative models from the back of the box without instructions, because it presented a better challenge. I agree with @Joefish that it's a pity LEGO don't do this anymore.
^Agree, this is a great idea.
Brilliant! Thank you!
I love this idea! Thanks for implementing it!
Great idea! It would be great if this could be added to the query builder, so I could quickly find all my sets that have alternate builds.
WOW this is a great idea, any chance users will be able to add their creations?
That's awesome!
I'd Love to add my alternates: http://www.mocpages.com/folder.php/167446 but I'm still looking for a place where I can upload my LDD files and keep track of the number of downloads.
Cool!
Do you think is it possible to have MOCPages MOCs also?
=)
This takes me back to the late 70s and early 80s when boxes depicted alternate builds on the back that you had to try and figure out how to build based on 1 picture (whether the alternate actually only used pieces from the set was a guess).
This is a great feature and am glad Huw and Rebrickable are sharing this info.
@netomeyer you already can, just go to rebrickable.com.
I am very happy to see these builds on brickset too!
Is there any way to see at a glance which of my sets have alternate models without going into each set's page individually?
> It would be great if this could be added to the query builder
Rebrickable is queried 'on the fly' so information about what's there isn't kept in the database here so unfortunately that's not possible.
> Do you think is it possible to have MOCPages MOCs also
MOCPages does not, to my knowledge have an API that exposes such information, and I don't believe it is as well organised in terms of what models are made from as Rebrickable is.
I can't find some alt build i know are present.. are there some filters in place? Or maybe it's not finished loading? Example: http://rebrickable.com/mocs/Nicola/michelangelos-rocket not visible from http://brickset.com/sets/79100-1/Kraang-Lab-Escape
Indeed a shame that LEGO stopped doing it but always welcome!! Good job!
Great idea, will look at for these.
I suggested this in the recent survay.
Great to see this coming as a real feature!!
I don't add them, I just display what Nathan's API returns, so if there are MOCs missing they'll need to be added from the Rebrickable end, however that's done...
Great idea--thank you!
It would also be great if rebrickable itself could highlight and rank single-set alternate builds, separately from all the other models it has. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be an option, unless you have one very specific set in mind.
^ Agreed
Can you add a feature so that it says how many parts are in it, please Huw? I understand if it's too much but when I am having a quick browse it would be quite useful. Great addition, anyway! :-)
This sounds like a completely awesome addition to an already awesome site! Thanks for letting us know, Huw, I'm going to check this out as soon as possible!
Savor the awesomeness. That's a BRILLIANT idea.
i think its a grate idea thanks.
^ Agreed! Let's hear it for brilliant ideas! *Applause*
"I hope you find that useful..."
What? You hope we find this useful? Useful? What is wrong with you? I find this fricking AWESOME!
I am, Sir, your humble servant....
This is an awesome idea! Love it.
There's a user named Mugen at brickshelf that had very nice alternative builds from official sets. He even shared instructions for a train station build using the Town Hall set.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=Mugen
I especially like his alternative builds for Pet Shop, Grand Emporium and Red Passenger train.
pretty sweet idea!
Don't forget that this only works with Rebrickable so the only way to get alternate models that are on MOCPages/Flickr/Brickshelf/wherever added is if the creators put them there.
So, encourage them to do so!
@NBJ2002, number of parts used in the model now shown.
Very cool! Love it. Thanks!