Lego Creator + Knights’ Kingdom + Harry Potter
レゴ・クリエイター (Rego Kurietā)
Before there was Minecraft, there was Lego Creator (stylized as LEGO Creator), a sandbox game for Microsoft Windows, which involves building with virtual Lego elements. The game has no missions, objectives, challenges, or money constraints. It was released in late 1998, as the development of the sandbox game (including the sequels) was handled by the now-defunct Superscape and the now-defunct Lego Media, which was later renamed Lego Software. This Medium post will cover three Lego Creator games.
Lego Creator was initially conceived of as an “Evergreen” replication of the physical toy. Starting with the “Town” range, the game would expand at each release with the addition of further product themes. Functionality would also be enhanced with each “content pack”.
Ultimately, individual ranges remained independent, and emphasis shifted to a play experience, with reduced emphasis on freeform construction. Originally, it had been hoped that the sheer scale of unlimited bricks might offset the loss of tactile merit, but such hope was compromised by the computers of the day. Plans included being able to build content, which could be seamlessly dropped into separate Lego video games. This was dropped as the complexity of doing so was further explored.
In the Play Mode, the player can set the time of day, such as Day, Real, or Night. If “Real” is selected, the time of day will be tied to the player’s internal Windows PC clock in real-time, just like the first two RollerCoaster Tycoon games when you have the “Garden Clock” researched in the first game’s expansion packs, or is always included in RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 and OpenRCT2. In Build Mode, clicking the “Trash” button removes the Lego brick (or the whole building or creation, when the user clicks on “Choose” between one or multiple Lego bricks) from the world. Worlds can be saved, but cannot be overwritten (must delete the prior one first). The CD-ROM game’s manual (which is not included in a General Mills cereal box) can be seen here on the Internet Archive.
In addition to the regular bricks in an assortment of colors, there are specified “Action Bricks”, which move or make noise. Examples include the hinge, propeller, and siren. There is also a “Destructa Brick” (which is not included in the regular or themed Lego sets on the official Lego website), a 1x2 tile with an image of dynamite superimposed on it. This can be used to destroy models in Play Mode, although the player’s creations will automatically rebuild when returning to Build Mode. Minifigures can also be used and can stand, sit, or walk, and can be set to drive vehicles set to a path or road. In play mode, Minifigures and vehicles can travel around the environment, special bricks can be interacted with, the sky can be set from day to night, and the player can control or see from the perspective of any Minifigures set to move around, vehicles, and security cameras. Minifigures make gibberish sounds during play mode, and the game’s instruction manual details how to replace the audio files for these sounds with custom files. When the player takes over a road or flying vehicle, they can drive the vehicle (or fly it like Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog), but unlike in real life and in racing games, the road vehicles cannot go on slopes or perform stunts.
You remembered that I spent hours on this PC game as a child as I had a Lego Creator CD-ROM from a General Mills cereal box (sponsored by the now-defunct Lightdog Internet Service) around 2000, where I customized my minifigs a bit, make them say “Wah ha ha, hey, ya ol’ fart!”, created my own city bus-inspired vehicle with loads of passengers, took control of the vehicles, and also placed a truckload of Destructa Bricks, setting them to the biggest explosion, and detonating them like crazy (TAKE COVER!)!
I also don’t recommend pumping up during the evening/night if you have a truckload of Destructa Bricks in your Lego World prior to detonating them (like I did back in the day), because people are sleeping or living in an apartment.
Lego Creator received four awards:
- Computer Game Developers Spotlight Award (defunct in 1999, the GDC now hosts Game Developers Choice Awards), Best New Children’s Game
- CODIE Software Publishers Association Excellence in Software Awards, Best New Home Creativity Software (US)
- “Top 100 Family Tested”, FamilyPC Magazine (now defunct, see above image for what the now-defunct magazine looked like)
- PIN Quality Mark Gold Award, Parents Information (possibly defunct)
Lego Creator: Knights’ Kingdom
The next order of business is Lego Creator: Knights’ Kingdom (Japanese: レゴ・クリエイター 騎士の王国 Rego Kurieitā: Kishi no Ōkoku, lit. “LEGO Creator: Kingdom of Knights”), which was released in late 2000. It is based on the first incarnation of Lego’s now-discontinued Knights’ Kingdom theme, which is part of Lego’s now-discontinued Castle set.
Before the player can start creating a world, four challenges have to be completed. Each one consists of using different models and moving around the Lego world. There are also two challenges to do before new models can be built. These challenges involve working with different Lego bricks and putting them together into a model.
The game includes all the regular Lego bricks and different bricks which are medieval-themed. Also, there is a “Destructa Brick” (seen in the first game) used in Play mode to destroy structures. The game uses features such as rotating bricks, painting bricks, and lifting bricks, to make models easier to construct.
A feature known as “The Workshop” is included. This feature allows the player to create their own virtual Lego models, using a library of bricks available. Building instructions are created to help players re-create the model using bricks in their own Lego collection.
Lego Creator: Harry Potter
The final order of business is Lego Creator: Harry Potter, based on the first Harry Potter film and also on the fantasy novels by J.K. Rowling and illustrated by Mary GrandPré in the North American editions (Scholastic) and Cliff Wright in the original United Kingdom editions (Bloomsbury). Unlike the first two games, it does not have a release in Japan. It is the first Lego game based on a licensed property. In the game, the player can build Harry Potter-themed worlds and complete challenges.
It is noted that Warner Bros. Discovery (also known by its former name, Warner Bros. Entertainment) still owns the Harry Potter IP and trademarks, though J.K. Rowling herself still owns half of the Harry Potter IP and trademarks (publishing rights).
Lego Creator: Harry Potter is related to the film version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and allows the player to play as various different characters and go into four general areas, plus 5 extra areas. The area of Inside Hogwarts school has four place-able extra rooms to reach other areas, including Professor Snape’s Potions Class and the Forbidden Corridor. The game includes many features that give the player a lot of creative ability. Features include taking control of Minifigures and animals, driving the Hogwarts Express, changing the weather from rain to snow to night to day, casting spells and flying on broomsticks, and creating your own Minifigures and models with classical and Harry Potter-style Lego faces, bodies, cloaks, and even wands; while the workshop contains castle pieces, to extras, to standard pieces.
The games are now abandonware since it’s not possible to purchase a game through an online retailer since optical drives are obsolete as newer PCs (including the 27-inch Intel-based iMacs and Mac Studio) will not have optical drives as many are purchasing computer games digitally (though we still purchase video games in physical form). Lego Creator can be found on the My Abandonware website (or can be searched in the Internet Archive).
Anyway, thanks for reading this post. Cory out. ⚡️
