5701 LEGO Loco

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LEGO Loco

Item №:	5701
LEGO Theme:	Video Games Trains 9V
Developer(s):	Intelligent Games
Publisher(s):	LEGO Media
Date Released:	1998
Genre:	Virtual World
Mode(s):	Single Player, Multiplayer
Rating:	E/3+
Platforms:	Windows PC
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LEGO Loco is a LEGO-branded children's computer Video game for the Microsoft Windows platform. It is a simple open-ended construction game with a slight emphasis on Rail Transport. It was introduced in 1998.

Features[]

The aim of the game is to construct a town in which LEGO people can live in. The game lacks any real challenge (there being no construction costs, no running costs, and no budget in general). The fact of increasing the population could count. That, coupled with its very colorful graphics, help to designate its target audience, which are children aged between 6 and 12. At the beginning of the game, the player has a "Toy Box", in which he/she can select buildings from its lists and place them directly into the space provided. The player can put down roads, railway lines, stations, crossings, buildings and scenery. To start the simulation, the player must close the Toy Box and the town will come to life (though the player can open it again to make some changes, save the town, or open a new one). After a while LEGO minifigures will begin moving into the houses provided (if any), and the player can, like with ordinary figures, pick them up and place them somewhere else. This can affect the figure's mood, depending on where it's placed. Also, using the train house (engine shed), the player can create trains to run on the railway lines. If a train has passenger carriages it will stop at any stations that have been placed near a piece of rail track. The player can also control the train. Furthermore, the player can add on a mail carriage to the train, thus enabling it to carry postcards that have been created by the player. The train or trains can also go through these tunnels that the player can place at the edge of the map, and some tunnels can be used to help send and receive postcards, either from other players (depending if a network has been set up or not) or NPC characters like Santa Claus.

Development[]

Bits_N’_Bricks_Season_2_Episode_23_–_LEGO_Loco-_The_LEGO_Group’s_take_on_SimCity-2 — Bits N’ Bricks Season 2 Episode 23 – LEGO Loco- The LEGO Group’s take on SimCity-2

LEGO Loco started development as "LEGO Desktop Railway", a desktop toy, but soon grew into a program that ran in its own window, complete with buildings, minifigures, and roads as well as trains. The story of its creation was the subject of Bits N’ Bricks episode 23.

Some developers also shared anecdotes with a fan:

This is a description taken from Matthew Stibbe. Please do not modify it.

Originally, we wanted to call Lego Stunt Rally ‘Lego Moto’ as a sort of echo or follow-on from Lego Loco which proceeded it. Personally, I still think it was a shame to change the name.

Lego Loco had a feature where you could send little postcards in trains to other people over the internet. A sort lego train email system. It was super-cute. But lego people were worried that it might expose children to swearing so they asked us to put a swearing filter in and sent us a list of swear words to block. It was a short list and so we asked our team to come up with a longer list. In an hour over lunch we added hundreds of words to the list! 😊

One of the many easter eggs in Lego Loco was that you could get the viking statue to do a moony. We had a visit from a very senior lego person during the development and the programmers demoed this ‘feature’. There was a sharp intake of breath from the producers but the exec roared with laughter and the easter egg stayed in the game.

A lot of the Lego characters in Lego Loco are modelled on people who worked at Intelligent Games. Their faces are immortalised as minifigs in the game.

This is a description taken from Dee Jarvis. Please do not modify it.

My favourite anecdote was while working on LEGO Loco, we had added several small animations to objects in the game, event easter eggs etc. One of these was a 'temporary' animation of one of the statues taking a p*&s (to keep the developers amused) One day we got a visit from one of the Christiansen family (thinking about it, it may have been Kjeld) So, we're all standing there giving a demo, and this statue pulls down it's pants and takes a leak..... you could hear a pin drop.... Then Kjeld starts laughing his arse off. He thought it was great. We took the animation out of course, but that gave me an insight into the Danish sense of humour and what a nice bunch they are.

Another memory was my first visit to LEGO headquarters in Billund. Walking through the R&D department was a childhood dream. Seeing all the archived LEGO sets from the past, the museum, and most surprisingly, the number of LEGO sets they had designed over the years but never released, like a wonderful Vikings range, Jurassic Park etc.

I designed a LEGO character called 'Pelvis' an Elvis impersonator. Everyone liked him, but the Presley estate demanded a ludicrous fee in order to use it. I was sad that he never appeared in any of the games.

We created LEGO voices in Loco, with a made up language, but many people thought it was Danish! We had to put a sticker on the box in the end to explain it and stop people phoning the office!

"Pelvis" did make it into the game, but only in the postcard creator. The sprites for the Viking statue mooning the player are in the final game data, but it's unknown if there's way to trigger them.

Notes[]

2585 Track Buggy with Station Master and Cool Kid was included with this CD-ROM.
It was re-released in 2000 as 5721 LEGO Loco Masterpiece.

Tricks[]

Activate by closing the toybox. Tricks will only work with regular items, no seasonal or holiday ones.

Place a lake anywhere on the map, then surround it with sunflowers. Nessie will surface.
Place four road curves in a circle. It will turn into an island with a palm tree.
Place two radar stations next to each other. They will turn into a space shuttle which will launch after a few minutes.
Place a radar station to the right of an IG office. The office will turn into a robot.
Place two red bungalows next to each other. They will merge into one large house.
Place four fountains in a square. They will merge into a large fountain with a rainbow.
Place four pastures in a square. Pigs and sheep will appear in a few minutes.

Animals[]

Animals will only come out of regular items, no seasonal or holiday ones.

Cow- comes out of pasture
Duck and duckling- come out of lakes.
Frog- comes out of fountain.
Pig- comes out of pasture.
Rabbit and baby rabbit- come out of apple trees
Sheep- comes out of pasture.

Vehicles[]

White Van- comes out of the water boiler when placed near the road.
Fire engine- comes out of fire station when placed near the road.
Red car- comes out of gas station when placed near the road.
Yellow car- comes out of red house with balcony and 3D windows when placed near the road.

List of characters[]

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Dan (toddler and kid from brick house with antenna, 3 floors red house, blue house with yellow 3D windows and gray house with 3D windows)

Lee (skateboarder)
Super Station Master
Eamon (Original Skeleton)
Punk Rocker

Trains[]

Engines[]

Diesel Locomotive, Yellow. Based on the Freight Rail Runner (Large engine version).
Steam Engine, Green.
Electric Passenger Engine, Grey. Based on the 4558 Metroliner (Train set version).

Freight wagons[]

Octan Tank Wagon, possibly based on 4537 Twin Tank Transporter, but has 3 tanks like the 7813 Shell Tanker Wagon.
Three-roomed Hopper, resembles the hopper from the 2126 train cars set, though it has 2 tippers rather than 3.

Passenger cars + mail car[]

Grey Passenger Car, based on 4558 Metroliner Middle car (for transporting Passengers).
Green Passenger Car, recolored version of the Metroliner car (for transporting Passengers).
Blue Passenger Car, recolored version of the Metroliner car (for transporting Passengers).
Mail Car (for transporting Mail from Post Office to Post Office in Multiplayer, or to NPCs).

Tracks and Industries[]

Straight Track
Curve Track
90° Track Crossing (+-shaped track)
Junction (Vertical at Straight and Horizontal at Straight)
Yellow Train Station, based on set 4554 Metro Train Station.
Red Train Station, based on set 2150 Train Station
Post Office
Blue Rail Tunnel (Able to drive your train to another Player Level in Multiplayer)
Yellow Rail Tunnel (Single player only: Transport your train to another place at your level)
Railway Bridge
Railway Crossing
Railway Walkway Crossing
Railway Signal
Rail End Buffer
Engine Shed