Bricklayer

The Bricklayer install software bundles an IDE, a set of graphics libraries, and web viewer. This provides a self-environment for constructing Bricklayer programs and viewing the results of their execution.

IMPORTANT: Bricklayer.org is a small organization. While we do use a code signing certificate with our builds, virus protection tools tend to aggressively flag the Bricklayer executable as dangerous/bad and remove it shortly after download. You need admin privileges to overcome this problem.

Bricklayer programs have a “dot-bl” extension (e.g., myProgram.bl). A Bricklayer program can be run by opening it using the Bricklayer IDE (aka Bricklayer) and then clicking on the run button.

In addition to its native web viewing capabilities, the Bricklayer graphics library also ties seamlessly to various third-party display tools (see the Bricklayer documentation for more details). The two primary third-party display tools are LEGO Digital Designer (LDD) and LDraw.

Validating that an Install is Working

To validate that your installation is successful, download the following zipped Bricklayer program to any folder you like: Test Program. Navigate to that location and unzip the file. The result is a file named minecraft_birch_scene.bl.

To run Bricklayer you must do the following:

  1. Using the left mouse button, drag the target file (e.g., minecraft_birch_scene.bl) on top of the Bricklayer IDE icon. Alternately, if the Bricklayer IDE is open then drag the target file onto the text editor pane.
  2. Using the left mouse button, click on the run icon at the bottom of the Bricklayer IDE.

NOTE: To execute properly, Bricklayer programs must have a “bl” extension (e.g., myProgram.bl).

Integrating Bricklayer with Minecraft

For instructions on what additional software needs to be downloaded and installed in order to integrate Bricklayer with Minecraft go here.