Time Raiders documentation

This article is about a game mod for LEGO Rock Raiders. The contents of this page are not relevant to the original game or to do with official media.

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Backstory

During the events of Rock Raiders, the Time Raiders are off doing God-knows-what in some other part of the galaxy. Of course, they weren’t called the Time Raiders at the time. No, that was later. Originally the Time Raiders were an escort/strike squad for the Rock Raiders fleet. The LMS Explorer is an unarmed vessel, but the LDS Geloden, the ship in this story, has plenty of firepower to defend the former, though it is much smaller[1].

After some time, the LDS Geloden attempts to contact the LMS Explorer, but fails, seeing as how they’re in completely different galaxies. The Geloden travels to about where the Explorer last was, which was where the wormhole that kicked off the events of the original game appeared. Spatial disturbances left by the wormhole make the area extremely unstable, and the presence of the Geloden causes the universe to tear open slightly, forcing the ship out of the universe and into the borderworlds.

Unable to contact the Explorer, or anyone else, the crew of the Geloden must find their way back to their universe. Many lands exist in the borderworlds, both familiar and fascinating. The key to their return may lie in the Time Spheres, strange crystalline objects that seem to transcend time. But the spheres influence alone isn’t enough, and the crew must ask for help from their future selves, the Time Raiders.

You are Schneider, a commander of one of the Geloden’s Command Ships, and one of the first to be sent down to the unknown lands. It is your duty to find a way back to the universe, but it won’t be easy. Many threats inhabit the borderworlds, some small, and others quite devastating. You’ll have to lead your own squads of defensive vehicles and infantry while keeping track of mining activities. Keep an eye out for the unusual, as anything could be helpful in your quest.

[1] The LDS Geloden is 789 studs long by 340 studs tall by 295 studs wide, which is almost two-thirds as long as the LMS Explorer while being somewhat taller.

Character Details

The Wizard

• Rank: Captain
• Color Scheme: Black and orange
• Voice code: Raspberries

Captain of the LDS Geloden. His genius has brought forth many new technologies, including perfectly integrated mechanical augmentations, sustained-stream laser weaponry, and space chess.

Tempus

• Rank: Lieutenant Commander
• Color Scheme: Green
• Voice code: 100% pure

Master tactician who also studies the effects of temporal distortion. This is important on any ship equipped with an FTL drive or wormhole generator so you can estimate how much time will have passed outside of the vessel. Though he is The Wizard's right-hand man, he is of a lower rank than you, technically.

Blast

• Rank: Munitions Engineer
• Color Scheme: Red
• Voice code: ACKNOWLEDGED

Weapons expert and engineer. He found out that all explosives-based weaponry became unstable and unsafe to use when the ship was sucked out of the universe. He loaded some explosive ordinance onto a broken-down vehicle (don't know what yet), launched it from the hangar, then shot it after a long time. The explosion was about the size of a small moon, and all that was loaded was about thirty pieces of C4. All other explosives were jettisoned afterwards. Following that, Blast figured out how to mount laser weapons onto vehicles that normally aren't weaponized as a replacement for dynamite.

Endeck

• Rank: Mineral Analyst
• Color Scheme: Green with blue accents
• Voice code: He's not a minifig (standard Lego person) so figure something out

Mineral analyst and geologist. He's bored because he hasn't seen anything new in a cavern for many years. Here is something he would likely say: "Oh, another rock cave. We've only been through eighty thousand of them. And they're all granite, aren't they? Frosting Megachugs..."

Jacuzzi

• Rank: N/A
• Color Scheme: N/A

The Geloden's AI operator. She'll give you basic training in some of the tutorial missions (there are only about three instead of LRR's eight) and will provide you with vital information during missions. Don't laugh at the name or I'll stuff up your account.

Schneider

• Rank: Commander (here, this means they control a Command Ship and lead raider squads, and nothing more)
• Color Scheme: Standard white commander jumpsuit, white and blue Command Ship
• Voice code: Just me with a different inflection. Suck it.

The player character. As the commander with the least experience, you're a bit careful but unwilling to trust people. Your Command Ship is currently being repaired due to unforeseen problems during scouting.

Jacred

• Rank: Commander
• Color Scheme: Standard white commander jumpsuit, red Command Ship
• Voice code: Always a pleasure.

A commander that has had more experience than you, but is willing to help you when necessary. Since all three commanders are being teleported into the asteroids, he will actually help you during the game. His Command Ship looks like an anvil with one of the "spikes" extended further. Unlike your Command Ship, Jacred's will move on its own to pick up and deposit materials into itself, which will go to the global material pool. He can even help construct buildings.

Glaven

• Rank: Commander
• Color Scheme: Standard white commander jumpsuit, grey Command Ship
• Voice code: We are going to be making a lot of bread.

A commander that is forty years your senior. He hates your guts, not only because you have a sort of lone wolf attitude, but also because you're "normal" aside from the basic modifications that commanders undergo. His long life is attributed to the fact that he is mechanically augmented, and thus some of his parts are artificial (ignoring the fact that plastic is artificial too). Oddly, he respects The Wizard even though Glaven is almost ten years older. Maybe they play space chess together or whatever old people do. His Command Ship looks much different than the other two since it is much older, but it can still hold its own.

Bestiary

Ghost Slugs

• Environment – All biomes, common
• Threat Level – Low
• Targets – Buildings
• Countered by – Any weapon

These slugs resemble the indigenous ones on Planet U, but they are formed from corrupted temporal energies and can slither through cracks in the spatial dimensions. They feast on Time Spheres so they can keep moving. The rapidly decaying energy used to power the Shard Shot disrupts the bodies of Ghost Slugs and thus are extremely effective.

Rock Monsters

• Environment – Rock biome, common
• Threat Level – Low
• Targets – Buildings, vehicles
• Countered by – Plasma Beam

You will remember these beasts from your travels on Planet U. They’re almost exactly like the originals, but they’re made from harder rock so they’re a little tougher than normal. They don’t act much differently, and they’re as slow as ever.

Water Monsters

• Environment – All biomes, rare
• Threat Level – High
• Targets – Aquatic vehicles, buildings close to land, Mechaugs
• Countered by – Monster Buster

Water Monsters are large, rocky, and aquatic creatures that dwell in the protoss lakes throughout the borderworlds. Given their long, round body and six fins, they may be ancestors of the Rockwhales. They are very quick and will destroy anything that disturbs it. If you plan to go into the water, make sure you have at least a Defense Tower set up, but don’t put it on the shore.

Since these will move around using RandomMove or a PickRandomFloor, they should still be able to touch the Command Ship is it's moving over water.

Crystal Spiders

• Environment – Crystal Biome, common
• Threat Level – Low
• Targets – Buildings, vehicles
• Countered by – Plasma Beam

The amount of creatures made from the elements that form the surrounding walls is truly astounding. Crystal Spiders are large, six-legged lumps of crystal that walk around in groups almost aimlessly. There appears to be two vestigial legs attached to the bottom of their heads that are used for spearing and holding prey, hence why they’re called spiders. Sometimes they’ll attack your units to get the spheres inside, but for the most part they’re fairly apathetic to your drilling activities.

Spectres

• Environment – All biomes, rare
• Threat Level – None
• Targets – None
• Countered by – Any weapon

These are glowing balls of light that gather around areas that are temporally unstable. If you see some, it could mean that a future Time Raider has left something nearby. For the most part, they just look neat. They don't quite exist in the same dimension as your raiders, so they can't be touched.

Crystal Warriors

• Environment – Crystal Biome, semi-common
• Threat Level – Medium
• Targets – Buildings, vehicles
• Countered by – Mitigator, Plasma Beam

Simply put, these are crystalline warriors that will ruin your brick. They’re much faster and stronger than Rock Monsters, but they’re bound by time. The Mitigator, which freezes time, seems to be highly effective against Crystal Monsters. If this monster is hit by a Mitigator, it stays frozen for very long time. Plasma Beams are still somewhat effective, so you should switch to those once you’ve frozen every monster in the map.

Metal Monsters

• Environment – Warped Biome, rare
• Threat Level – High
• Targets – Buildings, vehicles, raiders, your sanity
• Countered by – Monster Buster

Merged with our technology, Metal Monsters are Rock Monsters that assimilated the machines that they wrecked throughout the borderworlds. This may have something to do with your future selves. You need to take extreme measures when encountering these things, as they have long-range missiles that can reach well beyond the range of the Monster Buster, plus a short-range laser that can devastate your buildings. If you see one, stop all mining activities, turn on Action Stations!, and man the laser harpoons.

Vehicles

Command Ship

• Purpose – Mobile Tool Store
• Terrain – All
• Driven by – Autonomous
• Cost – None, cannot teleport

The Command Ship is your base of operations for just about every level. Like the Tool Store, it stores materials and equipment as well as teleporting raiders into the caverns. The Command Ship has the advantage of being able to move around, and it is the only thing that can move over Time Lava. It is very slow, but it is hard to hit. If it’s destroyed or you teleport it out of the level, you will instantly lose.

Slimy Slug

• Purpose – Reconnaissance
• Terrain – Land
• Driven by – Drivers
• Cost – None, cannot teleport

The Slimy Slug is an easter egg that you can find in a few levels. It’s basically a reskinned Hover Scout. It has no upgrades. If you don’t want it, you can teleport it out of the cavern to get a Time Sphere.

Transport Buggy

• Purpose – Material collection
• Terrain – Land
• Driven by – Drivers
• Cost – Two spheres

The Transport Buggy is faster than the Small Transport Truck, but with a smaller cargo capacity and different upgrades. It can only hold two materials, and it can upgrade to go much faster than normal or to get a rollcage that reduces damage from landslides. Note that if this vehicle is attacked by a monster, the materials will fall out.

Bulldozer

• Purpose – Rubble clearing
• Terrain – Land
• Driven by – Drivers
• Cost – Three spheres

Bulldozers are an absolute necessity in Time Raiders. Rubble can’t be cleared by the raiders’ shovels because the rock contains too many dense elements/the crystal is like broken glass/warped stuff is weird. Not all rubble contains ore though, and ore can be found in walls without needing to shovel, so in some levels you might not even use bulldozers that often. Almost every level will start with at least one. As for upgrades, it can get a rollcage to make it nearly impervious to landslides, as well as an engine upgrade.

Wave Master (actual set)

• Purpose – Shore drilling, aquatic reconnaissance
• Terrain – Water
• Driven by – Sailors
• Cost – One sphere

The Wave Master is a speedboat with a plasma cutter affixed to the bow. It can drill shoreline rock and it’s very fast in both movement and drill time. It’s also cheap, but it can’t upgrade.

Digtank

• Purpose – Drilling
• Terrain – Land
• Driven by – Drivers
• Cost – Three? Four? spheres

Digtanks are the only traditional drilling vehicles in Time Raiders, with a bit of a twist. It can upgrade to get a drilling laser so you can drill multiple walls at once. Since raiders can’t destroy Hard Walls, you have to rely on Digtanks until you get an Upgrade Tower, but they take several minutes to get through a Hard Wall without the laser upgrade. Otherwise they’re helpful in drilling through seams and other rock quickly. Do note that they are a bit glitchy.

Howitzer

• Purpose – Base defense
• Terrain – Land
• Driven by – Drivers
• Cost – Eight spheres

Howitzers are large tanks that fire lasers instead of solid ammunition (because something screwed up the explosives derp). It’s extremely slow, it’s expensive to make, and its upgrades are expensive, but it mounts the powerful Monster Buster laser right away. The cannon is almost as long as the tank itself, which is about two squares in length. Its upgrades include a better engine, a scanner, and a second cannon.

Armoured Transport Truck (actual set, but not in name)

• Purpose – Material collection
• Terrain – Land
• Driven by – Drivers
• Cost – Four spheres, maybe some protoss too?

The Armoured Transport Truck is the answer to the buggy’s cargo capacity problem. It’s a tank with three times the capacity and enough armour plating to survive several landslides or accidental laser blasts. It also won’t lose its cargo when attacked by monsters. Upgrades include ridiculous amounts of additional armour that makes it invincible to landslide with the downside of slowing it down to a crawl, and an engine upgrade that offsets this. I’m also thinking of allowing a drilling laser to be added so you can convert this into a drilling tank, but I’ll have to think about the balance. Though I'm basing it on a real set, I'm thinking of decreasing the size since it's huge; almost 2x3 squares by itself.

Assault Cruiser (RES-Q Cruiser)

• Purpose – Aquatic scanning and defense, chauffeuring
• Terrain – Water
• Driven by – Sailors
• Cost –Six spheres

This is the other water vehicle in Time Raiders that fulfills a defensive role. It’s a large turbojet hovercraft with two Monster Buster cannons, a Geologist in the passenger canopy, and the ability to carry small land vehicles. Like the Wave Master, it can’t upgrade, but it doesn’t need to have any more abilities. It can carry the Transport Buggy, the Bulldozer, the Slimy Slug, and maybe the Digtank.

Pyrite Punisher

• Purpose – Drilling
• Terrain – Land
• Driven by – Drivers
• Cost – Ten spheres, restricted access (via clearance monsters)

The Pyrite Punisher is one of two mechs in Time Raiders. It’s about three raiders tall, is quick to move around, and punches through walls rather than drilling. A few punches will take out most walls. It can upgrade to replace its fists with drills and it can also get a Monster Buster that orbits around the mech.

Unraveler

• Purpose – Full support
• Terrain – Land
• Driven by – Drivers
• Cost – None, cannot teleport

This is the one-of-a-kind, quad-legged, drills-for-arms, lazer-eye mech that you’ll be authorized to use in a few missions. It takes out any wall in a matter of second, and its movement speed is acceptable. The head contains a Monster Buster lazer, though it has problems hitting targets that are too close. It also acts like a mobile Support Station, so even though it leaves behind about twenty spheres, you may not want to teleport it out. It has no upgrades.

Buildings

DEVELOPERS PLEASE NOTE: The Tower buildings are uncreative in terms of their foundation shapes. If you have an idea for a better shape, put it in the talk page for this page. If you have VIP access, you can leave your ideas in the topic in that subforum too.

Command Ship

• Purpose – Mobile Tool Store
• Shape – 1x1
• Cost – None, cannot teleport
• Dependencies – Command Ship UP1 HAHAHAHA NO UPGRADES AVAILABLE

The Command Ship is your base of operations for just about every level. Like the Tool Store, it stores materials and equipment as well as teleporting raiders into the caverns. The Command Ship has the advantage of being able to move around, and it is the only thing that can move over Time Lava. It is very slow, but it is hard to hit. If it’s destroyed or you teleport it out of the level (haha you can't because eye'm a genius), you will instantly lose.

Power Station

• Purpose – Sphere Refinery
• Shape – L shaped, 3 squares
• Cost – 12 Protoss, 2 spheres
• Dependencies – Time Raider UP1

The Power Station is proof that old technology can work for new things. Aside from a different color scheme, it’s the same building as before.

Landing Pad

• Purpose – Vehicle creation
• Shape – 2x3
• Cost – 30 Protoss
• Dependencies – Time Raider UP1, Power Station

The Landing Pad creates or is the teleportation spot for every land vehicle in Time Raiders. It is almost identical to the Super Teleport in the PS1 game. The Landing Pad also offers SnaxULike and trains drivers.

Docks

• Purpose – Vehicle creation
• Shape – 1x3 (1 water)
• Cost – 15 protoss, 1 sphere
• Dependencies – Time Raider UP1, Power Station

The Docks look like a real-life dock but with an auger off to the side that collects liquid protoss and converts it into usable ore. With NPL scripts, having a Docks will cause protoss ore to generate over time, so you can collect ore even if your Bulldozers get wrecked.

Stabilization Station

• Purpose – Oxygen supply
• Shape – 1x1
• Cost – CHECK
• Dependencies – CHECK

The Stabilization Station is the Support Station of Time Raiders. Though it’s technically increasing the oxygen supply in the caverns, my explanation for what it does is repairing the time stream because the presence of things from outside of the borderworlds causes the stream (or thread, blar terminology) to fray. Thus, everything, and I do mean everything, has an OxygenCoef and will put strain on the stream you’re in. This does mean that you need more Stabilization Stations to make more vehicles and buildings. It also means that a horde of monsters can kill you merely by existing. Level designers take note: having dozens of monsters emerge at once is potentially lethal.

Protoss Refinery

• Purpose – Vehicle creation
• Shape – 1x3?
• Cost – CHECK
• Dependencies – CHECK

A Protoss Refinery is essential for creating the tower buildings, even though no building is dependent to it. The towers are bloody expensive, costing dozens of protoss, but with a refinery that cost is lowered dramatically to a few building studs. Of course, if you had the resources you could build the towers with raw protoss, but that would also take a long time as every piece would need to be placed down individually. Thus, this is truly the gateway into the sector of advanced buildings.

Doppler Tower

• Purpose – Detritus
• Shape – 1x1
• Cost – CHECK
• Dependencies – CHECK

The Doppler Tower is basically worthless since Command Ships have radar installed in them.

Upgrade Tower

• Purpose – Upgrading vehicles
• Shape – 1x1
• Cost – CHECK
• Dependencies – CHECK

The Upgrade Tower is the key to drilling through Hard Walls. Because lazers are more effective at drilling through rock than drills (six seconds versus the Digtank's twenty), putting a lazer onto a vehicle means you can access the areas behind Hard Walls without waiting for your vehicles to be attacked. It can also toughen some vehicles against environmental damage (as monster damage is a constant) or make them faster, like the original Upgrade Station. Though it's a building, it is a robot.

Defense Tower

• Purpose – Base defense
• Shape – 1x1
• Cost – CHECK
• Dependencies – CHECK

Defense Towers are crucial in defending your base when your raiders are being stupid. They’re Monster Buster cannons, which have a range of 250 I believe (remind me to check) and can destroy a standard monster in one hit, generally. They do have a cooldown time of around three seconds, so keep that in mind. Also keep in mind that they’ll do similar damage to your own units, and they can’t drill walls.

Distributor Tower

• Purpose – Unit healing and reinforcement
• Shape – 1x1
• Cost – CHECK
• Dependencies – CHECK

This is your friend. It’s a short-range lazer that heals things. Make one as soon as you can. That’s all you need to know.

T3DM (Tesla Fences)

• Purpose – Base defense
• Shape – 1x1
• Cost – None
• Dependencies – Time Raider, Power Station

T3DMs are like Electric Fences, but they hit any threat that tries to get through, unless I'm trying to give you a stroke. The electric arc is much larger and spectacular, but also very loud.