View source for LMS Explorer

{{italic title|string=Explorer}}
[[File:LMS Explorer - Adventures! Magazine.jpg|thumb|The LMS ''Explorer'' in the ''LEGO Rock Raiders'' video game's opening scene]]
The '''LMS ''Explorer''''' (alternatively written as '''L.M.S. ''Explorer''''') is a fictional [[Wikipedia:Starship|starship]] in the [[LEGO Rock Raiders]] theme. The ''Explorer'' is a large ship used by the titular Rock Raiders while they explore the galaxy. In the theme's story, the ship is damaged by asteroids and its fuel supplies are drained, shown in most media to be caused by it falling into a [[Wikipedia:Wormhole|wormhole]]. It ends up drifting near an alien planet that the Rock Raiders mine to collect materials to repair and power it. The ''Explorer'' was designed for the theme's [[LEGO Rock Raiders (video game)|tie-in video game]]. No parts of it were ever released in a set, although unofficial digital recreations of it have been made.

== Design ==
[[File:Legos Come to Life RR5 01.jpg|thumb|The bridge of the ''Explorer'']]
The LMS ''Explorer'' was designed by artists at [[Data Design Interactive]] in 1998.{{R|Slugger TS}} Certain sections of the LMS ''Explorer'' were designed and constructed at [[LEGO Futura]] using Data Design's concept renders of the ship.<ref name="Adv7"/> Photographs of these LEGO models were used by [[Artworld UK]] to create a full virtual LEGO model of the ship.{{R|Slugger TS}}

Though not explicitly stated in any published media, the [[Wikipedia:Ship prefix|ship prefix]] LMS is intended to be an abbreviation of "Lego Mining Ship". This prefix is based on actual ship prefixes such as [[Wikipedia:His Majesty's Ship|HMS]] (Her/His Majesty's Ship) and [[Wikipedia:Royal Mail Ship|RMS]] (Royal Mail Ship). Some LEGO Rock Raiders comics refer to the ''Explorer'' as the HMS ''Explorer''.{{R|Slugger Explorer}}

== Game ==
[[File:OUTRO1.STR frame110.png|thumb]]
{{R|RR intro}}{{R|manual PC|p=10}}

== Print ==
[[File:Adv no10 River of Lava! panel 01.jpg|thumb|Explorer]]
The ''[[Rock Raiders (1999 book)|Rock Raiders]]'' puzzle storybook loosely follows the story of the video game, though there is no wormhole in this version. While traveling through space on a voyage home, the ''LMS Explorer'' is struck by a large asteroid, damaging it and sending it off-course. Without enough power crystals to continue back on course, the ''Explorer'' becomes stranded in orbit around an [[planet (Rock Raiders)|uncharted planet]].{{R|Knight|pp=2–3}} The Rock Raiders require [[LEGO ore]] to repair the physical damage to the ''Explorer'' and power crystals to refuel it; deposits of both materials are detected on the planet. The LMS ''Explorer'' has only thirty-seven units of power remaining upon its arrival at the planet. The ship requires eleven units of power to continue operations, leaving twenty-six units for transporting a team of Rock Raiders down to the planet. The ship's transporter requires three units of power for each of the five Rock Raiders (fifteen total), one unit for equipment for each Rock Raider (five total), and six units to transport down all vehicles.{{R|Knight|pp=4–5}} Five Rock Raiders, led by [[Docs]], are transported down to the surface of the planet, where they must use the [[Tunnel Transport]] to travel underground to its sub-surface.{{R|Knight|p=6}} After the team finds a pile of power crystals behind a layer of granite boulders, the ''Explorer'' runs out of power, and the Rock Raiders must repair the teleport platform (which was damaged during mining) so that they can send the collected power crystals and LEGO ore up to the ship.{{R|Knight|p=26}} After the Rock Raiders transport back to the ''Explorer'' too, the ship's scanner detects an alien life form aboard;{{R|Knight|pp=28–29}} a [[rock monster]] is discovered to have stowed away aboard tbe ship.{{R|Knight|p=30}}

In the follow-up book ''[[Race for Survival]]'', the LMS ''Explorer'' returns to the alien planet, here called Planet U, six months after initially being stranded there.{{R|Birkinshaw|pp=4–5}}

HADU{{R|Grant}}

== Recreation ==



Arthuriel played ''LEGO Rock Raiders'' in December 2010 and wondered if anyone had recreated a full-scale LEGO model of the LMS ''Explorer'' from the game's FMV sequences.<ref name="RRU Explorer topic"/>
He searched online, discovering and joining the site Rock Raiders United in the process, but determined that no 1:1 scale recreations existed at the time.<ref name="Slugger Explorer"/> He decided to make his own recreation and began constructing it in the [[Wikipedia:CAD software|CAD]] program [[LEGO Digital Designer]]. Due to the ''Explorer'''s size he found it difficult to make out some of the details; he rewatched the intro and outro FMV scenes multiple times trying to determine exactly which pieces were used in the ship.<ref name="RRU Explorer topic"/> While LEGO Digital Designer was initially easy for him to use, he ran into issues with certain pieces being unavailable in the program. After a month of development, when the model had reached around 16,000 pieces, LEGO Digital Designer started crashing due to the large number of pieces being displayed. Changing the program's graphics settings to the lowest options allowed him to continue to around 18,000 pieces, at which point it crashed after each piece added.<ref name="RRU Explorer topic"/>
Arthuriel decided to switch to a different LEGO CAD program, [[LeoCAD]]. He was unable to convert the LDD model for use in LeoCAD and had to start over, which let him correct mistakes.<ref name="RRU Explorer topic"/>
While LeoCAD still became slow and unstable as the model became larger, he was able to finish constructing the ''Explorer'' with it.<ref name="Slugger Explorer"/> He publicly revealed his recreation on 30 September 2011, at which point the model had around 57,300 pieces.

<ref name="RRU Explorer blog"/>

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Adv7">Yeo, Matt (ed.) (October 1999). "Behind the Scenes: Rock Raiders". ''[[LEGO Adventures!]]''. Issue 7. Egmont Fleetway Ltd. pp. 30–33. {{ISSN|1465-0738}}.</ref>
<ref name="Birkinshaw">Birkinshaw, Marie (2000) ''[[Race for Survival]]''. [[Wikipedia:DK (publisher)|Dorling Kindersley]]. {{ISBN|0-7894-5458-0}}.</ref>
<ref name="Grant">Grant, Alan (2000). ''[[Rock Raiders: High Adventure Deep Underground]]''. [[LEGO Systems, Inc]]. {{ISBN|1-903276-05-5}}.</ref>
<ref name="Knight">Knight, Anna (1999). ''[[Rock Raiders (1999 book)|Rock Raiders]]''. [[Dorling Kindersley]]. {{ISBN|0-7894-4707-X}}.</ref>
<ref name="manual PC">McPhail, Jim (13 December 1999). [https://archive.org/details/LEGORockRaiders-manual-Win-EU-2299598/mode/1up?view=theater ''LEGO Rock Raiders'' Instruction Manual (UK FRONT, BACK, I/F & I/B COVER)]. [[LEGO Media International]]. Serial no. IB2G-ROC3 2299598.</ref>
<ref name="RR intro">[[Artworld UK]] (11 August 1999). ''LEGO Rock Raiders'' intro FMV (<samp>Data/AVI/intro.avi</samp>). [[LEGO Media International]].</ref>
<ref name="Slugger Explorer">R.R. Slugger (2 January 2022). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeD5iT15_34 "How to Build the LMS Explorer from LEGO Rock Raiders! Interview with Arthuriel on 1:1 Replica!"]. YouTube.</ref>
<ref name="Slugger TS">R.R. Slugger (29 July 2022). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC39_pcTcW0 " Can We Fix the Tool Store? (Yes, We Can!) ~ LEGO Rock Raiders Step By Step Instructions "]. YouTube.</ref>

<ref name="RRU Explorer blog">Arthuriel (30 September 2011). [https://rockraidersunited.com/blogs/entry/2573-11-lms-explorer-model-download-links-the-return-of-the-thread-as-a-blog/ " 1:1 L.M.S. Explorer model - The Return of the Thread as a Blog "] (blog). Rock Raiders United. [https://web.archive.org/web/20231003220417/https://rockraidersunited.com/blogs/entry/2573-11-lms-explorer-model-download-links-the-return-of-the-thread-as-a-blog Archived] from the original on 3 October 2023.</ref>
<ref name="RRU Explorer topic">Arthuriel (30 September 2011). [https://rockraidersunited.com/topic/3082-11-scale-lms-explorer-ldrawstudio-20-file-downloads-2021-10-21-oh-hey-this-thread-is-10-years-old-and-still-going "1:1 scale L.M.S. Explorer"]. Rock Raiders United. [https://rockraidersunited.com/topic/3082-11-scale-lms-explorer-ldrawstudio-20-file-downloads-2021-10-21-oh-hey-this-thread-is-10-years-old-and-still-going Archived] from the original on 25 September 2023.</ref>
}}

[[Category:LEGO Rock Raiders]]