Guide: How to run LEGO Rock Raiders

Always wanted to play Lego Rock Raiders again after all these years but getting it to work on any modern Windows seems impossible? Fear not as this page will explain step by step how to get this old game to run aswell as how to mod and overhaul the entire game!

TLDR

Mount the iso to install the game, run the installer and go into: "C:\Program Files (x86)\LEGO Media\Games\Rock Raiders".

Download this (contains everything to run the game) and set the compatabilty options on LegoRR.exe to run in 16bit color and Windows XP SP3. Then launch the Big installation shortcut and enjoy the game.

Get the game itself

Before we start, you do need a copy of Lego Rock Raider, while you can buy from places like ebay, you can also look around online if someone archived the game with your prefered language. We don't condone privacy so it's up to you by which means you aquire the game.

Languages

The game came out in the following languages:

• Czech
• Dutch (Nederlands)
• English
• Spanish (Español)
• Danish (Dansk)
• German (Deutsch)
• French (Français)
• Hebrew
• Italian (Italiano)
• Japanese (にほん)
• Korean (text only)
• Norway (Norsk)
• Russian
• Swedish (Svenska)
• Portuguese (Portuguese)
• Polish (Polski)
• Chinese/Mandarin? (audio only)

This guide is assuming an iso is used where the full version of the cutscene's and the master executable (this removes safedisc from LRR) is already included. An original disc does not include the same as what is found in an archived iso! TODO: find a physical LRR disc and try to install it and see what the differences are, document how to download and place the master executable, aswell as moving the cutscene's from the disc!

Alter/mod the game

This guide will later explain the options how to run the game in different ways. Below is a table and naming schema that explains what the differences are and how the guide referes to any acronyms.

Different ways to play

Acronym	Description	Recommended	Vanilla	Improved visuals and stability	Maintained	Modding
LRR	Original		X			~
OpenLRR	Opensource project of LRR (like OpenRCT2)	Faithful & maintained	X	X	X	~
LRR Baz's Mod	Baz's Mod is a large scale "overhaul" modification					X
LRRCE	Community Edition with improved stability, visuals, and easy means of modding the game!			X		X

Install Lego Rock Raiders on Windows 10/11

Assuming you have an .iso file with the game in your Downloads folder, the first step is to mount this iso file. So Windows will see it as you have a physical disc drive attached!

Double click on the .iso file:

Now you'll be brought to this window. Or navigate to the drive with the RR icon:

Double click on Setup.exe:

Choose your language of choice:

These are the options of the Dutch installer, yours should have your language of choice

After clicking which language you want to install, a familair installer shows:

That color, is it coincidence? I think not!

Hit Next and agree to the disclaimer. Let it install in: "C:\Program Files (x86)\LEGO Media\Games\Rock Raiders".

If it asks you to install Direct X, you can decline as it's not needed!

A reboot also isn't needed!

You're now brought to the shortcuts to the game window, you can remove everything except the Big installation. The difference is that the Big installation has a flag behind to tell Lego Rock Raiders exe to run in fullscreen ( -best). The normal installer has flags to reduce the following: (  -reducesamples -reduceanimation -reducepromeshes -reduceflics -reduceimages).

You should end up with this in your Rock Raiders Startmenu list:

Only start menu option needed

You can remove the Standard installation shortcut from your desktop aswell. To play the game in windowed mode you must remove the -best flag in the shortcuts in the Target field in Lego Rock Raiders - Big Installation on your desktop and the folder above this text. Below is an example how to always be given the choice to play fullscreen or windowed:

It's adviced to rename the shortcut to just Lego Rock Raiders

You can also right click on the Dvd-station and click on Eject as the installer is no longer needed.

This concludes how to install Lego Rock Raiders in your language of choice on Windows 10/11.

Save file locations

Depending if you run the game with Admin or not, will affect where the game can access your save files! For this reason alone, it's adviced to always run the program with compatability mode turned on with Windows XP (Service Pack 3).

How to configure this will be explained in the following subheading: "Get the into movie and cutscene's to work again and make TNT not crash the game".

• If you accidantly run the game withoud Admin and you save your game, the save data will be stored in: %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\LEGO Media\Games
• If you run the game with Admin and you save your game, the save data will be stored in the location where you run the game from: C:\Program Files (x86)\LEGO Media\Games\Subfolderwhereyouranthegame/Data/Saves/

If you want to always be sure to run the game with Admin, you can enable in the properties of the LegoRR.exe to always open this program with Admin:

There's no need to do this if you check compatabilty mode ON to Windows XP SP3

How to run Lego Rock Raiders on Windows 10/11

This paragraph will start from a fresh installed Lego Rock Raiders installation directory and each issue that arrises will be explained and a fix will be provided. Continue reading futher to fix additional parts of the game. After getting Lego Rock Raiders to work, you can choose to make additional copies of the game installation directory and change the game by modding. It's definitly worth your time to play OpenLRR aswell as the other options.

To start the game, simply double click on Lego Rock Raiders - Big Installation (it's suggested to rename it to Lego Rock Raiders).

Missing d3drm.dll

First time launching you'll get this error in your language where you're missing d3drm.dll.

Missing d3drm.dll

If you get the message that the program may not be correctly installed, you can click on cancel/on the red cross as we're going to fix it ourselfs!

This error comes because the game can't communicatie how to draw everything in game properly to Windows. The fix for this is to download the following d3drm.dll: http://dege.freeweb.hu/dgVoodoo2/bin/D3DRM.zip unzip the content to the following location:

C:\Program Files (x86)\LEGO Media\Games\Rock Raiders . You will be prompted to paste the dll file as an administrator. You should now have the following:

Try running the game again.

No DirectX 3D accelerator could be found

The reason for this error is that while we have Direct X Media, this came requires to also talk to Windows how to draw the 3D parts of the game.

Inorder to fix this issue, dgVoodoo2 is needed, it can be downloaded here: https://github.com/dege-diosg/dgVoodoo2/releases/latest and make sure to download dgVoodoo2_xx_y.zip . The file with dbg is meant for debugging which isn't needed and may run worse.

You can unpack the zip and you copy the following contents to C:\Program Files (x86)\LEGO Media\Games\Rock Raiders:

• dgVoodoo.conf
• dgVoodooCpl.exe
• MS/x86/D3D8.dll
• MS/x86/D3DImm.dll
• MS/x86/DDraw.dll

Make sure that your installation directory looks like this:

We'll tweak the configuration of dgVoodoo2 by running dgVoodooCpl.exe as an Administrator (right click on the exe and click run as admin).

The first step you must do, is to click on the .\ button. You'll see that the Config folder / Running instance path changes to that of your current installation of Lego Rock Raiders (important). Click on the DirectX tab and uncheck dgVoodoo Watermark. Hit Apply and then OK.

Two ways to verify if your change was applied succesfully, is to notice that the last time the file was changed is updated to the current time. Another way to verify is to open the file dgVoodoo.conf and look for the word: "dgVoodooWatermark". It should have false after the "=".

Now try to run the game one more time.

Mode Selection

If you don't set -best flag in the target field of the shortcut you see this.

The Driver means that it will use the files you've added from dgVoodoo2, you can only choose Full Screen for now but if you wish to play in Window keep on reading futher. For now hit OK.

The game will load fully, run and even playing levels itself is working just no music..! Congratulations cadet you've done it! But keep on reading as there's more we can do to improve and restore some functaionality like Windowed, music and even the intro movie!

Fix intro, cutscene's and TNT game crash

To restore the intro and cutscene's and fix the issue of TNT crashing the game, right click on the LegoRR.exe and go to Compability. Check the Compabilitymode and choose Windows XP (Service Pack 3).

Compatibility mode fixes bugs, cutscene's and even save files! You should enable this!

Click on Apply and then OK. Next time you run the game it will always ask you to run as an Administrator but the Lego company intro aswell as the game intro will play out fully!

Enable Windowed mode

Inorder to play in windowed go into the properties of the LegoRR.exe and go to Compability and enable Reduced Colormode and choose 16 bits.

Enables Windowed mode!

Now when you run the game withoud -best flag, you can finnaly choose Window and then hit OK.

The game's intro will now also work in windowed mode! Do know that the fixed resolution of 640x480 will be used in all cases.

How to restore the music in Lego Rock Raiders

If you wish to restore just the original music that should play, download the following zip: https://rockraidersunited.com/files/dl-r258/ and copy the entire content of the zip file into your installation directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\LEGO Media\Games\Rock Raiders . Your installation now should look like this:

If you want more then 3 songs ingame, you can add additional music by downloading this zip file: https://rockraidersunited.com/files/lego_rock_raiders/resources/lrr-music-collection-ogg-r259/

Credit to the original authors of this work.

• Tracks 01 - 09 are from the LRR Playstation game.
• Tracks 10 - 12 are from the LRR PC game.

Copy the .ogg tracks into the music folder in: C:\Program Files (x86)\LEGO Media\Games\Rock Raiders\Music

You can even add your own .ogg files in here if you want!

This concludes setting up the pure vanilla methode of Lego Rock Raiders, while you may want to go ahead and play the game, you should consider backing up your installation directory as a back-up, aswell as to create copies so you can enjoy the alterations/improvements made by the Lego Rock Raiders community!

Navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\LEGO Media\Games and right click and click compress to Zip file to create a backup. This zip will be placed on your desktop but you can move it back into the aformentioned directory.

How to play openLRR

This is the recommended methode of playing the game, as it's the only one that's being maintend and is also trying to make a faithful improvement of the original game.

This paragraph assumes that you have a working Lego Rock Raiders installation directory. It's strongly adviced to create a copy of this directory and rename it from Rock Raiders - copy to OpenLRR.

First download the latest release from: https://github.com/trigger-segfault/OpenLRR/releases/latest from there copy the content of the OpenLRR and paste them into: C:\Program Files (x86)\LEGO Media\Games\OpenLRR . Your directory should look like this:

Create a shortcut from your desktop to: C:\Program Files (x86)\LEGO Media\Games\OpenLRR\OpenLRR.exe . It's not adviced to add -best as you will always launch in windowed mode. Instead manually choose if you wish to play in Full Screen 640x480 32 bit color mode.

Lastly, right click on OpenLRR.exe and run it in compability mode for Windows XP (Service Pack 3) so that cutscene's and the intro work again. The bug with TNT is fixed in OpenLRR.

It's adviced to play in windowed mode so you can access some additional debug/options.

Don't forget to also back-up OpenLRR in C:\Program Files (x86)\LEGO Media\Games just to be sure.

This concludes setting up the ideal way of playing Lego Rock Raiders with OpenLRR. Continue reading how to setup Baz's mod which completly overhauls the core game itself!

How to play Baz's mod

Baz's mod is an overhaul of the core game. This paragraph assumes that you have a working Lego Rock Raiders installation directory. It's strongly adviced to create a copy of this directory and rename it from Rock Raiders - copy to Rock Raiders Baz's mod.

Download the installer for the overhaul here: https://oresome.rockraidersunited.com/download/477 . You can run the RRUBazsModxx.exe and choose to just run it. Continue through the installer and also agree that all your walrus are belonging to Baz now and that the Koala Bear of the Mountain Pass would be pleased with your agreement.

Continue through the installer and also agree that all your walrus are belonging to Baz now and that the Koala Bear of the Mountain Pass would be pleased with your agreement.

Do change the default path to the copy we made for Baz's Mod to install in: C:\Program Files (x86)\LEGO Media\Games\Rock Raiders Baz's mod .

Your game is now altered and you can see the slight changes in your installation directory already (different dates for the .wad files, and the capital lettering of WAD).

Make sure to go into LegoRR.exe and change the compatability to run under Windows XP (Service Pack 3) and if you wish to run windowed, to reduce the color to 16 bit.

Again feel free to make a shortcut from your desktop to C:\Program Files (x86)\LEGO Media\Games\Rock Raiders Baz's mod\LegoRR.exe . You can append -best in the target so it launches in fullscreen mode all the time. Rename the shortcut to something like Lego Rock Raiders Baz's mod. If you want a different icon you can download the ico file here: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/617746980688625693/1206282304847224842/256x256.ico?ex=65db70f1&is=65c8fbf1&hm=a86156bd98083e29152bd4b3e13ae62990d5abe377ce1fc188868df655bbdd4a& . You can place the .ico file in the Baz's mod folder and in the properties of the shortcut you're making you can navigate to the same folder and choose the .ico picture.

And yes, do zip in C:\Program Files (x86)\LEGO Media\Games the Rock Raiders Baz's mod as back-up!

You have now setup Baz's mod and can play the overhaul of the game! The last part of this wiki page will explain how to setup Lego Rock Raiders Community Edition with Cafetaria which allows you to apply mods to change the game itself to your liking, withoud the need of extracting the wad files, editting source code and compiling it back into the wad files.

How to run Lego Rock Raiders Community Edition with Cafetaria to mod

Note that while this paragraph will explain how to set this up, this project is no longer maintained and actually has some problems with because of that. Nevertheless for completion and the easier methode of applying mods start with making a copy again of your Rock Raiders folder and rename it to Rock Raiders Community Edition.

First download and unzip Lego Rock Raiders Community Edition: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/617746980688625693/1206277730744799252/LRRCE_v1.0.3.1.zip?ex=65db6cae&is=65c8f7ae&hm=d1f642b2bc7484a28f00013417f2cf3e14cfc9a99092ac83978e1f52a493fb81& (Thanks to baraklava sharing this with me through Discord). Put the contents of the zip folder into C:\Program Files (x86)\LEGO Media\Games\Rock Raiders Community Edition .

Second download and unzip Cafetaria: https://rockraidersunited.com/files/lego_rock_raiders/tools/cafeteria-10-beta-7-r355/

Copy the content into C:\Program Files (x86)\LEGO Media\Games\Rock Raiders Community Edition . Your folder should look something like:

Create a shortcut to Cafetaria to your Desktop, and set the compatabilty and color mode on LegoRRCE.exe.

Next download the following mods, it's not adviced to use High-Poly model mods as they slow down the game alot and can even crash it:

• Aiden's Improvement Pack v1.3
• Improvements Pack
• Community Edition Core
• Enhanced biomes
• If you want to play custom maps from Aiden, install the following:
  • Custom level setup
    • Level 1 Ice Sanctuary
    • Level 2 Bolt Molt
    • Level 3 Cunning Canyons
    • Level 4 Xiron
    • Level 5 RingOfFire
    • Level 6 Hard Luck
    • Level 7 Water Lots of Fun 2
    • Level 8 Christchurch

List and order of the mods! Important if you want them all to work properly!

Start Cafetaria.exe and click on Start Setup (if you get an error, you have to install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x86) from here: https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x86.exe

After Start Setup has finished, click on OK and you'll be greeted by a an empty Mod Manager. Click on the plus icon and add all the mods you downloaded.

Enable all the mods you downloaded and you can use the picture on the right to know the correct order so everything loads nicely!

Under Tools you can verify if Community Edition is set to True. You can adjust your LRR Resolution to your liking (you must Re-Build the game then) and choose which Parameters you want to enable. Click on Re-Build game, if it hangs just let it continue it will complete in 10 or so seconds. Click Start Rock Raiders CE.

Your now able to play with mods and even custom resolutions both in windowed and full screen. Aswell as easily setting extra options like bypassing the intro! You may need to sometimes tweak the order of mods that are being loaded, but once your happy make sure to also back-up that game directory especially.

This concludes the entire guide step by step including all needed parts, backup and shortcuts to run each version of this game that has come out. Enjoy!