Support Station
The Support Station is a fictional building in the LEGO Rock Raiders theme. It is exclusive to the LEGO Rock Raiders video game, where it is an important building with a wide variety of functions. It cleans the air in caverns, allows for additional Rock Raiders to be teleported, and supplies food to hungry Rock Raiders. It is also required for many vehicles to be transported and used. It was never released in a LEGO construction set, though it is constructed out of pieces found in other LEGO Rock Raiders sets.
Design
| External video | |
|---|---|
 How to build the Support Station by R.R. Slugger at YouTube |
The Support Station is a small building consisting of three sloping walls and an overhanging roof surrounding an exposed interior space. Like many other Rock Raider buildings, the Support Station's LEGO model is built on a dark grey 8×8 LEGO brick (part #4201), though extra pieces attached to either side increases its footprint to 12×9, making it incapable of being placed in the 8×8 spaces of the Rock Raiders HQ baseplate. The building's three walls are largely constructed with dark turquoise 2×2×3 slopes (#3684a), with two grey 2×4×5 inclined support posts (#4476b) forming a doorway at the front. The sloped roof contains two grey 10×2×2 arches (#30180) from the Chrome Crusher and a dark grey dome piece (#30303) from the Tunnel Transport's Hoverboard. On the front side of the roof are two stacks of transparent round plates (#4703), one neon orange and one neon green, which function as flashing lights in-game. Two printed chevron panels (#30258) are connected to the back wall via bar handles, one on the interior and one on the exterior; these panels move in-game when the building is powered and cleaning air.[1] The building's game model is placed on a foundation textured to resemble the Rock Raiders HQ baseplate.
Game information
LEGO Rock Raiders (Windows)
In the Windows version of LEGO Rock Raiders, the Support Station is considered an advanced building.[2] It costs 3 Energy Crystals and 15 pieces of Ore (or 3 Building Studs) to construct one Support Station.[3] Its layout consists of two blocks in a 1×2 configuration, with one solid block for the building base and one entrance block below that.[4] It takes one Energy Crystal to power it.[5]
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Once it has been constructed and powered, the Support Station begins to clean the cavern air. One Support Station supplies enough air for ten Rock Raiders.[3][5] This means that each Support Station will clean the air in missions with a limited air supply for up to ten Rock Raiders; additionally, ten more Rock Raiders can also be teleported down than default, regardless of the cavern's air supply status.[6] The Support Station also supplies food, and hungry Rock Raiders will automatically stop what they are doing and go to eat at a Support Station.[7] However, it is not required for feeding Rock Raiders, as the player can simply select Rock Raiders and click "Feed Rock Raider" in their Actions Menu to make them eat.[8]
The Support Station is also important for using vehicles. Its construction allows the Hover Scout, Small Digger, and Small Transport Truck to be transported at the Teleport Pad.[9] The Support Station is also where Rock Raiders go to be trained as Drivers in order to use any land-based vehicles.[3] Nearly all vehicles require it to be constructed or upgraded before they can be transported. Without a Support Station, the Teleport Pad can only be used to teleport down Rock Raiders. The Rapid Rider is the only vehicle that does not require the Support Station (though the other aquatic vehicle, the Cargo Carrier, does).[10][11]
The Support Station has the following dependency required before it can be constructed:[3][11]
- Rock Raider
- Tool Store (Level 1)
- Teleport Pad (Level 1)
- Power Station (Level 1)
The Support Station can be upgraded twice.[5] As with all buildings, each upgrade costs 5 pieces of Ore (or 1 Building Stud).[12]
- Level 1: Upgrading it to Level 1 allows the Mining Laser and Super Teleport to be constructed.[11] It is also one of the upgrades required for transporting the Small Mobile Laser Cutter and Tunnel Scout, along with a Level 2 Teleport Pad.[13]
- Level 2: Upgrading it to Level 2 is required before the Super Teleport can transport any large vehicles. The Loader Dozer and Granite Grinder can be transported if the Super Teleport has been constructed. The Large Mobile Laser Cutter and Chrome Crusher can be transported if the Super Teleport has been upgraded to Level 1, and the Cargo Carrier can additionally be transported if the Docks has also been constructed.[11][14]
File details
In the game's configuration file, the Support Station is defined as Barracks[5] under BuildingTypes {}.[15] Its files are located in the Buildings\Barracks folder in LegoRR0.wad, and its animations are controlled by the AE file Barracks.ae.[4]
The Support Station's air purification function is defined by its OxygenCoef property, which is set to 10.0.[5] Rock Raiders have an OxygenCoef value of -1.0,[16] which means that ten Rock Raiders drain as much air as one Support Station produces. This manifests in two ways in-game:
- For each Support Station powered, an additional ten Rock Raiders can be teleported down beyond the default nine. This can be done regardless of whether the mission has a limited air supply. Changing the Support Station's
OxygenCoefto a different number will change the amount of Rock Raiders that can be teleported down by default to one less than that value, with each Support Station powered allowing only that number of additional Rock Raiders to be teleported. - In missions with a limited air supply, the Support Station will begin resupplying any used air for up to ten Rock Raiders per Support Station. The speed at which the air is resupplied is based on both each mission's individual air supply (based on the mission's
OxygenRatecode) and the amount of Rock Raiders and Support Stations in the mission. The more Rock Raiders there are, the slower the Support Stations will clean the air. If there are exactly as many Rock Raiders as can be supported by the current amount of Support Stations, the air supply will remain steady. If there are more Rock Raiders than the amount of Support Stations can support, the air supply will start draining again.
To calculate how long it will take to empty the air supply in a mission use the formula -1000/r × c × x = s, where r is the mission's OxygenRate, c is the current OxygenCoef of all objects present in the mission (by default, -1 for each Rock Raider and +10 for each powered Support Stations), x is the percentage of air remaining (0–100), and s is the time in seconds left. This only works if the current OxygenCoef is negative; if it is positive and you need to know how much time it will take for the air to refill, use -1000/r × c × (x - 100) = s.
Pre-release
The game's instruction manual lists a different upgrade tree for the Support Station than its functional one. The manual lists that upgrading it to Level 1 unlocks the Geological Center, Upgrade Station, and Ore Refinery, and that upgrading it to Level 2 unlocks the Mining Laser and Super Teleport.[3] In-game, the former three are unlocked by a Level 1 Power Station alongside the Support Station, while the latter two require only a Level 1 Support Station.[11] Despite the Super Teleport's changed dependency, all large vehicles still require a Level 2 Support Station to be transported, making the Super Teleport non-functional until then.[11][14]
PlayStation game
In the PlayStation version of LEGO Rock Raiders, the Support Station is non-functional and essentially serves as a decorative object. It can only be found in a few missions. Its models, textures, and animations are found in the file barracks.hmd in the VEHICLES PWP file (Europe)/directory (North America).
References
- ↑ R.R. Slugger (25 November 2022). How To Build The Support Station ~ LEGO Rock Raiders Step By Step Instructions. YouTube.
- ↑ Data Design Interactive (25 September 1999). LEGO Rock Raiders (Windows). LEGO Media International. Tutorial Mission "6. Constructing Advanced Buildings". File path: Rock Raiders\LegoRR1.wad\Levels\TutorialLevels\BuildTuto_02\B02.txt.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Instruction Manual, p. 65.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Data Design Interactive (25 September 1999). LEGO Rock Raiders (Windows). LEGO Media International. Support Station AE file. File path: Rock Raiders\LegoRR0.wad\Buildings\Barracks\Barracks.ae.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Main Lego Config File, lines 2787–2804.
Barracks {}section. - ↑ Main Lego Config File, line 626.
BarracksL0entry. "You have constructed a Support Station. The Air Supply will be cleaned and more Rock Raiders can be teleported to the cavern. You can now also train Rock Raiders as Drivers." - ↑ Instruction Manual, p. 58.
- ↑ Instruction Manual, pp. 28–29.
- ↑ Instruction Manual, p. 62.
- ↑ Instruction Manual, p. 71.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 Main Lego Config File, lines 3237–3265.
Dependencies {}section. - ↑ Instruction Manual, p. 61.
- ↑ Instruction Manual, pp. 76–77.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Instruction Manual, pp. 79–82.
- ↑ Main Lego Config File, lines 2058–2071.
BuildingTypes {}section. - ↑ Main Lego Config File, lines 2173–2209.
Pilot {}section.
Sources
- Data Design Interactive (25 September 1999). Main Lego Config File. LEGO Rock Raiders (Windows). LEGO Media International. File path: Rock Raiders\LegoRR1.wad\Lego.cfg.
- McPhail, Jim (13 December 1999). LEGO Rock Raiders Instruction Manual (UK FRONT, BACK, I/F & I/B COVER). LEGO Media International. Serial no. IB2G-ROC3 2299598.
