Granite Grinder

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Art of the Granite Grinder from the LEGO Rock Raiders video game

The Granite Grinder is a fictional mining vehicle in the LEGO Rock Raiders theme.

It has a large chrome drill and large robot/walker feet that pivot back and forth.

Art of the Granite Grinder with Engine and Drill upgrades

The Granite Grinder was designed by Jens Kronvold Frederiksen at LEGO Futura.[1]

Set information

The Granite Grinder was released as LEGO set #4940 The Granite Grinder in 1999.[2] It was advertised as containing 108 pieces and includes the minifigure Axle.[3] It was released in the United States as Granite Grinder on 1 July 1999 with a retail price of $16.50.[4][3] In the United Kingdom it was released in August 1999.[2] In Russia it released in September 1999.[5]

Game appearances

The Granite Grinder in-game

In the Windows version of LEGO Rock Raiders, the Granite Grinder is classified as a Large Vehicle.[6] It costs three Energy Crystals to teleport down one Granite Grinder.[7] It teleports down at the Super Teleport.[8] Rock Raiders must be trained as drivers to use it.

The Granite Grinder moves at a speed of 0.5 blocks per second. It takes it 0.8 seconds to drill Dirt, 2 seconds to drill Loose Rock, 180 seconds (3 minutes) to drill Hard Rock, and 4 seconds to drill Seams.[6]

The Granite Grinder has the following dependency:[7][9]

The Granite Grinder has the following upgrades:[7]

  • Engine: Costs 20 pieces of Ore (4 Building Studs). This upgrade increases the vehicle's speed to 0.8 blocks per second, a 60% increase.[6] Two extra turbines are attached to the bottoms of the arch piece.
  • Drill: Costs 20 pieces of Ore (4 Building Studs). This upgrade increases the vehicle's drilling speed to 0.4 seconds for Dirt, 1 second for Loose Rock, 150 seconds (2.5 minutes) for Hard Rock, and 2 seconds for Seams.[6] This doubles the speed for most rock types, but is only a 16.67% increase for Hard Rock. The vehicle's chrome drill is removed and replaced by two drills positioned on each side of the original, held in place by two 2×10 plates.
  • Scanner: Costs 5 pieces of Ore (1 Building Stud). This upgrade gives the vehicle a scanning radius of 5 blocks.[6] A large scanner, identical to the one that the Chrome Crusher has, is attached to the top of the vehicle.

The game's manual refers to the Granite Grinder's legs enabling it to cross rubble and debris with ease.[7] However, no vehicles are slowed down by rubble in the game.

Internally, the Granite Grinder is uniquely made of two objects: WalkerLegs and WalkerBody.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag [5] [2] [1] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [3] [17]

[8] [7]

[18] [6] [9] }}

Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 Frederiksen, Jens Kronvold [lego] (11 April 2019). "Hello there. I’m Jens Kronvold Frederiksen. I'm the Design Director for LEGO and have been designing LEGO® Star Wars™ sets for the past 20 years. Ask Me Anything!". Reddit. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 LEGO Group (1999). "Rock Raiders". LEGO catalogue "New for 99". LEGO UK Ltd. pp. 6–7.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 LEGO Shop At Home Services (1999). "Get the Brickonium Before the Rock Monster Gets You!". LEGO Shop-At-Home. Summer 1999 "Rockin' Adventures". LEGO Systems, Inc. pp. 4–5.
  4. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named c99am
  5. 5.0 5.1 LEGO Group (1999). "Rock Raiders". LEGO catalogue "1999" (Russia). LEGO Russia Ltd. pp. 42–43. Item no. 4321375-SNG.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Main Lego Config File, line 2670–2697. WalkerDigger {} section.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Instruction Manual, p. 79.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Instruction Manual, p. 70.
  9. 9.0 9.1 Main Lego Config File, lines 3237–3265. Dependencies {} section.
  10. Grant, Alan (2000). "What's up Docs?". Rock Raiders: High Adventure Deep Underground. LEGO Systems, Inc. pp. 30–39. ISBN 1-903276-05-5.
  11. Grant, p. 6.
  12. Grant, pp. 14–15.
  13. Grant, Alan (2000). "Let's Get Building". Rock Raiders: High Adventure Deep Underground. LEGO Systems, Inc. pp. 46–48. ISBN 1-903276-05-5.
  14. Birkinshaw, Marie (2000) "Quadrant 14.". Race for Survival. Dorling Kindersley pp. 14–17. ISBN 0-7894-5458-0.
  15. Birkinshaw, pp. 20–21.
  16. Birkinshaw, pp. 40–41.
  17. Pickering, David; Turpin, Nick; Jenner, Caryn (eds.) (1999). "The Design Concept". The Ultimate LEGO Book. DK publishing. pp. 30–31. ISBN 0-7894-4691-X.
  18. Main Lego Config File, line 2016–2031. VehicleTypes {} section.