Intro
The LMS Explorer is the Rock Raider’s ship that serves as their home base. Crew members, vehicles, and buildings are all teleported down to Planet U using the ship’s powerful teleporter.
The LMS Explorer is only shown in the intro and outro cutscenes of the video game.
Cutscenes
Note that there are multiple versions of the intro and outro scenes.
JimbobJeffers from Rock Raiders United posted Higher Quality Intro and Cutscenes where he explained the key differences and uploaded the highest possible resolutions to YouTube.
Intro
Intro (Extended)
- Was found on promotional discs released for Rock Raiders.
- Has an additional 2 and 1/2 minutes of footage.
- Includes Jet & Doc running around the vehicle bay.
- Notably does not include music.
Outro
Outro (100%)
- Was found in the game’s files
- In theory this would be shown to users who completed every level with a score of 100%
- According to a discussion thread on Rock Raiders United, it is impossible to achieve this in practice
LMS Explorer
The Ship
As far as we know, LEGO never created a full-size physical version of the LMS Explorer. They did physically assemble partial sections of the ship, including the bridge. Photos of these sections were sent to Data Design Interactive (DDI) to use for creating 3D models.
Arthuriel from Rock Raiders United has done an incredible job creating the most accurate recreation of the LMS Explorer as a 3D model. Building a minifig-scale version of the ship would not be feasible, given that the ship would be roughly 25 feet long and require more than 58,000 pieces to complete.
Bridge
The bridge section of the ship is a truncated pyramid that sits on top of the main ship and is featured prominently in the cutscenes, so it was possible to build a fairly accurate version.
Fans recently discovered pictures from LEGO’s version that helped fill in the gaps.
Physical Version
UPDATE - As of May 1, 2024, it appears we are getting this seat as part of 60423: Downtown Streetcar and Station. Credit to Juniper for spotting this!
It also contains several prototype pieces:
- A Dark Grey
Brick, Modified Octagonal 2 x 2 x 1 - This is essentially a shorter version of
Brick, Modified Octagonal 2 x 2 x 3 1/3
Cutscene Version
The bridge seen in the cutscenes has a few key differences from the physical version.
- The corner pipe pieces are rendered in Chrome Gold instead of Chrome Silver
- All the
Tile, Modified 1 x 2 Grillepieces in the ceiling section are aligned
Hangar Bay
- Only seen in the extended intro cutscene
- Appears to be connected to the bridge via the elevator
- Docs and Jet enter this room to grab tools and vehicles before heading to the Teleport Bay
- Connected to the Teleport Bay via a large hangar door
- Contains a Granite Grinder, Small Transport Truck, and pair of Tunnel Scouts
Teleport Bay
- Seen in both the intro and the extended intro
- Contains machinery to teleport crew members and vehicles down to Planet U.
- Also contains a viewscreen that allows communication with the bridge
Reactor
- The Reactor uses energy crystals to power the LMS Explorer
- It appears for a brief moment in the intro cutscene. After the ship is struck by an asteroid, you can see the reactor powering down in a viewscreen.
- It also appears in the outro, when Sparks and Jet feed it with newly acquired energy crystals
- The Reactor also has an elevator, but it appears to be a large cargo elevator. This is different than the one that connects the bridge and the hangar bay.
- Trivia: The machine that Sparks feeds the energy crystals appears to be almost identical to a model of the Canteen building that was scrapped before the game was released.
