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Hi there, I said I would analyze the (available) code to Lego Rock Raiders and see what I can do with it and today I have come to a verdict. I will be able to reconstruct the game engine with the data I have available and the insights created by just looking at the overall configuration of RR and the game mechanics. It won't be easy nor will it be a swift task but it can be done and it will be done. One of my work projects has been postponed til 2017 and the other one is almost done so I feel like I can start on Rock Raiders Reloaded come next week and below is what I will start working on and what I will be planning to do for now with the project. When I start I will be working on: - The base engine (camera controls, HUD, resource control) - Starter elements (Tool Station, Rock Raider, Solid Rock, Dirt, Drills and Shovels) - The start of the Rock Raider AI system (I noticed how bare bone it actually is in the original game and will improve quite a bit) - Basic map design. - Keeping everybody up-to-date with what is going on. What I am planning to do with the project itself: - Recreate the Rock Raiders experience the best I can. - Improve AI for everything. - Make modding a lot easier on the new platform. - Fix a few things that were broken/glitched in the base game (Ore Refinery using more ore than it needs because of zealous Rock Raiders; Trucks dumping more resources than a site needs;) - Redo the way that drilling and using lasers on walls works by giving the walls HP instead of the system that RR used. - Change the Laser Towers into base defense structures which engage enemies in their range when a red alert is active and maybe nerf their EC usage or just remove that altogether. - Create a way of patching that makes sure you don't have to download the whole project every time there's an update. What I am planning for when the project is stable and has what it needs: - Keep improving the project. - Create a multiplayer mode (co-op for now, PvP in whatever form will require some more thought beforehand). - Work on a more complex sequel to Rock Raiders with more resources, buildings, vehicles and a ton more. Let me know what you guys think so far and I'm curious for your opinions and ideas.

Game Extractor has had the ability to extract LEGO Digital Designer LIF files for a while, but since Game Extractor isn't very stable, I wrote my own LIF extractor in Python. The download contains the Python source file for use with a python interpreter, as well as Windows 32 bit and Windows 64 bit executables. Download LIF Extractor GitHub For those of you who will probably ignore the Readme.txt file entirely, here's the information on it: You accept full responsibility for how you use this program. This program is released under GNU GPLv3. LIF Extractor is a command line utility for extracting the LIF files found in LEGO Digital Designer. It will extract all files contained inside the LIF archives, into folders adjacent to the archive it was called on. The LIFExtractor.py file requires a python installation to run. The executables found in the folders have no dependencies. Choose the proper folder for your operating system. The Python script has been tested to work on Python versions 2.7 through 3.2. To extract LIF files, pass the path to the LIF files as command line arguments to the program. On Windows, this can be done by dragging and dropping the LIF files onto the LIFExtractor.exe icon in the explorer window. This program was created to allow for interoperability with the LEGO Digital Designer formats. In order to properly read the LEGO Digital Designer formats, it is necessary to access the data contained with the LIF file archives.

I've noticed that people using models ripped from LI1 haven't had the smoothing of them accurate to their appearance in the real game. Maybe this is something that can be done automatically by the extractor at some point (paging @Hamhock666), but for now, here's what to do. In short: The smoothing/vertex normals in LI1 are tied to the materials. I'm not sure whether they're intrinsically tied together in the model format, or if it's just a convention the artists used, but either way, that's how it seems to be done. Certain materials have all the vertices that use them welded together, others leave them flat shaded. This is why there's "duplicate" materials like LEGOWHITE vs LEGOWHITEFLAT; the only difference between them besides the names is the intended shading (smooth vs flat shading). If you want it more step by step...