A playthrough of the LEGO Rock Raiders custom level "Hell's Rivers", a map made by LordZakida (‪@LordZakida‬) in 2010.
This map is a replacement for Rocky Horror, changing the entire level layout and greatly increasing the erosion speed. The map consists of a large valley that gradually fills with lava, with a number of safer caverns running alongside it. While the lava does not threaten your base, it will quickly block off areas you need to reach to win the mission. The level's objective is unchanged.
Though the map would normally use a Rock world texture like Rocky Horror, I replaced it with a custom lava texture by Amauros, as it looked more appropriately hellish. I would like to start using custom biomes more, as long as it doesn't affect people's perceptions of the actual maps too much.
Review: Aside from trying to build a Support Station in time at the beginning, I didn't find this mission to be super challenging; I have beaten it before though, so for a new player it would definitely be hard. Racing the erosion was still tense, especially in the upper lava path that led to the recharge seam (unfortunately that area ended up being pointless because the AI refused to recharge any energy crystals, which is out of the map maker's control - no idea what caused that).
The map is very large, and some of the space in the southeast part (where the lava chasm ends) felt too empty, but it was fun exploring the caverns in the middle and south parts. I'm never a fan of straight square caves, but I could ignore it in this case. The river was interesting, though unfortunately Rock Raiders being able to walk along walls in some places spoiled the challenge a bit. I enjoyed the laser puzzles in the north and south areas despite recharging not working - lasers really are fun to use, it's just how weak they are in the unmodded game that stinks, and I appreciate Manic Miners overhauling them. While I was probably overly-prepared for the final push with all those Transport Trucks, it was still an exciting ending to the mission, and I'd definitely like to see more maps do something like that with a sudden massive threat approaching right when you're about to win.
The level does have some odd terrain height issues, such as the lava climbing up hills while that one river bank in the center was flat with the lava. The weirdest one, however, was the end of the river near HQ - for some reason it wouldn't let me build a Docks right there.
I really enjoyed this map, and recommend it if you're looking for a challenge. Having the erosion threaten what you need for your goal rather than having to defend your base makes it less stressful than many other erosion-based levels, while still being difficult due to its speed. Just be careful setting up a base at the start.
Download: rockraidersunited.com/topic/2...
All LEGO Rock Raiders maps: • LEGO Rock Raiders cust...
Played using OpenLRR v0.0.0.7-hotfix1 github.com/trigger-segfault/O... and dgVoodoo v2.79.3 dege.freeweb.hu/dgVoodoo2/dgVo...
Recorded with OBS 29.0.2
Recorded at 640x480 resolution, 60fps. This video has been upscaled from 480p to 720p so that it can play in 60fps.
• Game: LEGO Rock Raiders (1999, Windows)
• Level Mod: Hell's Rivers
• Mod Developer: LordZakida
• Mod Released: 1 November 2010
Other mods used:
• High poly models for all objects that have them
• Enhanced Original Biomes (Cyrem, 2011)
• Custom Map Slot (Cyrem, 2013)
• Tunnel Transport enabled
• Miscellaneous edits and improvements
• Music without CD Fix (Cyrem, 2019)
• World Textures: Lava v. 1.0 (Amauros, 2010) rockraidersunited.com/topic/1...
Music used:
• "Atmosdel" from the LEGO Rock Raiders soundtrack.
• "Rock", "Ice", and "Lava" by Marl Boonyer and Alan Boorman, 1998, from the LEGO Rock Raiders PC soundtrack: templesound.bandcamp.com/albu...
• Tracks 1-9 from the LEGO Rock Raiders PlayStation soundtrack.
• R​.​R. Slugger's Rock Raiders Mix Tape, 2021 rrslugger.bandcamp.com/album/...
CONTENTS:
0:00:00 Base setup, central caves
0:57:13 North caves
1:23:11 South caves, ending
#lego #rockraiders #mods #gamemods