Frequently asked questions about Manic Miners! On this page some of the most Frequently asked questions about Manic Miners will be answered! In most cases your question will be answerd here. If not, you can always ask your question trough our social media!
Lego Rock Raiders veterans
If you have played the original Rock Raiders game and just want to jump right in without reading the project backstory and explanations, here are some quick notes:
- The game is being made by one person. Please respect that implementations (however easy they are to implement) might take time.
- Resources have physics; they’ll roll. Currently, if they roll into lava or water then they will be gone. Careful where you put your buildings!
- Clicking a wall doesn’t colour it immediately. They’ll have a “token” showing you commanded a drilling etc there. They’ll turn coloured when a miner is approaching the wall.
- Resources are dispensed on demand, not when you order a building.
- The AI is still in its infancy: You will find hundreds of ways the AI can be improved to make smarter decisions, many of which I’m aware but just haven’t had time to implement.
- If you are having trouble running the game, please try the “Legacy version” on the downloads page!
That’s it, you are now ready to jump into the game!
Now, for the more elaborate stuff:
What is this?
Manic Miners is a rebuild of the 1999 game Lego Rock Raiders. It has been in development since late May 2019 and is programmed by a single person; Baraklava.
Is this game sponsored by The Lego Group?
This game has nothing to do with The Lego Group, although I definitely wish I worked for them!
Why are you doing this project?
Rock Raiders is one of my favourite Lego themes, from a time when Lego was a company of experimentation and fearlessness. While those times were monetarily harsh for Lego, they have left an impression that I want to carry on by remaking this game and hopefully keep the memory of this franchise alive. During college, I discovered a love for programming, and my love for Lego was also rekindled. After making the discovery that, to this day, no one has made a worthy Rock Raiders successor/replacement, I decided to make an assessment of it is was viable for a single person.
There I saw an opportunity: All the assets were available, taunting me. It’s also proving a golden opportunity to prove myself that I can finish a huge project all on my own, a good engineering skill… And here we are!
Is the game going to cost anything?
In the spirit of the Lego community, and considering how niche this game is, I will keep the game free for everyone. When the game gets completely done, I might consider pursuing a commercial spiritual successor, but the PC version containing Rock Raiders assets will always be free.
Is the game done? Why are you revealing it now?
No, the game is not done and will keep getting updates as I add more features. This, however, will take time, as I’m also doing my studies at the same time, and they have higher priority. I’m revealing this because I think other people might be interested in seeing development, helping with design decisions and create a community around a Rock Raiders game reborn.
I see you have not made a game before. There’s been at least a few dozen remake attempts. What makes you think you can complete this project on your own?
I work hard, I program well, and my pipelines for the project are insanely efficient. Rather than being a Lego fan driven by will alone, I have a really solid engineering and programming basis to stand on, as well as the simplest programming IDE you can imagine. No one has gotten as far as I have gotten, but no one has also had the same premise I have. I aim to keep programming in my spare time until it is done.
And while it’s true I haven’t made any games before, I’ve been programming quite a lot. Unreal Engine is incredibly intuitive in addition to the quick programming pipeline it provides, and I’ve had little to no troubles making the game work, as it mostly comes down to doing maths.
Is the game open source?
The game is not Open Source. But there will be modding support, and if there are specific parts you want me to make moddable, you can input a request in the Discord server (link below). No requests are too large or too small to be added.
How can I contribute to the project?
As I’ve mentioned, I am the only programmer, and am therefore not looking for programming help. I am however definitely open to other collaborations! If you make assets that you want to contribute to the game. Such as music, art, models or other fun stuff that fits the game. Then you can share them in my Discord #submissions channel. Anything you put there should be owned by you and published under a Creative Commons license. Stating anyone can use it for free if giving credit. However, just because you submit it doesn’t mean it will get added. I place the final verdict on every feature. But publishing as little as a 10 second snippet of a song can get you immediate feedback!
What about donations and Patreon?
I’m not looking for any monetary returns, I don’t need the money. I do this because it’s rewarding in other ways. To emphasize this, I’m refusing all donations and funding possibilities. Refusing donations also allow me to work at my own pace. If you want to contribute anything that isn’t money in order to help my work on the project. You can always suggest your idea by messaging me over at the Discord server. I’m always open to chat!
When will feature x be added?
Check the Trello page on the leftmost side, there should be quite a few planned features. The game will firsthand stay true to the original (apart form any obvious immediate improvements). Along the way, stuff will of course be added! But I’m aiming to have settings and modes to make both purists and newcomers happy. There’s gotta be so much more this game can offer.
If you have any suggestions that aren’t implemented into the game, but would fit the game. Feel free to leave these in the #suggested-additions channel in my Discord server!
There is one grand exception: Bugs. Any behavior that is considered “unintended” will not be in development focus. This includes walking on walls and running “in between” walls, as that is unpredictable and ruins level design. If I find a way to reproduce the bug easily, I will try to fix it. However I aim to add such quirks as a “legacy bug” option, if I figure out how.
What will you do when the game is done?
Celebrate! And sleep! After that, I have several potential ideas:
- Work on Manic Miners forever
- Work on a Racers reboot
- Open source the project and leave it to the community
- Work on an spiritual successor to Rock Raiders and launch on Steam
- Work on a unique Lego game from a new franchise such as Adventurers, Aquazone or Blacktron/Vintage space.
Endless possibilities! I just don’t know where to go after this yet.