Nimbus Launcher

The Nimbus Launcher helps players to quickly add, swap, and run variable client configurations for the game LEGO® Universe, which was discontinued as of January 2012. Per-server patch configurations are also available to allow players to automatically update local client configurations. More information can be found below.

This program DOES NOT include a LEGO® Universe client and/or its contents. Players must already have a client located on their system and configure the launcher to point to the client's directory.

Due to the LEGO Group's wishes, LEGO® Universe servers ARE NOT (and should not be) publicly available. The Nimbus Launcher is NOT a server browser. All server configurations managed by the launcher should be sent to players privately.

Installation

Binaries for the current version of the launcher will be available under the Releases tab. Releases will be labeled with the current launcher version followed by the target platform (i.e. v1.0.0-win.zip). The zip file will include an assets folder and a copy of the compiled executable. The structure of the zip file's contents should be as follows:

launcher/
|-- LICENSE
|-- nimbus-launcher.exe

The executable is NOT SIGNED. Your operating system may prompt you that the application is blocked. If you are not comfortable overriding the block, you will need to Build or Run the application from source.

Running the executable will generate a settings folder. If you move the executable to a different folder, make sure to bring the settings folder with it.

Since the Client Startup functionality has not yet been implemented for Mac, the only available releases are for Linux and Windows. Building and/or running the launcher from source, however, will still work as normal just with the missing functionality.

If you have Go installed on your system, you may follow the instructions the Building or Running from Source section.

Setup

When you first run the launcher, you may need to ensure that your client configurations are properly set. Clicking the gear icon will reveal the Settings window with two tabs: Servers and Launcher. The Servers tab is where you can Add, Edit, and Remove server configurations. The Launcher tab includes some launcher specific settings and patching settings, as well as client settings. If your launcher's play button is disabled, make sure that your Client Directory is configured to your client's folder (the folder that contains the res/ directory and the exe file), and your Client Name is configured to the name of the client exectuable (this will most likely be legouniverse.exe and will probably never change).

Once you are happy with your configurations, close the settings window and use the server selector to choose which server you would like to boot into. Server IP info for your currently selected server will be clearly labeled within the launcher. When you are ready, you can press the Play button.

On Play

Two main phases occur when you press the Play button:

1. Client Preparation
2. Client Startup

1. Client Preparation

1. The client is effectively reset to its original state before any patches were applied.
   • Original client resources (cached in the settings/client_cache.sqlite database) which were replaced through patches, are copied over to their original locations irrespective of whether the resources are original or not.
   • New client resources (cached in the settings/client_cache.sqlite database) which were added through patches, are removed.
2. If the currently selected server is not the same as the previously run server, the boot.cfg file for the currently selected server is copied over into the client directory.
3. Any resources that are a part of the current patch for the selected server are copied over into the client.
   • Replacement resources will cache the already existing resource ONLY IF the resource does not yet exist in the settings/client_cache.sqlite database.
   • Added resources will cache the path of the resources ONLY IF the resource does not yet exist in the settings/client_cache.sqlite database.

2. Client Startup

Windows

• The client is run as ./legouniverse.exe where the current directory is the configured Client Directory.

MacOSX (NOT IMPLEMENTED)

• Intel (x86): Due to Apple dropping support for 32-bit programs, the client will NOT run through the native executable nor the windows executable through external programs such as wine. Playing the game on an Intel based Mac will require the use of an emulator or VM.
• M1 (ARM): The client may still be able to be launched through wine. This is currently a work in progress.

Linux

• The launcher uses https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton to run the client and will return an error if the client is run without Proton installed. Patches, however, are still applied even if the game does not run.
• While it is possible to build/install Proton from source, it is recommended to install it through Steam as the launcher searches through the Steam directories for the latest version.
• The client is run as {latest-proton-version}/proton run ./legouniverse.exe where the current directory is configured to Client Directory and the environment variables are:
  • WINEDLLOVERRIDES="dinput8.dll=n,b"
  • PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1
  • STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH="{client-directory}/.proton"
  • STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH="{steam-directory}"
• See client/run_linux.go for more details.

Building or Running from Source

If you would like to build or run the launcher from the source code, you will need both go and gcc installed on your system. While this program does not directly use gcc, its dependency, fyne.io, uses it for compiling OpenGL. After these tools have been set up, you can use either the go run or go build commands to run or compile the launcher.

go run .

Or:

go build .
./nimbus-launcher

Building or Running for MacOSX

If you build or run the launcher from source on MacOSX, you may run into a compiler issue along the lines of:

error: function does not return NSString

If this is the case, you can use the mac_run_fix.sh or mac_build_fix.sh scripts instead of the go run or go build commands, respectively.

Patches

If, as a server owner, you decide to use the patch server capabilities, DO NOT distribute any resources that were used by, or packaged by, the LEGO® Universe client while it was in operation.

Using the patch server functionality allows automatic updating of both launcher configurations and client resources on a server-configuration by server-configuration basis. For example, a local server and a friend's server can be both run with different applied client resources, i.e., having a custom grass texture on the local server and the normal texture on the friend's server. Or for instance, if the AUTHSERVERIP changes for a given server, the launcher can detect a change in patch versions, and then pull and update the boot.cfg file for the out of date server.

For non server owners, always approach patches with EXTREME CAUTION. Never accept an update from a server you do not trust. By default, the Review Patch Before Update setting is enabled. While on, this settings will display the fetched patch.json file in a separate window with options to Accept the update, Cancel the update, or Reject the update.

• If accepted, the patch contents will be downloaded and updated as normal.
• If cancelled, the patch contents will NOT be downloaded nor updated, and the patch will simply be ignored until the next time the updates are refreshed.
• If rejected, the patch version will be blacklisted and will always be ignored on update refreshes or if it appears as a patch dependency.

Patch Server Configuration

Subject to change with between versions 0.*.* and 1.0.0

Configuring the launcher to point to a patch server is done through both the boot.cfg file and the local server configuration.

When updating or creating a local server configuration within the settings window, select one of the options for the Patch Protocol field:

• (None)
• http
• https

The selected option will determine which protocol the launcher will make requests to the patch server with. Selecting (None) will disable all patch server configurations.

Both http and https follow the TPP Protocol

For the boot.cfg file, modify the following fields:

• PATCHSERVERIP: Configured server IP
• PATCHSERVERPORT: Configured server port
• PATCHSERVERDIR: The patch server directory where patch resources are located
  • If the patch server host is http://127.0.0.1:3000 and PATCHSERVERDIR is patches, the launcher will make requests to http://127.0.0.1:3000/patches

Patch Server Setup

To set up a patch server, you need an HTTP/HTTPS server which complies with the TPP Protocol.

Patch Server Authentication (Optional)

Whenever the launcher makes a patch server request, if the Patch Token setting is not empty, it will include a custom header which complies with the TPP Protocol. The patch server should verify that the token is valid before sending any patch contents.

The patch token should be included within the exported server.xml file, but it can still be changed by editing the local server configuration through the settings window.