/Nexus-LU-Launcher

Custom launcher for LU for server emulators

Primary LanguageC#MIT LicenseMIT

Client Download Changes

As of October 3rd, 2021, the hosting of the client files was taken down and there are no plans to set up new mirrors of the client. V.0.3.X and lower no longer work if the client was not downloaded before, and V.0.4.0 and newer will require you to find the client archive yourself.

Nexus LU Launcher

Nexus LU (LEGO Universe) Launcher is a custom, cross-platform user interface for installing and launching LEGO Universe for community-run LEGO Universe servers.

Launcher example

Running

For all platforms, a LEGO Universe client archive is required. Instructions on how to get one are not provided.

Windows

Download and extract Nexus-LU-Launcher-Windows-x64.zip from the releases and run the executable. Compatibility for Windows 8.1 and older is not guaranteed.

macOS

Download and extract Nexus-LU-Launcher-macOS-x64.zip from the releases and run the application. macOS 10.15 or newer is required.

Linux

Linux releases are provided under the releases, but the Flatpak is recommended. It includes WINE and creates a desktop entry for launching.

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak install io.thenexusavenger.Nexus-LU-Launcher

Valve Steam Deck

There is an optional patch named "Steam One-Click" as of version 2.2.0. It will attempt to:

  • Add Nexus LU Launcher to Steam.
  • Prompt to change the controller layout.
  • Turn off fullscreen, since it can cause the mouse cursor to disappear in game mode.

A manual restart of Steam (such as changing from desktop to game mode) is required for the controller layout prompt to appear, or Nexus LU Launcher must already be added to Steam. Turning off fullscreen is also done after the first launch of the client due to the settings file not being there. Consider doing the first launch in desktop mode, and then switch to game mode.

No artwork is currently provided for the launcher, and uninstalling the patch will have no effect.

Goals

The goals of the launcher is the following:

  • Allow for launching the client on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
  • Use a user interface similar to the original LEGO Universe launcher.
  • Automate the process of extracting the client, installing patches, and launching LEGO Universe.
  • Be able to select from a list of servers to connect to.
  • Enable the installation of optional patches.

Non-Goals

The following aren't current goals of the launcher, but could be made at some point:

  • Unpacking the client for use with server hosting.
  • Automate installing WINE for non-Windows and non-macOS installs.
    • The Flatpak release handles this for Linux.

Custom Download Location (Non-Flatpak)

By default, Nexus LU Launcher will download files to a directory named .nlul in your user directory. This can be changed in the "Settings" tab.

Building

Nexus LEGO Universe Launcher requires .NET 8.0 to be installed since it allows packaging as single files without the requirement of decompressing files. After cloning the repository with the submodules, building can be done with the dotnet build:

dotnet build

or dotnet publish command:

dotnet publish

For creating the distributables in, there is a Python script that builds the launcher releases for win-x64, osx-x64, and linux-x64:

python publish.py
cd bin/ # The ZIP files of the distributables will be in bin/ of the repository.

Each release needs to be created for their platform.

  • For macOS, the version of macOS compiled on is the minimum version of macOS the release will work on.
  • For Linux, the version of glibc on the system will become the minimum version of glibc the release will work on. If you have Docker, python3 publish-docker.py will perform a build with RedHat UBI8 (uses glibc 2.28).

Patches

Patches can be added and will be approved in pull requests if there is a proper justification to have them. They can including finishing incomplete features on the client, like guilds, or components that allow the client to work, like alternative communication mods.

Archive Patches

As of version 2.2.0, patches can be added to the client using ZIP archives. There are 4 requirements:

  1. It must be a ZIP archive (rar, tar.gz, and other formats are not supported).
  2. The archive can't only contain a folder containing the all files, typically done by selecting "Send To" > "Compressed (zipped) folder" on the folder containing the patch files.
  3. A valid patch.json file exists in the top level of the archive.
  4. If a boot.cfg is included, make sure the server name and address are correct.

File Structure

When using "Send To" > "Compressed (zipped) folder" on a folder, it will make it so only that folder is the top-level item of the archive. For example:

MyBadPatch.zip
|-MyBadPatch    <--When the zip is opened, you will see "MyBadPatch" instead of "res" [!]
|---res
|-----myfile1.something
|-----myfile2.something
|---patch.json  <--patch.json is not at the top level [!]

Instead, use "Send To" > "Compressed (zipped) folder" on the patch files directly (NOT the parent folder of them).

MyGoodPatch.zip
|-res         <--When the zip is opened, you will see "res" and "patch.json"
|---myfile1.something
|---myfile2.something
|-patch.json  <--patch.json is at the top level

patch.json

A patch.json file is required in the archive. It can contain the following:

  • name (required) - Dictionary of names for the locales the user may have.
  • description (required) - Dictionary of descriptions for the locales the user may have.
  • requirements (optional) - Optional list of requirements the client must meet to install. Supported options include:
    • packed-client - Requires that the client must be packed.
    • unpacked-client - Requires that the client must be unpacked.

LEGO Universe supports en_US, de_DE, and en_GB locales. If a locale is not provided, a placeholder text will be used.

This is an example patch.json with all supported locales and requiring an unpacked client.

{
  "name": {
    "en_US": "My Cool Patch",
    "de_DE": "My Cool Patch, But German",
    "en_GB": "My Cool Patch, But British"
  },
  "description": {
    "en_US": "My description.",
    "de_DE": "My description, but German.",
    "en_GB": "My description, but British."
  },
  "requirements": [
    "unpacked-client"
  ]
}

This is the minimum recommended patch.json. It has no requirements.

{
  "name": {
    "en_US": "My Cool Patch"
  },
  "description": {
    "en_US": "My description."
  }
}

boot.cfg

Patches can include boot.cfg, but it will not replace the stored copy. Because this file is managed, instead of using the file directly, SERVERNAME and AUTHSERVERIP from the file will be added as a server list entry. Updating addresses for a given name with an updated patch is supported as well. Make sure to make SERVERNAME (likely) unique, and avoid the default Overbuild Universe (US).

Disclaimer

LEGOⓇ is a trademark of the LEGO Group. The LEGO Group is not affiliated with this project, has not endorsed or authorized its operation, and is not liable for any safety issues in relation to its operation.