The Lego Universe

Safety and Code of Conduct

Safety

We aim to provide a safe place for everyone to play at all times. LEGO Universe:
• Protects the safety of people using the game
• Provides opportunities for members to create, explore, and have fun with minimal disruption
• Encourages interaction and user-generated content
• Educates members about appropriate and safe online behavior

Moderation

LEGO Universe is a moderated gaming environment, meaning that everyone playing the game are being monitored at all times for safety purposes. A team of senior moderators lead this effort. Utilizing some of the best and most sophisticated online safety moderation tools, LEGO Universe monitors will do their utmost to protect everyone’s play while allowing freedom of expression.

There are a number of ways you can reach the moderation team if you encounter any problems within the game. These include:
• Click on other users and objects within the game to report problems directly to the moderation team
• Find relevant safety contact information on the website

Code of Conduct

At The LEGO Universe, we believe it’s not whether you win or lose but how you play the game that’s really important. All players should honor the LEGO Universe Code of Conduct at all times. Please remember:
• It’s Cool to Be Kind. Treat others as you would like to be treated!
• Don’t Give Out Any Personal Information. Your real name, address, and telephone number are private, do not share them! The same applies to your Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and any other online ID that might identify you in real life.
• Bad Language is a No-No. Think before you say or write something because there are consequences. Using bad language on the website or within the game may result in a warning, suspension, or even being banned from LEGO Universe.
• Treat others with respect. While chatting with other players, always keep in mind how you’d like to be treated. Name-calling, bullying, making threats, rude remarks, and any other form of disrespect toward other members will not be tolerated. If you are upset with another member, step away from your computer and take a deep breath before you do or say something you may regret.
Disrespecting other members is unacceptable and you may be subject to moderation action.
Likewise, it is not okay if someone else is treating you or others unkindly! You can choose to ignore other users to avoid future conflicts.
• Stand Up for Your Rights. Let the Mythran know if someone is not following the rules.
• Cheaters Never Win. We know it’s tempting to find a way to get more points and awards, but it is not fair to other LEGO Universe players if you do so by cheating. We don’t allow cheating or sharing tips on how to cheat. If you do see someone cheating, please let the Mythran know.
• Think Before You Click. What you say and do online stays online and doesn’t disappear, so be sure to think about your message before you submit it. Don’t use language or make comments that you wouldn’t be happy to repeat face to face.
• Let’s All Just Get Along. You’ll be meeting new people in LEGO Universe from different cultures, countries, and with different backgrounds. We don’t expect everyone to be best friends, but we do expect all members to respect each other. Please be understanding of other members’ personal beliefs, likes, and dislikes. We should all be able to enjoy LEGO Universe together!
• Use your own creativity and imagination. LEGO Universe is all about imagination and so we encourage you to use yours! Please don’t make exact copies of content that belongs to someone else. This includes anything that belongs to well known brands or characters from movies, television, video games and comics. Basically, anything that didn’t come from your own creative spark!

Start Playing Lego® Universe

Logging In

Each time you start the LEGO® Universe program, you will begin at the LEGO Universe Main Login screen. Enter your username and password in the appropriate fields and click the Play button. You are now ready to play LEGO Universe!

Note

Do not give your password out to anyone in the game. Write them down and keep them where you won’t lose them. Do not tell your friends. Keep it safe. A LEGO Universe employee will never ask for your password. If someone pretends they are a LEGO Universe employee and asks for your password, do not give it to them.

It’s unsafe to share personal information online. What do we mean by personal information? This is anything that can identify who you are, where you live, and how to contact you directly, such as your full name, home address, phone number, school name, and email address.

You wouldn’t hand out your personal information to everyone you pass on the street, so please keep it private within LEGO Universe. Take the time to read more about our privacy policy, and remind your friends how to stay safe online.

Creating Your Minifigure

After you correctly enter your username and password, you will be asked to create your first LEGO Universe Character, known as a Minifigure. After you watch an animation of a character outline clicking the dice on your screen, a randomly generated Minifigure will appear. Don’t worry! You do not need to keep this look. You can change the look of your Minifigure so it’s exactly how you want it. You are in charge! Here are the steps for changing your Minifigure:

Look at the dice in the lower left part of your window. Any time you click the dice, your Minifigure will get a new, random look. This is a great solution for someone wanting to get into the game quickly! However, be aware that any changes you previously made to your Minifigure will be lost.

There are four areas of your Minifigure that you can change: shirt, legs, hair, and face. Click on the part of the body that you would like to change to begin the process. Let’s start with the body (also known as the decal area).

Click on the shirt to bring up a selection of different shirt types. Click and drag your cursor to either side to find the one you like the best. After you decide on the one you would like, you can click on the color key to change the color of that shirt type. Pick any color you want, and click the checkmark to accept your choice.

Click on the legs to bring up a selection of different colored leg types. They are all the same shape and style, so just pick the color you like the best. Click and drag to rotate the list of legs until you find the one you like the best. Click the checkmark to accept your choice.

Next, click on the hair. Click and drag to find the hairstyle you like the best. Then click on the color key to change the color of your hair. Pick any color you want, and click the checkmark to accept your choice.

Finally, click on the face. You can change three different things for the face: eyebrows, eyes, and mouth. Click on the eyebrows and drag the cursor to select the style you like the best. Do the same for the eyes and mouth. When your face is exactly how you like it, click the checkmark to accept your choices.

Now, your Minifigure looks finished, but an important part is still missing—a name! Give your Minifigure the name you want to use. If that name is taken or not acceptable, you will be asked to pick a new name so have a few choices ready!

Creativity is an important building block of LEGO® Universe, which is why we encourage you to be original when choosing a name. Just remember that once you pick a name for yourself, your characters, or your pets, it cannot be changed. Before submitting any names, ask yourself, “Will I be happy with this name in six months? In one year? In three years?” Please remember to leave out your last name or any other information that would identify you or upset others.

Repeat these steps if you want to create more Minifigures (you are allowed to create up to four of them).

When your Minifigure is saved, you’ll arrive at the Minifigure Selection Screen. Here you will see all the Minifigures you have created. You can click to select any of them. Click the Play button and you will enter LEGO Universe!

The Basics

Getting Started in the Game

As LEGO Universe loads, you will see a spaceship flying through space. Before long, you will see your Minifigure standing on the deck of the ship with a bubble over its head.

Press the arrow keys that you see in the bubble to move your Minifigure. More advanced players can also use W, A, S, and D to move. Great job! Now you will be asked to press Q and E to turn left and right. Press those as well. Super! You are now almost ready to explore the ship. Before you move very far, let’s talk about everything that you see on your monitor.

1This is a portrait of your Minifigure.

2This is where you can see how many coins you’ve collected. Coins are used to purchase items from vendors throughout the game.

3This is your Health meter.

4This is your Armor meter.

5Click this icon to open your Friends list. In here you can see if your Friends are online, or add new ones!

6This button opens your Speedchat. This is a quick way for Minifigures to interact in the game. Wave to, dance with, or cheer on your Friends!

7Click this icon to bring up a chat window. Use this to communicate with other players in the game.

8This is your Imagination meter. In LEGO® Universe Imagination has many functions, but the most important use is building things in the game.

9This is your action bar. By equipping certain items in the game, your Minifigure will get access to special skills which will be displayed here.

10This is the map button. Click here to see the World Map.

11This is your Passport. Clicking here will show you all of the important details of your game, such as your player profile, the missions you’ve accepted, and the Achievements that you’ve earned.

12This is your backpack. Clicking on your backpack gives you access to all of the items, bricks and models you’ve collected on your adventures through LEGO® Universe.

13This is the help button. Click it if you get stuck and need some help!

14Clicking here opens the Lego Universe options screen. From here you can exit the game, change your Minifigure, or adjust audio and video settings.

15This is your Minifigure. When you press either the arrow keys, or W, A, S, D, he/she will move around the world.

16This is the News Screen. Clicking here will show you Today’s Top Properties, achievements you are close to finishing, cool items, and the Tip of the Day.

Fighting and Looting Items

When you come upon something you wish to attack, move near the object or creature, then press ALT and you will attack it. You can also left-click mouse to attack as well. In this picture you see a large crate full of LEGO pieces. You can attack it by pressing ALT or left-clicking mouse and the crate will break into pieces.

When the crate breaks or when the creature has been beaten, several things may fly out and land on the ground or float a bit in the air. Run over and through these items to pick them up. Typical things that fly out include coins, blue imagination orbs, items, models, bricks and red hearts that give you back some health.

1Use coins to purchase items from vendors

2Life power-ups refill your Health

3Armor power-ups refill your Armor

4Imagination orbs refill your Imagination

Talking to NPCs and Completing Missions

As you explore the world, you will come across computer-controlled Minifigures (called Non-Player Characters, or NPCs for short) that you can talk to. If an NPC has an orange ! over its head, that means they have a mission for you! Get close to them and press SHIFT to speak with them. You will also come across some NPCs with a blue ! over their heads. They offer you repeatable missions that you can do over and over.

If you accept the mission, it gets added to your passport. Missions will have a goal to them, such as collecting parts to build a rocket or defeating a certain number of enemies. If you look at the top middle of your monitor, a small indicator will be displayed showing how far along you are toward meeting that mission goal. If you have more than one active mission in your passport, a small arrow will appear to the left or right of the icon that lets you click it to see the status of other active missions.

Complete the steps to the mission. When all the goals have been completed, return to the NPC that offered the mission to you. Now, instead of an exclamation point over its head, you will see a small treasure chest. This means you have completed the mission, and they are ready to talk to you about a reward. Missions can often reward you with items or coins and open up additional missions that you can complete.

If you are unsure about your mission progress or what missions you have completed, open your passport. In the passport, you will see different tabs. Click on the Worlds tab (second from the left). The Worlds tab contains one section for each of the different areas or zones in the game. Click on the area you are in to see a listing of all the missions that you have accepted for that area. Click on a mission to see a summary of the mission and what you need to do to complete it. Read the mission description for clues on what you need to do.

There are other kinds of NPCs in the world, including vendors (people you can trade with) and guards. You may speak and interact with them by pressing the SHIFT key when you are near them.

Inventory, Items, and Bricks

Your Minifigure can carry a lot of items. You will get some as loot from defeating enemies, some from missions, and some you will buy. You can see all the items in your inventory by clicking on the small backpack in the lower right corner of your window.

Holding your mouse over the top of an item will cause a small description to pop up, along with the value of the item. Generally the more valuable an item is, the better it is.

Note

You can run out of space in your backpack. To make more space, you can sell extra items to a vendor, or you can destroy unwanted items. To destroy an item, drag it from your backpack to the trash can.

You can also carry more items in a bigger backpack! Complete certain special missions or earn special achievements to obtain a bigger backpack.

As you adventure in LEGO® Universe, you will also collect bricks and models in much the same way you collect items. Click on the bricks tab in your backpack to view your bricks and models. You can use these to build anything you want once you have property to build on. Click on the models tab to view your models. Models will often be used to solve missions and construct cool things such as the rocket you will use to escape the starting area. Once created, you can display your models on your property.

You will want to use some of the items that you find. For example, early in the game, you will be given a new shirt or decal when you complete a mission. You can wear that decal/shirt by opening your inventory, clicking and holding the left mouse button while on top of the item, and then dragging that item on top of your Minifigure. This is called dragging and dropping. You will see this new shirt/decal in the game. You would do the same thing to hold a sword or wear a helmet. Simply “drag and drop” the item from your backpack on top of your Minifigure and they will start using it. You also can use or wear an item by double-clicking on the item in your inventory.

Some items can only be used one time. For example, you will find food that you can drag and drop onto your Minifigure. Your Minifigure will eat the food and get some health back. The food will disappear from your inventory. Those types of items are known as “consumables.” You will find many types of them such as food, health kits, and brick booster packs, to name a few.

Click on the orange tab on the side of your backpack to see the items and equipment that your Minifigure is using.

Smashed

Eventually, your LEGO Minifigure is going to get smashed. When your Health meter is empty, you will break apart into pieces. It happens to everyone, so no big deal! When your Minifigure gets smashed, click the Rebuild button. You will appear back at a safe area with all your items and be able to immediately go exploring again. You do lose some coins each time you get smashed, so if you keep getting smashed in the same area, it may be time to get some help or try a different approach.

Buying and Selling Items

The merchants (also known as vendors) in LEGO Universe are important NPCs. They are your primary method of buying and selling equipment. You can also buy food and drinks from them to keep your Health and Imagination replenished.

When you wish to buy an item from a merchant, get near them and press SHIFT. The merchant’s inventory window will pop up, showing you the items for sale. In some cases, the merchant will have more items than can fit in one window, so you may have to look through several pages of items to find the one you seek. Scroll down through their inventory to see all of the items for sale.

Each item in the merchant’s inventory contains a small picture and the name of the item. If you hover your mouse over the item, you will see more information about it. The item’s price is displayed under its name and to the right of its icon.

To buy an item, simply double click on it or click and drag it into one of your backpack slots. You will immediately have the cost of the item taken from your supply of coins. If you do not have enough coins, you may not buy that item. Different merchants sell different types of items, so look around to find what you seek.

Selling an item is easier than buying one because every merchant will buy any item that you have for sale. If you wish to sell an item from your inventory, get near them and press SHIFT. Hovering your mouse over an item in your inventory will show you the price that you will get if you sell it. Some items have no selling price. To sell an item, drag it to the merchant window. You will not be prompted to confirm your sale, but you can always buy an item back if you sell it by accident. You will immediately see your coins amount go up.

Building

Building is an important part of LEGO® Universe! There are three different types of building:

Quick-Build

While adventuring in LEGO Universe, you will often find piles of LEGO pieces on the ground. Stand near a pile of LEGO pieces and hold SHIFT to quickly build a model or object that you can use in your mission. Sometimes, you have to collect certain bricks before you can construct certain Quick Builds. You use up some of your Imagination every time you perform a Quick Build.

Modular-Build

Throughout the game, you can collect models. Use model parts to build more complicated structures like rockets or cars. When you need to build something from model parts, press SHIFT to enter the modular build area. Drag the model parts you need from your Models tab in your inventory.

When all the model parts are in place, click the blue button to create the full model! If you collect new parts later, you can rebuild your models with the new parts.

Property Build

Later on in LEGO® Universe, you will be able to have your own piece of property. Using the bricks or models you have collected on your adventures, you can use the FreeBuild mode to create anything you want! You can even show off your creations to other players. You can also add models you have built to your property. Once on your property, you can customize your models, and even use Behaviors to make models come to life!

Achievements

Another feature of your passport is that it holds all your Achievements. An Achievement is an award for completing different things in the game. For example, you can earn Achievements by defeating a certain number of enemies or by discovering some new places. You can use the passport to look at all your Achievements or to see how far along you are in completing one of them. Click on an Achievement to see how many levels the Achievement has, and what the rewards are for completing them.

Advanced Settings

Several settings in the game can be changed, including the sound and video resolution. Please ask your parents to assist you in picking the proper settings for your computer. Click the U icon () on your screen to bring up a menu, then click settings. All settings can also be reached by pressing the ESC key while in the game and then choosing “Settings” from that menu.

Audio Settings

The primary purpose of the audio settings is to adjust the volume of the different areas of the game such as the sound effects (like when you are fighting enemies) and the music playing in the background. Simply drag the slider bar next to the category you wish to change. Dragging it to the left makes that sound softer. Dragging it to the right makes that sound louder. Dragging the slider all the way to the left turns the sound completely off.

Graphics Settings

The first area of the video settings has two primary options. The first is Windowed Mode. Checking this box will make LEGO® Universe run inside a Window and not take up your entire monitor. The second is Resolution. Bigger monitors can support higher resolutions. If you are having performance issues, reducing the resolution can sometimes help. Restore Defaults can undo any changes made on this screen or under the Advanced Options screen.

Clicking on View Advanced Settings will bring up many more options that you can change. If you are having performance issues, moving the slide bars to the left can sometimes help. The Rendering Distance slider would be a good one to try first. This determines how far away you can see distant objects. The various “quality” options affect how sharp and detailed different objects appear in the game. Try lowering some of them part of the way and then closing the game and re-launching it to see how they affect your performance.

Customer Support

LEGO® Universe Support Team

LEGO® Universe offers numerous ways to get assistance, both from inside the game and from the website.

Web Support

The LEGO Universe website has answers and solutions to the most common game questions and technical problems. A knowledge base with the most frequently asked questions and the answers is available, as well as the option to contact the LEGO Universe Support Team by email.

In-game Support

If you encounter any issues while playing LEGO Universe, several help options are available. You can access the help menu by clicking on the question mark in-game. You then have the most common in-game questions and answers available, you can report a problem and track its progress, and you can contact the LEGO Universe Support Team via mail and in-game chat every day, year-round. You can also find automated fixes for common issues via the help menu, such as the ability to self-smash if you get stuck or lost.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Use your keyboard to move around and take actions in LEGO® Universe. Here are the important keys you need to know:

Keyboard Commands

Arrow Controls

Up Arrow	Moves you forward
Down Arrow	Moves you backward
Left Arrow	Turn to the left
Right Arrow	Turn to the right
SHIFT	Press to interact with characters or objects. Hold to QuickBuild
ALT	Attack creatures
CTRL	Press to interact with another player, then select an option from the drop-down menu
Space Bar	Jump

W A S D Controls

W	Moves you forward
S	Moves you backward
A	Moves you left
D	Moves you right
Q	Turn to the left
E	Turn to the right
Right Mouse Click	This is your interaction key. Use it to talk to NPCs and other characters, and to interact with objects
Left Mouse Click	Use this button to click on creatures and attack them
SHIFT	Hold to QuickBuild
Space Bar	Jump

Hotkeys

ENTER	This opens up the chat window where you can type some text for other players to read.
Mouse Scroll Wheel	If your mouse has a middle scroll wheel, you can use that to zoom the camera in and out. You can do the same thing by pressing the HOME and END keys.