Setting Up a Development Game Client (Windows 8.1+)¶

Requirements¶

• Visual Studio or Visual Studio Build Tools installed on your system

• Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Package 12.0 for x86

• A copy of the Brave Frontier package (APPX) for Windows (Share Drive link)

• Developer Mode enabled on your system

• Development game server setup and running (see Setting Up a Development Game Server)

Cloning the Repository¶

To clone the offline-proxy repository, run the following command:

git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/decompfrontier/offline-proxy

Building the Proxy¶

Using CMake, configure the proxy with one of the following options:

• For Visual Studio as your compiler: cmake --preset debug-vs

• For MSYS/MinGW as your compiler: cmake --preset debug-mingw

After compilation, navigate to your CMake build directory. Inside the bin folder, you should find a libcurl.dll file. Keep track of this file, as it will be required later in the tutorial.

Generating UWP Development Certificates¶

To install custom Windows Store apps, you must first generate a development certificate. Run the following command in PowerShell to create a certificate:

New-SelfSignedCertificate -Type Custom -Subject "CN=<Name>" -KeyUsage DigitalSignature -FriendlyName "Your friendly name goes here" -CertStoreLocation "Cert:\CurrentUser\My" -TextExtension @("2.5.29.37={text}1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.3", "2.5.29.19={text}")

Take note of the certificate’s Thumbprint, as it will be used to export the certificate. Then, run the following commands to export it:

$password = ConvertTo-SecureString -String "<Your Password>" -Force -AsPlainText
Export-PfxCertificate -cert "Cert:\CurrentUser\My\<Certificate Thumbprint>" -FilePath MyKey.pfx -Password $password

You should now have a MyKey.pfx file. Keep this file safe, as it will be used to sign the modified Brave Frontier client.

Installing the Certificate¶

1. Open the MyKey.pfx file to launch the Certificate Import Wizard.

2. Select Local Machine and proceed.

3. When prompted for the certificate store, choose Place all certificates in the following store.

4. Browse and select Trusted Root Certification Authorities.

5. Click Finish, then confirm with Yes when prompted.

Modifying Brave Frontier APPX¶

To unpack the game client, run the following command:

makeappx unpack /p gumi.BraveFrontier_2.19.6.0_x86__tdae4wqex79w6.appx /d BraveFrontierAppxClient

A new folder named BraveFrontierAppxClient will be created, containing the extracted game client files for modification.

1. Copy the libcurl.dll file from the “Building the Proxy” section and place it in the root of the BraveFrontierAppxClient directory. When prompted to replace the original file, select Yes.

2. Delete the following files from the BraveFrontierAppxClient directory:

   • AppxMetadata

   • AppxSignature.p7x

   • AppxBlockMap.xml

   • ApplicationInsights.config

3. Open AppxManifest.xml in a text editor (e.g., Notepad++) and locate this line:

   <Identity Name="gumi.BraveFrontier" Publisher="CN=5AA816A3-ED94-4AA2-A2B4-3ADDA1FABFB6" Version="2.19.6.0" ProcessorArchitecture="x86" />
   

   Replace CN=5AA816A3-ED94-4AA2-A2B4-3ADDA1FABFB6 with CN=<Name>, where <Name> matches the name used during certificate generation (e.g., “My BraveFrontier”). This ensures the application installs correctly.

4. (Optional) Modify the Properties tag to customize the app’s display details, such as:

   <Properties>
       <DisplayName>Brave Frontier</DisplayName>
       <PublisherDisplayName>株式会社gumi</PublisherDisplayName>
       <Logo>Assets\StoreLogo.png</Logo>
   </Properties>
   

5. (Optional) To change the app’s name in the Windows Start menu, edit this tag:

   <m2:VisualElements DisplayName="Brave Frontier"
   

6. Save and close the file.

Next, pack and sign the modified client with these commands:

makeappx pack /d BraveFrontierAppxClient /p BraveFrontierPatched.appx
SignTool sign /a /v /fd SHA256 /f MyKey.pfx /p "<Your Password>" BraveFrontierPatched.appx

Running the Game¶

Install the newly generated BraveFrontierPatched.appx file and launch the client. If all steps were followed correctly, a console window should appear alongside the game client, as shown below:

Connecting to the Server¶

Due to a default limitation in UWP apps, they cannot communicate with localhost, preventing the game from connecting to the server. To resolve this:

1. Download the Enable Loopback Utility.

2. Run the utility and select the Brave Frontier application.

3. Configure it as shown below, then click Save Changes and restart the game:

If the game server is running, you should now see the Brave Frontier login screen upon launching the game.