Open Source Game Achievements (Fedora Magazine)
Dennis_Payne Sep 18, 2021
Fedora Magazine has published my article on Gamerzilla. It documents some of the work that has gone on since the article posted here. It looks like at least 4 games with Gamerzilla support will be available in Fedora 35.
Dennis_Payne May 21, 2023
I've been unable to convince game launchers to adopt Gamerzilla. I decided to workaround the problem by creating a gnome shell extension. Currently working on getting the necessary infrastructure into Fedora.
Gamerzilla shell extension for gnome
mr-victory May 23, 2023
What is the advantage of it compared to cloud saves? Can others see your achievements?
Dennis_Payne May 23, 2023
Quoting: mr-victoryWhat is the advantage of it compared to cloud saves? Can others see your achievements?
Others can see your achievements if you want. Here are my current achievements. It is only achievements so it doesn't replace cloud saves. The advantage of the achievement system is that the system is not tied to a platform. It is open source and can be run by anyone.

Achievement data may not seem like a big deal. I don't know that you can get a competitive advantage by mining the information but I prefer to keep my data.

More problematic is the stickiness of achievements. If you enjoy achievements, you probably will stick to purchasing from stores that include that feature. This leaves open source games at a disadvantage. Sure we could publish our games on Steam but that would require paying Valve for the privilege and using their closed source library.

I also view achievements as a marketing tool. When you see that your friend has played X, you might decide to give it a try. While your friend could post about a new game you try, there is no way to get a list of games your friends have played. In the past you could see your friend's games collection with games being mostly digital, achievement systems act as a sort of digital book shelf.
FSFmember May 23, 2023
Quoting: Dennis_PayneOthers can see your achievements if you want. Here are my current achievements.

I want to see your achievements, but alas, I cannot. This is what I get upon clicking that link:
QuoteYou need to enable JavaScript to run this app.
This message and nothing else is displayed - blank page.
This is bad design - I'm sorry. There is absolutely no need for JS to display a static website (list of achievements).

Cheers
tuubi May 23, 2023
I don't really do social networks or even social gaming beyond a rare interaction on GOL, but would it make sense to go for Fediverse integration? I'm not well versed on the tech, but something like ActivityPub notifications for unlocked achievements might appeal to gamers on Mastodon and the like.
mr-victory May 23, 2023
Quoting: FSFmemberI want to see your achievements, but alas, I cannot.
Username and distro check out😂
Pardon my ignorance, I had to do that.
Dennis_Payne May 23, 2023
Quoting: FSFmemberThis message and nothing else is displayed - blank page.
This is bad design - I'm sorry. There is absolutely no need for JS to display a static website (list of achievements).
I'm sorry you can't take a look. However that doesn't make it bad design. The original version of Gamerzilla probably was viewable without javascript. It was an addon for Hubzilla but the site was shutdown and no Hubzilla instance was interested in hosting (or I didn't want to be associated with the instance).

At this point I coded up a version using .Net and react. The goal being to learn more .Net and react because we were using them in my day job. My web host didn't support running .Net applications so I couldn't host it online.

For identicalsoftware.com, I rewrote the .Net backend into php. The react frontend remained because I didn't have the time to rewrite everything. It's not bad design. It is design constraints. I'd welcome any effort to write a new frontend. At this time I'm focused more on getting it used than removing the javascript requirement. If you want you can look at the json output of my achievements.
http://identicalsoftware.com/api/gamerzilla/games?username=dulsi
Dennis_Payne May 23, 2023
Quoting: tuubiI don't really do social networks or even social gaming beyond a rare interaction on GOL, but would it make sense to go for Fediverse integration? I'm not well versed on the tech, but something like ActivityPub notifications for unlocked achievements might appeal to gamers on Mastodon and the like.
I have considered that. Right now I'm focusing on making it usable. After I have that working, I might add that integration. I think the gnome shell extension or game launcher support is critical to make it easy to use.
FSFmember May 23, 2023
Fair enough Denis - all good on my side. Was just giving a feedback.

Anyways, good effort and you have my (moral) support.

Last edited by FSFmember on 23 May 2023 at 7:05 pm UTC
FSFmember May 23, 2023
Quoting: mr-victory
Quoting: FSFmemberI want to see your achievements, but alas, I cannot.
Username and distro check out😂
Pardon my ignorance, I had to do that.
Not at all, I actually laughed out loud and I very much thank you for that! You are right. I believe it's a diagnosis but I haven't seen the doctor (yet!) haha

Last edited by FSFmember on 23 May 2023 at 8:51 pm UTC
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