(Re-)Introducing GameVault: The Self-Hosted Gaming Platform

Hi guys,

we're excited to reconnect with you all here on Lemmy after our project "Crackpipe" generated quite a buzz recently. With its brand new name, we proudly present "GameVault"!

In case you missed our, let's say - "controversial" debut on reddit and lemmy, let us give you a quick rundown of what GameVault is all about:

GameVault is a fantastic gaming platform that you can host yourself, allowing you and your friends to enjoy "alternatively obtained" games on your own terms. It simplifies the whole gaming experience by organizing, downloading, installing, playing, and tracking your favorite games right on your file server. GameVault automatically detects game files, builds a metadata database, and offers a user-friendly client for seamless downloading and gameplay. Imagine having your own personalized Steam for games stored on your file server!

Linux users, please note that we don't currently have a native client available. However, our documentation includes a community-driven approach to running the client on Linux, which you can find under "Advanced Usage."

Are you ready to add another Link to your Dashboards?

Feel free to pay a visit to our website and join our Discord and Lemmy Community to become part of an awesome community!

46 comments

First of all, thanks for doing this. I really appreciate it, game preservation depends on DRM-Free packages. And there is no other software that I know of that is trying to offer the closest thing to a Steam-like experience for this scenario.
With that out of the way, I must bring up a specific section found in your documentation.
It simplifies the whole gaming experience by organizing, downloading, installing, playing, and tracking
https://gamevau.lt/docs/client-docs/how-to-use
From what I can read in the docs, the installation is completely manual. Even games that don't have an installer, they get compressed and must be manually decompressed to the proper gamevault folder.
If games that don't require an installer, actually do get automatically "installed", then my suggestion is that you add that to the documentation. If that is not the case, then I suggest you stop advertising this functionality as if it was true.
As for Linux, if this software does offer an advatage over just copying games, I guess someone will eventually make a plugin for Lutris or Heroic. But one thing that I suggest for GameVault is developing a way to automatically add the games as a non-Steam game to the Steam application. The majority of users prefer Steam over any other launcher, specially for people using their PCs connected to a TV, Steam Big Picture is just superior to anything else out there.
- We're on it right now. It seems like it made its way into the documentation a bit too soon, and for that, we apologize.
  Would you mind submitting a feature request for adding non-Steam games to Steam? If you need assistance with that, please let us know. Additionally, do you happen to know if there's an API or protocol available for such functionality?

I like the idea. Personally I'd market it as for DRM-free games. It's agnostic as to how they came to be DRM-free but doesn't sound as fishy as 'alternatively obtained'.
- "alternatively obtained" is funny but yea I completely agree. also makes the project description much less clunky sounding and more descriptive.

Youre the guys from crackpipe? Lol i was recently wondering if you ever got around to changing it. Even though it was a god awful name, it did give me a few good laughs
- Yo, we ditched the pipe, man! Clean for a couple days now... Check out our blog for the full story. Peace!
  /s :)

Ahahaha, the first approach was hilarious I will give you that. But I'm proud to see your new branding — I really think this could build some traction. Hopefully you will be able to work on a Linux client in the future.
Best of luck!

Very interesting idea for a self hosted service! I will definitely take a stab at hosting it! I have a decent collection of DRM-free games from humblebundle and GOG that I always wanted in one place. Question, I know you dont currently have a native linux client. That being said, do you have a native linux client on the roadmap?
- Not in our plans right now as we currently lack the expertise and manpower to handle multiple platforms. However, we're actively encouraging the community to create a third-party solution. Let's work together for an awesome outcome!

Great name! Matters of taste aside, I think the old name would have painted the project into a corner in lots of ways. I will definitely be watching this with interest. Is there a /c I can sub to yet for news?
- Thanks for your kind words! You can find it here: https://lemmy.world/c/phalcode

There is something that I do not quite understand, suppose I host GameVault, those who use my instance will be able to download games from a library that I host, or everyone gets their own games and the system simply takes care of showing which game play each person?
And is GameVault currently federated or is it planned to be? I mean, that I can see what someone from another instance is playing?
- Regarding your first question, people only have the option to download games from your library on your file server.
  Now, in response to the second question: We are certainly exploring the idea of federalization in the future. Meaning connecting to multiple servers simultaneously or connecting different servers together. However, it might be something we offer as a special feature for our supporters, as implementing it can be quite challenging.

The rebrand is great! I'm loving the icon, and am looking forward to seeing how this project progresses. I just have a few questions.
Even beyond a Linux client, how about a Linux server package? I understand the client situation. Microsoft dominates in the desktop space, but it's the complete opposite in the server space. Windows server is a super niche option. This severely limits the amount of people who can host this service imo.
I get there's a piracy disclaimer, but I do think it would just be better to change the "alternatively sourced" phrase all together. I feel that phrasing makes Gamevault a lot easier to attack for those who may not be fond of such a service existing. Maybe just say DRM-Free? It seems like the easiest way to dodge that sort of thing. Perhaps there's a better way to phrase it that I'm not thinking of.
Overall, an awesome project! I know a lot of friends who can't afford to buy a lot of games, and I've always wanted to share my library with them. It also made me think a lot more about how centralized PC gaming is nowadays. Nearly every seller distributes through Steam or Epic, and has some form of DRM. If Steam/Epic wanted to, your entire library or any game they chose could be deleted from the marketplace. Even if you have it downloaded locally, sadly a ton of games rely on the connection to Steam servers to function. Even if the games themselves are completely offline, or single player. Gog, Itch, and any other similar platforms are a rarity nowadays, and lot of the bigger publishers and developers don't use them.
Apologies for the text wall, it was not originally supposed to be this long. I hope you got something out of my rambling. I look forward to when I can run this when Linux is (hopefully) better supported and the project matures to a point where I can transfer over. Maybe I'll repurchase some games on Gog in that time. I do wonder how this'll affect my experience with the Steam Deck...
- for 2. maybe just say bring your own games? BYOG
  
  That's actually really good! I like that one a lot more.
- Hang on a sec, I nearly spewed my half-finished iced tea after reading that! Who on earth mentioned Windows servers :D? Our backend is completely containerized and operates on Alpine Linux. You could even run the server on a toaster if you're up for it!
  Appreciate the kind feedback. So, regarding the slogan, we've actually grown quite fond of it. It doesn't suggest piracy in any way; it simply refers to games from alternative sources, like your DVD collection or a developer's website.
  
  Fuck, really? Now I feel like an idiot. Thanks for making me aware. Still praying for a Linux client, NixOS doesn't play too well with things outside the Nix ecosystem. Maybe I can contribute to the Linux efforts when I gain the proper skills.
  Fair enough, hopefully it doesn't lead to any fuss with the big corpos if this project grows to a decent size. Gaming is pretty untouched in the self-hosted world, who knows what'll happen. It's pretty exciting tbh.
  Off topic, is there any chance you guys can create a Matrix space and bridge it with the Discord? I'd love to chat, but I really am trying to move away from Discord.

Very cool piece of software. Excited to get into it.

I wonder how many people still get games "unofficially" with steam games having so many sales as well as all the third party keys floating around as well
- Oh, there are quite a few examples!
  For instance, retro players have gathered their entire collection of games mostly on discs and DVDs. However, these physical formats are not everlasting and hard to organize, so they're searching for a solution to preserve their games from deterioration and create a convenient way to play them. Building their very own "steam" just for this purpose.
  
  True, disc rot is a real concern
- There's lots of EA games in particular that can't be bought on PC anymore. The old Tony Hawk Underground and Tiger Woods Golf games are probably the best examples I can think of.
  
  Cries in "Driver: San Francisco"

I would love to try to get this integrated with Lutris!
- sounds great, we rely heavily on 3rd party developers for these requested integrations. Could you kindly create a github issue for it on the board and kindly keep us informed about the progress?
  
  Sure, could you send a link to it? Not sure which repo is the correct one. Also, I'm going to work on creating a NixOS option for GameVault first, so once that is done I'll start on the Lutris integration.

Did you think about making the heroic game launcher compatible with gamevault? I looked at it a little, it is written in typescript and if gamevault provides the webapi you can probably make gamevault appear as a library.
- Not familiar with that launcher, but we'd be happy to receive integration requests on GitHub! Even if we can't directly support an integration, there might be a chance that a talented third-party developer could create one.

What is the current situation on the client side of things? Is this Windows only for now? This would be cool with some MacOS and iOS support (with a Backbone controller).
- Anything else than windows is not in our plans right now as we currently lack the expertise and manpower to handle multiple platforms. However, we're actively encouraging the community to create a third-party solution.

How about Profiles and Community Achievements? Something like Retroachievements?
- Open up a feature request for it on Github

Are there any plans to implement a steamlink like feature? Meaning game running on computer but played on tv, etc. Project looks very interesting!
- Not planned from us at least but we currently use Moonlight/Sunshine Gamestreaming to do that.
  
  Thank you, totally forgot about them!

46 comments