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.

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'.

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!

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

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?

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.

1. 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.

2. 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...

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?

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?

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

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.

I would love to try to get this integrated with Lutris!

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

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).

Are there any plans to implement a steamlink like feature? Meaning game running on computer but played on tv, etc. Project looks very interesting!