Engaging in the process of idling Steam games in the background can be a practical way to earn trading cards and monitor your total hours played without actively participating. This functionality is especially useful for gamers who want to maximize their Steam library’s benefits with minimal effort. The tool discussed here offers an efficient way to automate this process across multiple titles, simplifying the task of keeping your games active while you focus on other activities.
About the Project
This project provides a streamlined solution for managing your Steam game library by automatically idling selected titles. It is designed to scan your entire collection, facilitate simultaneous idling of multiple games, and ensure continuous operation by automatically restarting idle processes if needed. Such automation can save time and effort, especially when managing large libraries, and can help in gathering game hours and trading cards without manual intervention.
Features
- Comprehensive Library Scanning: The tool automatically detects all installed games in your Steam library, allowing you to select which titles to idle.
- Parallel Idling: Multiple games can be idled simultaneously, ensuring efficient management of your library.
- Automatic Restarts: If an idling process crashes or stops unexpectedly, the program will automatically restart it to maintain continuous background activity.
Getting Started
Windows
Download the latest release of the application or compile it yourself. Launch the `idler.exe` file to start. The program will scan your Steam library automatically, populating a list of installed games. You can then select specific titles to idle by adding them through the “Add Game” menu. Once added, these games will remain active in the background until you decide to remove them—by clicking on their artwork—or until you close the application.
UNIX
Currently, the graphical interface is only compatible with Windows systems. However, you can still idle individual games via the command line using the `./si` application. Run it with the syntax: `./si `. To keep a game idling indefinitely, set the duration to `-1`. This approach provides flexibility for users comfortable with terminal commands, though future updates aim to expand GUI support to Unix-based systems.
Building the Application
Prerequisites
To build the program, you’ll need to install GTK+ libraries, which serve as the foundation for the graphical interface. On Windows, it is recommended to install MSYS2 to facilitate this process. If you encounter crashes during operation, it is likely due to missing DLL files, so ensuring all dependencies are correctly installed is crucial.
Using the Makefile
Running `make` will automatically select the appropriate platform-specific build script. Currently, only the Windows version includes the graphical interface, with support for UNIX planned in future updates. The build process compiles all sources, bundles necessary GTK binaries (listed in `dependencies.txt`), and copies the Steam API DLL or Lib files into the `release/` directory, ready for deployment.
Building Manually
1. Obtain Required DLLs: Copy the DLL files specified in `dependencies.txt` into the release folder.
2. Identify Additional Dependencies: Use tools like ListDLLs to determine any extra DLLs needed, especially if custom modifications are made.
3. Prepare Resources: Place UI files (`ui.glade`) and styling sheets (`main.css`) into the release directory.
4. Compile the Source Code: Use gcc commands similar to:
“`bash
gcc steam_idler.c -o release/si “redistributable_bin/win64/steam_api64.lib”
gcc `pkg-config –cflags gtk+-3.0` ui.c -o release/idler `pkg-config –libs gtk+-3.0` -lregex -Wl,–export-all-symbols -mwindows
“`
5. Final Setup: Ensure all files are correctly nested and dependencies are in place before running the executable.
Usage
Simply run `idler.exe` on Windows to begin managing your idle sessions. For debugging, remove the `-mwindows` flag to view console outputs, which can help diagnose DLL issues or other errors.
Roadmap
Future improvements include expanding support for Linux systems, refining the user interface, and enhancing error handling with user-friendly popups. Additional features will focus on automating process restarts in case of failures and integrating more intuitive game management workflows. For more insights into creating cross-platform applications, explore the advantages of cross platform mobile solutions. As development continues, the goal remains to streamline the idling process further while maintaining compatibility across different operating systems.
Acknowledgments
- Sleep Icon (Fuzzee)
- Fake Steam process method (Miouyouyou)
- Locating GTK DLLs (bradrn)