Selfhosted @lemmy.world alfagun74 @lemmy.world 1 yr. ago

(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!

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50 comments

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.
  
  We'll check Matrix out, and if we do bridge it, you'll definitely hear about it in the blog :)
  
  Awesome! Just to explain a bit, Matrix is a FOSS and decentralized chat protocol that's more feature rich than XMPP, but also younger and less mature. It's more popular than XMPP at the moment, and has a lot of nice and modern clients to pick from. I hope it can serve your team well if you guys decide to pick it up.

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