FR: Achievement System

[UnholyVision]

A system similar to RetroAchievements in Retroarch, this system looks for memory calls. enabling administrators to generate their own achievements by retrieving points from memory. Next, a way to share these accomplishments with other Drop users by exporting them in a file format such as JSON format. Along with a import system. This would allow for a local accomplishment system that allows Drop users to share their creations that may be included in the official version through community sharing or just downloaded and imported into their own local instances of Drop. Images would not be included in this. Unless properly licensed images were created, otherwise the images are user-sourced on their own instance.

This would necessitate lower level readings of the system's memory via the client as well as a server backend and is not a high priority request. But it would be a great complement to Drop. Making it even more like Steam, Epic, or GOG with an achievement system, but local.

[riku55]

I think the way of reading memory would only work for emulated contents. For (older) consoles, there are mostly few to no options to alter the way the game is putting content into RAM, since hardware and software are almost always identical,making it possible to use it for achievement logic.
For PC gaming, just using different hardware or graphics settings can cause that to completely change.

I'd love to have some way of having an independent achievement system for PC gaming though. Maybe, if drop had some achievement api of its own, the community could create mods for games to support it. Obviously a lot of work though, both backend and frontend wise.

[UnholyVision]

I was considering something similar to how Cheat Engine or other tools read memory and processes. A user can utilize the same cheat file or whatever it's called, resulting in the same outcome. This would, of course, require delving into low-level ring processes and monitoring the game's operations. I envisioned that a similar approach could be applied to achievements. I understand that emulation and non-emulation would differ in this context. However, couldn't you identify specific key values and link them to achievements? I've never ran into a cheat list or whatever it's referred as that doesn't work on other PC's as I've carried one across two different machines once. To have the same key values carry over. I didn't setup these cheats or make them myself so I can't comment on what was done.

I've only used Cheat Engine a couple of times in my life. Once to make a game more challenging and another time to replay a game I've already completed about ten times in a different way. So, if I'm completely off base, I suppose an API, as you mentioned, could be the answer. But that would imply modding a game to integrate it into other games. Which would make a much higher barrier to entry for the community I would imagine. Not to say making the cheats and finding the results needed is easy, but from my understanding Cheat-Engine makes it easier to find those said values. Verse modding a game in whole. Which sadly would make this harder for some to setup and even share.

[D3B453R]

I don't know how the GoG-API works but that would also be a great feature if possible. Every time the game requests an achievement unlock via the GoG-/Galaxy-API the Request gets recognized via the Drop-Launcher/Client 🤔

[DecDuck]

We're planning several integrations into the existing APIs that games use to register achievements, like the Steamworks library or GOG Galaxy (or whatever their platform is called). That's probably the route to go on this issue, but definitely planned.

[Elite-Alien]

Nice I made a FR a while ago for GOG features using Comet here: Drop-OSS/drop-app#142

Though good to see something like it is at least confirmed. Not sure if you will piggyback off Comet. Though good to see a form of answer to this.

[DecDuck]

We'd probably use the same protocol files as them, so we don't have to do that reverse engineering, but we're unlikely to use their core directly because it's designed to be standalone.