Nostegama

What is Nostegama?

Nostegama is a Non-Steam Game Manager managing your Non-Steam Games using the command-line interface. It's purpose and goal is to add shortcuts of your Non-Steam Games into your Steam's library.

Installation

There is currently no easy way to install Nostegama.

Windows

• Download and install the latest Version of NodeJS.
• Download and unzip the current source code of Nostegama
• Open the PowerShell (recommended) or Command Prompt and navigate to the directory where you unzipped Nostegama. A file named package.json should be in it.
• Enter npm install

Linux & OSX

This application hasn't been tested on Linux or OSX yet, but the code is mostly platform independent. The installation should work analogously.

Getting started

Create a profile

The most useful profile-type for Nostegama is an emulator profile. Profiles are defined in the profile.json file and must be formed in JSON (comments allowed). A minimal emulator profile might look like that:

//minimal emulator example
{
  //Name of the Profile
  "Dolphin": {
    //The executable of the emulator
    "exe": "D:\\Software\\Dolphin\\Dolphin.exe",
    //Where the ROMs are
    "dir": "D:\\Games\\Wii",
    //The command for the emulator ($e) to open the ROM-File ($f)
    "command": "$e --batch --exec=$f"
  }
  //add more profiles here
  /*
  ,
  "2nd Profile": {
    "exe": "...",
    "dir": "...",
    "command": "..."
  }
  */
}

This profile tells Nostegama to create for each file it finds in the directory dir a shortcut in Steam to the executable exe with the arguments provided in command.

For more options and flexibility check the Profile and the Plugins chapters below.

Start Nostegama

Close the Steam Client first, then start Nostegama by entering npm start into the console.

Profile

Any profile has the following options:

• exe: mandatory The path to the executable of the emulator. Can be relative to the profile file.
• tags: optional An array of tags Nostegama should add to each game (e.g. ["Wii"])
• plugins: optional An array of plugins to use while processing ROMs.
• gridDir: optional Where grids are to be cached. Default is in grid in the application directory.
• defaultGrid: optional When no plugin provides a grid, this default grid will be used.
• extra: optional Extra properties to apply to a specific ROM. Plugins won't be able to alter these properties.
  • appname: The name of the ROM that should be displayed on Steam
  • exe: The command to use to run this ROM
  • StartDir: The working directory of the exe
  • icon: Path to a file that should serve as an icon for this ROM
  • tags: An array of tags to add to this ROM
  • grid: Path to a file that should serve as a grid image for this ROM
• Additional options for plugins

Emulator profile

An emulator profile has the following additional options:

• ROMs by glob
  • glob mandatory A glob pattern (e.g. "D:\\Games\\Wii\\**\\*.@(iso|wbfs)")
• ROMs by dir (will be ignored when glob is set)
  • dir: mandatory The directory where the ROMs can be found
  • recursive: optional If Nostegama should search for ROMs recursively. Default false.
  • extensions: optional An array of extensions Nostegama should consider when searching for ROMs (e.g. ["iso","wbfs"])
• ignore: optional A glob pattern or an array of glob pattern to use to ignore ROMs

Either glob or dir must be present for this profile to be recognized as an emulator profile.

Example:

{
  "Dolphin": {
    "exe": "D:\\Software\\Dolphin\\Dolphin.exe",
    "glob": "D:\\Games\\Wii\\**\\*.@(iso|wbfs)",
    "tags": ["Wii"],
    "plugins": ["DolphinPlugin","LocalGridPlugin","ConsoleGridPlugin"],
    "extra": {
      "RMCP01.wbfs": {
        "appname": "Mario Kart Wii",
        "tags": ["Mario","Racing","favorite"]
      }
    },
    //used by LocalGridPlugin
    "gridDir": "D:\\Games\\Wii\\Meta\\Grids",
    //used by DefaultPlugin
    "defaultGrid": "D:\\Games\\Wii\\Meta\\Grids\\default.png",
    //used by DolphinPlugin
    "dolphin": {
      "useGenresAsTag": true,
      "useInputMethodAsTag": true
    }
  }
}

Single game profile

A single game profile has the following additional options:

• exe: mandatory The path to the executable of the game or an array of multiple executables. Can be relative to the profile file.

Neither glob or dir must be present for this profile to be recognized as a single game profile.

Example:

{
  "GOG": {
    "exe": "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\GalaxyClient\\Games\\Dungeon Keeper Gold\\Launch Dungeon Keeper Gold.lnk",
    "tags": "GOG",
    "plugins": "WindowsShortcutPlugin",
    "extra": {
      "Launch Dungeon Keeper Gold.lnk": {
        "appname": "Dungeon Keeper"
      }
    }
  }
}

Plugins

A plugin's job is to complete a Non-Steam Game's properties, that weren't provided by the user in extra. If a plugin is not able or not designed to provide a specific property, the next plugin in line will try its luck. If everything fails the DefaultPlugin will use default values to fill in the necessary blanks.

Example:

  //[...]
  "plugins": ["DolphinPlugin","LocalGridPlugin","ConsoleGridPlugin"],
  //[...]

First the DolphinPlugin will be used to fill in the properties appname, exe and tags, then the LocalGridPlugin will try to find a grid for the game. If no fitting grid image is found, the ConsoleGridPlugin will browse consolegrid.com. The ConsoleGridPlugin will eventually use the appname property gathered by the DolphinPlugin as one of the search candidates, so the plugin order is important!

Still no grid image found? The DefaultPlugin will then use the defaultGrid if provided.

If you want to use a plugin only partially, you can define which properties each plugin should try to fetch:

  //[...]
  "plugins": [
    {
      "name": "DolphinPlugin",
      "appname": true,
      "exe": true
    },
    "LocalGridPlugin",
    "ConsoleGridPlugin"
  ],
  //[...]

Now the DolphinPlugin won't add any tags to games. Everything else behaves as before.

DefaultPlugin

This plugin will always be executed last, and doesn't need to be explicitly listed in the plugins property.

Profile properties this plugin uses:

• command: optional Default "$e $f". $e will be replaced with the profile's executable's path (in double quotation marks) and $f with the ROM's path (also in double quotation marks).
• defaultGrid: optional

Non-Steam Game properties this plugin uses: none

Non-Steam Game properties this plugin delivers:

• appname: Returns the game's file name
• exe: Uses the profile property command to build this property
• StartDir: Returns the directory of the profile's executable
• grid: Uses the profile property defaultGrid and returns it

ConsoleGridPlugin

This plugin browses consolegrid.com for a suitable grid image.

The file name or the appname should be the game's name for this plugin to work properly.

Profile properties this plugin uses: none

Non-Steam Game properties this plugin uses:

• appname: optional

Non-Steam Game properties this plugin delivers:

• grid: Uses the Non-Steam Game's appname and/or the file's name to download a grid image and return its path

DolphinPlugin

This plugin will use the Dolphin Wiki to gather information.

The file name should be either the game's GameID or the game's name for this plugin to work properly.

Profile properties this plugin uses:

• dolphin optional
  • useDeveloperAsTag: optional Default false. Whether or not to add the game's developer to the tags
  • usePublisherAsTag: optional Default false. Whether or not to add the game's publisher to the tags
  • useSeriesAsTag: optional Default false. Whether or not to add the game's series to the tags
  • useGenresAsTag: optional Default false. Whether or not to add the game's genres to the tags
  • useModesAsTag: optional Default false. Whether or not to add the game's modes to the tags
  • useInputMethodsAsTag: optional Default false. Whether or not to add the game's input methods to the tags

Non-Steam Game properties this plugin uses: none

Non-Steam Game properties this plugin delivers:

• appname: Uses the title of the game's Wiki page
• exe: Uses DefaultPlugin's implementation to build this property with command="$e --batch --exec=$f"
• tags: Uses the info box of the game's Wiki page and the options of profile property dolphin

FileInfoPlugin

This plugin will use the executable's details to determine its name.

This plugin will probably only work on Windows. This plugin needs .NET 4.5 on Windows or Mono 4.x on Linux/OSX.

Profile properties this plugin uses: none

Non-Steam Game properties this plugin uses: none

Non-Steam Game properties this plugin delivers:

• appname: Uses either the executable's product name or its file description if present.

GameTDBPlugin

This plugin will use GameTDB to gather information.

The file name should be the game's GameID for this plugin to work properly.

Profile properties this plugin uses:

• gameTDB mandatory
• platform: mandatory The platform should be either GC. Wii, Wii U or PS3
• language: optional Default EN. Abbreviation of a language GameTDB uses, such as EN, DE, FR, etc.

Non-Steam Game properties this plugin uses: none

Non-Steam Game properties this plugin delivers:

• appname: Returns the game's name dependent on language. If there is no name for the given language. The english one will be used.

GoodToolsPlugin

Profile properties this plugin uses: none

Non-Steam Game properties this plugin uses: none

Non-Steam Game properties this plugin delivers:

• appname: Return what's left after removing the content between round and square brackets of a file name.

LocalGridPlugin

This plugin will browse the local storage for a suitable grid image.

The file name should equal the grid image's file name for this plugin to work properly.

Profile properties this plugin uses:

• gridDir: optional Path to a directory where the plugin should browse for grid images. Default is grid in the application directory.

Non-Steam Game properties this plugin uses: none

Non-Steam Game properties this plugin delivers:

• grid: Returns the path of the grid image. The image's name needs to be the same as the name of the file and its extension has to be either jpeg, jpg, png or tiff.

MAMEPlugin

This plugin will use MAME to determine a game's name.

Profile properties this plugin uses:

• exe: optional Path to the executable of MAME. If this is not MAME, exe must be set in the MAME-Object (see below).
• MAME: optional
  • exe: optional Path to the executable of MAME. If not present, the exe of the profile must be of MAME (see above).
  • keepBrackets: optional Whether or not to keep the brackets of the game's description

Non-Steam Game properties this plugin uses: none

Non-Steam Game properties this plugin delivers:

• appname: Uses the ROM's description

WindowsShortcutPlugin

This plugin will take over the shortcut's properties.

This plugin will only work on Windows

Profile properties this plugin uses: none

Non-Steam Game properties this plugin uses: none

Non-Steam Game properties this plugin delivers:

• exe: Same as the shortcut's
• StartDir: Same as the shortcut's
• icon: Same as the shortcut's. Steam will do nothing with this information if the extension of the icon is neither "exe" nor "png" nor "tga".

Configuration

The config.json file and the command line interface are offering you options to configure Nostegama. The config.json file will override the default options. Options passed to the command line interface will override both the default options and the options provided by the config.json file.

To use the command line options use this syntax:

npm start -- <option>[=value] [...]

General

config.json:

"general": {
  "saveGridImages": true
}

If saveGridImages is set to false, the images won't be saved in gridDir. The LocalGridPlugin won't find the grid images the next time Nostegama is run and will be downloaded again.

Userdata

config.json:

"steam": {
  "userdataDir": null
}

cli:

--userdata-dir=<path>

The userdata directory is where Steam stores information of local users. If set to null Nostegama will try to figure out its location by itself, which is usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata on Windows, ~/.local/share/Steam/userdata on Linux and ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/userdata on OSX. If Nostegama is unable to find the userdata directory you should manually set this value.

Backup

config.json:

"backup": {
  "shortcuts": true,
  "grids": true,
  "dir": null
}

cli:

--no-backup to not back up

--backup-dir=<path>

Nostegama will usually backup the shortcuts.vdf file which stores the current shortcuts to the Non-Steam Games and the grid directory into the operating system's temporary directory (<tmp>/nostegama/backups)

Logs

For logging there is one additional file log4js.js you might want to look into, if you want to customize the output. Check log4js' Wiki for more information.

config.json:

"log": {
  "appenders": ["console","nostegama"],
  "dir": null
}

cli:

--log-dir

Nostegama will usually output informations and errors both into the console and into the operating system's temporary director (<tmp>/nostegama/logs).

Other

-i <file> --input=<file> to use an other profile file instead of the default profile.json file

-o --overwrite Nostegama usually complements its own shortcuts to the existing ones. This option will discard all existing shortcuts.

-h --help lists all cli options

Plans for 0.1.0

• Tests
• Referencing profiles
• german L10N

Plans for 1.0.0

• GUI