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Party Hard has an achievement for launching the game 100 times. Not content with launching the game 100 times manually just to get the achievement, I wrote a batch script that makes use of the Steam Browser Protocol to launch the game, and kill it again with some batch-fu (Which, ironically, I honestly feel like I've put in enough effort to have rightfully 'earned' the achievement!)

I'd like to share this script and explain how it works on a question about how to 'earn' the achievement, however I'm guessing there are probably a few out there who will balk at the automation or 'workaround' method.

My question is: Is this sort of question/answer something we 'like' here? Do we support the automation or 'workaround' methods of earning achievements?

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    Single player cheats are fine by us
    – badp
    Oct 23, 2015 at 12:20
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    @badp - Sure, but it's a single player cheat with ramifications for Steam's achievement tracking, I had to be sure :)
    – Robotnik Mod
    Oct 23, 2015 at 12:26
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    Plenty of cheats can be used to earn achievements! They still only affect you.
    – badp
    Oct 23, 2015 at 13:35
  • @badp - ok you've convinced me, here it is: gaming.stackexchange.com/q/240676/28182
    – Robotnik Mod
    Oct 23, 2015 at 14:59
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    I think is is rather creative and allows users to have an alternative to the known options of completing the achievement.
    – JRyan
    Oct 23, 2015 at 17:47
  • Universe Sandbox has achievements such as those that involve starting the game up 10, 100, 1000, 10000 and 100000 times. You'd have no other choice but to use a batch script.
    – user114997
    Oct 24, 2015 at 12:09

1 Answer 1

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There should really be no problem with what you are suggesting. It is likely that some users will not like your solution, feeling that the trick is unfair, but ultimately this sort of question/answer is not off topic in any way. Furthermore, it sounds like you solution could solve a great annoyance, for achievement hunters that feel such a tedious task is pointless and annoying.

At the end of the day, the only reason I could see people voting against this would be the possible belief that this could put the user at risk of a ban with steam. Ultimately, since Steam has provided you access to the protocol, you are not accessing it iligitimately nor breaking any rules.

"Achievement cheating", as some may call it, is often considered acceptable by the head company. As such, games like Skyrim allow achievements to be unlocked even after the player uses console commands to make the process significantly easier. As another example, Fallout 3 allows the player to legitimately unlock its entire achievement list via the console command.

Unless you are engaging in a method that is deliberately disallowed by Steam, the solution you suggest should definitely be posted for other users engaging the same problem further down the line.

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  • I suggest that the OP posts a link to this discussion in the comments to avoid confusion.
    – angussidney
    Oct 23, 2015 at 23:05
  • @angussidney - Way ahead o' ya, chief :-)
    – Robotnik Mod
    Oct 24, 2015 at 0:01
  • "Furthermore, it sounds like you solution could solve a great annoyance, for achievement hunters that feel such a tedious task is pointless and annoying." But that's the poooooooint. =[
    – GnomeSlice
    Oct 25, 2015 at 4:57
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    @GnomeSlice - Well, I felt that the achievement was pointless and annoying, so I looked for a novel way to solve it. It suddenly felt like an achievement earning it that way :)
    – Robotnik Mod
    Oct 25, 2015 at 5:24

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