this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2025
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109
GameVault Update: Introducing the brand-new Web UI! (lemmy.world)
submitted 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) by alfagun74@lemmy.world to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
36 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Hey c/selfhosted,

we've finally done it. After years of people asking for it, GameVault now has its very own Web UI!

For anyone who hasn't heard of it yet: GameVault is a self-hosted gaming platform that gives you a Steam-like library experience, but for your own DRM-free games. You host it yourself, you own your data, and you can share your collection with friends and family. Basically, it's for gamers who also love the selfhosting mindset.

This Web UI / Cross-Platform Client has been the most requested and long-awaited feature for as long as we've been working on GameVault. When we first built it, it was just a small project for the two of us, written with the tech we knew at the time. Over the years, especially here on Lemmy, people gave us plenty of criticism for the tech stack and the UX, because you guys love to use linux. And honestly... fair enough. We knew it wasn't great.

The new Web UI is our way of addressing all the feedback we've received and setting the stage for the future. It’s not just a nicer interface. This also represents the first building block for a new cross-platform client that we’re working on.

The Web UI acts as a cross-platform core, which means that in the future we will be able to package GameVault to run both directly in the browser as well as a native application on Windows, Linux, or even mobile devices. This upcoming client will be built on the same foundation, ensuring a smoother and more unified experience whether you're on a desktop OS or just checking your vault from your phone.

Right now, we're planning to expand the Web UI continuously and figure out how to handle the legacy windows desktop client moving forward. The technology underneath is much cleaner now, so we finally have the freedom to iterate and improve without being stuck in the past.

Anyway, we're really excited about this step. It feels like a true milestone for the project, and we're looking forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback. If you're self-hosting and love gaming, give it a try, I'm curious what you think.

You can also check out a live running demo version on demo.gamevau.lt
Username: demo
Password: demodemo

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[–] poVoq@slrpnk.net 24 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Small comment on the licensing... CC-by-NC-SA is not FOSS and also not very helpful for server run software like this, as people do not need to share modifications they only run on their own server. I would suggest you switch to the AGPL instead, which was specifically developed for server run software.

[–] warmaster@lemmy.world 11 points 5 days ago

This. It does what you want and it's actually a proper software license.

[–] Magnum@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

It's funny to me, that something called CrackPipe before to host your alternative obtained games now says they will not make it FOSS because they somehow have to finance their hard work.

I personally hope every "convenience feature" they think about gets cracked immediately and someone rewrites the code a little and implements it obfuscated in their financially successful product.

In the end this is just another platform that's already promising you to enshittify along the way - posting this here should be considered an Ad and should be removed.

[–] alfagun74@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] Magnum@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

But not with sharing the crack :)

[–] alfagun74@lemmy.world 0 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Exactly, wheres the challenge in that

[–] Magnum@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 3 days ago

Not everyone is into IT. When you guys distributed alternative obtained games with your software, did you also put limits in place so people can only share their self made cracks?

[–] philophilsaurus@sh.itjust.works 11 points 5 days ago (2 children)

So what was the former name of GameVault?

[–] alfagun74@lemmy.world 9 points 5 days ago

Rule No. 1 of GameVault: We don't talk about the former name of GameVault

[–] Caveman@piefed.social 5 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Thanks for sharing, I'd never heard of GameVault

[–] Magnum@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

That's because it was called crackpipe before

[–] alfagun74@lemmy.world 0 points 3 days ago

Working title

[–] Mohamed@lemmy.ca 2 points 5 days ago

Me neither! Looks like I'm adding another service to my repertoire

[–] warmaster@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago

Great progress on the UI, it looks really polished. Consultations.

I have a few questions:

  • Do you plan to open source it? AGPL, MIT, Apache, etc.
  • When do you believe there will be a linux client?
[–] poVoq@slrpnk.net 4 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

You plan to package it with Tauri2, or what is the plan? Edit: I see Tauri. Good choice 👍

Also Flathub support under Linux would be great.

[–] warmaster@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago

Flathub = free visibility

[–] Sunny@slrpnk.net 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

No linux support as far as I can see?

[–] alfagun74@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago (2 children)

It's a web UI. If your distribution is capable of running a browser, it will work

[–] Sunny@slrpnk.net 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Ah ok good to know, i just read this from their FAQ which is why i assumed it wasn't supported.

Is there a native client for Mac or Linux?

No, apart from emulation or community-maintained clients, there is currently no native Linux or Mac GameVault client application.

[–] alfagun74@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

Yes it still is true, there is no native application as of rn

[–] Magnum@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I'm using lynx browser

[–] alfagun74@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

it worked when i last tried with w3m lmao

[–] jankforlife@lemmy.ml 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Now this is interesting!

[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 8 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Closed source and paid if I remember correctly.

Edit: sorry, "source available." Open to your eyes, but not your fork.

[–] warmaster@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Wait, what? Why?

[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)
[–] warmaster@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Ok, I'll keep waiting for ROMM then.

[–] TheYang@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Gameyfin exists as well

[–] warmaster@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

It doesn't have a desktop client, right?

Romm integrates with Playnite on Windows. I'm waiting for the RetroDeck integration as I am on Linux.

That would be the last step missing to truly have a selfhosted Steam-like server.