ArchiSteamFarm: A High-Level Automation & idling platform for Steam
Building the world of gaming, one piece of open-source software at a time, let's dive into the project known as ArchiSteamFarm (ASF).
ASF, sitting on the broad shoulders of GitHub, is a C# application that allows Steam users to automate Steam's trading cards farming, and brings a whole host of other automation features to the world of gaming. ArchiSteamFarm eliminates the need for gamers to keep their games idle and also avoids investing in games specifically for trading cards. The broad purpose of this project is to ensure that benefits are brought to the end-user, thus making the gaming environment more friendly and less tedious.
Project Overview:
ArchiSteamFarm, the brainchild of developers who found the tedious side of gaming unattractive, was built to help ease the burden on users. By automatically idling steam games, ASF ensures the gamer can focus all attention on the fun aspect of Steam without being encumbered by the serial farming of trading cards. ASF is targeted at regular Steam users as well as developers interested in interacting with the Steam platform through a well-defined API framework.
Project Features:
ASF brings important features to the table, a few of which include Steam cards idling, multiple accounts support, complex tasks automation, trading, and more. It does this while ensuring that the user's security is top-notch, employing Steam Guard, 2 Factor Authentication (2FA), and other security features to maintain a safe ecosystem.
ASF stands out by going beyond idling games, it also offers full steam trading capabilities, allowing users to trade cards, items, and games - all while they are not actively gaming. Think of playing your favorite game and farming cards in another one, simultaneously.
Technology Stack:
ASF operates on a modern .NET Core platform with C# being the primary language used. The main reason behind the choice of C# and .Net Core is the language's sophisticated, secure, and reliable nature, along with .Net Core's cross-platform support. The project also uses JSON for configuration and localization purposes.
The project is open-source and available under the Apache 0 License, as such it encourages the use of open-source libraries like SteamKit2, AngleSharp, and Newtonsoft.Json for various functional requirements.
Project Structure and Architecture:
The ASF project is organized into multiple components, each serving a unique purpose. The project architecture follows a modular approach, separating each functional aspect by developing different modules interactively.
ArchiSteamFarm consists mainly, but is not limited to, the ASF core, ASF SteamKit module, Steam Web module, Web Interface module, and various other modules for specialized responsibilities. Some of these include the Global Configuration, IPC config, Bots config, among others.
Contribution Guidelines:
ASF is one of the many projects making a case for the potency embedded in the open-source development community. The project encourages open-source contribution and provides concise guidelines for interested contributors.
